End of September, Really?

Happy Friday!  It's time for Friday Fave Fives. with Susanne. And it's the last week of September!  How did that happen??  Anyway.  These are the five things I've found this week to be thankful for.

1.  Weather that is cool enough to wear my flannel shirts.  I do love my flannel shirts.

2.  My college friend wrote this book.  Another friend bought me a copy of it!  I can highly recommend it.



3.  Several years ago, The Professor and I read through all the books by Dick Francis.  He wrote murder mysteries based in England and focused on horse racing.  At least I thought we had read them all.  This week at the library, I found a title I didn't recognize, and as I read the fist chapter, I was sure I'd never read it before.  So I'm enjoying this new to me book.

4.  I've been working on a new bunny knitting pattern.  At this point, I have a head, a couple of arms, two ears and two legs.  Oh, and the body.  Now I just need to put Bunny together.  I'm enjoying the challenge.

5.  Our small groups at our church started up again for our autumn sessions.  It's good to be back together!

Farmers Market

Ralph Waldo Emerson stated, "Earth laughs in flowers." 

I think that the earth also rejoices in vegetables and fruit.

Especially when they are at our farmers market.

What an abundance!

Autumn Arrives

Happy Autumn!  It doesn't feel or look much like autumn here.  But that's what the calendar says.  Here is Willow's Week, celebrating Friday Fave Fives with Susanne and others.

1.  About autumn--The Professor announced a couple of days ago that he had just declared that fall has arrived.  Why?  Because it was cool enough in the morning to wear a flannel shirt!  I wore one the other day, too.  So, yeah, I guess it is cooling down a bit.

2.  Early Evening Hike.  There were six of us (including The Professor).  We hiked up and down the hills surrounding a neighboring community for between three and four miles.  I like hiking when the sun is no longer high in the sky--it makes for cooler temperatures.  And our companions were congenial.  (I'm going to post this and then check my camera--did I take any decent photos?  If so, I'll include them later.)

3.  BYOD.  That stands for Bring Your Own Dinner.  We have an arrangement with our friends for dinners.  She and I have been friends since college, and we have maintained our friendship all these years.  Since they live several miles out of town on their ranch, they text us their order for a local eating place, and we get our meals and drive to their place for dinner.  We enjoy our fellowship, and no one has to spend hours preparing and cooking.  I have always called my friend Blueberry Lady, but since they are now growing strawberries, she told me I should change her name to Strawberry Lady.

4.  World's Best Neighbor needed to go to Santa Barbara this week.  We drove her up there.  And since we were already nearby, we popped over to see an old (in both senses of the word) friend, take her to lunch and help her do some grocery shopping.  It was a joy to spend that bit of time with an long time colleague from our Indonesia days.

5.  That loom I purchased?  Here is my first project!  A scarf for those cooler days coming up.  I used two shuttles and two colors to create a sort of herringbone tweed pattern.  I'm so excited!  This is one I'm keeping for myself.

Happy Weekend, Friends!  Be watchful and thankful for those daily blessings.

Encouraging Words and Deeds

Hello, Friday!  And Hello, Friday Fave Fives!  A busy week here means not much less was blogged about.  But I still maintain my habit of posting Willow's Week with Five blessings.  You can follow THIS LINK and read other FFFs and maybe post yours, too.

1.  So, my sister-in-law knows me.  She knows I love to read.  Last weekend, she handed me two, TWO!, books in a series that she knows I am currently reading.  She found them for free and snagged them for me.

2.  Finally, I pulled the trigger.  I bought a small table loom!  It is called a Cricket Loom.  Fifteen inches wide. So I can weave more kinds of things on it.  This is not my exact loom--just a photo of what it looks like.  Now I just have to set it up and 'warp' it (that means putting the long yarn threads on it).

3.  Back to walking.  I am happy to back on our normal walking routine--two to three miles of up and down streets in our neighborhood in the early evening.

