Ten Things of Thankful

What an emotional week this has been, but now it is time to take a deep breath and consider some thoughts I have about being thankful. I'm sharing these as a post that I am linking to the Josie Two Shoes blog hop Ten Things of Thankful. 

This blog hop started off with people listing or sharing in whatever form they desired ten things for which they were grateful each week, but as time has gone by, it has become a little more lax as to the exact number and style of the post. Photos are okay to share, or not, depending on one's mood at the moment. Just click the link and discover the wide variety of posts on this topic. We are also given from Thursday evening (shortly after midnight Central Time) to Tuesday evening to post. That is a very generous amount time.

This part of the country, and in the coming week more of the rest of the country, will be experiencing what is referred to as Winter Storm Oliver. Beginning tonight there will be a lot of snow falling in the Cascades. The ski lifts were shut down earlier today. It is not unusual to have snow in the mountains, but it has been a while since we have had snow this late in February and the beginning of March. I'm thankful we have snow chains, as the forecast is that there will likely be snow in the higher elevations around some of the valley cities and possibly on the valley floor beginning tomorrow. The other word that is being mentioned is possible ICE.

My husband and I were able to vicariously enjoy a friend's trip to Brazil where he visited the Pantanal, which is the world's largest freshwater wetland. He was nice enough to share many of photos of the colorful birds which reside there with a group of fellow birders. 
Some birds which live in the Pantanal are shown in the first half of this YouTube video. Click the link to watch. I am thankful for friends who share their talents and travel adventures. I am also thankful for beautiful places in the world which are refuges to so many creatures. Stopping by a favorite dessert deli on the way home to get a couple of pieces of cake to take with us. It was too near closing time to eat it there.

I got together for lunch with a couple of friends. We had Chinese food this time. It is always fun to chat and listen with friends while enjoying good food. 

Our son was able to travel to be with us and go with us to a memorial service for his former Scout leader who also had been his Bishop for a while when he was growing up. Our son and another former Scout in the troop had been asked to speak at the service and to be pallbearers. This Scout leader was a veteran and had served in the Marines and his uniform was displayed at the services. Our son wore his own Navy uniform to the services.

Some of the deer have discovered that our solar panels make a nice lean-to for shelter from the rain, and now I suppose from the anticipated snow. I was able to snap a  photo of one leaving the structure one sunny day. I'm thankful that the solar panels are multi-functional.

Deer exiting from beneath the solar panels positioned on the ground behind the house

With the approaching lower temperatures and not looking forward to the colder days, I am thankful for memories of places where I was able to feel warm. 

• high up in the hay loft among bales of hay while holding warm kittens
• standing in front of a wood stove which was burning oak logs
• taking a break from stacking wood when I was a kid and sitting among a pile of old newspapers (There was a good reason why newspapers and magazines were used as insulation in some older homes before the availability of insulation as we know it now.)
• as a child, being nice and warm at night under several layers of woolen quilts made by my maternal grandmother

This is a woolen patchwork quilt that was on my bed when I was growing up and was made by my maternal grandmother. The quilt is draped over a chair to display for the photo. The quilt blocks are six-inch square pieces in some solid colors while other blocks are plaid materials. There are solid colors of red, blue, black, green, tan, and brown. The plaids are mostly lighter blue and tan in a small plaid on white. She used whatever wool scraps she could buy at thrift stores or would cut up woolen clothes that had little resale value to make the quilts.

• sitting in our loft under cozy afghans while reading a book and enjoying the rays of sunshine on my face
• sitting closely together to stay warm on a evening hayride
• dancing with my future husband

Have a great week ahead and remember to be thankful for the good things that are happening in your life.