It's Valentine's Day..the day we show love for one another and as Christ followers, embrace in the love of God. It's also Friday and time to participate in the gratitude meme where we share five of our fave blessings from the past week. I love doing this and I'm thankful Susanne continues to host us.
- CHORES COMPLETED: This past week I had several "non fave" chores on my list and one of them was scrubbing the stainless steel kitchen sink until it shone. It actually looks much shinier in person than in this photo. It's hard to keep lime deposits off stainless steel sinks but I worked hard at it and was successful. I love a shiny sink! I'm thankful I checked this off my to do list.
 |
| lemon raspberry muffins |
 |
| Maple Cocoa Brownies |
- VALENTINE'S TREATS: I take a class for women every Wednesday morning at my church. The class is so large that it's held in the church gym. This room is also known as our multi-purpose room. The gym is set up with 7 tables of between 8-10 ladies at each one. Each table has a WDS (Womens Daytime Series) small group leader/hostess. My friend Diane is the hostess at the table where I sit. It was our turn to bring the brunch type snacks this past week, so I brought lemon raspberry muffins made with "eggs from plants" and raspberry preserves and Maple Cocoa Brownies mades with sweetened condensed milk, Heart Smart Bisquick, maple liquer, and pure cocoa. They were both SO good. And a hit! I'm thankful I was able to spend a cozy, cold winter morning baking in my kitchen and sharing it at class.
 |
| pink carnations gift |
 |
| gift from young friend |
- VALENTINE'S GIFTS: I didn't expect any gifts from friends for Valentine's Day as that's not something I normally participate in. But at class on Wednesday morning, the table hostess had carnations for all of us along with a scripture card with different verses about love or the love of God. And one of the younger women (who is also in my Saturday morning walking group) gave us all a hand cream that smells like fresh picked roses. These ladies are so sweet! We were all surprised and thankful for their show of love.
 |
Looking across to the "orchard"
Crossings Park |
 |
| walking under the pines and sunshine |
- WINTER WALK: It was COLD most of this week. We had received 4-5 inches of snow Saturday into Sunday and by Tuesday I was so ready to go for a walk even though the temperature didn't get higher than 25 degrees, at least not according to my phone weather app. I had to run an errand to the library so decided spontaneously, when I saw the sun come out for a bit, to pop over to the town park (The Crossings) and do a mile walk. I only made it .7 miles in 16 minutes because that wind was just too frigid for me. I had a hat, thick scarf and gloves on plus my puffer jacket and it was still too cold for me. But the black and white photos came out great. I didn't intentionally make them black and white nor did I tweak them at all. What you see is what I saw through my iphone camera. I love how the sun looks coming through the pine trees in the bottom photo. I'm thankful for winter walks but I'm more thankful that March is just around the corner! We are half way through February, my least favorite month.
 |
surprise roses
|
- VALENTINE'S FLOWERS: I was totally surprised when my husband Dave walked into the house on Wednesday afternoon with a dozen cream roses to show his love for me. Usually for Valentine's Day we just get each other cards and I usually buy him his fave chocolates. I did do that, but he totally surprised me. He'll be in Boston today through Monday so I think he wanted to surprise me with something special this year. We rarely buy fresh flowers cause they just end up dying within a week or so. But they're SO pretty and the florist included some purple flowers in the bouquet as well although they're hard to see in the photo. My fave roses are yellow but he said this florist just didn't have good yellow ones. I'm thankful he was so thoughtful because he knows I do love certain flowers. We just never spend the money on them!
That wraps up my faves from the week's blessings. God is so very good to us; how can we not be thankful!?
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! May you feel and know the Love of God the One who makes it all.
10 comments:
Your baked goods look delicious! How nice that your husband gave you those beautiful flowers. It's nice to change things up now and then. I love flowers, and my husband knows this :) He often surprised me just 'for no reason,' which makes me happy.
Happy Valentine's Day to you!
I can imagine your yummy treats were devoured at the women's get together! They sure look good!
Your flowers are beautiful! Most people think of red roses on Valentine's Day but I love the creme colored ones. I actually prefer the lighter colored roses like yellow and white. So pretty! What a sweet and thoughtful husband you have.
Before my balance became a challenge, I loved taking walks in the snow. I'm always amazed at how cold it feels when it's icy but when it snows, it feels warmer. And the air is so brisk and fresh!
Your sink is very nice. Would you like to come over and do mine as well? LOL. But I do like a clean sink as well.
That was so thoughtful of your table hostess to give out carnations and a scripture card. I love surprises like that.
I hope you are enjoying your snow. I have such fond memories of growing up in upstate NY (not far from you) and playing in the snow. Have a lovely Valentine's Day.
Those roses look lovely - I love roses but yes they can be so expensive. What lovely treats you had at your class and your baked goods look delicious. Yes roll on spring. My son in Vermont just sent us pics where they had been scraping snow off the flat roof over their front porch area before they get another lot of snow at the weekend. They're running out of space to move the snow to. Enjoy the weekend Faith.
Those desserts look so good and beautiful flowers! The snow looks so pretty but 25 degrees! I am freezing when it is in the 50's!
What a wonderful post, my friend. Wishing you a lovely day.
Your baked goods look so yummy! Lucky ladies who got to taste them.
That was sweet of your hubby to bring you flowers, especially since he will be gone this weekend.
I've been doing inside exercises this week. It's just too cold outside for me. I'm with you-- ready for March and SPRING!
Hi Faith! That was so nice to give you some flowers for Valentines. They are lovely. I love those Valentines treats. Wow, they look so delicious. We have a stainless sink too, and since we replaced that old one, I am doing much better about keeping the new one clean and shiney. Your winter walks look good, but cold. I hope you have a great weekend! Enjoy a relaxed long weekend.
We get lime deposits, too, and it looks so much better when they are scrubbed off. But I don't do it as often as I should. The baked Valentine treats sound good. How thoughtful of your husband to bring roses and to try to get as close as he could to the shade you like.
Now you can use ÿour sink as a mirror ! Well done ! We have never celebrated Valentine's day. It was not known in Germany and Italy. Now yes of course.
The goodies you made really do look beautiful! And it's fun to have a special holiday. Enjoy your walks! Hugs, Diane
Post a Comment