Ten Things of Thankful

It seems like just yesterday that we all gathered here to celebrate the 7th year of the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop, but the world never stands still, so here we go again. There is always something to appreciate even if at times it may require some real meditating to unearth those feelings. Other times one just blinks and discovers something staring you right in the face. At times the thoughts shared by those linking up are deep and thought provoking while even within the same post a bit of humor shines forth. We are all human with real life experiences taking a positive look at life. This post is being linked to Ten Things of Thankful hosted by Kristi of Thankful Me.

1. The mashup of TToT and FTSF last week was the instigator of causing me to participate in the Finish the Sentence Friday blog hop this weekend. It has been quite a while since I have done that.

2. Wildlife to watch

This wild turkey is probably a jenny from last year now grown up. The same day we saw this turkey sitting on the railing by our ramp, we caught of whiff of a skunk which meant one was probably investigating one of the culverts on the lane, and we saw three baby ground squirrels eating blossoms  and tender green leaves of weeds. I would have loved to have been able to get a photo of them eating. Even though they are pests, watching them eat the blossoms was cute.

Wild turkey

3. A stand-up weeder

At my age, no other explanation is needed here as to why I am really thankful for this tool.

4. An upcoming blueberry crop

Unripe blueberries

5. Movies based on real experiences that help me feel the experiences of others so I can understand a little of what it is like to be in someone else’s shoes

We watched Just Mercy which given the circumstances these past almost three weeks seemed apropos in many ways. Once again Vic found a movie that he knew we would both find educational.

6. First food box for the summer

I joined up to receive a box of fresh local farm produce each week. I was not disappointed. Each Wednesday I go to the destination to get my box of produce. I am getting the small box since I wasn't sure if the larger box would be more than just the two of us would eat in a week. This week the box  included strawberries, lettuce, kohlrabi, filberts, wild rice, red cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower.

7. Homemade shortcake so we eat strawberry shortcake

8. Small pony beads and my neighbor who had some for me to try with the ties on the cloth face mask I’ve been using

I have not used pony beads before other than using some similar looking large wooden beads back in the day when I was doing macrame. I doubt that I even knew then that there was a name for that type of bead.

9. KN95 face masks

A friend told me about these, so I decided to order some and try them out.

10. An online order from one of our local restaurants

Clam chowder, sourdough bread bowl, shrimp salad w/ 1000 island dressing and a lemon bar 

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FTSF - Welcome to my house

For some time now I have only been participating in a couple of blog hops. Earlier on I participated in some other blog hops too, one being Finish the Sentence Friday hosted by Finding Ninee. Last weekend there was a fun mashup of Ten Things of Thankful and Finish the Sentence Friday, so I thought I'd write something for Finish the Sentence Friday this week. 

Welcome to my house

One of the first things people see as they enter our home are houseplants. More times than not there is something in bloom. Currently there are four African violets and a poinsettia blooming. It is beyond my understanding how it is that the poinsettia is even alive let alone blooming. Over a year ago, it was on my list to take it to the compost pile since there was no sign of life left in it. As I walked by it one day I saw a tiny sprout of green, so I gave it some water, something I hadn’t done for several months, since to my way of thinking it was dead. It began to come alive and then to bloom. It has been blooming since the beginning of the year.

Poinsettia

This room where the above mentioned plants are is one of my favorite rooms in the house, if not the favorite. There are large windows along one wall where I can sit in my rocker and watch the birds and other wildlife that may traipse by on their way to a favorite dining spot which varies depending on the season. Our country property has a perfect back-to nature look at this point in our lives. In past years when we were able to do a lot of gardening and outside labor, the property was more groomed. We like to think that the bees are loving the scene now.

Deer

The next room visitors enter is a living room where an old upright piano sets along one wall. My paternal grandmother sent money to my parents when I was nine years old so they could buy me a piano. My grandmother was under the impression that my being able to play the piano would lead to my popularity later. Being on the shy side and also being a bit of a perfectionist, playing the piano for others only made me extremely nervous, and being nervous led to a lot of mistakes playing a piece which I had mastered while playing by myself. So in my case playing the piano did not have anything to do with being popular. However, after I got married and after we were able to buy our own home, I was reunited with my piano. Having the piano in our home has led to many enjoyable experiences for me and for our family even though I never became a virtuosa.

