MONDAY MEANDERINGS

 My Oh My, the weeks are flying by.

Now it's officially Summer here in the USA.

19 Years ago we moved into our Forever Home !!!

That boggles my mind ... 19 wonderful years ... despite the ups and downs ... 

Because of these Ups and Downs they Refine and Define all the years of growing together.

I wouldn't really trade any of them.

We had an interesting experience last Friday.  As you probably already know we are trying to sell things on eBay to supplement our feeble income.

Well, some of the things we try to sell are either too big or too heavy to sell on eBay.  People don't want to pay the shipping costs and the things that are too big we really don't want to figure out how to ship them safely.  All that to say, we sometimes sell things on Facebook Marketplace.  No fees and it's local pick-up.

We got a message from a gentleman who was interested in an aluminum briefcase/suitcase we had up for sale.  We asked $28.00 he wanted it for $20.  We countered with $25.00 and didn't hear back so we thought that it was a no sale.  Saturday he contacted us and said he wanted it for $25 and would come to get it in half an hour, cash in hand.

Up came a man on a beautiful motorcycle, tattoos and all.  I kind of gulped at first ... thinking of all the horror stories one hears on social media.

I am admitting my prejudice but as he walked into our home he was sharing who he is with us.  It was truly amazing listening to his testimony, how he had been healed and what his future plans are.  Looking into his eyes we both knew he was a kind and truthful man.  Dave and I were both at peace.  He had gotten his barber license and was now going into the Mobile Haircutting Business.  Where he lives there is a ready made cliental .  The Briefcase with its combination locks is perfect for all of his tools such as scissors and razors.  He can bungie cord it to his cycle and be in business.  What a win/win situation for us.  He handed us $28.00, which was our original sale price.  He is an handy-man in so many areas that I think we are going to see him again.

God is good ... we got a cash sale and he got the things he needs to continue his business.

We have met so many interesting people through selling things.

I just thank the Lord for the way He supplies our needs.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

 This Sunday is Father's Day in the USA.

I'm sharing photos of my Grandparents, Dave's Grandparents, our Dads and my Hubby.

Here are my Mom's parents on the left and my Dad's Father and step mother on the right.

Dave's Dad and Mother and his brothers.

Probably from around 1912 or 13.

I believe that Dave's Dad is on the far right of this photo.

Unfortunately there are no names written or dates on the photo.

Dave's Dad from very early Army days,  early 1920's.

My Dad around the early 1930's

My Hubby, the best Dad to our 2 wonderful sons.

And the Legacy continues ... 

Dave and our 2 sons , Steve on the left and Mark on the right .  Photo taken 1 year ago, June, 2025.

Photo taken at the Legacy exhibit at Fort Point , Presidio of San Francisco, CA.

The exhibit also honored Dave's Dad for the establishment of the National Parks Service at Fort Point.

You can visit my blog archives from June 2025 to see the exhibit and photos of Dave's father being honored way back in 1966.

I am so grateful for all of these men who have been in my life.

Thankful for the all of the Fathers.

Grateful for each of these loving men, full of fun, generous, creative and lovers of the Lord and their families.

Happy Father's Day

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

THURSDAY THANKFULNESS

 Thursday Thankfulness and the Rest of the Story ... 

I am so thankful for beautiful sunsets.  Last night I caught the ending of a very warm day.

The sky rapidly changed colors and turned to pinks and purples.

The best thing was the Sliver of the moon cradled in the clouds.

And now to the Rest of the Story ...  from Wordless Wednesday ... 

Many of you were concerned about the safety of the burros on the side of the road.

These are Wild Free-Roaming Burros in the desert by Las Vegas, Nevada.

We pulled over to get a photo a few years ago.  

I appreciated how nice it was of them to pose for us.

The thing that made the picture for me was the Speed Limit Sign behind them.

I'm sure they kept under that speed limit !

No fences for these guys.  They come and go as they please...

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 Wordless Wednesday

 Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

I am having trouble with Blogger this morning.

I do hope you can get in to comment.  First it works and then it doesn't and now I can write ...

Go figure !!!

MONDAY MEANDERINGS

 Monday Meanderings ... 

Shocking !!!

I borrowed this picture from another blog post.

It truly is me this morning !!!

Why?

Not sure, maybe the last few months are finally catching up with me.

Things are going along ok but Today just came before I was ready for it!

