Friday Photos and Skywatch Friday

 A couple pictures from my Thursday afternoon walk.  These are about the only photos I've taken this week.  Skywatch Friday Link-up

Walking with Lucy Thursday afternoon

Beautiful Day

My favorite kind of skies - bright blue and big fluffy clouds

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great weekend.

Cathy

Thankful Thursday

 

Click here to join in.

Things I am thankful for this morning:

**a good night's sleep

**Lucy waking me up early which gave me time to read my Bible and also to finish a short story book.

**A fresh pot of chili made last night by my hubby and on top there are leftovers to eat this weekend.  I love hubby's chili.

**Just texted my daughter and they are good this morning.  Still with the in-laws for a few hours she says, as the subdivision is without electric.  Thank you God!

** My grandson got his first report card and it's all A's.  Sure am proud of him.

Wearing the Johnny Appleseed hat he made
in school.

**A boy and his dog!  

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great day!

Cathy

Reading and Books A to Z

I saw this on Stacy's blog yesterday and have decided to try it.  I tried to trace back and find out where it started and went back about 4-5 layers and it was still going.  So, if you're interested, why don't you participate too.

 Books A to Z

Author you've read the most books from: Karen Kingsbury, Lori Wick are the 2 names that come to mind. I just finished a Karen Kingsbury book that very good called "A Distant Shore" and I just finished re-reading almost all of Lori Wick's books. Also, in my late teens and 20's I read a lot of Grace Livingston Hill books because my sister, my grandma and mom read them too.

Best sequel: The O'Malley series by Dee Henderson. I think there were 7 of them and they were all very good.

Currently reading: "Landing (A Point in Time, #3)" This is a series of 7 short books taking place at a certain well-know time. I found them on Amazon free for Prime Members to borrow.

Drink choice while reading: Diet Coke or flavored water

E-reader or physical book: Definitely at this point in my life, I prefer my Kindle. It's much lighter than most books and also the books don't take up shelf space, which I no longer have much of.

Fictional character you probably would have dated in high school: I didn't really date in high school so I can't really think of a fictional character I would have dated back then.

Glad you gave this book a chance: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women. This was not really an easy book to read, but I'm glad to learn about what these poor women went through in our history.

Hidden gem: "Before We Were Yours" by Lisa Wingate

Important moment in your reading life: Probably in my early elementary years when my teachers read to us...things such as the Little House series, Charlotte's Web, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books. Then mom would take us to the library and I'd check these books out and read them myself. I would say this is what instilled in me the love of reading. That and the fact that my mom and most of my brothers and sisters loved reading too.

Just finished: "Naomi's Gift" by Martha Hall Kelly.

Kind of books I won’t read: I have no interest in reading books that are sexually explicit.

Longest book you’ve read: The Bible

Major hangover because of: (What book has stayed with me the longest) Probably "Christy" that I mentioned above and maybe "Gone With the Wind".

Number of cases you own: I have 2 bookcases, plus boxes of books in the garage on shelves, plus a Kindle full of books.

One book you’ve read multiple times: "Pretense"

Preferred place to read: My recliner with a blanket and my pup.

Quote that inspires you, or gives you all the feels, from a book you’ve read: Can't think of one at the moment.

Reading regret: Not keeping better records of what I've read.

Series you started and need to finish: Jan Karon's Mitford series. I think she's written a few more since I read the series. Planning to start at the beginning and re-read the older ones and then move on to the newer ones.

Three of your all-time favorite books: I think this is really hard, because I like so many when I read them, but can't seem to bring them to mind. But here are 3 that I like for sure.

• The Bible
• "The Shack"
• "Christy"

Unapologetic fan of: The Biographies of people I like both living and dead.

Very excited for this release (more than all the others): Currently I'm not waiting for any new releases.

Worst bookish habit: Buying too many books. But now that I use a Kindle, I seldom buy a physical book. So it's not too much of a problem now, as most of the Kindle books I read, I get on the Libby App from my Libraries for free.

X marks the spot - start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book: I'm not home right now, so I can't do that. However, I could go to the church's library and see what that would there. Quite a few of those books came from my mom and me. Okay, I'm back and it's called, "Watchers on the Hill" by Stephanie Grace Whitson and it does not look familiar to me at all.

Your latest book purchase: "Bookshop by the Sea" by Denise Hunter and "Hooked on You" by Kathleen Fuller. I bought these because I received a gift card for Barnes and Noble for my retirement.

Zzz snatcher book (the last book that kept you up late): "Bamboo and Lace" by Lori Wick

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great day.

Cathy

Tuesday 4 - Autumn This and That

 It's time again for Tuesday 4 held in memory of Toni Taddeo it's founder and previous host. Thank you so much for joining in and helping to keep this alive. It is much appreciated. Click here to link up. 

It's Autumn and temperatures in many places will be going down, days will be shorter and leaves will be tumbling down. Let's discuss these things. 

1. Do lower temperatures bother you or make you uncomfortable and are you more of a warm climate person? I like the cooler temperatures of fall.

2. Do you like the colors associated with Autumn. Clothing wise do they look good on you? I do like the fall colors.  In fact, I'm wearing a new orange shirt I bought the other day.

3. Would you rather:… … get lost in a corn maze or go on a hayride? … visit an apple orchard or a pumpkin patch ? … eat a caramel apple or a candy apple? …Cinnamon buns or Pumpkin muffins? 

Never done a corn maze but would like to try it, but I know I like a hayride.  

I'd rather visit and apple orchard.  

I haven't had a caramel or candy apple in years so I'm really not sure which.  But probably caramel, but I'd prefer to have apple slices and dip them in Peanut Butter.

Cinnamon buns for me.

4. There are 7,500 varieties of apple. What is your favorite and do you like apple pie? I like a red delicious and also a honey crisp apple. And yes, I like apple pie, but seldom ever eat it.  We like to bake our apples with a little butter and cinnamon and that is awesome with pork chops for dinner.

Thanks for visiting.

Cathy

Bits of This and That

 Good Monday Morning to Everyone!

Hubby and I had a nice weekend, but I did not even take one photograph.  lol  In general, I did some laundry (so glad the dryer is fixed) and did some reading, and watched some TV with hubby, and just had a fairly quiet weekend.

I'm still reading this book.  I do enjoy books by Karen Kingsbury and this one is good too.  I'm about 80% through it and, who knows, maybe I'll finish it today.  (UPDATE:  I just finished it).  

Not my picture - borrowed from
the internet.

On Friday, hubby and I drove to Kentucky and spent some time at the Viewing Area of the Cincinnati/Covington Airport.  If you've been here very long, you probably know hubby and I have a thing about aviation.  We both enjoy watching the landings and take-offs and we have an app that no matter where we are, if we see a plane, we can usually identify who they are and where they came from and where they are going.  I'm always taking time to look up planes when they fly overhead while I'm out with Lucy.  I can't always find them, but it's fun when I do.  

Saturday, we spent the morning at home and then picked up his mom and went to lunch.  After that I did some Walmarting and we got a Starbucks drink on the way home.  That evening we watched the 4th Harry Potter movie.

Again, not my photo. 
Borrowed from the internet.

On Sunday we went to church and Sunday School and I've attached the video of the morning sermon below.  After that we stopped and picked up some lunch from Skyline Chili and headed home.  We both took an afternoon nap and then back to church for our monthly Hymn Sing (where we spend and hour singing the old Hymns of the church.  I so love the Hymns.

That pretty much wraps up our weekend.  We're at church this morning and hubby is waiting for a video appointment with one of his doctors.  And I'm here, working on this post and soon will be doing some homework from our Bible Study for tomorrow night.

I hope you all had a good weekend and thanks for visiting.

Cathy

Saturday 9

 

This Night Won't Last Forever Welcome to Saturday: 9. 

Saturday 9: This Night Won't Last Forever (1979) Unfamiliar with this week's tune.  Hear it here.

 1) This song begins with, "Everybody likes a celebration." Do you have any birthdays or anniversaries coming up on your calendar? My oldest brother's birthday is next week.  But he passed away in 2014 and his celebration will be in Heaven.  He would have been 72 this year.  I miss you Larry but I know you are in a better place and I'll see you when it's my turn.

 2) The lyrics tell us Michael Johnson is stuck at a party while his heart is breaking. He finds it awkward and painful to pretend there's nothing wrong. Are adept at "putting a good face on it?" Or is it easy for others to tell how you're feeling? Sometimes I'm good at hiding my feelings, but not most of the time.  Or maybe it's just depending on who I'm with whether they show our not.

 3) Michael feels like this is going to be a long night. Is there a part of your day when time tends to drag? Or when it flies? When I was working, time really dragged there, but now it all moves pretty smoothly and even fast if you consider I'm already in my 9th month of retirement. 

 4) As bad as he feels right now, he's still hopeful about tomorrow. What are you looking forward to for Sunday? Church services for sure, but especially tomorrow night when we have our monthly Hymn Sing service.  I love these nights.

 5) When he was 13, Michael taught himself to play the guitar. He went on to take formal lessons and mastered classical guitar. What's something you would like learn more about/do better? I want to learn to play the ukulele and/or a dulcimer.  I'm not sure why, but it's been a dream for quite a while.

