Ten Things of Thankful

Today I decided to focus my Ten Things of Thankful post on things that begin with the letter P, the first letter of my first name. For those of you who have been following some of the posts for this blog hop, you already know that the format varies from one participant to another and the format may fluctuate from one week to the next. 

Thank you Dyanne for faithfully hosting this blog hop each week and for fellow co-hosts, and others who stop by to read.  Click the Ten Things of Thankful link to see what else Dyanne has to say and click on the images at the bottom of the page to read what the participants in this blog hop are thankful for this week. BTW, click Backsies Is What There Is Not to check out Dyanne's own blog.

1. Plants

Years ago a friend gave me some little lilac tree starts, and this little lilac has struggled just to live because the deer rarely leave it be, so I was so surprised to see this blossom this week. I wish I could capture its scent and share it with you. My earliest memories of lilac trees are from watching my paternal grandmother clipping some blossoms from the lilacs trees that grew beside the back steps of my grandparents' home.

A white lilac blossom emerging through
its foliage

2. Phones

Gone are the days, when you couldn't move any further from the phone than the length of its cord. Gone are the days of trying to carry on a conversation interrupted by static, or clicks from those lifting the receiver in their home so they could listen in on the conversation of someone on the party line. Now one rarely is anywhere without their phone.

3. Photos

When I was leaving the house Friday to go on an errand, this little alligator lizard was waiting at the end of the ramp for me. Since my phone was within reach and he was posed so very still, I just had to take his picture. I fear he is missing his mate. (I found a dead alligator lizard in the driveway Thursday which I think had a fatal injury incurred by a weed eater earlier this week.)

Alligator lizard hanging out on a doormat

4. Plans

If you like to try to have some say as to what happens in your life, better prepare to make some plans and post those plans on a calendar. This week I was thankful that we were able to find a date and a sunny day (at least as far as forecasted now) so we can do something beyond the usual for fun.

5. Prayers

Giving thanks daily for ones blessings are just as important as praying for those who are sick, or are mourning, or who have been injured, or who are distressed. There are often other ways to reach out and do something specific to be of help, but other times praying is the only thing one can do.

 

6. Pudding

During my life, I have noticed that it seems there are those who really love pudding and those who eat just about any dessert other than pudding. For me, pudding has always been a favorite, but I realized early on eating pudding on a consistent basis was a much too easy way to put on extra pounds.

My favorite pudding as a very young child was butterscotch pudding, followed by tapioca pudding. When I was a middle-aged adult I bought a very old cookbook called Mrs. Owen's Cook Book and Useful Hints for the Household by Mrs. Frances E. Owens. The first copyright was 1882. My book shows a copyright of 1883. In it I found a recipe called Thickened Rice that calls for cooking a cup of rice and using the rice to make a pudding on top of the stove instead of the rice pudding that one bakes in the oven. The contributor of the recipe was a Lizzie Hill of Maysville, Kentucky. I had to laugh at her concluding remark about the pudding. . ."and is much nicer than one would think."  

7. Piano

This week, I decided to see if I could play the piano 15 minutes. What do you know! The keys still worked and my back didn't seem to show any aggravation from the effort for that day and that time. After fumbling a bit with some of the keys, the hymns were harmonious rather than discordant.

8. Physicians and pharmacists

Considering how many ways and times that a person is touched by the knowledge and skills of these professionals making it possible to heal quicker or improve our quality of life, I am thankful for the ways our lives and the lives of those we care about have been blessed this week.

9. Pick-up sticks and picky-up tools (better known as grabbers and reachers)

A game I remember playing and enjoying in the early 1950's was Pick-up sticks. It required some careful concentration and strategy to remove one of the sticks from the pile without moving any of the other sticks. My brother and I played it on the floor. One day this week I spied a pencil that had fallen from the nightstand and rolled slightly under the bed in a place that wasn't going to be easy to reach, short of moving the stand and getting down on the floor in a very confined space, none of which I wanted to do. So I did what I often do these days. I got my picky-up tool and retrieved the pencil lickety-split. This picky-up tool is a prized possession.

My "when I can't, it does" tool

10. People

Vic, family, friends, and the many who have touched my life in one way or another

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