First Fave Fives of 2024

Good day to you all.  Here we are in the new year, 2024.  It doesn't seem real somehow.  But it is.  I have my Friday Fave Fives for you to read (the link takes you to Susanne's blog where you can read more and find other blogs writing FFFs).

1.  We spent most of New Year's Eve with family, watching the celebration of the New Year in London and hearing Big Ben ring in 2024.  Then we toasted in 2024 with some sparking cider (and water for the one who doesn't like cider) and watched a movie.  Yes, we were all home and in bed before midnight here.

2.  On New Year's Day, we gathered the family of two girls and three grands and three dogs and took a walk/hike at Black Hand Gorge along the Licking River.  The weather wasn't great but the exercise and conversation was. 

3.  Tuesday, January 2nd was our Little Warrior's fourteenth birthday.  How did he want to celebrate?  By a visit to Dayton's Air Force Museum.  Five of us piled into our car and made the drive down there and spent the day wandering around several of the museum's many hangars which are filled floor to ceiling (literally) with planes, helicopters, a few tanks and so many displays of various wars and eras.

This quilt naming all the US Air Force bases was hanging in one of the hallways.

4.  A finished vest.  This vest was knitted in a simple garter stitch pattern.  The yarn came as a gift from a friend who is moving and getting rid of all the yarn she doesn't want.  Green Mountain Spinnery's Mountain Mohair. 70% wool, 30% mohair.  Charcoal gray color titled Raven.  It's a very warm vest, which is what I need in January and February.

5.  I was able to do some deep cleaning this week.  Laundry room and kitchen.  My goal is to deep clean every room this winter.  This week was a good start to my goal.

There it is.  Five good things from this cold cold cold first week of January 2024.

September Has Arrived!

It's September!  The ninth month of the year!  So much has been happening which on one hand is fun and on the other hand is a bit tiring.  No matter what is happening, I choose to be thankful for my life.  That's why I post my Friday Fave Fives every week. (follow the link to join!)

We decided to spend the last few days of August at a fairly local state park campground.  It was wonderful.  It was relaxing.  These are a few of the happy memories we made.

1.  We love driving through the countryside to arrive at our campsite.  And one day we drove around a bit and took the off roads.  Of course, I just had to grab a photo of a barn!

2.  In Zanesville (yes, that Western author Zane Grey was from this town), there is a Classic Denny's Diner.  One morning, we left the campsite and drove there to meet our friends T and S for breakfast.  It's right on Hwy 40--the National Road.  We've been wanting to visit this Denny's ever since we saw it a couple of years ago.  It was a great breakfast time!

3.  Camping after school starts and during the week, almost all of the campers are retired.  That means quiet.  Usually, it also means empty spaces around us.  We enjoyed chatting with several of our 'neighbors'.  We even bumped into someone we know!

4.  Camping means campfires.  Morning and evening.

5.  Camping gives us more opportunities to be out in nature.  We rode our bikes almost ten miles one morning.  And we hiked a couple of the trails at the state park.  The trails were steep and a bit rugged.  But it was fun.

Which way should we go?

On the evening of the super moon, we were able to capture a few photos since there was not much light around us.  There were lots of trees, though.

And I found more hearts.

Can you see the heart shaped light spot on the upper left of the fire pit?  I noticed it when I downloaded the photo.

In the shadow of the tree on the trail

OK, now it's September!

Summer Begins

 True summer, after the solstice, has arrived.  My weather hasn't figured that out yet, though.  We are having rain and clouds around here.  Although the day is cloudy, I choose to find sunshine in my day.  One way is to write my Friday Fave Fives and join other people virtually in sharing five blessings from the past week.

1.  Yes, I am thankful that the days are longer!

2.  Younger Daughter hosts a fiber arts get together once a month---third Saturday morning.  We meet at a local coffee shop.  This month we had two young girls attend with their mom.  I think the total number of people was ten?  I love meeting and knitting with like minded people.

