Friday's Fave Five #807

Welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  I wasn't able to get my post together on time for first thing this morning but I will jump in as soon as I can. Meanwhile here's Mr. Linky and you all can get the party started!  See you soon.

Whew finally made it to make a post for FFF.  I hope you're week has gone well.  I had several things crop up on the weekend and with a houseful coming this week to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving I was not able to get on the computer and read posts from last week and leave comments.  I may be late now because of life happening but I don't want to totally miss being grateful for the good things God has brought into my life this last week.  So here we are with five of the favorites:

~ Northern Lights ~ as everyone knows it's been quite a show going on all week in the northern skies.  I haven't seen any out my windows as some have but there have been so many from the city posting al over face book that I finally got out the door last night, drove out of town aways (along with hundreds of others who had the same idea; oh the traffic!!) and tried to spot them myself.  Unfortunately, I was in between the shows to the naked eye but I got some pics that the camera picked up.  Might take the visiting fam a bit farther out and try again tonight.  There were some pretty spetacular pictures coming from our area of the pinks and purples and some pretty incredible swirling images so I really want to see those.  

~ missionary visit at church ~ On Sunday the missionary couple who's ministry to the Philippines that our church helps support were visiting today.  I always love listening to them and hearing of the great things God is doing in their country especially amongst the street children to whom they minister.  

~ falling leaves ~ fall is my favorite time of year and the leaves here are not only turning color but are starting to fall.  I love the sound and smell as I walk through them so I've been getting out after work to take my furry friend for his walk.  Total stress relief.

~ beautiful sunshine ~ tough it has been cooler this week the sun has been out and no wind!!  I love the warmth of the sun breaking through the crisp coolness of the fall air.

~ airing out of bedding ~ putting out the blankets and pillows to hang over the deck and absorb some of that lovely fall air always makes crawling under them at night so nice.  It reminds me of when Mom used to hang all her laundry before the electric dryer days.  Brings back nice memories of childhood and the love and care she showed us in all her work.  

What have been your favorite blessings for the week?

It's Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend so I want to wish all my Canadian friends a very Happy Thanksgiving weekend! 

Friday's Fave Five #806

Happy Friday everyone and welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  We're taking an intentional pause in our week to look back and take note of the blessing in our lives.  Building a habit of realizing our blessings and being thankful for them when times are good will help us in those harder times of life. Please join us in our journey.  

~ text and pic from a former dayhome little ~  after mentioning in the last FFF post about a lovely phone call from a former little friend, I received a txt this week from a former family that moved away last spring.  It's funny, I'd been thinking a lot about their little guy, whom I adored, wondering how he had made the adjustment.  I got a txt and pic of him starting his first day of preschool.  Mom says he looks at the photo album I gave him on his last day all the time and talks about us.  So nice to hear he is doing well.  I sure miss him.  

~ comfort food & childhood memories ~ fall brings with it the anticipation of comfort foods.  One of them was a childhood favorite, a Hungarian dish which translated is Plum Balls.   My Mom would make the best.  Her dough was always tender and just the right amount of dumpling around the plum perfectly spiced with sugar and cinnamon.   Is it a dessert?  Or a meal?  I'd eat them whenever.  As with any authentic dish, it takes time and effort to make and I've only tried a few times over the years.  I gave it another shot last week.  While not as "perfect" as my mom's, the balls were misshapen, the dough too thick in parts, but the flavors were there and I enjoyed everyone.  I took Mom some too and she was thrilled to have eaten something she hasn't had in years. 

~ lunch with friends ~ Sunday we met with good friends after our respective church services were over for lunch.  It was so nice to visit with them again after the busy summer and get all caught up.  I'm thankful for the opportunity and for their friendship.

~ that first sip of coffee in the morning ~ I'm not the best early morning person to begin with but this past few weeks getting up in the dark has been brutal.  What a blessing it is to find that hot cup of fresh coffee all ready and waiting for me on the counter courtesy of my wonderful hubby.  He watches the clock for my wake up time and has it all ready and waiting.  

~ anticipation ~ the boxes and supplies have been ordered, the kick off Sunday date booked with church office and my slot at the warehouse requested for Operation Christmas Child Shoebox campaign 2024.  It's my absolute favorite ministry to support and every year I can't wait.   If you've been reading here for anytime you know my love of OCC all these years culminating in a trip with them to Costa Rica to hand out shoeboxes to the children.  Such a rewarding and life changing experience for both the children and for me.  If you need more info here are the two links:

           Operation Christmas Child Canada

          Operation Christmas Child US

What have been your favorite blessings for the week?

October Reading Possibilities

September was a bit of a slow reading month for me.  As we head into the 3rd quarter of the year I am definitely behind in my goal of reading my 26 purchased books sitting on my stack.  It's hard not to get distracted with other books but this year was also about mood reading so there is that.  October choices 

has 2 picks from those stacks that had fall colors so were drawing me, the reread I want to do before the year is out, the book that was loaned to me from my son's girlfriend and I want to read and return as quick as possible and then a few mystery/thrillers sitting in the closet because, well, it's the October vibe.  

