Friday five ~ September 20

Gorgeous graphic by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings</a>

Friday again, and time to count some blessings from the week!  Here goes:

1.  Last weekend's ladies' retreat at The Wilds of New England. 

Mardi Collier was the speaker, and she spoke on the Lord as our Good Shepherd.  You may think that sounds like a topic you are already well acquainted with, but you would be surprised how much more there is to learn.  I hope to write a post next week about the entire weekend, but for now I'll just say that the Bible teaching, the music, the food, the fellowship, and the surroundings were all simply wonderful.  A truly blessed time.

2.  A wonderful time of fellowship and Bible study with our young friends Sam and Jennifer, over Sunday night supper at their home. 

Another lovely graphic from Little Birdie Blessings

3.  A nice long nap.  Although I didn't mention it above, I got virtually no sleep on Friday night.  A surprising 2 1/2 hour nap on Monday afternoon helped me catch up a bit.

Another by Abby

4.  Time spent with a cousin at this wonderful place:  (photo is from a previous autumn)

We sat on the porch and enjoyed watching hummingbirds while gazing at the pond and chatting.  I finished up a hot mat I was crocheting, also.

5.  A large paperwork task cleared off my plate.  Still several more to go, but I'm happy this one is done with.

And there's my Friday five for this week.  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Friday five ~ September 13

Taking a very few minutes for a quick version of Friday five!

1.  Breakfast with friends at Cracker Barrel on Saturday.

2.  A few moments last weekend for crafting and blogging!
 
3.  Getting some fall decorating done.  Some cleaning, too!
 
4.  The Bible study I've been doing in 1 Corinthians.

5.  The opportunity to attend a ladies'  retreat this weekend.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

A few more late-summer scenes

 I went out with my camera again this week -- I think it was Tuesday's walk, which ended up not being until afternoon.  It was such a gorgeous afternoon with relatively low humidity that we lingered to enjoy many scenes along the walking route.

A gate was opened and the late summer asters and goldenrod peeked through.

I leaned into the gate to get this shot of the same flowers.

It seemed as if there were berries everywhere along the roadside.  These pink ones (above and below) were particularly amazing.

I think the red berries above may be winterberries.  It is hard to tell at this stage. 

Then above, some yellow berries which may possibly be bittersweet.  Again, hard to tell at this stage.

Below is another shot of those brookside flowers -- pink, yellow, lavender and white.

More crab apples like the ones at top.  I liked this angle.

Goldenrod against a little old sugar house.

And there you have a few more late-summer scenes from our neighborhood!

Scenes of late summer

Just sharing a few photos I took on Friday.  I admit to having no photography expertise of any kind; these are just some pretty scenes I saw around the neighborhood on Friday morning.

The first few, including the one at top, were taken on the grassy bank of a brook, just as a heavy fog was beginning to lift.  I took these around 7:30 on Friday morning and got my feet very wet from dew in the process.

 In the photos above and below, you can barely see what I was hoping to capture -- pink joe-pye weed, white and purple asters, and yellow goldenrod.  The pink flowers are near the center of each photo, just down from the top.  The fog really prevented them from being seen well.

When I got back home,  the sun was shining brighter in a few areas around the yard and it beckoned me to snap just a few more photos.

 A pretty leaf on the patio walkway.

 Lush ferns by an old mossy stone wall.

Wooden steps over a stone wall, surrounded by green, green foliage.

All too soon, fall will be here.  In my limited way, I wanted to capture just a bit of the late-summer beauty while it is still with us.

Friday five for September 6

How can we possibly be in September already?  This entire year has flown past so quickly.  It is September, though, and it is Friday, so I will see what blessings I can share.

1.  Time for blogging.  I wish I could post every day, but anytime that I can post is good.  I was able to post last Friday, then Tuesday and yesterday.  I don't take this time for granted because I don't always find it.

2.  Having our younger friends over for a meal -- we made chicken pot pie and served with cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes --  and Bible study on Sunday evening.  Always a blessing.  We were doing a review of one section of the study, and even though some had forgotten to bring their study books, we could still review what we had learned.

3.  Completing a project I'd been working on.  No photos -- the recipient reads my blog.

4.  A lovely phone chat with my daughter and granddaughter on Tuesday, not to mention my dear friend Jennifer.
 
I learned that granddaughter Emily (11) had earned some amazing prize ribbons at the Elko County Fair for her strawberry rhubarb pie.  She used her other Gramma's pie crust recipe and my filling recipe, so it's fun to think her grandmothers had a part in her win.  Hopefully I'll have photos and more details to share later on.  Below you see Emily (at left) tutoring cousin Julia in making a pie crust, last fall.

5.  A truly relaxing Labor Day weekend, in which we consumed far more than our share of delicious food:

A hot fudge sundae at Frosty Scoops on Friday night

Haddock baskets at a seasonal seafood shack on Saturday night

Ice cream on a rainy Monday at our very favorite (but not local) ice cream place

The ice cream in the polka dot bowl was mine, with the heart garnish.  Above is my hubby's.

 We also ate breakfast out on Monday, but I failed to get pictures of that.

And there is this week's Friday five!  What blessings are you thankful for in the week just passed?

While summer lingers ...

