Well, my first week of Summer Vacation is just about over and I've been busy packing up our cottage bins to bring to our Adirondack vacation. Thank you to everyone who responded regarding my post Truth Be Told. Sadly, the daily headaches are back. Not as bad but still a daily one all day long. Started up after worship on Sunday. I can't help but wonder if this is a Satanic attack on my physical health? Satan will try to discourage us.....so I'm back to asking for more prayer. This time I'm not hesitating in asking! God's got this, right??
Meanwhile: I'm sharing FIVE of my FAVE blessings from the past week. If I focus on the good, it helps me not to get anxious and discouraged. You, too, can join us in sharing five of your blessings from the week by heading over to Susanne's site to see the guidelines and link up.
FIVE FAVES
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| our firepit in the backyard |
- FRIDAY NIGHT LITES! Friday evening, after a dinner of yummy grilled vegan burgers, salad and rum/cokes, Dave built a small fire in the pit (we just had one log left and a bit of brush). He sat with me for a little bit but then had some training for work to do (yes, on a Friday evening!). I sat out there with my book until it got too dark and then just sat and prayed. The fire only lasted about 2 hours but the time outdoors on a nice August evening with the full moon, was just the way to start summer vacation week 1! I'm thankful for times at home to relax.
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| the conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra Yannick Nezet-Seguin image courtesy of Jan Regan/Saratoga website |
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| Courtney (my oldest daughter) |
- CONCERT WITH COURTNEY! Saturday evening, I packed a picnic supper and drinks, and picked up my oldest daughter at her apartment as we had lawn tickets for SPAC to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra play Beethoven's Choral (9th) Symphony in full. The Albany Pro Musica group was the chorus. It was exquisite and fireworks followed the performance which is tradition to end the classical season at SPAC. I'm thankful we had this time together and that my sister Joy and her son Luke were able to join us as well.
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| Great Sacandaga Reservoir Northampton Beach State Campground Southern Adirondacks |
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| Courtney in the lake! |
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| cold water but she's happy! |
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| a fave scene on the lake |
- SUNDAY FUN DAY! After I went to the 9 am church service (Dave had to serve on the production team so didn't get home until 1:30 pm), I picked up Courtney to have an afternoon at one of our fave Adirondack beaches with her. Claire (my youngest) didn't want to go so it was just Courtney and I. We left her apartment about 11:30 am and arrived about 1:15 pm after stopping to grab a bite to eat at Panera and eating in the car. We were shocked at how empty the beach was! Granted, many out of state tourists from the south and mid-west have gone back to their homes due to their schools starting so early, but we were surprised not to see many locals that day. We counted only 4 other families on the beach although the campground was full and there were several families using the picnic areas. We read our books, had snacks, and swam. The water was very cold so I didn't stay in long.....but the sun was warm....a perfect summer day really....and we stayed until just after the lifeguards left...about 6:30. Then we drove down to this place because we discovered our fave diner was closed. We had a good meal and then I took her back to her apartment before going home. It was a wonderful day with my oldest girl and her words "Mom, this was a great weekend" made my heart thankful.
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| beginning of The Geyser Trail Saratoga Spa State Park Tuesday 16 August |
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| Geyser Creek Geyser! |
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| small falls on Geyser Creek Trail |
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| steepest section and my fave part.... ..walking on pine needles...... |
- MORNING SOLO HIKE! On Tuesday morning, it was another perfect Summer day! I did some chores and although my head was pounding from whatever this sinus thing is, I decided to do a solo hike in this place. I chose a trail that is a 3 mile loop and of which I had only hiked a part of many years ago. We only live 25 min from the park (which includes the Performing Arts Center I mentioned above) so it's an easy drive up the Northway. I had no trouble finding the blazed trail until the way back. The red blazes just disappear when the trail ends at a parking lot! It was frustrating so I took out my phone and used google maps to get me back to the parking area where my car was. Well, that didn't work! It led me to a picnic pavilion! I stopped and asked a bicyclist if he knew where the red Geyser Trail picks up and he directed me across the lot, up a steep incline (a road) and then the trail picks up from there. However, this only gave me 2.2 miles of hike. It is supposed to be 3 miles total. Oh well...I guess somehow I cut off a corner and several people who commented on All Trails did say the trail is badly marked in spots. I still enjoyed the hike and it was a great morning to get some fitness in with nature. I'm thankful I live so close to state parks where I can hike solo.
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| some of my wildflowers in the trellis bed |
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| we named this third baby Mopsy we have had 2 adult bunnies and 2 other babies living under our deck. until recently..... Mopsy is the one who stayed! She's not afraid of us |
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| a wildflower from my deck pot |
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| image courtesy of Amaz*n |
- RELAXING! This week has been wonderfully sunny (one afternoon of a thunderstorm and downpour most of the evening to bring life back to the plants and grasses) and cooler summer temps that I love. (70s!) I've been enjoying time on the deck with coffee, breakfast, lunch, reading, praying and watching the bunny and birds at the feeder. In between walks and time with family, I've watched a great (short!) series on Netflix and the above movie with Dave on Tuesday evening. The series is one I highly recommend (titled Keep Breathing) about a young woman who is in a plane crash in a remote part of Canada and is the only survivor. Now, it's totally unrealistic in its approach to her physical survival. Like totally unrealistic. BUT..the psychological state she is in combined with her memories of her childhood and recent past is so well done that I was on the edge of my seat for all 6 episodes. It does seem that Netflix will be continuing this series as the ending was ......wow! And the movie depicted above is clean, fun, again a bit on the unrealistic side (a bit of fantasy) but SO well done. Harrison Ford is brilliant in this movie. Highly recommend it. I'm thankful for vacation time to fully relax and refresh.
