Friday Fotos...

Continuing the tradition of posting photos from the week, started by Deb at Breathing in Grace!

Doc and Pistol got their carrots when we visited the farm (Joe's client)

on Wednesday.  It was hot and sticky out and the sky was gray.

Majesty got treats.  He was hot and sticky too.

Vanna came over for some carrots, even though she was laying down

when I got there. I guess the sand was cool to lay in.

The cattle and the sheep were in a different pasture than usual, but I 

heard them and then found where they were. 

The bull (left) got in front of the girls to protect them from me. LOL

I found three ducks under the flowering bushes but they

took off before I could get a photo of anything but their backs...

This flowering bush was just full of butterflies.  I took 8 - 10 photos trying

to get them in flight but failed. Should have done a video.

If you look closely, you can see a couple of yellow butterflies but not

the colorful ones. Whatever this flower is, the butterflies love it.

Going out, more cattle were in the pastures.  We didn't see any going in.

And yesterday morning, Vinny's ear greeted me from the top of the kitchen cupboards.

He sleeps up there all the time.

That's it for the day.  Thanks for peeking in.

Peace & hugs!  God bless!!

Whimsical Wednesday on Thursday...

There is no linky and there aren't any rules.

Check out the gown and pick the shoes you like best.

Have some fun. It's just a whimsical thing!!

(Photos from the Storybook of Dreams and Beauty)

Happy 75th birthday Dame Helen Mirren (born July 26, 1945)

...and she'll need some shoes to go out for dinner later on...

Shoe #1 by Giorgio Armani

Shoe #2 by Valentino

Shoe #3 by Aquazzura

My thoughts: Well, Helen Mirren is one of my favorite actresses and she looks beautiful in this gown. Probably not for me, but not many are. LOL As for the shoes, at least she is really barefoot for us!! I will go with #2 but all of them would look great with the dress. What are your thoughts?

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Just a shout-out for Rebecca Jo's Thankful Thursday, over at Knit By God's Hand. Share some blessings with others who post there today! I am thankful for each of you visiting today!

Peace & Hugs! God Bless!!

The Wednesday Hodgepodge!

You can join Joyce and all the Hogepodgers HERE!  Thank you, Joyce!!

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 379

1. Last time you moved house?  February 2017.  Something you've learned in moving house?  Stop saving stuff!! Get rid of the surplus before it piles up in closets and drawers and storage spaces!!  Say that again... stop saving stuff!! 

2. Move mountains, move along, make a wrong move, moved to tears, get a move on, move up, move over, move out of the way, move the deck chairs on the Titanic, move it!...pick one and tell us how it fits your recent circumstances.  I guess just move along.  That's about all we can do these days... move along, day-by-day.  One day at a time.

3. What have you been doing to make yourself move (aka stay fit-active) during these strange times?  Excuse me, what did you ask?  Something about staying fit and active?

4. This week's calendar includes celebrations for the following foods-

National Coffee Milkshake Day (Sunday), National Creme Brûlée Day (Monday), National Milk Chocolate Day (Tuesday), National Chicken Wing Day (Wednesday), National Lasagne Day (Wednesday), National Cheesecake Day (Thursday), and National Avocado Day (Friday)

Which one on the list would you be most inclined to celebrate?  Definitely, Creme Brulee Day!!  Which would you be most inclined to skip?  I could easily skip Avocado Day.  I don't dislike them but I sure like all the other things better! LOL

5. Next week's Hodgepodge lands in August! I know!! Raise your hand if you feel like July flew by in the blink of an eye?   Hand raised!!  Now bid farewell to your July acrostic style. If you don't know what that means click here.

J -  Jealous of last year...

U - Upsetting news makes us full of fear... 

L -  Lonely for family and friends...

Y -  Yet this, too, has to end.  Please.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.   As usual, on Wednesday mornings, we are off to the farm (Joe's client).  Yesterday we got our hair cut. It is always fun catching up with Teena, our barber.  

