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.

In the Mood

 For Old (and New) Barns.

Red Barns

Grey Barns

And sometimes your barn can earn you extra cash as a billboard.

Marching Along

 I'm late!  I'm late!  For a very important date!  Friday Fave Fives!  But at least I'm here now to share my five blessings from this first full week of March.

1.  The weather has been moderate all week.  Although we have had rainstorms blowing through, most days have been walk worthy.  We even had time one day to move three wheelbarrow loads of mulch and drop them on the raspberry bushes before the rain returned.

2.  As I mentioned, the days were walk worthy.  We managed three good walks with the granddogs.  Four miles.  Three miles.  One and a half miles.

Deer frolicking at the edge of the creek

3.  The best thing about walking with the granddogs?  We walk them, and when we are done, we give them back to their mommies and don't have to take them home, feed them and clean up after them.  We do love them.  Two of the three:

Sawyer

Athena

4.  Signs of spring.  Daffodils everywhere.  Forsythia starting to bloom.  (and would you believe it?  I got no photos.)

5.  Coffee meet ups with new friends.  One lady is a weaver and we had a great time talking about all things fiber.

Marching In

 Wow!  We are now in our third month of 2024.  I kinda like March because it is my birthday month.  And March is when spring begins.  At least on the calendar.

And since it is Friday, here are Willow's Friday Fave Fives for you to enjoy.

1.  We've been lazy about updating our wills.  This week, we finally met with our lawyer and finalized everything.

2.  I got my hair cut.

3.  On Sunday, we met a couple from our church for lunch.  It was a new place for us and we so enjoyed the food and the fellowship.

4.  I finished this sweater.  It's a button down cardigan hoodie that is going across the country to a little one whose mama we have known since she was five.  He outgrew the smaller one I had made before he was born, so of course I had to make him a larger one so he can cuddle up warmly and remember his 'extra grandma'.

5.  Signs of spring!  TWO crocuses have popped their bright yellow blooms out.

Earlier this week, I posted a picture of some daffodils that had been covered by a bag of mulch but were doing their best to find sunshine.

I took the photo below a couple of days later.  The plants are turning more green (thanks, chlorophyll) and you can see more buds, too.  Watching these plants grow and flourish is a good reminder to me of resurrection and new life.

So these are my Five Faves of gratitude from this week, as we said goodbye to February, celebrated an extra day, and now greet our new month of March.  Enjoy any sunshine you can get.  Drink lots of warm coffee and tea.  Watch for new growth to pop up from seemingly dead dirt.  Be thankful!

Random February Photos

 It is late winter.  February's weather is all over the place.  There's snow.  It comes and goes.

But we can still get out and walk the paved trails.

Then the snow starts melting.

Sometimes there is even blue sky!

The birds know spring is on its way.

And the early spring flowers are popping up.

Our first crocus!

These daffodils were trapped under a bag of mulch all winter.  They are so tenacious!  I moved the bag and found them already searching for the spring sunshine.

And of course, there are always barns.

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!

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.