1. Learning that two granddaughters who had an important event of their lives (high school graduation and 16th birthday) on the same day each desired that the focus be on her sister that day
2. For the first time in over a year there are no work related COVID-19 cases at our local hospital and a major city in the state north of us has 70% of their population fully vaccinated for COVD-19.
3. Widow makers in the oaks finally were removed.
Oak trees minus the widow makers
4. A huge pile of oak chips was left for us to use as mulch later.
Oak chips waiting to be used as mulch
5. Rain, not just light drizzle, moistened our area. Drought is forecast for 3/4 of our state this summer with dryer than normal weather in our area, so rain is welcome.
6. Reading old newspaper articles gave me new insight as to what it might have been like to be a young mother during the time of the polio epidemic as well as the concern she might have had regarding her child possibly drowning in an irrigation ditch during that same time period.
7. The importance of being able to find commonality with others and learning more about their struggles and history to help understand why they may have different viewpoints than your own
8. The robot vacuum still works even though I must have stripped thethreads where the tiny little screws attach the side brushes I was trying to replace.
9. My husband’s problem solving skills when I couldn’t figure out how to get the new brushes positioned correctly made me wonder, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Finally, he said, “Where are the old ones?”After I retrieved them from the trash, he saw the tiny, but necessary little metal parts still attached to the old brushes.
10. The energy and cuteness of recently born fawns makes me smile. This mama must be waiting for her baby to wake up. We saw her a day or two earlier with a very little fawn, probably just a couple of days old. We suspect it was sleeping safely sheltered behind or under some foliage the morning this photo was taken.
It would seem my Ten Things of Thankful post is kind of like a collage this week bringing the readers a glimpse of perhaps me and of my life, kind of a little of this and a little of that. Thank you Dyanne of Backsies Is What There Is Not for hosting the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop. Thanks to the co-hosts, Clark and Lisa who help keep things rolling.
1. The store where I was shopping for groceries began celebrating National Doughnut Day on Thursday, one day early. My box of four for 98 cents included three doughnuts and one apple fritter big enough to share! It has been a very long time, I am guessing way over a year, since I have indulged in eating a these kind of treats. Did any of you ever hear an ancestor mention the Salvation Army Lassies who handed out doughnuts during WW1 or the Red Cross Doughnut Dollies during WW11?
2. I discovered a new salad recipe to try which included familiar ingredients that I had never considered combining in that fashion. Some of the seasonings (cumin and turmeric) were ones I have only used just a little on rare occasions. I am glad I tried it. Next time I will make sure I have ALL the seasonings and dressing ingredients on hand so I won’t need to substitute or leave out any. Has anyone else started to cook dinner without having all the ingredients and then just winged it the rest of the way?
3. With a chorus of birds chirping outside as I was reading one evening, I learned the exact time when they stopped singing. Last Sunday evening it was exactly at 9:15 p.m. Nightfall was fast approaching and it was as thougha conductor had all their attention, and they on him, and they precisely ended the concert when he cut off their concert. (One of my favorite songs that mentions a bird was performed by Gladys Knight in a concert at The Kennedy Center.)
4. One afternoon it was brought to my attention that there were some people at the edge of our property sawing up the large widow maker which fell recently and some large limbs that had fallen during the ice storm in February. A while back I had mentioned to one of our neighbors that if he wanted the wood, it was free for the taking, so he and a couple of young missionaries from our church who love to help people were there this week sawing and stacking logs which he will take to someone who needs firewood for this coming winter. It will be nice to have it out of the way when the arborists come next week to safely bring the remaining widow makers in the oak trees to the ground.
Oak widow maker ready for wood stove
5. The Ten Things of Thankful blog hop in itself is something for which I am thankful because it makes me stop and seriously think, remember, and show my appreciation by sharing these things that light up my life.
6. Because of a conversation my husband and I were having one time this week, I went to a file container, where I have stored some larger photos, to see if I could discover the answer to the question. While I wasn’t able to find the answer I was seeking, I did find a photo that I thought was lost. It wasn’t really lost but only inserted into the wrong slot. Sometimes it is just okay not to immediately find the answer you are looking for when instead you discover something else.
