Happy Friday, everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful week. Being as it's Friday, let's take a moment and pause to reflect and think of all the blessings God has sent your way this week. Whether you're week has been awesome or harder, there is always something to be grateful for. Sometimes it's obvious and very easy to find, sometimes we have to dig deep to look for them. Hardship can make it difficult but honestly, sometimes just the mundane everyday drift can make it just as hard to look for blessings in our lives. Let's be intentional of developing the habit of keeping our eyes open to those touches of God in our lives and to be grateful for them.
~ coffee cupping class ~ On Saturday Hubby and I enjoyed a date a local coffee roaster and tea shop. They offered a free cupping class and I jumped on the opportunity to get in on it. In a cupping class you learn about coffee and it's history, what makes coffees from around the world taste different, what roasting does, how the pros taste coffee to determine quality. Yes there is actually standards and testing to become a pro. And then you learn to use your sense of smell and taste to find the flavor notes of the coffees you are tasting. Who knew, but there is actually a proper way of taking in the scent of the fresh grounds and a proper way of tasting it that involves a whole lot of slurping noise. Of course this is for fun and there is no way one can learn everything in a one hour class or become anywhere near the level you need to be to be a pro. But lots of fun was had and I learned lots. The classes are small, only 5 at the time we went, but that just encouraged everyone to participate in sharing what they were smelling and tasting. Pictures weren't allowed or I'd have taken some to share. It was a great thing to do for a date. Highly recommend if you like coffee and have a local roaster in your area offering classes.
~ finding these two beauties ~ my sister talked me into going back to the garden center on Saturday and though I was just going to keep her company I found these two beauties that I just could not leave behind. I've never see either of them and it's my favorite pot this year. Can' wait until they grow. The picture doesn't do it justice.
Compact Tropical Rose and Midnight Gold Petunia
~ Sunday rest time ~ working full time, sometimes Sunday, which should be a day of rest in my mind, turns into just another day of running around and catching up with the to do list. But this last Sunday, I made sure that everything got done on Saturday and it truly was a day of rest. We went to church, then came home and had a simple but delicious lunch. The weather was so lovely that we spent almost the whole afternoon outside just enjoying a coffee, reading and doing the odd thing in the garden. It truly was a day of rest.
~ to do list plan ~ I've been overwhelmed this past while with the length of my to do list and the lack of motivation to even start any of the tasks on it. This last week I decided to take the bull by the horns and to break each task down into much smaller units. I used to be the type of person that if I was going to do a job I wanted to get it all done in one fell swoop, but that has not worked for me lately. So I needed to change my tactics. Now I can tackle much less intimidating chunks and hopefully feel the sense of accomplishment I get from crossing things off the list and before I know it the whole job will be done. Fingers crossed.
~ exchange of books ~ another successful free little library tour where I found a couple of books I'm interested in and where I was able to leave behind some books I no longer feel the need to hang on to. Love the Little Free Libraries!
What have been your favorite blessings this week?
11 comments:
I love the idea of the little free libraries but never seem to have much luck finding anything I'm interested in. It must feel good to have gotten a lot done during the week and have Sunday be a true day of rest. I have an all day class this Saturday and next but then I am all done!! Can't wait!
Ok Susanne. we are SO MUCH ALIKE!! we truly need to meet each other in person someday (we are actually planning a trip to Alberta but.....$$$$$$$). that quote at the end?? One of my faves AND it was on my wall calendar for May (yes we keep 2 wall calendars...one in the kitchen for appts/travel plans, etc and one in the bedroom to help us with our google docs/day planners, personal calendars on our phone, etc).
Now that coffee date is something dave and I would really get into it. we are coffee snobs and actually learned quite a bit from Claire when she was a starbucks barista for 6 years during hs/college. I don't know of any classes like that here but how fun!! I'm gonna look into it.
YAY for a complete Sabbath and for reading time and good books!
That plant is so pretty!! I need a couple more plants for my deck as my wildflowers I planted from seed are all of a sudden dying and I can't figure out why.
Happy Weekend
Hi Susanne! I love that beautiful new plant you got at the garden center when you went with your sister. The cupping class does sound fun. Restful Sundays are to restorative. God really knew what he was doing when he declared the Sabbath a "day of rest." We need it!! So glad you are able to break your tasks into smaller more manageable chunks. Being overwhelmed with a "to do" list, at least for me, means that very little actually gets done. I hope you have a wonderful restful June weekend.
My son and d-i-l would probably love the cupping class. I had never heard of that before. Those flowers are really pretty!
Our Sundays are much the same. Most of our lives, the churches we've attended have had Sunday evening services. But the last one we attended plus most of the ones we've visited the last few months do not. It's been lovely to come home from church, usually with take-out from somewhere, then take a nap, then just relax and enjoy the rest of the day.
I'm the same way with lists and tasks. I'd rather start and finish something in the same window of time. But some tasks are too big, or life just does not allow that kind of time. Yay for breaking things into smaller portions and getting things done a bit of a time.
Your coffee cupping date sounds like something The Prof and I would love. And so would our kids.
Oh those new flowers--I know the feel of just going to look at the garden center, and then you just have to get that one plant that's screaming at you.
Love the idea of breaking the tasks down into smaller tasks. Fly Lady encourages just doing 15 minutes at a time. That helps me. So if I do 30 minutes, then I think I'm really crushing it :)
I hope you can enjoy another quiet and restful Sunday this weekend.
And YES to that last quote!
Those are very dramatic colors! What a fun find for your summer flowers.
I've worked for several food companies who had training in how to taste (for evaluation of product shelf life). Sounds like your cupping class was fun and informative. So what did you learn about your own coffee preferences?
Your day of rest sounds absolutely perfect. How lovely to have good weather for being outside enjoying your garden.
That's a good assessment of your need to change-up how to handle tasks. Glad you found something that works for this stage in life.
Hello! I enjoyed sharing your Thankfuls today! I am thankful for my family and the fun we have!
I read I Can Only Imagine when the movie came out. I love the music from Mercy Me!
I would have been very curious about the coffee class ! Rick always said the only good coffee is the Italian one and he suffered when we were in the states because the normal coffee was dish washing water ! I wait for my son to arrange the terrace, the pots are too heavy and the carpet needs to be replaced. And then I will do as you on Sunday, just rest and forget my to do list !
The new plants are beautiful and so unusual! The coffee date sounds wonderful. I'm going to see if there's something like that here. Like you, I am learning to be satisfied with doing projects in steps. It took me a long while to get here, but there is satisfaction in not hurrying through things.
Have a great weekend!
Hope the breaking down of tasks works well for you. A day of rest is so good for us. That class sounds very interesting. Hope this week is going well. I'm finally getting a wee bit caught up!
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