You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April 2009.
Looking at the Sky through the Camera Lens
13 New Sky Views from Last Week
Even though skies looked
threatening a few mornings …
rain just didn’t fall.
Click to embiggen & for others participating in Thursday Thirteen, Haiku Friday,
See also today’s Haiku Sky Watch Friday at
Small Reflections and Sacred Ruminations
Small Reflections and Sacred Ruminations
“Smile, breathe and go slowly.” Thich Nhat Hanh
South Breeze Farm hosted the Giving Thanks Challenge and I participated at Small Reflections in November and decided to continue indefinitely … generating the following list one day at a time throughout the month of APRIL. I’ve decided to transfer the lists at the end of each month from Small Reflections to Happily Retired Gal … just because. Click to see previous lists already published here.
1. for free cell to cell minutes allowing me to keep in touch with my sister while she’s on the road again with her husband.
2. a new perm to make my hair ‘care-free’ again ;–)
3. for all I’ve learned about Photoshop Elements … especially making collages with pictures I’ve taken with my Nikon D60.
4. sunshine and blue skies!
5. I managed to sleep in until almost 7 am this morning!
6. my sister & I caught up on the phone today in a wonderful conversation.
7. my brother-in-law posted photos at Picasa so I can follow their travels this time.
8. I have time to water the yard this morning since it didn’t rain after all.
9. to have the week off from the evening Word classes for Spring Break10. the weather’s been beautiful all week long.11. for colorful flowers of all kinds blooming in my yard & around the neighborhood.
12. Molly’s been able to play with a variety of visiting dogs this week.
13. for a pleasant afternoon of visiting a variety of stores with a friend after Retired Ladies Lunch. I’m relieved to have practiced fiscal restraint ;–)
14. for tasty blackened tacos at Duke’s with friends before discovering the Word class was canceled at the last minute.
15. I’ll be at home most of today and may finally be able to spend some time visiting blogs.
16. I managed to get myself to the evening Word 7 class even though I would have rather stayed home.
17. I managed to pull out the Maidenhair Fern crowding out the red roses without mangling my hands and arms on the bushes even though I had no gardening gloves to wear.
18. for time to do more weeding and pruning along with some watering early this morning since there’s 80+ degree weather and no rain in the forecast.
19. my Writers Retreat Buddy & I remain in regular telephone contact almost two years after that amazing week in Taos with Suzanne and Jennifer leading 31 participants to explore our writing process.20. I’m able to use the PSE6 skills from Adult School Classes to create photo collages to share on my blogs.21. I managed to complete several errands and still have time to play with Molly today.
22. for the BEAUTIFUL sunrise this morning and that Molly got to play with a variety of doggy friends while I snapped photos.
23. I’ve been able to talk with my sister on the cell phone a few times this week as they wait to board a ferry to Ketchikan, Alaska on Friday.
24. to catch up (over lunch) with a friend who just relocated to the neighborhood from the nearby mountains.
25. for a full 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night.
26. a long time friend called yesterday afternoon and dropped by to visit for a couple of hours.
27. for the lovely roses blooming in my garden currently.
28. the weather continues to be clear & sunny in Ketchikan, Alaska where my sister and her husband are currently.
29. a friend loaned me a copy of Tom Bergeron’s book, I’M HOSTING AS FAST AS I CAN. Seems like a quick, entertaining read so far.
30. for the many ‘bargains’ at the grocery store this morning!
FYI – My previous Gratitude Lists can be found at Happily Retired Gal, my new WordPress site. It is my intention to keep this ‘Daily Gratitude List’ in my sidebar indefinitely because I believe it makes sense to focus on what’s right in our lives regularly. Click for:
2009 Lists – March, February, January
2008 Lists – December, November
2009 Lists – March, February, January
2008 Lists – December, November
Thought for Today
“As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawing upon a blessed world.” Adabella Radici
![[wordlesswednesday-brown.jpg]](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_okDjWgwWPYE/SQhdD-NP55I/AAAAAAAAFa0/3-nnQBRxAgU/s1600/wordlesswednesday-brown.jpg)
This is my 6th …
Click for others participating in Watery Wednesday,
& Wordless Wednesday too.