That wraps up the FIVE favorites from my week. I did have other blessings as well of course, but these were my top faves.
BONUS FAVE: Yesterday, I drove out to the central part of the state where my sister Hope lives with her husband Donny. (about 1.5 hours west of us). She and I have been working on this Adirondack Challenge since about 2015. We each have our own book of course and I'm about half-way done as is she. Well, there's a tiny hamlet named Arietta where there are literally more deer and turkeys than humans. In fact, any structure you do see is a camp not a year round home. There used to be a restaurant, inn, and several pubs, etc back in the day but it's virtually all woods now. There is a historical society that is shared with the next town over and a historic landmark (oldest original structure still standing in the town...a tavern that also served as the post office and built in 1880) where you can sometimes find a taxpayer. So we drove there (about 35 min north of her home) and actually found the president and vice president of the historical society in the building! The first human we saw was a fisherman but he couldn't sign our book due to not being a taxpayer in that town.....he was a camper.....SO. The museum was officially closed until Saturday but the president agreed to sign our books and the VP is the woman who designed the town seal to put into the book so she gave us one. How awesome was this! We told them we had been trying for the last 6 summers to find a human so we could check off the town of Arietta. They said in the last 3 years they have only had 5 people ask them for the seal! I'm thankful I had yesterday with my sister.
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| historic signage for the tavern Piseco, NY town of Arietta southern Adirondacks |
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| the original Riley Tavern and post office but not the original location Piseco NY |
Whatever you plan on doing this weekend, make it a relaxing one!
7 comments:
Hi Faith. So glad you are having a good, relaxing week. Sounds like the perfect vacation week! Sorry to hear that the headaches are back, but I will continue to pray for you. Have a safe trip and wonderful experience in the Adirondacks. See you again soon!
Wow, I enjoyed your post today. I love driving through the Adirondacks when we travel to Boston to see our daughter and her family. I imagine with this weather, it truly must be heavenly. You mentioned that you thought your headaches might be demonic and to tell you the truth I agree. I am in a powerful Intercessors for America group and satan is very busy with all of us ... trying to take us out one by one. A couple of years ago I got shingles and it was horrible It lasted two months. I still have nerve pain that really distracts me and makes resting difficult.. Then right on the heals of that I got gout which crippled me so badly I couldn't walk to the bathroom. Hubby had to push me in his office chair. It was excruciating and last two weeks. Following that was lockdown and things closed down for a time, but as soon as things opened up a while, suddenly I had terrible jaundice ..I went to the ER and after an ultrasound was told by 5 oncologists I had pancreatic cancer. because of a mass they saw. Well, I refused to believe that and told them so that until God told me I had that I refused to a accept it. That I was a prayer warrior whom the evil one had been trying to take out of commission and he had failed every time. Well come to find out my precious wonderful gastroenterologist took it upon himself to prove I didn't have cancer.
He did find a ping pong ball sized gall stone in my duct ...on the first ERCP.. a fancy 2 hour long endoscopy that goes all around your inner gut. Any way I had two more procedures to blast the thing and 2 more to clean out the residue and the last one to remove any stents he had put in to keep the area open. At this point everything is working ok. my gall bladder is somewhat damaged but for some reason I cannot understand I cannot have it removed. I suppose the duct is too damaged to do what ever they do with it to make a simple removal of the gb possible so the plan is I live with my gall bladder as long as I live so I pray for it whenever I think about it. but I know as sure as I sit here that the devil is responsible for all of this and I also know that God brought me through it all ... I was never fearful and knew He was with me. and He continues to direct my way until He calls me home So yes! Beware of the tactics of the enemy! God bless you and I will pray for your sinus headaches111
I'm so sorry to hear that the headaches are back. Sending prayers your way. The times spent with your daughters sound so lovely! How nice that you enjoy the same things. The parks in your area are just beautiful. It would be fun to hike in dense forests like the ones you have. Lots of open space out here!
Continuing to pray for your health and for healing! Glad it didn't stop you from enjoying the outdoors this week. I've always wanted a firepit in the yard. I think I would really enjoy that. I love the movie Age of Adeline and have watched it several times with different people. Well kudos to you for another solo hike. I would have been absolutely panic stricken to have not been able to find the trail and know I was by myself. Looks like a lovely hike though. Enjoy your vacation! I'm back to work Monday.
Oh I'm sorry to hear your headaches are back. But glad that you still seemed to have a great week - quality time with Courtney and relaxing time for you. How lovely to finally be able to get your books signed on your challenge too.
What a wonderful treat to have the day with one of your daughters! My elder daughter and I spend time alone but my younger daughter and I don't get much alone time together. She's the one with my 3 grandchildren and they take most of my attention.
I'm so sorry to hear the headaches are back. Is it possible to go to a different kind of doctor than ENT? I'll be praying for answers and relief. The concert and beach outing sound wonderful. How fun to have bunnies right underneath your deck. We have some visit in the back yard, but I have never figured out where they live. They always dash off if they hear the door open. I'll have to look up that movie. I always appreciate good clean movie recommendations. What a neat encounter at Arietta.
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