Friday Fave Five

 

It's been a quiet week here. I've not gone anywhere, and I have no fantastic things to report. But, still, in the quiet times, there are always those things we easily recognize as blessings. Thank you, Susanne, at Living to Tell the Story for giving us this spot each week. Come join us!

1.  Air conditioning: I know this was listed last week but it sure does bear repeating. With our temps in the 90s this week, I am so very thankful for air conditioning. I would be a puddle on the floor without it.

2.  Weekly phone visits with my daughter. They make the miles between Tennessee and Florida that much shorter. Sometimes we just chat. Other times she listens while I vent and often it's the other way around. She has been my blessing for a very long time.

3.  Emails from friends:  Many of my friends live far from me. I'm so thankful for emails where we can chat about this and that. I treasure these friends who have a willing heart and 'listening ear.' 

4.  Retirement:  It's been 12 years since I worked full time. As a nurse, it wasn't a 9-5 / Monday through Friday job. I worked weekends, holidays and often during the night. Being retired has been such a blessing. My time is my own and I can get up and go to bed when I want. That doesn't mean I'm not busy, but I am free to do those things I really love to do.

5.  Payday soon: As a retiree, my payday happens once a month. Yesterday, my years-old toaster gave up the ghost. And now my coffee maker is making a thumping sound. It's good to know that I can replace them in a couple days. And my grocery list is miles long!

For those of you in the summer heat, I understand your pain. Stay cool and hydrated, my friends! I'll see you back here next week.

Friday Fave Five

 

It's Friday already! The time flies by, it seems. We have intermittent, sunshine, rain and pollen. It's spring! Here are the blessings of this past week. A special thanks to Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for giving us this spot. Come join us!

1. A special visit: My daughter from Florida spent 4 days with me and it was wonderful. We had good weather and a wonderful time of chatting and relaxing and just being together. She had to return much too soon but at least we had this special time.  

2. A ball of yarn: It's a long, frustrating story about a hank of yarn and a ball winding attempt gone terribly wrong. I was given two beautiful (and pricey) hanks of yarn for my birthday. The first one behaved as I used my ball winder to make the hank into a ball. The second one was a disaster. I tried my best to try to unravel the mess with only very minimal success. My daughter, however, who was the giver of the yarn and is patience personified told me to put it away until she got here. So, during lots of kitchen table conversations, while we chatted, she unraveled.

She went from this:

To this!

She assured me that this happens to everyone at some point. 

3. Family time: On Sunday afternoon, we had a mini family reunion at a local Italian eatery. It was the first time in a very long time that I had all three of my offspring together and it was glorious! Altogether, we had 13 at one long table. Our patient waitress was awesome and very accommodating. Lots of laughter and catching up. 

Here are the 13 although some are a bit buried in the back.

And here I am with my three:

Two guys and a girl - kids I'm so proud of!

And finally, my daughter taking a selfie with the gang:

My crazy kids and grandchildren! I love them all!

4. C.S. Lewis: After finishing "Becoming Mrs. Lewis" - a historical fiction about Joy Davidman's and C.S. Lewis's love story, I began to look more closely into the life of C.S. - known to his friends as Jack. I've watched You Tube interviews of Douglas Gresham - Joy's son and I'm really enjoying learning about the author and Oxford don as well as the woman he fell madly in love with. I'd read portions of the Chronicles of Narnia and now I'm beginning to discover his other works. I thoroughly enjoyed "Becoming Mrs. Lewis" and have included two very good reviews here., 

Joy in His Presence  and  Stray Thoughts

5. A walking program: For years, I've suffered with muscle pain from fibromyalgia as well as arthritic knees and hips. I've let myself become so sedentary due to the discomfort that it is greatly affecting my mobility. While she was here, my daughter gave me a pep talk and helped me set up a gentle, and slowly progressive walking plan. I'm proud to say that I've stuck with it every day. I report to her by text, and she texts back a gold star. 

It's so lovely to see green all over now. Plants are blooming and I'm considering getting a bird feeder for our local birdies. I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the warmth and beauty of spring.

Friday Fave Five

 

After some stormy weather yesterday, we have sun this morning. I hope it lasts for a few days. This will be brief as I'm finishing up preparing for my daughter's visit later today. You always think your home is clean until you realize that someone else will be also seeing it!

1. Cleaning..cleaning..cleaning: All those nooks and crannies you overlook the other times! I'm thankful for the energy God has given me and for Ibuprofen at the end of the day.

2. Storm protection: It seems this has been an item in just about every post lately. We had a wild storm come through yesterday afternoon - wind and torrential rain. Luckily, I was back home from my various errands.

3. Reading time: I'm usually a "before I go to sleep" reader. So, most often I'm in bed by 8 or ever earlier with my book. It's a time to unwind and relax. 

