Friday Fave Fives in the End of October

Good Morning to you on this last Friday in October!  It's cold and rainy.  The leaves are falling fast in the wind.  It's mid autumn.  How are you faring?  Have you stopped this week to think about the blessings God has graciously given you?  Here are FIVE FAVE THINGS on this FRIDAY that I have noticed in my week.  If you want to join in, click on THIS LINK which will take you over to Susanne's blog.

1. I missed posting my FFF last week because the moving crew of two guys was here unloading the trailer and bringing our belongings in to our new house!  I am thankful for God providing pleasant hardworking people to move our furniture and boxes (and boxes!) of things in for us.

2.  Earlier in the week, painters arrived to paint about half the rooms in the house.  Oh!  It looks so much more like 'our place' now!  Again, I'm thankful for excellent, careful and cheerful people working in our home.

3.  This may sound like NOT a fave.  But we happened upon the BEST dentist.  At church, we met a young couple and discovered she teaches at The New Boy's school.  And her husband works for a local dentist.   We made appointments, got in for our check ups in quick time.  And! I called for a first appointment with a medical doctor and got in to see her THE NEXT DAY!  If you've ever moved, you know that finding medical people is not always easy.  I'm thankful for the smooth and fast transitions.

4.  We voted in Ohio!  I am thankful that we CAN vote!

5.  Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series!!  Go DODGERS!

Bonus:  Every time we drive around our new area, I notice just how much like England it looks!  My grandson, The New Boy, commented on that when we were in England last year (March 2019).  I looked up these photos of Avebury, Wiltshire, from a trip I took with his mother in November 2016 .  It looks like Ohio!  Except, of course, for the sheep grazing in the park.

H is for HEART

 H is the letter for this week.

Linking with Ellen at The Happy Wonderer.

I'm a bit late, but here is my word:  HEART

You shall love the LORD you God with all your HEART and with all your soul and with all your might.  Deut. 6:5

You shall love the LORD your God with all your HEART, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.  Matt. 22:37

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your HEART, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.  Mark 12:30

You shall love the LORD your God with all your HEART, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.  Luke 10:27

May the LORD direct your HEARTS into the love of God and in to the steadfastness of Christ.  2 Thess. 3:5

Wednesday Hodgepodge, Halloween Style

 Hello, it's Wednesday Hodgepodge hosted by From This Side of the Pond.

1. Boo, boo-hoo, make a boo-boo, boo(ze)...pick one and tell us how it relates to life lately.

                Honestly, all I can think of is that ‘Bu or Ibu is the Indonesian word for mother or Mrs.  I was often called Ibu or ‘Bu when we lived in Indonesia, so that is the connotation that always pops into my mind when I hear ‘BOO’!  

2. Do you like the color orange? Would we find this color in your home? Your wardrobe? Peach-pumpkin-tangerine...your favorite shade of the three listed?

                I am not a fan of the color orange.  The reason is certainly that I look terrible in orange, being a very fair-skinned blonde.  You will never find orange in my wardrobe unless it shows up as a tiny bit of accent in a floral print.   If I had to choose one of those three colors, I would want tangerine, simply because I enjoy eating tangerines.

3. October 28th is National Chocolate Day. What's the last chocolate something you tasted? On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being out of this world delicious, how would you rate it? 

                Every evening, The Professor and I each eat a small portion of a dark chocolate bar from Trader Joe’s.  It’s fair trade and very dark.  We purchase only fair trade chocolate because we have learned that chocolate harvesting and production has the WORST history and record for human trafficking.  I have seldom tasted anything better, so I would give it an eight or nine out of ten.

4. Life is like a box of chocolates or so says Forrest Gump's mama. Would you agree? Aside from the pandemic fallout tell us one way this saying has played out in your life. 

                Life is like a box of See’s Candies mixed chocolates.  You never know when you bite in to a piece, what you’re going to get.  It’s always an adventure.  And so is life.   An example:  when I married The Professor, lo those many years ago, I thought I was marrying a man who was going to be a college professor (like his father).  Our life course changed and I was a missionary wife, an engineer’s wife, back to missionary wife again, and then finally, in our last decade or two of working before retirement, I became a professor’s wife.  So, I guess I did marry a professor; it just took a long time for that to happen.

5. As October winds down tell us three things you loved about the month we're bidding adieu. 

                I loved the turning leaves.

