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Blue skies all weekend
US International

Surf Championships …

HappilyRetiredGal-small black

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Sky Watch and Haiku Friday

Thought for Today
“Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.”
Leo Buscaglia


Beach conveyances

of the ‘pedaled’ kind … for four.

Looks like lots of fun ;–)


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Nd60 199 b&w scenic landscape

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Nd60 030 b&w portraitClick images to embiggen for better viewing

RubyMissBug

Click for others participating in Ruby Tuesday

Mellow Yellow Monday and Monochrome Mania.

Thought for Today
“The real problem of leisure time is how to keep others from using yours.”
Arthur Lacey

Shadows at the beach …
people gathering to watch

surfing championships!

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Shadow Shots at Hey Harriet

… and for others participating in

Thought for Today
“We don’t receive wisdom;
we must discover it for ourselves
after a journey no can take us on or spare us.”
Marcel Proust

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Looking toward the beach
scattered puffy clouds become
wispy thin white trails

Looking inland … clouds
create opportunity
to view the sun rise


Glancing up from my
early morning journaling …
ghostly companion?

HappilyRetiredGal-small black

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Sky Watch and Haiku Friday

Thought for Today
“When they tell you to grow up, they mean stop growing.”
Pablo Picasso


Mr. Lincoln bud
shared last Tuesday opened as

older rose faded ;–)

Experimenting …
black and white roses can be

quite fascinating ;–)

HappilyRetiredGal-small black

Black and White – Newspaper

Black and White – Scenic Landscape

Click mosaics to embiggen for better viewing

RubyMissBug

Click for others participating in Ruby Tuesday

and Monochrome Mania.

Thought for Today
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Martin Luther King Jr.

Early morning, long
shadows — two self-portraits make

me look very tall ;–)

HappilyRetiredGal-small black

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Thought for Today
“Be always at war with your vices,
at peace with your neighbors,
and let each new year find you a better man.”
Benjamin Franklin

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Wispy white against
deep azure paints abstractly …
ever changing skies

HappilyRetiredGal-small black

Click to embiggen & for others participating in

Sky Watch and Haiku Friday

Thought for Today
“Live out of your imagination, not your history.”
Stephen Covey

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RubyMissBug

Click for others participating in Ruby Tuesday.

Thought for Today
“Chase down your passion like it’s the last bus of the night.”
Glade Byron Addams

Multi-tasking here
sharing multi-colored blooms
in my neighborhood

HappilyRetiredGal-small black

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Mosaic Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday,

Color Carnival, and Today’s Flowers this week.

Thought for Today
“Whatever we feel we most need to receive is what we need most to give.”
Dan Millman

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Roses against my
dusky evening skies … full moon
captured fuzzily

HappilyRetiredGal-small black

Click to embiggen & for others participating in

Sky Watch and Haiku Friday

Thought for Today
“Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace.”
Victor Hugo

Hoping everyone
enjoyed celebrating the

birth of our Nation ;–)

HappilyRetiredGal-small black

Click to embiggen for better viewing …

and for others participating in
(remembering the 4th of July)
See my other Mosaic Monday posts today at
Small Reflections and Sacred Ruminations

Thought for Today
“If you take advantage of everything America has to offer, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish.”
Geraldine Ferraro

HF Looking at the Sky HappilyRetiredLogo

Experimenting …
black and white sky views can be

quite fascinating ;–)

HappilyRetiredGal-small black

Click collages to embiggen for better viewing …

… and for others participating in

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.”  Thich Nhat Hanh

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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 JUNE.  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 Morning drizzles … first in a very long time.

2. Roger Federer is still ‘alive’ in the French Open … though it was sad to see Rafa Nadal & Andy Roddick lose their last matches.

3. for the beautiful & varied skies we’ve had this week, even though we didn’t get much rain.

4. my sister & I have been able to connect by phone while she and her husband are traveling in Alaska.

5. for Public Television broadcasts like the Tavis Smiley show.