 6) For a time he performed with a trio known as Denver, Boise & Johnson. The Denver was John. Do you have a favorite John Denver song? Uh!  All of them!!!

 7) He retired to Minneapolis to be near his adult daughter. But he never stopped performing entirely. For years he delighted loyal local fans with with an annual holiday concert on December 26 at Orchestra Hall. Is there a performer you've seen in concert more than once? Multiple Southern Gospel Artists.  Mom and Dad used to take us as kids sometimes and I also went to a couple of the Annual Gospel Quartet Conventions in Nashville with my Aunt and Uncle.

 8) In 1979, when this song was popular, the cable channel ESPN launched. What's the last sporting event that you watched? I'm not too much into watching sports, but I enjoy watching some of the Olympic Sports Events such as gymnastics and ice skating.

 9) Random question: Do you play Wordle? Yes.

Thanks for visiting.

Cathy

Me, from A to Z

Myra posted yesterday an idea she had gotten from one of her blogging friends and challenged us to do it too.  Myra's post is here.  And she has a link to her friend's post if you'd like to read hers too.

I am...

A - Amiable

B - Boisterous (sometimes)

C - Chatty 

D - Dog Lover

E - Encourager

F - Friendly

G - Gabby

H - Happy

I - Inquisitive

J - Joyful

K - Kind

L - Loud, Loving

M - Messy

N - Nice

O - Optimistic 

P - Piano Player

Q - Queen (at least in our home as we always told the girls when they were little.  Dad the King, Me the Queen and they were the Princesses.)

R - Reader

S - Simple (in a good way)

T - Teaser

U - Understanding 

V - Valuable (at least to my husband)

W - Weird

X - eXcited (I think I get to see my grandson again in a couple weeks.

Y - Yappy (Do you get the idea that I might be a bit of a talker?)

Z - Zany (sometimes)

This little exercise was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  Hope some of you will play along.

Cathy

Thankful Thursday

We all have many things to be thankful for, if we just stop long enough to think about it.  And to me, that is the purpose for these Thankful Thursday posts.  Link up is here. It makes me stop and look back over my week and deliberately think about the things in my life God has blessed me with.   And there are many.  But for today, this is what I wish to post about. 

***I received a 30%off coupon for Kohl's last week.  

***My sister...she's always up for a shopping trip.  I called and asked if she wanted to go to Kohl's as I had that coupon and of course, she said yes.  I picked her up this morning and off we went.  We leisurely shopped and I ended up buy 3 new tops.  Two were left over from summer type short-sleeved shirts and the other is definitely a darker colored dressier blouse for the fall.  I love all of them.  Then we went into TJ Maxx and browsed.  Before you know it, we both had found some fall type tops we loved.  We each brought home 3 from there.  

***Earrings...I was looking for some gold hoop earrings and was going to buy a pair and she told me she had some at home and she no longer wears earrings and said she would give them to me.  So when I dropped her off back at home, I went in with her and she gave me a whole box of earrings.  

***Tomatoes...She also gave me more tomatoes from their garden.  I had to pick them, but I love that and I love the fresh tomatoes!  

***That same sister invited me to a women's retreat they are having next month at her church.  I'm so excited to go.  They have a guest speaker and then break into some small groups and there will be 3 meals provided, plus a craft to make.  

See why I am so thankful for my sister.  She is always doing and giving and is such a blessing to me.  She was pretty much a second mom to me growing up (even though she was only about 5 years older.  After our mom passed in 2015, she really stepped up her game even more.  She has definitely become the matriarch of our family.  I'm not sure she appreciates that necessarily (lol), but we do.  

Beverly, if you should ever read this post, don't be embarrassed cause I know you don't like the mushy stuff.  But thank you and I love you!

Cathy

 

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Click above to link up.

1. Volume 478. Sounds like a lot. Where were you in 1978? If you weren't born where were you in 2008? I was still living at home with my parents on the farm and I was in my 2nd year of working for the police department in my city.  As for 2008, I started writing this blog on September 13th of 2008.  

2. Raise your hand if you remember records playing at a speed of 78 rpm? I do remember as we may have had 1 or 2 of them, but mostly because our stereo had a setting for 78's.  However, when I was young 33's and 45's were what was popular. What's a topic that when it comes up you 'sound like a broken record'? Probably when I talk about loving being retired.

3. What's the last thing you recorded in some way? It was probably a voice mail.

4. Thursday is the first day of fall (in the northern hemisphere). How do you feel about the changing seasons? I like the changing of seasons.  I love living in a place where we see changes from all 4 seasons.  There is much beauty in all of them.  Something you're looking forward to this fall? Our trip to Myrtle Beach.

