Friday Fave Fives, Easter Week

 Happy Easter Week!  And Happy Friday.  These faves for Friday Fave Fives will be really short because we are traveling.  I'll do my best to be around and comment on blogs, but it's not going to be easy.

1.  Road trip!  We've had this trip planned for quite awhile.  Dates got moved around, but now we are on our way!

2.  We were able to spend two nights in Arkansas with some very dear friends.  Our time with them was spent laughing and talking and singing nonstop.  It was wonderful!

3.  Also, we were able to connect with former co-workers from our mission days in Indonesia.  All the memories and stories and conversations.  I am so thankful we were able to spend that time with them.

4.  Safely on our travels.

5.  Today is Good Friday, the day Christians observe and commemorate the dead of Jesus.  As a Christian, I always love and honor this day and  Resurrection Sunday. My faith is founded on the fact that Jesus' sacrifice of his own life is my only way to salvation and life with God.  For that I am most thankful.

PS:  I am sure you have noticed that there are no photos of the road trip.  Yeah, I forgot my camera!

April!

How can it be the first week of April?  This year 2024 is racing by.  I try to stop daily and weekly to consider all the blessings of my day/week.  Each evening before I sleep, I jot down in a journal the blessings and events of the day.  If I didn't do that, I'd forget.  When Friday arrives, I can better remember what happened during the week so I can post my Friday Fave Fives and share them with you. (the link takes you to Susanne's blog and you can read more FFFs)

1.  Easter Sunday.  It is one of my favorite days of the year because we celebrate Jesus Christ's resurrection.

2.  Some family members were sick last week and during the weekend, so we didn't do any family dinner for Easter.  Sunday evening, grandkids and younger daughter did pop over for a couple of hours to watch a movie and eat popcorn.  I appreciate so much living nearby so we can do these impromptu get togethers.

3.  Our weather has been quite 'active'.  On Tuesday evening, we were under a tornado watch.  Fortunately, we did not have to run to the basement.  But we did have rain, wind, thunder and lightning.  Other areas did have tornadoes touching down, and there was some home damage.  Our area missed it.  I am thankful we have a good weather prediction system, so we know when to be careful.

4.  Between all the storms, we were able to take two walks along the rivers in our area to find out how high the rivers were flooding.  Yes, there is flooding.  Even so, the views were crazy because we could see just how high the water levels were.  And, we got in those walks.

Do you see the huge log up against the bridge?  We watched it flow down the river and there it was, banged up against the bridge we crossed to get home.

5.  I offered to do an embroidery project for someone for an Easter present.  I was able to add the year to the bottom of a new bunny's feet.   While it took longer than I expected, I did enjoy the challenge of designing it.  And Eleanor Elizabeth was excited to spend time with another bunny!

And a small white flower to make you smile.

Resurrection Sunday

 All around the world, in every time zone

and every latitude,

people are observing Easter Sunday, a day of remembrance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion on Good Friday.

He is risen!

It's a Good Friday

Today is a very important day.  Good Friday.  The day we remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  Maybe I should call this Best Friday.

My lenten rose has bloomed just in time

This Easter weekend will be celebrated very differently than any I remember.  We may be isolated at home, but we will be celebrating today and Sunday with others via virtual videos.   I need to reflect back on the Good things of this week.  Here is Willow's Week in Friday Fave Fives.

1.  This morning I spent almost two hours skyping with my art group.  We can't meet together, so we do it virtually.  We all agreed that it is a highlight of our week.

2.  I am loving how our community and church are coming together to make masks, both for the medical facilities and for 'regular people'.  I asked for fabric.  Got it!  I asked for elastic.  Got it!  Wow!  Lots and lots of mask making in my week ahead.

3.  Rain.  Southern Californians never seldom grumble about getting rain.  For us, it is a blessing of renewal and new growth.

4.  Books.  As I take breaks from sewing, I grab a book and READ.  I'm loving my reading times.  Almost as much as I'm loving my daily walks.

5.  I read an article that referenced C.S. Lewis's sermon titled "Learning in War-Time" which he gave in 1939 at the beginning of World War II. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who wishes to read it, but I want to share a couple of things in light of our current world situation.  His advice:  Don't get distracted by too much news.  Look to history--life has always been lived dangerously.  Secondly, don't be frustrated or worried.  Focus on your vocation which is what you are supposed to do today.  For me, that's sewing masks.  Finally, Be Courageous during these trying times. [Can you just imagine reading this timely advice during the bombing of London?]   This was a very encouraging article for me.

Finally, I want to mention that I know I didn't get around to read everyone's FFF posts last week.  Right now I just can't go into details, but we are mourning the loss this week of someone very close to us.  Sometimes, I just have to stop and grieve, and I never know when it is going to hit me. I'll try to do better this coming week.

Friday Fave Fives, end of April

Friday Fave Fives!  I'm living in the recent past processing all those photos from our trip to England, but I'm also living in the present--reviewing this week and finding the blessings.  Here are my Five Faves from this last full week of April.  If you want, you can join me and others by clicking THIS LINK to our host Susanne's blog.

