Summer Solstice Fave Fives

Another week in June has flown by.  And today is the Summer Solstice!  How has the year gone by so quickly?  I have to slow down every Friday and focus on what has blessed me during the week; otherwise, I just keep going and don't think about how grateful I am for big and little things.  Friday Fave Fives really helps me do that.

1.  The absolute best fave for this past week is the first thing I will mention.  Our older son Chaplain Dan flew in to visit us on Saturday!  We have been having the best time.  He has helped so much with 

2.  His sisters have been able to spend some time with him.  It makes my mama's heart 3/4 full.  (why only 3/4?  because Younger Son wasn't able to join us)

3.  The Professor is doing well, healing more daily.  We've been able to take a couple of short walks in the neighborhood.  He has daily exercises to help him regain strength and better use of his left hand.  His appointment with his primary care physician went well.

4.  On Sunday, after church, we enjoyed a family dinner at Olive Garden.  Younger Daughter's boyfriend joined us and we had a wonderful time celebrating The Professor.

5.  Our usual weekly coffee time with T and S was especially fun because Chaplain Dan was with us.  Since all three guys are military veterans, they had the best time just talking about the Navy and the Army.  S and I sat and listened and enjoyed the conversations.

How was your week?  How were you blessed?

Fourth Fave Fives of January

 It has been a cold frigid week.  There's been snow.  And ice.  But there has also been sunshine.  Isn't that how life is?  Some warming, some cooling.  How easy it is to focus on the cold and forget the warm which can push you down the 'life's a mess' trail.  But it is better to think about the warm which is what Friday Fave Fives does.  Susanne hosts an open group every week.  If you join, you list five things from your life that have warmed you up this week.

1.  I am now on day twenty-four of posting here at Willow's Cottage every day.  One week to go!

2.  As I mentioned above, our weather has been 'polar'.  I don't think our outdoor temperature has reached 32F and have certainly been below 0F many evenings. The Professor and I both commented throughout the week how thankful we are for a warm home and a car that heats up quickly.

Not piles of snow but enough to make roads slippery and highlight the area barns with white surroundings.

3.  The morning of our weekly coffee time with T and S, we arrived at our chosen coffee place to find it was closed.  T and S were on their way.  Thanks to cell phones, we quickly connected and changed directions and met up at another spot.  What would we do without instant communication?

4. The below zero temperatures and intermittent snow caused the school district to close schools for two days.  That meant Warrior Boy decided to come with us to coffee time.

5.  Younger Daughter was in England for a week.  We drove to the airport to pick her up, and Warrior Boy asked to come with us.  Because of our schedule, we ended up going quite a bit early to the area around the airport.  So we grabbed Panda Express at the mall.  There was still more time to wait.  The Professor and I did a fifteen minute walk around the inside of the mall, up and down stairs and around and around.  We noticed a new cafe which seemed to be more of a coffee bar.  Since there was still almost an hour before we needed to head over to the airport, we decided to grab some hot cocoa.  Well... this place was a Capitol One Cafe "where banking meets living" (according to their website).  We were very impressed with their hot chocolate and especially their customer service.  We'll be visiting again.  AND.  Younger Daughter is home!

January 18, 2025

No list of photos would be complete without some pictures of Eleanor Elizabeth Bunny.  As you may know, Eleanor loves to travel and she loves coffee shops.  Here are a few of her favorites from 2024.

Local Coffee Shops

Earthworks Cafe

On her travels...

Outer Banks, North Carolina

Aran Isles, Ireland

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

Costa Coffee, Battle, England

Montpelier, Idaho

Lincoln City, Oregon

For Pete's Sake Coffee

Evanston, Wyoming

Read the logo on the mug!

Rebel Bean Coffee

Lincoln, Nebraska

Want a coffee date with Eleanor?

She's in!

Some Quiet Faves for Friday

January 17, 2025.  Friday.  We have had a quiet week for the most part.  It is almost midwinter, so here in this part of the world, we are experiencing snow and cold.  Maybe that's what slows us down and makes life more quiet.  As I reflect back on this week, I know I am very blessed.  Here are Five Faves that I chose to share. The link is to Susanne's blog-- our faithful host.

