Home!

Welcome to Friday Fave Fives, my first entry on the blog since we arrived HOME.  If you are a frequent reader of Willow's Cottage, you will be familiar with FFFs; if you're not, follow THIS LINK to Susanne's blog where she hosts this weekly exercise in being thankful and finding blessings in our daily lives.

1.  We made it HOME safely.  I am thankful that The Professor is a good defensive driver.  There are crazy  drivers out there and we are glad to be home safe and sound.

2.  I am thankful that we arrived HOME to a cool house that had the AC running efficiently.  Our temperatures have been extremely high this week, in the mid to high 90s, and the humidity index has been racing to keep up with those numbers.

3.  I am thankful that we have been able to just rest a lot since we returned HOME.  Advantages of retirement are that we can travel and that when we arrive home tired, we can rest.

4. Our daughters and grandkids were appointed to try to keep our garden alive.  It wasn't easy in those hot temperatures.  But I am thankful that most all the flowers and veggies survived.  I wouldn't say that they are all thriving in this heat (but then neither am I).  However, we have had many many cherry tomatoes, an abundance of kale and plenty of carrots to enjoy.

5. Earlier this week after we were HOME, I had a minor surgery performed on my upper arm to remove a non aggressive cancer spot.  I am thankful that I have good healthcare, that my dermatologist PA recognized it and had it biopsied last month.  Now I am in the healing part of the procedure.  Cleaning.  Applying Vaseline.  Using a non-stick dressing.  Thankfully, all is going well.

These are my Five Faves, my Five Blessings from this last week of August.

Still On the Road

 This is another week of Friday Fave Fives that I am focusing on our travels. Yes, this has been a long trip. Long but wonderful.  We have put many many miles on our car, and seen many many places in the past two weeks.  These are the highlights from this past week for which I am thankful.

1.  The one full day we were in western Oregon, we happened to be there for a memorial service for a family member (we did not know when the service would be when we left home).  Although the occasion was a sad one, the service for my cousin's husband, it was also a reunion for all the cousins on my father's side of our family. I honestly can't recall the last time we were all together. Yes, six boys and two girls.

2. And after the memorial, four of us dragged our spouses along to a coffee shop so we could continue talking and remembering and making more memories. Actually, when we planned this trip, we did not know there would be a service or that we would see all my cousins.  It was a very special time.  (We were in the Portland area for only thirty-six hours!)

3.  Of course, if we are on the west coast, we have to make a visit to the beach!

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

4.  Our drive home is taking us through mountain passes, among evergreen forests and along basin and range desert-like terrain, and midwest breadbasket farms.  Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and finally Ohio. We love to travel, obviously. But we are also looking forward to being home soon.

Twin Falls, Idaho

Long, straight roads through Idaho and Wyoming.

5.  I am thankful that both my brother and The Professor are good drivers.  On Sunday, on the way to the beach, we drove through a torrential rainstorm.  Safely.  And all along the highways and byways, two lane roads, and freeways, we have been safe.  As I mentioned to The Professor just this afternoon, it is amazing that there are so few road accidents, considering all the cars and trucks and busses on the roads and all the drivers (good and bad).  We have three more long days of driving to reach home; we would appreciate any and all prayers for our safety.

PS:  did you notice that I actually was able to post a few photos?  We may have a solution!

Mid August Means Travel

 Friday Fave Fives from Willow as she travels.  It's not always easy to be online and have access and time to post.  But for me it is important that I focus on the best parts of each week and share those blessings here on my blog.  So I am resting this evening in yet another hotel and reviewing in my mind what happened this week.

1.  A few hours spent with one of my best friends from college years.  M and I traveled with the woman I have named Blueberry Lady here on the blog.  The three of us spent two summers and four school years singing as a trio and representing our college.  M lives in Iowa now and we were able to have lunch with her and catch up on our lives.

M and me a couple of years ago when we visited her in Iowa

2.  Then we drove north a bit and spent the evening and overnight with The Professor's cousin who lives on a large farm there in Iowa.  She always makes me feel like I am just as much a cousin as The Professor is to her.

