BUSY APRIL FAVES

 

How is it the end of April already?  March was rather a slow month for me and it seems like April has gone by in a flash!  Whomever said retirement is boring is crazy.....I've been busy between my volunteer work, my small group (aka book group), my hiking group, cleaning and managing the house and garden work/planting flowers and lettuce,  working out, date days with Dave, errands, appointments...you get the idea...I haven't even finished a novel yet this week and I've been reading about one a week or every 10 days! So today is a recovery day, meaning I'm not doing any kind of major cardio workout other than a walk later, due to all day hike yesterday. (I'm currently writing this part of the faves on Thursday morning) It's a blessing to have the time this morning before I have to run an errand, to just sit. 

While I sit, I'm reflecting on some of the blessings that came into my week and I'll share FIVE of the ones that are FAVES and then link up at Susanne's blog because she's the host of this gratitude meme. 

FIVE FAVES 

• FRIEND TIME: Last Saturday my longtime  childhood friend and I met about 35 minutes north of my home (she traveled out here from the central part of NYS where she still lives in the village we grew up in) and we planned to hike to a newly opened firetower called Cornell Tower. It used to sit on a hill in eastern NYS but was moved to the old Boy Scout camp called Camp Saratoga a number of years ago. The state only opens the firetower cabin (the top of the tower) about 4 times a year. Last Saturday was one of those days. She and I had always wanted to do it since we both completed the Adirondack/Catskills fire tower  challenge in 2015 (she was done in 2016) and this wasn't on the challenge. What a disappointment!  The "hike" was more like a walk up an old camp road and less than a half mile! 😂 and there wasn't even a great view other than we could see the Green Mountains of Vermont. But the time spent with my friend CB was worth it.  We hadn't seen each other in 11 months and we quickly got caught up.  After the "hike" we walked a wooded trail down to a pretty pond which is part of this wildlife preserve.  I'm thankful for pretty places to sit and talk and just relax on a beautiful Spring day. 

Cornell Fire Tower
town of Wilton NY

Delegan Pond

• LUNCH DATE:  Dave and I stayed after church chatting with our oldest daughter, her boyfriend, his parents and our worship directors for quite awhile so rather spontaneously, Dave asked me if I wanted to have a lunch date when our conversation with the gang had ended. We wanted to go to the local diner for some comfort food like chicken potpie  because the weather was horrible. It was pouring rain, cold, gloomy.  The diner lot was so full and people were waiting in line outdoors!  So we tried another diner in town and that one was just as busy!  So off to my fave Mediterranean  place we went where I ordered a MiniPoint which is any pizza from the 28 they feature and a small salad. I had the Bruschetta za with a caesar salad and Dave had the meatball panini.  Everything was so good and our conversation was fun because we were doing some reminiscing as well as talking about the sermon we had just heard.  I'm thankful my husband likes to be spontaneous. 

• MIDWEEK HIKE:  The group I lead, SoulSteps, had a scheduled hike for Earth Day which was this past Wednesday. I originally had 5 people signed up but only 3 of us were able to make it.  Both ladies who were able to go are good friends of mine and Joan offered to  drive which was a nice break for me. Our destination was Big Pond in the lower high peaks region/northern central region of the Adirondacks. It's just under 2 hours from my house. We all met at my place and we arrived around 11:45 AM.  We were at the pond by 1:15 and back home by 4:45 PM.  What was a cloudy chilly day down here ended up being a sunny, warmer day up there!  We shed  our top layers and hats about a half mile in and at 1.9 miles we saw the pond where we ate our lunch.  I'm so thankful for a beautiful Spring day and all the snow up there is gone! I was the only one who had hiked to this pond before and Joan and Ping just loved it so I was thankful for that as well.  Here's a few of my fave pics from the day: 

first half mile of the trail is nice and wide

Majestic pines
where the trail narrows about a mile in

Our destination:  Big Pond
in the Hoffman Notch Wilderness Area
Adirondacks 
the least visited area of the mountains....it is extremely remote

