A GLIMMER OF HOPE

 Saturday we had a humdinger of a rain storm.

Thunder, lightening, hail and rain dumping all around us.

I went into the kitchen to pour myself another cup of coffee and looked out our sliding patio door.

There sitting right on the top of the broom handle was a sweet little bird.

He had come in under our roof to get out of the hail and cold.

I had my phone with me and snapped a shot through the window just before he got startled and flew away.

I found out he is a Black Phoebe.  I have seen them bouncing around on our lawn stirring up some tasty bugs, but never just balancing on the broom handle before.

Not the greatest photo but I'm glad I got it at all.

Have a great day...

NOT GOOD NEWS

 Today I received a text from our friend in Namuncha, Kenya.

Floods are ravishing the entire Rift Valley.  Many people have lost their lives and more have been displaced with no where to go and no clean water or food supplies.

This is the area where Dave and I spent 2 weeks living with these lovely, amazing Masai people.

Solomon is so concerned for his people.

Here are just a few of the photos we took those years ago.  I pray for the people there and hope they are okay.

The Rift Valley is usually dry and desolate...full of volcanic rocks and thistles.

Their humble homes aren't much protection against torrential rains and floods

Where we slept, protected by the thorn bush enclosure.

Precious kids who are now adults.

I do pray for them.

Kim who was on our Team playing games when there is a language barrier.

Smiles can do wonders.

Walking to the Namuncha School which is feared to be totally destroyed.

Jessica and Kim were part of our team there.

The kiddos always wanted to hold our hands.

Wildlife was so amazing.  I do hope they are able to survive.

Telephoto lens.. but they were actually really close to our truck on safari, after our time serving the Masai village.

I have a gazillion photos but this is just a jog of memory.

No one on the news is even mentioning other things that are happening in the world.

Thanks for looking.

CAR SHOW .... ARCHIVES

 The other day Debby of "From My House to Yours" showed some wonderful photos from their local Classic Car Show.

Several of them triggered some memories of a car show we attended a few years ago.

Enjoy these Flashes from the Past..

Ok, funs over...

Now its back to pulling weeds...

JUST STAYING IN TOUCH

 I've been coughing my head off for the last 3 days.  No fever, no cold just a icky cough.

So

This is going to have to do it for a post today.

I actually feel much better and we stayed home from church.  I didn't want to share my germs with anyone else.

Life does go on and it's nice to see the sun shinning so brightly today.

Here's a few Naked Ladies for your pleasure.

Have a great day.

HARBINGERS OF SPRING

 Harbingers of spring;

That will do it for today!  😊👀💓

PHOTO CHALLENGE FOR THIS WEEK

 Our Zoom photo club meets again tonight.

It always a great time to see and chat with people from all over the USA.

Tonights challenge is to depict something from Psalm 104 as a photograph.

I had so many in mind and couldn't choose between two.

Here were my choices:

Psalm 104:19

He made the moon to mark the seasons;

I love how it seems that the moon is being hung in the heavens by the "hand" of God.

The second choice is from Psalm 104:10

You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills;

I ended up using the first one but it was a difficult choice.

Be sure to enlarge them so see the detail.

Thanks for looking.

HUMP DAY

 Middle of the week is sometimes called Hump Day.

So it is what it is.

I'm just checking in to say hi and planning on sliding into the rest of the week.

Got our state refund today .. yay for small favors...

We are seeing some new life on our fruit trees, despite all the weeds surrounding them.  (Isn't that like Life?)

There's always some weeds in our lives that want to snuff out the pleasures of a new day.  So I say to myself .."look up and enjoy the perks of Spring".

Love Ya..

A NEW WEEK

 Today is the start of a new week.

Nothing very exciting is on the horizon for us.

We did have a really nice Sunday though.  We went to our son's and daughter in law's home for dinner after church.

Yummy pot roast and all the trimmings.  Of course this photography family didn't take a single photo!!

We both had a decent nights sleep and actually feel quite human today...😃

Just some "Pretties" for your day...

Always enlarge the pictures to get the best effect.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

 A few days ago, when the weather finally cleared up, Dave and I went out in the front yard to pull out some weeds.

We have felt like our home looked abandoned compared to the others up and down the block.