4.  I have been so very encouraged by sweet comments others have made about me to my husband.  I am not mentioning this to be proud!  I am reminded of how much it means to me, and it reminds me to pass on kind and encouraging comments to other people.  If those things mean so much to me, maybe my encouraging words will help someone else through their day.

5.  Rides.  Currently, we have one car at home as our second car is being used by a friend.  One day this week, The Professor and I both needed to be in two different places.  A friend who lives in my neighborhood gave me a ride to our Bible Study.  I really truly appreciated her willingness to help me out!

How about you?  What FIVE things can you pick out of your week that encouraged you?

HOME Sweet Home

Happy Friday!  I am HOME and recovering from jet lag and crazy hours in airports.  Here are my Friday Fave Fives--my blessings from this past week.  Follow THIS LINK to participate in FFF.

1.  I know I write this EVERY TIME I fly.  But it's always a fave for me.  We had a safe and uneventful trip on the way HOME

2.  After we touched down in Los Angeles, I texted our friend that we would be ready soon to be picked up.  We had arranged for him to use our car while we were gone, and in return, he fetched us from the airport and drove us HOME.  Win-Win.

3.  New Boy is growing up so quickly!  He has a phone for emergencies and after we were HOME, he reported this:  "I already miss you!  I love you!"  I guess that's an emergency message, isn't it?

4.  On our drive HOME, I texted World's Best Neighbor that we would be home soon.  A few hours later, she stopped by to welcome us home.  She really is the World's Best Neighbor and I am so very thankful for such a good friend who lives on property adjoining ours.

5.  All those things about being home are appreciated:  our own beds, our own routine.  I love being with my family, but I also love being HOME

All About Family!

This isn't really a Friday Fave Five since it is already Saturday.  But I want to take a bit of time from my busy holiday to share some things I'm loving.

1.  Sibling Time.  Three of my four children were together for the first time in a LONG time.  So we celebrated their summer birthdays which are all within two weeks of each other.

2.  The four cousins gathered together for only the second time ever.  That's one of the harder parts of encouraging your children to spread their wings and follow the paths God puts in front of them.

3.  Our clan does love ancient history, archaeology, old ruins and such stuff.  So we had to visit Serpent Mound in Southern Ohio which is a National Historical Monument of the Ancient American Indian culture.

4.  My PAL lives in the desert Southwest, so she isn't familiar with lots of green grass and tiny flowers.  She was fascinated with white and purple clover and buttercups.  You can't even see the yellow flower in her hand but she was so excited to show me.

5.  Finally, we got to attend The (No Longer) New Boy's baseball game!

Yes, this post is ALL ABOUT FAMILY!

Place Holder

Good Friday to all!  It is Friday Fave Fives today.  Follow the link and join in the gratitude and joy!

I am on vacation, so this is a place holder post to let you all know.

My grandkids love Knock, Knock jokes.  Here are five to make you giggle.

1.  Knock, Knock.
          Who's there?
     Etch.
          Etch who?
     Bless you!

2.  Knock, Knock.
          Who's there?
     A little old lady.
           A little old lady who?
      I didn't realize you knew how to yodel!

3.  Knock, Knock.
          Who's there?
     Harry.
          Harry who?
     Harry up and answer the door.

4.  Knock, Knock.
          Who's there?
     Amish.
          Amish who?
     You don't look like a shoe.

5.  Knock, Knock.
          Who's there?
     Olive.
          Olive who?
     Olive you.

Have a happy day!

Mid August Swelter

Hello, Friday!
I'm a bit late writing up my Friday Fave Fives.  AND I missed last Friday.  The good news is--I'm not dead.  I've just been busier than I like to be.  How did retirement get so busy??

1.  Last Friday, we kidnapped The Professor's sister again and dragged her off to the county fair.  We also invited friends who enjoy good music, so we sat through more Brady Goss performances.  In between, we wandered through the various exhibits.  Obviously, I love the home arts building.  And the photography building.  We drove home and sleep well that night.  I love me a good fair. (Should the deep sleep of exhaustion count as a separate fave?)

