Monday, August 10, 2026

MONDAY MEANDERINGS

 Monday Meanderings ... 

Hi and I hope everyone had a good weekend.  I know I did !

Saturday was our Granddaughter's Baby Shower.  

We all had such a delightful time together.  Believe it or not there were about 50 ladies in our son and daughter in laws home.  The setting was simple and casual but all the little points of interest made it just perfect.

I took very few photos since I was having such a good time just visiting with some that I haven't seen for a very long time.  I also met a few gals that I didn't know before.  

One special person I introduced myself to was Billy's Grandma.  She speaks a little English but mostly Spanish.  I said my name was Suzan and I was Amanda's Abuela ... Her face lit up and she said with a huge smile on her face ... "I'm Billy's Abuela !!"

We hugged and tried to chat a bit.  It was such a precious connection.

Amanda and her Sweet Baby Bump ...

I can't wait to hold that Bundle of Joy.


Lots of finger food was available throughout the entire time.
That table was never empty.



Sweet cookies with saying on them .  We could help ourselves to them too.
Amanda and Billy don't want to know what the gender will be so there were little sayings on the cookies about wondering who it will be.



Lovely gifts for that precious Gift from God.



A clever dessert item was a baby rattle that had a mini donut on one end and a donut hole on the other.  They all looked so cute.



One special decoration at one of the tables was this mini crib.

This is a miniature crib.  
Billy and his Dad are master craftsmen and are building this exact crib for the baby.
I can't wait to see it in real life.
That will be one lucky Baby !


Now we have to wait some 80+ days for the Big Reveal !!!!

Changing the subject completely ... 

This is a message for Debby of My Shasta Home.

All of a sudden I can't comment on your blog.  I have read the last 4 posts and tried to comment but the message says your Facebook time has expired.  So I went to your email and it says its invalid so I'm at a loss to comment.

Its such a pain !!!

Take care everybody,

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind


Thursday, August 06, 2026

THANKFUL THURSDAY

 Thankful Thursday

I'm glad so many of you enjoy my Wordless Wednesday posts.  Its fun to see where you find the "story".

That  photo is also from my archives.  We, Dave and I were down by a river close to us with our son and granddaughter.  Steve took up the challenge of balancing rocks that could be seen along the river bank.  He did a few that had more rocks to them but unfortunately I don't have the proof.

The photo has given me a few devotional thoughts for this day .

Its all about striving to live a Balanced Life that is "On Point" for the Lord.

One needs A Firm Foundation which is built on  Christ ... The Solid Rock.


Always be Grateful

Always be Kind


Wednesday, August 05, 2026

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 WORDLESS  WEDNESDAY


Always be Grateful

Always be Kind


Monday, August 03, 2026

MONDAY MEANDERINGS

 Monday Meanderings ... 

I hope everyone had a nice weekend.  Even though the temps. are getting hotter it was still better than some for us.

The great news is that we sold a piece of Disney memorabilia for a good price.

The buyer is happy and so are we !!!

Saturday we finally sold something on Facebook Marketplace.  It had been on there for such a long time.  It seems that all of a sudden everybody wanted it and we had over 20 inquiries that said they would come the following day to pick it up... then all we heard from them was "Crickets" !!  

I said in my prayers, Lord maybe you were protecting us from the wrong people or transactions.  If it is meant to be sold please send the right one to us.  

A few hours later a lady texted us and asked if the item was still available.  She wanted it and Cash wasn't a problem.  She then asked when it would be convenient for her to come by and pick it up.  She also gave me her personal phone number. 

 We struck a deal and bright and early Saturday morning a perky woman bounced out of her friends truck and handed me the cash even before she really looked at the item.  She is local and we had a great chat about life in the community.  So now we have cash in hand and boxes out of the garage and have made a new friend.

Our son Steve is over here today to do a few "Honey Do" type projects for us.

We are so grateful for his willingness and muscles to do things that are no longer easy for us to do.  Sometimes it pays to just swallow pride and ask for help.             It's the New Normal for us ...

Believe it or not ..I didn't take a single photo of today and all the work that was done.  Too much nice time visiting, working and Granddaughter Amanda came over and brought us donuts.  Yumm...

She also picked up a few things to use for her baby shower on Saturday.

Its been a good and very hot day.  Destined to be 102F by 5pm.



