A Hodgepodge of Favorites

 

autumn Maple tree
in Sister's yard in the upper Midwest

Autumn has come to North Central Florida. I'm sitting here typing on my laptop computer at my desk, wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt underneath a cardigan sweater that has a collar, ankle length jeans, and socks with my sandals. Our morning temp during breakfast was 51 degrees. Yay! I love this!

However, when the air gets that cold, I think twice before riding my bike. It's supposed to get pretty windy today, which requires more energy to pump against a headwind. 

We are waiting for some landscaping people to come and don't want to miss them while out on our bicycles. As these things typically go, we have no idea what time of day the fellas intend to arrive. 

Blogger problems. Is anybody else seeing the gadgets on their sidebar column get replaced with photos from previous posts, not intended to be a "gadget"? And then the insertion of other miscellaneous snapshots (all from my camera) inserted in the body of a post -- something I did not initiate.

I sometimes correct these things but am growing weary and skeptical. 

Anyway, here are my answers to this week's Hodgepodge questions -- if you want to link up with your blog, click here.

1. This week's Hodgepodge lands on 'Back To The Future Day'. October 21, 2015 was the date the movie characters (Marty McFly, Doc, and Jennifer Parker) traveled to in the future in the 1989 film Back To The Future Part 2. 

Did you see the movie? Tell us something about what was happening in your life in the fall of 2015. 

Yes, I have seen the movie many times. My favorite in the series was the last one where Marty and the Professor are in a western (as in cowboy) town. 

"Please excuse the crudity of this model; 
I didn't have time to build it to scale
or to paint it."

What was I doing in the fall of 2015? We were living in Castle Rock, Colorado. My friend Loraine was visiting from Arizona. I took her on a hike up the actual Castle Rock that overshadows I-25. In this snapshot we have the Rocky Mountains behind us, with I-25 below us (obstructed by the scrub oak bushes). My house was behind me. That flat mesa was affectionately referred to by the locals as "the ant hill" because that's what it looked like. On the 4th of July we could sit on our front porch with an absolutely perfect view of the fireworks being launched from that mesa.

me (w/sunglasses) and Loraine

Hmmm. Why did we move? It had something to do with politics, cost of living, and all of our 11 grandchildren living in Florida. 

Castle Rock, Colorado
(about 20 miles south of Denver)

2. Which -ber month is your favorite? (September, October, November, December). Explain why. 

November -- because that means October 31 is behind us (horrible holiday, in my opinion), the weather has cooled off considerably here in Florida by then, and Thanksgiving is a beautiful holiday before the crazy of December takes over.

3. Red, yellow, orange, bronze...your favorite fall color to wear? To eat? To see in nature? 

This is my current favorite color to wear in the cooler weather months. It's not really in my "color palette" but a dark enough shade of orange that I wear it anyway.

What is my favorite color to eat? BBQ red.

What is my favorite color to see in nature? Green.

4. What do you miss most about being 20? 

That isn't something I think about much. Probably a younger body.

5. We're roughly three quarters of the way through the year. What's one goal, habit, or mindset you want to purposely carry into the final weeks of the year? Elaborate. 

I want to maintain a positive, grateful outlook in spite of the negatives that prevail in the news and that naturally come with aging.

another favorite from my closet

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

P.S. If you are commenting as anonymous, please include your first name or initials in your comment. Thank you.

Blessings in Abundance

 

morning rainbow outside my front door

Every morning before we ride our bicycles, it's my habit to step out onto the front porch to check the thermometer and determine if there's going to be a headwind. To see a huge rainbow was a delightful surprise. (It was a double rainbow, which you can see fading if you look closely.)

The rainbow reminder of God's Presence was welcome. This week became unsettling when I realized it was time to dispose of outdated  paperwork that had a lot of my late husband's handwriting. 

The paperwork was a "trigger," as the counselors refer to it -- a reminder of hurt. God's grace helps us to cope, how to adapt, when that happens. He has done that for me, many times. 

Moving on to more pleasant activities this week: we once again enjoyed a lunch at the historic Yearling restaurant with people who have not been there before. 

The first time we came here, the earthy, rustic outside put us off a little.

As a city girl who was raised living near international airports and sophisticated corporate office buildings, I've learned to appreciate simple, unrefined settings. The locals refer to it as "Old Florida."

We arrived about 30 minutes before the restaurant opened; but even with its simplicity, hospitality was provided with sheltered seating where patrons can wait.

Antiques stirred up memories. My maternal grandfather worked for, and retired from, Gulf Oil back when they had offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma, before they moved their operations to Houston.

John and Pam

Our lunch friends arrived shortly after we got there. Many of you will recognize Pam and her husband from her blog, Closed Doors, Open Windows. With that introduction, I encourage you to visit her blog by clicking on this title, Friday Foto Friends~A "Wild" Lunch.  I've described The Yearling in previous posts, but she has done a much better job than me.

John and Gary at our booth

After ordering our food, we girls got up to walk around and take pictures while the fellas (who have met previously several times before this visit) got caught up with guy-talk. 

my lunch

In keeping with the habit of many bloggers, I snapped a picture of my food. When eating out, I often order what I don't usually eat at home. This time it was a side of collard greens (something Gary's surgery prohibits him from enjoying).

dessert

Pam and I shared dessert, a creamy orange delight. Aside from one bite for Gary, the guys did not have any dessert. 

It was a great visit with good people that was enhanced with the realization by all of us that The Yearling restaurant is pretty much at the half-way point between their home and ours. Good to know!!

Later that afternoon, Gary decided he wanted dessert. Our truck needed no GPS to find one of our favorite haunts....

Another highlight for me this week was a FaceTime visit with one of my sons. He lives hundreds and hundreds of miles from us, so these visits are a good alternative to plane fare, gas prices, and hotel reservations. 

Last weekend he ran a half-marathon through the California Redwoods, so he and Gary had a lively conversation on FaceTime about their marathon experiences. "Blended families" are not always easy. This visit did my heart so much good.

Gary's birthday was a couple of weeks ago. I gave him two jigsaw puzzles of classic cars. The first one was completed this week.

food trucks

Autumn has finally arrived in North Central Florida. I'm still wearing my Bermuda shorts and Crocs sandals, but slightly cooler temps and traditional fall activities are filling our days. This weekend is the annual Fall Festival in our +55 retirement community. 

The festival is made up of vendor booths for arts, crafts, food, home improvement businesses, Medicare consultants, and so forth. There was also live band music, oldies (of course!).

apple pie for me

Our favorite vendor is the dentist who hands out slices of pie for free!

pecan pie for Gary

Admittedly, neither of us use this dentist, but we surely do enjoy his pies!! (not all providers accept all insurance)

Gary waits for me

While Gary agreed to take me to the festival because of the pie, he was good to wait for me on a bench at the bocce courts while I walked through all the craft vendors. This is what true love does! 

one of 2 packages of popcorn

Somewhere in all of that I picked on the hint that Gary wanted some popcorn, so I came back to his bench with two flavors.

dish towel purchase

As I've said many times before, I don't shop like I used to. But a kitchen probably never has enough dish towels, so I bought three (3 for $20 was not a bad price). Two have a Christmas theme; I'll probably include them in a post during the holidays.

the "Twirlers"

The last attraction at the festival was a performance by the newly-formed majorettes group. Only four now, they did a fine job of reminding us of our high school and college days featuring choreography with batons.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

P.S. If you comment as anonymous, please include your first name or initials. Thank you.

Honest Answers to Serious Questions

selfie created with Chatgpt
"Cautious Glance Into the Shadows"

This week's questions from Joyce at her blog, From This Side of the Pond, are somewhat serious and introspective. If you want to join in with your blog, click here.

1. Do you think you're driven more by curiosity or comfort? Explain. 

It really depends on what is confronting me. I'll go with "comfort." People who are TOO curious tend to be annoying and/or test the boundary lines set up by the needs of others.  

This has become more important to me as I age and have learned a few things about relationships. 

However, if I need to know something of a serious, consequential nature, I have learned to stop worrying and go find out what I need to know so I can handle the matter with some competence. I am not curious just for the sake of curiosity. 

By the way, a wise friend told me years ago that we don't have to answer every question asked of us. In a court of law, yes; but beyond that, realize some people are either nosey about what they don't need to know and/or it's not in anyone's best interest to answer their question.

2. What non-food item is in your refrigerator or freezer? 

We store the Energizer Bunny our batteries in a refrigerator. We have ice packs in the freezer for injuries and sore muscles, etc.

from Wikipedia

3. Are you comfortable with silence? If you're home alone, do you like silence or do you need regular background noise? Do you seek out times and places to be silent? What's your favorite place to find silence/be silent? 

I am comfortable with silence. Depending on my mood and what I'm doing at the time, music in the background is sometimes my choice. 

Do I seek out times and places to be silent? With just the two of us in our home, and with both of us being comfortable with silence, I don't need to seek quiet places. Too much noise from people, the TV, and landscaping equipment wears on my nerves. 

I usually have silence in the room when I am composing a blog post (like right now), which really helps me to concentrate better. 

Here is an interesting graphic that popped up while I was responding to this question:

4. Carpentry, electrical, plumbing, landscaping...which skill would you most like to possess and how would you put that skill to use today?

