History and the Beach

St. Augustine, Florida is an historical city, the oldest continually occupied (by Europeans) city in the New World, established by the Spanish in 1565 as a post to protect their trade routes against the British.  Castillo de San Marcos is now a national monument.

Another fort, Fort Matanzas, was built on the other side of the inlet in 1740 to repel advances by the British.  It is now also a National Monument.  Accessible only by a boat ride provided by the Park Service, it is well worth the time and effort to visit it.

St. Augustine is full of old buildings and streets.

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine is a lovely place to visit.

The bell tower can be seen from all around the city.

 

So many intriguing doors, gardens and gates!

St. Augustine has a light house!

Are you bored yet?  There's MORE!

St. Augustine is a popular tourist destination because it is on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.  That means BEACHES!

If you love history and the beach, St. Augustine, Florida is the place for you!

On the Road

Since I've been traveling, I haven't been online all that much.  But I am racking up the gratitude this week for sure.  All week, I've been thinking I need to share this and this and that and that for Friday Fave Fives.  How can I choose just five?  (The link in bold type is for you to follow if you want to read more encouraging Faves from others, or join in)

1.  Lunch and afternoon chat with The Professor's oldest (longest) friend.  We met him and his wife for lunch at a wonderful Italian restaurant and then we drove to their place and chatted for a couple more hours before we hit the road again.  What a refreshment that was since I also knew his friend as one of my first college English professors.

2.  Two nights with other friends.  One of the highlights of our time spent with these 'church in California' friends (we've all moved away) was that one evening we enjoyed dinner at their daughter's home and she invited yet another family from our same church to join us.  Oh, that was just a wonderful time!  The younger kids have grown up so much and they pretended to remember us.  One even made us a banner welcoming us to their home and their state. (insert googly eyes here)

3.  We proceeded on south and stopped at the Space and Rocket Museum in Huntsville, Alabama.  We wandered around for HOURS reading the plaques and gazing at all the exhibits.  A bonus on that was a wonderful late lunch at a great little restaurant we found on our way.  The Yellow Deli.

4.  Two more nights were spent with long ago college friends.  The husband has had some major health issues and we were just so happy to visit with them and encourage them and rejoice with them in how well our friend is recovering.

5.  Another highlight (see how they just keep rolling in?) was to meet and have dinner with a cousin's son who have grown into a wonderful young man.  Also, we were able to meet his wife and her parents.  You know that feeling when you have an instant rapport and know you are already 'family'?  That's how it was.  (If you remember seeing any photos of my children, you will see the striking resemblance with my cousin and my son.)

Bonus.  Gotta have a bonus to this.  Warmer weather and sunshine!  I'm soaking it in.

Do come back in the next day or so and enjoy ALL.THE.PHOTOS of St. Augustine, Florida.  Spoiler--yes, that is where we were for three days.

Thankful for So Much

Happy Friday!  Another week in the books.  It is important to me to be mindful and thankful of all the small and large ways I am blessed each day and week.  Therefore, Friday Fave Fives is important to me.  Here is my list of Five Blessings I have noted in Willow's Week.

1.  Our area has been clobbered twice with snow storms this week.  I am glad that the snow melted off fairly quickly from both storms.  Even so, area schools were closed one day.  I'm thankful for the beauty but also that the snow didn't stick around for days and days.

2.  On Tuesday afternoon, The Professor and I braved the weather during one of the warmer times and took a drive north through a couple of small towns and ended up in a place called Mt. Vernon.  It is a lovely quaint town which has at least two small universities.  Our interest was in the walking trails there.  We enjoyed a lovely two and a half mile walk along a river and around a lake and then back across the river to our car.  I took some lovely photos of the scenery but unfortunately, my camera and my computer are having a tiff and not speaking to each other. (detailed fix-it coming soon, I hope)

3.  An added joy to that walk was a lovely conversation with a gentleman who pointed us in the right direction for the best walk and also traded numbers with The Professor and invited us visit him at his home some time soon as we have much in common beyond our mutual love of walking and exploring.