Always be Grateful

Always be Kind


Thursday, July 30, 2026

THANKFUL THURSDAY and PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE

 Thankful Thursday


Its a good morning !

The sun is definitely shining and its going to be the start of a very Hot week to come.  I guess we will be joining the rest of the USA in all of the weather happenings.

Dave and I are so thankful for something that happened a few days ago.

We had a home appointment with a gentleman from our county's Independent Resource Services.  He was here to check out what kinds of things would help us have a better life in our Very Senior Years.  These services are all done by grants from the State and the actual work is done by professional volunteers.

We are going to be getting Grab Bars for both bathroom showers and additional grab bars for one of the bathrooms.  A shower bench and mats will also be given.  All of these pieces of equipment and the installation work will be provided to us Free of Charge.

The Lord truly does provide for our needs.

We thought that Dan looks familiar.  Turns out that he goes to the same church we have gone to for the last 15 years.  Lots of mutual friends and personal history.  It was really fun just chatting about life in general.  I guess as the saying goes ; Small World !!

Thank You Lord !!

Now on to the Photo a Day Challenge for July 30 and 31 ...

Challenge for July 30th ... SHAPES






July 31 Challenge:  My Choice; 

Shapes and Promises



Always be Grateful

Always be Kind




Tuesday, July 28, 2026

SURPRISE VISITORS and PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE

 A surprise activity this morning has changed my post a bit.

I looked out our back sliding patio door about an hour ago and was startled to see some movement in our weedy yard.

3 young gray foxes were having the time of their lives up on our retaining wall and then down in the yard.  At first I thought it was a mother and 2 young but it seems more like 3 youngsters ... I haven't a clue.  I'm not up on foxes !






And after having a snack in our yard ... up and over the 6 foot fence they climbed just like a cat would do.

Now I know why we are finding lots of "scat" in various places.

I just hope they don't feel too comfortable in our yard.  It is kind of unnerving to know they were so close.  If we can get the weeds out soon they may not think its their new undercover hideaway.  I don't want to be surprised by them when I am out there.

Never a dull moment around here !

Now on to the July 28 challenge ... 

PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE 

BLUE

Its a BOY !


58 years ago Today ... our first born son, Steve, made his appearance in our world.


Love this guy and everything he stands for and the things he does to make our world a better place.

He's creative and has such an inventive mind, full of integrity and loves the Lord with all of his heart.

Steve is a wonderful son, husband, father and soon to be Grandpa !

The world is a better place because of him.

💓

Always be Grateful

Aways be Kind


Sunday, July 26, 2026

SUNDAY BLESSINGS and PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE

 I just have to tell you we feel So Blessed today.

A surprise gift was put into our checking account last night.  It left us speechless and thanking the Lord for an end of the month provision.


JULY 26    PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE

                  9 o'clock ....

My take on this challenge is it's 9 in the morning.

I really am not a morning person ...

This is me this morning even though I am up and having my 2nd cup of coffee.



We have to complete some business matters today so they can get in the mail.

But

I think I will PROCAFFINATE a bit longer ... 😄

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind


Friday, July 24, 2026

A LITTLE WHINING and A PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE

 Good morning. 

I'm not exactly whining but we were again on the phone for a very long time this morning, working on some business.

At least we could understand her accent and could get some of our issues done.

I'm not trying to offend any one but when one is talking serious numbers and information, its hard when it sounds like they are talking under water and the accent is so thick that one can't move forward.

Ok I'm finished now and its on to the Photo Challenges for today and tomorrow.

July 24 :  CLOSE UP



These are both from my archives.  I just haven't had the inclination to go out in the heat and photograph.

July 25 :  FAR AWAY


Well, 

That's going to do it for the next few days.

Stay cool everybody 

and

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind



Thursday, July 23, 2026

PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE and THE REST OF THE STORY

 Today is day 23 of The Photo A Day Challenge.

Todays challenge is An Ordinary Moment.

There were so many things that I wanted to choose, it was hard to decide.



I love this cup and it certainly fits the challenge.

This is my ordinary moment every single day.  I can't begin my day without The Word and my delicious cup of coffee.


This is my other favorite cup that says Morning Break.


Just an Ordinary Moment for me.

Okay, now to explain my Wordless Wednesday post from yesterday.

This was our one and only Asian Pear/Apple or as we call them ... Papples.