1.  My sister-in-law and I are close.  We were BFFs in high school.  We're always texting each other and sharing photos.  One day this week, I read a text that said, "I found Tracy!"  Hmmm, I didn't know Tracy was lost.  Which Tracy?  OH!  THAT Tracy!  Yay!  She was a blogger who lives in Norway and now she has a you tube channel.  I am glad my sister-in-law found her and we were able to reconnect.

2.  We had to make a drive to the airport to drop Younger Daughter off for a trip.  Warrior Boy asked if he could ride along.  Of course.  That meant we had extra time with him.  Not all that exciting-- a stop at Trader Joe's for groceries.  A wait for me at a dr appt (all's well).   But we enjoy any time we can have with our grandkids.

3.  Snow and cold means cuddling up with blankets, afghans, coffee and tea.  I am thankful I have a warm home!

4.  My cousin still lives in the area where our dads were born and raised.  He was at the local library and found old yearbooks and sent me (among many others) pictures of my dad.

Dad is second from right in the front row.  Yes, he was very tall.

5.  Older Daughter was able to take some hours off from work this week and joined us for our weekly coffee time with T and S.  We drove to a new to her (one of our usuals) coffee shop.  We had the best time.  Conversations never flag.  And the coffee and snacks are yummy.

Wishing you a quiet weekend with sunshine and smiles.

Friday Fave Fives, Second Friday of January 2025

 I am taking a day off from reminiscing about last year to write my Friday Fave Fives.  Susanne is so faithful to host our weekly group of bloggers who focus on gratitude, on what good things have happened to us in the week.   We choose five blessings.  Some weeks, it's easy.  Other weeks, we have to search our memories for those small things that made a difference in our lives.  That's why we do Fave Fives-- to remind us that blessings are there every day, every week.

Edited to add the missing fave...

Here are mine:

1. Our trip to Dayton Air Force Museum to celebrate Warrior Boy's birthday.  We had so much fun.  Of course, we all kept getting separated when one person would stop to read an information sign and others would wander on.  What did we do before we had cell phones?  Here is one photo. (you may notice that I am now the shortest person in the room...)

I didn't realize that Airstream also built planes :) (not really; but it does look like an Airstream trailer)

2.  (the missing one) As usual, we met with who I am now naming our Coffee Couple, T and S.  A close friend of theirs joined us (we do know her, too) and the five of us had a great time.  Those coffee dates always make me happy

3.  Normality returns.  Two Bible Studies I attend took a break over the holidays.  They have resumed this week.  The teen boys are back in school and we are back to being uber grandpa and grandma.

4.  Safety in the snow storms.  We haven't lost power.  We have all we need to eat, drink and stay warm.

Our little front porch bunny is nearly covered in drifted snow.

5.  My sister-in-law found an exercise program and told me about it, and it is working well for me.  It's called Yes2next.  Free.  On You tube.  The exercises keep you moving but don't overtax your body (especially if you are older).  I highly recommend it.

That wraps up my Fave Fives for this week which I wrote as I was wrapped up in a warm snuggly afghan.  Happy Weekend to you all!

Another Busy But Blessed Week

Hello to Friday Fave Fives for the Third Week in October 2024.  It's been another busy week.  But now I am finally home from dropping The Professor and Tall Boy and Warrior Boy at their location for a Trail Life Campout.  Their troop is on parking duty for all the troops arriving from several states surrounding Ohio.  It's the biggest event of the year, and they are all looking forward to a great weekend.  Now I'm home alone with my books and yarn.  Happy time for me, too.  So now I have a few minutes to focus on how God has blessed me this past week with mostly small things.  Susanne is our host over at Living to Tell the Story.

Younger Daughter and I found a new local knit shop!  Before this cute shop The Yarnologist opened, we had to drive into west Columbus to visit a shop with quality yarns.  On Saturday we dragged The Professor and her fourteen year old son (at his request) there.  The guys found a new coffee shop! (Does this make it TWO faves in one?)  I might have bought a bit of yarn...   Since we loved that new coffee shop, we invited T and S to have our coffee time there this week.  All agree-- it was great, and T declared that Leonard's has the best breakfast sandwich.

Our area has had a fire ban imposed for a couple of months.  We were really missing our family bonfires.  Finally, last week it was lifted!  Yes, we had a bonfire!

