Friday, Sweet Summer

Fave Five for a sweet summer Friday (not necessarily in chronological or any other order this week!):

1. G has come for the weekend! I'll spare you the cute stories of 2-year-old amazingness!

2. Saturday I ran in a race and was amazed at the consistency of my pace recorded by my Garmin! It's not the fastest I've ever run that course, but certainly the most consistently. It was a fun time with friends, always a great start to the weekend to run early Saturday.

3. Sunday turned out so nice that we took a motorcycle ride again, spent some lazy, quiet minutes just watching people take their boats in and out of the Illinois River, ate out before we headed home.

4. Enjoyed some summer food this week: grilled ham, cheese and tomatoes; BLT's; wonderful melon new to me called canary melon; strawberries; rhubarb pudding. MMMM. And since I'm upping my fruit/veggie intake and really cutting out sweets esp. at work, I think I've dropped the 3 lbs. I wanted to.

5. Took one morning off to help a church friend clean out the office. We are on the trustees committee, which is responsible for the care of the building. We both like to organize and update records, so it was good to declutter some old supplies and outdated catalogs which won't be used, put some stuff away where it belongs in other parts of the building, and review what records were in the desk. A good job done!

Have a great weekend, enjoy the weather and the summer food, and check out Fave Fives of other grateful ladies at Susanne's Living to Tell the Story. Thanks for hosting, Susanne.

What to Wear with Cobalt Skinnies

What to Wear with Cobalt Skinnies by cjhaab featuring scoop neck tops

Friday, a Quiet Day

I've had today and yesterday off work. It has been quiet since Drh is out of town. Time to think, take a nap, sew, eat on my own hours. I miss him, but a little time alone doesn't bother me either.

Today I looked back on the week for five favorites, and I'm grateful for:

1. Had a nice time and perfect weather for the family reunion on Sunday, as well as celebrating my in-laws 62nd wedding anniversary (see earlier post on celebrations.)
2. My sweet grandchildren, ages 2-yrs., and 3-months. Both are healthy, growing, happy, and the 2-yr.-old is a total hoot. Funny, smart and cute as a button. (I know, I know, so are your grandkids... :-))
3. Got some shopping done for myself and for birthday gifts, and had time to do it in a leisurely fashion. Dang, I forgot to get a father's day card for my f-i-l!
4. Ran both Tuesday and Thursday evenings. We're having continued good weather!
5. Stopped at the farmers' market Tuesday after work and bought fresh veggies, which I made into a delicious ragout and served with leftover corn casserole which I pretended was polenta. Today I went to get groceries and bought crab salad, which I had with a fresh tomato, broccoli and rosemary potato bread for supper. I hope those two yummy, healthy meals overcome the effects of the McDonald's hamburger and fries I had Wednesday!

and just have to add #6. Did some sewing and made my hubby some boxers for summer pjs. Aren't they cute?

As usual, visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for other Fave Fives on Friday!

Fave Five, Friday Again!

Fave Five of this week, though I know I'm a couple days late. But the attitude of gratitude is theraputic, so I will write my faves anyway - it's good for the soul.

1. Celebrated our 35th (!!!) wedding anniversary on Sunday by having a quiet day at home, and then going for a motorcycle ride and eating supper and a piece of pie at a local family diner.
2. My older daughter turned 31 this week - she's the happy, healthy, smart and funny, stay-at-home mom of two sweeties, and wife of a fine man.
3. The weather was kind by turning cool at the end of the week so we were able to turn off the air and sleep with the windows open.
4. Saturday morning I got up early and left home at 6:15, drove to a lake, ran 5 miles which was around it and then some on a side road, and then helped at a small 5K race with the finish line team from my run club. I hadn't helped with a finish line before, but now I've learned something new, and it was fun. AND while I was running, I saw bluebirds, wild turkeys and chicks, a deer, a beautiful black and blue butterfly (dead on the road, but sparkling - also a dead frog-ick), and a pair of cedar waxwings collecting grass for a nest.
5. Enjoyed going with Drh and a friend to hear a western swing band at a free outside concert downtown Saturday evening. The music and company were entertaining, and I always love to "people watch."

Hope you had a good week filled with happy times worth celebrating, enjoying nature and friendships. Check out the other Faves on Living to Tell the Story by Susanne.

Pentecost and Other Celebrations

Today I went to my in-law's "cousins reunion." This is a gathering of about 50-60 of the kids and grandkids, and now great grandkids of my father-in-law's side (his two brothers and one sister, plus one deceased brother). We gather every year to enjoy our family friendships. Drh left this morning right after church on a mission trip to Tennessee with a group from church, so he didn't go this year. He had mixed feelings about missing it, of course, but decided he should travel with the group. The picture is of my in-laws with their branch who attended today. On the left are our two daughters and their husbands, one holding my 3-mo. old grandson; then my m-i-l; then my brother-in-law and his wife (their daughters and families couldn't come since they live out of the state); then me with my 2 yr.-old granddaughter; then my f-i-l.


This is my father and mother-in-law. They celebrated their 62nd anniversary today, and also we talked of their anniversary 2 years ago, when my f-i-l was in the hospital recovering from a very serious heart attack, which happened in the restroom at the hospital right before he was supposed to check in for a stress test. We know he wouldn't have made it if medical help was not immediately given. Fortunately he recovered well, and we celebrated with cake and milk in his hospital room.

The church celebrates its birthday on Pentecost. According to Acts 2, this is when the gift of the Holy Spirit was given and continues today to empower the people of the church to carry out God's work in his kingdom here on earth. The color of Pentecost and the liturgical season is red, and below are pictures showing the pulpit and altar cloths I made after the design of the stained glass window. The quilting stitch pattern is meant to look like flames.

Friday Fave Five - I'm Back!

Above is the window in our church above the altar. I've been making altar and pulpit paraments inspired by the design, so check back later for photos of them.

I've posted before on my Fave Five, but it's been a long time! Due to work and family busy times, I took a break from my blog for several months, and missed it. Not that many people read it and missed it, but to me it's a good journal and record of my days, thoughts, and home and sewing projects. So if no one reads it, that's okay with me!

This week I had some favorite times:
1. Got to eat supper with and spend time with friends on Sunday. They cooked chicken on the grill, and we also had potato salad, broccoli salad, and lemon cake. MMM - the tastes of summer!

2. Memorial Day off and a quiet day at home finishing up some sewing projects. It was nice to not have to be somewhere or do something on a time schedule for a whole day.

3. It didn't storm/rain either Tuesday or Thursday after work, so I could run as planned. Keeping up with my running always makes me happy.

4. New tshirts from the sale table at Old Navy with fabric to match for pj bottoms in the works - I'll be extremely cute and comfy when no one can even see me!

5. Drinking morning coffee with my hubby on our days off recently, including today. In the busyness of the last several months, we have missed this time to converse and connect at the beginning of the day.

Enjoy the day, and some other Fave Fives at Susanne's Living to Tell the Story today!