Thursday, November 02, 2017

November is Here!

Friday Fave Fives.  It's November  and the month of Thankfulness.  People focus their thoughts on being thankful here in the US during November because of Thanksgiving Day.  I think we should be thankful every day and that's why I join Friday Fave Fives each Friday.  It's a good way to PRACTICE THANKFULNESS.

1.  Here in Southern California, we love November because the weather finally cools down.  Last week the temperatures were over 100F, but this week, ah well, the weather was wonderful!  Obviously, I have to count cool and foggy mornings as an example of the blessings of this week.  I love the clouds over my mountains.


2.  Yes, autumn even comes to SoCal.  We get fall colors in small amounts.


3.  Although The Professor is retired from the university, we still occasionally attend various functions.  This week we enjoyed attending a class on world music history featuring Singer Chamber Players who played and gave short explanations of the periods and styles of music they played.  They played samples of Baroque, Classical and Romantic music (18th and 19th Century).  It was a wonderful performance!


Campus in the fall


4.  Saturday I volunteered at the handweavers and spinner guild Harvest Sale, working in the area where we sell odd bunches and bits of fiber and yarn which people donate from their stashes.  I bought one lovely green skein for myself and was able to take home several other balls of yarn which didn't sell.  The fave?  I'll have some new options to use for hats throughout the year.

5.  The Professor and I have entered that stage of life where we are needing to move our health care coverage to MediCare.  That's not the fave part.  The Fave is that The Professor has been researching and dealing with all the changes, so I don't have to.  Honestly, I don't see how people can navigate that whole system without throwing up their hands in despair and total frustration.  I'm so thankful that he has been able to work out the issues with grace (and without losing his mind!).

Bonus:  I just have to share this photo.  A cow in a fenced paddock surrounded by oak trees and bouggainvillea bushes!  It amuses me as one does not normally associate the lovely bouggainvillea with cow pastures.


12 comments:

Tracy said...

Thanks for sharing your THANKFUL here, Willow...it's always a treat to be here to see how your days are lived and loved. Wishing you a happy November counting the blessings! :) ((HUGS))

A Joyful Cottage said...

The bougainvillea is gorgeous, Linda. The photo of it with the cow in the background is so sweet -- a perfect country picture. I agree with you about navigating the choppy waters of Medicare and supplemental insurance. Ugh. And it's not cheap. Hope you and the Professor are enjoying the season. Hugs, Nancy

Ann said...

My husband is dealing with Medicare now also. When did we get to this age?
I saw with the World Series that the temps were over 100 degrees when the first LA game started last weekend. Whew!! I do not envy you all, dealing with 100 degree temps in late October!!
We visited Southern California about five years ago. The mountains are so beautiful!!

ellen b said...

That last shot is fun. Glad you have someone to navigate medicare for the two of you. We ended up going to an insurance agent and he navigated for us. Glad some autumn has arrived for you. Happy weekend. I'm watching fluffy snowflakes blowing about.

Faith said...

great photo of the cow and flowers! i love it!!

Thank God for your husband navigating thru Medicare. We are not there yet but if it is anythng like navigating through FAFSA....oiy!!!!

yay formautumn temps and color!

enjoy the weekend!

Karen said...

The cow looks like he's truly enjoying those beautiful flowers.

I'm the insurance go-to person in our household. We, too, will be looking at Medicare in the not-too-distant future. I'm not looking forward to it:/

I can't even imagine the temps you've been having! Glad you are enjoying cooler weather now!

Anonymous said...


It's good to be grateful!

The bougainvillea and bovine are a bonnie pair. :)

Ed's taking the bull by the horns -- er, medicare -- he's determined to try to sort it out well before summer rolls around. He's been reading up on it for the past year and plans to attend a few sessions put on locally by health care providers.


Barbara H. said...

I am glad you get some fall color there! And some relief from the heat! My husband has had some experience with Medicare with since he is his mom's power of attorney, so that hopefully will help us a little bit when our time comes in a few years. He will likely be the one to handle that for us as well, and I am SO thankful.

That class on world music history sounds wonderful! One of my favorite classes in college was Music Appreciation.

Mereknits said...

We are a bit cooler here, too. Today it was mid 80's but much cooler in the morning. I love Fall!

Gattina said...

When I read that it was so hot last week where you live and I am sitting here with 2 pullovers and the heating on !
I don't like to do paper work anymore. In the past it didn't bother me to deal with insurances, bank papers etc but now it's a real plague ! Mr. G. took most of it over but sometime he cries for help !

Susanne said...

100 degrees in November. I can't even fathom. But the those gorgeous flower bushes. How nice to see that. That performance and class on world music history sounds like it was really good.

Barbara said...

Glad your temps. are cooling down as I'm sure the constant heat can be exhausting. The flower bushes are stunning.