A Daily Life

Over at her blog, Random Thoughts From Midlife, Christine Grote has posed the question why do you write a blog? I’ve been a thwarted writer for years.  Blogging is an outlet for my creative expression. I’m not sure about keeping this section in – it’s a little long, but I’d like to share it.  If […]

When this word came up in the random word selection, I had a fairly strong reaction to it.  I left the word in (sometimes I redo a random choice if the word is too strange or too ordinary), but spent some time considering why I didn’t like it. There are two definitions to the word […]

I changed the header in my blog to a December holiday theme.  I took this picture over ten years ago at a favorite lunch spot.  The full photo is below. I’ve also been experimenting with different backgrounds on the sides of the blog.  The one on there currently is from French Kiss Textures, being used in […]

One of the more frustrating bumper stickers I see on cars says, “My Dog Is Smarter Than Your Honor Student”.  Having been an honor student, my child being an honor student, and owning dogs of my own, I find that statement to be offensive. Have you ever seen the Jeff Foxworthy show, “Are You Smarter Than […]

This weekend has had a lot of tender moments. Here’s the cook of the excellent meal we had for Thanksgiving.  Her and I went shopping on Saturday (her Dad stayed home nursing a bad back) and it was fun getting some new clothes for her.  She takes such good care of us when we come […]

After we got done with our lovely Thanksgiving dinner (wonderfully cooked by our daughter), there was some mumbling about needing a nap. Only one of us got one.  And she thoroughly enjoyed it too! Word for tomorrow – TENDER.  If you prefer to work ahead, see the list for the week under “A Word A […]

It’s been a hard and strenuous Black Friday.  Somehow has to go out there, fight the crowds, and spend their money.  And you know what?  It wasn’t us. Nope.  We slept in late, had an even later breakfast at IHop, and spent the afternoon watching the Cooking Channel, surfing the Internet, reading, and visiting.  Oh yes, […]

One journaling exercise that I like is to create a list of 100.  I always start excited to list out 100 things of whatever, only to struggle to complete it.  Today was no different as I did a list of 100 things to be thankful for.  It’s been a good year and I’d like to remember […]

The last few days have had some posts about lack of honesty. Maria Popova, in her blog Brain Pickings, talked about how the Huffington Post over-aggregated a post of hers, i.e., “reposting a reworded article with no substantive additional reporting and no prominent via-link for proper source attribution.”  She went on to a thoughtful analysis of the conflict between […]

Let’s see – here’s my Thanksgiving check-off.  I’ve included highlights of some recipes that I’ve used in the past (and they tasted great). Turkey – thawing (yes, use all the pepper called for in here) – CHECK Cranberry relish – done (if made ahead or frozen, leave the walnuts until right before ready to serve) […]

It doesn’t take much for me to find a daily dose of happiness.  Today it was a lovely walk during lunch.  It was sunny, nearly 70 degrees, minimal wind and there is still fall color to be seen.  Oh joy! Word for tomorrow – CHECK.  If you prefer to work ahead, see the list for the […]

Occasionally I’m asked about my blog or how to reach me, so a few months ago I had some Moo cards made up.  They are soooo cool.  They’re a bit pricey, so if you give out a lot of business cards, they’re not the best option.  For someone like me who gives out 2 to 4 […]

There was some excitement yesterday at work!  The footbridge going over to the island is needing replacement.  Construction has been going on for several months to put up a new one (I believe it is temporary, but am not certain) and yesterday was the day the new bridge was moved into place. I am thankful for […]

It’s a good thing that when the dogs look this angry, they’re just playing and not trying to actually kill each other!  The beagle was only a couple of months old; our other dog was about 8 months older. Bark Magazine had a great article about this recently.  The author discussed how dogs use play to […]

The kitten is trembling with excitement over his newest toy – what will it do?  Will it eat him?  Run away?  Fly up in the air? Note how he’s hanging onto the edge of the stair with those big claws of his as he chases after a camera battery that he dug out of my […]

I love reading blogs.  There are so many good ones out there!  I have some faithful readers of my blog who have their own blogs and do a great job with it. Blogs can be entertaining, they can record life, share thoughts, be informative, or be like a letter from a friend. There are several […]

The calendar on my desk this year is from the book, Women Who Do Too Much by Anne Wilson Schaef (I’ve linked to the 2012 version).  I’ve like it much better than I expected.  It  has a great deal of wisdom, most of it gentle.  It’s true, it makes sense, but it doesn’t make me feel guilty […]

My favorite boy toy and I went to Colonial Williamsburg yesterday – yes, to chase more fall colors!  We enjoyed a beautiful day walking around taking pictures and enjoying the scenery.  The cast members portraying colonial life were in their costumes as usual, cooking, working the farms, driving the horse teams, and giving tours. I’ve […]

So many of our memories revolve around food.  Thanksgiving is coming up, followed by Christmas and the New Year.  Food is an important part of those celebrations.  Just the other day, I wrote about how an ordinary night our for supper turned into a special memory for no particular reason. In the childhood memories of […]

I love to feel textures – thick ones, thin ones, nubby ones, silky ones – I love to feel them all.  That was one of things I really enjoyed about sewing my own clothes was feeling all the textures as I worked. I haven’t sown for years, but I still enjoy feeling textures.  I’m very tactile.  […]