4. My daughter's upcoming visit:  As I've been posting, my daughter Jill is flying in from Florida this afternoon. We're going to chat and knit and maybe do a day trip. It's all free time - nothing planned. Just mother/daughter time.

5. Cuddles from Apollo: Apollo came to me about a year and a half ago. He was a bit standoffish and not very affectionate. Of late though, he's constantly jumping up on my desk between me and my laptop wanting pets and attention. It can be a bit disruptive, but I don't mind. He feels safe and at home. To my mind, if a cat likes you, you've got to be an okay person!

Best wishes for you all for this weekend.

Weekly Chat - a day late

 

Yesterday was a busy day - what with errands and an epic eclipse. So, I'm doing catch-up today. The end of last week saw me rearranging furniture and getting ready for my daughter's visit this weekend. Thank goodness for Ibuprofen because I certainly overdid it. This week, I want to clean those places you tend to ignore until you know someone else may see it, so I'm taking it a bit at a time. So, here goes - an abbreviated Weekly Chat.

DATE: April 9, 2024

WEATHER: 56 degrees and rain. We're supposed to have rain here off and, on all week, but sunny on the weekend. 

READING: I just finished "Widows and Orphans" by Susan Meissner last night and will begin this today. 

I was given this book by a dear friend, and I've been looking forward to starting it.

I'm also reading slowly through "The End" by Mark Hitchcock. 

FUNNY OF THE WEEK: 

PONDERING: 

• The Epic Eclipse: Our area was to have 88% totality yesterday. However, rain and clouds obscured it. Some areas near me had a break in the clouds but not here. It did get darker though. A Bible teacher I follow did a live stream from his backyard during the eclipse. He was in the path of totality, and it was amazing to see how dark it got. 
• Working on a food program to try to reduce my blood sugars without taking on another medication or (worse) insulin.
• Looking forward to a relaxing and lovely visit with my daughter this weekend.
• Some issues I'm praying about and trusting God to give me direction.

QUOTE:

SCRIPTURE:

"And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth

distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring."

PRAYING: 

• For our nation will turn back to God
• For salvation for loved ones and friends
• For Israel
• For my heart and mind to be pliable to what God wants of me,

I really didn't intend to end this post like this but everything around me....the news reports...the general apathy towards God that I see....even signs in the skies, tell me that we need draw closer to the Lord - more than ever before.

Have a great week, my friends. You probably won't see me here until next week. There are some cobwebs and dust bunnies to attend to!

Friday Fave Five

 

Here's another week gone by and we're very near the beginning of April and Easter. It's been a quiet, fairly uneventful week and I've had to dig deep to find anything of interest to write here. But I'm giving it a shot. come join us all at Living to Tell the Story and let us know what's going on with you. And thank you, Susanne for hosting this.

1. My daughter in law is home: My daughter in law has been in Florida since last Thursday, helping to care for her mother after a nasty fall with injuries to her arm.  Unfortunately, her mom was misdiagnosed and went several days before another doctor found out the severity of her issues. She's having surgery today. Her mother lives with her sister which is a blessing, but she wanted to be there to help. Unfortunately, she caught a flu bug from a fellow passenger on the plane and was sick for most of the week. She flew home yesterday evening as planned. She's glad to be home, I'm glad she's home. and I know my son is glad.

2. My daughter coming to visit: This may be old news. My daughter is coming up for a short visit the second week of April. We always have such a sweet time. We're not planning any excursions or trips - just being together and knitting and chatting. 

3. Books..books..books: I've always been so thankful that I enjoy reading. I enjoy all kinds of books - from mysteries, historical fiction, even theology. This week I came across an excellent book, recommended by a friend on Face Book. "Cora's Story - Life on Bays Mountain". The character is fictional, but the location is very real, not too far from where I live in east Tennessee. She refers to the Knoxville newspaper and names of places I recognize. It's a sweet story with its ups and downs, sadness and happiness, folly and redemption. The author, Barbara Arnold Linkous, wrote a sequel called "Murrell's Story - Life on Bays Mountain", Murrell being her husband. I'm reading that now. They are available on Kindle Unlimited.

4. Sun: We've had stretches of days and weeks when we never saw sunshine. This week has been a delight, and I can feel how lively and more cheerful I am when the sun is shining brightly. Spring has been here and gone and back again, as is usual here in east Tennessee. I'm looking forward to when it's here to stay. And then, it will be summer, and I'll be complaining about the heat. Humans are never satisfied for long!

5. My new Bible: I mentioned a week or so ago that I had invested in a new Bible. This one is a treasure, wide margins for writing in and a font that is comfortable for me to read. I created a color code for verses that I wanted to highlight as I read and studied. Colored pencils are always handy when I read, and I've been enjoying highlighting passages: Purple for personally meaningful verses. . .Green for our identity in Christ....Orange for end time prophecies - as an example. 

