Busy Busy Fave Fives

 I can't believe how fast this week whizzed by.  We were busy.  I hardly had time to sit down at my computer and check in on all my favorite blogs.  But.  Today is the first day all week that there is nothing on my calendar.  That doesn't mean we won't be busy at home, but at least our schedule doesn't require us to be somewhere.  Finally, I am taking a deep breath, drinking my coffee slowly, relaxing while I think back on my week and remember blessings from those busy days.  Friday Fave Fives is important to me to make me mark those blessings in writing.

1.  Work is being done on the outside of our home.  The paint on the facia around the windows and at the eaves and on the columns at the front door have worn away on this twenty-six year old house (although we have owned it for only six of those years).  A friend of ours who is a retired firefighter has a painting business now.  And he has the equipment to climb up on our second story walls and work up there.  We are so thankful for finding a reliable and thorough (and careful!) painter.  An added blessing to that is his daughter helps him some days and she is the girl who is married to one of our informally 'adopted' grandsons who we have known for more than twenty years (from our days living in Los Angeles) and they are now living here in Ohio just walking distance from us!

At his wedding, waiting at the front with the minister...

2.  I finished Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte just in time for the Well Read Mom meeting at my daughter-in-law's home.  I really enjoyed reading the book.  And the discussion opened up even more about the book that I had missed.  I understand more now about why Jane Eyre is my friend Sarah's favorite book.

3.  Have any of you my readers ever heard of the Nightbirde Foundation?  It is named after Jane Marczewski whose stage name was Nighbirde.  She auditioned on America's Got Talent in 2021 and got a Golden Buzzer.  However, she withdrew from AGT and passed away a few months later from breast cancer.  Her brother Mitch who attends the same church as we do founded Nightbirde Foundation in her honor.  The foundation gives Gift of Hope boxes filled with care packages especially designed to help and encourage women undergoing cancer treatment.  One item that is in the box is a knitted hat.  Off the Hook foundation provides those hats, and I have joined the local group to make hats (we use knit loop frames).  We meet once a month to bring the hats we've made during the month and to double check that we are making them according to the guidelines.  I am enjoying making the hats and knowing they are going to bless someone who needs the encouragement.

4.  The butterflies, bees and birds are busy in my garden.  I love watching them all stock up on their pollen and sugar calories as they face winter coming soon.  The hummingbirds and butterflies will be leaving soon on their flights south.

5.  We've had some amazing sunsets this week.  Just one evening we were able to take our neighborhood walk and it was beautiful.  Yes, that's a cornfield on the right.  The huge field just north of our dead end street is owned by a non-profit that preserves land for paths and reserves and will never be developed.  I am so blessed to live in a beautiful area.

Bonus:  one morning The Professor and I visited our downtown area called Canal Market to attend Veteran Stand Down which is an event to provide veterans with all kinds of information and to find whatever help is needed.  As a Vietnam veteran, The Professor always try to attend and encourage the groups and the other veterans.  As I was standing looking north through the alley, I noticed our county courthouse and a flag.  The whole downtown area has many murals on the walls of the old buildings.  I snapped this photo because it was just perfect for the day.

That's my week.  How was yours?