No walk today

There was some ice around and we got another light dusting of snow so I decided not to walk this morning.  I was afraid I wouldn't be able to see the ice under the snow and didn't want to take a chance of falling.

Our heat pump has decided decided not to work.  Thankfully we have the pellet stove to keep us warm while we wait for it to get fixed.  We have been using both the heat pump and the pellet stove together.  We tried just using the pellet stove and blowing the heat to the other parts of the house with the fan from the heat pump like the previous owners did but we didn't like it.  The fan blowing constantly just made the other rooms cold.  The problem is that the thermostat is in the same room as the pellet stove and that room gets so nice and toasty but the rest of the house is cold.  Ken is probably going to move the thermostat down the hall.

I made some Pumpkin Bread this morning.  The recipe makes three loaves.  I like to use smaller loaf pans and make 6 little loaves.

I finished The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe last night.  As you know I wasn't crazy about the book but the last 60 pages of the book were better and I liked the ending.  If you'd like to read what it's about and some reviews, check out this LINK. 
Only discussed the book with one other person because just two of us showed up tonight.  Susan thought it was slow going but liked it more than I did.  I wrote a quote down that I liked from the book and she wrote down the exact same quote!!

"Only by being present can you be happy.  Too much attention to the past and the future, takes the now away.  And once it's gone, you never get it back."

Even though it was just the two of us it was a nice time.  I had brought one of the little pumpkin breads to share with everyone so we ate bread, talked about the book, and then just talked.  Susan also showed me this neat web site and we played around with that too.  You type in an authors name and a bunch of other authors who are similar pop up.  Here's the LINK if you want to see it.

I walked to the book club and when I left I went to the post office and dropped a couple of letters in the mail box.  Then walked around town for a little bit before going home.  I least I got a little walk in today. : )
I thought the church steeple looked nice lit up so snapped a picture of it.

I didn't some across any ice so tomorrow I should be good to go walking. : )
Have a great evening.
happyone : )

It's Wednesday.

I am alive.

I am breathing.

God has given me another today.

I am thankful.

I am blessed.

God is good.

Just for today.....

I will look for joy in all things.

I will enjoy what is beautiful.

I will listen. 

I will believe.

~Lori Homeyer

Snow

So we got some snow last night and I got to walk this morning in a snow white wonderland. : )  I took this picture as soon as I walked out the back door.

It was 25 degrees, a bit windy and it was still snowing though it stopped after about three inches.  I was going to walk the farm loop but to get there I'd have to walk on the main road for about a mile, and the main road was slushy and the cars going by would have gotten me wet so I just stayed on the back roads around town and up to the cemeteries.  Here's a few pictures I took along my walk.  All the footprints in the pictures are mine!

I passed by Lone Chicken and she looked warm and cozy sitting in the straw.

If this snow happened where I used to live all the schools would have been closed and everyone in a panic.  Here all the schools were still open and on time and the snow was no big deal.  I like that!

It was nice being out in the snow early this morning.
I walked 6.2 miles - 11,942 steps.

Sunrise: 6:58

Sunset: 5:04

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 Mid morning we headed out to Grantsville to check out a antique store.  I'm now looking for some old inexpensive plates that have blue in them.  I want to hang them in the kitchen on the wall over the cabinets.  Didn't find any there but it was nice looking at everything.  This place was kind of up scale so we probably won't go back there.  I like antique stores that are a bit messy and you really have to look to find things.

Still reading that book but I will be able to finish before tomorrow evening.  I don't usually finish reading books that I don't like, but made an exception because it was for the book club.

I had some happy news from my son David today.  He asked if he and the kids could come for Thanksgiving.  : )  What a question, of course I said YES, YES, YES!!

Our friend Ron, (neighbor and from church) hurt his shoulder a few weeks ago and he has to have surgery on it Thursday at 10:00.  It is supposed to be a very painful recovery.  I ask that those of you who pray to please say a prayer that all goes well.  Thanks so much!

We had a few more snow flurries during the day but they didn't amount to anything more.  The sun even came out for a little while but it stayed cold - never made it out of the 20's.

Hope your day has been a good one and you smiled often.
happyone  : )

 God gave you the gift of 86,400 seconds today.

Have you used one to say,

Thank You?

William Ward

Comment replies:

Vee -  That would be great if they all wanted to meet me. : )  Oh yes, I will be honest about the book tomorrow.  

Adopting a senior

The first thing I noticed when I stepped out the door this morning was the smell of wood smoke coming from peoples fireplaces. 

It was a chilly 25 degrees and the wind had finally died down to where it was very still, not even a breeze.
I walked the town route and by the time I had walked up all three hills behind my house and down again I was quite warm!!  Then it was on to the two cemeteries, around the loop behind the ball park, up and down the main street in town and home again.
Walking down the hill behind my house from the park I passed a house just as they let there little dog out of the house.  It was yippy little thing and ran right across the road to me and starting snapping at my heels.  The people from the house never said a thing and I just kept walking and the dog followed me all the way to the library barking the whole time.  Then it just turned around and went back home. 