PURCHASED FICTION  (2024 Goal)

          ~ Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan

          ~ The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate

LIBRARY BORROWS

          ~ The Elusive Truth of Lily Temple by Joanna Davidson Politano

FRIEND LOAN

          ~ Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah

CLOSET STACKS (from Little Free Libraries)

          ~ After Anna by Lisa Scottoline

          ~ Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben

          ~ The It Girl by Ruth Ware

          ~ The Guilty Party by Mel McGrath

REREAD

          ~ Ribbon of Years by Robin Lee Hatcher

AUDIOBOOK

          ~ Like a River by Granger Smith

What are you reading this October?  Do you read scary books for the month?

That Summer in Berlin by Lecia Cornwall ~ Book Review

Viviane Alden is from an aristocratic family in England.  All her mother's goals and dreams involve marrying off her daughters well in order to keep her status amongst the aristocracy.  When Vivianne breaks her engagement to her titled fiance, it puts her mother into high gear finding her a suitable husband before Vivianne becomes "too old".  As Germany is building up their country, debutantes such as Viviane and her sister are considered to be marriageable to German men to strengthen political bonds.  With the 1936 Olympics being held in Berlin, Hitler is doing everything possible to show off his county in the best possible light to the world.  Viviane and her sister have been invited by an old family friend to come and stay with them in Germany and attend the highly anticipated event. Viviane has  no intention of finding anyone to be involved with but she is excited to bring her camera along and photograph the events she will be attending.   But before she leaves for Germany,  Viviane meets Tom Graham, a journalist,  through a friend and his thoughts on Germany's intentions are more complicated.  When he finds out she is a photographer he convinces her to get photographic evidence that tells the truth, that Berlin's Olympics are a facade and Germany is actually weaponizing behind the scenes.  As Germany is flooded with tourists being presented with goodwill and hospitality, Viviane and Tom are risking everything to show the truth.  Tom is very aware of the risks involved but Viviane seems to be taking the danger a little to lightly for Tom's liking and is taking risks that could get them both caught. 

I loved this unique take on a WWII story of debutantes who were sent from England in the '30's in the hopes that the forming of social connections between the two countries would make war impossible.  There were those who fully bought into the propoganda put out by Germany but there were a handful of citizens and those in British government who were suspicious of Hitler's intentions.  Placing journalists and photographers into Berlin to get proof was a very risky game but one that could produce the proof they needed to show the world that Germany had ulterior motives in hosting the games.  I have to admit this was a total cover buy for me though the description did sound intriguing when I bought the book. The writing turned out to be really good and pulled me in right from the beginning and kept me interested throughout.  The short chapters kept the story moving along quickly.  The twists I did not see coming and were woven into the story well with an ending I didn't guess.  I think this book is not getting near enough "talk".  Bonus was that I found out the author is local to Southern Alberta. 

This quote really stood out to me:

"Look around you.  See how happy the tourists are?  

The Nazi's have done an excellent job of creating peace and perfection and justifying such extremes of patriotism.  

How can anyone believe in war or violence or hatred when there is music and flowers and a spectacle to divert their attention, soothe their worries, amuse them?"

pg. 270  That Summer in Berlin

by Lecia Cornwall

Definitely a page turning cautionary tale of the purposes and effects of propaganda interwoven into a story of courage, love and intrigue.

I gave it a 10/10 rating

Friday's Fave Five #805

Happy Friday and welcome to Friday's Fave Five, the first of fall 2024.  Perfect time to take a pause and look for the blessings of our last week.  What good things has God blessed you with?  Uplifted you with?  Brought joy and happiness with?  It might be something huge, life changing or momentous.  But more than likely it is something that has just come about in your very ordinary day.  Won't you join us in sharing 5 of those from the last week?

~ beautiful start to the autumn season ~ I don't know what it's like in your neck of the woods but here in Southern Alberta we had a gorgeous start to Fall.  Sunday was glorious with sunshine and blue skies.  There might have been some grilling of steaks and coffee and reading on the deck.   And the temps just kept climbing this week until it reached 30*C (89.6*F) on Wednesday.  That's like summer weather in these parts.  But the nice thing is it is now cooling off at night. While the temps dropped about 12 degrees yesterday to a more normal range it is still lovely out there.  

~ parent gift to the dayhome ~ one of my dayhome families asked if I would like a couple of Little Tykes cars for the dayhome as their kids no longer played with them at home.  They were mostly used indoors so are in super good shape.  Uhm, YES PLEASE!  When I asked how much they would like for them they said nothing, I could just have them.   The cars are used a lot at my place and to have not one but two  gifted is a real blessing.

~ phone call  ~  Tuesday evening I received a phone call from my former little dayhome friend whom I still see occasionally just to tell me she loved me.  What a sweet blessing that totally made my day.  She is 8 now, I mentioned in a previous FFF that I had taken her out to the movies for her birthday.  We had a lovely conversation and I got to hear all about the start to her grade 3 year.  Made my day!