Its been Too Hot and the tree I guess is getting too old.  Maybe a bit like me and my Lack of Production around the house these days.  HaHa ... 

So very sad but it did give me a new photo to post on the blog.  😊... and for me to add to Thankful Thursday !!

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind







Wednesday, July 22, 2026

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 Wordless Wednesday:



Always be Grateful

Always be Kind


Tuesday, July 21, 2026

PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE

 Photo A Day Challenge 

July 21 ...  RED ...


The absolute best thing to do on a HOT day.
Today it will reach 100F.


Cheating and doing some Time Traveling ... 

July 22 ... TREE ...

2023   TIMBER 

Our next door neighbor had some trees felled.

Those guys that took the tree down were amazing.  Pure Athleticism !!!







LOVE TREES but I have to admit we are happy with the openness since the tree is gone.

That will do it for today.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind



Monday, July 20, 2026

MONDAY MEANDERINGS and PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE

 Well, here we go again with me running behind and trying to catch up on some pressing business details.

So I will just get to my falling behind ... Photo A Day Challenges for

July 19 (Sunday)   BLACK and WHITE

I wrote about our going through our post card collection, both Disney and Vintage general postcards.

Here's a fascinating card that has so much history to it.

The War years, sent in 1942.


The sender is unknown to us.  We just found this card among someone's collection.


July 20 (Monday)  COLORFUL


I'm sure there are many Colorful Stories when playing Poker.

This is an item we are trying to sell on FaceBook Marketplace.
The cost of shipping the heavy wooden rack and chips is really prohibitive.

Another Colorful Activity that Dave and I attended was watching the large Hot Air Balloons take flight.



Well folks, that's all I have for today.
Gotta get back to making some phone calls.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind



Saturday, July 18, 2026

CATCHING UP PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE

 Why is it I'm always trying to catch up with my blog???

I guess I just fall down too many Rabbit Holes looking at things.

Yesterday Dave and I found ourselves deep in the depths of our postcard collections.  We have a huge Disney collection and a vintage misc.collection of cards too.

The time just disappeared.  I really love all the history involved in all of the cards.  Some we will be selling and others I'm just not ready to let go of yet.

So

On to the photo challenge ... 

Friday July 17

ON THE SHELF


Saturday July 18

ANIMAL  and INSECT



Okay ... on that note I will say That's All Folks ...

Always be Grateful
Always be Kind


Thursday, July 16, 2026

THANKFUL THURSDAY

 Thankful Thursday,

I am so thankful that the temperature isn't going to be like it was yesterday.

Wednesday brought the heat to 104F.  Too, Too Hot for Me !

Today it's suppose to only get to 97F.  Time to break out the parkas ... 😁


Disney Skunks named Flower are always cuter!

The one in our backyard is NOT !

I'm also thankful that the horrible strong odor from the skunk in our backyard last night went away rather quickly.  I had the sliding door open , of course the screen was in place,  and at 11PM my hubby said Eww , that smells like skunk spray.  Got out of my chair and as I closed the door, oh my goodness ... it must have been on the edge of our patio... ugh... it was so strong my eyes started to water.  Thankfully by the time we got into bed we couldn't smell it any longer.  I have always wondered why God created such a stinky critter ... 

And now to the Rest of the Story ... 

About Wordless Wednesday

I captured a candid shot of that sweet little girl when I was on the Kitchen Team down in Mexicali, Mexico.  Our team was given a bit of time off to see what some of the other teams were doing helping some of the churches.  It seems that one group had some Bible coloring projects but this little one was enjoying her bubble gum too much to be interested in crayons.  The photo turned out to be one of my favorites of that year.  Kids are so cute.

I wish I knew more about the Sign I snapped a picture of.

We didn't see the white horse anywhere so I guess you can make up any story to go with it.  I actually don't know where we were exactly.  So much ranch and farmland all looks the same.  It would be fun to go back and see if the sign was still there.

Thanks for all of your comments.  I love our Blogging community.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind


Wednesday, July 15, 2026

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY and PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE JULY 15

 Wordless Wednesday


PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE:  JULY 15

SIGN .... 



Saw this sign on someone's property, a few years ago, as we were "flying" down a two lane road.

I made my hubby turn the car around so I could snap the shot.

We didn't see the white horse but I thought the warning was fantastic.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind