Saturday, January 26, 2019

Ten Things of Thankful

Thanks to great planning, our host Kristi of Thankful Me has the link up and ready for all who want to share their Ten Things of Thankful this week, even though she is taking a break for a couple of weeks. 

This is a blog hop that has been operating for quite a few years now, with several other hosts preceding Kristi's time at the helm. The other hosts set a wonderful example of what is needed to keep a blog hop hopping. 

The link opens up on Friday at 1:00 a.m. MT and stays open until Tuesday 11:55 p.m. MT so there is still time for you to write a Ten Things of Thankful post on your blog and link your post. The more TToT posts, the more reminders to all the readers of the positive things occurring in people's lives. Of course not every week is hunky-dory for everyone, and maybe you feel that you just survived, but share that one thing. It isn't a requirement that you share 10 every week. It is more like a suggestion. Surviving is a good thing, and something to celebrate. Click the link read the posts that are ready for viewing. Comments are welcomed.





Siblings visit with mom
My brother was able to fly up to visit our mom.  Mom was more alert and that made the visit especially nice since he isn't able to see her as often as I do.




Music that touches my heart: The Place Where Lost Things Go and All My Life's a Circle. When I go see the movie, Mary Poppins Returns, I know I'm going to have to take a wad of tissues. I haven't been able to listen to this song, which has received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song, without crying.


Participating in a couple of other blog hops that I'd been absent from for a while, i.e. Six Sentence Stories hosted by Denise of Girlie on the Edge's Blog and Finish the Sentence Friday hosted by Kristi Campbell of Finding Ninee

Physical therapy sooner than expected because there had been some cancellations

Mom ate all her lunch! Those who suffer from Alzheimer's often struggle with eating as the disease progresses. I was so surprised when mom accepted the food on her tray today. She let me feed her until it was all gone. Normally she hasn't been eating much, except for drinking her nutritional drink.

Learned about some benefits that hydrotherapy (the kind which requires alternating soaking one's feet in hot water then cold) might have for me

Going for a walk late in the afternoon after the fog lifted
I could finally see the sunshine, even though I couldn't feel the warmth.

Receiving a dinner invitation and although we won't be able to accept, it was nice to be considered

Texts and phone calls checking up on me
There is nothing like an unexpected text or phone call from a friend to cheer a person up.

First time ordering a couple of clothing items online for myself, and they fit! 
I've always avoided going that route because I didn't want to bother returning the clothing if it didn't fit.

Learning some features of my Photos app that I didn't realize were there
Do you ever think to yourself, "How come I never saw that before?"

Forever thankful for my husband and our family

Friday, January 25, 2019

Finish the Sentence Friday - Passageways

For this week's FTSF blog hop hosted by Kristi Campbell of Finding Ninee, and co-hosted by Mardra Sikora of Mardrasikora.com and  GrownUpsandDowns.com we are invited to use Tim Wright's "Passageway" photo, or one of our own. I am choosing to use Tim's photo and several of my own to share a few thoughts for Finish the Sentence Friday - Passageways. By clicking the links to Kristi's site or Mardra's site you will be able to click the links to see what others are sharing about passageways.


"Passageway" by Tim Wright


Some passageways for all intents and purposes appear to be a straight shot to success and happiness, but one never knows what lies ahead.


Railroad tracks


Other passageways may be filled with undercurrents  strong enough to drag you down with them.


Sneaker waves in the making


One never knows when there is a skunk waiting for you in a dark passageway. Let your light shine and be prepared.



Dark culvert

There are daunting downhill passageways that for a while are rough to trod, but eventually even out.


Bryce Canyon National Park arch



Passageways may give the appearance of being tougher than they are. Look carefully.


Deceiving pond reflections



What comes to your mind when you think of passageways? If you are a blogger, you are invited to join us and share your thoughts. 



Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Six Sentence Stories - Strip

Prompts for blog hops sometimes cause a stalemate for me. It is either that or a number of other reasons, some of which are out of my control. Whatever the reason, I have not linked up at the Six Sentence Stories blog hop for a while, but today I am back. (I hope I haven't put our host, Denise of Girlie on the Edge's Blog in a state of shock.) I'm linking my Six Sentence Stories - Strip at her site. Go take a peek (no pun intended) to see what other bloggers will write in response to the cue.



As she considered the possibilities for making the small room look bigger and brighter, she decided that rolling paint over the wallpaper would be the best. It would be easier in the long haul than stripping off the old layers. Walls the color of a robin’s egg and new sheer Priscilla curtains would lighten up the room where they would gather around the wood stove their first winter on the farm.


Little did she know how quickly that stove would become her inanimate enemy in the future. While some women gave their cars names like NellieBelle or Lucy, she would, not so lovingly, refer to the stove as Behomoth.  True to her nature though, exclamations of anger would stay tucked safely away behind her sealed lips, then and in the future, for good reasons.

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Ten Things of Thankful

The deadline for submitting a post for the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop isn't for a few more days, but I'm ready to roll. There is a lot to be thankful for this week! In reality there is every week, but some weeks things just seem to stand out more to me.

I'm linking my post as always to Ten Things of Thankful hosted by Kristi Brierley, who also has her own blog, Thankful Me. Some of those who show up at Ten Things of Thankful each week are serious writers, i.e. have written books or are working on one. Kerry Kijewski, an amazing participant here and on other blog hops is a member of the Canadian Federation of the Blind, and with her brother even does a podcast, called Ketchup on Pancakes. Others, like myself, participate in a blog hop or two because it is a fun way to express oneself through writing and sometimes through photography. Although I am retired, and even sometimes tired, that is not a requirement to participate in this blog hop. Ages of participants cover a broad spectrum. I enjoy that diversity of ages, experiences and the interests of the participants. I hope that some of you reading this will know that there is a place here for you to join in and share some of those things for which you are thankful. Your comments are welcome and they do matter, as do you.




This bird, a fearless red-breasted sapsucker, that didn't mind that I was only 12 feet away and taking multiple photos

A red-breasted sapsucker on a maple tree trunk


This deer, one of three that came by when I was taking photos of the red-breasted sapsucker, and the sunshine that made it possible for it to step into its shadow

Blacktail deer stepping into its shadow

Going to the temple Thursday and experiencing no pain when I was driving there, nor while I was inside! 
Physical pain has been something I have been trying to rid myself of the past couple of months, so being without it for a whole morning was wonderful. Not only that, but the pain has been very minor since Thursday.

Portland Oregon Temple

Having a great visit with my mom on Friday
A great visit with my 102-year-old mom means, she really gave me a broad happy smile, stayed fully awake during the hour and a half I was with her, tried to say a few words, and seemed to find an appreciable interest in watching Youtube videos about quilting! Alzheimer's doesn't always grant such wonderful visits.

Being able to find someone who might like having old worn jeans that still have a lot of usable good denim in them
In an attempt to get rid of things that are of no longer of use to us, I cleared out an area of a closet. In the past, I might have cut the jeans up and repurposed the fabric, but I knew that I would not be tackling that kind of a project right now. A friend, who does a lot of sewing, gratefully took them off my hands. 

Youtube videos that demonstrate how to make 5-minute quilt blocks and another Youtube video that showed how to connect quilt blocks via folding and then sewing rather than lining raw edges up followed by sewing
I wish I had known about these easy quilting tips earlier! Then again, I loved the excitement I felt in discovering them now!


Writings that have been written somewhat on the same subject but at different times and for different reasons in one’s life
One day this week I went searching through some boxes of photographs, scrapbooks, and such, and came across histories written by my mom and some others that were written by me. I found it interesting to discover how these writings differed. Some things were completely left out one time but included the next time. There were times when the details of events didn't quite match between the stories. 