3.  We did TWO hikes this week!  On Monday, The Professor, Younger Daughter and I drove north to the town of Mt. Vernon and enjoyed a strenuous  hike in a forest preserve and then a walk along the river.  Then Tuesday evening, we joined the boys from Trail Life on a nature hike in the Spring Valley Preserve.  While we didn't hike much more than a mile, we crossed that creek numerous times.  I am thankful we have the energy to do these hikes.

4.  Time with friends.  Morning coffee with T and S.  Evening dinner with friends from my Bible Study group.  Those are times I cherish.

5.  I love when someone drops an encouraging or 'to the point' comment in conversation.  This morning while I was in a zoom meeting with my "Art Girls" friends, these comments hit me:  "Outer order, inner calm."  "Relationships over arrangements."  Both are excellent reminders.

Let us always remember to stop and enjoy the moments of quiet and rest in our busy lives.

May Friday Fave Fives, Week Two

Bountifully blessed is the way I would describe my week here at Willow's Cottage.  Some weeks I struggle to find Five Faves; other weeks I work at paring down the multitude of blessings.  Which ever week it is, I am thankful.  Here are five happenings that I chose for Friday Fave Fives (the link takes you to Living to Tell the Story blog to join us)

1.  One piece of siding on our house blew off in a storm months ago.  We have tried multiple times to find someone able and willing to replace it.  Unfortunately, it was the piece at the very tip top of our two story home.  The biggest issue was finding someone with a tall enough ladder to reach that spot.  This week, the father-in-law of our CA extra grandson brought a 35 foot ladder and climbed up there and put that one small piece back up.  We are so thankful for his willingness and ability to help us!

2.  On Saturday afternoon, the daughters drove over and picked me, and we went plant shopping!  AND NOW, my phone isn't talking to my laptop computer, so I can't post some adorable pictures.  The Professor is working on it...)

3.  Monday evening our daughters and the grands joined us here for BYOD (Bring Your Own Dinner) and a bonfire.  The weather was perfect!  I love living so near that we can just say, "Come on over and bring some food."

4.  I have been wanting to get out and hike this spring.  Obviously, my broken ankle has held me back.  But this week, Tall Boy and Short Boy had a Trail Life hike and I was able to tag along with the boys and The Professor.  The trail was very muddy but we persevered and I walked the whole way!

This part of the trail was the 'dry section'.

5.  The garden is s-l-o-w-l-y coming together.  Hopefully, we will be able to plant our starts this weekend as our California 'kids' came and helped us stabilize the corners and sides of the raised beds.  Here's to summer veggies!!

Mid September Blessings

 Good Morning!  It is a lovely mid September morning here at Willow's Cottage.  I am sitting on my back patio enjoying a cuppa Joe and watching my hibiscus bush wave in the soft breeze.  This is the right time to ponder what blessings have come my way this week.  I do this every Friday and join several other lovely people in focusing on FRIDAY FAVE FIVES.

1.  A good laugh.  The New Boy (for those who don't know, that's older grandson) showed me something funny this week.  Go to google and type in askew (or click on the word).  Look carefully at the answer.  Trust me.  You'll laugh.  Then do the same with anagram.  Someone has been bored at work.

2.  A mother-daughter day with Younger Daughter.  We didn't do much of what we had planned because her lupus had flared.  But we did drop off Little Warrior (younger grandson) at Trail Life campout with The Professor, New Boy and New Boy's mom (they had a great weekend!).  We took a short hike in the woods, then we drove home along some beautiful country roads and filled our minds and hearts with all the peaceful scenery.

And of course I had to take at least one photo of a barn!

3.  On the way, we stopped at a yard sale.  Score!  She found a great deal on a recumbent exercise bike and an antique sled decorated for Christmas, and I snagged a well preserved 1940s style side table which will blend in well with my mid-century modern furniture.  And the man who was selling them was a delightful older gentleman so the visit was pleasant as well.

4.  Last week I met two of the neighbors who live across the street.  One evening this week, I was walking alone because The Professor had a meeting to attend, and they were sitting together on a front patio.  They invited me to join them and I enjoyed getting to know them more.

