A Week of Walks and Dogs

Happy Friday, everyone!  Here at Willow's Cottage, it has been a busy week and a busy Friday.  Now it is Friday evening and I am resting and thinking back on all the blessings of this week.  Five Faves to share with you.  If you are a regular reader here, you know that Susanne hosts us every week at Friday Fave Fives. (follow the link)

These are my faves for this second week of September.

1.  I walked/hiked every day this past week.  I am really working on walking every day.  So far this month, I've missed only one day.  This may be a record for me.

2.  Two walks in the local arboretum, Dawes Arboretum.  We are blessed to have a wonderful local arboretum just a few miles away from our home.  Dawes Arboretum is made up of almost 2,000 acres.  So many paths.  Acres and acres of trees.  Japanese Garden.  And so much more.  The granddogs love walking here.

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3.  First Bible Study of the season.  We started back this Thursday on our weekly studies.  I am blessed to be able to be part of this group.

4.  Phone calls with my brother.  We try to talk to each other most every week because we live 2,400 miles apart.  I treasure those conversations.

5.  A photo that made me happy this week.  PAL's flipflops and Chaplain Dan's boots by the front door.

AND... Senior Photo of Tall Boy...

Sunflower Season

There are So.Many.Sunflowers blooming in my garden right now.  I love to sit and gaze out the window and watch all the birds, especially the yellow goldfinches, squatting on the flowers and leaves and stalks.  Those birds love to snack on the sunflower seeds.

Last week's strong winds blew several of the plants over, so I cut the flowers and brought them into the house and put them into vases.  So much sunny joy!

I left these to lean over the north side fence.

I love sunflowers!

Hello September!

It's September!  Ninth month of 2025.  School is back in the schedule.  The weather seems to be moderating (finally).  This week has been full of the usual busyness of life.  Friday is the day I just pause and remind myself of how blessed I am.  Susanne hosts us and we share our Friday Fave Fives (follow the link to join).

1.  Over the long weekend, we enjoyed not one, but TWO, bonfires.  Sunday night we hosted our church life group and enjoyed time just chatting around the fire.  Monday night we did the same thing with family.  It was perfect weather and a perfect way to celebrate Labor Day weekend.

2.  I am keeping up my walking. Six of the last eight days (including today).

3.  Peaches!  NurseGirl and I took PAL and her mom to the local peach orchard to buy fresh local peaches.  Yum!

4.  PAL and her mom like to visit thrift stores.  One day this week, we enjoyed checking out three thrift stores. We may have bought a few really great bargains...

5.  Yesterday, September 4th, is remembered by us for two reasons.  It was the wedding anniversary of The Professor's parents who were married during WWII.  Also, on their anniversary, we decided to announce our engagement.  September 4th is a wonderful day for us to remember.

AND... Tall Boy's Senior Photos...

End of August

Here it is Friday again and I am running in quickly to post my Friday Fave Fives before it's Saturday. (follow the link to join us) Life is so busy right now, but it is a good busy.  Chaplain and his family are settling in and looking for a permanent place to live.  In the meantime, life is filled with lots of activities.  Here are things I am noticing today and am thankful for.

1.  I have been gone most of the day today because I drove The Professor an hour's drive away to have an evaluation done to check if he can return to driving.  The answer (after two hours of testing!) is YES!  Exactly three months ago today, he suffered that mild stroke, and now he is back to almost completely normal!  That's a HUGE fave!

2.  Having an energetic almost eleven year old around helps us increase our activity.  In the past nine days, I have taken walks eight of them.  In fact, today we walked three and a half miles.  The granddogs joined us on that walk.

3.  The weather has cooled down and we are able to get more yardwork done.  I am truly thankful for a respite from the heat and humidity.

4.  It's fun to see the local wild life when we are walking...

Heron

5.  Fun with PAL.  Besides our walks, she is keeping busy.  This week, she created a cage house for me.  I am thankful for special times with her!  And with the other grands, too.

And, again, in honor of Tall Boy being a high school senior...

A Busy Week

Another week has flown by.  I had planned to post a couple of times this week, but things got a bit busy.  (you'll see why later in this post...)  I am slowing down and remembering all the blessings I have had this week and sharing five of them here.  Friday Fave Fives is my weekly way to show how blessed I am. (the link takes you to where you can read more and join in)

1.  Hummingbirds at my feeder!  I've been waiting ALL SUMMER for them to do more than just fly by.  I think bright red flowers have helped.

 

2.  Indonesian Independence Day.  August 17.  Eighty years since independence was declared from The Netherlands.  If you have been reading my blog for very long, you will know that my family and I lived in Indonesia for about ten years when we were missionaries doing linguistics and Bible translation for a small tribe on the island of New Guinea (the Indonesia side, province of what is now Papua). 'Tujubelas Agustus' is Indonesia's Fourth of July.  We were invited to attend the ceremony in Columbus as Rocket Girl has an Indonesian co-worker.  We had a wonderful time.  The food, language, and clothes brought back so many memories.  And we met many delightful people

3.  I think I mentioned earlies this year that I had sent a photo to a friend that I had taken on my visit to Innis Mor, Aran Islands, Ireland last year and she made a watercolor painting of it.  I love it and had it framed. I am thankful that my friend made me this memento of my Ireland trip. This is the photo she used...