I need to ask you prayer warriors to please pray for my brother-in-law, Bruce.  He is in the hospital, originally to have his gall bladder removed (which went okay) then he developed some pulmonary problems and atrial fibrillation.  He ended up on a ventilator for a day.  No COVID 19.  He was better and breathing well with his heart back in rhythm but has taken a turn for the worst.  Tammy (my sis) told them to not resuscitate him again if his health takes another turn for the worst. That is his wishes and hers per their legal living wills.  Bruce is 83 years old (25 years older than Tammy).  Tammy is still dealing with her broken ankle through all of this.  I think she is resigned to not bringing him home this time, but he is strong. 

For those who are newer here, Bruce suffered a major stroke (brain bleed) almost four years ago and has had several smaller ones since then. He can't communicate verbally and is not fully mobile.  Pray for Tammy, too.  She has been a strong caregiver for him all these years with little physical help from Bruce's family.  His four children are all older than Tammy and that has been part of the problem, causing some miscommunications and hard feelings on both sides.   To be fair, they have helped with household repairs and with money and groceries when needed but they don't give Tammy any breaks so she can get away and at least do grocery shopping without having to bring Bruce along (he can't stay alone).  Pray.  They have been together for 10 years, married for seven.  She quit her job to take care of Bruce when he had his stroke.  They live in Georgia.  Thanks.

Thanks for your visit and for your prayers!

Peace  & hugs!  God bless!!

Tuesday 4...

Thanks to Annie for this week's Tuesday 4!  You can join in right HERE!

Question Variety

Welcome once again to Tuesday 4 in honor of our dear friend Toni Taddeo.


 1. What kind of restaurants do you enjoy most and why? Do you have a favorite?  I enjoy restaurants, period! LOL  If I don't have to cook or think about what to cook, it's a good day!  I like Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, American...  you get the idea!

2. Do you have a favorite cartoon from film, news, or comic book?  My favorite comics include Pearls Before Swine, Pickles, and Baby Blues.  I read the daily cartoons before I skim through the rest of the newspaper.

3.  Do you belong to any clubs or societies or organizations? Can you tell us about it?  Not anymore. When I retired from work, I also retired from many organizations I belonged to. They just make me weary now. I don't have to network with colleagues for business purposes now and most of them have dues that don't fit the budget now. Our new church's community group is the only "group" I belong to.

4. The internet is filled with ads. Are there any ads that you enjoy seeing or hate to see?  I don't like being inundated by sales ads. When it is possible to turn them in as spam, that's what I do. And don't get me started on the Chinese companies that have such cheap merchandise and make you think you are buying from an American company...

Thanks for your visit today! 

Peace & hugs!  God bless!!

Monday's Weekend Recap...

Another weekend came to an end and here we are, into the end of July and the first of August.  Just slugging through these pandemic months that are going fast in retrospect.

Friday evening, we had Helen and Cheryl over for dinner.  I got rotisserie chickens at Sam's Club and pulled the meat off the bones to make it easier to serve and eat.  I mashed some potatoes, had a mixed veggie, some gravy, and a nice salad.  They brought a coconut cream pie for dessert.  We enjoyed our meal and they stayed for nearly three hours!  All we did was talk.  Helen is really doing better and seemed to enjoy the conversation.  We enjoyed their company and the food.  Helen got her hair cut and a new perm.  I snapped a photo of her without her knowing so she is listening to Cheryl and not smiling but her hair looks great!  We have a few more appointments for her coming up, including more vascular studies and some x-rays.  I'm glad we are getting a good physical for her.

Saturday was laundry day.  Other than going out for the mail, that's all we did.  We ate leftover chicken for dinner and are eating it again today with some BBQ sauce on it.  I'll freeze the rest for soups or casseroles.

We went to church on Sunday and feel so blessed that our church is holding services.  There were 55-60 folks there again this week.  It is still being broadcast on FB Live for those who aren't attending but those who do are being safe with social distancing and wearing masks. If that's what it takes to keep going, so be it!!  Helen & Cheryl's church is to begin services again this coming Sunday. I hope they do.  It will be good for Helen.

