End of February Faves

 I am late to the Friday Fave Fives party this week.  I have been having difficulties posting.  After writing up my whole FFF post, it has disappeared.  No idea why.  But anyway, I am back, endeavoring to try again.

I am truly thankful for Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for hosting Friday Fave Fives every week and encouraging us to remember to be thankful for all the good things that have happened to us.  So, here are mine.

1.  Another reason I am late posting is that yesterday, Friday, I had an outpatient medical procedure (planned).  Results are good, as far as I know.  The Professor provided transportation and took excellent care of me.

2.  Last Saturday, I attended TWO knit group activities.  One was in the morning and is the group I host with my daughter Nurse Girl.  In the afternoon, I spent a few hours with another group that meets occasionally at a friend's home in a town south of me.  A good time was had by all at both meet ups.  I mean, what could be better than knitting and snacking all day?

3.  A fun three mile walk with my daughter and the granddogs.  We walked, talked and sipped on hot teas while wrestling the dogs who are called The Mongrels by her.  The weather was perfect.

4.  Another wonderful hike with our daughter-in-law this afternoon.  We hiked a trail we usually don't take.  It was a new one for them, and I have only done it once.  The path follows the river along the canal that once helped link Lake Erie to the Ohio River.

5.  My new laptop is becoming more familiar now to me and I am able to transfer photos from my camera to the computer.  Here's proof:

Come back for more!!

I hope your week has been wonderful and full of blessings!

November 21. Day 21. Week 3 of November Friday Fave Fives

Happy Friday!  And Happy Fave Fives!  I hope you have had a productive and joyful week.  I'm here on Day 21 to share my Friday Fave Fives. (the link takes you to Susanne's blog so you can read more and join in)

 Every morning is a fresh start.

Wake up with a thankful heart.

1.  I noticed this statement on a facebook post this week.  It struck me with its truth.  Yes, we need to begin each day being thankful.

2.  I am making good progress on some knitting projects.  More miniature Christmas mittens (I have a decorating plan).  Gloves for myself.  A sweater for newborn baby boy.

3.  A good visit with my dermatologist.  And maybe a plan moving forward to help with the remaining issues.

4.  Some warmish days. I was able to be outside a bit to continue to work in the garden, putting the beds to sleep for the winter.

5.  I am always thankful for hikes in the the woods, especially with my family.  This week's hike was at Infirmary Mound Park, a large county park that has many many trails including the fairy trail.  This week as we were walking through a dense forested area, I told Nurse Girl, "This looks like where we hiked up to Hadrian's Wall."  What a beautiful world we live in!

Pictures from our visit to Northumberland.  The path we followed to Hadrian's Wall and St. Oswald's Church.

And a post can only be better with a BARN.

Happy Weekend!  I hope you have found many blessings in this past week, too.

Goodbye, October

 This is the fifth Friday in October.  We say bye to October today.  And welcome November tomorrow.  And since it's Friday, it's Friday Fave Fives time.  Here are my Five Faves from this last day of October.  You can join me and others in sharing five blessings from this week and post them HERE on Susanne's blog.

1.  Happy Halloween!  Our town did their trick-or-treat last night (Thursday), and The Professor and I sat out in our open garage and handed out candy to all of TWELVE children who came by.  Truth.  We lived on a dead end street, three houses from the end, so not many kids venture down to our place.  And it was cold, windy and sometimes rainy.  After the hour and a half of designated time, we closed up and moved back inside to eat our dinner and cuddle under blankets to warm up.  We had fun!

2.  Last Saturday Nurse Girl and I took the day to spend it at a friend's home doing nothing but knitting and chatting.  We had a fantastic time.  It was the best day possible.  We even had a chance to visit an antique shop that had a whole room full of yarn and another room full of fabric.  Wow!  We'll be back!  There are plans to have a "Knitaway" at least every three months.  I have a few photos of our time at Knitaway, but I didn't get permission to share them (oops).   Even the drive down was fun and beautiful.  Can you guess what kind of car Nurse Girl drives?

3.  Monday evening The Professor and I enjoyed attending a concert.  But it wasn't just any concert.  It was the African Children's Choir!  All the way from Uganda!  We noticed an article in the local newspaper about the choir coming to perform in a town near us, and we decided to go.  It was beautiful!  All the children were eight to eleven years old.  If you want to know more about them, go to AFRICAN CHILDREN'S CHOIR.  We were amazed and were so blessed.

4.  It wouldn't be a real week if we didn't get out for at least one hike.  One of our local county parks has a fairy trail, and PAL wanted her other grandma to walk there.  Sadly, the fairy houses had disappeared for the winter.  But there was a lovely bench to rest on.