1.  The Professor did his magic and I have photos!  So far, I've published ONE POST with pictures from our trip to England.  I'm loving reliving our days there through processing the photos.

2.  Trip to Phoenix.  I don't necessarily love the hours we spend on the road.  But I do love the beauty of the desert and of course the destination which is PAL's house!  We took a hike on Friday and she was our 'guide'.

3.  Easter with our PAL!  I love celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and I love celebrating with my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter.  We attended their church for both Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday services.

4.  This week we received a couple of emails from former coworkers in Indonesia, telling us about a person who is writing a booklet about the history of our international mission in Papua.  She asked for our biography and some photos of us and our ministry there.  So I dug out my albums and found this picture of our family from 1988.

This also reminded me that I really need to get back to focusing on organizing and scanning all those hundreds of photos we still have sitting around.

5.  Our weather has been perfect for getting out into the garden and weeding, and there are lots of weeds to keep me busy.  I love to be outside and just gaze at the flowers while I'm cleaning up the weeds.

Lavender and Poppies on the bank

I hope you have had a blessed week!

Back on Track

It's Good Friday!  I'm finally back online to share my Friday Fave Fives with you all.  Did you miss me?  Did you even notice I was absent?  I hope so!  Here are my Five Faves from the last four weeks!  (Was it really that long?)

1.  If you read my previous post, you will know that we spent three weeks in England. Yes, England!  Because our daughter wanted to take The New Boy on his first international trip during spring break, we tagged along to share the experience with them, and then we stayed for another twelve days to visit more new places.  I am thankful to this wonderful opportunity!

2.  I'm thankful for safe travels to and from England and all around the country.  We rented a car for the first week, we rode trains, and we hopped on and off the tube in London.  That was a lot of traveling, and I never take safe travels for granted.

3.  I'm thankful for good friends.  Because of a theft of cards, etc, we had to close our accounts, and people helped us by paying for accommodations and sending cash.  I am so very thankful for good, good friends!

4.  As usual, our friend picked us up at LAX, even in the midst of a huge airport traffic jam, at 11pm!  That's a true friend!  Then she drove us to her house where our car was parked and we hopped on a mostly 70 mph freeway and made it home safely at 1 am.  I'm thankful for yet more wonderful friends and a successful last leg of our trip.

5.  Have you noticed that there aren't any photos here yet of our trip?  Yeah, well.  I bought a new camera just a day before we left, and I pushed the wrong button (I 'knew' what I was doing, but not the result), so four days of my photos have not been easily accessible to edit and put my copyright mark on them.  What I'm thankful for is that The Professor is working on a solution.  The photos should be available 'soon'.

Happy Easter to all my friends who celebrate Easter!

Happy Easter!

Christ is risen!

April Good Friday

This year Easter is late.  Today, Good Friday, is the second Friday of April.  That's about as late as it can get.  Our April weather is typical although today the sun is shining.  I have plans to be outdoors digging in the dirt and enjoying that sunshine.  But before I venture out, I want to share my Friday Fave Fives with you all.

1.  During the school semesters, The Professor and I don't always have extra time to hike and walk (except for our nightly neighborhood walks), so it was a treat to walk along Calleguas Creek on the bike path Saturday afternoon.  Views of the creek aren't that exciting since unless it has just rained the creek bed is a dry arroyo filled with various stands of native and non native trees and shrubs.  However, the plantings along the path are beautiful.  We especially enjoyed what I called the blue spires plant (anyone know the real name?).

The bees love them, too.

2.  On Tuesday, our artists group met.  The hostess has hung many of her paintings in her living and dining rooms.  I noticed that she favors various shades of turquoise/aqua which are my favorites, too.  I have been inspired to begin switching out the cobalt and blue in my decor for more aqua.  One thing I did already is move my sweet shamrock plant to a turquoise pot and put the cobalt pot it was in into the outside garden.

3.  My daughter-in-law, PAL's mom, asked for an afghan.  She chose the zigzag blanket pattern from pickles.no.  I've just reached the halfway point on it!  Love the Arizona desert colors she picked

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4.  About my garden--- the tangerine tree produced an abundance of fruit last year.  It comes ripe in December which is wonderful because I can open my door, walk across the patio and pull off a sweet orangey, tangy ball of yumminess and eat it when no other fruit is in season.  I hadn't even finished picking all the fruit before that tree pushed out buds and flowers were blooming.  Thank you, Rain!  If the amount of flowers is any indication, it looks like we will have an abundance of tangerines again this winter.

5.  As I noted above, it's Good Friday.  This evening we will join others in our congregation in attending our Good Friday service.  Today I've been thinking of a hymn I have sung since I was a young child.  Here are the first and fifth verses.

Beneath the cross of Jesus
  I fain would take my stand,
The shadow of a mighty Rock
  Within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness,
  A rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noontide heat,
  And the burden of the day.

I take, O cross, thy shadow
For my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
The sunshine of His face;
Content to let the world go by,
To know no gain nor loss,
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory all the cross.

HAPPY EASTER!