4.  I love living near my daughters, like a five minute drive.  One afternoon, we realized that our clothes dryer quit working.  The clothes were washed and wet and we needed them.  So we checked with the girls and arranged to pop over and dry our clothes.  And had an opportunity to chat with the teenagers, too.  I am so thankful to be so close to them.

5.  We love to travel.  It's just in our nomadic bones.  So yes, we are traveling.  With all that cold and grey and rain and snow, we decided we needed some sunshine and warmth, so south we are headed.  So far, we haven't found any warmth or sun, but at least we are enjoying our adventure.  And we will be spending time with friends and family.

How about you?  What blessings have you found in your week?

Midwinter Friday Faves

Happy Friday!  Willow's Week was mostly quiet with a few bursts of energy.  In midwinter, that is probably the best way to gratefully walk through a week.  These are my Friday Fave Fives (the link will connect you to Susanne's blog where you can read more or join in).

This week I finished reading a book titled Simple Ways to Be More With Less by Courtney Carver.  At the very end of the book there was a section written by guest writer Joshua Becker about Prayer and Gratitude.  I loved his closing statements and feel they are worthy to be quoted here and used for my first three faves because they have encouraged and challenged me over and over this week. 

1.  "Another benefit of prayer in your life is that prayer leads to gratitude.  Gratitude leads to contentment."  

2.  "Unfortunately, we live in a culture that preaches discontent.  A consumer-driven culture will always attack gratitude.   If they can sow seeds of discontent in our lives, they can sell us on their new product line or latest version with new improvements.  In contrast, those who can find gratitude in their current existence will be less influenced by those empty promises."  

3.  "Gratitude grounds us and focuses our lives on others."

4.  Sunshine and somewhat temperate weather filled me with joy and gratitude this week.  We took several walks in the sunshine, one of them at the local arboretum.

5.  Finally, I read a book this week that challenged me.  Titled Safer Than A Known Way, it is an autobiography of a young woman who worked with Brother Andrew and was also the companion and caregiver for Corrie Ten Boom at the end of her life.  I highly recommend it.

6.  Yes, I have an extra this week again.  Younger Son's birthday was this week.  He was my miracle baby as I was sick with malaria when he was born.  We both lived.  And for that too I am grateful.

Wasn't he the cutest six year old in the world?

Five Reasons To Be Thankful This Week

Friday.  That means Friday Fave Fives.  I try hard all week to be thankful and focus my mind on how God is showing me blessings every day.  So writing out my Fave Fives is important.  I am thankful that Susanne has been so faithful to host this every week for YEARS.  You can do it too--here's the LINK. So here is Willow's Week...

1.   I noticed this quote this week and it resonated with me.

"Be always grateful for getting another chance to do whatever you love doing."  (Thoughts Wonder)

2.  One thing I love doing is knitting.  Obviously, I am thankful that I have another chance to continue knitting.  I finished this twelve month vest this week.   I am thankful!

3.  I didn't include this fave last week although our grandson's thirteenth birthday was January 2nd.  I am thankful for this guy and all the progress he is making.  He decided that he preferred having everyone choose their favorite blizzard at DQ instead of having a birthday cake.   When he's in the mood, he loves hugs from Bapa and Meema.  Can he really be a teenager??

4.  I do love coffee and conversations.  This week I spent an hour chatting with a friend.  And of course, we had our usual weekly coffee date with T and S.  I am so very thankful for friends and coffee.

5.  Our weather has been cold and grey and rainy (and snowy).  Younger Daughter commented that she encourages herself on days like these by pretending she is in Scotland or England.  That prompted me to scroll through some photos and find some iconic British grey pictures.  They cheered both of us up remembering the wonderful time we had on our holiday.

Bonus.  I know that California is getting hit with lots of rain this week.  That has prompted me to check in with World's Best Neighbor out there.  She states that she is safe and her house hasn't floated away or slid down the hill.

Welcoming in the New Year

 Happy New Year! 2023!

Wow, how did it become 2023 already?  And how is it Friday already?  Friday Fave Fives sneaked up on me today.  And it's Friday evening.

Here are my Five Faves from Willow's Week, five things that stand out to me from my life this week.