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

FRIDAY FLASHBACK and The Rest of the Story

 Friday Flashback ... 

Yesterday was the Famed Rascal Donald Duck's birthday.

He was created for animation in 1934.  What a great long life he has had in the Disney Cartoon World.  92 years to be exact !

Happy Birthday Donald Duck !!!

I loved all of your comments on that fabulous red high heeled shoe from my post for Wordless Wednesday.

I'm right there with you ... I haven't worn a pair for probably 25 years.

This shoe was part of an art exhibit in Las Vegas several years ago.  

The shoe was at least 6 feet tall!

Its so much fun to capture things that are out of the ordinary with my camera and my cell.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Our temperatures are going to hover at 100F. again today.

I'm so thankful that our AC was fixed and we can enjoy a bit of coolness today.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 Wordless  Wednesday

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

MONDAY MEANDERINGS

 Monday Meanderings

Several friends have sent me photos and information on the Pacifica Pier.

This is about the ocean pier that was just 2 miles from our former home.  We lived there for 41 years before moving to the greater Sacramento,CA area.

We always went to the pier to take photos of the Maverick Ocean Waves and when our boys were young they always fished from it.  The crashing salt water constantly wore the piers structure down and there were always cracks developing.  It was closed so many times due to the instability.  "Bandaid" repairs never work for long.

These are my photos from about 25 years ago.

The pier is now again closed and the cracks are huge.  The previous photos are mine.

I seem to be unable to show the current damage and the mighty force of water and wind.  I will still try to get the photos that my friend sent me.

Slight frustration to not be able to show you the finished product.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

Ahhh ... I was able to download my friends photos.

Can you see the pier crumbling into the ocean?

Photos taken by my friend's drone.

A lot of memories tumbling into the Pacific Ocean !

SATURDAY THOUGHTS

 SATURDAY THOUGHTS

These thoughts are from my daily devotions this morning.

The Lord says that His world is filled with beautiful things;  they are meant to be pointers to Him, reminders of His abiding Presence.  "The earth still declares My Glory to those who have eyes that see and ears that hear."

Psalm 19 : 1-7 the Message

God's Glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.

God makes a huge dome for the sun - a superdome!

That's how God's Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset.

I love the image that the words "vaults across the skies" gives me.

The vividness of the masterpieces He creates.

Sunrise

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

THANKFUL THURSDAY

 Thankful Thursday

The sun is shining today and the temps. are in the low 90'sF.  A TAD warm for me but it does help things grow.

I'm so grateful that Dave continues to improve and get stronger every day.  It is such a blessing to have home health care coming all the time.  Life sometimes puts a kink in our armor which actually is a good thing.  I find I can't depend on myself alone.  Gotta take the Lord's hand and let Him direct my way.

Just a word about my Wordless Wednesday ... 

Debby / My Shasta Home hit the answer right on the head.

This photo was taken at a Classic Car Show a few years ago.  The "doll" looked so realistic posed on the backseat of the convertible Thunderbird.  I just had to capture it for use sometime in the future.

Thanks for all of your comments and thoughts.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 Wordless Wednesday

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

MONDAY MEANDERINGS

 Just a few thoughts for heading into Monday and to a new month.

How can it be June already?

Graduations, weddings, parties of all kinds.

This got me to thinking about something I created way back in 1986.

I had been asked by our church's high school youth pastor to create a graduation banquet for our church's students, one of which was our older son, Steve.

I was able to rent the banquet room of a local wonderful Chinese restaurant for the evening.  Then came the decorations.  I made separate place settings for the crowd.  Really don't know how I accomplished it but I did have the help of a few special friends.

The placemats became tuxedos and the bow ties were the restaurant's red cloth napkins.

The top hats were little booklets with the pages consisting of the menu, program, graduates names and a little about them and last but not least there were word games and crossword puzzles to entertain everyone until dinner was served.

It was a labor of love for me but really time consuming.

So many years ago but I am still proud of my accomplishment in pulling this event off.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

THANKFUL THURSDAY

 Thankful Thursday and The Rest of the Story.

Thanks for all the delightful remarks on my Wordless Wednesday post.

The photo was taken a few years ago at the Gold Rush Celebration in Old Sacramento.

That part of town was turned into the time of stage coaches and dirt streets with people in period costume.  Dave and I wandered down some side streets and the perfect photo opportunity was right before our eyes.  This little guy was quite masterful using his bull whip.  I think he loved showing off for us.