I really need to post some pictures of my hutch from Summer 2019.  Soon I will be changing the hutch decor to fall, and so today I finally made time to take a few pictures.

Often I will put up items with a strawberry theme for the beginning of summer.  Sometimes I've changed to things with a seashore theme for August.  In a perfect world, I guess I'd do strawberries for June, patriotic things in July, and shells and so on for August.  However, this year I put strawberry items out in June and just left them in place. 

I'll just share some pictures and captions now.

The bottom shelf:  The little hand painted blue strawberry dish is a particular favorite of mine.

Middle shelf -- love that McCoy teapot in the middle!

Next shelf: I love how the milk glass looks with the jadeite.  Such a refreshing summery look!

Trying to show a closer look at that vintage notecard.

Here's a scan that shows it much better.  I love this bit of verse and the illustration too!

The very top shelf; a green and white cup and two jadeite coffee cups

In its entirety

Hope you've enjoyed this peek at my strawberry hutch.  Over the years people have gifted me with many strawberry themed items (and I've collected a few myself) so I have plenty to choose from!

September goals

September already! I'm a few days late setting some goals for the month, but here we go:

 * Do a September Scripture writing challenge
 *Start a study in 1 Corinthians
* Memorize at least 4 Bible verses and review some older ones
* Continue our discipleship study with new believers

* Continue to help a recently widowed friend with the challenges of life in general
* Continue study for Sunday School -- A Woman Who Reflects the Heart of Jesus
* Get to bed by 9 pm each night  
* Limit sugar
* Drink enough water each day

 * Walk and/or exercise at least 4 times each week

* Keep up with Flylady's homemaking zones of the week (with some help from Clean Mama)
* Do something creative each day
* Post in this blog several times per week
* Post in my Christmas blog as often as possible

* Continue planning for family birthday gifts and crafting any handmade ones

* Send a birthday package to Nevada -- yes, another one!

* Craft a simple gift or two for a friend

* Spend a little time on some UFO craft projects
* Continue stocking my Etsy shop and continue selling vintage items

* Work on Etsy and trust bookkeeping as necessary
* Write at least 4 encouraging notes to friends and family
* Help and encourage my local daughter as I'm able

* Continue to encourage and support my hubby as he works through a pastoral search for our church
* Clean church and set up for fellowship time

* Continue to sort out and declutter my dad's house, hopefully taking many loads to the dump and thrift store and consolidating the remaining items yet to dispose of;  work on estate
* Possibly spend a day helping my cousin get started with a similar task at her childhood home
* Plan a getaway with my hubby
* Have a special Saturday celebrating his birthday
* Get together with friends visiting from Indiana
* Maybe go out for breakfast with friends from Vermont
* Maybe attend a Bible conference with my hubby
* Attend a ladies' retreat at The Wilds of New England

* Plan meals with a greater emphasis on healthy eating

 
HEALTHY HABITS FOR SEPTEMBER:  Drink more water/get more sleep/limit sugar

And here's how August went:

* Do an August Scripture writing challenge -- done!
* Continue reading through the New Testament -- not done; I actually gave up on this and will tackle it again next summer
* Memorize at least 4 Bible verses and review some older ones -- I think I only managed a couple
* Continue our discipleship study with new believers -- done!

* Continue to  help a recently widowed friend with the challenges of life in general -- done!
* Continue study for Sunday School -- A Woman Who Reflects the Heart of Jesus -- done!
* Get to bed by 9 pm each night   -- not done, though I will say we are diligently trying
* Limit sugar -- not done
* Drink enough water each day -- not done

 * Walk and/or exercise at least 4 times each week -- done!

* Keep up with Flylady's homemaking zones of the week (with some help from Clean Mama)  -- not done
* Do something creative each day -- done!
* Post in this blog several times per week -- done!
* Post in my Christmas blog as often as possible -- done!

* Continue planning for family birthday gifts and crafting any handmade ones -- done!

* Send a birthday package to Nevada -- done!

* Finish a cross-stitch sampler -- done!

* Register for ladies' and couples' retreats -- done!

* Spend a little time on some UFO craft projects -- not done
* Continue stocking my Etsy shop and continue selling vintage items -- done!

* Work on Etsy and trust bookkeeping as necessary -- done!
* Write at least 4 encouraging notes to friends and family -- done!
* Help and encourage my local daughter as I'm able -- done!

* Continue to encourage and support my hubby as he works through a pastoral search for our church -- done!
* Clean church and set up for fellowship time -- done!

* Continue to sort out and declutter my dad's house, hopefully taking many loads to the dump and thrift store and consolidating the remaining items yet to dispose of;  work on estate -- I've done some of this, but still a long way to go!
* Help with a church booth at a town market day -- done!
* Get together with friends visiting from Wisconsin -- they ended up not coming
* Spend quality time with a cousin from out of town -- done!
* Attend a concert with friends -- done!
* Spend a day helping my cousin get started with a similar task at her childhood home -- not done
* Plan meals with a greater emphasis on healthy eating   -- done!

HEALTHY HABITS FOR AUGUST:  Drink more water/get more sleep/limit sugar (that last one was sort of a moot point with all of the seasonal ice cream places open; we went out for ice cream a LOT this summer!)

I guess that does it!  September looks busy but fun!