It’s kind of sad how the world forces us to look at one another. We tend to see the package first. Well, I can tell you my friends had great packages way back when; I did, too. Sure, there were the imperfections we saw in ourselves, but looking back, we were something. Now, we have gone through a lot of life working on our issues and trying to become better people. I think we succeeded. And we are following our passions, the things that draw us to learn more and extend ourselves.
But when we get together, it is hard to say goodbye. We enjoy our time together even though we can only see each other through the internet. We are grateful we can see each other. Physically, it is getting harder and harder with lack of funds and aging joints, so a few hours being cheesy, or communicating our lives to each other, is so worth the wi-fi interruptions and family intrusions.
Your prompt for JusJoJan January 8th, 2024 is “gratitude.” Use the word “gratitude” any way you’d like. Have fun!
I am grateful for the prompt from Sadje click the blue gratitude. For the “rules” of JJIJ, click the other blue word. I am grateful for the WordPress family given to me starting with Linda, Sadje and so many others. Everyone is ready to help, lend support, or laugh with.
I love all of you!
I feel such gratitude for all my family and friends who surround me with love.
This is kind of a weird thing to be thankful for, but I’m thankful for what we learned from the pandemic. Zooming church and friends is a wonderful way to enhance our lives.
Oh, and I’m grateful for our snow. Except I couldn’t make it to my doctor’s appointment. But, hey, we are Zooming an appointment tomorrow.
Tomorrow we’re going to get a lot more snow. We really need the precipitation.
Good thing I had to get up at 3:53AM. I peaked through the curtain and the porch was white. We weren’t expecting snow. Just in case it’s gone by morning, here’s proof the sky wanted to give Christmas Valley a beginning-to-look-like nod.
It’s still coming down.
My son and his beautiful lady came to see us yesterday. Today, during the day, they are driving back home. Spare a prayer for them and other travelers for Christmas love.
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “spruce.” Use it as a noun or a verb, use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!
Not a spruce. Just a trio of fake trees. A live pretend tree won’t get here until the day after Christmas. And it is Rosemary not spruce.
This guy always looks spruced up for the holidays. He just likes to photo bomb if the tree gets attention.
So with the health issues in the house we didn’t get to do much sprucing up around here, even though we have company coming tomorrow.
I’m excited that I get to see #3 and his special lady. And we plan, if weather permits, to finally hike to Crack in the Ground. I’ll take pictures and send the YouTube if we get to go.
And right on time these socks are ready for the new owners. I hope they fit. They fit on the blockers.
My brother has been busy. Our floor in the bedroom was so bad it was like tightrope walking. My husband fell and with a lack of good flooring it was hard to help him back up. Anyway my brother got busy and made a safer floor for us. No more falling. And he was the decorator, putting up and finally lighting our tree and window. We are so lucky to have him around.💜🤗
May all of you have a blessed Holiday, Christmas Eve, and Christmas.
I’m in love with these. Sadly, they are not my size. Hopefully, they will be finished after a bit of ankle then a cuff. Can’t wait to see the finished product!
Long leggings. I love the colors, but am not as excited doing these as actual socks.
These are ankle and cuff from being done. I hope I can finish these and the pinkies on top by the weekend.
Really, I’m more excited about actually finishing my laundry today. Oh. I still have a couple dishes in the sink. You’ll hear my Ta-Da before I go to bed.
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “to me.” Find a way to use the phrase “to me” in your post. Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!
That’s easy! Happy Birthday to me!!! I am so blessed with so much family and so many friends. And the line blurs between.
Recently, I got the notice of over 2,000 followers. That was a shock. I’m just keeping track of my passions and my life.
Sometimes, things happen, and you see synchronicity in the works. Friday on GMA3, they shared about Dewali. I won’t try to explain as I am very new to the idea.
I was about to let it go. But today, in my writing, I randomly generated a young girl whose name is Puja. The heroes of the novel rescued her, and so that she would feel at home, they set up their house to celebrate this festival of lights. I’m still new, but it seems a great way to welcome a scared orphan.
I don’t know where my story is going. And I am 2k behind. But I will not give up because the story is still teaching me.
The postcard of the cottage we were blessed to stay at during the week of my daughter and new son’s wedding.
One of the many beautiful quotes on the walls of this cottage.
Outside the back door
Taken from the enclosed back porch
One of the many seating areas outside.
The enclosed patio with pellet stove.
My son’s and my shoes at the back entrance to the home. Aw. This makes me smile and miss the place even more.
The kitchen is the first room after the patio. It is spacious with all the amenities one could want, and more.
I love the layout of the kitchen, and at the two places you might need to fill with water, say a teapot on the stove or the Keurig coffee maker, coming up, there is a separate faucet. Not something I would need, but handy for those that like to spend time in the kitchen. A bit of the one at the stove is on the far left of this picture.
What catches your eye when you first enter the home are the cute pictures and, well, the beauty of the cottage. Oops, I took this as we were getting ready to leave, and that box was heading to the trash.
Every window opens to scenery worth enjoying. My son was laughing while washing his cup one morning. He said he witnessed a bunny and a squirrel scampering out this window. Again, pardon the box.
A better view from above the sink in the kitchen. Isn’t it lovely?
A nice breakfast bar sits at the end of the kitchen. My son and I enjoyed this often. There are welcoming notes in the notebook sitting there and a little to-do notebook to add things that might need to be attended to. By the way, there are many antiques and clocks that look like they could be.
Directly across from the kitchen sink and next to the back door is the coffee machine I mentioned above. A drink cooler? Now I show my unsophisticated ways. We just have a refrigerator at home.
Looking from the coffee counter toward the dining room. The huge modern fridge. Yes, my suitcases are ready to go. So sad. I still live in this place at night, in my dreams, daytime wishes, in my heart, feeling the love here.
This is the wall behind the breakfast bar. I loved all the quotes and pictures tastefully displayed all over the home. I loved the welcome on the chalkboard. We left a thank you there before we left.
To the left of the welcoming chalkboard.The exercise machine. LOL. I did get a lot of exercise as what I needed was always at the other end of the stairs.
The door to the left of the stairs.
I think I already included this downstairs restroom and shower. I love how it is all arranged in one of the YouTube tutorials. Wish I would have captured the picture above the sink in the toilet room.
Guess I don’t need to say anything here.
The sink in the shower room.
The shower.
Storage for towels.
The dining room. At the end of the kitchen, where the fridge was. This is so pretty that I decided not to make it a smaller picture.
To the right of the TV table is the dining table. We used this room to gather Spouse 1 and Spouse 2, family, and friends together to make plans for the rest of the week. Great memories here.
Across from the dining table is a little sitting area. Yes, that is my coat on the one chair and my son’s backpack on the other as we are getting ready to go. So sad.
Outside a squirrel scampers on the fence.
From the dining room we enter the foyer. Probably backwards to coming into the house from the front door.
Another seating area outside.
Scamp.
The scamp is there again.
Pics in the foyer.
A napping bed in the foyer.
Antique phone above the bed.
Front door.
Never got around to it but there was a whole antique store across the street.
This across from the napping bed, the top drawer had crayons and paper. That came in handy when the friends and family visited.
Beautiful front door.
More foyer artwork.
Foyer furniture
Another nap bed or reading corner at the far end of the foyer.
Window seat or napping?
Artwork entering the living room or sitting room. I loved this room best. The sofa fit me best. This was where I did the most knitting and tinking.
Obviously, I hadn’t fluffed the pillows but that was quite comfortable!
Cute little end table.
A most comfortable living room. Great for relaxing after such a busy week.
My son’s favorite chair. And when I needed scissors I found them in the drawer behind his chair.
This wall is back at the entrance to the dining room. I love the saying and the picture.
This antique turntable was on top of a cabinet I wish I had known about at the beginning. It is full of board games.
Guess what was in the table behind the chair. Yarn!!! But I brought my own. Imagine had I not. This could have taken care of my addiction.
Look at the cute antique typewriter! I have visions of working on my NaNoWriMo novel here.
One of the many full bookshelves. The reader in me was so happy!
Beautiful fireplace and a TV that has enough streaming to get us by. Roku had Farscape, which we continued when we got home, and Netflix, Call the Midwife, and other easy watching. Isn’t the wooden goose cute?
We were so blessed in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, at the Greenstone Cottage. We highly recommend it if you get the chance to go, you will love it too. By the way, You pronounce the town as if you were saying, ‘I can no more walk.’. I had such a hard time saying it at first, but I practice it daily.
Thank you, Ronda, for making sure we were comfortable during our stay visiting with all of you. I think it is Cathy I need to thank for this beautiful home. I’ll correct it if wrong. Correction: Her name is Carol. Thank you, Ronda and Laura, for helping me get her name right.
Addendum. I forgot to tell you what Dana and I missed for being so tired from the week before and lack of sleep the day of the flight. I will claim the bout of diverticulitis. Whatever it was, we should have taken a few walks around the cottage. Laura pointed out that just a block away was a lake! I’m sorry, peeps! I could have gotten some fun pics of that! And there were some fun shops had we gone in the other direction. I wish I could do this again. I would have loved to check these out.
So all the running around and climbing stairs etc. Did my body some good, right? It was fun! I’ll tell more when I have time and energy. Tomorrow is the wedding!!!
We went to a German restaurant the first night. This was on the wall with a huge picture of the place they represented. An accordion entertainer saw us taking pictures of this and told us it was a song (Leider). He told me to sing the red lines. I was too shy at first but soon was enjoying it all. I’ll translate this and learn and blog more.
I’m having so much fun visiting with my family and the house we are living in.
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: starts with “hum.” Find a word that starts with “hum” or use the word “hum” itself. Send your bonus points to Dan at https://nofacilities.com/ if you use both. Enjoy!