After we walked that trail we continued on around the lake which was beautiful.

5.  A problem at PAL's house (a plumbing issue) ended up being a fave this week, too.  The plumbing guy couldn't get to the clean-out because many years ago, a former owner of the house built a porch over it.  So The Professor and T (of T and S) went over and helped Chaps saw a square out of the deck and fix it so the hole can be covered over but also make it possible to have access again.  No photos but The Professor said it was the best sawing job he has ever done.  And I do think that the guys had a good time discussing all the options and kneeling down making that opening.  Of course, at least one new tool had to be purchased.  Most importantly, though, is the fact that the pipe is fixed.

I hope you have had wonderful things happening in your life this last week of October, too.  Maybe some yummy candy!  And autumn leaves!

October Faves

Friday Fave Fives.  I love joining other people who write five things that they are thankful for every week.  It makes me think all week about how blessed I am and how I need to be thankful for all the good things in my life.  Here are my Fave Fives for this week.

1.  All moved in!  Chaplain Dan and his family are settling in to their new home.  All the boxes and furniture were moved from the storage cubes on Saturday, except for the piano.  On Sunday after church, four very kind and strong men came and helped get the piano into the house. What a blessing!

2.  Rain.  We had a very rainy day this week. The soil sucked up all the water and all the plants are happy because we have been in drought.  I am thankful for that rainy day.

3.  The Professor mentioned to me this week that he is thankful to be living near enough to our two high school grandsons (cousins) to be able to help by taking them to school two mornings this week when their mothers were not available to take them.  Even if it meant being up at 6:20 to let them in the house and then drive them over to the school at 7am.  I agree with him.  Living in the same town is a joy to us.  And then hearing them say, "Love you!" as they get out of the car and slam the doors shut...

4.  I am loving having Chaps and J and PAL living so close to us.  At noon today, we met at a wonderful coffee shop that serves tasty lunch items and enjoyed just hanging out and talking with them.  And then later in the day, we popped over to help them unpack a few more boxes.  J and I just looked at each other and smiled-- we get to see each other every week now instead of every year.

5.  Another reason I am so late posting my FFFs-- in the afternoon, The Professor and I met Nurse Girl, her boyfriend and Warrior Boy and of course, the granddogs at a park nearby and we hiked two miles in rather hilly terrain.  It was a perfect day for a hike and the surrounding trees were a perfect place.

You may notice that the leaves on the trees haven't really turned to autumn colors yet.

The Professor sitting on a bench that a Trail Life member made and placed there for his final project. (like an Eagle Scout badge)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and stop to appreciate all the blessings in your lives, including the flowers.

Home Makes Me Happy

 And Friday Fave Fives Make Me Happy, Too.  I'm back after another busy week.  I've been home since Saturday evening, readjusting my schedule to 'home'.  Now I need to take a few minutes to write down my five blessings from this crazy week.

1. The health conference we attended last weekend was great.  So full of good and helpful information.  

2.  We've gone from blustery rain and thunderstorms to sunny spring weather.  I am thankful for the gentler days because we have been able to do some garden work in the afternoons.  Areas are being weeded, some seeds have been sown, one of three rhododendrons has been planted (the other two should be in the ground by this evening), the raised bed has additional soil added.  I love being in the garden.  A bonus here is that the two teenage grandsons came to help.

3.  One early afternoon the weather was perfect.  Younger Daughter, the Nurse, and I took a long walk/hike with the two dogs. The dogs hadn't seen me for almost three weeks and stayed as close as they could during the whole hike.  (my daughter's photo)

4.  Our wonderful next door neighbor is a musician.  He sings as a community member of the local university gospel choir.  Their concert was last weekend.  Wow!  It was beautiful!

5.  My last fave involves another neighbor on our street.  Sunday morning, just as we were turning off our dead end street/cul de sac, The Professor's phone rang.  He answered it.  "You have a ball of yarn hanging out the door of your car!"  We pulled over and checked.  Yep.  My cream yarn from the afghan I'm knitting right now was trailing us all the way from our driveway.  Oops.  We jumped out and gathered it all up while we laughed.  Of course, that neighbor was laughing with us.  And another neighbor family on their way to a soccer game saw us and giggled.  So now evidently we're 'famous' on our street for having yarn balls following us through the neighborhood.  Anyway, it made a funny story.  (But I was able to untangle and rewind the yarn, and didn't lose much at all of it.)

I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!  Watch for all the blessings every day.