                I loved the crisp blue sky days.

                I loved unpacking boxes in my new home and ‘rediscovering’ items I had packed months ago. 

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

               You do not need to work out at the gym if you are unpacking your new home.  Lots of steps.  Plenty of heavy lifting, bending, moving.  

Wednesday is Hodgepodge Day

Fall Hodgepodge Wednesday.  Welcome~

 1. Just your weekly mid-week reminder that it's fall y'all and it's my favorite. I love nearly all the flavors of fall but let's weigh in with an either or today...pumpkin or cranberry? hot apple cider or pumpkin spice latte? cinnamon or maple? apple or pear? ginger or sage? carrot or butternut squash? Yes you have to choose. What's a favorite dish made with one of the flavors listed here? 

I love both pumpkin and cranberry!  Once or twice a year, I will drink a pumpkin spice latte, but it's a big treat.  Cinnamon, yes.  Maple, yes.  In fact, yes to all of the above.  How can I choose?  It depends on what  they are 'peared' with.  I adore ginger and maple the most!  A favorite dish?  Well, I make granola with maple sugar and cinnamon.  Does that count?

2. Do you miss traveling? In this season of almost no travel do you think you've grown anxious or fearful about traveling again? Or has all this staying home not going anywhere made you restless to get out and see the world? What book have you read or what movie have you watched that has inspired you to travel?

We had planned to visit Alaska which is the ONLY US state we haven't visited.  But that was canceled due to this season of no travel.  So on that point, I am disappointed.  Our whole family loves to travel and the other evening we spent the whole time together "planning" a trip to England.  Where do we want to go most?  What do we want to see? 

 Am I restless?  Not really.  Having moved 2400 miles in the past two months, I'd say I'm happy to be resting in my new place a bit. 

Books:  right now I am rereading a book titled Traveled Far by Kevin Fossett.  The book chronicles his wanderings along paths all over England.  He also tells the story of his walk on St. James Way.  Another author who inspires me to travel is Louis L'Amour.

3. A time you felt like you were 'flying by the seat of your pants'? Explain. 

When I was eighteen and had just graduated from high school, I switched my college choice in JULY on a whim.  I had never head of Los Angeles Baptist College, but I met a Gospel team from the school at a summer camp where I was working.  Short story:  I ended up at LABC (which is now called The Master's University), on a scholarship and never regretted my seat of my pants change.

4. Do you struggle with road rage or are you more of a 'Sunday driver'? Do you like to be 'in the driver's seat (literally and/or figuratively speaking) ?

I don't really have a problem with road rage.  I might lecture the driver about his driving etiquette or 'ask' him where he learned to drive, but I don't get mad.

I do not enjoy being front man on a project.  I excel at doing the background work, though.  Literally?  Yes, I enjoy driving but The Professor usually does the driving when we are together in the car.

5. Something you've recently 'put the brakes on'? 

I don't think it's recently, but I have massive brakes on political conversations.  They seldom end well.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We are full speed ahead on moving in to our new home.  The trailer with our possessions arrived this afternoon.  The painters will be finished with their job today.  Moving crew will be there at 9:00 am on Friday.  Yes, I am ready to be settled!

Mid October is a Cheery Time

Here is a quick update on Willow's Week for FRIDAY FAVE FIVES.

1.  I'm thankful that we will take possession of our home this afternoon or this evening!  If I am a bit absent around blogland for the next few days, that's why.

2.  The weather has been mostly warmish and sunny.  Only one day of rain.  But I am thankful for both.

3.  I took a little fall, slipping in the rain as I crossed a street.  I am thankful that I was not hurt much, just bruised a bit on my calf because I was holding on to my shopping cart.  I guess all my hiking and walking helps.

4.  This past week we watched a gardening in the fall and winter seminar online.  Produced by a local university, it provided good information for someone like me who has never before gardened in a really cold climate.  Now I have lots of ideas for what and how I can grow some veggies through the winter.  I am thankful for these opportunities to learn.

5.  The Professor and I took a lovely four mile walk along a bike path.  Walking under the tree canopy, we enjoyed all the autumn colors.

All the leaves to scuffle and shuffle along the path

Are you enjoying the colors that God has used to paint our world?

Friday Means Fave Fives

Happy Friday!  Friday Fave Fives are here again.  The link to Susanne's blog will take you to share others' weekly blessings.  Here are mine for this second week of October.