3.  A very special thing happened that Saturday evening.  We met our older son in Kansas and had dinner with him and then breakfast the next morning!  He is an Army Reserve Chaplain and had duty in Kansas that weekend.  What a wonderful time we had with him!

4.  Older daughter, our rocket scientist engineer, celebrated her birthday this week!

5.  And... we have made our way across the United States, driving along the Oregon Trail (as closely as possible) through Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.  I have taken so many photos!  But I'm having more difficulties downloading them so I can post them.  (We know a solution so hopefully we can fix this problem soon).  Our favorite?  Driving over South Pass in Wyoming along the actual wagon ruts (for about a half mile on BLM land) where the Oregon pioneers drove their wagons! And now we are almost to our destination.  We are taking a quick detour into Washington to visit the Hanford site of the Manhattan Project, a National Historical Site.

I hope you are finding many things in your life, too, that make you grateful!

August, Second Week

 We are traveling.  Again.  This time, we are on a road trip.  This trip had been planned before our adventure in Ireland, England and Wales.  So we wanted to keep our plans in place.  Yes, it has been a busy summer, but we are enjoying it.

And now it is Friday already.  Time for me to stop, breathe, and ponder all the blessings of this past week.  That's what Friday Fave Fives is for.  To help us slow down, think, and be thankful.

1.  Older Son's (Chaplain Dan) birthday was on the 3rd.  We had good conversations with him and found out he will be in the area that we are passing through on Saturday!  He is a US Army Reserve Chaplain and is spending some time on duty in Kansas.  So we will be able to see him!

2.  Older Daughter's birthday will be while we are gone.  So after church on Sunday, we took her and Tall Boy to lunch at her favorite restaurant, Olive Garden.  It was good to spend that time with them and celebrate her life.  (our rocket science girl)

3.  Books on Kindle.  I appreciate having so many more books available to read through our local library.  And I can put many of them on my Kindle to read and not have to carry all the heavy volumes while we travel.

4.  A safe car to drive.  I am thankful for our 2023 Honda CRV.  We had basic service done on it (oil change) and know it is in great condition to take us on our road trip.

5.  I know I chose this as a fave last week, but truly I am thankful for air conditioning.  It has been so hot and humid this past week that I don't know how I could have handled it and home and in the car without AC.

I hope you take time this week (today) to remember all the ways you have been blessed this week.

August and Friends,

It is Friday and time for Friday Fave Fives (the link takes you to Susanne's blog where you can read more or join in).  It is evening here and I am sitting in the cool temperatures of my home.  It has been a busy but wonderful week.  Here are five things that I appreciate from this week.

1.  August has arrived.  So has the heat and humidity. I am thankful for air conditioning.

2.  We have had TWO groups of company over the past week.  I know that one thing I am grateful for is that they did not overlap which would have made accommodations difficult.  An MK* from Papua, Indonesia who grew up with my children drove from one state over to visit Older Daughter and to visit a college her daughter is interested in attending. Yes, her daughter was with her.  We had an absolutely delightful time hosting these two sweet ones.  Maybe the best part was listening to the two 'girls' reminisce about all their adventures as children in the jungle.  (MK* means missionary kid)

3.  On Monday we drove them to the college which is about one and a half hours away.  We were very impressed with it and with the cute town. After that, we stopped by Hocking Hills State Park and did a short hike to one of the waterfalls.  Unfortunately, there wasn't much of a falls due to the lack of rain recently.  It was more like drip, drip.  But it was still beautiful.

4. I am thankful for a young woman who comes to help me clean my house.  She had enough time to pop in and do her work before the next company arrived.

5.  It was a joy to have a couple visit us for two days/nights.  We have known S and S for nearly forty years.  Our last thirteen years in Southern California we attended the same church.  And for those eight years when I was teaching homeschool kids in the writing/composition classes, S was my boss.  While they were here, we didn't do any major trips.  Mostly we just enjoyed each others' company.    We remembered all the years. We talked nonstop. We laughed.  As I write this, they are at the airport waiting for their flight back to California.

What have been the blessings in your life this week?