1. Warm wood heat on cold and snowy days. Yesterday was a snow day; today it's frigid and windy. We have a wood furnace (forced hot air) in the basement that brings heat to all the rooms via vents and ductwork, and a new-to-us soapstone stove in the kitchen that warms that area really well. The only downside is that I don't enjoy tending these fires. Wood is heavy and dirty, and I'm not an expert at keeping fires going in these heat sources. However, I'm thankful!
2. Breakfast out on Saturday at a favorite place. We hadn't been there in awhile and someone gave my hubby a gift card for his retirement. What a treat! We ended up bringing half of our meals home and enjoyed them for breakfast on Sunday!
3. Finally getting to have "Christmas" with our oldest teen granddaughters on Sunday night. We enjoyed our traditional Christmas Eve Soup and I baked a couple of frozen pizzas to go along with it. For dessert, what else but a cookie and fudge tray? 'Tis the season! I used my new tray (below) to put the cookies and fudge on, since it was not a large group around the table. This held plenty of treats!
4. Supper and a little Bible study with fellow believers on Saturday night! Fellowship and Bible study never gets old ... nor should it! Our friend Jennifer prepared baked macaroni and cheese and a bountiful garden salad along with biscuits, and another friend brought a lovely pie. The food was great but the fellowship was even better.
5. Good walking weather at the beginning of the week. It gradually deteriorated -- decent roads Monday and Tuesday, slushy and partially snow-covered on Wednesday, and then Thursday snowing like crazy and today cold and windy. Thankful we could walk for the first three days, at least. I know that my friend Marilyn from Mountain Top Spice would probably go out in this, but I can't take below-zero wind chills any more myself.
How about sharing one blessing (or five) from your own week?
Marilyn is a tough cookie and she loves winter.
ReplyDeleteMe? Not only couldn’t I walk in this, I couldn’t drive in it either so turned back having started out. Supposed to have treatments today...didn’t happen. 🙃
Those wood fires sound like a big chore. My sister feeds the boiler with four foot logs. I don’t know how she does it. I admire you pioneer women. ☺️
I couldn't/wouldn't drive in this either, Vee. So your treatments are not quite done after all? I'll continue praying.
ReplyDeleteFour foot logs!? Oh my? I don't know how she does it either! I'd guess the ones I'm handling vary between two and three feet depending upon whether they are for the stove or the furnace. I hate manhandling them. Seems they always have to be rearranged.
I enjoy walking in winter more than I ever thought I would, but I won't walk on ice and I draw the line at below-zero wind chills. Thankfully, the lady I walk with feels the same way.
I so enjoy the Friday five. My huge blessing this week-- I have received a difficult medical diagnosis. I am blessed with so many friends who know Jesus and they will walk and pray through this with me. Praise God!
ReplyDeleteOh, Maureen, I am so sorry you have received a difficult diagnosis. But, as you have said, it makes such a difference to have so many prayer warriors in one's life. I can think of several prayer warriors I've met through blogging -- God put them in my path at the exact time I needed them to pray during a difficult season in my own life. He is so good!
DeleteI lost an entire lengthy comment from Pamela Steiner, so I am copying and pasting her comment here right now:
ReplyDelete"I like this idea of Friday Five... I may have to do that. Sounds like you had a wonderful week, with family together and friends and Bible study fellowship too...sorry about the very cold, windy weather. Here in Florida we are expecting some winter weather again this week. It is 41 this morning, but expected to be in high 20's tomorrow and the next mornings. Warming up only into the 50's, so for us that is cold!
We used to have one of those wood stoves in the basement when we lived in NH and Maine. Yes, it was a bit of a pain to keep it stoked...and to get in all that firewood every year so there would be enough to keep us warm. Since we were Florida transplants to NE, it was quite a daunting task, but thankfully we had good friends and church people to help us get it together!
I love your new tray...I saw that at Walmart and stood there looking at it for the longest time and wanted to buy it for myself as a Christmas present for myself...but alas! I had others to buy for first, and so I let it go...but now seeing you have it makes me wish I had it too. I love the design with the deer, etc. So you enjoy it for me please!
High points for me last week would be having our "kids" (son and DIL) come over and bring a wonderful pork roast/potatoes/carrots crock pot dinner one evening...it was so good! And then church yesterday and out to lunch with friends from church afterwards, and then our Sunday night service is always full of praise and singing wonderful old (and some new) songs.
Also, hubby and I try to take walks every morning, weather permitting. We did get some good walks last week. This week may be too chilly in the mornings, so we shall see. May have to wait until afternoon! Have a blessed and wonderful week. Stay warm!"
Thanks so much, Pamela, for this thoughtful and lengthy comment! I hope that you do start up with a Friday five post for yourself. I for one would love to read it! Thanks for sharing your blessings from the past week with us here.
ReplyDeleteI had seen that tray at Walmart too and loved it ... it coordinates with a larger one which I own. When my daughter asked me for a Christmas wish list, I was quick to mention the tray and also the gorgeous green glass items (that resemble jadeite) from Pioneer Woman. She gifted me with a sugar and creamer from that line and also the lovely woodland tray. Now I will think of you when I look at it. I have it displayed on my hutch for winter.
It is 14 degrees here right now with a real feel of zero. Probably not walking today!
I'm chiming in late so I'll just post the first blessing that comes to mind on this Monday evening. I've so very thankful for the blessings of a warm home. We take it for granted, but when the temperatures dip in the single digits like they did over the weekend, I'm grateful for a warm house. Thank you for linking to your Christmas Eve Soup recipe. I've printed it out and plan to try it soon.
ReplyDelete