I posted on FB from one of the memory things they bring up that it has been THREE years this week that I retired from the Polk Museum of Art after 20+ years as their accountant and operations manager. Gosh... three years!!  They gave me goodies every day that week, including breakfast at our staff meeting one day, and a wall full of cat stickers another day.  I had the best co-workers ever!  I was featured in that month's Members' Newsletter with an interview and my boss mentioned me in her introduction.

This is a quieter week for us.  We have haircuts scheduled for tomorrow, the farm (Joe's client) on Wednesday morning, and we are going out to eat with Tim and Judy again on Thursday.  I might get some cleaning done.

That's it for me.  Thanks for peeking in today!

Peace & hugs!  God bless!!

Sunday Stealing.... about a book

Thanks to Bev for this week's questions!  You can join in HERE!

Questions for readers

Hi! I'm your host Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World". . Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Pick a book you have read and answer
the following questions:

1.  Why did you pick the book?  Because I have read it four times and it is a classic.

2.  What did you think about the book?  I loved it.  There are only three novels I've read four times or more.

3.  What do you know about the author?  Just that she only had this one book published during her lifetime.  She was a southerner and was born in the early 1900s.

4.  What’s the most memorable scene?  There are many, but the burning of Atlanta is big.

5.  How did the book make you feel?  Like I was born in the wrong century.

6.  How do you feel about the way the story was told?  It was told beautifully.

7.  Which parts of the book stood out to you?  The entire book is amazing.

8.  Which specific parts of the protagonist can you relate to?  She was a strong woman who did what she had to do to survive.

9.  Which character did you relate to the most?  Melanie.

10. Share a line or passage from the book.  After all... tomorrow is another day.

11. What did you think about the ending?  It made me a bit sad.  But there is always hope!

12. Is the story plot-driven or character-driven?  Definitely, character-driven.

13. If the book was made into a movie, what changes or decisions would you hope for?  The book was made into a movie which is pretty amazing but the book is so much better than the movie.  Scarlett had more children in the book.  Bonnie wasn't her only child.

14. How did the book change you?  I don't think the book changed me at all.

15. If the book is part of a series, how does it stand on its own?  The book is not part of a series, though someone did try to write a sequel which is terrible.  Gone With The Wind stands very well on its own.

The other two novels I've read four or more times are The Once and Future King, by T.H. White (all about Camelot and King Arthur) and The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett. 

Happy Sunday!

Peace & hugs!  God bless!!

Saturday 9.... The Love Boat

Crazy Sam gives us the questions and we link up at Saturday 9.  You can join in HERE!

The Love Boat

Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants' posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme. 


Saturday 9: The Love Boat (1977)
 
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.1) The Love Boat ran from 1977 to 1987. It was in the Top 10 for seven of those 10 seasons. Are you familiar with the show? Were you a fan?  Yes, I am familiar and did watch the show, probably for all of those seasons.  It was cute.

2) Every week, viewers followed The Pacific Princess as she set sail to a glamorous destination. Have you ever taken a cruise?  Yes.  If so, where did you go?  We took a 4-day cruise to the Bahamas.  Joe and I both hated it and have never wanted to go on another cruise.  It was just not a good experience. The cruise line was Norwegian. The ship was the Leeward.  Here is proof...

 
3) Gavin MacLeod played Captain Steubing. Born Allan See, he came up with the stage name by combining the first name of a fictional character he admired, and the last name of a teacher who influenced him. Using his formula, give yourself a stage name. For example, Sam would be Hermione Hart (Hermione from Harry Potter; Hart for her Kindergarten teacher).  Stephanie Everhart  (Stephanie Plum and my 2nd-grade teacher, Mrs. Everhart.)

4) After the series ended, Fred Grandy (aka "Gopher") went on to become a Congressman from Iowa and then CEO of Goodwill Industries. If you had a bag of gently-used items to donate, where would you take them?  We used to take them to our (old) church's thrift store but now, there is a secured and dry bin across the street in the parking lot of our doctor's office to deposit shoes and clothing for the needy. That is where we put our last two donations of clothing.
 