BONUS: Apollo has been especially cuddly this week. He was a rescue of about 4 years of age when I adopted him from our local Humane Society. For those of you who have adopted (and thank you!) you know that sometimes the transition to your home can be length. I've wondered what happened in his past to cause some of his habits. It took months for him to really feel at home here but each new act of trust has been a blessing and delight to me. 

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

 

Friday's Fave Five

 

We've had some very pleasant weather here in east TN this week and I've loved seeing the sun. Now as I come to another end of the week, it's time to reflect back and list the blessings, both great and small, that I've seen. Thanks to Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for giving us this opportunity. 

1. Learning something new. For my birthday, my daughter gifted me two beautiful hanks of yarn and a ball winder. When you begin with a hank, you have to do something with it before you begin to knit. I can remember as a child holding one of these between outstretched arms while my mother rolled the yarn into a useable ball. My ball spinner makes the job much easier. My patient daughter and I met on Zoom as she showed me how to do it and voila. . .

I went from this...

To this!

This is only one hank. I still have to do the other one. 

2. Lovely sunny weather: It's been in the 60s and sunny most of the week and what a pleasure! It feels like spring is almost here. I've seen a couple robins looking for food which reminds me. I want to buy a bird feeder this spring.

3. My Apollo: I never cease to be amazed at this little guy. He is definitely his own person, so to speak but he gives me love and affection. There is something about rescuing a defenseless animal from a bad environment and giving them a good home and love that makes me feel so good. This past weekend, I found out more about Apollo's background. Some of this I may have said before so forgive me. 

I adopted Apollo from East Tennessee Humane Society almost 2 years ago. The story given me was that he belonged to an elderly man who kept Apollo in his room. When he died, his wife wanted no part of the cat and surrendered him. I learned very recently that it was not her but another man who took pity on Apollo and brought him to the center. When the center accepted him, Apollo had been kept in a crate for at least 3 days straight and not let out. I don't know if he had been given any water or food. When he was surrendered, he was covered in urine and feces. He was very scared of people and the other cats and subsequently was kept in the center's kitchen on his own. The center did an awesome job of caring for Apollo and he finally warmed up to people, to a point. It took him at least a year with me before he began to relax and trust me. I'm so glad we ended up together.

4. Ancestral memories: My grandmother and my mother kept everything, and I inherited photos and memorabilia of my maternal ancestry that go way back. I even have tin types of people I'll probably never be able to identify. Along with photos, there are treasures that have survived for decades, even centuries. I have my grandmother's school bell from when she was a teacher in a one room schoolhouse in Kansas. I have a small sewing kit that my Great, Great Grandfather John Elston carried with him during the Civil War. I may at some point write a few posts to show them off. Here, for instance is my Great, Great Grandmother Jane R. Elston.

My grandma looked very much like her.

5. My Kindle: If you pin me down, I'd have to admit that I prefer to read from a real book. But with running out of room on shelves, I reluctantly got a Kindle e-reader. I wasn't crazy about it at first but now I love it. I can adjust the font size. I can hold my finger over a word I don't understand and immediately the definition pops up. My Kindle has enough room for more books than I'll ever read in a lifetime. Amazon offers Kindle Unlimited which allows you to borrow up to 10 books at a time. Not every book on Amazon is eligible but a whole lot are. 

I hope you all are looking forward to a nice weekend. Here's to green grass and robins and daffodils!

A completed project (finally!)

 I've considered myself a 'beginner' knitter for a couple of years now - never finishing anything I started. It either wasn't looking right, or I made a big mistake, or I didn't like it and I'd unravel and try again. My daughter, ever the hopeful one, bought me some yarn from Knit Picks and shared with me a pattern of a cowl from Ravelry and I decided to forge ahead. My first attempt at this wasn't good and I put it aside and then, with more from encouragement from my daughter, and this luscious yarn, I tried again.

The pattern was a free one from Ravelry called Madelinetosh Honey Cowl. Not perfect by any means but here it is.

Then ends need to be woven in and I need to block it, but for a first attempt, I'm pretty pleased. 

The yarn is so pretty and squishy - 75% cotton and 25% acrylic.

My daughter invited me to a guest membership at Craftsy so my next project is their beginner class for fingerless gloves. I already have some lovely yarn from Lion Brand ready for the project.

I'm pretty excited to finally becoming comfortable with this craft. I may never reach the heights of skill as my daughter but that's okay. And if I may brag a bit. . . .

Jill's sweater from this year.

My son-in-law Kent took this photo. I joked with her that this should be in a Yarn advertisement!

Our temps here in Tennessee are chilly again and there is a forecast for snow in the higher elevations. We won't see any here in the valley. Hope everyone is having a great week so far!