1.  New Year's Eve.  We really know how to party here at Willow's Cottage.  Family came over for dinner about 6:00pm.  At midnight London time (7:00 here), we gathered around the TV and watched the ball drop while Big Ben bonged out twelve rings!  Happy New Year!  Then we relaxed, and eventually the family wandered home, and we were all in our beds before midnight in our time zone.  That is my kind of New Year's Eve celebration.

2.  I made it through 2022 and into 2023.  That in itself is a blessing.

3.  On New Year's Day, the weather had moderated enough (from frigid and snowy) so we could take a walk.  We were blessed to have great paved trails near our home, so we can just pop over and walk a few miles and our daughters can join us and bring the puppies.

4.  Finally, I started knitting a sweater using some very very lovely 100% cashmere yarn.  I purchased it from a small company June Cashmere that supports small farmers in Central Asia.  Little by little, I am able to knit more.

5.  I am thankful to be back in the rhythm of normal, not holiday, life.  I love Christmas!  But I am also glad when life calms down and we can rest in everyday activities.  Coffee with friends.  Daily walks.  Weekly Bible Study.

Are you ready for 2023?  Are you back in the rhythm of daily life?  Are you already finding joy in this new year?

Christmas 2022

 Christmas.  Come and gone.  How was your Christmas?  Ours was busy, noisy, and full of blessings.  We did have a white Christmas and it was very very cold.

 And now we are looking toward New Years Day this weekend.  Where did the year go?  Here are my Friday Fave Fives, the last one for 2022!  The link will take you to our host Susanne's blog.

1.  Christmas Eve service was lovely.  The Professor was on duty to do lighting, so Older Daughter sat with me.  I love singing all the Christmas hymns!

2.  On Christmas Day, we were up early.  The Professor busied himself with making his special coffee cakes, one gluten free and one regular.  And made coffee and more coffee.  I finished placing stocking stuffers at the fireplace and presents around the Christmas tree and set the table for brunch.  The hordes arrived, nine people in all, so we were a loud and happy group of eleven.  There was so much food--bacon, sausage, eggs, rolls, fruit, and more.

3.  After brunch, we opened our presents.  Having our extra family with us was so much fun.  These are the four very close friends--mom, dad, two young adult boys--who moved here from SoCal in the summer.  We love having them here and part of our family.

4.  While some of us finished cooking up dinner, the rest of us watched a couple of movies.  Elf!  White Christmas!

5.  In the evening, we chatted on zoom with our CA and AZ family who couldn't be with us here.  The only one missing was our oldest son a USAR Chaplain who is away on deployment right now.  I know he was busy blessing many soldiers while they are all away from family and friends this holiday season.

Can you believe it?  I didn't take even ONE photo!  We were just so busy having fun!

Almost Christmas!

 Fourth Week of Advent. 

We are almost ready to celebrate Christmas.

We also just passed the Winter Solstice.

The days will be longer.  However.  As I learned from one of my best friends who now lives in Iowa, midwestern people have a saying, "As the days get longer, the cold gets stronger!"  We are finding this to be especially true this Christmas weekend.  Right now, our temperatures are in the negative numbers.  There is snow.  There is ice.  There is wind.  It's frigid!

It may be cold outside, but there is warmth in our hearts as we contemplate the reason we celebrate Christmas.  "I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord."

And in keeping with warmth, I also focus on my weekly exercise of expressing gratitude and thankfulness with Friday Fave Fives hosted by Susanne.

1.  Obviously, I am thankful that I have a warm house with heat source.  Cozy blankets.  Warm sweaters and coats and mittens and hats.

2.  Our granddaughter PAL sang in a Christmas concert with the Arizona Girls Choir.  We were able to watch the entire concert after it was put up on you tube.  She is following in a long generational line of choral singers.

3.  My other granddaughter (I should call her Tall Girl) and Tall Boy came one afternoon and helped me bake cookies using my grandmother's sugar cookie recipe.  They chose the cookie cutters, so we have many dog, fish and cat cookies as well as trees and bells.  Then Tall Boy returned yesterday to frost them and to make the dough for HIS chocolate cookie recipe.

4.  Tall Girl and Tall Boy also accompanied us on our weekly visit with our friends at a local coffee shop.  How many teenage grands are willing to go to coffee shops with their grandparents and friends?  I was so happy they were interested--granted, the interest was probably partly mostly due to a promise of food...