April Showers, Birds and Hikes

It's been a busy time here at Willow's Cottage and this is the first post I've written all week.  Time to catch up and think about the good parts of the week.  Friday Fave Fives really helps me do that.  Susanne at Living to Tell the Story leads us in choosing five things from our week that have helped us to be thankful and notice gratitude.  Here are mine:

1.  Encouraging words from friends concerning a difficult situation.  I meet weekly via zoom with friends.  We call ourselves the Art Girls (you can guess why).  Because I was stressed about something, they encouraged me and really helped me focus on the right way to handle things.

2.  The birds are back in force at my bird feeder.  I love watching them snack on the seeds I provide for them.  Birds make life happier and make me smile.

3.  More hikes.  It really is spring!  On Tuesday evening, the Trail Life troop hiked in a local preserve again.  Although it had been raining quite a bit this past week and the creek was up, we ventured through the mud and water, up and down the banks of the stream and had a great time.  (I'm the honorary grandma who hikes with them)  The best part?  Tall Boy was very solicitous for my safety as we crossed creek beds on rocks and climbed up slick and muddy edges, even holding my arm and escorting me along in front of his buddies.  Then we also had a fun hike at the local arboretum again.  Almost three miles.

4.  I guess I should be thankful for all the rain we are having.  April showers bring May flowers.  I need to just focus on being thankful that we aren't in drought.

5.  The spinning wheel is out and I've been working on some merino and silk fiber.  No photos yet.  But hopefully, in the next day or two I will have finished a skein of it.

Now I am off to watch my older daughter (she who is a rocket scientist) dance in the local production of Swan Lake.  Happy Happy Friday to you all.

Friday Fave Fives, November, Week Three

Happy Friday.  That means Friday Fave Fives.  Being grateful is a discipline.  I think that is a great way to look at gratitude.  We discipline ourselves and practice seeing the good and being thankful for even the hard things.  That's gratitude.  (credit to Becoming Minimalist blog for reminding me of that this week)  This weekly exercise helps me to discipline my mind and heart to be thankful.  Thankful for even the rainy days we had this week.  Here are five things that stood out to me in my week.

1.  On Saturday, we realized that there was nothing! nothing! on our calendar.  So we jumped in our car and drove to a State Park about an hour's drive away.  The weather was perfect for a hike in the woods.  After stopping to pick up coffee and a snack at the cutest little coffee shop, we hiked a couple of miles tromping through the fallen leaves and sometimes walking the trail paralleling a lake.  It was a great way to spend our free day.

2.  Veteran's Day.  Or Remembrance Day.  Our friends T and S met us at Denny's for breakfast.  Because our guys are both veterans, their breakfast meal was free.  We had the best time celebrating our veterans.  While we were sitting in the booth drinking our coffee, a young girl and her mother walked up to us and asked if they were veterans, thanked them for their service and gave them each a paper that the girl had colored with crayons saying "Thank you!"  It was so sweet and made their day so much brighter.

3.  Happy Anniversary to our son and daughter-in-law!  Eighteen years!  (old photo, but one of my favorites)  Yes, they were married on Veteran's Day :)

4.  Another hike.  This time with Younger Daughter (the nurse) and the dogs.  We were walking one of the local paved paths and noticed a side trail off to the left.  Of course we had to take the detour.  It was so much fun to explore somewhere new!  And beautiful.

5.  We have a good friend from our Los Angeles days who lives and ministers in Southeast Asia.  Her mother and brothers live not that far from us.  She is in the US visiting her mom right now and we arranged to have lunch with her and her mom.  What a privilege for us to spend that precious time with her.  Of course, we were so busy talking that we didn't remember to take any pictures.

Bonus:  I took photos of the two items I have knitted for the baby shower later this month.  Because the new little girl will be born near Christmas time, I am hoping to finish a red newborn size sweater for her, too.  It's so much fun knitting for babies!

Mid March Faves

Beware the Ides of March!  I love March 14th, 15th, and 17th.  Pi Day, Ides of March, St. Patrick's Day which is also my birthday.  I also love every Friday because that is the day I choose five things from my week to be thankful for and write about them here on the blog.  As usual, you can follow THIS LINK to Susanne's blog and join in.

1.  I am thankful that the young woman who cleans my floors and bathrooms monthly does such a good job.  I truly appreciate her dedication to making my home extra clean.

2.  We had a great hike on Tuesday evening with all the Trail Life boys.  Both grandsons are part of our local Trail Life troop.  The Professor is one of the leaders.  So I get to sneak in and go on the hikes, too.  Two miles plus in the woods (and mud) on a trail I had never hiked before.