My 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th are at Sacred Ruminations
and my 3rd is here at Happily Retired Gal
Thought for Today
“I believe that water is the only drink for a wise man.”
Henry David Thoreau
Mellow Yellow Monday #14 
Miscellaneous
yellows caught my eye this week
along with some WEEDS.
Click for others participating in Mellow Yellow Monday.
Thought for Today
“Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.”
Jonathan Kozel
Lovely sunrise viewed
in the East from my front yard …
Awesome … day begins.
Click to embiggen & for others participating in Haiku Friday,
Thought for Today
“Smile, breathe and go slowly.” Thich Nhat Hanh
I observed & snapped 13 pictures of this little bird
cautiously getting a drink before flying off.
Click to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in Thursday Thirteen this week.
Thought for Today
“Use the talents you possess — for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best.” Henry Van Dyke
Mellow Yellow Monday #13
Parked out front Sunday
this bug brings back memories
of the seventies
when I bought my first
1970 yellow
‘bug’ with a sunroof
and drove it for years
happily maneuvering
highways in So Cal.
Click for others participating in Mellow Yellow Monday.
My Today’s Flowers is in the next post.
Thought for Today
” The past is never dead, it is not even past.” William Faulkner
This week’s theme is – PURPLE
linked with Today’s Flowers
I share these purple flowers
from my neighborhood …
Click to embiggen for better viewing & for others participating in
Phot0 Hunt and Today’s Flowers this week.
Click to see my other Purple Photo Hunt/Today’s Flowers
Thought for Today
“The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size.” Gertrude S. Wister
“The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size.” Gertrude S. Wister
Clouds move through without
dropping any rain on the
overly dry earth.
Click for others participating in Haiku Friday,
Thought for Today
“Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.”
Soren Kierkegaard
Mellow Yellow Monday #12
Click to embiggen for better viewing …
Click for others participating in Macro Monday,
Mellow Yellow Monday and Today’s Flowers this week.
Thought for Today
“Flowers … are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844
This is my 58th
Misty Dawn started the meme and explains the rules here.
Click to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in Camera Critters this week.
See also Dogs at Play this weekend at Small Reflections.
Happy Passover & Easter to all!
Snag, enjoy, and pass along this Spring Award to others.
Thought for Today
“Let the resurrection joy lift us from loneliness and weakness and despair to strength and beauty and happiness!” George Newell Lovejoy
Click to embiggen & for others participating
Thought for Today
“Sometimes imagination pounces; mostly it sleeps soundly in the corner, purring.”
Leslie Grimutter
More Fowl Food Fight Flights
Click to embiggen for better viewing …
for others participating in Watery Wednesday,
& Wordless Wednesday too.
Thought for Today
“Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Mellow Yellow Monday #11
See another Mellow Yellow Monday at Small Reflections
Click for others participating in
Mellow Yellow Monday and Today’s Flowers this week.
Thought for Today
“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
This is my 56thMisty Dawn started the meme and explains the rules here.
Watching Koi swimming
Fashion Island, Newport Beach
California
Ripples … reflections
shadows too as colorful
Koi swim in this pond.
Click for others participating in Camera Critters
This is my thirteenth …
Lovely spot to stop
and enjoy the ambience
calming sights & sounds.
Click for others participating in Scenic Sunday
and Shadow Shot Sunday at Hey Harriet
and Shadow Shot Sunday at Hey Harriet
Thought for Today
“We used to build civilizations. Now we build shopping malls.” Bill Bryson
13 Sky Views from Last Week
Combining Haiku
Friday with Thursday Thirteen
is a first for me
but quite natural
since I’m not posting each day
on all of my blogs.
Click to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in Thursday Thirteen, Haiku Friday,
Looking at the Sky, and Sky Watch this week.
South Breeze Farm hosted the Giving Thanks Challenge and I participated at Small Reflections in November and decided to continue indefinitely … generating the following list one day at a time throughout the month of March. I’ve decided to transfer the lists at the end of each month from Small Reflections to Happily Retired Gal … just because. Click to see previous lists already published here.
1. to be feeling healthier today after resting & taking care of myself the past few days.
2. for today’s gentle rain here in Southern California, watering my yard for me.
