Gratitude Through the Decades

 Good Friday Morning!  The sun is shining.  I'm up.  Since it is that day of the week for Friday Fave Fives, I've been contemplating which blessings to choose to share.

1.  When Susanne mentioned last Friday that it was the 700th Friday Fave Fives, I decided to scroll back to her first FFF and check the date; then I checked my blog to for the first time I joined in.  She started on August 15, 2008, and I wrote my first one on September 5, 2008.  Wow!  Fourteen years! (Have I really been blogging that long?  Actually, I started this blog in October 2005.)  I found Friday Fave Fives through Ellen at Happy Wonderer (we knew each other face to face as well as via blogs). And I have made many online friends through Susanne's hosting FFF.

2.  The patio is SO SO SO close to being finished!  Then I will take photos and share them.  All that is left is inserting the metal 'cage' in the firepit and installing the lighting under the wall caps.

3.  The leaves are just beginning to turn now.  Autumn is my favorite season and The Professor's, too.

4.  I love chai lattes.  Younger Daughter introduced me to a chai latte a few months ago.  In particular, one coffee shop we frequent has one I love.  Had one this week.

5.  When I was checking back on when I started doing FFFs, I allowed myself to be sucked into reading lots of old blog posts I have written through the years.  I lost myself in various road trips we have taken, our adventures in England, our visits with friends and family.  What blessings and joys we have experienced!  Looking back made me realize how God has blessed me.

Have you looked back lately and found things to be grateful for?

Happy Fall!

Oops.  It's Saturday.  I'm late for Friday Fave Fives with Susanne. Well, better late than not at all.  I am thankful that we woke up this morning (and every morning this week) strong and healthy and able to do what was put in front of us.  This week is the 700th! week that Susanne has hosted Friday Fave Fives!  Follow the link to celebrate the week and the years with us.

1.  Older daughter's home is nearly empty.  We will empty the last few items from the garage on the weekend.  Half done!  On to Younger Daughter's last few things at her place.

2.  One evening when we were loading boxes into our cars, it started to rain.  Not just a few drops, but it was a downpour and thunderstorm.  The short drive to the new place was slow because we could hardly see.  And of course, we just unloaded the boxes in the rain.  A fave?? Why would THAT be a fave??  It's because we all just looked at each other and started to laugh.  That's our family...

3.  Since then, the weather has been absolutely perfect!   We've been calling it Southern California winter.  Which has been helpful for the amazing hard workers recreating our patio.

4.  We greeted the arrival of Autumn (it's Fall, y'all!) with a yummy hearty minestrone style veggie soup.

5.  I think my fifth fave just has to be that we are thankful that we are almost done with the moves.

Oh~  I just thought of a bonus.  My ophthalmologist checked my eyes this week and gave me an 'all clear' diagnosis. (get the pun?)  I am thankful for that!

What things are you thankful for?  Autumn equinox?  Morning coffee?  

Rejoice Always

 It is hard to believe that this is the third Friday of September.  But, here it is.  (And next week is the beginning of autumn!)  This month has been so busy that it is flying by.  But I need to stop and reflect on the blessings of this time.  "Rejoice always!"  One] way I help myself focus is to join several other people in Friday Fave Fives, writing FIVE ways I have been blessed or encouraged this week.  [follow the link to join in]

1.  I am so thankful for email and cellphones.  I live 2,500 miles away from my only sibling, my brother.  I am also very close to my sister-in-law, having been BFFs in high school.  So when we are able to easily pick up our phones and talk to each other or send a text or email, it is wonderful. (did you notice the extra fave in there? my brother married my best friend)

2.  This week we again met our friends T and S for coffee.  They are so much fun.  Knowing that they would be a few minutes late arriving at our pre-chosen destination, they decided to prank us and text us about the time they arrived, asking us if we were on our way to another location.  (we messed that one up a few weeks ago)  Just about the time, I read that text, they walked in the door!  Good prank!  We had a great laugh about that one.

3.  Younger Daughter and her two children are mostly moved in to the new house.  There are a few things in the basement and garage that still need to be transferred.  All those people helping was a major blessing.  We can expect that to be done in the next week or two.

4.  Older Daughter and Tall Boy are packing like crazy because they move tomorrow!  (To be very clear on this, the two families are moving in together--same home.  Being two single moms now, they realized that having two adults in the house is a big help.  And since they grew up together,  well, they know how to live together.)  Friends are lined up to help them move.