1.  We have a home!  Papers were signed, and now we await the date for possession.  I am so very thankful for home!

2.  Daughter #2 has been letting us live with her for the past two months.  That's true love and filial affection.

3.  We found a pizza place that has vegan cheese and vegan sausage!  Yay!  I can have my vegan pizza!

4.   Phone calls from a good friend are always a blessing.  My friend moved to Tennessee about the same time I moved to Ohio.  We're back in the same time zone, and we are planning to have regular phone call times.  We talked this week, and oh it was so good just to hear "Jo's"* voice. *my nickname for her.

5.  Have you watched End Game?  The last Avengers movie.  Why is this a fave?  I watched it with and for my grandkids.  It's a fave because I did it with them.

Bonus:  all the leaves are turning beautiful autumn colors!

And so went Willow's Week.  What blessings did you find this week?

E is for...

Truth from A to Z.

My verse for this week is E.  E is eternal.

 John 17:3

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Linking up with Ellen at Happy Wonderer.

A Hodgepodge of Thoughts

Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce as the hostess.  Click THIS LINK to join.

1. What's one part of your everyday routine you'd be better off without? 

                In the afternoon, I have the tendency to sit too long and then get up and grab a snack.  I really don’t need either.

2. October 5th is/was National Do Something Nice Day. So what did you/will you do? 

                I drove my daughter to physical therapy and picked up a coffee for her. 

3. What question do you hate to answer? 

                “Can you teach me to knit?”  I am a left-handed knitter, so it is difficult for me to teach right-handed people the basics of knitting.   And I hate saying no. 

4. Do we have control over technology or does it have control over us. In that same vein, have you watched The Social Dilemma (available on Netflix) and if so what did you think?

                Whether we realize it or not, technology is controlling our lives.  Advertisements.  Politics.  News.  Social interaction.  What do you do if you have a question about something?  Pick up your phone or dart over to your computer and ask Google.  No longer do we step over to the bookcase and pull that book off the shelf and open it to find the answer.  I have not watched The Social Dilemma yet.  I do see the negative effect that electronics is having on my grandchildren.  Smart phones.  Smart watches.  IPads.

5. What are three small things that make your day better? 

                I’ve always stated that the three great goods in life are a hot shower (or bath), a comfortable bed, and a strong cup of coffee in the morning.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

                I love having a garden.  Dreaming and planning, I am imagining next year’s garden in my new plot of land.  Flowers, herbs, shrubs, vegetables.  And a small place to sit and relax. 

Hello October!

 I'm a day late, but I really hope I'm not a dollar short.  Or even a few pennies.

It's Saturday Friday Fave Fives time!  It's October, the tenth month of this year. This year has sometimes crept along and sometimes raced so fast I couldn't keep up.  Always, it is important to stop and reflect and remember the many many blessings I have in my daily life.  Here is Willow's Week in Five Faves.  Thank you, Susanne, for leading this exercise in gratitude every Friday.  Here's the LINK. 

1.  You many recall that my younger daughter had ankle surgery about six weeks ago. She has been cleared for physical therapy and has been making great progress.  Her post op appointment was yesterday (which explains my lateness in doing FFF since I am her driver.) and she is healing well according to her doctor.  Yay!

2.  We took a lovely drive and hike to a park in the next county north of here and hiked down to the falls.  It wasn't a long trail but it was lovely to be in the trees and next to the creek.  No photos cuz I forgot my camera.

3.  So on Thursday, we drove south a bit and parked next to a section of one of the TJ Evans Trails and walked on the paved bike trail.  One thing I love about my new home is all the accessible trails.

4.  One of the benefits of zoom meetings is that we can still call in to group meetings and see our friends.  There was a church business meeting and we joined and were able to 'see' friends and know how things are going at our CA church.

5.  This isn't so much a fave for me personally, but our granddaughter was SO HAPPY to go back to physical school on starting on Wednesday.  She's an extrovert and is loving being back with her friends.  I'm glad for her.

And so that is my Five Faves for this first week of October!

DEPEND

Ellen at Happy Wonderer has been hosting a challenge to post Bible verses through the alphabet.  Today is D.  And I have chosen the word depend.

D

 is for DEPEND

Psalm 62:5-6

5 I depend on God alone; I put my hope in him. 

6 He alone protects and saves me; he is my defender, and I shall never be defeated.