END OF OCTOBER FAVES

 

It's nearing the end of October and here in eastern New York we are having a glorious month. The weather is warmer than usual and the colors are all at peak now. I'm loving it. 

It's Friday which means time to find FIVE of our FAVE blessings from the week and share them with others by linking up at Susanne's site. This is a way for us to be intentional about saying thanks for the many blessings that come our way in a week.  Even with pain and busyness, there are things to be thankful for. 

• CONNECTIONS:  On Saturday morning 3 out of the 7 of us from the Fun and Fitness group I lead, did our power walk and meditation/journaling time. It was raining but that didn't stop us!  Our Scripture was from Psalm 1 and we focused on v.3  It was a lovely time and new friendships were formed. One woman is someone I know will end up being a good friend. She doesn't live far from me and she's also a hiker!! Her son, and my oldest daughter, went to high school together. I had no idea!!  Then in the  late afternoon, there was a women's  conference at my church.  It was called IGNITE. There were other churches invited and I ran into someone I dearly love from years ago when dave and I went to a different church. I hadn't seen her since 2020. One of our mutual friends invited her. I sat with my friend Lynn. We've been friends since our two families joined in 2005.  Her adopted daughter was one of my youngest daughter's good friends from grade 1-12. Lynn and I are also prayer partners.  Then I was able to connect with my other friend named Lynne. She's also going to be in the Christmas choir and used to be my oldest daughter's spiritual mentor when Courtney was in high school.  We see each other on Sunday mornings, briefly, so it was great to connect with her Saturday afternoon.  The conference itself was amazing with great worship, teachings, a panel discussion on how to be a Christian in today's very humanistic culture and not be wrapped in a bubble but actually reach out all while staying true to our faith.   It was wonderful.  I'm thankful I had this time of connection with good friends and sisters in Christ. 

my good friend Lynn and I
21 October
Grace Fellowship Church

my fellow musician friend and dear family friend Lynne and I
Grace Fellowship Church

• COFFEE AND CONVERSATION:  Dave was away all last week dealing with a family emergency so when he walked in the door late Saturday morning, we really didn't have time to fully converse.  I had to get ready after the fitness group for the conference at church.  So Sunday morning we slept in, made a big pot of coffee and got to sit in the family room and have some good conversation about what God is showing us, about his side of the family, etc. The coffee was delish and I had pulled out our new autumnal coffee coasters to place our mugs on.  We ended up going to the 11 AM service and glory to God our oldest daughter was also there (although we didn't know it until 2 days later .......hahah). This is an answer to prayer.  That's 2 weeks in a row for her.  I guess she's back! She also MIGHT try out for the Christmas choir.  She was in it during high school.  I'm so thankful for good family conversations and for answered prayer.

Autumnal coffee mug mats
on the family room coffee table

• LOCAL SOLO HIKE:  Monday was a nice, crisp, sunny autumn day.  It was the coolest day of the week and after errands and some house cleaning, I decided to go for my daily power walk at one of our local nature preserves. Dave works from home on Mondays and Fridays so I slipped out after lunch to have some time in the woods. It's a gorgeous preserve and there was even a college group there (an environmental science class from the college in our town) taking samples of the pond water and doing something in the woods. Other than them, I had the entire two trails to myself. I actually hiked 2 and a half trails. The half trail just kind of abruptly ended and there were no blazes on that one so I turned around and finished the main loop.  I'm hoping the conservancy who maintains the preserve marks that last trail eventually.  I took a lot of photos but here are 3 of my faves. We are right now at peak color here in the eastern part of NYS.  I'm thankful for safe places to hike alone!

Ann Lee Pond
Albany, NY
23 October

the woods along the unmarked trail

Can you see the trail to the left of the birch trees?

• AFTERNOON DELIGHTS:  This week has been glorious. About 15-20 degrees warmer than usual for this month in our area.  And the colors are just now peaking here in the Capital Region of NY because we still haven't had our first frost so the evenings have also been warmer than usual!  And on the plus side, it's been a dry week! YAY!  This made for some time in the backyard and on the deck with my fave iced tea or a steaming mug of herbal tea, a book, and some cleaning up of some summer plants.  I just love the colors God has blessed us with and I'm thankful for beautiful Autumn days. 

Where I read or pray/meditate
our smaller maple behind the shed is at peak color!

my view from the deck of my neighbor's
maple tree almost at peak

Patti, my African violet is back!
She lives in our family room and is in honor 
of my paternal grandmother, Rose 
who had a houseful of African violets
I was so thankful to see the blooms this week
(after our trip to Michigan, she had stopped blooming....
i gave her some more plant food and now she's thriving) 

• ROAD TRIP:  On Wednesday, another warm and sunny day with temps almost to 70 F, I decided to drive north to Schroon Lake Village to pick up a Christmas gift for my sister and then pull into the trailhead for Big Pond to see if the blanket from Dave's car was still there. I was really hoping it was.  It wasn't. Long story about that! Anyways, I had packed a lunch with the intention of sitting on the town beach/park to eat it but because I wasn't hungry yet when I was there around 11:30, I headed south on the main road vs the interstate and decided to stop at one of my fave lakes in the eastern Adirondack Mountains.  There were two other cars there when I pulled in to the lot.  The first car was a woman eating lunch and she only stayed about 5 minutes. I got out and saw a man taking photos of the lake from all different angles but he didn't stay long either so I had the entire place to my self while I ate. It was so peaceful.  All I heard was the lapping of the water and the cry of blue jays and crows. I then headed towards home, stopping at Lake George village to take a walk from the steamboat company over to the village park/beach where I sat for a few minutes breathing in the mountain air and people watching. Yes, we still have some out of state tourists here (mainly leaf peepers...you'd think folks from Ohio, NJ, Alabama, MA, PA, and Canada had never seen a maple tree! or a mountain! (those were the license plates I saw in the lot I was in).  Anyways, it's a charming village and it's just delightful when it's after Labor Day and most of the crowds are gone. I'm thankful for the mountains, the lakes, and the time to do things like this on a week day!

Loon Lake Beach
eastern Adirondack Mountains

Picnic area on Loon Lake
town of Chester

That wraps up my list for the week.  Of course I had other blessings as well: movie dates with my husband; phone chat with both daughters; a good report from dental check up! It is good to give thanks to the Lord!

HAPPY WEEKEND!