The Last Day of May!

 It is the last day of May!  We are five-twelfths through the year.  Crazy!  And it's Friday and time for Friday Fave Fives with Susanne as our host.  Every week, we think back on our days and find five ways we have been blessed.  I find this exercise to be helpful for me to focus on all the good things in my life and to help me not wallow in the difficulties.  The LINK takes you to Susanne's blog where you can read more and join us.

1.  My laptop is back up and running well.  The Professor found a local guy who does this kind of repair from his home, and his place is walking distance from our house.  Saturday afternoon, we walked over and picked up the computer and had a great chat with him. (one thing I love about Ohio-- people are friendly)

2.  As I checked my little 'diary' where I keep an account of each day's happenings, I noticed that EVERY DAY this week I wrote that I worked in the garden.  My garden is my happy place.  I am so thankful that I have the space to mess with plants on the east, west, north and south sides of our home.

3.  One afternoon, our neighbor was out doing some cleaning with her power washer.  She ended up cleaning our (hers and ours) front sidewalk.  When I thanked her, she replied that she was having fun.  And the sidewalk looks like new!

4.  Our garage clean up is almost done!  We can again park our car in the garage.  The past two days, The Professor has been putting up wall hangings for our garden tools.  Am I weird to love an orderly garage?

5.  For the second week in a row, we have invited people for dinner at our house.  This youngerish couple used to be in our life group at church, but they have moved to a church closer to their home.  We miss them, so we've been having meals together regularly just to catch up on life.

And now for a bit of a photo dump...

the wedding~

Father escorting his daughter down the 'aisle'.  (note Tall Boy in the background in charge of sound)

Prayer of dedication

Cutting the cake at the reception

Sunset on a stormy evening

I am so happy to have my computer back in working order!

The Colors of Spring

 Here is proof that my laptop is functioning again!

All the colors in Willow's garden!

The bees and butterflies approve.

Even the mallard ducks dropped in to check out my garden!

Fave Fives for Late May

 There is some progress being made on the recovery of my laptop. Maybe, just maybe, we may have access today to the replacement fan.  Waiting for that text on The Professor's phone.   In the meantime, I am taking photos but can't move them from my camera.

Anyway,  this week has still moved quickly.  The weather has bloomed into true late spring. Warm, humid, with cloudy arriving carrying bouts of rainfall.  Tall Boy was finally able to mow our lawn yesterday. It looks great!  The flowers in the pollinators garden are blooming. The bees are happy.

What else could we wish for? What else has blessed us this week? Here are five more happy events.  I am linking my Friday Fave Fives to Susanne's blog (susannesspace.blogspot.com)

1. In anticipation of some more active weeks traveling, I have been working with a young woman doing some strength training. While I tease her that she's killing me, I do appreciate how she is pushing me to improve my upper body strength.

2.  Our handyman came back this week and power washed our house. It sure needed it. And now it looks great.

3.  I am almost finished with knitting a vest for a friend. All I need to do is have her try it on and then sew up the sides. It was made from the wool of local alpaca.   Photos hopefully coming soon.

4.  Our younger grandson, Warrior Boy, graduated from eighth grade this week.  How did this happen? So proud of the progress he has made.

5.  Two dinners with friends. We love the food but especially the fellowship.

BONUS! I SAVED THE BEST UNTIL LAST.  S and S were married last Saturday!  Who are they? You may recall that a family foursome who we call our kids and grandkids moved from SoCal about two years ago.  We have known them for more than twenty years. The younger son married his sweetheart on Saturday! And now we have another granddaughter!

Random photos of the south coast of England (Jurassic Coast) for your enjoyment of the beauty of this area (from April 2022).

And of course Eleanor wanted to have her picture too!

Faves of Mid May

 Unfortunately,  I still have no access to photos and so what I  share will be all words.  Here are my Friday Fave Fives for this mid May week.  I still haven't figured out how to make a link on my tablet, but you can go to susannesspace.blogspot.com to join us.

1.  Obviously, Mother's Day was wonderful. Phone calls. Texts. Dinner. Cards. I was blessed with a wonderful mother. And I have two daughters and a daughter-in-law who are mothers.  Truly, I am blessed.