We worked really hard in this area and another area but just couldn't finish it..

The "old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be".

We went back out the following day and got to it.

The best thing about being in the front yard is chatting with all of the neighbors as they walk their dogs and pass us.

Dave would tease the people and say something like.."there's plenty of weeds to go around.  Help yourself..its good exercise.."

They would laugh and be on their way.

About 20 minutes after a gentleman and his 2 dogs had stopped and gabbed for a bit, 

He returned  ..  no dogs...

Just He and his GLOVES..

He said hi, put me to work!!

My jaw literally dropped and I said something really intelligent like "Are you Serious???"

He said yes he wanted to help.  He's retired and had been working in his own yard earlier that morning.

He grabbed a hoe and cleared so much weeds .. I felt like crying...

Tim is AWESOME!!!

Now our front yard is presentable and we have acquired a True Friend.

We are Blessed!

As I have said many times

I love our neighbors.

THANKFUL  THURSDAY

OUR PHOTO CLUB CHALLENGE

 Today is our photo club challenge meeting.

The challenge is to share a photo that puts meaning to Psalms 23.

It will be really fun to see everyone's interpretation of these verses in the Bible.

I chose Psalms. 23:3b

He leads me in paths of righteousness for His names sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

My take on these verses is that the Lord is our Light and our guide along the paths of our life.  We have no fear as we continue to walk with the Lord.  He is our Lighthouse.

Thanks for looking and I appreciate your comments more than you will ever know.

YESTERDAY'S THOUGHTS

 What do you do when it's raining outside?

Why, of course, you climb into the kitchen sink

and clean the very awkward window!!

Now its done and am I ever glad...

Of course after the rain gets it out of its system

The outside will get cleaned too.

And now it's on to the taxes for Dave and I..

It just doesn't get any better..😇😃

THANKFUL THURSDAY

 Where has this week gone?

We're back to Thankful Thursday again.

Last Tuesday I was whining and feeling sorry for myself and some of the financial difficulties we are facing.

The phone rang and it was our next door neighbor saying that they had not seen us in quite a while.  She said you have probably eaten dinner already but she had made more pasta than they could eat.  Stick it in the fridge and have it tomorrow!!  

And that's what we did...

Wednesday morning I get a call from our neighbor on the other side of us.  Hye said I was shopping and thought you might like a chicken from Costco...

I was shocked but graciously and humbly said thank you.

So

Last night we had Shirley's yummy pasta and tonight we will have Chicken Ala Something or other...

Blessed

Thankful

Humbled

And now its time to pay it forward!

Thanks for looking

HAPPY EASTER MONDAY

 Yesterday was such a wonderful day.

Our Easter service at church was beautiful and the music touched my soul.

After church we went to dinner at some friends home or maybe one should call it a Ranch-ette.

We have known Beth and Wes since they were in high school.  Our kids were best friends with them and Dave and I were also good friends with their parents.

We have been in each others lives for about 40 years.  It really does make one feel old when those kids have kids planning weddings and becoming grandparents too.

We were all friends from our church in San Francisco and many made the move to the Greater Sacrament area.  It was like Old Home week with about 35 people (lots of kiddos running everywhere) bringing gobs of delicious food and we were scattered all over their property.

I never got photos of most of the crowd.  I spent most of my time visiting with 2 dear friends.  Solveig is in her late 80's and Begnt is 90..Oh that I could be as sharp as they are.  I brought a letter that we found in the midst of some old photographs.  The other couple is from Sweden and the letter was written in Swedish.  We had a good time translating it.  It was from my GreatGrandfather to my Grandfather in 1923.  Fascinating.

Yay, it didn't rain.  This was my view from the porch.

Unfortunately all of my photos are blurred in the transferring process from my phone to Picasa..oh well.. it is what it is.

Beautiful pastures and 2 of their horses out in the pasture.

They also have another horse or 2, chickens, goats, kittens and several dogs.

Sorry Sandra (Mad Snapper) I didn't get any photos of them.  They were too far from the house and the ground was soft and uneven from all of the rain.

Fun to have a baby around for Easter

Dave having a great chat with Begnt.

Solveig in the blinding sunshine.  she is such a wonderful, sweet lady.

