Good Medicine

Hello Friday!  What a week it has been.  It just flew by and I'm barely keeping up.  The best part though is that I was able to stop and smell the daffodils (from my garden)

and laugh a bit.  That's why I am posting my Friday Fave Fives.

Have you heard that statement, "Laughter is the best medicine"? This week, I noticed several things that made me happy, made me smile and made me laugh.

1.  Saturday when we shopped at Trader Joe's, we noticed there were kids wandering around the store dressed in Hawaiian shirts, accompanied by store employees.  It was 'take your child to work' day!  The kids were helping in all kinds of jobs--serving snacks and stocking shelves.  Cuteness overload!  We loved it!

2.  Our nephew has two children, a boy and a girl.  Since they live not so very far away, we are often invited to dinners and birthday parties.  This week, we received thank you notes from them for the books we gave them last month.  They made us smile.

3.  We also received the cutest Valentine card from our PAL.  She's only four but she quite neatly wrote her name on it.  Awwww.  A little card like that can produce the biggest smiles from her Meema and Bapa.

4.  So.  I live in coastal Southern California where weather is steady, temperatures seldom fluctuate much and, according to legend, the sun always shines.  But.  This week.  On Thursday, we had HAIL. And SNOW on the coastal mountains--not more than 10 or 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean (Boney Peak--over 2,800 ft).  We drove over to a nearby national park (Satwiwa) and walked in to take some photos.  The place was packed with other people doing the same thing.  Yeah.  Snow on Boney Peak is a bit unusual.  It was so much fun to see it, and everyone we talked to was so excited.

See it?  It may not be much and it probably has already melted away, but it is amazing and unusual for us.

5.  Down in town there wasn't snow.  It was HAIL!  A friend posted on facebook that her son, after seeing the hail, asked his mom, "Is this a national disaster?"

Are you laughing now?  It's good for you!

Fiber Theme

I am so thankful for the ability to create beautiful things from fiber.  This week I've been focusing on finishing some things.  Other than the usual daily tasks, this is what I've done.  They're my Fave Finishes!  I'm sharing them for Friday Fave Fives with Susanne as our host.

1.  The main reason I have been focusing on the knitting is that I emptied the four drawers of yarn this week and reorganized them  My intent was to pull out and give away some of the yarn I know I'll never use.  The Professor told me I should have taken a photo of the bed--piled high with different yarns all in their little sections.  Acrylic. Wool. Sock. Cotton.  At least it's organized again and some is finding its way to others who will use it.

2.  A vest.  It's still in the beginning stages.  I love love love the yarn--wool and silk. Yum.

3.  Socks.  I've decided to work my way through a bunch of sock yarn.  You can't have too many warm socks when it's rainy and damp and cold.  I was working on this sock at the doctor's office this week and drew a lot of attention.  (Was it the sharp needles or the yarn?)

4.  Scarves.  It was almost Valentine's Day and I had some left over red and pink yarns.  What to make?  Another scarf!  I started it with warping on Tuesday night and finished it on Thursday evening.  I'll be wearing it to a Valentine's dinner tonight (Friday night). The colors in the photo show the scarf to have much more pink tones and less red.  In real life, the scarf is mostly red.

5.  Another bunny.  This one is for Easter.  Photos soon.

How did you enjoy your week?  Any creative outlets?

Time to be Thankful

Good afternoon! It's Friday Fave Five time.  Here is Willow's Week in Five short summaries.

1.  I heard a new to me term this week for the beautiful green grass that has grown on our mountains this winter (because of the rain we've had--see below).  The "emerald hills" of Southern California.  I love looking up and gazing at our Emerald Hills!

2.  Rain! More rain! Because of the rain storms which have blown through our area, we are no longer in drought. According to the official wording, we are now merely 'abnormally dry'.  Whatever the terms are, I am thankful for the several inches of rain we have had this season.

