A Peek of a Monday

 I'm waiting for my husband to be done with work for the day (he works in our upstairs office on Mondays and Fridays and goes into his office at this place on the other 3 days of the work week) so we can go on our late afternoon walk. We might need raincoats and/or umbrellas as it's a truly gloomy, wet Monday.  I thought I'd participate in the "Catch up" meme I found at my blogging friend Deb's site. Deb and I also text each other our prayer requests and we write real letters to each other too.  I am thankful for her blogging friendship and would love to meet her in person one day! Here's what's happening around our house......

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW......it is lightly raining this afternoon and is cool/gloomy/dark. It's making the grass look so pretty with the green and my zinnias are popping color each day.  I also have 3 pots of mums....you can see one behind the tall blue chair in the photo. I have 2 more pots in the front yard flower bed...another orange one and a white. 

WHAT I'M READING......a non-fiction Bible study indepth look at John by Jennie Allen; a fiction book set in the south and about racism/statues that divide a town/families called When the Moon Turns Blue (it's excellent!); The Art of Neighboring, our small group Bible study book that Dave and I are co-leading with a group of church friends from our church twice a month (non-fiction about taking the second greatest commandment literally); and a devotional book by Joyce Meyers that I read 2-3 times a week and I use some of the Scriptures from that book for my once  a month Saturday morning fitness/walking group. 

WHAT I'M LISTENING TO......I'm currently enjoying Cochran and Company which I first discovered on K-Love and now I listen to them via Spotify. In fact, as I write this their song Parking Lot is playing. I LOVE their music!

WHAT I'M WATCHING......these 2 very clean cut and excellently executed Netflix series.  I love them. I'm on Season 12 of Call the Midwives and it's probably my absolute fave Netflix series.  It's closely followed by Virgin River which I love mainly because I love Jack and the setting.  I'm on the latest season of that which I believe is #5.  I stream them when I'm busy in the kitchen or when I'm eating lunch by myself.  I don't watch TV but I'm thoroughly enjoying these 2 series on Netflix. I tend to watch it via my Macbook Air. Unless the tv in the family room is free and my husband isn't using it.....then I might watch an episode in the evening after dinner. 

WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT.....how to deal with this degenerative disc disease and neck pain....it seems like it just isn't letting up and I'm doing everything the chiropractor is saying to do.....it's on my mind a lot.....but thankfully I don't have any major health issues so I guess that's good. 

WHAT I'M LOVING.......this scented candle......it smells like a freshly brewed pot of coffee and it's wonderful on this cool, rainy afternoon. 

WHAT I'M ENJOYING........these fresh grapes from the market......they're juicy and not too sour....they will be enjoyed for dinner tonight and we enjoyed them with our lunch. 

WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO.......the hike I have scheduled for Wednesday with my friend Ingrid. We haven't hiked together since before Covid 19 hit and I'm so looking forward to being in the high peaks region.  We won't be hiking a mountain but rather we will be hiking around this lake and going into the wilderness to find a specific waterfalls (Rocky Falls) for the 50 Falls Challenge.  And it's supposed to be perfect on Wednesday: sunny and temps of 64. Perfect early autumn hiking weather. 

WHAT I'M GRATEFUL FOR:  our youngest daughter giving us some crisp red Gala apples for baking and eating.  She went apple picking with a friend yesterday and is sharing the bounty with us.  She also said she was going to our oldest daughter's place and giving her a few. Claire (our youngest) is allergic to raw apples like one of our nieces but she plans on baking mini pies with them.  She can eat baked apples for some reason. 

apples compliments of Claire!

WHAT'S IN THE KITCHEN........I'm planning on cooking some stir fry tonight with chicken tenders, zucchini, carrots, green and yellow peppers.  I'll put this over some brown jasmine rice and serve it with some orange sauce drizzled over the top.  We will also enjoy some grapes on the side. they're from a local farm and are so good! I also plan on baking an apple pie tomorrow as Claire's coming over for an early dinner.  Because we have our first small group meeting here tomorrow at our house, I plan on having some cider to offer everyone along with hot herbal teas and iced peach tea. 

WHAT'S COMING UP THIS WEEK......the only thing on the agenda is that I need to cancel my eye appointment for October and reschedule it for next year (due to some health insurance issues); the hike with Ingrid; Small group starting at our home on Tuesday evening; coffee with my friend Monica; a trip to the library to return a book; some home projects; beginning to put out the autumn decor; and a possible trip to the lake again on Saturday. 

WEEKEND OF THANKS

• a visit at my Uncle Cliff's home 
• no headache most of Saturday 
• worship at church
• the sermon from our site pastor on Forgiveness
• the beautiful weekend weather
• getting yard work done and burning a lot of brush
• spending time with Dave watching good movies and relaxing
• no headache for some of Sunday
• a trip to the lake with my sister Joy Sunday afternoon 
• winning a prize from the Fruits and Veggies Challenge on social media
• fresh apples from our youngest daughter
• phone call with our oldest daughter 
• fresh brewed coffee in bed brought by hubby

That's what's been going on around our house........

what about you?  Do you have any plans for this week?