Ten Things of Thankful

It is that time again when I begin thinking about what I want to share for my Ten Things of Thankful post which I link to Josie Two Shoes' site. She manages the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop and welcomes bloggers to link their posts. It really is interesting to read the variety of things for which people are thankful. Be sure to click the link and read others' posts. 

Since bloggers come with their own beliefs, experiences, knowledge, and ways of expressing themselves, reading their posts can be educational, motivating, and faith promoting at times. On the other hand, you might find yourself laughing out loud, and possibly thinking, "I've done that!" Some bloggers have such a gift for writing, you might feel if you keep reading what they share, maybe you will soak up some of that gift for expressing oneself.

It is time for me to begin my list.

1. The July 4 breakfast at the church - I tried a new (to me) breakfast casserole to take to the event. It is called Overnight French Toast Casserole and is prepared and refrigerated the evening before and baked in the morning. Not having to do very much preparation in the morning was a real plus in my book. 

2. Blueberries are beginning to ripen. The berries can look like they are not quite ripe in the morning, but with the warmer temperatures, are ripe by evening. If I pick some blueberries that are not dark blue and leave them in a bowl on the counter, they ripen by evening or by the next morning. This method of picking also allows us to eat more of the berries than the birds.

In the photo I am holding with my left hand a medium green plastic cereal bowl half full of blueberries. Some of the berries are close to being the dark blue color of ripe berries, while others are partly a reddish-purple color indicating they are not quite ripe.

3. Shade - Even the resident lizard decided to come up on the ramp to find some shade on one of those 100 degrees plus days. He didn't even care when I got a foot away to snap a photo.

This fence lizard was in a shady spot between the railing on  our ramp and the actual ramp. (Because I needed to use the flash to get a better photo of him, it isn't apparent that he is in the shade.) I love how his brown skin resembles rows of rickrack like the zigzag trimming that used to be sewn on little girls dresses or on kitchen curtains.

4. Crunchy Detox Salad - I typically do not do a lot of baking of breads and sweets, but I do enjoy the taste, which is all the more reason not to indulge. After filling up on pastries, and breakfast casseroles on July 4, my body let me know I shouldn't have done that. After the breakfast, I steered clear of most food until that evening and then just ate a very light meal. A couple of days later I found a recipe for Crunchy Detox Salad, and since I had all the ingredients I needed, I made a big bowl of it. There was enough left over to last a few days. I didn't follow the recipe exactly as far as how much of each vegetable I used. We have a favorite salad dressing that has ginger and sesame seeds in it, so I substituted that for the dressing called for in the recipe. We both like this salad, and I know that I will be making this again.

5. The fawn visited and let me take its photo! 

The spotted fawn came to visit, posed perfectly and looked right at me.

6. The good news is that there will be no charge to fix my Mom's broken hearing aid. The company decided to honor the warranty even though technically it had just expired by a week.

7 - 8 Just a black eye, bruises, scrapes and tenderness, but no broken bones this time and there was no charge to fix my glasses - One day this week I was doing some watering outside and managed to trip as I was trying to step around a boulder and between some shrubs. Although I did a face plant, at least I didn't face plant on the boulder. This was my first time to get a black eye.

The black eye is from the impact of falling while wearing my glasses. The bottom spring on my glasses broke and caused the scrapes on my face as the glasses bounced off. Fortunately the lens wasn't broken, but does have a few scratches not in my field of vision.

9. Togetherness plan - My husband has some concerns about my mobility, so he strongly suggested that we be together when I'm doing anything outside that is going to require me to be walking on uneven ground, which is just about everywhere on our property. Since I haven't been spending more than 30 minutes to an hour weeding per day, he thought that perhaps I could pick a project one day and we would work together, and the next day, he would pick a project and we would work together. After giving it some thought, I conceded that this plan is probably for the best. I'm also going to make an effort to strengthen my legs and balancing capabilities. 

10. Educational music for kids and for adults who want to feel like a kid once in a while - Maybe I should learn the words and sing as I pick. HaHa

Have a wonderful week!