Of course, the main entrance building has to have that California mission look, complete with bell and tower and red tile roof.

Everyone loves a ferris wheel!

2.  The next morning, Saturday, we added our nephew The Lawyer to the caravan and drove east to the very, very hot San Bernardino County to celebrate a grandnephew's birthday.  He's eight this year.  Another great night's sleep!

3.  We've had more hot weather.  As I am typing this, the AC just kicked in.  Again.  God bless the man who invented the air conditioner!

4.  I'm working my way through my unfinished knitting projects.  Finally, I did the i-cord edgings on this vest.  For those who care, it's knitted with Heartland acrylic yarn on size 9 needles.  The pattern, Many Buttoned Vest, was too large for me, so I had to make some adjustments to the number of stitches.  But it all worked out ok.  Of course, it's too hot to wear a vest right now, but I'll feel very snuggly in it once the weather cools down.  You may notice that there are NO buttons on it.  That's because the buttons are ornamental.  You find a button you like, you sew it on wherever you want.  I'll be searching for my favorite buttons!

5.  I  love coffee dates with friends.  The past two weeks, I've enjoyed iced coffees with one long time college buddy and another friend who I am just now getting to know.

Oh! A bonus! Happy Independence Day to the Republic of Indonesia! Selamat Merdeka!

So, that's Willow's Week (or two) succinctly summed up in five bullet points.  How are you!

Five Faves at the Fair

If you have been reading the Willow's Cottage blog for very long, you will know that even if I don't post anything else during a week, I will write about my favorite things from the week and link up to Susanne's blog Living to Tell the Story and her Friday Fave Fives.  This edition of Willow's Week for Friday Fave Fives features A day at the County Fair.  This is a recurring theme each year.  I love our county fair.  It calls itself "The Country Fair with an Ocean Air" because the fairgrounds are literally across the street from the beach and the Pacific Ocean.  Who wouldn't love that?

Usually I work the first fair day doing demonstrations of spinning in the Agricultural Building at our guild booth (Ventura County Handweavers and Spinners Guild).  It was busy the whole time I was there.  People love to stop and watch us weave and spin and they ask so many questions.  My answers?  "No, it's not really a lost art."  "Everything you are wearing right now as gone through this same process--just using a large mechanized and industrialized method.  But truthfully, nothing is fundamentally different than it was hundreds and thousands of years ago."

We get free tickets for working the fair and since I work the first day which is Dollar Day, we just pay our dollar each and save those free tickets to attend another day when I'm not working.

This year the fair was extra fun for me because my sister-in-law joined us.  Normally, she avoids the fair's crowds like everyone there has the plague or lice or at least the flu.  It was a treat for me to share my love of the fair with her.

The Professor enjoys listening to the music acts on the smaller stages.  One performer has been returning for several years and we will sit and listen to Brady Goss sing.  We love his style and I love that he's from my home state Oregon.

Do you love the fair?  What's your favorite thing?

Fave-rite Place to Spend an Evening

Friday Fave Fives 

for a hot hot week.

The best way to cool off!

It has been very hot here.  At least it has been hot for us.  We've been holed up in the house with the AC on.  That is definitely something for which to be thankful!  We really didn't do much except go to the library, the grocery store and peek outside to make sure the plants were adequately watered.  Finally, we decided to head to the beach to cool off.

Here are five fave views from our walk at Thornhill Broome State Beach.

1.  Surf was up!

2. Rock sculptures.  We chatted with the man who made these.

3.  No one was swimming and the lifeguards had gone home.

4.  The temperature had dropped several degrees in the 8 miles from our house to the coast.  Evidently it had been foggy there all day.

5.  Nothing is better than a sunset at the beach!

Stay cool, my friends!

