A psalm of thanks

I put on my rain gear and headed out the door for my morning walk in the misty rain. I saw a handful of cars but no one out walking or running - not even anyone walking a dog. Still, it was a great morning for walking and I walked 6.2 miles. It's the last day of the month and time to add up those miles that I walked each morning. During November I walked 182.4 miles and the total so far this year is 2067.4.

Of all the things I'm thankful for, knowing God's love is number one on my list!

Psalm 100 A psalm for giving thanks. Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness: Come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, And we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving And his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and is love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations. May you have a blessed Sunday and remember God loves you!

Leaves, mission furniture, and glass

No shopping for me yesterday. I spent a few hours outside in the front yard raking leaves and bagged a dozen bags of the things. I thought I'd be done but I still have leaves along the side of the driveway and by the garage. Then the rest of the leaves Ken will blow them to the very back of the yard.

I lined all 12 bags up along the front fence.Tuesday the yard waste truck comes by. Keeping them here I just have to haul them up the curb.

My poor front yard looks so bare and bleak.Winter isn't even here yet and I'm ready for spring!

This morning as we headed out we stopped by the townhouse to see if they had finished the brick on the side. Not quite, but maybe it will be by the end of the day. Look at the bright blue sky! From there we took a ride to Kensington where there is a huge glass shop so Ken could get some more glass for a few projects he has in mind. He had a discount coupon thanks to Bonnie who forwarded on a coupon that the shop had emailed her. Thanks Bonnie!! There is a street in Kensington that is lined with little shops and antique shops along it. Some of the shops are really tiny but they have LOTS of things stuffed in them.

A few pictures along the street.

One of the shops has some really nice, reasonably priced, mission style furniture in it that I like a lot. I love the simple clean lines of it. I'm thinking about getting rid of some of my antiques and replacing it with this style furniture for the new house. Seems like moving is a good time to make some changes. Stopped in a Staples and I bought some red and green card paper and a rotary paper trimmer. Now I have no excuse to get started on making my Christmas cards. Maybe I'll start on them tomorrow. My Saturday was most enjoyable and it's not even over yet. I have a piece of Pumpkin Pie waiting for me in the refrigerator to top off the day. I hope your Saturday was a Happy One too. :-)

SkyWatch Friday

These are some of the sky pictures I took during the past week. These are my favorites. There are four of them because I couldn't decide which ones I like best, so I posted all of them. A moody sky This one makes me think of cold and snow. Reflections sitting in the car Fiery sunset Want to post a sky picture of your own or just enjoy looking at more? Make it happen by clicking on the picture below. Happy SkyWatching and have a Happy Friday.

Happy Thanksgiving

I only saw one couple out walking this morning while on my walk. Everyone must be in the kitchen putting that turkey in the oven. Later this morning Kenny and I will be delivering Meals on Wheels. Then later on we will have a quiet Thanksgiving diner with just the two of us.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING Click on the turkey to see the card.I am thankful for all of you, my blogging buddies. You make my life a bit more happy! :-)

A while ago I posted a list of 50 things that I was thankful for. I thought today being Thanksgiving was a good day to post that again. If you care to read my list, click here. I wish you all a Happy Thursday.

Quick townhouse update

Just a quick post with some more townhouse pictures.
The front of the house with the brick on it.

The side of the house just starting to get the brick.

The whole row of houses.

We get a sidewalk too.

I can walk right down the sidewalk, cross the street and pick up the path to take me to the park where I will be going for my morning walks! :-)

Good smelling house

I went for my morning walk as usual. A lot of people must be busy cooking and baking or traveling because there were just a couple of people out. I went to the library this morning to pick up a book that was on hold for me and found 2 other books that I couldn't leave without.

I baked some Pumpkin Bread this afternoon. My recipe makes three loaves at one time. We will eat one of the loaves and I'll freeze the other two for another time.

I also made a Pumpkin Pie crust and all.