5. In what way (or ways) are you like the apple that didn't 'fall far from the tree'? I'm very similar to my mother in looks (as I age I look more and more like her) and according to my sister, I act like my mom too.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Thanks for visiting.

Cathy

Tuesday 4 - Autumn Trip

 

Autumn Trip

From Annie "Welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we put 4 questions up each week for you to ponder and answer.  Then we hope you visit all the other participants too. so we can get to know one another better". Click here to link up.

Let's plan a lovely vacation through New England to see the Autumn leaves..  Money is no object and we have all the time we would like.

1. How many days and  nights would you like to be away? I've never been there, but I think for the first time, 2 weeks would be good.

2. What kind of car would you like to take on this trip? I enjoy traveling in a minivan. Maybe you would enjoy the train? Maybe if hubby did not have knee issues and boarding would be a nightmare.  Would you sail up the coast in a yacht? Probably not.

3. Would side trips be on your agenda? Perhaps to Mystic, Connecticut, Salem, Massachusetts, Plimouth, (yes, they spelled it with an "i" ) Massachusetts, Walden Pond, Lizzie Borden's home or maybe the home of  Emily Dickenson, etc. I think I would enjoy those.

4. Lobster roll, chowders, boiled dinners, brown bread, baked beans,  pancakes with real maple syrup, blueberry muffins, Parker House Rolls (well loved by Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,  the Kennedy clan.), Toll House Cookies, Red Flannel Hash, Tourtiere  pork pie, (Recipe here)— what native foods catch your attention? Lobster Roll, chowders and boiled dinners.

From Annie:  "Here is a recipe  for the hash that I found a while back that might interest you."

   Red Flannel Hash

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 can (14-1/2 ounces) sliced beets, drained and chopped

2 cups chopped cooked corned beef

2-1/2 cups diced cooked potatoes

1 medium onion, chopped

1/4 cup half-and-half cream

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add all remaining ingredients. Reduce heat to low; cook and stir until lightly browned and heated through, 20 minutes.

Thanks for visiting. 

Cathy

 

Bits of This and That

 We had a pretty quiet weekend and spent a lot of time at home.  We watched some TV and I did quite a bit of reading too.  I'm currently reading, Karen Kingsbury's book called "A Distant Shore."

Picture does not belong to me. 
Borrowed from the internet.

On Friday, a repairman came and fixed our dryer.  It quit heating for some reason and let's face it, a dryer with no heat is pretty useless.  So now, guess who'll be doing laundry tonight (as I didn't do any over the weekend after it was fixed.).

On Saturday, we picked up his mom and went to a Mexican Restaurant called El Toros and I believe all of us enjoyed it.  Then we dropped her off at home and headed to another nearby town and I did some grocery shopping.  Got just a few things.  The most important was a chuck roast and some noodles.  I was definitely in the mood for beef and noodles.  Saturday evening with continued with our Harry Potter marathon and watched #3.

Picture does not belong to me. 
Borrowed from the internet.

Hubby put the meat in the slow cooker before bed and it cooked until we got home from church.  It was delicious!  We had 2 really good services Sunday and I'll post his sermon below.  I took a short nap and then did one of my Bible Study lessons.  

Well, that's pretty much my weekend in a nutshell.  Thanks for visiting.

Cathy

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

1. What's something you've learned from a younger person? I've learned multiple new recipes from fellow bloggers that are younger...like this Chicken Tortilla Soup from Overflowing with Thankfulness.  

 2. Are you a perfectionist? No, not really.  Elaborate? I have a tendency to think well, that's not perfect, but it's better than it was.

 3. What makes you cringe? Hearing God's name being used in a cursing kind of way and especially when they say Jesus Christ.

 4. September is National Honey month...do you have bees and make your own? No. Know someone who has bees and they share? I do know someone who has bees, but I've never asked for any from them.  My dad raised them for several years and I always ate that.  Now, I just buy it from the store usually. Your favorite thing made with honey? I don't use honey often, but it's good mixed into peanut butter for a sandwich (although, I seldom do it) and I use honey when making baked beans and really love that.  I suppose Baklava would be my favorite thing with honey.

 5. Where is your happy place? With my husband.  And it's even happier when we are sitting on this balcony overlooking this scene.

 6. Insert your own random thought here.

Thanks for visiting.

Cathy

Tuesday 4

 

We've Got Questions

 Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4. Click here to link up.

Here are questions to ponder for this week...