Not my best photos by any means but they are good record memories for me.

I feel so blessed to have these friends and that all of the generations can be together for fun and fellowship.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

 There is always so much to be thankful for.

A few days ago our door bell rang.  When I went to answer it I saw a charming young man standing there.

He glanced at our weeds in the front yard and said  he would like to be hired to do some yard work for us.

Now we really Can Not afford to hire anyone ... but I felt a prompting to continue the conversation.  I was holding a ball point pen in my hand and he looked at it and said Oh Bayside.. I was holding a pen from our former church... "I go there and my Dad works there" said the cute High Schooler.

I said well let me talk to my husband and come out to the back and see what we Desperately need done.

He said my friend and I can come right now and do it for X amount of dollars.

Dave and I discussed it for a Nano Second and said YES.. it was weeds on the hill behind the retaining wall.  Not something We have the energy or balance to do if we can help it.

Long story sort.. they weeded 3/4 of the area in one hour and we got the worst of it done.

Job well done!

Fast forward to today.

Our neighbor across the street came over and "finally" paid us for some things he had bought from us several weeks ago..

The amount was the exact amount we had forked out to pay the kids!! ..

Blessed to not have that chunk of cash missing from our checking account.

Then I am reading my daily devotional.

This is what it said:

I am the God who Gives and Gives and Gives.

When I died for you on the cross, I held back nothing; because Giving is inherent in my nature, I search for people who are able to receive in full measure.

I look for people who are receptive and are willing to being open to be filled with my abundant riches.

When our finances are so more than "Tight",  God blessed us and we give him praise!

Morning Clouds

Happy Easter....

WEDNESDAY THOUGHTS

 It seems that the weeks are going at warp speed nowadays.

This one is no exception.

So

I thought I would just give you several thought for this mid-week day.

That's it for today..😃

WEEKEND PHOTO CHALLENGE

 Our photo club is finally resuming after some time off.

The challenge for this coming Monday is : HIDDEN BEAUTY

Most are posting such lovely scenic photos.

I thought I would go "Out of the Box"

Or "Out of the Shell"... hee hee

Here's my Hidden Beauty in every day things...

Gotta have a sense of humor when I can't compete with the more professionals.

Oops, I think I like the first one better..more balance..

Well we'll see what others think when we have our Zoom meeting Monday evening.

Fun any- hoo...

Thanks for looking

SPRING IS HERE

 Yesterday was the first day of Spring...

Does it feel like Spring time where you live?

Our temperature got up to 75F yesterday ... so glorious ...

By the weekend we are suppose to be down to 58F with rain and snow in the mountains.

Its such a fickle time of year.

Here's the sum and total of my Spring - Easter decorating for this year.

I really went ALL OUT !  😄

Happy Middle of the Week !!

MONDAY RAMBLES AND MEMORIES

 Today is filled with many UPS and DOWNS but through it all

the Lord holds my hand.

Missing a friend that passed away several weeks ago.  We just attended his 

"Celebration of Life".  It truly was that, and now we and his family go on and cherish the memories

There are blessings with our sons and their families that make our hearts full.

I guess this blog post is about Things off the top of my head...

I know this is a good day and I am blessed.

BEE-CAUSE

HAPPY  SPRING

GOOD MORNING and HAPPY SATURDAY

 So happy to see the sunshine this morning.

I'm enjoying my first cup of coffee and cruising the Blogs.

My opinion...

MEMORIES TO LAST A LIFETIME

 Last night was a wonderful time for us.

Our Small Group/Bible Study "Family" had such a fantastic time together.

We have been gathering at our house for the last 10 years.

Deep and loving friendships have been bound together .

Last night was no exception.  We hadn't met since December 5th so there was a whole lot of catching up to be done...

Lots of laughter, some heartache, some trauma, some silliness and great food.

Love Overflowing.

These photos are mostly for me but CANDID SHOTS are never really flattering.

We celebrated 3 birthdays with a yummy chocolate strawberry shortcake.  It was delish.

Potlucks are the best.

Dave and I were sitting at the end of the table so we could get 11 around it together.

So unfortunately our faces aren't shown but that's ok.  

Feeling Blessed...