FRIDAY FUN with "FAMILY"

 Yesterday was such a nice day for Dave and I.

We received a lunch invitation from some dear friends that are in our bible study group.  They have moved to Oregon and were down here in the Sacramento area for business.

They also invited another couple.  Joe is the leader of our group.  He had open heart surgery back in January and finally is regaining his energy back.  The surgery was successful and a full recovery takes 6 to 9 months.  It was so good to see him and his wife again. 

Needless to say we enjoyed our lunch and talked ninety miles an hour, catching up on the last 5 or 6 months.

We feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and cherish our times together.  Of course we talked so much that I didn't even take one photo.  My heart took all the memory pictures and there will be a next time to do the photos..😊

I thought I would share several pretty plant flowers.  They blossom on our hedge...not sure what its called but it sure is pretty.

I really like this close up.  The color and detail are amazing to me.

Remember:

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

NEVER HAVE I EVER ...

 Yesterday was a crazy weather day, for us here in the Sacramento Valley.

I think we were trying to copy the Mid West with its changeable weather systems.

I had heard on the news there were tornado warnings for an area about an hour north of us.  I looked out the window and said to Dave , we better scoot to the grocery store before those clouds dump on us.

This is what we saw as we were driving that direction.

This is through the car window.

I have never seen the clouds so dark before.

When we arrived and parked our car, the dark clouds were jaw dropping to me.

As I was snapping that photo Dave said , turn around...

Can you believe it?

In another moment or two the black clouds lessened and the rest of the day was dull and gray.

Those black clouds were producing monumental snow in our mountains.

We only got showers for the rest of the day.

Today the weather can't decide what it's going to do.

I'm glad I had my cell phone to record the clouds.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

MONDAY MEMORIES

 Two memories came up on my FaceBook page this weekend.

I thought I would share them with you.

The first is from 10 years ago.  Dave's niece and our daughter in law's brother got married.  It was the most beautiful wedding and blending of two families.  The wedding was held on the California coast in Mendocino.                                               Dave and I and Steve and Sigrid rented the LightKeeper's house for the weekend.  Steve took some of the photos and another friend did the bulk of them.

I stood inside a little room and snuck my own photo of the couple's "First Look".  I have to say I am pretty pleased with the sneaky photo.

View from that little room to the LightHouse.

The whole thing was so Fairy Tale Romantic...

The second memory that came up was from 4 years ago.  This was during Covid time.

A friend of ours, who had a mini farmette and is a contractor, volunteered to come and cut down our Box Elder tree for us.  We had been invaded by Box Elder beetles.  They were horrible.

George and a friend came over while I was at my caregiving duties.  While George was cutting, he had done everything correctly with straps, chains and proper braces, the chain saw got stuck in the base of the tree.  Dave was just there observing not doing anything with the cutting.  George asked Dave to just hold the chain saw while the helper and George would pull the tree down.  The tree didn't cooperate and it kicked back the wrong direction and caught Dave in the knee and lower shin area.  Dave got a nasty fracture and chipped knee cap.

The ambulance was called and Dave was in a lot of pain.  Long story short, during Covid its not a good time to need surgery and be in hospitals and convalescent facility.  I wasn't able to see him for over 3 weeks before he finally came home.  I am so thankful for his recovery, our family and friends that helped us get through that trying time.

                                                Home Sweet Home

A whole lot of "Ouch"

That awful tree with its many trunks

So thankful its all gone except for the stump you often see in my backyard photos.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

FRIDAY "FLITTERINGS"

 What are Flitterings?

Google says: moving in an apparently Random or purposeless manner.

That's what this weekend post is all about.

In listening to my photographer son's podcast yesterday, I was struck by how I felt the same way ... ie; In a photographer's SLUMP.

He suggested just getting out and playing with the camera just for ME.  No agenda, just having fun.

So I did just that..

It was fun to just think about random pictures and then my mind went into Abstract  mode.  I have always like this type of thing and I want to challenge you to think outside the box and just have fun.

I saw some reflections in some old tile and loved the effect.

What is it??

To be continued ... 

I would love to see some of you take up the challenge of finding the Abstract in the Mundane.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

MIND WANDERING WEDNESDAY

 I have been putting in some time the last few days weeding a patch in the backyard.

I can't kneel or squat so its always bending over at the waist.  Standing on my head is my method of action.. 👀😅😛😜

The weeds in the patch that I haven't gotten to yet have grown 2 more inches since yesterday... groan...  I must finish today because its going to rain tomorrow, or so the weather people say...  The weeds will be 9 feet tall before I can get out there again! 

This little guy posed so nicely for me before he met his demise.

On another note...

My son Steve just got back from Las Vegas.  He and his business partner produce photography workshops.

They had an awesome group of photographers that were learning new techniques  at the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.