First and Foremost

Do you know the slogan "Safety First"?  That's my mantra this week.  Safety.  Five days.  More than 1,900 miles.  Three states.  And back again.  My Five Faves for Friday are basic and the same.  I haven't even had time to deal with photos yet.  Tomorrow?

1.  We were safe.  Day One of our trip we drove from home near the Pacific Ocean to eastern Arizona.  Temperatures ranged from 61F to 105F.  Altitude changed from 200 feet to 6,910 feet.

2.  We were safe.  Day Two we met Dr. Mike in north western New Mexico to convoy in to Chaco Culture National Park and promptly missed our UNMARKED turn and got lost.  After hours and hours of traveling on washboard ridden dirt roads we arrived at our camp.  Before we were finished setting up our tents, it started to rain.  And it rained for six hours.  But.  We were safe.

3.  We were safe.  Day Three.  Trip out of the park and back in.  This is not an easy drive.  Chaco Canyon is truly in the middle of NOWHERE.  But we also had time to visit the important sites of ancient Chaco culture--the great houses and kivas.  It rained again, but that thunderstorm was fortunately of short duration.  But we had food and water and shelter.  We were safe.

4.  We were safe.  Day Four.  We said a sad goodbye to Dr. Mike as he headed back to Santa Fe and we turned our car toward the west.  Washboard roads.  Vast lonely landscapes.  Actually, rural New Mexico is beautiful.  Finally, we arrived safely at Chaplain Dan's house in Arizona and were greeted with glee and hugs and kisses by our PAL!

5.  We were safe.  Day Five.  Believe it or not, our PAL is now old enough to begin preschool.  We were offered a tour of the place where she will be attending beginning next month, and then we shared an early lunch.  About noon, we bade her and her parents farewell.  Another day of altitude changes, extreme weather and heat and LA traffic, and we arrived Home.  We were safe.  We are always thankful for safety on our trips.

And it was worth every minute, every mile, every adventure.

Firsts on the Second Friday in July

I had several FIRSTS this week and want to celebrate them here and share them with others at Friday Fave Fives.  Although it was a quiet ,slow and (for us) very hot week, I found ways to stay cool and engaged.

1.  I finished my FIRST set of hand woven tea towels.  With help, I cut them off a large floor loom and learned the correct way to hem them.

2.  I even pulled out my sewing machine for the FIRST time in a long time to finish up the hemming.

3..  I warped my FIRST loom!  This ten inch Cricket Loom is designed for weaving scarves, mostly.  My friend walked me through the process while she was warping a second one.

4.  For the FIRST time I visited my friend's studio for the group knitting/spinning/weaving afternoon.  I had been to a pre-opening event but hadn't been in since it has opened.  Threadbender Textiles is a store/studio which teaches weaving to special needs young adults. They are learning a skill and then have a venue for selling their creations.  I'm sure I'll be back.  Eleanor tried a bit of spinning, too.

5.  No photo for this, but I made a vegetable lentil soup with this year's FIRST potatoes from the garden.  It contained carrots, kale, basil, parsley and rosemary from my garden, too.

Creations

June and July have been/are months to finish projects.

I have had this afghan on my needles for several months a while.  Made with some leftover grey, cream and very bright yellow acrylic yarn (Simply Soft), the blanket sat around in a drawer waiting for me to find another skein of the yellow to finish it up.  I couldn't find the right color in any local store in my area.  So when I went east in the winter, I first raided my daughter's stash but that didn't produce quite enough yarn in that brilliant yellow.  Finally, I found a skein in one of her craft stores.  It still took a few months for me to remember to pull it out and finish it.  The color combination looks okay although the yellow isn't really my color.  Most likely, it will end up on my daughter's sofa because she loves these colors.

I spent several evenings practicing my weaving on my new to me loom.  The result is three tea towels.  Don't ask me the EPI because I don't know.  A friend warped the loom for me and I just followed instructions.  Over the weekend I cut the towels off the loom and then pulled out my sewing machine to hem them.  For a first project they are okay.  Don't look too closely.

