Friday"s Fave Five #897

Happy September everyone and welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  To me the beginning of September is fall so my mindset is already all things cozy.  Thanks for joining in on another week of looking for blessings to be grateful for.

~ feeling appreciated ~  sometimes in my line of work one can feel very unappreciated.  The hours are long, the pay usually isn't what it should be for the responsibility we carry and the expectations put upon us.  The job is physically and emotionally draining at times, and a whole lot of times we are taken advantage of.  But then there are the times when a parent lets you know just how greatly they valued the time their children had with you and it makes every moment worth it.  It was one of my dayhome families last day with me this week.  They showered me with lovely flowers, gift cards and chocolates but it was the beautiful card that Mom wrote that I will treasure forever and pull out and reread at those times I feel discouraged.  I'm sad they are going, it;s always hard to say goodbye to the kids in my care, but I'm excited for their new adventures and look forward to the next family God will bring my way.  

~ weekend biking ~ The weekend turned out some lovely weather so we took advantage with a bike ride.  This new bike has been turning out to be the best decision.  Its easy on my knee and way less stressful on my wrist and arm.  So happy I didn't have to give up an activity I so enjoy doing.

~ dahlia plantar ~  I've tried growing dahlias quite a few times before but they were always just alright.  Until this year.  I picked these up on a whim and they've done amazing in this plantar on the deck.  I guess I just wasn't buying the right variety before.  It's a blessing to see them out my patio doors whenever I look that direction. 

~ weekend visit from our son ~ any visit from my adult kids will always make my favorite blessing list.  

~ quiet start to the morning ~ this week my early arrivals have haven't arrived quite so early. Not by much but it's made for a slower start to the day, rather than hitting the floor running which is very much appreciated and never taken for  granted by this not an early morning person.  

What were your favorite blessings from your week?

Friday's Fave Five #896

Hi everyone and welcome to Friday's Fave Five. Due to a computer issue I was not able to do up a post last night.  Here's the linky for your posts and I will join in as soon as soon as I can.  

Well, finally able to get on here and do my FFF. A day late but late is better than never.  Thanks for doing up your posts and linking in spite of me being missing in action. I apologize for not being able to get on and comment on your posts last week.  Hopefully all is sorted with the computer now and its onwards and upwards.

My favorite blessings this week were simple but no less bkessings in my life.

~ a hot mug of coffee ~ poured and waiting for me each and every morning.  Hubby knows what time my alarm goes off and not only has a fresh pot of coffee brewed for me but he already has my first cup poured and waiting just the way I like it when I stumble bleary eyed into the kitchen.  I never take this for granted and though it may seem like a small thing, it is huge for this "not an early morning" girl.

~ fresh haircut ~ my standing appointment went a week later than usual so I was more than ready for a cut this week.  I went a bit shorter due to some difficulties Im experiencing with one of my hands right now and my stylist did a great job with listening to what I was finding hard to do and giving me a cut that she knows I can work with and suggested a syling tool that simplified my routine.  Very grateful for her and her years of styling my hair.

~ thermal curling brush ~  this styling tool has made things so much easier for me right now.  I didn't even know this was a thing.  It's not a blow drier brush but a hot iron brush.  Loving the ease this has brought to my morning routine.  (This particular one is the salon grade one my stylist recommended,  There are less expensive ones around but I just went with her recommendation).

 

~ butterflies ~ This little beauty showed up in the yard this week.  I've never seen one like it in my yard so it was very exciting for both the kids and I to watch him for a bit before he flew off.

~ lunar eclipse ~  the other night we had a clear view of the sturgeon moon partial eclipse where it eclipsed 93-96%.  It was cool to watch a red moon being covered by the earth's shadow.  Unfortunately I couldn't get a decent picture to save my life but there are some great ones out there if you missed it and want to look them up.  Space is so fascinating and coincidentally I just finished a great fiction book about the 60's challenge to land on the moon.  Book review to come.

 

Friday's Fave Five #895

Welcome to Fridays's Fave Five.  We're looking for blessings in our lives in a purposeful way.  By taking some moments to take note of those things that bring joy or lift us up we are cultivating a grateful attitude and training our hearts to look for the hand of God in our everyday routines.  Feel free to join us if you are new.  The more the merrier.  Guidelines are linked in the sidebar. 

~ visit from our daughter ~ our oldest daughter popped by for a couple days visit on her way home from spending a few days camping with her siblings in the mountains.  We were very happy to see her as we had to cancel our roadtrip to go and see her at the beginning of August because my knee wasn't up for the 7 hour car ride one way.  We spent a couple of relaxing evenings with her just catching up as we havent seen her since Christmas. So thankful tat she went out of her way to come see us.

