Easily Entertained

Entertainment at my house is not hard to come by…

comic created by SuperDad

B is for…

Count your blessings, name them one by one…

Welcome to B week! As mentioned last week, I’ve decided to focus a bit more on being thankful. And instead of counting blessings, I’m challenging myself to come up with them alphabetically.

Little known fact: I homeschooled my first two children in Kindergarten and preschool, and sometimes that side of me comes out. 

B is for Beads
This is my newest creation. I’ve been fascinated with shades of brown lately.

Lanyard with petrified wood, Swarovski crystals, Vintage Venetian sepia seed beads, Chinese Picture Jasper rounds, and a variety of glass seed beads in shades of brown. This one sparkles!

and Blooms

and Bathrooms.
I’ll spare you the photographs of those.   😉

What? I’m fond of indoor plumbing. Aren’t you? 

Also, I am thankful for Blogging friends. I hope you already knew that. ♥

What are you thankful for today?

Of camping and wildflowers

The following photos are brought to you courtesy of SuperDad and the overnight hike which he took with SnakeMaster:

This spot

this view

camas

You’re welcome.

In Memory of…

A little more than a week ago, I walked a 5K with this team:

Team Tim (missing 2 runners who were already lined up at the start)

and especially this family:

in honor of that man.  He lived well, he loved well, and he is sorely missed.

stupid cancer

For anyone who was hoping for a more traditional Memorial Day post, I’ve written about it multiple times here (with pictures here), and two more here and here.
It’s simply that for the past couple of weeks, Tim and his beloved family have been weighing heavily on my heart.

A is for…

In the wake of losing 18+ months of photos on my dead hard-drive, I have decided that I should step up my Thankful Thursday postings. You know, Count your blessings, name them one by one…

So here we go, starting with

A

And if you have had as much exposure to Dr. Seuss as I have, please recite with me:

Big A… little a… What begins with A?
Aunt Annie’s alligator… A… a… A

Cleopatra

Ahem.
Today I recognize that I am thankful for time spent ALONE even if some of that time is spent with a cat. 🙂

Leaning back in the recliner, cup of coffee or tea in one hand, petting the cat with the other hand, composing poetry in my head, listening to the wind chimes play a melody — that, for me, is a lovely 10 minute break in a busy day.  It gives me time to clear my mind of to-do lists and focus on the beauty outside my living room window.

watching intently
eyes unblinking, tail flicking
bird just out of reach

What are you thankful for today?

You’ve got ten minutes to yourself to spend as you wish.
Describe:

Lilacs on Parade

Saturday night was the culminating event of the Lilac Festival:
The Spokane Lilac Festival 75th Diamond Anniversary Armed Forces Torchlight Parade.
Now there’s a mouthful!

princesses preparing to parade

There was royalty in the form of Lilac Princesses.

Pearl Harbor survivors

There was royalty in the form of a disappearing generation…

WWII and Korean War Veterans

former Prisoners of War

and of course, much recognition for our Armed Forces  past and present.
After all, it was Armed Forces Day here in the United States.

Salute

And then there was the very personal reason why we spent many hours downtown on Saturday evening:

Our very own drum major, who spent half of the parade marching backwards.

Tongues of Fire

Not a burning bush

Today is Pentecost and at our church it is also Youth Sunday.  SnakeMaster and Humorous-Juniorous are reading scripture, and H-J will also be playing a duet (flute) with the organist.

New law and new life are both celebrated on this day, although the celebrants are different folks.

While I think yellow and orange look much more like flames, it is traditional for Christians to wear red on this day.  My own choices are a red t-shirt or red earrings…  I’ll go with the red earrings this morning.  

Exodus 3:1-15
Acts 2:1-21

Friday Five: Wildflower Motley Medley

Microsteris gracillis, a.k.a., slender phlox

1. I went back to the park yesterday to take a few more pictures showing the comparative size of the wildflowers (same earrings as before, made by Cassi).
   

   Okay, I JUST realized that this isn’t the same flower as the above pic… but the sizing *is* correct, so let’s pretend that it’s the same. Okay?

2. Folks from several local tribes were there, with loads of gravel to spread on the paths as erosion control. I cringed because they were driving ATVs to bring the gravel and tools to various spots… and driving over some of the wildflowers.  I’m cringing again now, just thinking about the smashed flowers and grasses. I like to keep the conservation area conserved.
   

   narrow-leaf desert parsley (This was shown in the field of yellow flowers on Monday.)

3. I wish I could take a couple of road trips to meet other bloggers with whom I’ve become friends.
   

   rock sunflower / Arrowleaf Balsamroot

4. My older teen nearly laughed himself out of his chair at the dinner table last night. Granted, I did refer to Harvard as a possible back-up school…  but only because his first choice is [the much closer to home & family]  Stanford.  On the other hand, Stanford has only sent him a letter over the winter to suggest he spend thousands of dollars on a 3-week-long summer camp; the older, more distinguished school has sent him a letter asking him to consider applying to attend college there.  This kid has a lot of decisions to make in the next few months.
   

   Phlox caespitosa or possibly Phlox viscida (sticky phlox)

5. Tomorrow is the  “Breakthrough for Brain Tumors” 5k walk. I’m walking in a group of friends and we’ll be surrounding a mutual friend’s family with love and hugs while we honor his memory. It’s going to be an emotional morning.

Gifts

Petrified Wood (photo from June 2012: would have been lost in my laptop but thankfully rescued from my free flickr account)

 

Mother’s Day  can be fraught with danger, whether that danger comes from unmet expectations or emotional landmines of the past — or a combination of both.  But occasionally, it can be filled with delightful surprises, and this past Sunday was one of those occasions.

I’m now going to beg your pardon as I take a moment to brag on my boys.

Acts of Service is my love language; it’s the way I show love to my family and the things I best offer up to friends in crisis (well, that and hugs of course).  Packing school lunches, baking pies, and hospital vigils are tangible ways I can serve others.  I am going to refrain from analyzing whether or not my kids finally “get me” and simply enjoy the fact that instead of buying me some small gift I didn’t need, the 3 boys living in my house got busy after church and not only went nuts with the housecleaning (clean counter tops! clean tabletop! clean bathtub!) but they also detailed my car!  And since they needed time to get it all done, my husband took me on an impromptu picnic for lunch. I call that a winning combination! 

My married son wasn’t here to help with any of that, but he did call me in the afternoon and actually talked with me, telling me about his summer job (paid research in the field of his major). He was so busy with work and more credits than most humans can handle this past year that I hardly talked with him while he was in school, so I especially appreciated the time he took to call and talk on Sunday.

____________________________________________

What are you thankful for this week?

Surrounded by Lilacs

Please click on the lilacs to enlarge the picture. It’s worth it!

We are in the pinnacle week of the Lilac Festival here.

SnakeMaster plays the baritone at the Junior Lilac Parade.

The younger teen marched in his first parade four days ago and H-J will be leading his band this coming Saturday for the 75th  annual torchlight parade.

H-J at the all-city track meet on Saturday.