One of the guests took a terrific photo of our son and I thought I would share it with you.

I think he's pretty handsome and he loves what he does for a living.

Proud Mama here...

And now for my second cup of coffee before I face the weeds again..

A NEW DAY

 I didn't get as much done with the weeds this weekend as I had hoped.

My old back just can't take too much any more.

But

Today is a New Day and the weather is Delicious this morning.  I am planning on attacking some more of those Green Things in a little while.  

Have to have my cup of coffee first!

I decided to tackle the side by our grapevines.

I did make some progress

I'm going to get more of that tough tall grass out today...

Of course there are pretty little flowers aka weeds doing their thing too.

We have 2 bushes of blossoming flowers right now.

This bush usually has yellow tiny flowers on it.  This time it's white.

Go figure???

Here's the other bush blooming its head off and lots of buds getting ready to pop too.

My volunteer wisteria is ready to bloom too.  

If you enlarge the photo you can see some of the flowers just getting ready to show their colors.

At least there is progress.  

The Yard is our never ending GobStopper!

To be continued...

Now to get to my coffee...

RANDOM SATURDAY

 

How's it Going?

So this is what I do...

Have a great day

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

FIRST DAY OF SPRING and THROWBACK THURSDAY

 I thought I had better get busy and post about the first day of spring before it was totally done for this year.

I went to Walmart this morning and the sun wasn't being cooperative.

The black birds were really having a choir rehearsal and leaving their "autograph" all over the cars in the parking lot.

The sun finally came out now when its almost sunset time..  didn't get any photos.

This is also Throwback Thursday.

This is our younger son Mark in the early 1990's.

He was involved with the Christian organization YWAM ... Youth With A Mission.

He traveled all over the world and spent several months in East Africa.

He lived with the people of Tanzania,  He helped doing Primary Health Care.

Mark made his decision there on the Field to continue his education back in the state of Oregon and got his RN degree.

He never went back to the foreign ministry but has been a Registered Nurse for more than the  last 20+ years.

We are so proud of him and how he has lived his life and the compassion he displays every day.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

WILD WEATHER

 Good Morning..

I know our weather doesn't begin to compare with what's been going on in the midwest and south.

But

Its been pretty crazy for my part of Northern California.

A few days ago we could see that some crazy weather was brewing.

The clouds were darkening and it was getting colder.

Snow was definitely going to "dump" in the mountains.

This is looking in an NE direction towards the Sierras about 2 hours away from us.

And then...

The rains came, the lightening flashed and the thunder boomed like I hadn't heard it in years.  It made our windows rattle.  We got hail too.  Fortunately not the huge kind that scours the paint off everything.

And now today...

The sun is shining and there is no wind.

We did have frost early this morning, but now that's all gone too.

As I have said before...

March is such a Fickle month.

Hopefully this was the last big blast before we get some warmer weather.

Of course then I shall be moaning about being too hot..

I guess I can be fickle too.  😅😀

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

SATURDAY SOMETHINGS...

 I haven't got a whole lot to say today.

Its still raining off and on down here in the Low Lands... great snow in the mountains.

I have odds and ends that need to be finished and of course spending some time with all of you dear friends in Blogland.

Here's my Self Portrait for today...

😀

That's my advice for today...

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

THANKFUL THURSDAY

 There is always so much to be thankful for.

This week has put a "Yes and Amen" to that.

Now that I am no longer doing my caregiving for Lynne, I get a bit nervous since I no longer get a stipend for the job.  That little bit of money each time really has blessed us and helped us with our bills.  

All that to say that we were able to sell several things on eBay.  This really helped and its a good on going lesson in trust.  We are learning to live differently.

Here's the things we just sold.

Several commemorative Disneyland pens from the 1990's.

2 large Star Wars action figures from the 1990's also.

These went on their way to Denmark yesterday ... Yay!  They are finally out of our closet!

Yesterday was a wild day weather wise.  We had tremendous winds and heavy downpours.  We are thankful there was no damage and our utility pumps worked wonderfully.

You can see the very top of the pump in the water.  It's the yellow top on the right.

Then last night after dinner was finished and we were hunkered down for an evening in front of the TV ... 

The power went out.  It doesn't happen very often since all of our lines are underground.  Thankfully we had plenty of candles and fresh batteries in our flashlights.

The best part of the evening was our next door neighbor  texting us after about an hour of darkness to see if we were okay.  If we needed anything.. we are so blessed to have caring people around us.

The power was out for about 2 hours.  We were so thankful when it came back on. 

This morning I thought the house was colder than it was suppose to be.  Checked the thermostat and it was showing 62F.  Some how when the power came on it did what the clocks do .  It changed the automatic temp. set.  Thankfully all I had to do was push the up temp button and "walla"... now we are roasty toasty  again. With the temps only being in the 40'sF. today, I am so thankful for a warm house.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

WEEDS AGAIN

 Hi Everyone,

Are you awake this fine day after Daylight Savings Time?