~ the Chosen in the Wild ~  a fun limited series on Pr'me that Hubby and I enjoyed watching together.  Bear Grylls takes some of the actors from The Chosen and takes them out in the wild.  And while they're challenged with physical outdoorsy stuff in ways that only spending time with Bear will lead to, Bear casually interviews them.  It was interesting getting to know their real life stories a bit and hearing how being a part of the cast of Chosen, and specifically playing their characters, has changed them.  Have to admit I teared up a few times and we had some good laughs in parts too.

~ Bday celebration ~ Friday night we celebrated our brother in law's birthday by taking him and Hubby's sis out for dinner to a restaurant of his choosing.  It's our tradition with each of our birthdays,  It guarentees we see each other at least 4 times a year.  As our families have grown and expanded we find this a nice way of staying in touch through the busyness of life.

~hydrangeas ~  this is the third summer with the hydrangea bushes I planted in the front flower bed and they are coming along nicely,  They are pink Incrediballs,  While not quite at that maturity yet they will get huge ball sized blooms,  Now Im glad they are surviving our winters and seem to be thriving.

~ a helping hand ~After a full 9 1/2 hour days work I made a grocery run because I hadn't got around to it on the weekend.  Because I not only shop for our groceries but also the dayhome's it's a big job and usually takes up to a couple of hours .  Between my knee and my hand/arm issues, the task is made more difficult  and by the time I was pushing the cart to the car, I was exhausted.  As I opened the trunk of my car a lovely young lady came out of nowhere and asked if she could load the bags for me,  I could have cried I was so grateful.  An angel sent from heaven to help me out.  

What were your fave blessings this week?

Friday's Fave Five #894

Welcome back to Friday's Fave Five.  We are keeping ourselves on track to developing grateful hearts by taking Fridays as our time to list five of our favorite blessings from the last week.  Doing so places our minds and hearts on noticing God's blessings. In good times and in hard times.  Its where we choose to put our focus and remember to thank our good God who brings them into our life.  Thank you for joining in with me.

~ finally a day in my happy place ~  We finally were able to get away for a day to one of my favorite places, Waterton Lakes.  Even though even the easy hikes were not in the cards for me this year, it was a glorious day spent in the mountains,  We went to our fave place for lunch, Strolled along the shore of the lake for a bit, then just took out lawn chairs and picnic blanket to the lake shorer.  I read my book and watched the boats go by, Hubby had a snooze and Tux tried not to go nuts with all the other dogs going by.  Though we had a yellow alert for smoke from Northwest U.S. and British Columbia, and the moutain range was mostly obscured, down in the village it wasn't too bad.  I was so happy to be able to make at least one trip this year!  

 

~Mama's new ride ~  Since I fell off my mountain bike twice on Father's Day which threw me into the whole flare up of my knee and tore my miniscus, I'll not lie, I was scared to get back on the bike.  And with my arm issue, with the mountain bike style of leaning over the handlebars with weight tranferring into my forearms, wrist and hand was getting tougher,  But I didn't want to give up one of my favorie activities!  So we made a spur of the moment trip to the bike shop just to check out my options.  And there sitting on the very end of a row of cruiser bikes was this beauty just waiting for me,  It has a low step thru do I don't have to swing my leg over a bar or bend my knee to a painful point to get it over a bar,  The step down from a sitting position is at a safer height,  the handlebars sit higher so weight is not on my hands and it was the only cruiser bike with a tiltable handlebar so its totally customizable.  In one of my favorite colors and, be still my heart, it has a book clip on the back so if I come across a Little Free Library I have somewhere to put a book!  And you know what was crazy?  It was the only one like it there.  There was lots of all the other kinds but only one like this with everything I wanted.  ,  It was like God  put it together just for me,  And then said "Oh and here's $250 off the price".   Whaaaat?  I would have been nuts to walk away without it.  So now I have a new ride and I'm so thankful.  

~ new fruit ~  Ran into the grocery store to get a few things and saw this new variety of plum I'd never heard of beforem  so thought I'd give it a try.  Tiger's Blood is now my favorite plum.  So sweet and lots of flavor,  Yes it really is that dark crimson inside.  Word of advise...don't drip any of the juice on your clothing,  Just saying.  I need to go back for more before the season is done!  

~ round 2 of Taber corn ~  this time Peaches & Ceam was at the stands.  Though I like the Honeycomb variety from last week better, this is mighty tasty also. 