It kind of reminded me of an interview I recently listened to of a renown reporter. He told of going back to interview a person over a period of time and how he kept asking the person the same question. It took a while for him to get the whole story. 


No surgery needed so says the surgeon 
Yeah!

Discovering an old letter that verified where my grandfather and his family were living in the census year the census taker didn't find them

A podcast, Approaching with Kindness, about the importance of saying thank you
One of the speakers told of his journey to say thank you for the coffee he drank in the morning (to the person who fixed the coffee, served it, delivered the coffee beans, to the person who paved the roads that the driver drove on to deliver the coffee, etc.). He went to great lengths to find individuals to thank in person

What stood out to me is how making the effort to do that is contagious! We can change the world one thank you at a time.

Who knew moments!
Two coffee beans are actually two coffee seeds which are inside the pit of a cherry that grows on a coffee plant 


See you next week!  I'll finish up with one huge thankful for my husband, and my family! Love makes the world go round and does it one person at a time.

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Ten Things of Thankful


Sometimes sharing thoughts of gratitude on this Ten Things of Thankful blog hop post takes my mind back to kindergarten. Never mind that I didn't even attend kindergarten, but having been an aide occasionally in a kindergarten class and more frequently in preschool classes, I can just picture hands going up and anxiously waiting to give a one word answer. Of course, for the more outgoing youngster, or one who loves the attention, or has learned a plethora of facts from books the parents read to him, he might not be so willing to give a one word response. In most cases, the teacher likes both the short and the longer answers when time isn't a factor. So it is with the thankful responses. 

Thanks to Kristi Brierley, who is the current host of the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop, we have a place to link our posts. We can write in whatever format we choose. Posts can be short and sweet, or wordy. Although "ten things" is mentioned in the blog title, even that can vary. I enjoy the challenge of ten, but sometimes it isn't as easy to think of ten, without repeating the same things week after week. However, there is value in repetition, especially for the writer who most likely benefits the most from this little weekly exercise. 

Kristi has her own blog, titled Thankful Me, which makes her a natural for hosting the blog hop Ten Things of Thankful. Click the link to see what others are sharing this week. Comments on the posts are always welcomed and have triggered more than one online blogger friendship.




1. Filing cabinets which enabled me to fairly quickly to find an old 1920 map of Arkansas this week that I knew I had
It has seen better days, but it shows the town of Kimes and was most likely named after my great great grandfather, Valentine, commonly known as Felty. Being able to pull open the drawers to another filing cabinet this week facilitated the process of finding the necessary paperwork to begin proving mom's eligibility for Medicaid.

2. Recommendations from others led to finding someone to start the process of fixing the shed roof that was damaged by the windstorm recently.

3. All the myriad of ways doctors can see the inside of our bodies takes some of the guess work out of treating patients.

4. The repair and servicing of the tractor was done in time for us to have it back to do some needed outside tasks.

5. Memories of ancestors written by those who knew them and the official documents giving information about them were helpful when I was trying to write a short history of one of my grandfathers this week.

6. Notes on the calendar that were written months in advance to jar our memories of things that needed to be done, i.e. refilling a cell phone with additional minutes, and a note that it was time to pay and mail the estimated taxes which are due soon

7. Learning how to do things, i.e. sending a fax using our fax/printer
We have had the fax/printer for a number of years, but this was the first time that we had a need to fax anything. Although I used to fax documents when I was working, every fax machine and fax/printer are a little bit different.

8. A date with my husband to see a great movie, On the Basis of Sex which is about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

9. Saturday which allowed me a day to do work that needed to be done here at home 
For those who know that I have been retired a long time now, you may wonder why I couldn't just do whatever I want, whenever I want. Let's just say, that sometimes being retired feels like anything but being retired. 

10. Sundays, especially this Sunday which was a beautiful sunny day without a cloud in the sky
It has been a day of rest from worldly cares and a day of peace. What I enjoyed the most about today was being able to attend church and listen to some excellent talks given by members of the church. The topics discussed caused me to read and study further when I returned home and to ponder if and how these things pertained to me and how I am living my life. 