• GOOD REPORT!  Last Friday morning was my annual eye exam and I was so thankful when the opthamologist came in and said I have no signs of any eye diseases and the cataracts are not significant enough yet to be removed. YAY!!  My left eye changed just a little so since it's been 5 years since I had new lenses and frames, he suggested getting them this year. I'm thankful we actually have better vision insurance now, too.  I had to pay more than $800 out of pocket in 2020.  This year, after going to where our youngest daughter is an optometric tech at Luxottica (they are the parent company over Target Optical, LensCrafters, Dinapoli, and Sunglass Hut), and being able to use her family discount plus my Target Red Card, I saved over $500!!  (our new health  insurance through Dave's job covers some of the cost too, now!) Tuesday was the day I went to see her with my RX from the Brass Center.  I'm so thankful they weren't busy when I walked in!

Here are the frames that Claire helped me choose based on my face shape. 

I'm so thankful I got to have my daughter wait on me!!

Don't know if you can see it but the inner frame is a teal blue

• NEW GARDEN!  Yesterday (Thursday) was such a nice day outside...sunny and about 62 when I finally  was done with errands and housework so I wanted to get a new flowering plant into the  ground near the firepit. The ground was already prepped because our former firepit...one of those metal types you can buy...used to sit there for about 20 years and killed all the grass there.  Now that we have a permanent firepit that our oldest daughter designed about 5 years ago, I've been wanting to make a little garden area there but never seemed to have, or take, the time to do so.  I had bought a pink dianthus plant and was told to get it right into the ground.  It has to sit about an inch above ground level so I had already spread garden soil, dug the hole, placed the plant and built that area up with more garden soil.  Then I lined it with rocks I've collected over the years.   I  placed a garden flag there, a little solar light and left room for some wildflowers I'll plant come June. I am thankful it came out well!

Meet "Diane" my Dianthus plant!
(Yes I name all of my plants) 

That wraps up my week!

How was your week? Is it finally looking and feeling like Spring where you live? 

T is for Tenderhearted

 

Today is letter T in the A-Z Writing Challenge.  I'm not super keen on this writing challenge.....but because I chose the Attributes of God, I figured I should continue with it. 

T is for TENDERHEARTED.

Our God is a loving, tenderhearted one. He turns His heart towards His children!  WE are His Children. 

He created us in His Image and He loves us unconditionally. Nothing we do or don't do can drive God away from us.  

Jesus showed us His tenderhearted ways by His compassion, grace, and mercy.

He fed the hungry, He healed the sick, He drove away demons. He loved children, the widows, the sinners, and the saints. He was kind to all.

We are also supposed to be tenderhearted towards people. 

Be like Jesus!

S is for SAVIOR

 

I'm late getting to the letter S because I was gone from about 9:15 AM until 4:30 PM leading a hike in the lower high peaks of the Adirondack Mountains and when I got home I had to shower, change, clean up the backpack, deal with the hydration pack, and start chopping veggies for dinner. So now that I have just  cleaned up the kitchen at 7:45, I can sit for a bit with a hot cup of tea and work on the letter S.

I'm making my way through the writing challenge by writing about the various attributes of God so today S is for Savior!

God sent His Son Jesus to be the Savior of the world. This was prophesied so many thousands of years before He was born here on earth in the little town of Bethlehem  by the prophet Isaiah. 

THIS is the reason we celebrate Christmas!

One of my fave Scriptures says He came to seek and save the lost. 

He saves us from the darkness of this world....from the Evil one (Satan).....He saves our soul when we believe, confess and turn away from sin.  We can live eternally because He has saved us! 

I liked these Hodgepodge questions so am playing along.....I actually am writing this on Tuesday as I will be out of town on Wednesday all day. To join in on the Wednesday HodgePodge, head to this blog. 

 1. April 22nd is Earth Day...what's the most 'out of this world' place on earth you've ever visited? Tell us something about it. 

