* SPRING - WINTER - SPRING - WINTER *

Today was a cold and dreary day, which is how the entire month of March always seems to be. As the title of this blog post says, we've had crazy weather which seems to be normal for most of the country/world. 

I love hearing the birds chirping in the mornings. That is one of the things that brings me joy. I also love to hear wind chimes, as long as they're not banging too much, as in a horrible wind storm. 

Tomorrow is April 1st. My husband always used to try to play tricks on his teenage sons. It worked for a few years, but then they got wise to him, and the jokes were gone. (He never tricked me with any of his wild stories. I knew him too well.)

I'm looking forward to long days of sunshine, warmer temperatures, the feeling of warm breezes, and gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. 

Below are random photos I came across this evening, that have been posted on my blog over the years.  

I liked the way the sun and shadows looked

 on the wall and the items on the table. 

This was our living room in what we refer to now as 
"The Big House". 

A cute set of salt & pepper shakers.  

 

 

(I haven't unpacked my collection yet, 

because I have boxes left to unpack!) 

Four friends from grade school and Girl Scouts! 

Cheri, Barb, Becky & Christy

 

"The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but the long and winding road has the better soundtrack." -- Robert Brault

* IT'S OUR ANNIVERSARY! *

Today is our wedding anniversary ... our 39th.

What? How can that be possible? 

It seems like 20 years ago, 

and yet in reality it's almost twice as long as that!

Ron bought me red roses, which was a wonderful surprise! 

He's certainly gotten me flowers before, 

roses, carnations, etc. but it still was a surprise.

My eye surgery was this past Monday, Feb 7th. 

It took longer than the first one on my other eye

a few years ago, but that was explained to me up front.

I go back Monday, Feb 14th for my post-op check up.

My vision is still a little "off" which was also explained. 

My eye is supposed to "relax" soon 

and my vision to be back to normal. 

I certainly hope I'll be able to see well enough

 to go back to my part-time job sometime soon. 

I'm getting a bit bored. 😀

~~~~

“A woman of vision may have lost her eyesight, but she can see afar; because through her mind, she conceives far beyond what eyes can see.”

― Gift Gugu Mona, Woman of Virtue:

 Power-Filled Quotes for a Powerful Woman

Brrr, It's Cold Outside

 It's Friday night and half the country is freezing! Our temps have been up and down and crazy, but I think our coldest was this morning. The weather icon on my cell phone said 1⁰ Fahrenheit !!

Just one little tidbit of news. My presentation for last Tuesday, the 18th, at the library was canceled due to Covid! It's a fairly small library and too many of the employees were out sick. They hope to be able to reschedule.

I hope to write another blog post soon. 

Bye for now. Stay warm if it's cold where you are. Stay cool if it's hot where you are. And stay safe and well!

“Snow flurries began to fall and they swirled around people's legs like house cats. It was magical, this snow globe world.” – Sarah Addison Allen, "The Sugar Queen"

 

   

* IT'S JANUARY 10, 2022 & STILL NO SNOW! *

1) Have I mentioned I have double vision again like I did a few years ago? And did I actually tell y'all then that I had double vision??

It started for no reason (just as before), but this is different because sometimes I can see if holding my head a certain way. Last time that wasn't the case.

I got to the point recently where I didn't feel safe driving, and my neck hurt from bending it a certain way. It's a good thing I only work two days a week now, because Ron drives me to work, and picks me up to come home. (it's about 45 miles each way.)

I will have surgery (like last time) to correct the problem and I wish it was right away, but I still have an appointment for another consultation on January 24, with the surgeon. 

2) I had been scheduled to speak at our local library since before I developed the double vision...and it's next week - January 18th! I explained to the woman in charge about it and she is going to help in any way she can. I can read okay if I look straight ahead, and I intend to look at the people most of the time.

I was asked to speak because of the recent Chicken Soup for the Soul book I have a story in. The attendees will be seated at tables, and the woman in charge is bringing a crockpot of chicken soup. What a fabulous idea! 

I'm also going to have a raffle for copies of the book, and also my memoir. 

I'm looking forward to a (I hope) fun evening. I've never been nervous to speak to people before, so I hope this goes smoothly.

"Yelling really loud can sometimes ease tension…and sometimes it makes everyone else in the library jump out of their skin." – Maxine      Gotta love that Maxine!

* OKAY, IT'S DECEMBER AND I CHANGED MY BACKGROUND! *

I'm beginning to feel Christmasy, and I hope I continue to do so. 

Soon, I'm going to make cut-out Christmas cookies, which I haven't done since around 2013. I'll post photos when I do. Probably next weekend.

We've had such warm temperatures, it doesn't feel like December, so baking cookies should keep me feeling Christmasy!

I hope everyone is well. We've been doing pretty good. 

Bye for now! 

May the blessings of Christmas fill your life today 

and through the coming years.

* WHAT? NOW IT'S ALMOST THANKSGIVING!

 I apologize for not posting anything since October 5th! 

All I can offer for a reason is just being too busy.

Below are just a few of my favorite Thanksgiving Day images. 

Drawn by Mary Engelbreit

A wonderful local artist who is known world-wide.

~~~~~~~

Some of you might remember my Nostalgic Sunday posts. 

I'm adding this to my Thanksgiving post because I love 

everything about Mayberry, and I'm picturing them 

having turkey dinner here!

~~~~~~~

My favorite plate of my Four Freedoms collection. 

No words needed!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!!

(I'm thankful for my friends.)

WHAT? IT'S OCTOBER ALREADY? IT'S AUTUMN...MY FAVORITE SEASON?

 Hey everyone! I honestly can't believe the last time I posted anything here was July! 

I'm fine. My family is fine. Work is fine. Green Kitty is fine. 

My excuse for not posting is the usual...been working a lot and tired (therefore sleeping!) a lot. 

I must share some of my favorite fall pictures and quotes below. 

These pictures are all pretty old and you've probably seen them before, but aren't they pretty?

Well, this is all for now. I hope all of you are safe, healthy, happy, and enjoying where you are in life!

* GREEN KITTY EXPLANATION *

Okay...here is the explanation about Green Kitty's name! (At that time, various stray cats were coming to our front porch to eat food we put out for them, and some of them liked it so much they hung around a lot.) The other cats/kitties that visited much be feral cats because they've never let us get very close to them. We have a new little family that we're trying to get close and pet them, because they are adorable and we'd love for them to be adopted.)

Ron and I gave all the stray kitties various names so we'd know who was who! The guy below is Green Kitty. Then there was White Socks because he was mostly all black except for white on all four legs, that looked like socks. 

Also, grey striped kitty.

Black and White kitty.

Etc.

Another visitor! We call this guy Green Kitty, because of his tiny green collar with a tiny bell. We found out he had an owner who moved away...and just left him!

This was taken in April. We took him in soon after that.

He is so much fun! Ron and I are amazed we have a kitten in our house

Oh, and we bought him a new green collar !

P.S. So, this is why I mentioned to Stephen T. that he would never guess about the name! :)