Rejoice!

Hello!  It's sunny and exceedingly windy here at Willow's Cottage today.  Oh, I'm loving the sunshine (the wind not so much).  And I'm rejoicing in my abundant blessings which I am sharing via Friday Fave Fives hosted by Susanne.  HERE is the link to how you can participate and choose to be thankful and be encouraged by others.

1.  My church has a regular women's event called Rejoice during which we celebrate achievements and milestones for all the women in our congregation ages middle school and up. (Yes, we include our middle school young women!)  Last Sunday we celebrated two weddings, a college graduation, two babies, and a (very sadly) moving military family.  I love how our people celebrate together.

2.  How can a fever be a favorite thing of the week?  The fave part was that I could rest, drink lots of herbal tea and heal quickly.

3.  March 14. Or 3.14.  Or Pi Day.  We celebrated 𝛑 day by--- eating pie.  Pumpkin Pie because it is almost my birthday and I prefer pumpkin pie to cake.

4.  March 15.  It's the Ides of March, that infamous day in history when Julius Caesar met his end by traitorous means.  Why is this a fave with me?  Long story made short--in college I had a marvelous professor who taught me so much about life, Biblical history and Biblical apologetics.  On March 15th, I took an exam in his class and wrote at the top of the page by the date, "Beware the Ides of March".  When he returned the paper to me, he had written on it by my A grade, "The Ides of March treated you better than it did Caesar."  I still have that exam because I still value all that he taught me (and yes, I do refer to my notes from the classes).  Every March 15th, I rejoice and think of him and thank God for that man's influence on my life.

5.  When March arrives, I always wear my shamrock necklace and earrings all month because it is my birthday month and St. Patrick's Day is my actual birthday.  My mother gifted the necklace to me when I was visiting her in Boston on my birthday.  It makes me remember my mom and rejoice that I had a loving, godly mother.

I want to let you all know that I will be off the blog for awhile.  You might think that I am backing away because of the Lent season.  No, actually, The Professor and I have plans to travel to places where I will not be carrying my computer, so I won't be online much except when I have wifi connections to use my phone.  We are leaving on Thursday.  I will do my best to write a post next week. However, I don't have any guarantee of having wifi available to allow me to post.  After that, I will be silent (mostly) for three weeks while we are traveling.  Where in the world will Willow be?

Spring is Springing

It's (almost) Spring!  And it's Friday, so it's Friday Fave Five time.  I hope you have had a good week.  I know I have!  Here are my Fave Fives for this happy springish week.

1.  After the last rainstorm (yes! another one, and this time there was thunder and lightning!), we have had sunny skies.  And flowers.  I know it is spring when the coreopsis and wild mustard are blooming.  Everything is GREEN and YELLOW.

2.  And ORANGE. California poppies always make me happy.  Do you know what time of day I took this photo?  Hint:  poppies are 'light sensitive'.

3.  March is my birthday month.  It's also my friend's (Blueberry Lady).  So we are planning our March lunch together.

4.  One evening I called my sister-in-law who lives in our town and said, "Come to (inset our favorite Mexican restaurant name) cuz we haven't had dinner and a chat with you for a long time."  We convinced her, and we had a wonderful time.  Our favorite server was surprised to find out that sil and The Professor are siblings--she has thought all these years we've been eating there together that we were just really good friends (which we are).

5.  Speaking of sisters-in-law, my brother's wife has been my friend since we were in late middle school.  One day this week, we chatted for over an hour.  So much fun!  I'm thankful for my family!

Fave Fives, Finally

Oh my.  I am very late with my Friday Fave Fives this week!  But, quickly, here they are.

1.  Rain.  Are you tired of reading that I am thankful for rain?  Well, we've been in drought conditions for years (maybe seven or eight?) and finally, the official word came out this week that our county is now No. Longer. In. Drought.  For an agricultural area, this is a huge blessing.  And as I am writing this, it is raining lightly. The best kind of rain.

2.  On Sunday, the women (high school and above) had lunch together after church.  The menu was very versatile and everyone had something they could eat.  The speakers were from our church.  I was sitting with several younger women, some whom I didn't know well--it was great to talk with them and learn more about them.

3.  Those women--we are all book lovers!  During our conversations, one younger woman pulled out a pen and wrote down everyone's suggestions for good, clean historical novels.  Then on Tuesday, she texted a couple of us the list.  I may have already popped over to the library to check out one of the authors...

4.  I am so thankful for cell phones.  Both of my daughters called me and talked for a long time this week.  Just wanted to hear my voice.  Phones make that possible even though we are thousands of miles apart.  It made my heart happy to hear their voices, too.

5.  An elderly gentleman who is friends with us made a comment about some events and people he has observed during his long life.  His final statement was, "So, don't be a grump."  Simple and true.

I didn't take a single photo this week. (must correct that!)  But here are some pictures taken during this week over the past years.  I realized that spring is a little later this year as in other years the flowers have already been blooming.  Enjoy!