It sure was hard for us to get up for church yesterday.  I didn't like getting up in the dark...yawn...

We did it and I have to admit there were naps in the afternoon.  Couldn't help it !! 😏

I did go out to pull a few weeds but I ended up taking the advice of one of my blogger friends at "Rook's Nest" and ended up having a "cuppa" and looking at the view.

You know what???

The weeds are still there today and they are still waiting for me..

To Be Continued...

I do really need to get rid of the grasses before they go to seed though.

If only the real lawn was as nice as the grass that's growing where it shouldn't be growing!

And so, thus are the days of a homeowner..

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

HOT AND COLD

 The Month of March is so fickle...

We are going to have a few days of beautiful warm weather and then the next storm comes in.

The mountains will get more snow and we should be getting a final blast of rain.

I think I will get out in the backyard and try to pull a few weeds.  The earth is soft right now and it shouldn't be too difficult..

Of course tell my back that !!

Just gotta keep plugging along

Happy Weekend

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

"EGGS - ZACTLY" !!!

 Dave and I went the WinCo Grocery Store yesterday.

We hadn't shopped there for several months.

Talk about Sticker Shock !

This store is usually even cheaper than Walmart ...  Not Yesterday..

Fortunately we had bought our eggs at Costco over the weekend.  Costco only had large eggs in a box of  5 dozen (60 eggs) for $ 17.99

Since we eat a lot of eggs this is the best deal for us.

So when we went down the dairy aisle at WinCo I couldn't believe my eyes.

Local box of 5 dozen Medium eggs ... $39.38 !!!

18 count of large eggs ... $11.99

1 dozen large eggs ... $8.12

Holy Moly

Crazy California

Petaluma eggs are from about 2 hours drive from us and are really good.

The City of Petaluma became known as the Egg Capital of the World because of its grain milling and chicken processing industries.  

The slogan is "Fertile Ground For The Good Life"

But .. I am not going to spend $40.00 for eggs!

Always be Thankful

Always be Kind

THE ALIENS HAVE LANDED

 Silliness prevails today !

The Aliens have landed....

This guy is only a quarter of an inch long and was green.

He found a home on the outside of our windshield and went for a ride.

He kind of looks like a spaceship from my vantage point ... on the inside looking outside.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

That's my motto

BITTERSWEET

 Today was really a bittersweet day for me.

It was my last day as a caregiver for my friend Lynne.  Even though I only do it one day a week, I have been doing it for 6 years.

We have been friends since college...that makes it 63 years of Life and being in each other's lives.  Lynne is totally blind in one eye since birth and has only 20% vision in the other.

She is an amazing person.  She was a nursery school and kindergarten special resource teacher, a wife and a mother of 2.  We have gone to the same churches, had parties together and always enjoyed going out to eat. I'm 81 and she is 84...We are both a bit long in the tooth.

Lynne would be horrified if she knew how her life has declined because of Alzheimers.  She doesn't know me 99.9% of the time, nor does she really know her daughter.  She really can't do anything on her own any longer.

The time has come for me to not be over there every Friday.  I can't lift her or care for her the way she needs it now.  We still chat...me mostly...and try to talk about the good old days, which she enjoys but most of it is long gone now.

I am glad that Karen (her daughter) has nurses and more qualified attendants now but it is truly difficult.

This is my friend Lynne today .. in her wheelchair.  At least she can be in her own home (for now)

I often wonder what's going on in her mind ... Her grasp of language is getting less too, though sometimes I can say .. Lynne tell me a story and she will say things that I believe are from her past.

We sing hymns and old gospel music all the time and she has got the melodies down pat..the words not so much.

So its One Day at a Time Sweet Jesus

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

GOD'S ANSWERS

 I am definitely thanking the Lord for His care and answers to our prayers.

Dave went to the dentist Monday.  We are all "good" now.

Poor Dave was in so much pain and his face was so swollen.

Our daughter in law is a RDA and assisted the dentist in the procedure.

The price for the oral surgery was going to be hefty but it had to be done.

It was determined that Dave didn't need oral surgery but just extractions of 2 teeth.

That meant that the cost was $200.00 LESS than before and we could be on a payment plan.  The blessing was that we got a senior discount and a small family discount.  This is now do-able.  When one doesn't have dental insurance and no credit cards...life can get pretty sticky.

Dave's on antibiotics and the swelling is going down.  Now things are still sensitive but the real pain is gone.  Yay !!!

These past few months have really been something.  I have to admit that I am ready for some smoother sailing in the future.

I really need to get out and shoot a few new photos.

Thank goodness for my archives.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind