113-hfskywatch-hrg-rvsd
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,

givingthankschallenge-southbreeze

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!


Thank you Joy

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
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