The house is smelling oh so good. I smell it best when I'm up at the top of the stairs. It's going to be hard to wait until tomorrow to eat any of this pie. Since it's just for us maybe we will have a piece a day early!! This picture of the townhouse was taken last night in the dark so it's not a good picture but you can see that they have started on the brick. Well, I'd better go and clean the kitchen up after my day of baking. I make such a mess when I bake. Then I'm going to sit down and start one of those library books I just got. Make your Wednesday a Happy One!!

87 cookie cutters

Pretty mild this morning compared to the last few days for walking - it was almost 40 degrees. My pedometer is acting up again like it needs a new battery but I just put in a new one not that long ago. Maybe it's time to just buy a new pedometer. I guessed my walk this morning to be about 6 miles but didn't know for sure so I went to GmapsPedometer when I got home and tracked my route. I actually walked 7.1 miles! Ken went to work as usual but picked me up at 9:30 and we went to meet Nate over at the town house for the pre-drywall walk through. All is as it should be. We had to tell them where we want the cable, telephone, and internet hook ups to be. It was nice walking around the house in the daylight this time. :-) Today they start putting the brick up on our house and the unit next to ours - all 6 others already have the brick up. The electricians were finishing up while we were there today. All things are looking very good!! I finished reading another book by Alexander McCall Smith - The Miracle at Speedy Motors.It was book number 9 in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series. I enjoyed this one like I did all the others. Here's a quote from the book. "But one had to be careful, Mma Ramotswe reminded herself: one should not ask for too many things in life, especially when one already had so much."

I took down my cookie cutter collection this afternoon.

There are 87 of them so there were 87 nails to pull out.

I put them in a basket and put them in the middle of the table for a centerpiece.

This is the first thing I've done to get ready for the move to the new house. I know this is going to sound crazy but there really isn't much we have to do. Since we are going to have both houses for a while it will be a very relaxed move. With it not being a great time to sell a house we should have quite a while to move everything before the house sells. As I've mentioned before I like to shred and my to shred basket was getting full so I had fun shredding this afternoon. Doesn't take much to intertain me! :-) We have been watching Netflix movies for a while but today we are back to watching Six Feet Under. In a little while we will watch that, have some ice cream and I'll knit on Nola's afghan. Then read until bedtime. Hope your Tuesday was a Happy One for you!

A path, a card and a book

This morning I wore that extra layer while walking since it was quite chilly. I had on my red/black checked flannel jacket with the hood. It kept me nice and warm. Here is a picture of my walking path with all the leaves off the trees now. That bridge up ahead is I95 which I walk under.The Thanksgiving Day card that I made has been received so I can now post the pictures of it. The first picture is when the cross stitch is just about done. The only thing left to do is the outlining which makes such a big difference - it makes the picture jump out at you. I've posted both pictures to show the difference.

The finished card.

I've finished reading a cute little book of only 161 pages called James Herriot's Cat Stories.

This book is what you would think - a collection of cat stories that James has come across during the time he was a vet. Most of the stories will make you laugh and even one or two may make you cry but they all are heart warming even if you don't like cats. :-) Carla - I'm sure you would love this little book. It made me think of you as I read it because you love cats so much. I just got an email from Ken saying we have our pre dry wall walk through of the townhouse tomorrow morning. I am so excited!!!! I really do believe we will be in the house on January 6th. I have some things to do around the house yet this afternoon so I'd better get to it. I'm thinking this is a good night to go out for pizza!!! Enjoy this day my friends. :-)

Opportunity to do a kindness? Do it.

It isn't the thing you do dear, It's the thing you leave undone, That gives you the bitter heartache At the setting of the sun; The tender word unspoken, The letter you did not write, The flower you might have sent, dear, Are your haunting ghosts at night. The stone you might have lifted Out of your brother's way, The bit of heartfelt counsel You were hurried too much to say; The loving touch of the hand, dear, The gentle and winsome tone, That you had no time or thought for, With troubles enough of your own. These little acts of kindness, So easily out of mind, These chances to be angels, which even mortals find - They come in nights of silence, To take away the grief, When hope is faint and feeble, And a drought has stopped belief. For life is all too short, dear, And sorrow is all too great, To allow our slow compassion That tarries until too late. And it's not the thing you do, dear, It's the thing you leave undone, That gives you the bitter heartache, At the setting of the sun. - Adelaide Proctor

Philippians 2:3 & 4 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have a blessed Sunday! Do some kindness for some one each day and make their day a Happy One!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One more picture of the house. The garage door is up and we can't get in the house anymore to walk around.

A few more pictures

It was only 25 degrees this morning when I went for my walk. The sun came out though and there was no wind and once again I was toasty warm wearing 4 layers. I was surprised to see so many people out early this morning.

Here are a few more pictures of the townhouse I took Thursday.
Pantry in the corner of the kitchen.

The washer and dryer will be here.
I wonder how often I'll use the dryer now that I'll have one.

These are the two small bedrooms upstairs.
Bedroom number 1.

Bedroom number 2.

Standing in the loft.
Windows in the master bedroom below.
One of the dormer windows straight across.

Looking up at the dormer windows in the master bedroom.

Ken is out this morning and I will do a few things around the house. Don't have any plans for rest of the day yet. We will just have to see what comes along.

Hope every one's Saturday will be a Happy One.

SkyWatch Friday

It's Friday which means it's time for more SkyWatch pictures. Three pictures taken on different days this past week. Sunrise on a walk. A cloudy day with just a hint of blue sky. Another morning picture on a walk. If you want to post a sky picture of your own or just see LOTS more sky pictures just click on the picture below and make it happen.

Townhouse Pictures

We couldn't believe how much work was done on the town house in the last two days. Here are some photos. By tomorrow the doors will be locked and we won't be able to get in anymore. The plumbing is finished and the water heater is in.
Wednesday we have a walk through to make sure we are happy with everything and then they will do the drywall. The brick has been delivered and there are piles of it all over. The outside pictures were taken earlier when it wasn't dark yet. We came back later after the workers had left and I took the inside pictures. The pictures aren't all that great because it was dark and I took them with no light - only the flash.

The back of the house.

So happy to see that transom window above the front door.

Basement window - front of house.

The bathroom on the main floor off the living room. Stairs going up to the bedrooms.

The kitchen - sink will be under the windows and counter tops along the side.

Standing in the living room looking through to the kitchen. The gas fireplace is in place.

It was great to be able to walk all over the house. All the stairs were in so we could go all the way up to the loft. I have more pictures and will post them over the next couple of days. I thought 6 was enough at one time. We are so happy and excited. The time will go fast and before you know it we will be living in our new home.

While we were out we went up the street to LeeLyns and had dinner. I had a cup of Cream Sweet Potato Soup with roasted walnuts on top. I'd never had that before and was so glad I tried it because it was the most delicious soup I've ever had. Ken got Cream of Crab and when I tried some of it I thought that was the most delicious soup I've ever had too. :-)

Toasty warm

This morning was a wee bit warmer than yesterday on my walk. People often ask if I get cold when walking on these cold mornings and it really hasn't gotten that cold yet. No I'm not cold. I dress in layers and I really do stay toasty warm. Today I wore 4 top layers and 2 bottom layers and I put the hood up on my last sweatshirt. These layers are fine all through the 30's and high 20's. When it's colder than that I put an extra layer on the bottom and have a big hooded flannel jacket that is super warm for layer number 5. Don't forget I'm not just standing outside but walking fast and that keeps me warm. I really don't mind the weather at all. Walking in cold weather is great! Lots of crisp fresh air - it's refreshing and invigorating. If the temperatures drop below 15 I will cut my walk a little short. If it drops to 12 or below I don't walk and if it's icy I won't walk. I do walk in the snow and then the woods seem magical and I love to walk then. I have walked a few times when it's been icy and have fallen - never got hurt. Now I just don't walk on those days because I figure it's better not to walk for a day or two than if I break something and can't walk for longer. I can't imagine what I would do if I couldn't walk!!! I did like the movie The Pursuit of Happyness that we watched the other day. I didn't realize that it was a true story until the end. I thought Will Smith was great in the movie. I found the movie a bit depressing and felt so bad for Chris but it was a great story and had a super ending. We watched another movie last night called October Sky - another good movie. A boy grows up in a mining town in WV and everyone assumes he will just go down in the mines like his father and almost every one else in town. He sees Sputnik go by in the night sky and knows he cannot go down in the mines. Based on a true story and another one with a great ending. It was commissary day for me yesterday. I was kind a dreading going because I thought it would be super crowded with next week being Thanksgiving. I must have picked the best time to go because it was pretty much like a regular day. Just a little line to wait on. Lots of extra Thanksgiving stuff on pallets all over the place made for narrow aisles and I can just imagine what it will be like next week in there.