3.  And these have blossomed!

4.  This happened last week, but I am thankful for it still.  I was driving our car and noticed that a warning light came on the dashboard.  What it was for I wasn't sure, so I checked the information book we keep in the car.  Hmmmm.  Low tire pressure?  When I got home, I checked again.  Yup. Right rear tire was almost flat.  So I turned around and slowly and carefully drove the back roads to the tire store.  There was no charge and the wait wasn't all that long for the repair.  I am thankful for a good car, a reputable tire store and most of all safety on the roads. (and that it happened between rain storms!)

5.  A dear friend of mine is moving soon.  That's not the fave.  The fave is that we spent a couple of hours one afternoon nursing a cuppa at CBTL and just chatting up a storm.  We've decided that we need to do this a lot in the next few months.  She challenges me and encourages me.  It seems that until we realize we may lose something or someone, we don't carve out time with them.  I'm thankful for the reminder and for time well spent.

6.  A children's book I loved:  A Leap of Faith by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

What blessed you and encouraged you this week?

TuesdayTalk

Karen at Over the Backyard Fence mentioned that she was doing a daily writing challenge in February to help her get over the blues hump of blogging.  I've been feeling a bit like that so I figured I'd jump in and at least try to write something most every day. Note: I didn't write anything on Saturday, Sunday or Monday because I just decided today to do this.

Karen wrote about how she keeps track of her week.  My way is similar but different.

I use 3x5" cards to write out my daily to do list.  I used to make a weekly list on a card but lately I haven't done that probably because The Professor and I keep our shared calendar on our phones.  That works well for us since we also share a car and need to make sure that we don't schedule over each other at times we both need the car.  Whenever either of us is scheduling anything, we immediately write it on to the phone calendar.  Hence the need for a 3x5" card weekly list is redundant.

Back to the daily card.  Either the night before or the morning of, I write down my to do list below the day's date.  My list includes emails I need to send, appointments, gardening, cooking, whatever is on my schedule.  For example, one day I may have a physical therapy appointment, but I want to work my shopping or a post office run around that time so I can be more efficient with my time and gas.  So the whole list gets written down including times if appropriate.

How do you keep track of your schedule?

Encouraging Words

Encouraging words can and do change people's reactions and perspectives.  That is why I regularly participate in Friday Fave Fives with Susanne who hosts us. (Follow that link to find her blog and connect with other thankful people.)  This is why:

It is now Friday early afternoon and I am home from all my wanderings and appointments of the morning. 

As I was sitting in Bible Study, I was reflecting on my week and thinking, "What can I write about?  It was one of those weeks when stuff happened and I need to focus on the good things."  Then I noticed I had a message on my phone.  It was my (new) pastor's wife, just checking in and telling me she was praying for me today.  OK!  Right there--that should count for ALL.FIVE.FAVES for this week!  She remembered.  She prayed.  She cared.  She told me.  She encouraged me.

That caused me to pull out my pencil and notepad and write down all the other blessings that suddenly popped into my mind.

1.  Today I wore a vest I knitted last year.  It's not my favorite although I love the pattern.  I made it from a heavier yarn and it just doesn't fit me right.  But.  Several people complimented me on how lovely it is.  Maybe it looks better than I thought...

photos of the detailed cables on the back of the vest

2.  World's Best Neighbor has a tiny patch of rhubarb in her garden.  She shared some with me and I baked a strawberry rhubarb crisp.  YUM!

3.  I finished weaving another scarf this week.  Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE weaving on my Cricket rigid heddle loom?  (photos soon!  I am in the process of blocking it.)

4.  Some younger women at church have expressed interest in learning to sew.  I offered to teach some hand sewing basics, and we started this week.  Something as simple as sewing a straight seam is bringing me so much joy.  I get to teach.  I get to become better friends with these young women.

5.  Apologies to all of you who are in very very cold places.  Including my daughters.  Here in Southern California, we are all excited about the rain.  It rained one day this week.  And we are going to get more rain starting tonight!  Maybe finally our decade of drought is ending!