Walks on the county paths are always a fave with us, especially in the autumn when the leaves are turning all the fall colors.  We walked with Younger Daughter and her dogs.  The weather was great in the morning while we were out.  Fortunately, we made it home before the rain and hail started.

yes, we had hail (after we were home from the walk, fortunately)

A local young woman is a professional harpist.  Olivia Claggett often plays at banquets and fundraisers in the community.  On Sunday afternoon she performed at a local church.  She rotated around playing four harps.  Her sisters also sang with her.  It was amazing.

Then last night, we attended a banquet for Nightbirde Foundation.  If that name Nightbirde sounds familiar... yes, Nightbirde was a contestant on America's Got Talent and won a Gold Buzzer for the season for her performance of It's OK even as she was battling breast cancer.  She was a local girl and attended the church we are part of.   Her family started a foundation in her memory to help women who have cancer.  What an amazing evening that was, to see the impact she still has on the world because of her bravery and strength in her battle with breast cancer.   This is the youtube link to her performance on AGT.

It was PAL's birthday this week!  I can't believe our youngest granddaughter is ten years old!  Happy Birthday, PAL!  (in case you don't know, PAL are the initials of her name which I think is awesome)

A few years ago...

Arizona Girl catching her first snowflakes

Bonus!  This week, I celebrated nineteen years of blogging!  I can't believe it.  My first post was October 12, 2005.  Things have changed A LOT since then.  Four homes, two states, four grandchildren.  And a whole lot else.  Happy Birthday to Willow's Cottage!  Do you want to read my very first post?  Here's the LINK.  My reference to 'inner city' is Los Angeles inner city where we were living at the time.  The next few posts are focused on what things were like living there.

It's October!

Our first October Friday Fave Fives.  I love participating in this-- we choose five blessings from our week to share.  We call them our Friday Fave Fives and share them with others on Susanne's blog Living to Tell the Story.  I just checked.  This is the 806th weekly Fave Fives she has hosted!

1.  I'm a bit later than usual posting my Faves.  That's because I was out in the garden.  The edging of all the areas is finished for this time around.  Mounds of yard debris has been placed in bags ready for the waste company to pick them up on Monday.  The best part of this fave?  Tall Boy mowed the lawn.  I'm thankful for a teenage grandson who can mow our lawn for us.

2.  Yesterday our older granddaughter turned eighteen!  Pictures of ZG from homecoming a couple of weeks ago!

3.  Sometimes plans go awry but turn out different but just fine.  That happened to us on Tuesday.  We planned to have coffee with T and S at a coffee shop a bit closer into the city than usual.  We've been there a few times before and enjoyed it.  Just as we pulled onto the road where it is located, we got a text. "It's closed."  Hmmm.  OK.  What now?   We decided to drive to another coffee place, but as we passed the fruit farm, we all four just thought at the same time, "Let's just try it and see if there is coffee and snacks as well as APPLES and MORE APPLES.  We enjoyed some yummy fresh from the oven apple turnovers and I had a hot cider and the others had coffee.  Seating was different from a usual coffee shop, but the whole experience was a fun change up.  Fortunately, we are all fairly adaptable.

4.  One evening this week, I joined 4 other women to help our friend record a sample group counseling session for a class she is taking for her degree in counseling.  It was a  fun time and we discussed some good issues.  After that, we ended the evening with a yummy dinner around the table.

5.  Finally.  The photos from our trip to Ireland, England and Wales have made it onto my laptop from my camera and my phone!  It was time consuming.  But it's done and I am so thankful for The Professor who helped with a couple of glitches.  Here's a very quick glimpse.  What places and things pop up in your thoughts when someone mentions Dublin, Ireland?

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Guinness Ale 

This is a main warehouse right in the middle of the city.

Lots of pubs

Come back for more and more photos from my travels in Ireland, England and Wales last summer!

July, Last Week

 July is just flying by.  Here we are in the last week.  As of yesterday, it is five months to Christmas.  As the week soared along, I kept stopping to think about the blessings of each day.  And now it's Friday and I am writing my Friday Fave Fives to share and encourage you.

This week, the focus seemed to be on interactions with people.

1.  We had our usual coffee hang out with T and S. Always so much fun!

2.  Wednesday morning, I picked up a phone call from Younger Daughter. "Mom, can you do coffee and knitting with me this morning?"  Obvious answer was YES!  So we drove toward the big city and stopped at a new place for me.