5.  I've started another sock yarn afghan.  Knitting is my calming activity.  I chose these colors from my stash because, well, I love turquoise! And it will be warm and snuggly this winter.

June, Take Two

 I am on a short trip.  Three states today.  But I'll be back in a day or three.  So this may be the only time for the next three days I can post my Friday Fave Fives.  I apologize upfront that I may not be able to comment on other blogs for a few days.  Just going to be having too much fun.  And maybe not enough internet.

Anyway, here are some things for which I am deeply grateful and thankful.

1.  Younger grandson, Little Warrior, is obsessed with all about cars lately.  So to celebrate the end of the school year,  he  received a ticket to visit Monster Truckz.  Younger Daughter, The Professor and I went with him to see the exhibition of crazy big decked out trucks driving around a track.  (this was two weeks ago, but I decided to include it here).  AND...I am having difficulty uploading photos, so...maybe if you don't see any photos, come back later and I will have been able to upload them.

2.  One morning, The Professor needed to work on mapping the compass course for the Trail Life group's lessons, so we drove out to that same wonderful wild park where he went to work on his project.  I took a wonderful hike through the woods, veering off on new-to-me trails.  I met only two other people the whole time.

3.  One trail I followed was the Fairy Trail.  There were posters with pages from a fairy story all along the trail.  And everywhere I turned, there was a fairy house.  I plan to write a separate blog post about the Fairy Trail and show all the pictures.  The whole area was enchanting.

4.  For the first time since moving to our new state, we were able to attend a face to face small group from church (called life groups here).  Older Daughter is part of the group and it is wonderful and so encouraging to get to know people more intimately in a smaller setting.  I am so thankful for this milestone.

5.  While you are reading this, I will be hanging out with one of my best friends from college.  So. Excited.  We sang together in a trio for three years representing our little college all over CA, OR and WA.  Hopefully, there will be pictures to show in the next week.

A Lovely Spring Week

 Hello Friday!  It's time for FRIDAY FAVE FIVES!  Click on the link to join in.  All during the week, I keep a short log of what I've done each day.  I try to focus on the best stuff.  Then, on Friday, I write those blessings and points of gratitude in a blog post and read what others have been doing.  Here is Willow's Week.

1.  Younger Daughter and I planned a visit to a garden nursery.  We were a bit early to meet up with friends, so we wandered around on some country roads.  I love old buildings!

2.  Mother's Day.  Of course, that would be a favorite part of the week.  We honored our two daughters by having dinner together at our house after church on Sunday.  Getting take out kept us all from having to cook.  Win-win!  AND, both sons called and chatted.  AND, I talked with World's Best Daughter-in-Law and our granddaughter PAL, too.

[warning!  cuteness overload below!]

3.  I was able to help Younger Daughter with some driving on Monday.  The fave is obviously time spent with her, being able to assist and drive her home after she had a nasty reaction to her second vaccine shot.  Then I drove her to her nursing class so she could take a test (results:  highest grade in the class!).

4.  Between those drives, The New Boy and I accompanied The Professor to a local park where The Prof was working through the plans for a compass reading class for Trail Life.  So The New Boy and I took off on a hike.  We crossed streams, tromped through mud, scrambled up a nearly vertical bank.  So. Much. Fun!  And we agreed that we probably shouldn't admit to all the adventures (like how many times we crossed the stream).

5.  Then on the evening when the guys went to the park for Trail Life and were doing the compass reading exercise, I hiked in another section of the park.  No stream crossings this time since I was on my own, and I ambled off the trail only once to take a short cut up to another trail.

Following the compass reading...

And now, a bonus fave:  the weather reports are telling us that maybe, just maybe, the weather is going to warm up a bit.  That means more garden time and more hiking time ahead. Happy Weekend!

End of April Faves

Happy Friday!  I am stopping, taking a breath, and reviewing my week.  Can it really be the very last day of April?  We are one third of the way through 2021.  Here are the blessings I've noted.  FRIDAY FAVE FIVES.  Click the link to join.  

