JUNE FAVES

 Here we are at June!  Only 3 more weeks of teaching for me. It's surreal and to say I'm excited to be done with commuting across the Hudson River every day for work in heavy traffic is putting it mildly.  I'm taking today to share  FIVE of my FAVE blessings from the past week.  Other like-minded bloggers do this as well and we all link up at Susanne's site. There are so many things to be thankful for.  Here's my five:

The fire begins!
7:45 pm Friday evening 26 May

the fire begins to die down
11 pm 

• BONFIRE NIGHT:  Friday evening was our first of 2023 bonfire night. In NY, we were under a burn ban so there were to be no fires until May 15th.  It's like this every spring.  This year has been especially dry so we were careful to abide by the DEC rules. We had  collected a lot of brush in the late autumn and early spring so we burned that plus one log we had left over from last October.  I called Claire and told her if she wasn't doing anything with friends that night, that she was welcome to pop in for a vegan s'more. She did! We hung out by the fire for a few hours and then she went back to her apartment as she was taking a fitness class the next morning. Courtney didn't come as she had plans with friends. I had to get to bed by 11:30 as I had an early morning appointment as well.  We're thankful for time together relaxing on a gorgeous spring evening in front of a cheerful fire. 

• SATURDAY MID-MORNING HIKE:  My friend Cindy and I were program aides in a public school for a few years at the same time in the mid-2000s. We were both taking breaks from being Special Ed teachers with all the responsibilities that go along with that and just wanted easy aide positions. (I lasted 7 years at that job and she lasted a year longer than me... we both left to take teaching positions in non profit private schools).  We discovered shortly after meeting each other in the faculty room, that we attended the same church!  She's been a member of several of my small groups and she and her husband have had date nights with Dave and I.  They attend a different church now but we have remained good friends and prayer partners. We also try to hike together several times throughout the hiking season or get together for breakfast and coffee dates.  She's one of my very close friends. Well, we had the chance to hike together on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend so we  chose a place in the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont. We were actually hoping to use the MA  entrance to Mountain Meadow Preserve, but google maps sent us to the other side in Vermont. It was a wonderful hike and time of fellowship.  Vermont and MA do NOT do a great job with blazing their trails.(they often just use spray paint for a small blob vs actual trail markers put on trees).  NY is highly superior at marking trails,  but  we managed to find our way out after about 20 min of being lost because I had taken a photo of the map.  The map didn't match the trails though! After going around in what felt like circles for 20 min, I looked at the map again and figured out what and where we were.  We needed to turn the map upside down for it to match what we were experiencing!  We were going to do just the 1.5 miles loop around and through the meadow but we ended up hiking 3.8 before making our way back to the car.  I'm thankful we had fun, had the photo map and made our way out safely. The following photos are my faves from the plethora of pictures I took with my iphone. 

a confusing part of the trail
Note the lack of trail blazes on the trees!

the perfect dandelion seed head

Oak Hill Trail led us through
 this beautifully peaceful meadow

Lush green ferns whisper "Spring!"

• FLOWERS!!  This past week more of my flowers in the front garden opened up:  my apricot rose bush now is blooming, the tea roses continue to bloom, and the white and pink peony bushes just burst forth this past week.  I love them all! I also bought another potted plant of purple flowers for the front stoop.  (ignore the paint chipping away...that's gonna be my project this weekend if it doesn't rain).  The weather has been HOT and SUNNY and I LOVE it even though I have to water my plants more often. I'm thankful for beautiful blooms. 

pink peony on the kitchen counter makes me smile

pink and white peony bushes
(and a white one down by the road in front of mailbox)

this is my apricot rose bush
even though it looks pink in the pic

I forget what theses are called
 (Impatiens??) but they're pretty!

• MEMORIAL DAY AT THE LAKE! Dave and I had planned on going to one of our very fave state parks on Memorial Day.  We were packing a picnic lunch, getting extra water, and snacks and I made vegan chocolate brownies.  Sunday evening both daughters called to ask if they could go with us.  Of course we said Yes!  We were thrilled that both wanted to kayak with me (Dave ended up just relaxing on the beach with a book).  The water is a mountain lake and far too cold to swim in until late June but  it was gorgeous to kayak on and several children and their parents were swimming. Claire was the only one of the 4 of us who went in past her knees. The weather was perfect up there and we just ended up staying longer than we had planned.....we were there from 11-5).  I'm thankful we had a relaxing day and that we got to use the kayaks for the first time this year. I'm also thankful this state park is only about 40 min east of our house. 

I snapped this from my kayak seat
 just drifting on Black River Pond
headed towards the beach

beautiful majestic pines line the shores of Black River Pond
at Cherry Plain State Park in eastern NY

The beach at about noon on Memorial Day
this park is not as crowded as the other state park north of our home

Claire a.k.a the ballerina
kayaks in Dave's boat

Courtney a.k.a. the princess takes a turn in Dave's kayak

• ANNUALS DONE!  I had my annual physical 2 weeks ago and my annual blood work early last Saturday morning. The results?  All tests were within normal limits!  YAY.  My overall cholesterol went up and my good went down but still higher than the normal cut off. Whew.  My LDL went up (UGH) but not by much so I will continue to eat more plant based proteins, work out more (now that my headaches/neck pain are becoming fewer and fewer during the week, I can now exercise more briskly and get more cardio workouts in) and I'll continue to use phytosterol supplements along with added bergamot.  I'm thankful that my annual blood work was good and I'm thankful for good health insurance!!

BONUS FAVE: 

This beautiful card and a letter from my dear blogging friend and sister in Christ, Deb.  It came on a day when there was a lot of stress at work and in a personal matter. God amazes me. He sends blessings our way just when we need them.

That wraps up my week!

I hope whatever you have planned for the weekend, that it's relaxing.....June is a beautiful month....get outside and enjoy the last couple of weeks of Spring!