3. my sister & I spent the afternoon together … walking, taking photographs, eating ‘fish tacos’ in the Barefoot Bar at Duke’s, and checking out the ‘Tuesday evening street fair’ in downtown Huntington Beach where we each purchased some tasty Jalapeño-Cheese bread.
4. for more gentle rain today with occasional breaks so I could take Molly for a couple of walks.
5. I reworked my ‘Memories of Mom‘ post & submitted it to my Writers Workshop tonight and received useful feedback about how I might expand the brief piece about my Dad (shared last Thursday) into a full character sketch.
6. I could reschedule today’s activities to stay home and rest when my cold symptoms flared up again overnight.
7. for learning more about my Nikon camera after attending another class at Ritz with my sister … then celebrating her birthday at BJs ;–)
8. the variable weather causing the skies to change dramatically throughout the day.
9. for drizzles watering my yard this morning and the way my rose bushes have bounced back so quickly after cutting them back a couple of weeks ago.
10. to visit with friends at Retired Ladies Lunch yesterday w/o being coerced into stretching the afternoon into a shopping trip because that permitted me to pick up groceries on the way home and walk Molly too. My sister’s on her way out to spend the afternoon today like we did last Tuesday.
11. my sister and friend responded with supportive understanding when I called to cancel our Wednesday afternoon plans to attend a camera class because I’d been up sick Tuesday night and still felt ill mid-morning.
12. I slept through last night and feel a bit better today.
13. I felt well enough to walk along the beach to meet friends for lunch, and slept even better last night that the night before.
14. I’ve managed to create a few posts even though I’ve not had energy to visit blogs the past week or so.
15. to feel healthier today & to visit a few blogs in addition to sending emails to a number of recent visitors.
16. for friends who call to check on me and visitors who drop by my blogs even when I can’t get to theirs right now.
17. for another day to rest … birds that sing … and a bit of sunshine in my world. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all!
18. for excellent tennis matches in Indian Wells to watch on my new High Def television while I recuperate & rest.
19. I managed to attend a camera class on Wednesday afternoon and last night’s Writers Workshop even though I’m not able to do much else right now.
20. for the energy to create and publish collages on each of my blogs the last two days and to visit some other blogs as well.
21. rain is on the way here in Southern California because my yard is very dry right now and needs water.
22. for morning showers washing everything clean while nurturing my garden.
23. Molly got to play with a couple of different dogs without me having to walk to Dog Beach with gusty winds blowing today.
24. for sunshine, colorful flowers and blue skies now that the WIND has finally stopped blowing.
25. I accepted my sister’s last minute invitation to meet her & her husband for breakfast this morning at the Harbor House Cafe in Sunset Beach … that we were joined by two other friends serendipitously (enjoying a longer than usual visit over breakfast) … after which my sister & I decided to spend the rest of the day together … just because.
26. that (with encouragement & support of a few friends) I enrolled in and attended the evening Word 7 class at Adult Ed, even though it meets on T-Th from 6-9pm … a bit late for me since I usually arise by 4:30am most days.
27. I managed to create several March sky collages to share (along with a bit of Haiku) on each of my blogs today before I left home to spend another day with my sister who will be leaving for Alaska on April 1st if all goes as planned.
28. it’s a BEAUTIFUL clear sunny warm day at the beach, but not overly noisy … yet ;–)
29. for a productive phone conversation with my Taos Writing Buddy after her return from a two week visit with her kids.
30. my sister & I enjoyed one last afternoon together before she leaves for Alaska with her husband in their RV. We shared Mushu Pork at PF Chang’s in Newport Beach then visited as we walked around Balboa Island with our cameras, taking in the sights under clear & sunny skies … a lovely day indeed!31. I managed to stay alert for the Word 7 class last night from 6-9 pm and that I’ll be getting a new perm tomorrow afternoon!
FYI – My previous Gratitude Lists can be found here at Happily Retired Gal. It is my intention to keep this ‘Daily Gratitude List’ in my sidebar at Small Reflections indefinitely because I believe it makes sense to focus on what’s right in our lives regularly. Click for:
2009 Lists – February, January
2008 Lists – December, November
Thought for Today
“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ‘Thank you?’ “ William A. Ward
Recent Comments