5.  A major thing is happening at Willow's Cottage right now.  Our patio was becoming uneven and sinking in one area.  We had been thinking about making some changes in that area, so we decided to just get a new one installed.  We've been waiting most of the summer for our wonderful contractor/landscape guy to start it.  The whole process has been fascinating, loud and crazy.  After two days, this is what it looks like.  I am so thankful that the work is started and we will soon have a new patio and firepit!

removing cement is a little scary

no more cement, just dirt

after two days of work for three workers

The perspective isn't great in this photo; no, our backyard is not an acre long.

I hope you can find more more than five wonderful things that happened in your life this week.

Being Thankful in September

Happy Friday!  Busy week here again.  I am popping in to post my Friday Fave Fives.  If I don't do that, I quickly forget to BE THANKFUL.  Here are my Faves for Willoow's Second Week of September.

1.  The news yesterday that Queen Elizabeth II had passed away hit a bit hard. I am not British, but I have traveled extensively in England and have several good friends who are British, so I know the love and respect with which Her Majesty was regarded.  Did you read the statement written by the Archbishop of Canterbury?  My thoughts and prayers are with you all across the pond.  My fave in this?  Only that I honor the " steadfast loyalty, service and humility" the queen has displayed for the past seventy years as monarch of the United Kingdom.

2.  On a lighter note, we common folk enjoyed a Sweet Corn Festival last weekend.  Our coffee date friends S and T live walking distance from the location of the corn fest, so we drove down and parked in their driveway and strolled the three blocks to the festival grounds.  The way I described the day in my journal was 'we ate our way through the food section'.  Funnel cake.  Popcorn.  Tacos.  Hot dogs.  You name it!  AND a good friend from our church owns and operates the coffee truck!  AND he knows T and S!  What a small world.  AND our California extra family joined us for their first Ohio festival adventure.

3.  We enjoyed a wonderful evening having dinner and dessert at the home of church friends who want to get to know us better.  A lovely time was had by all.

4.  The Professor had a successful MOHS surgery on a spot on his face.  All cancer eradicated.

5.  We are nearly finished with prepping for our daughters' move in which begins tomorrow with younger daughter's moving all her furniture and belongings in (along with her two children).  Truck is reserved.  Helpers are arranged.  Boxes are packed.  Then next weekend, it will be Older Daughter's turn.  The fave?  People helping all this come together.

I hope this has been a week of gratitude and faves for you!

Is It Really September?

 Thank you to everyone who sent their condolences for the loss of our granddog Shep.  It meant so much to me.  Although Shep didn't live at our house, he was our very special doggie, and he especially loved taking walks with The Professor.

Here it is Friday again.  AND IT'S SEPTEMBER!  (I saw a notice somewhere that pumpkin spice lattes are back, so it must really be coming up autumn!)  As I reflect back on this past week, I am amazed at how fast it has flown by.  That is most likely because we have been so busy.  Here are my Five Faves--  Willow's Week with Susanne and others at Friday Fave Fives.

1.  Last Saturday, our local Vietnam veterans were honored at an event at the local airport.  Helicopter rides were available (not free), an Army band was there playing, local veterans and families were presented with plaques.  The Professor is a Vietnam Veteran.  After so many decades of no honor for him and others who served in Vietnam, it was very nice to attend such a ceremony.

2.  House renovations are moving along on our daughter's new house.  Almost all the rooms are ready for painting.  We've been over there almost every day stripping wallpaper.  Yes, we're thankful we are seeing the last of the wallpaper.

3.  I was able to drive my younger daughter in to her office one day this week.  She is ALMOST ready to start driving again.

4.  While I was waiting the hours for her to do some work, get signatures on documents, I decided to explore a bit of that part of the city.  There is a river that runs through it and there are parks and trails which connect them.  So I chose a place to park near the rose garden and enjoyed a lovely walk through urban woods. Then I returned in time to help her prepare for a take out evening dinner for the doctors who had a meeting.

There was a pollinator garden along the trail.  I think it is a success.

5.  Out of the blue, I received a text from someone at our church inviting us over for dinner!  What a delight!  So that is where we will be this evening.  I am so very thankful for the wonderful friendships we are making in our new community.

And, for fun, I leave you with this quote which I found in the rose garden.