When I had to leave Reno to pursue a less expensive place to live, I had to leave my adult children. Not that we got to see each other often. We didn’t see each other frequently, with all of them working and pursuing their own lives. But at least we knew we could get together for a quick cup of coffee or tea if needed. We did get to spend the holidays together and birthdays. Now six hours away and with weather issues, we find Zoom and instant Messaging but mostly phone our way to keep in touch. I miss them. One son had to come to live with us, making it a little easier.
Then, my daughter moved to Wisconsin. Yikes! That is a long way from the Oregon Outback. And with a truck that works for the short drives, Wisconsin is too long to drive without fear of breaking down. We manage food, mortgage, and small bills on our social security. But anything else is above our abilities. I’d love to be able to get a small job, but my health can’t do that right now, and neither can my husband’s. And as my brother and son have found, there are no jobs in this desert. So we do the best we can with what we have.
Then I learned that my daughter and her husband are getting married. I longed to be able to be there. Especially when she said they were doing a costume wedding in Halloween fashion. It seems like it would be so fun! I picture something like this:
Photo by T Leish on Pexels.com, not my daughter or her groom. I have no idea what they will wear.
One son is pulling out the stops to fund my live-in son and me to fly to and from the visit and wedding. As I mentioned, flight son is six hours away. There is no airport near here. The nearest is two and a half hours away. That would have made an eight-and-a-half-hour drive for him. I nearly gave up. It seemed impossible.
That’s when my friend volunteered. She wanted to visit again before the snow and freezes start in earnest as Fall rolls in. She is coming up as of tomorrow. We will visit, and then she will drive my son and me back to her place in Reno. We will spend a day or so there.
The flight is at 6 AM, and we must be at the airport at 3. That means a night of no sleep. You know I can’t fall asleep before 3ish. So that won’t be the problem. Flight son will pick us up at my friend’s, and the next adventure begins.
Now, more of the humble pie, as if I didn’t feel so grateful for the flights and drives received. The only thing I could figure out would be to stay with my daughter and her new husband once I was there. That’s not so great. The honeymooners would probably not want to have Mom and brother underfoot, ya know? They’re only human! But I certainly didn’t want to put the financial burden on the son footing the flights and drive home.
That’s when the groom’s mother jumped in and became another hero in this story. Not only is she covering catering and heating (the wedding and party will be outdoors to keep it anti-covidy. The groom has health issues that would make it deadly for him. Anyway, she found and is funding a couple bed and breakfast homes for a couple of us in this wedding party. Both are near the lake. I cried when I heard that. She said she knew how much it would mean to my daughter and me for us to be there. I can’t wait to give her a massive hug of thanks if allowed.
Back to the end of the wedding week in Wisconsin, the flight son has the return flight set up. Unfortunately, they could only get a flight to Portland. That’s five hours north of us. That means the flight son will have to rent another car to drive us home. Then, another six hours back to Reno.
Maybe for some of you, this isn’t much. Doing all the finances would be, well, doable. Perhaps leaving your husband and brother behind would be easy, or you would be able to bring them with you. My husband can’t fly. It would have had to be a car or train for him. My brother, again, with no income, can’t afford to go, and we are already taxing our family and friends’ finances. They are not rich by a long shot. Besides, who would stay and take care of the chickens and cats? So that’s where I feel more humbleness. They are both being so kind and selfless in making sure I don’t feel the guilt of leaving them behind. I know I will miss them. We’ll probably spend hours on the Zooms or Instant Messaging. I’ll try to take a lot of pictures.
Now for the exciting, fun things. I’ve made the witch’s hat (pics here and here). I bought a cheap wig that I’m still working on to make it more me.
I’ve given her bangs and will rat her up for the witch costume, then brush her out and use her as needed. I plan to trim my own hair and purple up before I leave.
I have some black broom skirts to wear, one as a skirt and the other I will slice up and make into a cape. I’ll take pics when there. Even I don’t know how it will all look. I’ll take as many pics of the area and the fun as possible. I don’t want to involve names or faces that don’t want to be on the internets.
Speaking of pics. The afghan is nearly finished. I need to make a trim around the edges to prevent curling. I’ll try to post that later in the week.
And that reminds me. It will be a busy couple of weeks. I will try to post as much as I can. But I may still miss a few days. That disappoints me, I’m sure, more than it disappoints you. I do my Duolingo and blogging every day. Whereas I have 1,520 days on Duo, I am only on day 118 on the blog. That is because I post after the languages. Often, I don’t get to the publish part until after midnight. 😒 I know I should do a bunch of blogs ahead, but I find I can’t. I feel like it is like a journal for me, so I like to hit it daily, and when I’m done, I’m done. I do have a couple ‘freezes’ set up on the Duo.
So there you have it. Let’s all hum the wedding march in minor key. But enjoy this, too.
Working on my series: Haven.
Doodler (zendoodle.com)
Music major: voice and piano
Mom of four great adults
Reiki II practitioner
I have been on disability/retired for 10 years now from depression, anxiety and fibromyalgia.
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