It is hard to tell from the photo, but, we were hiking on the high cliff side of the river; I took these photos from the top looking down on the river.  This area is called Black Hand Gorge.  We have walked on the paved paths on the other side of the river many times.

3.  I love finding great deals at resale shops.  Goodwill had a beautiful green merino wool sweater from J. Jill for less than ten dollars.  In my size.  Yes, I bought it.  Then on Thursday, my friend and I popped in to a cute little resale shop and I found a fair isle wool jacket for ten dollars!  Yep, I bought it, too.

4.  Younger daughter treated me to a pedicure earlier this afternoon for my birthday.  Guess what color I chose.

5.  All the yellow flowers are in bloom!  I love this time of year because I love forsythia and daffodils.  These flowers, all from my garden, bring me so much joy.

Bonus:  you may have heard on the news about the tornados in Indiana and Ohio.  We were under tornado warnings for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours last night.  Thankfully, we are safe and so is all our family.  Please pray for the people who lost family members and those who lived in homes which were struck and demolished.

Bonus2:  more daffodils, from places in England where we traveled in March and April 2019 (prime daffodil time)

Tis true.  Daffodils are my favorite flower.

February is for Fave Fives

Happy Friday!  This week has been busier than I expected (that's ok, though) and so it is late afternoon here at Willow's Cottage.  But I still have time to get my Friday Fave Fives written and shared.  Susanne is always so faithful to have our link set up to share our five things we chose from our week.  Here's THE LINK. 

1.  I am so thankful for the sunny warm weather we have had this week.  I'm talking no jackets, no caps, no gloves kind of weather. Sunshine all week and today's temperature in the 60s!  Yes, I know that the cold weather will return, but the respite has been very appreciated by all who live around here.  

2.  The warm weather has allowed me to be outside in the garden doing a few mid winter chores.  I was able to prune the raspberry bushed and check on a couple of other perennial plants.

3.  Saturday was a moderate day, a coat and gloves kind of day.  But it was just right for taking a good hike.  The Professor and I drove Warrior Boy (Younger Daughter Mia's son) to Hocking Hills State Park, and we hiked two different trails and shared lunch around an outdoor fireplace with a group of boys and dads from our local Trail Life troop.  Twelve guys and me.  It was great fun, especially as we had not visited Hocking Hills before.

Eleanor always loves hiking, too, especially since she gets to stay in my pocket!

Our Warrior Boy had so much fun.

Note the small size of the people compared to the waterfall.  Yes, it really was that high.  Ash Cave.

4.  Tall Boy's birthday was this week!  Sixteen!  Six feet three inches tall!  Where did that little boy go??  I am thankful for him!

5.  Recently, we joined the Y gym.  This week, we worked out twice there.  I am thankful for the opportunity and that it is very near our home.  Now we can use the treadmill or recumbent bikes when the weather is just too miserable for  us to be outside.

I hope your week has been filled with blessings, too.  Sometimes we have to look deeper than other weeks, but there are always things we can find to be thankful.

Bastille Day Means...

 Good morning!  It's Friday, July 14th! Bastille Day! (an important date in France, commemorating the storming of the Bastille in 1789)  Fridays always mean Friday Fave Fives here at Willow's Cottage.  Join me in celebrating five blessings that have filled my week.  (link takes you to Susanne's blog, where she hosts us every week)

Here is what has happened this week at my little cottage.

1.  A hike is always a good thing.  On Saturday, all the family hiked at Black Hand Gorge with all the dogs, too.

Can you find Tall Boy?

ZG and her bio brother whom she had not seen for fourteen years.  He and his adopted mom visited us for the weekend.  What a celebration!  (These were the 'friends' we were with on our trip to Amish country.  I just didn't feel comfortable sharing that detail until my daughter and granddaughter made it public.)

2.  We have a new car!  I am so very thankful for reliable transportation after our old car decided to not start anymore.

3.  Trail Life is an important part of our two grandsons' lives, and The Professor's, too.  Trail Life is a faith based 'Boy Scouts'.  This week's meeting involved what is called 'cross-over', the advancement of troop members to the next level.  Both grandsons moved up to next levels.  At the ceremony, they literally cross over a bridge (at one of our local parks).

4.  After so many days of heat and humidity, this morning we had fog!  That cooled our morning down enough that we could actually sit on our back patio and sip our morning coffee.  The Professor and I reminisced about those Southern California June Gloom days and were thankful that Ohio's July Fry days had taken a short break.

5.  Today is Bastille Day.  It is also our wedding anniversary.  Fifty Years!  (yeah, we really are that old...)  It is also my brother and sister-in-law's anniversary!  Happy Anniversary to them, too!