Happy Thanksgiving 2023

"Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse." 

 

~Henry Van Dyke

 

Autumn Endures

(Haiku)

By Me

 

 Cinnamon Leaves dance
Under an azure blue sky
Autumn love endures

 

Happy Thanksgiving dear readers, and thank you for still being with me. I am grateful for all of you.  As you know, it has been a really strange year for me personally, and tragic for so many other folks. But while 2023 been uneven in what it put in my path, life is all about change, and opportunities, and how we deal with them. It's also about the changing seasons. I can count among my blessings that Fall has been healing for me personally, and that I am just about finished with the project in the spare room. Photos to follow soon! My hubby still loves me, and we are both in good health, and happy we are still deeply in love after 33 years of marriage. Hendrix is doing well, with no signs of his cancer returning, and Dylan just gets more loving every single day. As for Joey, well I am pretty sure I have said it before, but I am just going to say it again, he is the best Thanksgiving gift we ever received. We found him Thanksgiving weekend, 2013, and I just fall more in love with him every day! And I have the leaves, the ducks, the geese, the cold weather, and so much more to count among my blessings.

 

I am grateful for my condo. My Mini Cooper. And my love.

 

I am truly blessed.

 

My heart is happy. I hope yours is as well.

 

From our house to yours...

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving 2019

"Thankfulness creates gratitude, 

which generates contentment, that causes peace."

~Todd Stocker 

 #67 Leaf Of The Day

November 28th 2019

Nevada City, California

Nikon

~Mood: Happy

~Me   :)

"YOU ARE LOVED" Messages In Autumn

"What is the name of your dream? A lovely wooden cottage in the middle of a forest? Or walking in an endless autumn path? What is the name of your dream? Don't give a name, always give a list! Fill yourself with dreams because dream is the path to reality."

~Mehmet Murat ildan 

It's all about time. Today marks the first day back at work for Alan, and it also just happens to be the first Monday after the clocks are changed back an hour. Which is nice and all, but I think it will take us more than one hour to make up for how exhausting this vacation has been! It was not the most relaxing one we ever had, but in a lot of ways it could have been a lot worse. I will be posting this week about all the misadventures, but to start out the week on the right note, I am kicking this week off with a simple post about the beautiful leaves I came across on vacation. You see, no matter how awful things got, or what a waste of time every thing seemed, there was always the beautiful autumn light, the leaves, my fur-babies and my amazing Alan to make it all okay.

This year was number 29 for us! 29 years of ridiculous happiness! He and I have found something to laugh about, every single day we've been together. Even on our worst days, we make it work. How did I get so lucky? Or am I simply sleepwalking the best dream ever? Forget it... I don't want to know, I am happy to just continue counting my dreams, and watching them come true. Sitting at the bridge a couple weeks ago I got a really beautiful message from the universe, just when I needed it most! Look really closely at the picture of the Golden Gate Bridge. If you are seeing that message, and you are really glad you saw it, because you needed to feel loved, then it means it was sent to you as well, and I am very happy to pass it along to you!

"YOU ARE LOVED"

San Francisco is where love lives it's best life.

Now, on to the leaves.

"Anyone who thinks fallen leaves are dead,

 has never watched them dancing on a windy day." 

~Shira Tamir

Stockton, California

November 2nd, 2019

Golden Gate Park

San Francisco, California

October 23rd 2019

 Grass Valley, California

October 20th 2019

 Berkeley, California

October 8th 2019

Nevada City, California

October 20th 2019

 Sacramento, California

November 1st 2019

 Stockton, California

November 3rd 2019

Cull Canyon

September 28th 2019

Nevada City, California

October 25th 2019

 Apple Hill

Camino, California

October 16th 2019

#43 Leaf Of The Day

November 4th 2019

Photographed October 25th 2019

Nevada City, California

Nikon

~Mood: Grateful

~Me  :)

 

 

One Day

"He who contemplates the depths of Paris is seized with vertigo.

 Nothing is more fantastic. Nothing is more tragic.

 Nothing is more sublime."