2.  Our beekeeper guy came to check on the bee hive and take the honeycombs home with him. On Tuesday morning he returned with our first batch of honey!  Oh I wish you could see it! Ten pint jars and five quart jars of liquid gold! All from our little back garden hive!  And it tastes marvelous!

3.  Gardens. Our wildflower garden is blooming.  Red. Purple. White. Pink. Orange. Yellow. I wish I could share a photo of them.  And the vegetable garden is beginning to show signs of progress. Mostly green shoots of cucumbers, snap peas,  lettuce, kale and spinach.  The tomatoes and peppers are growing too.

4.  We had our wedding rings resized because ours no longer fit our fingers.  This week they were finished and we picked them up.  I love being able to wear my ring again.

5. Our garage walls are done! They look great! Now to put all.  the. stuff. back where it belongs. I am thankful for a good and careful and honest handyman.

Extra!  The boys' Trail Life Troup did an outing on Tuesday night. While they all walked through a local preserve playing disc golf, I took off on my own and hiked in the light rain and tromped through the mud. It was so much fun!

So those are my five blessings from this week. I hope you were able to get through all the reading with no pictures.  How about you? Did you have a week of blessings?

Not the trail I was on... but paths near Canterbury, England along Via Francigena (taken in April 2022).

Mother's Day Weekend

FRIDAY!   Time for Friday Fave Fives. Link is susannesspace.blogspot.com.  My faves might be a bit different in this post.  Maybe no photos again as my laptop is not functional  right now. However, The Professor knows someone who can fix it, so it may not be out of commission for too long.  Anyway... on to FFFs.

1.   I  am feeling better. Sometimes, resting is the best medicine.  Thanks for all your concerns for me.

2.   In fact, I was able to get outside and walk most days and also spend quite a bit of time in the garden.

3. And... go to one workout with a young woman who is helping me gain more upper body strength.

4.  Safety.  Our county was under another tornado warning one evening.  Fortunately, we were safe, and I haven't heard of any major damage in the area.  And we appreciated getting the rain.

5.   This week , a young handyman is finishing our garage walls for us.  We had put up the insulation and wallboard,  but frankly we are getting old for taping, mudding, sanding and painting.  The work should be done by Monday. It is a win-win. Our garage walls are finished, and he has work to support his young family.

So, friends, have a wonderful weekend! Thank your mom and if she isn't with you any longer, honor her memory.

Random photos of flowers which I took in England two years ago (they are on my tablet).

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

May Has Arrived!

Welcome to May!  This Friday, the weather is a bit under clouds and I'm a bit under the weather, too.  So it is a day of rest for me.  The quiet time today is a good time to focus my fuzzy brain on all the wonderful ways I have been blessed this week so I can post them as my Friday Fave Fives.  Several of us join together with Susanne on her blog to post blessings from our week.  Join us!

1.  Again this week, we got in a couple of four mile walks.  Because I miss the beaches in SoCal, I try to walk near water, preferably creeks and rivers (water needs to be moving!)  We decided to walk with younger daughter at a new to us spot-- the other end of the Black Hand Gorge Trail.  It was beautiful.  And the granddogs loved it, too.  [NOTE:  not sure why I am not able to upload any photos.  If you are having issues, too, please let me know.]

2.  I am slowly putting the garden together.  Cucumbers and basil were planted in this week and soon I will be adding replacement tomatoes for the ones that died in the frost.  I also have borage and parsley, lettuce and kale to add, too.

3.  I love when I get a text from our former neighbor in CA.  World's Best Neighbor is what I call her.  She catches me up on all the neighbors and on her life, too.  And of course, knitting.  I am so thankful to quick and easy communication.

4.  Libraries!  Tall Boy requested a visit to the local library this week.  I took him after his piano lesson.  The library allows any adult to sign him up for a card, as long as they take responsibility for any costs like lost books.  I accepted the conditions. So now he has his own card.  Our plan is to drop by the library regularly.

5.  I know that I often mention our friends T and S who we meet for coffee weekly.  This week was extra special because Younger Daughter had a a few days off work and joined us.  We laughed so much and talked for so long.  We never fail to just enjoy each others' company.  Our friendship is a hug blessing to us. (And I love that our girls and grands love them, too.)

So, my friends, think about your week and remember the goodness in your life.  Be blessed.  Be well.  Be thankful.