1. Are you happy with the way your life is going?  Yes

2. Are you planning any trips in the future?  Planning a trip to Myrtle Beach in November.  Reservations made last week.

3. Are you reading anything at the moment or do you plan on reading something interesting? I just completed a book (Pegasus by Jean Kuhnke) yesterday morning early.  Last night I started another book (Bamboo & Lace by Lori Wick).

4. What's for supper tonight at your house? Something quick and easy, because our Ladies Bible Study starts tonight,  It will probably be hot dogs or lunch meat sandwiches or maybe even tomato and cheese sandwiches.  UPDATE:  Several mentioned Taco Salads on blog posts today, so I think we'll make a stop at the Taco Truck on the way home so I can get a Taco Salad!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great day

Cathy

Bits of This and That

 We had a really nice weekend.  On Friday we went to lunch with Tracy's mom and Kerri and Colton went along.  We had lunch at Fazoli's and while it was good, I believe we all enjoyed the company and conversation more than the meal.  Great Grandma so enjoyed being with our Grandson and I think he enjoyed her too.  Unfortunately, not a one of us thought to take a picture.  I really hate that too, but that's life.

Then on Saturday, Kerri dropped Colton off at our house in the early evening and we had such a fun night together, playing and talking and watching a little TV while eating popcorn and then Colton fell asleep in the recliner in the livingroom and we all slept in the livingroom in chairs and it was good!

And this is the only picture we took of him all evening.

Sunday morning we got up and got ready for church.  On the way, we stopped and picked up breakfast from McDonalds and ate in Tracy's office.  Mommy showed up and around 11:00 they got the call that they had to meet up with Daddy, so they had to leave in the middle of the service.  And that was it and they are home now.  Not very many pictures were taken, but so many wonderful memories made.

Here is this Sunday's sermon...scripture reference in Hebrews.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great day.

Cathy

Friday Photos

Most of my pictures from this week have been posted already.  Below are some photographs of flowers I took while on a walk on my street Thursday morning. Most of these were growing around mailboxes.

I love the verses in Genesis where it tells about creation.  I love the ones that tell that God said what He made was good.  I agree with Him 100%.  I guess that's why I like the flowers in our neighborhood because they are beautiful and God thinks they are good too.

Evidently Lucy loves these too. I don't even know what they are.
But that doesn't keep us from enjoying them.

I love yellow mums

Beautiful red rose

 Thanks for visiting.

Cathy 

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for the afternoon that we spent with Kerri and Colton.  So fun.  It's been over a year since we've seen them.  He is growing up so fast.  If things go as planned, we'll see them on Friday when we take Tracy's mom out for lunch.  They are planning to go with us.  It's been even longer since they've been with Tracy's mom.  And he's going to spend the night with us on Saturday and he'll go to church with us on Sunday.  Here are some pictures from Wednesday (most of these were taken by Kerri and I stole them off FB).

Playing while waiting for lunch to come

Playing at the outlet mall

Selfie Time

Cutest little boy loves to shop at Disney Stores

Gigi & Colton getting ready to walk into Disney

Love him so much!!

Thanks for visiting.  You can link up here if you'd like to participate.

Cathy

Painted by my daughter several years ago

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

Click above to link up with Joyce and the Hodgepodge

1. Tell us a little bit about the best birthday you've ever had. I have no idea which was best.  Typically, we go out for lunch somewhere (this year was Olive Garden) and have a small cake. Simple is just how I like it.

2. In what way(s) have you changed in the last five years? For one I'm retired now and I truly love the freedom of that.  The other is I'm a cancer survivor (6 years now) and that surely changed my perspective on life and makes me thankful to wake up another day on this side of the dirt.

3. What's your favorite thing about the street on which you live? Our neighbors are really nice and so many have such beautiful flowers, plus it's fairly quiet and a great place to walk.  If I start at our house and walk up to the cul-de-sac and then back that is just over a mile which is what I try to do at least 5 times a week.  Although, sometimes I go over to the other streets and change up my routes.  I really love our neighborhood.

4. The Hodgepodge lands on National Beer Day...are you a beer drinker? No, I've never had one. What's a recipe you make that lists beer as one of the ingredients? I don't have one, however I don't mind beer-battered onion rings.  I just don't make them, I order them at a restaurant. If not beer, how about yeast? Nope, no recipes with that either.

5. As I grow older I would like to be a woman who walks closely with God and shows love and encouragement to all. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

My grandson and his mom and dad are supposed to be in town tomorrow for a few days.  We won't be seeing Matt as he has a lot going on (which is why they are in Ohio).  Kerri is making plans with friends so we may have some time with Colton with and without her.  We'll see what happens.  That being said I'm really looking forward to seeing my grandson. 

Thanks for visiting.

Cathy