6. Svetlana Kuznetsova finally held it together and won her second Grand Slam Championship … this time at the French Open.

7. Roger Federer finally won the French Open completing a personal lifetime SLAM and tying the record of Pete Sampras at 14 Grand Slam wins!

8. to learn there still ONE Ritz Camera Store open in Orange County (after learning 400 of 800 stores closed recently in a reorganization effort) so the insurance I purchased for my Nikon D60, Tamron 28-300mm lens, and Sony HDTV are still in effect … especially since I’m having trouble with my Tamron lens.

9. to discover a weekly Mosaic Meme at The Little Red House ;–)

10. for all I’ve learned in my Digital Media class and my natural inclinations to experiment & explore on my own.

11. the day to play with possibilities …

12. for the generosity of my neighbor who keeps a lovely garden herself and occasionally passes along a variety of plants to add to my own garden.

13. to share Maidenhair fern (initially a gift from a student decades ago) with two neighbors who admired it today. The plant grows prolifically (almost weed-like) where I live and now it will grace their gardens too.

14. for beautiful sunrises & sunsets … with lovely weather in between.

15. for a long delightful catch-up phone call from my sister who is currently on Kodiak Island in Alaska until Wednesday night when they take the ferry back to Homer … after which they’ll drive on to Anchorage.

16. for my laptop … even though it crashes regularly, somehow it rights itself and reboots … at least for the time being.

17. for patience and persistence … that keep me trying to figure things out and resolve problems that arise.

18. the noisy young ‘party’ renters in the house next door have moved on and a nicer family is there for the next week.

19. for morning drizzles … but I was HOPING for real rain!

20. to connect with my sister (who is currently in Fairbanks, Alaska) by phone to catch up on their recent travel experiences.

21. Wimbledon is starting overnight so I’ll have TENNIS to watch tomorrow ;–)

22. for excellent tennis matches to watch today!

23. the new cactus plants seem to be doing fine in my yard.

24. for a new perm and fresh hair cut ;–)

25. my Apricot roses are in bloom for the second time this season. Recently, I learned it’s called ‘Just Joey’

26. for entertaining Wimbledon tennis matches on television. Watching in HD is kewl ;–)

27. veteran tennis player Tommy Haas managed to pull out a 10-8 win in the 5th set this morning (after the match was stopped for darkness at 2 sets each and 6 games all Friday evening). He moves to the 2nd week ‘Round of 16′ after lots of bad luck at Wimbledon during the past decade.

28. a day to catch up on Wimbledon tennis matches (since no one plays on the middle Sunday) and time to do so ;–)

29. Andy Roddick and both Williams sisters are still ‘alive’ in the Old England Tournament and looking strong. Melanie Oudin (the gutsy American youngster) did amazingly well to get to the Round of 16! She’s one to watch for sure.

30. the Williams sisters both continue to play magnificently and are through to the semi-finals.


Thank you Joy

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 – May, April, March, February, January
2008 ListsDecember, 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

ALMOST


Window boxes filled
colorfully with summer

flowers in full bloom ;–)

HappilyRetiredGal-small black

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and for others participating in
See my other Wordless posts this week at
Small Reflections and Sacred Ruminations

Thought for Today
“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.”
James Dent

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I'm a happily retired teacher. Originally blogging as storyteller, I've changed my avatar early in 2010 to reflect my recent growing interest in photography. You might recognize me from one of my three original Blogger-based sites:

Small Reflections

Sacred Ruminations

Blog Rolls, Bling and Blurbs

If you don't, click to learn more about me.

Welcome to my first WordPress site. I hope you'll look around, leave me a comment or two, and check back as often as time permits.

Hugs and blessings,
happily retired gal
(formerly known as storyteller)

1st Blogoversary celebratory post

Copyright

All words, images, and art on this site (unless otherwise noted) belong to storyteller, a most Happily Retired Gal. Please ask for written permission before using anything here. Thanks ;--)

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