Piano as adorned at Christmas

Often those who enter our home for the first time look up and all around. The inside of our home, except for the bedrooms has a very open look as well as a ceiling that goes from the height of one story to the height of two stories above several open rooms consisting of a living room, family/dining and kitchen area. For many, this is their first experience of being inside an earth-sheltered home. In some areas an earth-sheltered home may mean the home has sod on the roof, but that is not a viable feature in areas that get as much rain as we do. Our home is built into a south-facing hillside with the soil being within a couple of feet from the roofline at the back of the house. 

The other thing that attracts the eyes of many who enter, is all the wood. My husband lived in a couple of homes that had knotty pine walls when he was growing up. When we went on our honeymoon, we stayed in a cabin that had knotty pine walls. When we found the ideal property on which to have this home built, knotty pine was a feature we wanted to maintain. It was kind of a tradition in the family. In addition there are some cedar walls and railings. Although I no longer smell the scent of cedar, there are some who come and comment about being able to smell the cedar.

From glancing around it is easy to determine that although our family is grown they are still close to our hearts if not in miles, and that we have an interest in birding, photography and also in reading. Having a picture of the Savior in plain sight is one of the daily reminders to me of how important he is to me in my life.

For me our home is a place of memories, a refuge, and a place of peace.

Six Sentence Story - Therapy

One never knows the memory a cue is going to going to stir up or the story that awaits to be discovered because of that memory. I am linking this story to Six Sentence Stories - Therapy hosted by Denise of Girlie on the Edge's Blog.

 

Within the four-room building in Erie, Pennsylvania the compound began to take shape and was promoted by the father and then the son as they considered ways to attract the public.

The timing was perfect considering the plethora of ways people were dying, often suddenly and without the care of a physician because of distance, and of being unable to quickly notify a doctor, not to mention that transportation could be slow.

Ailing people were ready to treat their symptoms without resorting to gathering herbs, and so the small pills applauded in the ads in the newspapers seemed to be almost a panacea and became a staple in many medicine cabinets beginning in the latter part of the 19th century and through more than half of  the 20th century when the FTC filed a complaint.

It was 1943, wartime, but the FTC was ready for action against the company they claimed was misleading the public with their false advertising and labeling.

Could it be, wondered some that their tried and true beloved pills were really just some quack therapy and that the FTC was creating quite a hullabaloo?

It wasn’t until 1959 that the final decision was made when the Supreme Court refused to review the FTC’s order and then denied the company’s appeal to keep its original labeling including the word liver and the use of misleading advertisements about a little pill that that was said to do so much more than be merely a laxative.

Ten Things of Thankful

Everyone’s story as to why and when creating a blog seems to be a good idea will vary. It was the example of my daughter, who had already created her own blog, and her encouragement as well as a little technical assistance to walk me through setting up my blog that was the impetus I needed. 

Recording a portion of my life experiences had already been a pattern for almost 37 years, starting when our children were young, via writing in journals. For a couple of years I made copies of weekly letters I wrote to our son while he was serving a church mission overseas. (That time was an extremely busy time in my life, so just making copies of the letters I wrote on the computer seemed to be a time-saving plan.)

Toward the end of 2011, the year I set up my blog, I posted only five times to the blog. None of the posts were to the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop which didn’t even exist yet. Then I took a hiatus because life got in the way.

In the middle of 2015 my daughter told me about the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop she was participating in and how she thought I might enjoy doing that too. I already knew the advantages that come from trying to see the sunny side of life even when life looks a little dismal at times. At that time I was trying to recover from a recent back surgery and was also dealing with the fact my mother now needed to live in a long-term care facility when we had anticipated being able to continue caring for her. I needed to be feeling a lot more positivity and gratitude from my own outlook as well as reading those things expressed by others, so I hopped on board. 

The Ten Things of Thankful blog hop broadened my perspective of people and of the world in which we live. In some ways this particular blog hop is much like a neighborhood which ebbs and wanes. Neighbors may move away and one doesn’t see them for years, but then when you do see them again, it is just like old times. That is what is fun about the Ten Things of Thankful birthday celebration! As I understand it, we may get a visit from Lizzi, the creator of the blog hop as well as old timers from the Finish the Sentence Friday blog hop which I also started participating in about the same time in 2015. 

There is nothing new here today as this is a smattering of my old TToT entries I have posted throughout the years. I smiled at some of them when I realized how relevant some of them are today. In addition, if you click here it will take you to  My Forever Long Birthday Celebration story I posted on Finish the Sentence Friday back in August of 2015 with a picture of me eating cake even. After all this is TToT's birthday and FTSF and TToT are doing a mashup post today. Thanks Kristi of Thankful Me and Kristi (a different Kristi) of Finding Ninee for doing this mashup celebration!

1. There are so many ways people can brighten the lives of others.  I often visit my mother in a nursing home.  She, along with others there, suffers from varying degrees of dementia and Alzheimer's.  Fortunately there are people in the area who regularly go to the nursing home and share their musical talents.  Many times, "the lights come on" when people with dementia hear music, especially musical pieces they may have heard earlier in their lives. This week a woman in her 70's went to the nursing home and played music on her accordion. One of the residents asked if she could play any Lawrence Welk type music.  She promptly started playing one of the signature pieces that was often heard on his show.  To see the absolute joy and enthusiasm on the face of the man who had made the request was just priceless.  I'm thankful for those who bring joy into the lives of others as they share their talents. 

June 20, 2015

2. This is kind of a crazy thing to be thankful for, but I'm thankful for fly swatters tonight.  For some reason, we have had a lot of flies in the house tonight.  I'm not sure if the door was left ajar sometime today or what, but we have killed a lot of them tonight.  And this is just an aside, but those new light bulbs, that last forever and are cool to the touch, don't kill flies that land on them! 

September 19, 2015

3. Some couples find it difficult to let their spouses have some time to themselves  to develop talents or do things that are not so enjoyable to the other.  My husband will do somethings with me that are not a hot item for him, but I would never ask him to spend an afternoon going into antique shops or clothes shopping, because I know he would not enjoy that. Likewise he doesn't expect me to watch football games on TV with him.  He is not hurt if I choose to do something else during game times.  That doesn't mean that I never watch any football.  He often plays back some of the funny plays or outstanding plays for me to see, and I do enjoy that sharing he does with me.  I'm thankful for the relationship we have. 

February 15, 2016

4. When I was growing up, my parents had a sofa that was kind of a blue-green color.  Years later when the sofa needed to be reupholstered, my Mother chose another fabric, but in kind of the same color.  I guess that color has had quite an influence on me, because to this day, I love blue-green colors.  That is why when I saw some unusual berries on a vine in our friend's garden I was quite smitten.  She explained that it was a porcelain vine.  It is a grape-like plant and produces beautiful porcelain looking berries. Unfortunately, the vine can be quite invasive, especially with the help of birds dropping the berries here and there.  I'm thankful for similarities between parent and child.  I'm thankful for beautiful colors making life so much more interesting than living in an all black and white world. October 30,  2016

Porcelain Vine

5. Living in this great land

Perhaps it is because of when I was born and becoming aware that our country was in a world war when I was very young, that made be feel such a sense of gratitude for living here.  I knew that there were children who were suffering from the war that was being fought in their countries.

There was a conversation I had with my mother once when I was a child where I distinctly remember asking her a question about why it was that I was born in this land.  I wanted to know why some people are born in one country and others born in yet a different country, ones which may have been lacking in so many advantages, at least from my point of view.  I somehow felt that there must be a reason. Mothers are often asked hard questions that are difficult to explain, especially if they do not even have a hint of an answer.  I nevertheless continued to feel extremely blessed to have been born here.

November 20, 2016

6. Seeing similarities in the lives of my ancestors and my own always make me feel happy.  I suspect I may have already seen this similarity in the past, but I rediscovered it this week. One of my great grandmothers had a twin sister. She and her twin have the same birthday (month and day) as I do.  My mother was young, under six, but she remembered seeing my great grandmother, Sarah H. Andrews Boyd, and spoke of how she sometimes went over to the next state to visit family.  After the research I did this week, I suspect that she went to visit her twin sister.  Knowing how close twins feel toward  one another I feel firm in my conviction that was the case.  I wish I could find a photo of my great grandmother.  If I ever do, I'm sure that will be a 'thankful' on my blog. 

February 19, 2017

7. Poetic thoughts (I think)

One blustery day a few days ago, the wind seemed to have blown up some little leaves that crossed my path in front of the car. That prompted the following thought.

Dead leaves seeming to skip across the road from the brisk wind, enjoying the ride, leaving their earthen bier if but for a moment. Will their form change through this energetic endeavor and mix with the atmosphere and become a new kind of life, or will they settle just as quickly back to their earthly grave? Are we ready for that exit from our bier, or urn, when it is time, and become a more perfect version of ourselves, or do we suppose this is all there is?

January 23, 2018

8. Getting a haircut 

After some time of letting my hair grow and watching it become bushier and harder to control, I opted to go back to the shorter style. I had to laugh when the woman cutting my hair said after trying a couple of hair products on one part of my hair, "It's just going to do what it wants to do." I was hoping the experience would be a little more helpful, but instead she said she was going to go home and google it. (Actually I'd already tried that and hadn't found anything helpful.) So, my hair has a mind of its own, and now it has been confirmed. 