5.  And of course, I am grateful for another year to celebrate ADVENT and CHRISTMAS!  Merry Christmas, everyone!

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice 2022

The shortest day and longest night of the year. 

The best part is that the days will now begin to be longer.

And four days until CHRISTMAS!

Fourth Week of Advent

PEACE.  That is the theme of Advent's Fourth Week.  That is what the world needs.  Peace.  We can only get peace from Jesus.

Did you have a chaotic or peaceful week?  Mine was a mixture of both.  Three trips in to the big city for medical appointments.  At least, one of them included a quick grocery shopping trip to two stores we don't have in our little town.  But we also had periods of quiet between which we definitely needed.  I try had to focus on the peace and not the chaos.  That helps me be thankful for all situations.  Here are five ways I found peace this week.  Willow's Week for Friday Fave Fives in this fourth week of Advent. 

1.  I am thankful that the stitches in my hand are out and the PA declared that I am healing well.

2.  According to the PA, I can resume my knitting as much as I feel like!

3.  I have been contemplating buying this book for a long time.  Finally, at the (slight) urging of my daughter-in-law, we found it online and I purchased it.  I am calling it my Christmas present to myself.

                                                       

4.  I have found a place to offer my knitted hats for sale.  During the summer, I had talked with the owner of a resale shop who told me she would take them during the winter/Christmas season.  This week, I dropped them off and am hoping she will sell them all.

5.  As our temperatures have dropped this month, I have been huddling under my afghans.  I am so thankful that I am warm and cozy!

How about you?  Where did you find Peace this week?

Advent's Third Week

Coming up is the third weekend of Advent.  The focus is on LOVE.

Join me and others in finding the LOVE in this week, five things that makes us thankful.  Here are  my Friday Fave Fives (follow the link to read more).

1.  It has been a week since I had the surgery on my hand.  The big bandage is off and I am improving daily.  I am even able to drive short distances.  I am thankful for living in a time and place where surgeries are available.

2.  This week, it was The Professor's turn to have a medical procedure.  Results were positive, for which we were thankful (and again, I was able to drive him).

3.  On Sunday evening, The Professor and I and Older Daughter watched I Heard the Bells in a local theatre.  It was really really good, well done.  It shows a glimpse into the life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  If it is being shown any place near you, I would recommend it to you.

4.  We love our coffee dates with our two friends.  This week, we met at a fairly new coffee house near their home.  The building is an old barn that has been remodeled.  And they just received their new tables and chairs which makes it intimate and cozy.  I am thankful for our friends and for fun places to visit.

5.  The weather was cooperating this week, so The Professor and I drove out to a section of the local trails that we hadn't walked.  We logged almost four miles in mostly country scenery and almost perfect late autumn weather.  What a LOVELY time to be out in nature.

May you find much JOY in this week!

First Week of Advent

 December!  Wow, can you believe it is the last month of this year 2022?  After a month of giving thanks, we now enter the month of celebrating Advent and Christmas. So much more for which to give thanks.  and so here are my five thoughts on my list of gratitude.  Friday Fave Fives is a great way to join others and give thanks weekly for all the blessings.

1.  Advent!  HOPE.  We joined a small group of people for dinner, Advent reading, and prayer time.  It was wonderful!

2.  Older Daughter had a successful business trip and arrived home safely yesterday.

3.  I had a surgical procedure done on my left hand this morning (hence my rather late FFF post).  The whole time was much less than an hour, and the doctor proclaimed it a success.  He was observed by three residents/medical students which is normal for a teaching hospital.

4.  I am so thankful that Younger Daughter was able to be with The Professor and me at the surgical center (she works in another center of the hospital) and was with me until the time for the surgery.

5.  Afterwards, I felt well enough to make a quick Christmas shopping stop and then grab a peppermint mocha.  And now I am home resting my hand and taking pain meds.

Bonus:  guess what!  I am not allowed to wash dishes for two weeks.  Too bad, huh?  I am thankful that The Professor is willing and those dirty plates won't just stack up.

How was your week as we begin December?