I just finished reading Return to Paris by Colette Rossant. It's the second book I read by her and it continues with her life story. She LOVES to eat and cook and the book has lots of recipes in it. The book was okay, but I could take it or leave it. I probably won't be reading any more of her books.

Later after lunch I'm going to do some house cleaning. When Ken gets home from work we are going over to the town house and take some more pictures. We are hoping that the stairs are all in now and we can walk around all the rooms. If we can and I get some pictures, I will post some later this evening. Things are really moving along good and we now have a closing date of January 6. That could change if we get some bad weather but it looks pretty good for that date. Well it's almost lunch time. I'm going to read some blogs and then have lunch before I get to my housework. Hope today is a sunny happy day for you.

Walking Shoes

A chilly start to the morning today with a temperature of 30 degrees. I broke out the new walking shoes this morning. Cheryl - I take pictures of my feet too. :-) I am always a little leery of trying out a new pair of walking shoes because I walk so much I really need a good pair of shoes and if they don't feel good right away I can't wear them. These new ones are great though. I walked 7 miles today and my feet felt perfect! I finished making the Thanksgiving Day card today. I can't believe all the stuff I had all over the place just making one card. What a mess I made. I'll post a picture of the card when it had been delivered. This afternoon we had some snow showers. Didn't amount to anything though which is fine by me. A pretty quiet day - didn't go anywhere. We didn't even go look at the town house after supper. We are going to watch a movie in just a few minutes when I get finished here called The Pursuit of Happyness. Hope it's good. I hope your Tuesday was a Happy One.

Moving right along on the town house.

After two days of rain and warm weather, it was cold today but there was lots of sunshine for most of the day. Now this evening is raining again. I have lots more leaves to rake but I'll have to save the raking for another day. Yesterday we of course went over to the town house and was so surprised to see them working on a Sunday. They were on the roof doing the shingles and it was pretty windy out. We didn't get very close because things were blowing off the roof. Even though they still haven't fixed the cut out for the transom window we saw the doors all lined up in one of the garages and they do have the transom windows in them which makes us very happy. Today I did Meals on Wheels. The one lady Janice that I had for a couple of weeks who was off the other week, I'm happy to say is now back on. I had two more new people today - a couple (Joe & Pat) who are younger than I am!! They also have a dog that Joe was holding back and told me his name was Comet. When I said hi Comet, Joe told me that Comet was not friendly and that if he let him go, the dog would bite me. Not good!! There are now 8 people on my route which I think is just the right amount of people. If I get to many more than that I don't have enough time to have a little visit. I finally finished the cross stitch for the Thanksgiving Day card I'm making that was supposed to be done in one day. Tomorrow I will make the rest of the card. After supper tonight we went back to the town house again. It was dark and raining so the picture isn't all that good. The roof is done and they did the cut out for the transom window and some of the windows are now in. Here is the start of the stairs going from the garage up to the next floor. I thought this picture turned out pretty good considering it was DARK and was taken with the flash. The rest of the evening we'll watch a movie and I'll knit, have some ice cream and maybe read. It's nice being home this evening in a nice cozy house and listening to the rain on the roof. I hope today was a Happy One for you.