March  19, 2018

9. Walking under and through the pines

There is something awesome about walking through acreage where years ago my husband planted young pine seedlings. Now of course the pines are towering above our heads and provide quite a different habitat than was the case when we moved here. The deer seem to be enjoying it too, as they have left several impressionable highways through the understory.

April 28, 2019

10. That this world is made up of families and that I have my own family with whom to live, learn, and grow in knowledge and understanding of how to live and love

January 17,  2020

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Six Sentence Stories - Passion

My story written in just six sentences is linked to the blog hop, Six Sentence Stories - Passion, hosted by Denise of Girlie on the Edge's Blog. Thank you Denise for keeping this blog hop in blog-o-sphere all these years.

When the professor saw Xavier with his shoulders slumped, his hands supporting his head, he knew he was not prepared, again, and he wondered why he even showed up. 

He was aware that even getting there twice a week was difficult in normal circumstances for this young man but doing it now against all odds made him feel a deep admiration for him and caused him to question if he would have been as capable if he were 20 years younger and the tables were turned.  

The room was quiet except for the sound of the chairs scraping across the grey institutional tiled floor as students one by one placed their completed assignments in the basket on the desk at the front of the room, until at last Xavier was the only student left. 

The professor, a title jeeringly given to him by those who thought he was showing off in junior high when he used words that would have required them to use a dictionary, had almost succumbed to the taunting that had put him in a very dark place for a few years and had delayed him discovering what it was that was his real passion in life.

As Xavier slowly raised his head, and opened his eyes, the professor approached him and handed him a couple of business cards, one for him and one to give to his mom. "If you are interested, they may be able to help, like they once helped me, and there is no charge," said the professor.

Ten Things of Thankful

Many are probably looking for some positivity about now, so here is my report. I hope you will grab a pen or a keyboard and write what is on your mind and in your heart today. You will feel a little better for doing so and by sharing maybe someone else will too. I'm linking my post to the blog hop Ten Things of Thankful  hosted by Kristi of Thankful Me. If you like, feel free to link your gratitude items on the blog hop. The more, the merrier, and speaking of merrier, click the link to read details about next week's party.

1. For those who continue to serve and protect because often they have made an oath to do so in spite of potential harm to even their very lives

2. For those who speak out  in defense of those who need to be defended

3. For those who seek to find the truth wherever it may be even when it may cause them to question what they may have once believed to be true or what they may have been taught

4. For those who contemplate possibilities of ways to improve our world and the lives of its inhabitants and are able to communicate those ideas with those who have the skills to create plans and those who have the abilities to build, manufacture, or plant and grow what is needed

5. For those who are willing to try to understand and see another person’s point of view even if it isn’t their own

6. For those who are willing to learn from mistakes, their own as well as the mistakes of others

7. For the speedy delivery of the new part for our range!

8. That the multiple loud footsteps on our roof were most likely multiple deer rather than people with ill intentions

( Occasionally we have heard light footsteps from probably a skunk or raccoon or maybe a single young deer, but not what seem to have been a herd.)

Deer treading quietly through the grass

9. That I now have a face mask that fits me perfectly

(I’ll make some improvements on the next one in regards to the ties.)

10. That feeling of happiness that comes when those you love are able to achieve their goals or when they receive answers to their prayers

*Bonus thankful - Vic and I being able to share our lives with one another all these years

May you all feel some peace in your lives this week.

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Six Sentence Stories - Right

Well, we, by choice, are still not traveling much more than before a couple of weeks earlier, but that doesn't mean I can't do some via the written words in this blog hop post. Denise of Girlie on the Edge's Blog continues to provide just the right cue each and every week. This week it is Six Sentence Story - Right.

This is taking a lot longer than I thought it would and this road isn’t looking at all like I remember it from years ago. Why don’t you grab those directions Scott gave me and see if there are any familiar markers, like the pavement ends and the road narrows considerably, or hang on boulders ahead!

Are the directions in the glove compartment or are they in the pocket of your jacket on the back seat?

If I remember correctly, I gave the paper to you this morning when we were getting packed. Maybe you laid it down when Jean called you about the same time to answer our questions about the cabin.

Multitasking usually isn’t a problem, except when I am walking around talking on the phone, and now that we are lost out in the middle of nowhere, a long ways from any cell coverage, I do wish we would come upon a rancher or cowhand to steer us in the right direction.