1.  Exploring new parks is always fun.  It turns out that the park we visited last Friday is used mainly by off road bikers, so we didn't hike any of the trails.  But it was wonderful to find all the trees are producing their green leaves.

 2.  Work is being done at our daughter's home to repair the damage done by flooding in her neighborhood last year.  That is truly a fave because it has been a long and hard road to find workers and materials.

3.   As I am writing this, I am hearing pounding and thumping on my roof.  Yes, the roofers are here.  Long story cut short.  We had a leak in our garage.  It kept getting worse.  No roofer were available.  We made arrangements with the contractor to do other work, and he told us he also does roofs!  AND, it's the same contractor who is working on our daughter's home (see #2)!  After yesterday's torrential rainstorm, we are very thankful to have roofers here!  Of all workmen, I think roofers should be paid the highest wages considering the risks they take working on roofs.

4.  Finally, I'm getting some spring cleaning done.

5.  The Professor and I enjoy watching old movies in the evenings.  This week we found Harvey, starring Jimmy Stewart.  Have you ever watched Harvey?  I know it seems silly to include that movie in Fave Fives, but, really, it is a great reminder of the importance of being pleasant instead of smart.  Want to watch the scene?  Here it is!  Let us be pleasant and nice this week!

It's (almost) Spring!

 Friday Fave Fives.  Here is Willow's Week in five little peeks into my life.  Are you looking forward to spring as much as I am? 

1.  Most the days this week have been sunny and almost warm.  That makes me so thankful!

2.  Mystery plants popping up in my new front garden area.  Maybe hyacinths?  And tulips?  Stay tuned for identification when the flowers bloom.

3.  We found an off the paved trail hiking (and mountain bike) path.   And this was sitting on the side perched on a downed tree.  I love finding those hidden trails!

4.  A knitted sweater has been sent to celebrate a new baby boy.  Of course I forgot to take a photo of the finished sweater before I popped it in to the mailing box.  Just imagine a 6 month sized cardigan with a hood made with the darker grey and stripes of the lighter grey.  And another two year old green sweater has been started.  Hopefully, I will remember to take pictures of that one.

5.   Do you ever do this?  Lately, I have had to drive about twenty-five miles each way for some physical therapy appointments.  Driving on the highways is boring.  So I've been  returning home via alternate routes. I love taking the country roads and learning about the area where I am living.  What makes this a fave?  I can explore and I have gas in my car to do it.  And it's even more beautiful because it's ALMOST SPRING!

Hikes and Walks and All Things Good

So far, March has been quite kind to us.  The skies have been blue.  The temperatures have moderated a bit.  I kinda like the month of March.  There is always much for which to be thankful.  Here are five things that stood out to me when I was thinking about what I could write about for Friday Fave Fives (follow the link to join!).

1. and 2.  The reason I am late posting my Fave Fives is because we took TWO walks today.  Our daughters both wanted to get out for a good long walk, but their schedules didn't mesh.  So we walked with one (and her dog), took a coffee break with our new friends (that's the #2 fave), then took another longer walk with our other daughter and her dog.

3.  A fun hike.  On Saturday, we all jumped in our cars and did a family hike at a local state reserve Blackhand Gorge.  It was a wonderful warm day. And there were lots of people out on the trails.  It was so much fun to be out on the trails!

4.  We ordered blinds for most of the windows in our new home.  This week they arrived and were installed.

5. The Professor got an all clear from his doctor for something that had been causing a lot of pain in his neck and shoulders.  Physical therapy has worked wonders, and he is so much better that the doctor doesn't need to see him again unless the pain returns.  Good news! 

December Thankfulness #3

Happy Friday!  How was your week?  Sunshine or rain?  Family and friends?  I am sharing my Friday Fave Fives this Friday evening to remind myself of the blessings and best parts of this week.  I link  each week to Susanne's blog because she is our host.  FRIDAY FAVE FIVES

1.  The weather outside is frightful!  But it is beautiful.  I am choosing to appreciate the good.

2.  On Saturday, the weather was 'ok'.  So we decided to take a hike.  Daughters and grandkids came, too.  We chose the local arboretum and walked down to the pond and back.  Little Warrior showed us where the name of the arboretum is planted in topiary!  We didn't know about it.  Pretty amazing!  Although the photos can't show all of the letters, you can see the magnitude of the topiary words.