California has such a rich history.  It has been fun living in the Sacramento area and seeing Living History.

Thankful for the spritzes of rain over night and how it refreshed the earth.

Thankful for Dave's progress towards mobility and full health again.  Thankful for the Home Health Care people that are coming and the great rapport they have with us, especially the physical therapist, Nick.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind ... 

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 Wordless Wednesday

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

TUESDAY THIS AND THAT

 Tuesday This and That ...

Making Progress :

Dave has been working with the home health physical therapist .  Mobility coming back.  PTL !

Pressure sores are healing and the wound nurse is very pleased.

Thanks for everybody's prayers and concerns.  It is wonderful to have such a great "extended family"

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

THANKFUL THURSDAY

 Thankful Thursday

First off ... I loved all the different interpretations of my Wordless Wednesday.

That's what is fun about the Wordless Wednesday.  It hits one right where they are at.

My interpretation for the silly crazy photo was the way I have been feeling the last few days.  Totally crazy.  Dave's fall back on April 30th has turned out to be a full time job for me.  He slowly has been getting better from all the bruised muscles and areas.  In spite of my diligent care, Dave developed some small pressure sores and they have hurt him terribly.  We were at ER on Tuesday midnight and he was given meds and bandaid cushions and I took him home.

The ER doctor ordered Home Care nursing for him and today we met Jethro.  A really fantastic nurse who will be his wound care person.  Just praying that this will clear up asap and we can get on with "normal" life .... 

The thankfulness is overwhelming.  We will have all of these treatments at no cost to us.  Unbelievable ... Financial assistance and senior advantage are saving graces for us.

#2 on the Thankful Meter is our AC got fixed.  Our friend who is an electrician came last Sunday and replaced some vital fuses and calibrated everything.

We are so thankful to have the AC since it is the beginning of our hot season.  The Temp. today is 91F.  Without the AC our house will be so stuffy and uncomfortable.  Fortunately we have several portable fans which have helped get us through.

#3 I am so thankful for Amazon and the ability to order necessities that are delivered right to our door.  It has really been a godsend for us.

So, all in all things are moving right along and I think I will come to the end of this LONG Novel. 

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 Wordless Wednesday

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

" KIDS" TO THE RESCUE

 Our kids to the rescue ...

We are so thankful to have some of our family living close to us.

They certainly came to our rescue last night.

After work, on an 88F. evening, Steve pulled out our lawn mower and went at it!!

The weeds had grown to almost shin size spikey-ness.  Since we have been out of commission all of our hard work clearing rubble had literally gone to seed.

Through son Steve's sweat and muscle we have what appears to be real grass under all of the mess.  It looks like a park.

When daughter in law got off work , she came bringing dinner and we had a wonderful time.  Then she and Steve went out and Sigrid got the weed whacker going and mowed down more of the ugly weeds.

Can you say blessed?  We are so grateful for their hard work and hopefully Dave will be up and back in action soon.

I had forgotten to take before photos so this is how it was looking after Steve made the rounds.

We do have the best kids.

Our sons and their wives do so much for us that words can't begin to express our gratitude.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 Wordless Wednesday

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

MONDAY ... MONDAY

 Monday ... Monday ... 

I do hope everyone had a nice weekend.  I know Mother's Day is difficult for some and I pray that you still found peace and calm in the day.

We are still hunkered down at home.  Hopefully Dave is getting his "sea legs " back again so he can be mobile and going about his business.

We stayed home and did our celebrating for Mother's Day with phone calls and texts from family and friends. I even ordered pizza for our dinner.  We haven't done that in months.  I sure didn't want to cook !!!  Especially after the Mother's Day Gift I got.

Yesterday afternoon I put a load of clothes in my washer and went about my business.

When the cycle was finished I went into our laundry room to put said clothes in the dryer.

Here's what greeted me ... 

I had bought a brand new 4 gallon jug of Oxi Clean detergent just the day before.

How the jug fell off the washer and onto the floor I can't quite figure out.

I lost 3/4 of the very thick and slippery soap and the lid to the container.

Got out some old beach towels and mopped it up.  What a job !  First I had to remove clothes I had hanging on the rack which the soap was covering the bottom rack.  Ugh what a mess.  It took me a very long time to clean it up and I didn't want to use any water or our whole house would have been under siege.  I guess we could have said we really Live in a Bubble ... 😏

It was so frustrating for Dave too because he couldn't help me.