I'm okay with not being especially skilled with any of these choices. I relate the most to landscaping since I pull weeds outside every week.

a rose clipped from one of our bushes yesterday

5. Do you lean more towards being too needy or too independent? Which do you find harder to deal with in others? 

If I need help, I'm needy. If I feel confident to do the thing myself, I can be very independent. My answer to this question relies heavily on what is confronting me, my level of experience, and how brave I am with the unknown. 

To be very honest, I'm not all that brave. When confronted with a huge loss a few years ago, I was reminded of God's instruction to Old Testament Joshua. He was designated to lead the Children of Israel (over 2 million people) out of the wilderness after Moses died. 

Have I not commanded you?

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be afraid;

do not be discouraged,

for the Lord your God will be with you

wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 NIV

The struggle has been real for me, but I am more brave than I used to be. In the midst of my scary stuff, I sincerely thank the Lord for the people He has given to help me: family, friends, marriage to my second husband, scripture, motivational books, articles and websites. 

Gary and me

To answer the second part of this question, I have to remind myself to be patient with anyone who is not in agreement with me. We are all "in process" and should give others our forbearance with their foibles, whatever that may be.

6.  Insert your own random thought here. 

Sharing here a familiar verse that has blessed me countless times. I hope it's an encouragement to any of my readers who may need a boost today:

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and 

saves those who are crushed in spirit.” 

Psalm 34:18

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

P.S. If you need to post anonymously, please leave your first name or initials. Thank you.

Summary of Whataweek

illustration by Chatgpt

It's been an eventful week here with both highs and lows. I'm processing some of it mentally and am not inclined to discuss it much. 

While musing over what to record in this post, I gave [free] Chatgpt the following instructions and the above illustration is the result..

watercolor back of 70 year old woman sitting at desk contemplating what to write, short salt-and-pepper gray hair, wearing dark pink long sleeved t-shirt, Trust the Lord

👉🏻 got good news that a family member's medical situation is better than anticipated -- a highlight, to be sure! Thank You, Lord!!!

👉🏻 one of my grandsons was recognized by his employer for his great work performance. 

👉🏻 we addressed a landscaping situation

👉🏻 Gary bought tickets for us to see 1950s teen idol Frankie Avalon in concert. (the real man, not an impersonator!)

👉🏻 tried to fix a computer problem on my own; had to visit my techie guy who gave me the solution at no charge.

👉🏻 completed one jiigsaw puzzle and started another

👉🏻 we both took care of banking business

👉🏻 attended a meeting for transition of our +55 community from the builder to the residents. 

👉🏻 served as one of several discussion leaders with my ladies' Bible study group; we're in Philippians chapter 3.

👉🏻 on our morning bike ride we observed how recent rains have caused one of our golf course lakes to overflow into the sand trap

👉🏻 the very next day a sink hole opened up in that same lake and the majority of the water had disappeared! Birds are enjoying a smorgasbord of fish!

* note: the sink hole is not connected to the hurricane. We live some 4-5 hours' drive from the destruction of the hurricane.

👉🏻 Hurricane Isaias slammed into the property of my family; no physical injuries but lots of downed trees and fences, etc. Some damage to the house but we don't know the extent of that yet because of the tree that fell against it. As of my last communication with them (and the TV news reports), many of the counties in the Panhandle are without power.

Internet photo of Hurricane Isaias 
a few days ago

👉🏻 continuing my reading of Pastor Robert Jeffress' book, Final Conquest (a Verse-by-Verse Study of the Book of Revelation).

👉🏻 began reading a biography of Abraham Lincoln (purchased at his museum on our recent road trip).

👉🏻 Watched our weekly church sermon on the subject of miracles.

ptv.org

👉🏻 a family member is running a half-marathon through California's Redwoods today.

driving through a California Redwood
(internet photo)

👉🏻 did my laundry, baked more Mini Taco Cups in Wonton Wrappers, and indulged with Gary in one of our favorite treats: Boston-Creme-filled donuts

As you can see, it was an eventful week here. As I've been typing out this post, I'm processing the harder aspects of it and definitely praying for the family and friends who are personally affected. We know the Lord is in control. We  know He allows adversity. For His children any/all trouble is ultimately for a good purpose even if that's not readily apparent at the time. He is good. 

I think of going to the dentist. Sometimes an extraction or a filling, etc is needed. It's not necessarily due to anything wrong or bad that we have done; it's just life and we deal with it appropriately. The same applies to hurricanes and sinkholes. 

A verse from the Old Testament Book of Job comes to mind:

Though He slay me,

yet I will trust in Him.

Job 13:15

And then there is this:

We know that in all things 

God works for the good

of those who love Him,

who have been called 

according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

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