Winter Break is almost over and it's been......interesting. Busy, but not necessarily with all things I love. Yet even during the busy, we can find blessings. I'm here to share five of mine from the past week. Several bloggers participate in this weekly gratitude exercise and then we link up at Susanne's site.
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| image courtesy of d*Terra Website |
- SOOTHING COMFORT: Friday morning I stubbed my pinky toe hard. Hard! On a piece of furniture before leaving for work. Didn't think anything of it until about 2 hours later when my shoes felt like they were pinching my foot. Didn't make the connection until I was home that evening, took my socks off, and saw various shades of purple, blue and red all over my toe and up into my foot. (it also didn't help that a 5 yr old student STOMPED on that foot earlier in the day in a fit of rage) Didn't bother running to doctor (they can't do much for a toe anyways) and just prayed it wasn't broken. Compared it to some online info and came to the conclusion it must be sprained. This essential oils rub I use on my back pain when it acts up, was just the thing to soothe the toe enough for me to get some moleskin wrapped around it. It's been tough as I had 2 hikes planned this week so of course had to cancel those plans. I'm very thankful for ice packs and essential oils for their healing properties.
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| Laundry area of the basement with Dave's gaming area to the right (and some off season storage) |
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| Our sitting/movie area (VHS and DVDS only) plus some of the girls childhood stuff in the boxes When 2 people are watching a movie, there's another chair like the one you see We keep it folded up when not in use |
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| Dave's gaming and book area plus storage along back wall to the right of the photo and behind his chair is a drying pole for clothes as well as a cupboard for xmas decorations and various tools the tool table and area is behind the drying poles and racks |
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| We have an aisle finally! Furnace and hot water heater on the left seasonal items in bins along the wall; under-the-stairs closet holds all decorative, seasonal decor and some hiking gear back wall is our food pantry area with some cottage stuff to the left |
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| Xmas tree and outdoor lights are to the left in the photo and finally....our treadmill has the space where Courtney's stuff used to live |
- BASEMENT CLEANING DAY! Courtney, our oldest, came over Saturday morning to go through her childhood bins and boxes and get rid of the junk. She donated a ton of games and posters/clothes and books to Salvation Army and the rest went in the recycling bin (old college essays, etc). Then she moved her childhood book bins, stuffed animals she wants saved, and her American Girl doll stuff over to the other side of the basement near Claire's stuff to free up the space for our treadmill. The basement still has a LOT of crap in it...but most of it we use throughout the year...it's basically a storage place plus the mini laundry area and Dave's gaming area. Because we rent a cottage every summer, we have bins for that as well (think camping style dishes, old towels, swimsuits, kayaking gear, hiking gear, BBQ stuff, etc). I'm thankful the basement got cleaned up, re-organized and we even donated SIX electronic items to the large recycling plant in the city. They took everything we brought them: a Wii Fit gaming thing, a TV Monitor, desktop computer, coffee brewer, microwave, an old laptop. It felt SO GOOD to recycle those items!! I'm so thankful for the entire family pitching in to help with this project.
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| Aribelle |
- AFRICAN VIOLET: I splurged at the flower shop the other day and bought my self this little African violet to see how it does in my family room which faces east (which african violets need) and has the morning sun. My grandmother always had sills upon sills of african violets and I loved them when I was a little girl. I tried having them when I first started teaching and had my own little apartment but they all died. I'm praying this one will do well. I named it Aribelle (yes, I name my plants....I know have Yama (A bamboo plant. Yama means mountain in Japanese), Sylvester my Snake plant and now Aribelle. I'm thankful for this spot of color on a dreary winter day.
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| electric "oil" lamp! Circa 1960s. |
- ANTIQUING!! Yesterday I drove out to this place near my hometown area in the central part of New York State and met my sister Hope for a time of browsing/shopping in the large antique store there. I was determined to find a small lamp to put on my kitchen counter so that when it's evening, I can keep the overhead light off and just have the counter lit along with the light over the stove or sink. I like the ambiance a smaller lamp brings especially for when my small group is here or we have evening company or even when we're not in the kitchen but we want a light on in there. I finally found one after an hour of searching! It's like an oil lamp (we have 2 but finding lamp oil is harder and harder these days and I don't care for the consequences of the smoke...it ruins walls and ceilings so now we have them just for "show". Anyways, this one is electric!! I just love it. I'm not sure if it's going to stay there or if it's going to swap places with a smaller lamp i have in the living room but for now it's staying in the corner of the counter. I'm thankful for a fun time of shopping with my sister. I also found something very special for my oldest daughter's July birthday but I can't show it or say what it is as she sometimes comes on here for recipes.