3.  Christmas song sing along.  Sunday night, we joined many families in our (socially distanced) church to sing Christmas songs.  It was so much fun!  All of our local family joined us, so it was extra special.

4.  We enjoyed a lunch with Younger Daughter during her lunch break at a new to us Mexican restaurant.  Good conversation and good food!

5.  Would you start a group skype call at 10pm?  You would if you were the only person in your time zone and the others were the rest of my Art Group friends.  The late night was totally worth it..

What are your best blessings from this week?

Hello October!

 I'm a day late, but I really hope I'm not a dollar short.  Or even a few pennies.

It's Saturday Friday Fave Fives time!  It's October, the tenth month of this year. This year has sometimes crept along and sometimes raced so fast I couldn't keep up.  Always, it is important to stop and reflect and remember the many many blessings I have in my daily life.  Here is Willow's Week in Five Faves.  Thank you, Susanne, for leading this exercise in gratitude every Friday.  Here's the LINK. 

1.  You many recall that my younger daughter had ankle surgery about six weeks ago. She has been cleared for physical therapy and has been making great progress.  Her post op appointment was yesterday (which explains my lateness in doing FFF since I am her driver.) and she is healing well according to her doctor.  Yay!

2.  We took a lovely drive and hike to a park in the next county north of here and hiked down to the falls.  It wasn't a long trail but it was lovely to be in the trees and next to the creek.  No photos cuz I forgot my camera.

3.  So on Thursday, we drove south a bit and parked next to a section of one of the TJ Evans Trails and walked on the paved bike trail.  One thing I love about my new home is all the accessible trails.

4.  One of the benefits of zoom meetings is that we can still call in to group meetings and see our friends.  There was a church business meeting and we joined and were able to 'see' friends and know how things are going at our CA church.

5.  This isn't so much a fave for me personally, but our granddaughter was SO HAPPY to go back to physical school on starting on Wednesday.  She's an extrovert and is loving being back with her friends.  I'm glad for her.

And so that is my Five Faves for this first week of October!

Busy Week

Late. Late. Late.  Sometimes it is just like that when it comes to Willow's Week for Friday Fave Fives.  But I think I made it in under the deadline.

Edit to add:  I should have reported that the sale of our home is moving along.  So far, so good.

Here are five things that I have been blessed with this week.

1.  An older friend from church is decluttering his house after his wife passed away.  He has handed over all her yarn to me (as the conduit) to share with others.  Wow.  There is a lot of yarn.  It is going to be a blessing to my friend's weaving studio, Threadbender Textiles, and to a church's knit group which makes afghans, prayer shawls and hats for people who need them.

2.  I just can't get enough of the beautiful animals and birds in our neighborhood.

Herons and ducks night fishing

3.  On Saturday, a friend and I hiked up the very steep trail to the water storage tank across the freeway from where I live and almost exactly halfway between her house and mine.  When we reached the top just above the tank, we sat on the highest rock and chatted for a long time before hiking back down.  The views were stunning!

We were actually overlooking Highway 101, Camino Real.  Waaay out there under the fog bank is the Pacific Ocean.

One of the places where your California lemons are grown

4.  I had a good reminder to FINISH something this week.  I'm working on it!  There's a knitting project someone asked me to do (make a copy of an antique doll's sweater which was ruined) and I've been procrastinating.  It needs to be finished before we move.  So I picked it up and have been knitting and am nearing the end.

5.  This week was our anniversary.  We've been married forty-seven years!  My constant thought that day was--we started out on an adventurous life and it seems like we just continue with the adventures.

Our Engagement 

Bonus.  A favorite quote (taken from Micah 6:8)

Do not be daunted by

the enormity of the world's grief.

Do justly, now.

Love mercy, now.

Walk humbly, now.

You are not obligated to complete the work,

But neither are you free to abandon it.