Journal Entry: It Was a Dark and Rainy Morning

Quite an unusual morning for me, I seldom sleep in. However, Saturday I awoke around 6:45 to overcast skies and cool weather. Usually, I bring my husband coffee in bed, but this Saturday he treated me instead with coffee, fresh strawberries and banana topped with whipped cream. Yes, whipped cream topped the coffee as well as the fruit.

Well, as long as he was going to spoil me, I decided to grab the laptop and relish every relaxing minute. Ah, how good it felt! When I tired of that, if it is even possible to tire of such relaxing, I joined my husband in the living room where we cozied up to a blazing fire and watched a movie, while outside a storm was brewing, sending us gust of wind, rain, and a bit of hail. Now, can you beat that for a relaxing Saturday morning?

We need the rain. Today we have an 80% chance of more. It’s cold. It’s windy. Really, really windy! I’ve got a fire in the wood-stove…but so far, no rain. Maybe it’s just waiting to hit until after my husband arrives home from work and we can enjoy the wondrous beauty of the storm together.

~~~♥~~~

I hope you are enjoying whatever weather comes your way.

Blueberry, Raspberry, or Simply Cranberry Muffins

A cup of fresh blueberries or raspberries 

plus 1/2 cup dried cranberries, blueberries or cherries make these muffins pop with flavor! 

For the recipe

Visit Spicy Bunny

They don't call her Baker Bunny for nothing!

Or keep it simple and make them with with dried cranberries (increase the sugar to 1/2 cup).
 ~~~♥~~~

My little Bunny discovered this delicious recipe and has made it several time for breakfast.

My Backyard Feels like a New Home

My backyard doesn’t seem like my backyard, but an entirely new place.
(See previous post)

Moving to a new (and by new I mean different, I have never actually lived in a "new" house) home has always been exciting to me. Without fail, some things are better and some things are not as good as the place I left. That’s the adventure of it.

While growing up my family moved 12 times, and that was just in my lifetime - I was the tenth child. I loved the adventure of new surroundings. Perhaps I loved moving so much because we never had “vacations”: we could not afford them. My closest experience to a vacation was the summer we spent a month camping at a campground on Little Traverse Bay near Petoskey, Michigan - between moves.

When I was twelve, my sister and I were reminiscing about all the good things our last home had and wishing we still had them. A thought struck both of us at once and looking at each other, we agreed that we needed to appreciate the good things that we had right at the moment. Our new discovery was that when you enjoy what you have to its fullest, you don’t have regrets later, but instead you are left with wonderful memories of the old things.

I know I will miss the shade of the old tree. Every morning when I awake I will miss looking out my bedroom window up into its branches and seeing the changing of the seasons through the changes in its branches. I will miss watching the birds fluttering about it, and the squirrels chasing each other in it.

The good and exciting side is that our tangerine and grapefruit trees have full sun now, and, my clothesline has many hours of sunshine. I am very happy and excited about my new yard.

Now, all we have to work on is getting those huge pieces of wood cut into firewood.

~~~♥~~~

This Tree Will Be No More

We have had a swing in our backyard tree for the last 17 years.

Today, this huge tree will be coming down.

~ Liquidambar spiky balls~

These sharp little buggers cover the yard in spring and fall. You don't want to step on them barefoot.
My husband has been wanting to cut down this tree for years because of these messy, spiky ball.

Alas...we shall miss the old swing.
~~~♥~~~

Thank the Good Lord for Spring Weather

Please excuse the underclothing.

I am so thankful for warm weather and that I have a clothesline.

I have a washing machine that is less than two years old.
However, most of the time I cannot get it to spin because the load won't balance.
 (I had the repair man come, and he told me, "The recommendation is to empty the unit and rearrange the load and start again; this is a normal problem and can only be fixed by repositioning the load to rebalanced.").
I could just about cry.

But instead, I set up my little clothes line, and I hang out the clothes to drip-dry.
I have a wonderful working dryer into which I toss my load to finish the drying process.

Oh yes, life is good!  ☺


This is the day which the Lord hath made; I will Rejoice and be glad in it.
(Psalm 118:24)

Behaving Gracefully

 {Source:LIFE}

Keep a civil tongue in your head: While the phrase means speak politely, I think that it could also apply to gestures made with the tongue.

One of the most distasteful and offensive things I see people doing in photos these days is sticking out their tongues. What is even sadder is that even nice people do it. It certainly is not attractive. I think it looks perverted. Why do they do that?  

Would Grace Kelly do it?

~~~♥~~~

A Grand Day to Celebrate

My son helped me decorate by blowing up all the balloons.

My husband took the holiday off . He went out shopping and bought me this pretty checked table cloth. 

Can you see the shamrocks on the green squares?

On our Sunday morning walk down at the river, he dug up a small spadeful of clovers for our table.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

~~~♥~~~

50 and Counting

My picture I use as my profile photo was taken back when I was engaged. 

I use it because it brings back fond memories...that was such a wonderful day.

For those of you who might see my profile photo and think I actually am that young, 

I'm not...I recently turned 50!

I thought perhaps a current photo would be appropriate; 

However, I will still use my old photo for my profile 

because it always reminds me of just what a spectacular man I married.

~~~♥~~~

She Wanted to Have Her Cake and Eat It Too!

My daughter, Bunny, turned 18, got her driver license, and had her wisdom teeth pulled...plus one more and an implant to boot.

A month in advance, I setup Bunny's driver’s test appointment for 8:30 on her birth date, a decision I regretted the morning her birthday arrived. What if she did not pass?  That would be a bad way to start her birthday! I only choose that date because it was the first available appointment.

Lisa, Bunny's driving instructor we hired, told Bunny to look right and left at every crossway, even at every entrance. “That’s what they want to see,” Lisa said. “Just act stupid (you certainly feel stupid doing it).”

Lisa had complete confidence in Bunny’s driving ability. “You are a good driver,” she assured Bunny, “I would be really surprised if you did not pass.”

 Now just picture Robert Downey Jr., straight faced, apathetic, a dry tone of voice, and wearing dark glasses. That is the image and voice of Bunny's drive test instructor when he asked…

“Are you nervous? Don’t be.”

Well, Bunny was nervous. After stopping and being instructed to turn left at the first two intersections, she automatically turned left at the third stop. To which he said…

“Did I tell you to turn left?”

And following Lisa’s driving advice, Bunny made sure to look. Our “Robert Downey” was not impressed…

“You know that looking around thing? You’re over doing it.”

Upon completing the drive test, he handed Bunny the Driving Performance Evaluation Score Sheet and without further comment exited the car.

Looking at Bunny, I could not tell from her expression whether she had passed. I took the score sheet from her and read, “Passing.” Only two errors were marked, one for that left turn, and one for her traffic checks.

Bunny was blinking back tears as we stepped up to the counter to complete the paperwork. The lady behind the counter took her score sheet and said, “You passed!” Then in fun she added, “I was ready to feel sorry for you, but now I don’t.” She told us that every day when she goes home, her family asks her, “Did you make anybody cry today?”

So, what does this entire story have to do with having her teeth pulled and an implant? Nothing, except for the fact that it is a lot to have happen right after you turn 18, but at least she first had time to have her cake and eat it too!

~~~♥~~~