7. Facebook private groups can be a wonderful place to reconnect with extended family. We have enjoyed being members of one for a couple of years. Through messaging someone who is a DNA match with me on 23andme.com, this week I learned of another Facebook private group for those who descend from ancestors of a certain surname or are related in someway to those who do. Often when doing family history, it is easy to keep going backwards learning as much as you can about those who lived in the past, but it is also important to keep track of the living descendants and build and strengthen those relationships. With families being spread near and far, a Facebook private group is one way to connect.
8. While waiting for our car to be serviced this week, because the check engine light had come on and stayed on, I was thankful to find a chair in the waiting room that was actually a comfortable chair. Some waiting room chairs are totally uncomfortable for me. Maybe I am the only one who finds chairs with broad deep seats and with chair backs slantedback at a vee angle and not rising even to one’s shoulders to be back killing. I was lucky to find a small table with a chair that had wonderful support for my back. Yeah and feeling very grateful for options.
9. Speaking of cars, I am thankful there are passenger vehicles that come in all sizes and some of them are large enough to allow a family to travel without having to take two cars just in order to load the children into their respective car seats.
How does one begin to write a story in only six sentences and why does one do that? In my case, it was because I discovered there was a blog hop that offered this minute writing exercise. It attracts writers who are just beginning to dabble in expressing their thoughts to those who have published books. So what is holding you back from giving it a try? I am linking my very short Six Sentence Stories - Presence to the link provided by our host, Denise of Girlie On The Edge's Blog.
It has been a memorable week with things for which to be grateful. This week is different in that it leads up to Memorial Day in the United States this coming Monday when we remember those who lost their lives while serving in the U. S. military. The sacrifices made by the families of those who have served in the military is one that should not to be forgotten either.
Dyanne of Backsies Is What There Is Not allows us a space to share those things that remind us of all there is to remember that make us feel a sense of thankfulness. I'll be linking up to the blog hop Ten Things of Thankful which she hosts.
1. Announcements and accompanying photos via texts that express the delight of all
There is a Golden Retriever puppy in our extended family! Their first Golden Retriever lived a wonderful long life. Life just wasn't the same without having a dog in the home, so now there is another of these wonderful pets in their lives.
2. During some more strong winds this week another widow maker fell (a smaller one this time) and it it didn’t land on the lane this week, so that was another plus!
3. Being gifted a rhododendron that another family no longer wanted because it had grown too big for the space where it was been planted
4. Feeling thankful to the person who dug the shrub mentioned in #3 and called us to see if we would be interested in having the plant
5. Knowledge and experiences shared by others and being able to attend a function that allowed me to listen and learn not only from the speaker but from other attendees' experiences
The topic addressed was based on part of the scripture in Matthew 19:19 in the New Testament. Often much is said about the importance of loving one’s neighbors and how in adhering to that admonition the importance of remembering how important it is to take care of oneself often gets forgotten.
6. For repeated promptings to contact someone about a request made in a FB post while at the same time thinking her need probably had already been addressed by someone else
I was glad the promptings kept coming to me and that I finally did what was needed. The important message here is that sometimes you might be the only one who has what is needed at a given time and are the only “one” who can help.
7. Seeing a Western Tanager come to our outside water fountain just for a few seconds as I was preparing this post
They are beautiful birds, but rarely come up to the fountain. This was the first one I had seen this spring on our property, and wouldn't you know it, my camera was in the other room.
8. Phone call with good news
A doctor I have been waiting to see will be able to see me the middle of June rather than the later scheduled date.
9. Finding out that a historical fiction novel about WW2 that I have wanted to read is available on Audible
10. Hugs and all the benefits they bring and for Vic, my favorite hugger
Sometimes these Ten Things of Thankful come easily and quickly, but don't worry if sometimes they don't. Although the link opens on Thursday, there are several days allowed for participants to link their posts to the blog hop. Thank you Dyanne (Backsies Is What There Is Not) for hosting each week. What are you thankful for this week, or anytime for that matter?