Then we drove into the city and stopped by a knit shop to browse.  And since I had an appointment to pick of four books for myself and three others for our Bible study which begins in September, we did that errand.  All together it was a delightful day.

3.  Two of those books were picked up by a lady who owns chickens and has lots of eggs.  So the next day, she stopped by and gave us a dozen.  Wow!  What generosity!

4.  I drove to drop off that other book and chatted with that lady.  She's an experienced weaver!  We are making plans to get together and talk more about weaving.

5.  I'm uber driver for Tall Boy to take him to his piano lessons.  During the drive and for quite a while after, we talked. And talked.  It made my mema heart so happy.

Bonus:  a couple of flowers from my garden.

Eclipses, Coffee, Movies

Make the Friday Fave Five List!

This has been a week of nearly constant activity.  Wow.  I thought that retirement was a time of rest and relaxation.  Silly me.  But all the activities were ones that have brought me great joy and thankfulness.  When I write my Friday Fave Fives, I always reflect back on the week and am reminded of all these activities and all the joy.

1.  Everyone has been talking about the eclipse.  Yes, we live in one of the states that experienced totality/100%.  Yes, we could have driven to a place where we could experience it.  But we decided that a bit over 99% was good enough.  Therefore, since our home had the best viewing spot, we gathered here at the cottage and pulled out our lawn chairs on the patio.  The eclipse was truly amazing!

My camera didn't take great photos because I didn't have the right lens.  But Little Warrior devised a way to get better pictures using the eclipse glasses.  (I'm trying to get the photos downloaded to my computer but it's not cooperating well)

2.  Afterwards, everyone just hung around.  We ate dinner and watched another part of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  We own the extended version, so there are (I think) six movies.  On Saturday evening we had watched the second half of The Fellowship of the Rings (first book), so Monday night, we watched the first half of Two Towers (second book).  Popcorn and ice cream were included.

3.  We had two coffee times this week.  On Saturday we gathered with all the adults who are going on the England section of our summer trip.  Younger Daughter worked out all the various flight schedules and got everyone booked.

4.  Second coffee time was impromptu time with Younger Daughter.  We chatted and knitted and knitted.  And of course, Eleanor loved tagging along.  She doesn't knit, but she loves her coffee.

5.  We have been wanting to have a bradford pear tree removed from our front yard.  Since that tree is an invasive species and no longer allowed to be sold in our state, we decided we'd remove it and replace it with a native tree.  A man in our church is an arborist and owns a tree care company, so we arranged for him to come and remove the tree (and some arborvitae bushes that are growing too close to the house and too high).  He and his crew worked so fast!  We are thankful to have that garden chore checked off our list and done quickly, cleanly and professionally.

Before

During

After

Friday Means...Fave Fives

Can it really be near the end of the second month of 2024 already?  Cliches can be boring but the one about "time flies" seems to be simply true.  I have had to stop and take deep breaths this week, to stop and calm down, to stop and hit the restart button.  Right now, I am stopping to relax and reflect on the good things that occurred this past week here at Willow's Cottage, and I am writing about them as my Friday Fave Fives.  The link will take you to Susanne's blog where you can read more FFFs and join it you want.

1.  It seems that during certain seasons people, me included, obsess about the weather.  Like me. This week.  I am thankful for snow, rain, and sunshine.  Rain and snow mean that we are unlikely to have drought conditions.  Sunshine means a relief from the darkness of clouds (and Vitamin D).

2.  Exercise is important for our health.  I am thankful that we can visit the local Y and exercise there.  We worked out two days this week.  And our granddaughter was with us and work out, too.

3.  Usually, we do not just visit a restaurant for a meal out.  This past week, we had dinner in restaurants TWICE.  We visited a local Thai restaurant with a couple and just had a great time chatting.

4.  Then on Saturday evening, we met up with a family who lives in Kentucky.  Why would we do that?  The husband/father was a missionary kid in Papua and attended the same international MK boarding school that three of my children did.  He was a few years older but remembers them. (It was a quite small school)  We had spent time with them a couple of years ago at a reunion, and this is the first time we've been able to meet up with them even though we live only one and a half hours away.  It was a wonderful and joyful two hours we spent with them.  I have to add that their two children were a delight, too.