5) Ted Lange is best known for his role as the ship's bartender, Isaac. But he began his career performing the classics and appeared at Colorado Shakespearean Festival and London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Let's class up this joint. Give us a little Shakespeare.  Is this a dagger I see before me, the handle toward my hand?  (From Macbeth and the only line I remember from the class I took that made me memorize lines from Shakespeare.)  

6) Bernie Kopell played the ship's doctor, Adam Bricker. Kopell first appeared on TV in 1961 and was a regular on Get Smart and That Girl, and he's still acting today. But Love Boat was, by far, his favorite role. Working on the show was "absolute heaven" because he was paid to travel the world and meet his acting idols, like Oscar winners Greer Garson, Joan Fontaine and Eva Marie Saint, who appeared on the show. When you think of the best job you have ever had, what made it so good: the pay, the location, the people you met, or the work itself?  My best job was the one I retired from after 20+ years - Polk Museum of Art.  What kept me there were the people, first, then the location (Lakeland and an art museum!), and last the work itself. You don't work for a non-profit for a big salary! LOL

7) Lauren Tewes played Cruise Director Julie McCoy. Today she lives in Seattle, appearing in local theater and -- between acting assignments -- working as a chef for a catering service. Have you hosted dinner for more than 8 people?  Yes.  If yes, do you remember what you served?  Baked ziti is always my go-to for a crowd, but I have also done a complete Thanksgiving dinner for a dozen or more.  I really love cooking for a crowd!

8) For the first nine seasons, the theme was sung by Jack Jones. The Grammy-winning singer says one of his career highlights playing Sky Masterson onstage in Guys and Dolls. In his late 50s at the time, had had to go outside his comfort zone, dancing and acting as well as singing before a live audience. Tell us about something new you tried recently.  Gosh, really?!  Has ANYONE tried something new during this pandemic?  I haven't done anything new since who knows when.  Such a slug.

9) Random question  -- Which would you rather receive as a gift: one $500 wristwatch, or five $100 wristwatches?  I'll take five watches at $100 each.  The more I seem to pay for a watch, the faster it stops working.  My best watch is a $35 water-resistant Timex.  Joe actually said the same thing.  He LOVES watches and has eight or ten (to my five or six).

Thanks for popping in today!

Peace & hugs!  God bless!!

Friday Fotos....

Not sure how Friday got here so fast, but here it is!  Time to post some photos from the week, following the tradition begun by Deb at Breathing In Grace!!

I have posted the Southside Cleaners sign before.  Thought it was cute this week.

And Southside Cleaners really is a business here in Lakeland.  I usually take the picture

while stopped at this light and then crop it in.

Wednesday morning found us at the farm (Joe's client).  The cattle were all over the

pastures in the front so they were on both sides of us and in front of us going in!!

The horses all got carrots!! This is a close-up of Vanna!

And a close-up of Majesty's back-side.

The sky was huge with all the clouds and it looked like it touched the ground.

Doc and Pistol, after they got their treats.  The cattle I have been "talking" to were

in with Doc and Pistol this week.  They weren't especially interested in me this time.

The guinea hens were LOUD!  

And this was my view of the pasture while sitting on the patio.

Last night, we went to dinner with our friends, Tim and Judy, who live here in Mas Verde.

We all like Miller's Ale House.  The special for Thursday was prime rib and it was delicious!

We had a great time and made a date to go out together next Thursday.

We invited Helen and Cheryl over for dinner tonight.  Joe and I are going to Sam's Club this morning and I think I will cheat and buy a couple of rotisserie chickens (for extras) and then do mashed potatoes and a veggie, with a salad. They are bringing dessert.  We took Helen to the doctor yesterday and he ordered a lot of tests, including a CT scan of her head.  She wonders why all the tests and we just told her that he is being thorough and wants a good physical. She piped up and said 'he just wants more money'!  They took blood and urine while there and will do the scan and some x-rays over the next couple of weeks.  She is doing a little better this week. The doc did change a couple of medications. Hoping he noticed one of them could be causing some of her symptoms. As her health-care surrogates, Joe and I just want to get all the bases covered.  Hoping she will just go along with the tests with our explanation of a complete physical.

Thanks for stopping by!  I wish you a good weekend ahead!

Peace  & hugs!  God bless!!