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| image courtesy of usarestaurants website |
- LUNCH OUT! Hope and I met our good friend Diane (Diane and I have been friends since the 1960s when we were little girls..she is 4 years older than me and like a "big sister".......we got saved around the same time, etc. Been through a LOT together). Anyways, Diane came to meet us at the antique shop and we walked over to this little restaurant we've eaten at before. I had the Tuscan Chicken Soup and the Caesar Salad and we had many mugs of coffee and glasses of water. We sat and chatted/ate for two hours! It was so much fun getting caught up. We talked about our combined interest in Bible studies and somehow we got on the topic of cults which was interesting as we all know people in one......we shared our prayer needs, etc. It was such a good time of fellowship and then Diane and I hugged our goodbyes and I followed Hope back to her place in the woods and we enjoyed some more conversation before I headed east to come home. I'm so thankful for the time I had with my younger sister and my bestest friend. :)
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| image courtesy of N*tflix |
- MOVIE NIGHT: This past week Dave, Claire, and I had a movie night as we all wanted to see the Netflix movie based on an Agatha Christie book. We love Agatha Christie plays, movies, books. This one had a great cast!! It was so well done and I guessed "who dun it". I'm thankful for fun movie nights.
That wraps up my week. It's been a very relaxing winter break minus the sprained toe and all the cleaning out of junk. I also just realized I shared SIX fave things from the week instead of 5. OOPs. Well, they're all things that made me say Thank You, God so there ya go!
HAPPY WEEKEND!!
7 comments:
Ha I don't think anyone will complain that you had 6 things to list! I hope your toe is improving. It's amazing how painful injuries to such a small thing as a toe can be. What a lovely day out you had. Oh I'm sure it feels good having organised your basement. We've been able to be much more organised in this house as we have less stuff here and plenty of storage but it still builds up from time to time (especially when your daughter moves to a smaller house and wants stuff stored) and I like to keep on top of it. Have a good weekend.
Hi Faith. Your basement looks so great. I'm so glad your whole family pitched in to help with it. You inspire me to get in our basement storage room and get that better organized. I so glad you were able to go antiquing with your sister and have lunch with a friend. I love the African Violet. I used to have quite a few when we lived in Nebraska and they did well, but lately, if I do find one at a store and get it, it dies almost immediately. I actually rarely see African violets in stores out here in Utah. I do have other house plants that I enjoy. Your toe sounds so painful. I am glad that you found some relief for you injured toe. So glad your week off has been a good one. See you again soon!
The movie sounds good, I'll have to add it to our list. It's funny about those electronics. They seem to pile up at our house and when we finally get them to a place to recycle, it isn't long before another one pops up! I wish there were an easier way.
Ouch--your poor toe. Hope it feels better soon. I'm sure the basement cleaning was a workout, but so nice to have done. It was great the family pitched in.
I had African violets for a time, and they stayed alive, but stopped blooming. I hope yours thrives. They are so pretty.
I have never seen an electronic oil lamp! What a great idea.
Glad you had some nice visits with your friend and sister.
Poor you that hurts and as you say you can't put a cast around it. Fortunately it wasn't broken ! My grandson on the last day of his ski holidays in Austria fell and broke his thumb !Now he has a cast until the elbow ! I remember when we cleaned or rather had it cleaned our basement before we moved to the apartment ! In 45 years there was a lot of junk !
#6 is just a bonus!
Hurray on cleaning the basement! For the first time in my life, I have a basement--it takes some getting used to to store things down there. Hopefully, I don't get too used to it.
I'm glad you had time with your sister and your best friend! Those are so precious.
Happy week to you.
Ouch, hope your toe is on the mend. I hate it when that happens. Good for you for getting that basement job off the chore list. That can be a big job!! It's amazing how much we accumulate without even trying. How fun to go antiquing and what a great find in the lamp.
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