Fave Fives for Second Friday of June

A busy week often means many blessings.  That's how my week was. It may have been hot and humid, but it was still a lovely week.  I'm sharing some of the week's blessings with other Friday Fave Fivers.

1.  Several mornings I have sat quietly on my back patio and sipped my coffee in the quiet.  This quote states my attitude well:  "A beautiful day begins with a beautiful mindset.  Start by realizing it is a blessing, a gift." (anonymous)

2.  For the last several years before I retired, I taught writing and composition.  It was my favorite job.  So I enjoyed spending a couple of afternoons this week coaching a young woman who is taking a college composition and writing course and was feeling overwhelmed.  She's much more confident now, and I am pleased that I could encourage her (and she's so much fun to interact with).

3.  Wednesday was filled with friends and family and fun.  We met T and S and L (our usual coffee buddies) for coffee, pastries and conversation.  Then we picked up Tall Boy and his girlfriend and drove them to a local private lake park so they could spend the afternoon swimming and enjoying the sunny weather.  About six pm, we retrieved them and took them to our local brewery for Trivia game night with his mom and friends.

4.  Trivia Night was fun. There were five teams competing. The host often offers unusual and sometimes obscure questions.  Some of them we knew.  Some we didn't.  We ended up in second place.  We had so much fun!

5.  As I mentioned earlier, the weather was hot and humid this week.  I am thankful for air conditioning!

It was a wonderful week.  So many blessings.  So much fun!

First Friday of June

Hello from Willow's Cottage on this first Friday of June.  I hope you have had a wonderful week.  I look forward to Fridays to post about all the blessings of my week.  It helps me stay grounded in gratitude.  Every Friday Susanne hosts Friday Fave Fives.  Join us if you want.

1.  On Saturday, Nurse daughter and I joined some other people and drove about an hour north to Groovy Plants Ranch.  Oh my!  So. Many. Plants.  We had a great time.  And we didn't carry home "that many" pots of flowers and herbs.

So much lavender!  I had to help them out by taking one home with me.

2.  A second fave about the trip to Groovy Plants Ranch is that I managed to get the lavender planted in the front garden and the bellflower and salvia planted in the back-- those 'few' plants I purchased.

3.  This week, a new to us handyman came to do a few jobs around the house.  He did a great job, and now our back door and front door are working better, there isn't a spot above the back door leaking raindrops on us.  It's not easy to find a good handyman, so we are very thankful for him.

4.  Time to read.  I love reading books.  This week I finished reading Christy by Catherine Marshal which is about 500 pages.  Now I am enjoying Francie on the Run, a children's book by Hilda van Stockum.

5.  Of course, I've been knitting.  I love to knit and I am thankful that I am able to do it and have an 'ample' yarn stash (insert laughing face emoji here).  These are two current projects.

A baby blanket in neutral grey.  The pattern is sometimes referred to as waffle weave.

 And an experiment.

A knitted US flag.

This is my first attempt.

So this was my week.  Nothing exciting or unusual.  But it was a blessed week.

How was your week?

Red Barn Part 1

 I am not sure why, but red barns are popular around Ohio. It could be a Buckeye thing.  I don't know.  Whatever the reason, they're everywhere.  Old and New.  Small and Large.

Which one is your favorite?