~ non-medicinal help ~ I have found this product, my massage therapist recommended to me, very helpful with aches and pains,  Right now, I spray it on right before bed or when the knees are aching anytime.  Its also great on aching muscles.    Usually the professional grade is only avaiable thru therapists of various kinds but I found it on Amaz*n for a fair price.  Thankful there are products out there to help keep me from reaching for medications too regularly.

What were your fave blessings this week?

And bonus blessing is that being a person of faith I believe Jesus is there to help me carry those heavy things and gives me strength and hope to get through the valleys of life.  And He'll do the same for you!  We just have to learn to hand Him those weights and then the trick is not to grab it back.

Friday's Fave Five #893

Welcome Friday!  Our time to pause and reflect and be grateful for the blessings and good things from our last week.  Please join us in sharing your 5 favorites!  I've had an exhausting week, it being the first week back after time off, so FFF is a good discipline otherwise the good stuff might get buried in the tiredness.  Thanks for joining in with sharing 5 of your favorite blessings of thepast week.

~ Taber corn ~    

It's that time!!   The first couple of weeks of August brings the early varieties of Taber corn to the street stands.  Peaches and Cream first and then Honeycomb.  We bought a dozen honeycomb and they are disappearing fast.  So delicious hot with butter and salt, Taber corn is so good we aslo eat it cold straight out of the fridge with nothing on it.  Cooked of course.  I love August simply for the fact it brings Taber corn fresh from the fields.  

~ new glasses ~   

This year was time for an eye check up and seeing my old frames were about 6 years old   I went for new frames.  The local optician I have dealt with for years retired and closed his store so I was leary of getting new lenses in old frames as no one will guarantee them anymore if you did not purchase with them and some places even charge an extra fee.  I wanted something different than my last pair but nothing too crazy.  Found these frames at C*stco and thought they fit what I was looking for nicely.  I hate glasses shopping, it takes me forever to choose but  C*stco was only the second place I looked and I found several frames I liked within a relatively short period of time and had these picked quickly.  They were similar to another pair I found at my eye doc's store but almost less than half the price!  I also found a pair for prescription sunglasses very quickly.  So glad it didnt take me forever and a day like it usually does.  

~ short work week ~

very thankful it was a short work week this week.  Getting back into the routine of gettin up early is always tough for me.  That one less day really helps.

~ adirondack chair ~  

my very thoughtful hubby gifted me with a new foldable, adirondack chair after the cheaper one I had broke on me.  So thankful for his thoughtfulness as I use it alot during the times I'm outside with the kids.  This one is much sturdier and it folds we can store it better for the winter.

~ good day with the knee ~

after a not so good day with both knees on Wednesday, I am very thankful for a really good day yesterday.  I don't know why some days are better than others but it's a blessing that the better ones are getting more prevelant than the painful ones.  I'm rarely taking a pain med at this time so that is something to be very grateful for.  

What were your favorite 5 blessings of the week?

Fridays' Fave Five #892

Hi everyone.  Welcome back to Friday's Fave Five.  Thanks for popping by and joining in with me as I work to develop making spotting my blessings more prevelant in my life than noticing the trials.  My goal with the FFF is ultimately to have a focused heart on being grateful for all the good blessings God sends into my ordinary days.  Thanks for joining in with me.

~ good steaks from a local butcher ~  Sunday we had an incredible dinner of AAA rib eye steaks grilled on the bbq.  The kids had pooled together and gotten Dave a gift card to a local butcher shop for Father's Day.  The perfect gift for him!  I'm the steak griller of the family and after many years of either underdone or over done steak I finally have a knack for it and they were perfectly done:  medium well for him, medium for me and rare for Tamara.

~ Tamara popping in ~  another Sunday blessing was Tamara popping in for a visit.  She'd come to town for a wedding and txted Sunday asking if we were around for quick visit before she headed back.  I feel so blessed that my kids want to come and see us.  

 

~ morning air coming through open windows ~  it's been hot here the last couple of weeks but in the mornings when I get up it's still in the teens (celcius) so we open up all the windows and let that lovely cooler, fresh morning air in.  

~ week off ~ this has been my vacation week and the rest has been most welcome.  Though we didn't go anywhere because I didn't think my knee could handle long hours in the car with an anxious dog standing/sitting on me.  But it's been nice to sleep in, start the day slow and easy, take short walks in the cooler mornings,  drink my coffee slowly reading a book and putz around the house.  Though I'm disappointed we didn't go anywhere on vacation I am very grateful for the time off and the slower pace.