We've been to some interesting spots both as a couple and with our two daughters when they were young. The one thing that comes to my mind immediately though are the Catacombs in Rome, Italy where my husband and I and our 2nd daughter went while doing Rome and Florence.  We did the tour at  the San Callisto Catacombs which is considered one of  the largest and most important Christian burial sites located on the Appian Way! The photo below is my youngest girl, Claire, age 18 and I on the Appian Way. 

Rome, Italy
July 2017

 

On the way to the Catacombs 

Dave, Claire, and I spent a week in Rome and a day in Florence to celebrate her graduation from high school. Walking on part of the Appian Way was truly "out of this world" for us....I mean this is where Paul and Peter walked!! The Catacombs tour was just phenomenal. (Our oldest daughter, after  having just graduated from college 2 years before, had to work so missed the trip). These  catacombs was the official cemetery in the 3rd Century! Many people think the Apostle Paul is buried in the catacombs. He is not. He is buried inside a white marble sarcophagus under the papal alter of Basilica of St Paul.  We visited this site as well and it also was "out of this world".  Archeologists, due to carbon dating, have confirmed that the remains do indeed date back to the 1st or 2nd century!  If you ever have the chance to go to Rome, Italy, I  highly recommend the Catacombs as one of your guided tours. 

2. A favorite quote, verse, or song lyric with the word earth in it? 

a fave quote for earth day: 

quote is by the poet  George Santayana 
although social media gets it wrong and says Shakespeare said it.
NOT TRUE...this is not a Shakespearean quote. 

A favorite Scripture: 

A fave song: 

3. What's the most trivial thing about which you have a strong opinion? 

The way the toilet paper hangs. 

4. What's your most commonly used kitchen utensil or tool? What's the last thing you made using that tool? 

my kitchen shears.  Last thing I made was dinner last night: tofu scramble and I used them to snip the scallions. I use them for SO much. They're by Cutco.  I can trim my rose bush with them, cut open cardboard, cut those plastic tie thingys, and snip scallions or broccoli. and yes they can go in the dishwasher on the top silverware rack. 

5. Marilyn (Memphis Bridges) gave me a great book of 3000 questions, and I'm going to try to use one in our Hodgepodge every week. Here is today's - 

What is your greatest extravagance? 

Overall so far in our life it's a toss up between our week in Paris with our 2 daughters (ages 16 and 11 at the time) or Dave and my trip to Albequerque last May for a week. Well...and the fact we had a side hall colonial built for us in 1994 when our oldest was 1 and we finally paid off the mortgage in 2021! 

Smaller extravagances on a personal level: 

It depends on the season!  

Winter: a grande sized cinnamon dolce latte from *$ with almond milk and 2 pumps of the cinnamon syrup plus a warmed up chocolate croissant

Spring:  chicken quesadillas and a cocktail at one of my fave ADK pubs followed by something chocolate

Summer: an ADK trip to a brewery or pub with excellent food and with excellent cocktails plus soft serve ice Mounds ice cream cone (Chocolate coconut only found in one spot in the ADK) and a week in a mountain cabin on a lake;  OR a vacation somewhere with my hubby out of state but in the Northeast (last summer it was Maine and yes we spent some money!) 

Autumn: Same as above

On a more practical note: the most extravagant thing (as in the most expensive) we have spent money on for our home, besides a new roof in 2021, was getting every single window replaced in 2023 with Renewal by Anderson Windows. SO glad we spent the big bucks to do this. (the final cost was literally more than half of my annual salary as a special education preK teacher...we paid for it with some of my money from my dad's estate he left me with). 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

It looks like Spring as I type this (Tuesday late morning) but it feels like Winter. It is only 30 degrees F right now but it's sunny! 

soon to open cherry blossoms

tulips in the front flower garden
chives in bottom left
What will be irises behind the tulips....
more tulips to the right of the flag along with
my rose bush and 2 peony bushes 
to the left of the chives is a smaller rose bush
and the back corner is currently empty
but I'm thinking of putting some short sunflowers there

Happy Wednesday! 

 I'm hiking today (Wed)  in the lower high peaks/cental Adirondack mountains where I'm hoping there will be NO  snow.