One of my horse friends over by the Drane house came trotting over to me when I went by the fence.  I think he looks forward to my petting him now, or more likely he's hoping I have something for him to eat. : )  He was very curious about my camera and when I took a picture of him. 

Yesterday I found a penny when walking which was a nice surprise because I hardly ever find coins here.  Then this morning I walked up this dead end road in town and there on the ground were three quarters and three dimes all in a row.  My first thought was that Ken put them there for me to find, but it was too far away from the house and the coins all looked like they had been there a while.

I walked 6 miles - 11,670 steps.

Sunrise: 6:57

Sunset: 5:05

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HAPPY VETERANS DAY 

and A big THANK YOU to all who have served.

Ken was in the Navy for 20 years and when he retired this shadow box was presented to him.  He has added the pictures on the left.

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Ken went up to Happy Trails again today and I left in the opposite direction and went to a nursing home 18 miles down the road.  

There was an article in the local paper asking if anyone would like to adopt a resident for Christmas and buy gifts for them. Sounded like something I would enjoy doing so I went to find out about it. Instead of calling I decided to go in person.  

I talked to the lady who was organizing it and she told me how it worked.  They don't give out names but I would get a number with a list of things that the person would like.  Buy the gifts and return them to her in a gift bag and she would put the persons name on the gifts.  I was disappointed because I wanted to meet my adopted person.  I didn't want to just buy some gifts for a number.  

I asked if I could meet my person.  She answered that no one ever asked to meet them before but she would ask the residents and see if someone would like to meet me.  So I left my name and number and she said she would let me know.  The lady was very nice and thought someone would be interested. : )  

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I spent some time this afternoon trying to finish my book for the book club Wednesday evening.  It put me to sleep a few times!!!   I've read this much of it now that I just want to have it finished but I won't do it again.  If I don't like a book, I'm just not going to read it.  I've liked the other books that we've read.  I'm wondering what the others think of it.

Not sure what I'll be doing next but that's my day so far.
A happy Monday to you.
happyone : )

Gratitude can transform common days

into thanksgiving,

turn routine jobs into joy,

and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.

~William Arthur Ward

Bible Verse for November

This month the Bible verse my church is learning together is another easy one for me because it is one that I learned some time ago.

Psalms 118:1

O give thanks unto the Lord,

for He is good.

because His mercy endureth for ever.

Have a wonderful Sunday.

Be happy, God loves you!!

happyone : )

A little too close

The coldest morning so far at 22 degrees.  The sun came up though and it was very still,  without the slightest breeze.  The air was crisp and clear and I could hear the slightest sound.  Cows mooing off in the distance, the crows cawing in the woods, and the few cars way over on the main road while I walked down the road in the picture.  What a great morning to be out walking!!

I walked my usual route and didn't come across anyone else.  I saw my usual animal friends and stopped to take a picture of these cows.  I heard them but didn't see them at first because they were behind some huge bales of rolled hay.  I walked up to the hay, looked over and there they were.

By the time I got back home the temperature was up to 30 degrees already.
I walked 6.5 miles - 12,738 steps.

Sunrise: 6:55

Sunset: 5:07

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Today after lunch when Ken went up to Happy Trails, I went along with him.  It was a sunny day and the temperature got up in the 40's so it was nice working weather. He had chipped a whole bunch of tree limbs yesterday so I had a huge pile of chips to lay along my trail.  I had enough to put on the trail to where I finished putting the logs along.  Here I am at the end.

He had fun on his tractor today pulling up some tree stumps.

We are getting quite a bit cleared away. With the leaves off the trees you can see the wood shop off in the distance there on the left.  In this cleared area we plan to build our little cabin one of these days.  Right now we are thinking about a dry one room log cabin.

We also had a fire going in the fire barrel and one time I got a little too close putting some branches in and a puff of fire came out of the barrel and the left side of my hair got a bit singed.  It was pretty scary smelling my hair burning.  Not much damage done though, just looks like I have some split ends.  Later Ken did the same thing!!  He got too close too and but it was his eyebrows that got singed. 

Home around 4:30 to get cleaned up and then we went out to Ledo's for supper for salad and pizza.

So that's been my day.
Hope you enjoyed your Saturday as well.
happyone : )

Whatever happens in your life,

no matter how troubling things might seem,

do not enter the neighborhood of despair.

Even when all doors remained closed,

God will open up a new path only for you.

Be thankful.

~ Elif Shafak

Comment replies:

Vee - Yes, I do.  That window cleaner sure works good!!  BTW - My window looked fine with the morning sun shining on it. : )