Welcome to Friday's Fave Five. Today is Friday, the day we pause and recognize, appreciate and be thankful for what God has blessed us with. In doing this exercise, my prayer is that we don't just take this pause once a week, but that we start to do this as a natural extension of our grateful hearts everyday. Please join in with us.
~ iced hibiscus tea ~ Hubby has been researching the health benefits of hibiscus tea so I thought I'd give it a try when I saw the benefits, especially the anti-inflammatory ones. I brewed a big pot and iced it. It is delicious and refreshing. I don't even have to add any type of sweetener to enjoy it. I'm hoping I can cut down on my afternoon coffee intake and switch it to this tea.
~ dinner out at our favorite Indian restaurant ~ I love Indian food and among the myriad of Indian restaurants my city has we have a favorite. It's decorated in deep, saturated colors like one would think they would see in India, not fancy but authentic. And the food is so good. Our waitress was excellent with a smile that lit up the room. We took our long-time neighbors and had a wonderful visit catching up.
~ spur of the moment road trip ~ Sunday we made a spur of the moment decision to take a road trip to my happy place, Waterton Lakes. We threw some spare clothes and sunscreen in the car and made the 90 minute drive to one of the most beautiful places. When we got there we were going to do one of our favorite shorter hikes, Blakiston Falls, but it was so busy both the upper and lower parking lots were full, we got turned away and we had to drive the 20 minutes back down to the main road. Though initially really disappointed we found a lovely walk we had never been on before. We didn't even know it existed. It was a short 1 km (0.6 miles) stroll around a small lake at the foot of Prince of Wales hill. It's all paved and has a few benches situated around the lake. Though we wanted to have a little sit we were a bit nervous as the beginning of the loop had bear warning signs up due to the large amount of berries in the area and it's berry feeding season in the mountains. We had lunch at a fave restaurant in the town of Waterton and walked a bit around a bit afterwards. We relaxed at Cameron Falls and I read a bit while hubby had a snooze. It was a lovely little getaway and much needed to decompress over a busy couple of weeks. We're blessed to have such a beautiful place so close to us that we can make an escape to whenever we want.
Linnett Lake Loop with a beaver dam
A couple of trees we saw on the loop. One that woodpeckers loved and another that apparently a bear loved. 😮
~ beautiful mum bouquet from a sweet little ~ one of my littles last day was yesterday and her family gifted me a lovely mum bouquet with a nice thank you card but my favorite part of it was the cute hand flower she made that says "Thanks for helping me grow. " It's always hard to say goodbye after they work their way into your heart over the years but goodbyes are part of the job and it's also exciting to see them take the next step.
~ front flowers ~ Now that they are fully blooming and filled out I am loving the planters on my front steps. There's some flowers I've never tried before like the angel wing begonias, but I'll sure be adding them to the list next year. And another favorite now that's it's fully filled out is the flower pot in the front that turned out to be gorgeous. The impatiens were a last minute decision and whatever the spiller plant is I grabbed at the last second because it looked interesting. I had no idea what it would look like as it grew. I love how it turned out and I'll be using that combo again next year. I'm not the best at planning out my planters, I like too many things and get overwhelmed at the nurseries wanting everything! For once I landed on some stunning combos that did well for where they sit and I'm writing it down so I don't forget!
What has been a blessing in your life this last week?
11 comments:
Hi Susanne: tried to add my post to your linky but the linky isn't working just an FYI.
LOVE the hand card and bouquet. I had my students do that one mothers day. We made handcards like a flower and stuck in a pot with flower seeds. It was super thoughtful of those parents to have the little one do this for you.
LOVE your planters.
Isn't it wonderful to be out in the world that God created for us to enjoy on a beautiful day?
HAPPY WEEKEND
I've never heard of hibiscus tea. I'll have to look it up. Your Sunday trip sounds lovely, though a little scary with bears in the area. Someone in my critique group wrote a book about Yellowstone (Waking Up in the Wilderness by Natalie Ogbourne), where bears can be a problem. It seems there are areas of the park more "civilized" and a vast amount of it truly wilderness and the bears' territory. She talked about making lots of noise and using bear spray but still being a little nervous in those areas.
I love that sweet flower made with hands. I can imagine it's so hard to say good-bye to sweet little ones when they go on to school.
Your flowers are so pretty! I love that variegated spiller. We use impatiens and begonias a lot, too, though I have never seen the angel wing ones.
Mr. Linky is not working for me--doesn't do anything when I click on it. So I'll leave my post here for now and check back later: https://barbaraleeharper.com/2025/08/29/fridays-fave-five-808/
Hi Susanne, I love that you still do this feature on your blog. It's been forever since I've visited, I don't have much time to visit anyone but I sure miss the old blogging days. Sounds like you had a great week. I too love Hibiscus and actually have a few plants at home, I keep the dried flowers to make tea and it's delicious.
Sorry, don't know what happened with Mr. Linky. It's like it's frozen but I deleted it and re-entered it. Added you to it.
Added your link to Mr. Linky. It's like it froze. I deleted and re-entered it and it's now working
So nice to have you pop by and comment, Sandra!
Someone gave me a bag of dried hibiscus -- you've prompted me to see if I can find it!
That outing is gorgeous. So lovely that you carved out some time to enjoy the beauty and fresh air.
I don't believe the "for once" in your description of your potted combinations -- I've loved them all: love all the texture and colors you've put together, loved the happy blooms and fun foliage. One the one hand, shame they don't overwinter. But on the other hand, you get to experiment each year!
Hibiscus tea is also good for lowering blood pressure. I try to drink one mug a day (no more than that).
Your planters did beautifully this year. I'm inspired for next year.
Lovely get away time for you and hubby. What a beautiful place!
Have a good weekend.
Ahh, I can imagine the bitter/sweet time when your littles move on. Your flowering planters are so pretty. Woohoo for a getaway with beautiful scenery. Happy long weekend to you.
I learned to love Hibiscus tea in Egypt. There you get it in all shops for free as welcome drink. In the Hotels it is the same. They drink it hot, because when it's hot you have to drink hot, that's what I learned. I prefer it cold, and people who know it give it to their children instead of a Coke or something. But I think the Egyptian Hibiscus is different then ours, it has big flowers and you can buy them everywhere. I always bought half a kg which was a lot, and lasted nearly the whole year !
Your planters are beautiful and have such lovely varieties. Such a great way for you and your husband to get away for the day. The bear scratches are so cool!
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