On the needles right now are hats (of course) and a new bunny which I'm knitting for a friend.

The Best From the Beginning of July

Good Morning!  It's Friday!  Here is Willow's Week in Fave Fives.  I always link to Susanne where we all share our best memories from the past week.

1.  As I was searching for a file on my computer, I noticed a folder that was labeled My Children.  Hmmm... what was in it, I wondered.  When I opened it, I was taken back to my children's early childhoods when I saved memories of their little comments and antics.  It was a delight to read.  For example, my two year old daughter stated, "Daughter, Mother, Father.  Dan is not a sun. Sun is in the sky."  My number two son loved 'Pink-n-Robbins' ice cream.  My youngest girl thought that popsicles were “popagatah-gatah”.   That may have been a mixture of Indonesian and English like my older sons' statement, "Tidak go!"

2.  The Fourth.  We stayed home, shared dinner with World's Best Neighbor, then walked up to her place above us and watched the fire works.  I love 'quiet' holidays.

3.  Speaking of World's Best Neighbor, on the weekend we celebrated her late husband's life at his memorial service.  He was originally from

Britain and that showed in all the memories and photos and comments at his service, including reminders of his humor.  We were privileged to be his neighbor for more than a decade.

4.  Mutual friends had moved away but returned for his service so we were able to host them and spend an evening out at an Irish pub with them.

5.  I *heart* my garden!  Evidently, I'm really good at growing lavender and rosemary.  One small lavender plant yielded three bunches of lavender to dry.  And my rosemary TREE has overwhelmed the rest of the garden.  Out it has to go.  So I started a new rosemary plant in a pot and it's thriving, too.

What best things are you remembering today?

Land of the Free

Because of the Brave

Two Week Catch Up

June has been a busy month.  We've traveled a lot of miles.  I want to share for my Friday Faves Fives some highlights from our travels.  So here are Willow's Weeks (two!) for sharing my favorite things from the the past fourteen days.

1.  On our return trip from the Pacific Northwest, we skirted around San Francisco (yeah, been there, done that) to spend just a couple of hours with our Army Reserve Chaplain son who was at Moffet Field doing some training.  How amazing is it that we would intersect there for just one afternoon?

2.  That evening we stayed in Marina, California, which is a little town near Monterey.  Monterey is famous; Marina is not.  But I found that little town to be delightful.  One reason we were there was to visit the former site of Ft. Ord where The Professor 'enjoyed' many hours of Army training back in the day. The Army fort is closed now and is the site of California State University, Monterey Bay.  Visiting the campus was a walk down memory lane for him.

3.  Then the next week. Chaplain Dan and his family drove out from their desert home to visit friends in Orange County.  So of course we hopped in our car and joined them one day at the beach.

I should warn you--following are some extremely cute and sweet pictures, so if you need to be careful of cuteness overload, please proceed slowly.)

Our water baby headed straight for the beach!

She loves playing in the surf with her daddy.

Hey guys! I found a cave!

4.  After a day of rest back at home (you need that if you navigate the LA freeways), we drove to LA and met them at the Los Angeles Farmers Market.  The best part (besides being with them!)?  The whole reason we chose to have lunch there:  the Singapore Malaysia Indonesian restaurant Banana Leaf!  The BEST 'es cendol' in LA! (Es cendol is a drink sort of like boba tea)

Perusing the menu

5.  We had intended to visit the La Brea Tar Pits in West LA, but on a whim, we changed our minds and drove farther west through Beverly Hills and Bel Air to the Skirball Museum because during the summer it has free admittance for all military and their families.  Skirball Museum is another one of those small gems that may not be well known but has marvelous exhibits.  PAL's favorite was the Noah's Ark interactive exhibit.  It deserves its own post--so much creativity!

See why I was not in communication much?  I was having too much fun!  Happy weekend to you all! And remember to stop and think and be thankful.