5.  Can I just give a thankful shout out to coffee?  That caffeine boost has really helped my schedule this week!

A Coffee Shop Week of Faves

 I am late posting my Friday Fave Fives today.  But I have a good excuse.  Our internet is out.  So I am sitting in a coffee shop sipping some hot chocolate and using their internet access.  Anyway, here are my five blessings from this week.  Follow the link above to join us in being thankful.

1.  I am thankful for a technologically brilliant husband.  The Professor (yes, he used to teach computer science classes at a university) has been working all day on a solution.  Trust me, if he can't fix it easily, it's not an easy fix.  I appreciate his ability to work on all technical issues.

2.  This week we have had weird weather ranging from sunny and rainy, warm and freezing, and right now it is snowing.  What makes me thankful about that?  a warm home, snow proof boots, cozy gloves and hats.

3.  Tuesday we drove an extra half hour more than usual to visit a new coffee shop with our friends T and S.  The bakery goodies were yummy.  And afterwards, we went over to the Wagnalls Library (yes, the Wagnalls of Funk and Wagnalls dictionary and encyclopedia).  The library building is amazing!  I can't access my photos right now, so here is a link to the Wagnalls Library.

4.  One afternoon, The Professor and I met at a much closer coffee place with both daughters.  It is not usual for them both to have the same afternoon off work.  We had so much fun chatting with them and pondering some hard questions.

5.  Remember our new 'great grandson'?  We were able to meet him this week!  Oh he is so adorable!  And snuggly.  And calm.  The whole time we were there, he never opened his eyes; he just slept in our arms.  I wish I could share photos of him (I'll have to ask permission).  But trust me, he is the cutest baby born in Ohio so far this year!

Bonus:  Because I didn't have internet at home, I 'met' on zoom with my dear dear friends, The Art Girls, in the closest coffee shop to our house so I could join them in discussing the first chapter of the book we are reading 'together' during Lent this year.  If you care, the book is Rembrandt Is In The Wind.

Bonus2:  Did you notice all the coffee shop references?  Yes, I am thankful for local coffee shops!

Cold and Snowy Faves

Hello from a white and icy Willow's Cottage!  In a zoom call this week with my Art Girls group, one of us mentioned her focus phrase for 2024-- JOY, no matter what.  YES!  That is what Friday Fave Fives is all about.  Finding and focusing on the blessings, no matter what else is happening.  Here are my Friday Fave Fives for this frigid week. (follow the link to Susanne's blog to join and read more)

This has been a week of rest, coffee, and books.   I didn't plan my week to be like that, but with our below freezing temperatures all day and night and now the snow which is falling, I haven't been out much and I haven't had much energy, either.  I truly am thankful for all the downtime.

We did make two expeditions out in the cold.  One trip was to have our annual eye exams.  Results were all good.  No changes, no new lenses, no new frames.  Our optometrist is wonderful and personable and professional.  It was a joy and a blessing to have that visit.

The other trip took us to the medical center for my m--m-gram.  Again, all good.  On the same trip, we did our big shopping trips to Costco and TJ's and added in REI and LLBean.  These stores are thirty minutes plus from us, so we group them together and do the trip once or twice a month.  Again, I am thankful that the medical visit is done and all the shopping is, too.

The Professor and I had a fun and relaxing coffee time with Mia, Younger Daughter, on one of her days off.  We enjoye our coffee in a sweet shop in a nearby town.  Ragamuffins Coffee is definitely a favorite.  While we were there, two people who work for our county's park district came in and grabbed their coffee.  A quick conversation about our knitting projects cemented the woman's name in my mind (I'm not usually good with names, so this was unusual).

Much to our surprise, we met that Park District lady at our eye doctor's office as she arrived for her appointment.  I remembered her name!  Then she told us about a volunteer program the park district has for people interested in helping keep the trails in good condition, and she invited us to join.  We'll definitely be looking into that since we walk the trails all the time, anyway.  I love those serendipitous meetings.

Extra:  update on the Fair Isle vest...  in rummaging around in my extensive yarn stash, I pulled out a bunch of yarn that came as a combination of five different colors in small skeins with a couple of the colors in larger skeins.  Perfect for me to make a 'practice' vest!  So that's what I have been knitting this week.  If all goes well, I should have it finished by next week.  Here's a quick glimpse to entice you...