SUNSHINE-Y WEEK FAVES

 

WOW!  It's mid-May and Mother's Day weekend and Spring is in full swing here in New York State. I love it. It's been a week of blue skies, sunshine, near perfect temps (in my opinion, temps in the 70s are just perfect), with a slight breeze most days. My early spring allergy to birch trees hasn't been bad and I'm looking for other blessings as we wrap up the work week.  There's a nice community of like-minded bloggers who share FIVE of their FAVE weekly blessings.....head over to the host's site to learn more. 

A mowed backyard and a fave reading spot

for the front flower beds

Dave resting and reading on the deck

• WEEKEND!  I loved last weekend!  It was just the right mix of rest, recreation, and work. We took turns mowing the yards on Saturday and Dave went to Lowe's to get me my fresh mulch for the flower beds and where I'm growing wildflowers, plus he re-stocked the bird seed and suet for the feeders in the backyard.  While Dave mowed the front and side yards, I did laundry and kitchen cleaning. I thoroughly cleaned out the refrigerator and 2 cupboards. That  chore felt great to get checked off the list. I also did a load of laundry and food shopping this past weekend. I'm thankful we had time after church on Sunday to just sit and talk and read on the deck in the afternoon shade. We wrapped up the weekend with Dave grilling bison burgers.......our first time using the gas grill since last October!  I'm thankful for a productive and relaxing weekend. 

the beginning of the wooded trail
(The Red Trail) at The Crossings Park
Saturday 6 May

More of the Red Trail through the wooded section

• WOODS WALK with CLAIRE:  Our youngest daughter, Claire, wanted to come over Saturday afternoon to chat and  walk with me. She chose to walk at Crossings.  We drove to the far back lot and walked the Red Trail which is a loop of 1.18 miles.  It's mostly through really pretty woods and then an open area with lots of green grass.  We saw many different birds and heard a woodpecker and many peepers by the back pond. I'm thankful for a good woods walk with my girl. 

small turtle in center of photo
(might have to zoom in to see him). 

wetlands at Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve
9 May

the walking/bike trail to historic lock on the Erie Canal
at Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve

• AFTER WORK WALK:  Tuesday was a day that was just glorious. The temp when I left work was 62 degrees F and I had on skimmers and a short sleeved shirt with a light summer sweater over it.  I had my sneakers in the car so after work I headed north to the next town from where I live and stopped at the nature preserve to get in a good power walk. I chose the trail that goes directly west to an historic lock on the Erie Canal.  The entire distance is 1.4 miles.  I went .7 and then had to turn around as my hip started bothering me. (I have arthritis from lyme disease in my right hip).  So I only power walked for 1.4 total (instead of 2.8) but it felt great AND bonus:  on my way back to car, i ran into a woman I know via my neighbor who has done online Bible studies with me in the past. We hadn't seen each other since my youngest graduated from high school.  It was so good to see her and chat with her and her husband for a few minutes. I'm thankful for old friends and good walking work -outs. 

Naan 

Vegetable Curry

Aloo Palak

• SPONTANEOUS DATE:  Dave came home from work early Wednesday, due to just needing a mental break.  I won't go into what's going on at work, but he's been stressed out. He said "get your shoes on, we're going somewhere relaxing".  We wanted to play mini golf but the local course is only open on weekends right now so we drove to a part of the bike/walking trail nearby and walked about a half mile in one direction and then back to the car. We walked fast so  got in a good work-out again.  Then we decided it was a night for Pakistani/North Indian food so we went to  this place across town where we had never been before. It was fantastic. We were the only couple in there at 6 pm on a Wednesday.  The service was impeccable and the food is the best Indian food  in the capital region (voted on by various people from a local survey) and trust me we have tried every Indian food place in our general area. We told the chef we would definitely be back! We're so thankful for good vegetarian dishes and a relaxing late afternoon. 

• TEACHER APPRECIATION TREATS:  This past week has been "Teacher Appreciation Week" and of course the site where I teach special needs preschoolers had many fun treats and desserts for us at break time. I had absolutely NO time to take pics of the various treats and notes each day and in fact, we can't have our mobile phones out at work anyways, so no photos of the fun messages and treats. So I took the above image from google images. hahah.  I'm thankful to work with amazing education colleagues and that we have seen such great progress in these children this past month.  We go until June 24th so although we have over a month of school left, we are super excited and eager to see more progress in the children. We also are very thankful we have strong, good leadership for ECEC and that we all feel appreciated. 

That wraps up my week of blessings

There were several more as well: a text from my cousin, a prayer need met, more spring blooms, good coffee every morning, a phone call from my best friend. 

What were some things that you were blessed with this week? do share!!

Whatever you do this weekend, I hope that if you are a mom, that you have a wonderful Mother's Day doing the things you love with the people you love. Also.....do something fun for just you!  For me?  It will be my first mountain hike of the new hiking season (May-November). I'm so excited for tomorrow....I'll be going with 4  dear friends.