Ten Things of Thankful

Isn't it an interesting world in which we live. Some weeks fly by, others not so much, where each day seems like an eternity. No matter the speed of one's weekly journey, there are things we can can find to appreciate, even if in some weeks one might have to put themselves in a different position to see the blessings.  That is one thing about participating in the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop, a hop that causes one to look more closely at his/her surroundings and the events that are transpiring and how they might be a blessing when all is said and done. Then the next step is to consider whether, or not, to express thanks. Sometimes just talking or writing about these things is just what someone else needs to hear or read and just might be good reading material for our future selves. 

Thanks to Kristi of Thankful Me we all have a great place to link up our Ten Things of Thankful posts each weekend. She is a great encourager and she see's the sunny side of life even when life throws her an occasional challenge. Click the link and go see what others are sharing this week. You might even read a comment or two in a post that resonates with something that has happened to you.

Phones

Because we have phones, we were able to arrange for someone to work on our tractor mower. There was nothing in the manual that indicated a Mohawk cut (my husband's description of what was happening) was even an option for our lawn. I love his sense of humor.

Being able to read

Thanks to Clark Farley, I have had an opportunity this week to read more from Almira. You might remember that name if you have read any of his TToT posts.

Ears to hear and eyes to see

One could spend endless hours reading and watching live feed speakers online. That could take more time than most of us even think is healthy, but there are some things that just seem to draw me in. For instance, this week I listened to several of the keynote speakers at the Second Global Summit on Religion, Peace and Security held at the United Nations in Geneva. While one of my daughters was able to attend the BYU Women’s Conference held this week, I was able to watch some of it live on my iPad at home.

Doctors and others who are able to respond quickly to save a life

This week I learned, after the fact, that the young granddaughter of a friend very quickly went from a state of wellness to septic shock. What a scary close call for this little girl and her family! I am thankful that she is on the road to recovery.

Orders delivered on the day they were supposed to come

Having gone through the experience of ordering something and being told it would be delivered on a certain day and then having it arrive a month overdue, it was wonderful to receive my ordered art supplies arrive exactly on the day it was to be delivered, the day before my next class.

A surprise gift from a friend, just because

A friend who is so much more of an artist than I am (like super talented!), but who is encouraging me in my artistic attempts, knocked on my door to hand me a package of artist pens she thought I might enjoy, just because.

Junco friend

It is not everyday one gets to make friends with a bird. I didn't start my day with that intent, but I think being squatted down and hunched over pulling some weeds around some shrubs apparently seemed an open invitation. Since my face probably wasn't even visible to him because of the large brimmed floppy straw hat I was wearing, the dark-eyed Oregon junco probably thought I was also foraging. I could hear his quiet chipping sounds every once in a while and saw him about three feet away from me completely unafraid of my presence. I was beginning to think he was going to fly up onto my hat. Perhaps he wanted to tell me to give my husband a message. I think my husband heard him, as there will soon be a source of water for our chirping friends set up before I finish writing this post.

Easy fix for why the pump was turning on so often

One afternoon and evening we noticed that our pump was turning on more than usual, especially considering we were not running any water. The thoughts of possibly needing to fix a leak somewhere was not something we were wanting to add to the to-do list. The next morning the thought came that I should go check one more outside faucet. That was a good call as it was turned on just a little ways causing a small, but constant, stream of water to spray out on the ground around the faucet. The ground was quite wet! We do have a lot of deer in the area, so perhaps one of them bumped the handle, or maybe a raccoon wanted a drink. We have no idea how that faucet got turned on. 

Copy machines/scanners

There was a time when these were not so commonly seen in homes and required a trip to town to make a copy or to have something scanned. This week I made a copy of a photograph I took to use for a pattern for a future watercolor painting. In addition I pulled out some old family history documents so I could scan them and attach them to my Family Tree on FamilySearch and to my family tree on Ancestry. 

Death certificate of Susan Johnston, nee Durbin
Died from heart failure following LaGrippe (name
given to the Spanish Flu that killed so many during
1918 and 1919)

Repurposing
Years ago, I did a little tole painting and turned an old metal cafeteria tray into a frame for small photos. This week I bought a couple of plastic food trays which I found at a thrift shop. I will add them to my watercolor painting supplies. The white one will be a pallet and the yellow one can be a cover for the pallet. Four binder clips will hold the cover in place. 

Family photos framed in a 
repurposed metal cafeteria tray,
painted burnt orange and tole painted