~Victor Hugo

San Francisco is the great geographical love of my life. The Golden Gate Bridge takes my breath away, as does each neighborhood, and of course, sourdough bread. There is nothing quite like the taste of sourdough bread, fresh from the oven, with just a little bit of butter. You only need a small amount of butter, and really that is a matter to taste, because the warm bread is amazingly decadent. Well, I think so anyway. Yes, I love San Francisco, but there are other places I have dreamed about seeing one day. You have to feel the bittersweet of leaving home, to know the sweet joy of returning... right?

On my list are New York City. Bangor, Maine. Lake Champlain, Vermont. Whistler in Canada. London. Helsinki, Finland, and of course, Paris, France. Alan and I have been learning French, through Rosetta Stone, and one day, if the lottery is in our favor, we will see Paris. I thought earlier this year we may have had a chance, when we settled our case against our landlord out of court, but about half of the money ended up being wasted through that stupid, false condo deal. We lost money, and our chance to see at least one of those places, but life has a way of surprising you, so who knows... maybe one day.

For now, I will honor Paris in my heart. I will learn more recipes. Hang a tribute ornament on the tree. Finish my French homework, and most of all, pray for her. There are some bitter hearts in this world. People who can't see the beauty for the bomb. Why anyone would choose to bring terrorism to such a beautiful place is beyond me, I feel sorry for those folks who die in the name of an empty cause. Paris will go on. Paris will thrive. And the name of the suicide bomber... already forgotten. So, if luck does shine on us one day, HELL YES we will go, Paris, New York, Helsinki, Whistler.... we love you, and we will see you one day!

I just know it! 

Leaf Of The Day

November 29th 2015

 Mood: Happy

~Me :)

 

CHARGE IT!

"Shopping is a woman thing. It's a contact sport like football. Woman enjoy the scrimmage, the noisy crowds, the danger of being trampled to death, and the ectasy of the purchase."

~Erma Bombeck

It's Black Friday... GAME ON BITCHES! 

Stores on my list include...

Old Navy

Macy's

Bloomingdales

Union Square... Here I Come!

But not until the afternoon. As I write this it's just about midnight Easter Time, so while it is technically Black Friday, there are 3 more hours in Thanksgiving Pacific Time, and I am doing nothing more ambitious than falling asleep in front of Netflix. I am too old to run out in the middle of the night, just to save 10% on a toaster. But come Friday afternoon... GAME ON BITCHES... if there is anything left. I don't know, do you think there will be a big run on spoon rests, pizzele makers and thermal shirts?

God I AM Boring!

Leaf Of The Day

Mood: Grateful

~Me :)

It Was A Bit Windy Last Night!

"And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair."

~Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

 Did I mention it was a bit windy last night? Yeah, it was! Here you see the aftermath of the high winds, that followed the rainstorm, as it makes it's way down to Los Angeles! We were lucky, no trees fell on or around us. We didn't lose power, well, unless you count that less than 10 seconds of electrical blip we experienced around 6:00 P.M. Thursday night! We did however lose a beloved member of the family... my garden swing that my mother-in-law gave me for my 40th birthday!

Goodness, I loved that swing! Alan and I enjoyed many a warm autumn afternoon reading, while relaxing in the rose garden, on the swing. When I saw it's damage yesterday morning, I couldn't help but feel a bit sad, as I thought about all the memories of sitting on the swing with Elvis, both as he was a young cat, and in his final days. That simple garden swing meant a lot to me, but at the same time, I can't help but marvel at the irony, that while the swing was absolutely shredded, and twisted and pulled apart, the scarecrow only managed to lose her paper braids and hat! And looky there... Minnie Mouse, and my white lamb are still standing! :)

Who says Mother Nature doesn't have a sense of humor?

LOL.

But to make up for her wrath, she did manage to leave exactly two fully blooming roses left on the vines. One from my dark red rose Beloved, and one from the gorgeous, Red/Gold rose! I lost roses off of all the other rose bushes, so seeing those two roses, full with petals, made me very happy! And hey, even Paul, the Japanese Maple, is doing okay! As situations go... the windstorm, and it's aftermath, could have been much, much worse!




I really do have a GRATEFUL heart!

Mood: Happy, Grateful

~Me :)