Poinsettia still blooming in January


  

Friday, January 4, 2019

Ten Things of Thankful

After almost a month long absence from blogging, I am back. Although not all has been fun and games due to some physical challenges during that time, the last couple of weeks has brought me a lot of joy and happiness including some fun and games. I will share some of these happy moments in this post that I will be linking to the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop hosted by Kristi Brierley of Thankful Me. I am looking forward to reading the posts by other bloggers who will be linking up and you will be able to read their posts too if you click the link. You will be able to find their posts either before or after mine at the bottom of the page here




Faith, prayers, kindnesses, and help given through words and actions by my family and others during these past few weeks
(There were times when physical pains kept me from being as active as I normally would have been. A friend substituted by playing the piano for me at church. Several people brought Christmas goodies. People called to check on me. During a week that was particularly difficult, another very busy person made time one day to visit my Mom who lives in a nursing home in another town. Some young people from church came caroling and brought treats one evening when it had been a particularly difficult day for me. People listened when I needed to talk. My husband was such a wonderful help to me during this time. Although I wasn't visited by the Savior, I certainly felt His love and concern through these caring people.)

Family time to spend with one of our daughters and her family at our home leading up to Christmas, time to spend with all our children and most of our grandchildren for a few days after Christmas at a beach house, and time to spend with another daughter and her family for a a couple of days at our home prior to New Year's Day
(They all have very busy lives and I know that they sacrificed to make this reunion happen. Our son and his family had spent time with us at Thanksgiving at our house.)

A little of the beach driftwood made its
 way into this peaceful place to rest.

Sibling walk and talk on the beach

Manageable pain during the time the family was visiting, thanks to a medicine that gave me some relief and thanks to the help of the family in preparing meals and doing cleanup, so I wouldn't overdo

Safe travels for all of them, even though before and after the reunion there were days that included wind storms, snow storms and closed highways

Some sunny days in between the rainy days, both at our residence and when we were at the beach



Managing to stay upright when a sneaker wave caught me unawares when I was facing away from the waves and trying to take a photo of a shell on the sand
(The water until that moment had been rolling up on the shore a long ways from where I was standing. I had even mentioned previously on our trip about the warnings that had been given by news broadcasters regarding the need to never turn one’s back on the ocean because of the sneaker waves. Fortunately I just ended up with very wet sandy shoes and wet pants from my ankles to half way to my knees. Next time I will heed my own cautionary remarks.)

Walking on the paths and walking bridges at a local park on New Year’s Day
(This had been something that I had wanted to do for some time, and I enjoyed doing this with one of my daughters and her family.)

A railroad trestle
that has been converted
to a walkway
so citizens can walk to the
riverfront parks on both sides of
the river

Mom’s 102nd birthday
(It is still hard to believe that my mother has lived to this ripe old age and that we are still able to see a spark of determination and a glimmer of joy on rare occasions in spite of the affect Alzheimer's has had on her. 

Still looking beautiful at 102!

Playing board games with my children and grandchildren
(Although they all know how much I love playing Scrabble and even humored me by playing more than just a few games, the only fun, make that funny, thing about these particular games were the letters I was drawing, more than just a few times. I joined them in playing some other games too, although the games requiring strategy or recalling information I most likely never had firmly planted in my mind are a lot more challenging for me.)

I started the game with a three
letter word, and it just didn't
get much better from there.

Getting a new roof on our home and for a lapse in what was supposed to be a solid week of rain which would have caused the project to be delayed
(Rain and wind are forecast for tonight and tomorrow with the possibility of trees down which usually means a power outage here and there. It looks like our new roof will be tested.)

Hopefully this shoreline will buffer some
of the winds due to arrive. My thoughts
are still remembering the wonderful time
we had with our family at the beach.