~ end of tooth saga ~ finally had the last appointment in the root canal saga.  So glad that is over and done with and I hope to not have to set foot in another dental office for a very long time, nice as they all were.  

~ great reads ~ I've hit upon some great reads lately.  Always satisfying when a book just checks off all the boxes to what you were wanting in a story right at that particular time.  I'm loving the story I'm reading right now and that makes me happy.  Books are a great privilege to have access to and blessing in my life

What were your favorite blessings this week?

Friday's Fave Five #804

How is it Friday already?  This week has just flown right by.  In fact this summer has flown right by and here we are, the last Friday's Fave Five before Fall.  I'm glad I have Friday's Fave Five which literally forces me to take a pause and think about what has been a blessing in my life this week.  Otherwise in weeks like this, I would not even notice.  Please join our little group as we develop grateful hearts for the blessings God gives us.

~ good nectarines ~ We usually look really forward to fruit from B.C. each year but this year they had a frost that killed a lot of the blossoms at the beginning of the growing season.  So all our fruit has been coming from either Ontario or shipped up from the States.  After buying some peaches earlier in the year that turned out disappointing, I gave nectarines a shot last grocery day before the season is over.  From the Niagra region, they were absolutely delicious. Not one bad nectarine in the whole container. It's a blessing to have access to wonderful summer fruit.

~ homegrown tomatoes ~ Continuing with good food, my neighbor blessed me with tomatoes her mom had grown.  They were so delicious, so much flavor compared to greenhouse/hydroponic tomatoes found in the stores.  I gave up trying to grow container tomatoes after not getting even one edible tomato a few years ago.  So this was a gift much appreciated.

~ soup ~ I'm a soup lover from the time I was a kid.  My mom made the best homemade soups.  And I always made soup for my kids when they weren't well.  Both Dave and I have been fighting a virus for a couple of weeks now so we have had lots of soup on the menu, both take-out and homemade.  Nothing like a bowl of hot soup fill with good protien and veggies and noodles to make one feel better.

~ movie afternoon ~  Hubby and I have been enjoying "Monk" on Netflix and are in the process of watching it through a second time.  We've been wanting to watch the movie, made in 2023 , since we heard about it.  "Mr. Monk's Last Case" brought the cast back together again 12 years after the tv series finale.  But the only problem was the movie was made by a streaming service we don't subscribe to.  We were going to bite the bullet and buy the movie (still cheaper than going to a show at the theatre).  When Hubby went to go order it off Amazon it informed us it was available on Amazon Prime, free for members.  So we got to enjoy it last weekend for no cost, after all.  

~ some great Little Free Library finds ~ I have more than a dozen Free Little Libraries that I make the rounds to on my side of town.  Last week I was able to leave some books for someone else to enjoy and I picked up a few that I thought I would enjoy.  So fun to go explore these libraries and come home with some treasures.

What were your blessings this last week?

Hanging in There

After a hot start to September, the middle of the month has seen the temperatures take a drop.  Though we haven't had to run the AC in the day there has been a couple of rainy and cold days where the heater kicked in during the night.  Some of the flowers in the garden seem to have gained a second wind and are  flourishing at the moment and I'll just stop and drink in of their loveliness before they will be dug out or trimmed and prepped for their winter sleep.  

After a super slow start to their flowering and growth, the front porch is flourishing!  The red impatiens were bought at a huge discount as they were past the end of the buying season and almost dead.  That was one small lone little plant and look at it now.  Once the alstroemeria (white and pink flowers) got blooming they is no stopping them.  Tough it took until the end of July.  I was tempted to pull them, so glad I didn't.  

Some of the front flowers.  The oval flower bed needs lots of work.  It's a real mish mash.  The zinnias were scattered left over seeds from a dayhome project with the kids and they finally flowered in August but they are all over the place.  The sweet Williams are "freebies" that either wind, birds or deer brought over.  Have no idea but I love them cause they flower all summer.  I'll have to do some major thought and planning into this bed.  I originally built it to hold a peony I had brought over from my mom's garden when we sold her house.  And my Incrediball hydrangeas have turned an even nicer pink.  Can't wait for the blooms to grow bigger than my head.  Please, oh please, let me prep them for winter well so they don't die.  They are good to -40*C (-40*F also) so they are hardy and seem to do well around here.  

And the deck.  Considering I have torn out, trimmed and reconfigured some of these pots  several times due to flowers dying from who knows what,   some are now doing well.  It was not a great year for the petunias, don't know what was going on this year with them, but these are the ones that survived me tearing both them and my hair out.  

Hopefully we'll get a few more weeks of  lovely color before real coolness of fall sets in.  I need to really rethink how I am going to plant next year.  And use a good measure of self control in the spring.  The prices have  gone up so much this year and having to remove dead and dying plants was a real frustration  and a hit to the pocket book.  Oh well, I'll be thankful for this end of the season gift of color while it lasts.