~ neighborhood crew ~ spotted on one of our morning walks, we saw this boy's club enjoying the shade at a home a few blocks from ours.  While I knew we had a neighborhood buck hanging around for a few years now, this is the first time I've ever seen four of them together at the same time.  So fun to see, but we made sure we crossed the street to go by and kept our eye out that we weren't spooking them.  

What were your favorite blessings from the passed week?  What lifted you up, made you smile,  gave you joy,  made your everyday easier or just made you aware that God was sending a blessing to you?

Friday's Fave Five #891

Welcome to Friday's Fave Fives.  Every Friday we are pausing and choosing where to put our focus and that is on our blessings.  No life is perfect.  Things happen in every life that are hard and stressful.  But every life also has blessings even if it's just making it through that day intact.  Here we are training our hearts and minds to put the main focus on our blessings, being grateful to God for bringing them into our everyday lives.  Please join us as we share five of our favorites from the past week.  

~ air conditioning ~ I am so thankful for the blessing of air conditioning this week as it has been hot.  For some of you, our hot is your norm, but for us this extended period of days that reach into the '90's is not what we are used to so I'm thankful for a cool house.

~ understanding dayhome parents ~ between my knee appointments and a couple of other things I've had to open late or close early a couple of times in the last couple weeks and I'm so thankful my dayhome parents have been supportive and understanding.  I know it puts them out and I try and avoid closures as much as I can.  So thankful for the families I have in my childcare.

~ visits with friends ~ I was blessed to have visits with a few friends I haven't seen in awhile.  One has moved to another province and the other has had a lot going on in life and the third is a couple Hubby and I are friends with and  we had dinner out.  It was so nice to catch up and encourage one another.  Thankful for friends that no matter the distance or time we can just be comfortable with when we get together.

~ books that make you think ~ I love when you pick up a book, whether non-fiction or fiction, and it makes you think.  Whether it's the theme, the lessons, character growth or just specific quotes, I really like when something sticks with me with the books I read.  I've had one of those kind of reads this week.  While I started this book over a year ago, I was about 3/4 of the way through when I ran into about 50 missing pages.  The publishing company replaced it for me right away but I just kind of ran out of steam to pick it up again.  Well this last month I determined to start it again and I'm so glad I did.  So much treasure in it.

~ carbonated water ~ I usually drink the flavored sparkling waters and definitely have favorites in those flavors but both Hubby and I have really been enjoying the one pictured below that we found at C*stco.  It's under their brand name but apparently imported from Italy.  Who knows, but we both find it super thirst quenching ice cold on these hot days and like it better than plain tap water and any other brand of inflavored carbonated water we've tried.  

What were your favorite blessings this week?

Friday's Fave Five #890

Welcome to Friday and Friday's Fave Five.  We are intentionally looking back over the week to find the blessings that God has sent our way.  We are developing our abilities of noticing those good things, whether big or small, and remembering to be thankful for them.

~ no tornado ~  well yesterday afternoon the air got real hot and heavy and the next thing we knew we had tornado watches and warnings happening within a 130 km radius of the city.  The city itself was under orange alert but some of the counties to the south east were in the red alert warning but thankfully no actual emergency alerts were issued.  In the city I was more worried about hail that comes with weather like that but we didn't see any of that either.   Though it's rare that we get really dangerous tornadoes, they can still do a lot of  damage to farms and there have been a handful of really devastating ones in the province over the decades, the latest being an EF4 in 2023.  Thankful this didn't materialize.

~ brace ~ one of the recommendations from the Acute Knee Injury Clinic was for me to try an off loading brace.  I had my appointment this week and was fitted and now have it at home.  The blessing is I get to try it for 2 weeks for free to see if it helps and if I like it.   And because I'm now of that "mature" age and have no extended benefits a gov't program funds it fully.  Good thing because when I looked it up online it's over $600!  Yikes.  But it seems to be helping so far.  

~ fun evenings ~ over summer my ladies study doesn't meet regularly for study but we'll have a few meet-ups for fun.  This week we met for a night of fun painting.  One of the ladies wanted fun artwork on her fence and invited us all to participate.   She wanted us to  be creative and do whatever.  I went for the visit and didn't think I'd paint but ended up adding a little something.  It was a fun evening.

~ blooms are a blessing ~ flowers just make me think of God as the Creator and Artist and bring a smile.  I love putzing around in the cool of the morning dead heading and watering.  The plantars seem to be doing well so far and are setting my deck and front porch ablaze in color.

~ new treats ~ these yummy treats I found at C*stco.  With little sugar one takes care of the sweet chocolate craving.

What were your favorite blessings from the week?