Ten Things of Thankful - Singing Turkeys on a Treadmill

Usually I don't give an additional title on my weekly post linking up to the Ten Things of Thankful post, but thinking about some of the key words of things for which I am thankful this week, I couldn't resist.  Even though these key thankful words don't link to one another, they are for this title, Ten Things of Thankful - Singing Turkeys on a Treadmill.  See if you can find the entries with these key thankful words.

Yesterday my husband and I decided to stop by the Keizer Rapids Park north of Salem.  We had never been there, and loved what we found.  We were there in middle of the afternoon, but we will definitely go back in the early morning or late afternoon sometime to take photos of  birds.  There are nature trails, a boat dock, a huge brand new big toy area for kids, a dog park, disc golf course, a beach volleyball area, picnic areas, and a amphitheater. The web site is down, or I would have a link to this park.  I'm thankful for the newspaper article that sparked my interest in this park, but especially glad my husband wanted to go on this outing, when there were some football games to be watched.

I'm thankful to be able to see wild TURKEYS on a  road near us.  I took this photo a while back at a wildlife refuge in our area. I haven't been able to get a photo of the turkey I've seen twice this week. There isn't a convenient place to pull over.

A neighbor recently gave us some spaghetti squash and  some butternut squash.  If you ever tried to cut into a butternut squash, you may be like me in thinking that what you really needed was an axe to accomplish the task. Not wanting to got through that ordeal, I googled baking a whole butternut squash.  Yep, can be done!  I washed the outside of it, made a couple of stabs on the top toward the ends, and put it on a foil-lined the pan and baked it in the oven for 1 hour 15 min. at 350 degrees.  I let it cool for a while, before scooping out the seeds and removing the pulp to make a delicious soup.  There are lots of recipes online.  Mine had the squash pulp, chicken broth, low-fat coconut milk, saluted onion and garlic, thyme, nutmeg, and salt, and white pepper.  Grated cheese and bacon bits can be
added when served. I'm thankful for this easier way of preparing and cooking this kind of
squash, and for garden gifts from neighbors.

There are so many different kinds of maple trees seen here in the valley, and some of them have turned brilliant red.  I'm thankful for all the gorgeous colors seen at this time of year in the foliage.

Back in the spring I  bought a product that I can hang on my exercise bike, so I am able to read a book, or read using my iPad.  It works really well there, but is slightly too small for use on the treadmill, or so I thought.  Yesterday I decided to give it a try again.  Although it doesn't snap on to the top, it does balance safely there.  I was able to walk and read for a half hour!  Since walking is kind of mindless, unless I am doing it outdoors, I can actually read, ponder, and learn as I read while walking on the TREADMILL.  I've had the iPad nearby with the sound turned up so I can listen to the scriptures, or something else uplifting while walking on the treadmill, but I really like reading instead of listening while I am walking.  My mind isn't as likely to wander if I am reading while walking.  I am thankful for discovering that what I didn't think would work, actually does.
A question for readers:  Do any of you have the challenge of your mind wandering when you are reading, and if so, does reading while moving your body help your concentration?



For some of you who have been blog hopping much longer than me, you probably know the thrill of being recognized in some way for one of your posts, or possible your entire blog.  This week I received an email that my blog hop post on Cee's Photography was recognized as a featured blogger for my post to Cee's Compose Yourself Challenge:  Always take more than one photo.  I'm thankful for those fun surprises, that make me want to try harder.



When I was visiting with my Mom on Friday, the Silvertones, a local choir in the Willamette Valley,  came to the nursing home.  When I learned they were  going to be there, I asked Mom if she would like to go with me to the dining hall to listen to them sing.  Normally she doesn't like to go into the dining hall, I think because of the size of the room and so much visual stimulation, but she said she would go if I wanted to go.  The choir sang a lot of songs that Mom would have been familiar with once in her life, but it wasn't until about 30 minutes into the performance that Mom started to smile once in a while as certain songs were being sung.  I was sitting beside her and singing along with the choir, so she could perhaps hear the words better and maybe try singing along.  Finally toward the end of the singing she actually mouthed some of the words to a few of the songs, AND JOINED IN SINGING on a couple of pieces.  She especially enjoyed the final song, The Battle Hymn of the Republic.  I am so thankful for those in this choir and other groups who share their talents and light up the faces of those who have  difficulty remembering, or have great physical limitations or both.



This week I made a Brave Bot Buddy to be donated to the Doernbecher's Children's Hospital in Portland, OR.  Many of the women at  our church were involved in making Brave Bot Buddies to be donated for this worthy cause.  Click this link to learn more about the Brave Bots.  The Brave Bot Buddy has a slot for holding the Brave Bot.  I'm thankful I have a sewing machine and was able to take part in this activity.

Once again I learned something new this week.  I learned about Puzzilla and how it can be helpful in one's family history research.  I wasn't familiar with this.  It is particularly helpful on those lines where one has hit a brick wall.  I'm thankful for these helpful tools.

The last thing that has really been of interest to me this week are some essays on lds.org.  The topics are ones that have puzzled some members for a number of years and a lot of the general public not of my faith.  I haven't read all of them yet, but have read a couple of them and found the explanations very enlightening.  If you have wondered about some things having to do with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you might be interested in reading some of these essays.  I'm thankful to be able to be able to share this link with those who may have an interest in reading these.


Thanks to all who have stopped by to read my Ten Things of Thankful this week.