An hour and a half later here was the finished project...

That sure was the hard way to have a clean floor.  

The soap was so strong smelling.  Thank goodness we have a ceiling fan in there.

Now all the towels I used are out draped over the garbage cans and rungs of the outside ladder.  I don't know if I will ever get all the concentrated soap out of them.

Here's the "Bad Guy" .

What a way to celebrate Mother's Day !!!

At least it gave me some Blog Fodder 😁

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

CATCHING UP

 Catching Up.

Thank you dear friends for all of your love and concern.

I do believe we are on the Finishing Line of Falling Accidents.

Sometimes deep muscle bruises can be more daunting than outright broken things.

Of course age does have a factor too.  We are getting through this but it is taking longer than Dave or I ever thought.  So ... Onward and Upward...

Just a bit about my last Wordless Wednesday.  Its a description of our lives at the moment.  We can't quite see around the bend and the "track of life" does have some problems.  The sepia tones denote age ... guilty ...   

Probably each of you can weave your own story from that photo.  That pretty much is the meaning for the shot.

On an different subject.  Yesterday I was sitting in my recliner looking out the slider to the backyard.  All of a sudden these darling quail came parading by and stopped to pose for me.  I didn't dare get up and go to the window for fear of scaring them off.  So I grabbed m cel and zoomed in through the window screen.  Certainly not the greatest photos but I love seeing these creatures and our California State Bird in our yard.

Something startled them and they ran so fast out of my sight.  I was hoping they would stick around.  I certainly look forward to their return.

Here's wishing you a wonderful weekend.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 Wordless Wednesday

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

WHERE HAVE WE BEEN?

 The last few days have been not so fun...

Thursday Dave and I were working out in our backyard.  Pulling weeds ... as usual ... 

Long story short, Dave tripped over something and took a very hard fall.

Thank the Lord nothing was broken but oh boy is he bruised.

I couldn't get him up and after dealing with the stubborn man syndrome , I was able to call my son and he came right over.  One look at Dad, Steve made the decision to call 911.  The EMTs felt he should go to ER and get checked out.  Trip by ambulance and Steve and I going by car.  I don't know if was the Full Moon then but there were a gazillion people all there with issues.We were there for 9 hours before being released.  

SO the last few days have been spent in the recliner and taking meds...being miserable  and so sore.  The meds yesterday made him loopy and so it was another difficulty on my shoulders.  So many prayers going up.  Finally he came out of that and now we have got to get him back on his feet.  Getting old isn't for the faint of heart.

Prayers appreciated,   I will get back into blogging in a day or two.  I know this isn't as hard as many of you are going through but this is my world for a while.

See that turtle on the rock?

Yup, that's us right now ... moving slowly  and just plugging along.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

THANKFUL THURSDAY

 Thankful Thursday

I thought I would share a few thoughts about my Wordless Wednesday post from yesterday.

It could perhaps be titled ... "The Light at the End of the Tunnel".

Tomorrow is the first of May.  Will it be a full speed ahead month?  How are we ... am I ... going to approach it?

Is this tunnel making you feel like the issues of the day are pressing in on you and the resolve is a long way off?

Or is it one of "Thank Goodness April is done" Now on to other things?

There are so many ways to look at my photo.  I'm just curious what your reactions are.

About the tunnel.  Its called the Tom Lantos Tunnels (there are 2, one for each direction.)  They were finally completed in 2013 and are the longest tunnels in our state of California, over 4000 feet of rock quarried road to get people through a mountain and a difficult part of Highway 1 along the Pacific Coast Highway.

It is located 15 miles from San Francisco and between my hometown of Pacifica and Half Moon Bay.  The area is called Devil's Slide and that highway was closed often due to huge rock landslides and very unstable ground..  The scenery was gorgeous but the highway was always a bit sketchy.  I drove that route often to go to places along the coast but truthfully I'm glad I don't have to do that anymore.  I do miss the ocean scenery though.

My photo archives are so jumbled up that I can't find the photos of the Devils Slide coastline.  Here are a few photos of our views of the Pacific Ocean just a mile and a half from our home.  The coastline is so rugged and beautiful.  Enjoy.

Here is the view right after leaving the tunnel, looking down onto Half Moon Bay.

I am so thankful for all of these memories.

Thankful for those who built the tunnels to make traveling faster and safer.

Thankful for the gorgeous scenery that God created.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind