Friday, August 02, 2019

Friday's Fave Five #544




Welcome to Friday and Friday's Fave Five.  It is a brand new month and a great time to look for favorite blessings from the last week.  Thanks for coming by.  Please join in with us if you haven't already.  Cultivating an outlook that intentionally looks for the good things from God in our ordinary everyday is what we are trying to do.

1.  No kids week!  This is my maintenance week where no kids come to child care but I get things done that are next to impossible with 6 kids here all day.  Things like carpet cleaning, painting, sorting and repairing toys, etc.  Still working but I also get some time to do relaxing things too.  The work week is more relaxed because it's not dictated by the clock which is really nice.

2.  Day trip to Waterton.  On Saturday Hubby and I took a spur of the moment trip to Waterton, one of our favorite day trips.  Spectacular mountain views and a glacier lake with trails and a mountain village are all only and hour and half drive away.  It's always relaxing and mountains are our happy place.  Unfortunately not many trails were open yet still because of the fires from 2 years ago.  We did start to hike one that we enjoy but ended up turning back because of reports from other hikers that a bear was feeding just off the trail up ahead a ways.  The bears are coming farther down to feed as the fire has forced them to source their berries closer to busy trails.  We had the dog with us so didn't want to take a chance on spooking the bear.  So instead we took the dog for a swim in the lake and enjoyed a sit on the water's edge and just soaking up the sunshine and the views.



3.  Shopping trip to Calgary.  Our son came down for the week and so on my daughter's day off we all piled in the car and went on a shopping trip to Calgary.  We had fun just wandering the huge Cross Iron Mills mall.  We picked up some great deals on a few things we needed and on some we totally didn't.  Because we are not taking a long distance holiday this year this was a nice compromise and still makes us feel like we got away somewhere.  I'm so thankful my adult kids still like to hang out and do things like this.  A great supper at one of our favorite spots, The Old Spaghetti Factory, and we headed home tired and full.

4.  More biking.  With the lazier starts to the day we've taken advantage of the beautiful mornings and have gotten several more bike rides in and this time our son was able to join us.  So fun and such great exercise.  And again soaking up the beautiful days we are getting right now.



5.  Good reading time.  With the time off, I've gotten some wonderful reading time in this week.  I've finished two books this week both of which were really good (reviews to come).  That more relaxed start to the day affords some extra time to get in some reading with my morning coffee and then little breaks throughout the day have been really nice to pick up my books.  I get a little work done and then reward myself with a 20 minute to half hour read.  I could really get into this kind of work day but alas it's just for this week but I'll take it.

What have been your favorite blessings from the past week?






10 comments:

Gattina said...

Sometimes holidays at home are more relaxing then being on the road with lot of traffic ! Your landscapes look beautiful ! Can't imagine having a bear in the woods ! all we could have are deers !

a spirit of simplicity said...

Sounds like a wonderful week. It’s nice to be able to catch up.

Wendy said...

You seem to have made very good use of your child free week. I hope you managed to get all the maintenance stuff done. Enjoy the weekend before "work" starts again.

Barbara Harper said...

Sounds like a great week! It was such a good idea to schedule these maintenance weeks into your calendar. Nice to be able to get things done you can't otherwise get to, plus have time for family outings and relaxing and reading as well.

Faith said...

This is my kind of week Susanne!! You know I'm a true mountain lover and hiker and those pics look wonderful!! I'm actually heading out on my bike in about ten minutes as i got a bOnus half day off!!!

Can't wait to read your book reviews.

Enjoy the start of August....one of my very fave months.

Willow said...

We could call your week an almost stay-cation. Those bike rides are making me want to grab my bike and get riding. (It's been awhile). I'm glad you enjoyed your off week.

Anonymous said...

We LOVE Waterton. We've only been there once - for our 10th wedding anniversary back in 1995. But we spent the night at Prince of Wales Hotel, explored the town, and took the boat launch down to Goat ___ (can't remember the name). I'm a little envious that you live so close by!!

Congrats on a week with no kids!! :-) --Ann

ellen b. said...

Yippee for maintenance week. Sounds like you filled it well with work and leisure. We don't take these family times for granted. What a blessing. PTL.

Susanne said...

Ann: The boat goes to Goat Haunt which is actually part of Glacier National Park and part of the U.S. Can you believe I have never been on that boat? We've tried a few times but have never got the timing right for other things we were doing.

nikkipolani said...

Wow, those are some gorgeous views! So nice that you can make a day trip and enjoy the glories of God's creation. I know it's been a while since you've posted, but it sounds like the no-kids time and other activities really did you good.