Western Wild Rose
Not so thankul for the black clouds in the sky and accompanying strong winds that gave the trees a massive shaking for probably no longer than 15 minutes on Wednesday because the arborists can’t come until June and we still have widow makers hanging from a lot of the trees due to the ice storm back in February
But very thankful that
No one was hurt Thursday morning when a huge widow maker fell partly on the lane and partly on our hillside
Oak widow maker
Thelimb didn’t fall on Wednesday when our yard guy was using a weed eater on the same area of the hillside
That drivers of two vehicles were able to navigate safely up and down the lane that morning before the sudden descent of the limb
That the neighbors coming down the hill after the limb had fallen were able to pull over enough to allow them to get their Bobcat and shove the limb completely off the lane (We were not even aware the limb had fallen until about an hour later.)
That one of the arborists is now going tobe able to come the middle of June instead of toward the end of June
Other thankful items this week
Eyes to see and the laughter that comes when I see it after years of it staring right at me
Hidden face in floor tile
In an attempt to find the exact date of an event that had happened, I searched a couple of my journals from years ago. I knew the month, and the approximate year, so it was easy to verify the date. What I had forgotten was that I had written a poem about what had happened and shared it in my journal. This is what was special about finding the poem. When I read the poem, I immediately thought of a family member who might be strengthened by reading it this week. From the response of the recipient, I knew it was a poem I was meant to share.
Gifts, cards, and thoughts that keep on giving. Over a period of years my FIL had a tradition he and one of his brothers shared. There was one Christmas card that was exchanged every year between them. One year one brother was the sender of the card, and the next year the other brother sent the same card back to my FIL, but in a new envelope. I suspect there was a letter from the sender that was included with the card each Christmas. I thought of my FIL this week when I received a thank you card and a $20 bill from a friend for picking up her mail for several weeks when she was gone on a trip. Her note to me in the card was, “You are worth it.” I was surprised about receiving money for doing this for her. When I objected to receiving the money, she seemed to pause and then asked me if I remembered giving her a $20 bill once and telling her she was worth it. She too had objected. Ah, the light bulb came on. I shared the story about my FIL and told her not to be surprised when the $20 comes back to her at some point in the future. 🙂
Being able to stream a high school school musical performed in another state when we are not able to attend in person
Learning that people we care about and hadn’t been able to reach are okay
For Vic and this song from The Big Fish broadway musical
It is time for another six. Denise of Girlie On The Edge's Blog, and host of the blog hop to which I am linking this post is waiting for us to write and link up our stories written in only six sentences and of course using the cue word for the week. Click the link and you will be able to read the creative endeavors of other writers of this ilk. Six Sentence Stories - Rivalry.
They had been good friends until it had become apparent they no longer saw eye to eye on a life and death matter.
Both considered the other’s point of view irrational and not based on fact.
The peaceful common ground that had once existed between them was now filled with potholes waiting to ensnare and strangle all the tender tendrils that had once bound them together no matter what.
Their rivalry and the complexities of it needed intervention, but neither saw the need and felt it would be a costly useless endeavor, so instead one went by herself to the beach to find solace and the other hiked and conversed with a like-minded friend on mountain trails.
Years elapsed, as did their memories for the most part, except for the precious friendship they each remembered having way back when.
Gone were the times of strife and misunderstandings. . .gone. . .gone. . .gone.
Truly I am still thankful, truly I am. On this day 41 years ago Mt. St. Helens erupted. It was a day that many in the Northwest part of this nation will always remember. I am thankful that we were not close enough to reap the death and destruction that came when the volcano blew its top, although some of its very fine ashes did make their way into our vicinity that year.
1. Discovering and having a poisonous plant removed before it blossomed and spread its seeds
2. Mother’s Day and birthday celebration surprises combined into one tremendous gathering
3. Delicious meals prepared by loving hands
4. Awaited appointments finally scheduled and in the queue
5. Movies and books that make me search to know more about history
6. More COVID-19 vaccines available to more adults and students
7. Listening to grown children read aloud and laugh as they sharedexcerpts from my journal entries which included statements made by them when they were little (Note: They did have my permission to read my journal.)
8. Beautiful works of art on flower petals
Oregon iris
9. Purple pine cones shaped like a corsages
Purple pine cones
10. Vic and his ability to not give any indication to me of impending surprise visits from our children