4.  A small but very loving thing... Nurse Girl knows I love maple oat scones and can seldom find them.  Last weekend, she happened on a bakery that had some!  And she bought one and brought it home to me!

5.  I saved the best for last.  This is why we have been so busy.  Remember that Chaplain Dan (older son) came to visit in June?  One additional reason he flew out here was to explore the possibility of moving to this area.  Well, shortly after his return to Arizona, he was offered a position here which he accepted!  Yes!  PAL and her parents arrived this week and are staying with us until they find their own home!  I haven't even taken a single photo.  But we have spent all our days and evenings just enjoying their company.

How was your week?

Mid August Faves

Happy Friday!  It's time to slow down!  I need to step away from the treadmill of life and take it slow for a few minutes.  That's what Friday Fave Fives is for.  A time to check back on my week and just be thankful.  The link takes you to Susanne's blog where you can join other people and also be encouraged by their items of thanksgiving. 

1.  As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, August is Birthday Month.  Another birthday was celebrated this week.  Happy Birthday to my older daughter, Rocket Scientist Girl! (yes, she really is!)

My Faceb--k post earlier this week:

Happy Happy Birthday! You have always been adventurous from the time we spent in Bandung, Indonesia and Papua, Indonesia, to all the other places you have lived and visited. You will always be up for another adventure.

Me holding Chaplain, my mom holding Rocket Girl.

Short story before you are bored with it all... I got a text one day in October 2017 saying, "Hey Mom, want to go on a short trip over Thanksgiving with me?"  Of course, I responded with YES!  thinking it would be a nearby spot for a quick getaway.  "Where?"  "England!"  And so we two flew to London, took trains and busses and explored Dorchester, Dorset.  Just five days.  That's my girl!

2.  I had a good visit with my primary care physician following up on the various issues like my skin allergies.  I really like her.  She listens to me.  I am thankful that I have good health care.

3.  Morning coffee with Nurse Daughter.  Mostly, I just wanted to spend time with her, but it was a good opportunity to run some thoughts by her that my doctor mentioned (and told me-- yes, discuss these things with your nurse daughter).

4.  Beautiful sunsets.  I'm a sunset girl, not a sunrise girl.  One evening this week, the sunset was amazing!

Do you see the flock of birds flying in the bottom of the larger clouds?

The picture below shows them more clearly.

5.  Today is first school day of the year for our two high school grandsons.  I have mixed feelings.  It's Tall Boy's last first day... Yes, he is a senior!  I had the privilege of tagging along on his open house tour of this year's classes to meet his teachers and find out what classes he will be taking.  Be prepared-- I may be posting photos from his life during this school year, kinda like Senior Sunday.

Tall Boy and his mom

Tall Boy and his uncle playing with a rubik's cube

That's a wrap on my week.  How was yours?

Fave Fives Whirlwind

 Yes, my week has been a whirlwind.  Our calendar was crazily full every day.  Last night, as I was checking to see what we had on the schedule for today, I realized that I needed to stop and take a breath and jot down my Friday Fave Fives to refocus my attention away from chaos.  And so I wrote my FFFs on a 3x5 card before I fell asleep.  These are what popped up in my memories.

1.  Friday night, we joined our two daughters on a night at the local theater for a musical performed by all local actors.  I knew two of them! One was our former mail carrier!  And we enjoyed the play, too.

2.  During the past week, I have walked/hiked six days.  Sometimes, we walk in our neighborhood in the evenings.  Three times this week.  Our other walks were with Nurse Daughter and her two dogs.  Athena and Sawyer love to walk and it gets their wiggles out.

3.  This week our featured birthday boy is Older Son, Chaplain Dan.  Happy Birthday, Chaps!  This- is what I wrote on Fa-ebook:  

Today is our oldest's birthday! Happy Happy Birthday, Dan! You have gone from Southern California (and other places in the US) to Indonesia, to Oregon, back to Southern California, to Arizona, and various and sundry spots all over the world for military assignments. There's more to come, I'm sure. And everywhere you go, your smile brightens everyone's day.

One of my most favorite photos of him.

Sitting on a basketball in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia

4.  A friend texted me and asked, "Do you want basil?"  "Yes!"  (mine is under performing this year)  She picked a bunch of me and handed me a kitchen trash bag FULL of basil.  I spent the evening processing it all and making pesto.  I think I have enough frozen cubes of pesto to last me until next summer.  Yum!

5.  Honey!  Our bees provided abundantly again this spring/summer again this year.  You can't have more local for your honey than your back garden.  It tastes SO SO SO good!

Bonus Fave:  I spent one afternoon at our daughters' home and helped Nurse Daughter do some organizing in the garage.  Double joy for me-- spending time with her and doing an organizing project.

I hope you can slow down and step out of the whirlwind of life and remember the blessings.

Take a Fairy Trail Hike

 Yesterday, The Professor and I enjoyed a walk with Nurse Girl and the two granddogs.  One of our county parks, Infirmary Mound Park, is a favorite.  It is large, 316 acres, and has seven miles of trails, and even a historical mound on the property.  

One of the trails is a Fairy Trail lined with fairy houses.  These are only a few of the fairy houses.  Which one is your favorite?