My world near the beach
simple … relaxed … colorful
Just Joey Roses
teaching … sharing life
joyfully each day
My wider world
has wildfires burning and
watching coverage
those affected by
acres already
fuel for wildfires
Click to embiggen for better viewing …
for others participating in My World
and Midweek Blues … t00.
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 August. 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 ‘perfect messages from the Universe’ arriving as needed this morning.
2. for a phone call from my sister this morning … she wanted me to know they’re back in the USA … in North Dakota.
3. for the way I combined Mosaic Monday with Mellow Yellow, Ruby Tuesday, and Midweek Blues … gotta luv multi-tasking and I really like the way that collage turned out.
4. ‘D’ was at home when I called and had time to chat.
5. for attending last night’s free concert in the park with ‘S’ … another enjoyable evening
6. my hair is short again … good to go for another 6 weeks
7. my neighbor told he about the free Ukelele concert down by the pier. Molly & I walked down there with a friend, enjoyed the music, and just got back a little while ago because we decided not to stay for the free movie afterward.
8. for my Florian rachet garden clippers ;–)
9. I got to swim laps last night in a friend’s pool then watched an entertaining funny film.
10. for lunch with the other Retired Gals today ;–)
11. for a morning swim before getting on with the day’s activities and errands.
12. the skies eventually cleared allowing the sun to shine, even though it was almost sunset as that occurred ;–)
13. the LOVELY colorful sunset this evening! I’ll be sharing photos soon.
14. the sun came out earlier today so the weather was warmer for my morning swim and Molly made a new friend of a 3 month old Damation puppy named Aloha!
15. my sister had a cell signal (after being w/o one for several days) and called from Minnesota tonight … allowing us to catch up with one another as we chatted for about an hour.
16. for the free Dixieland Concert in the Park this evening.
17. the sun FINALLY came out even though it was late afternoon when it did so.
18. I swam yesterday & today because I’m thinking of taking tomorrow off to meet a friend for brunch at 10:30.
19. my sister thinks seeing her photos on my blogs will be fun.
20. my neighbor Mike volunteered to help me pick the limes from the TOP of the tree and ended up trimming those high branches for me. What a guy ;–)
21. for a beautiful SUNNY morning to swim (finally) … especially since later in the day the weather got cold & nasty and ‘thunderstorms’ are predicted for tomorrow. I’ll believe THAT when I see it!
22. I managed to get myself over to swim for 45 minutes this morning even though the skies LOOK LIKE we MIGHT get some rain after all … and that would be a good thing given the minimal rainfall we’ve had this year.
23. to experience unexpectedly glorious sunshine for my morning swim, a delightful free late afternoon concert by the Pacific Chorale at the Orange County Performing Arts Center followed by a delightful dinner & visit with friends.
24. Osh carries liquid Terro so I could pick some up for a friend who has ant scouts in her condo.
25. for CLEAR BLUE SKIES and a bright sunrise! It feels like summer finally ;–)
26. for the 2 dozen or so Apricot colored roses on my Just Joey rose bush plus another dozen buds. What an amazing burst of color ;–)
27. I’m building my swimming stamina a little more each day.
28. for cell phone connections with my sister, no matter where she is on the road. Her most recent call was from Boulder, Wyoming. They’re headed for Colorado soon and will spend Labor Day with friends who live there.
29. the winds aren’t blowing as the wildfires burn here in Southern California. I’m praying for quick containment.
30. for fire-fighters and support staff to combat these devastating fires burning all over our state. I’m praying for their safety as they battle the flames and provide aid & comfort to those displaced from their homes.
31. Serena & Venus Williams and Andy Roddick made it through their first round matches at the US Open Tennis Championship in New York and there will be TENNIS to watch on TV for the next two weeks ;–)
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 – August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January
2008 Lists – December, November
“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ‘thank you?’” William A. Ward
Happily Retired Gal 
18 comments
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September 1, 2009 at 9:58 am
Louise Cannon
In the first collage I love the blue chairs and the roses. The fires are horrible, but they make for some excellent pictures.
September 1, 2009 at 11:59 am
Barb
I know your world is normally beautiful and serene. However, these terrible fires are now causing devastation to many. Your mosaics tell the story well. Here in the Mts of CO, we have much haze/smoke from the fires burning west of us. Air quality is poor, but we don’t have the flames and destruction, thank goodness.
September 1, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Carver
The collages are such a study in contrast. It is so sad about the forest fires. You do a great job at depicting both the calm beauty in the first and the raging fires in the second.
September 1, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Pam
Your collage photos are wonderful, I like the blue border. It looks transparent.
September 1, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Fishing Guy
HRG: My you got great shots of the fire. It is so destructive it is amazing.
September 1, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Gattina
Nice collage, my favorite photos are of course the palm trees ! I miss them here in Belgium.
September 2, 2009 at 3:47 am
Bonnie Bonsai
Sometimes in life, beauty is equated with the ugly. Like for instance, the photo above is full of beauty of perfection. The ones below tells us of destruction of ugliness.
Here down under, even before Spring started because we are now, fire has already broken to a few suburb. I guess it was aggravated by the wind in the last few days.
Hope you are safe from any harm.
September 2, 2009 at 9:09 am
Karen
So much to feel grateful for…
September 2, 2009 at 10:21 am
rebecca
I like the contrast between the blues in the first collage and the oranges in the second one. The first seems so serene the second so violent.
Hope those wild fires die down soon.
September 2, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Janie of Utah
Beautiful collage of your beach world.
Your Molly is a beautiful girl who should meet my Daisy. We had a black lab named Molly for many years. She was the best.
The fires look terrible, indeed. We have some going here in Utah, but so far ours aren’t threatening any habitations. Hope your fires can be controlled soon.
September 2, 2009 at 4:21 pm
SandyCarlson
Your beach world is very lovely. I would love to see it in person someday. An engaging post. Thanks.
September 2, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Jim
R.T, you have a very nice comfortable small world around you. I am similar straights but you are more active. Your big world is bigger still, hidden out beyond those fires and that smoke.
Happy MidWeek Blues! Your pictures and mosaic are wonderful as usual for you.
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September 2, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Marites
i love the adorable dogs, blue chairs and pretty roses in the first collage. Louise was right, the fires are horrible but their colors are good in the pictures. you have such a beautiful world. I somehow envy you.
September 3, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Eileen
Your collage photos are all beautiful, thanks for sharing!
September 4, 2009 at 3:16 am
framework9
Hello Madam, I come to revisit this blog and my comment above doesn’t make any sense to me. So I will apologize for that. Anyhow, that lovely roses in the vase are just beautiful.
Another, I listed your website to my wordpress that I recently created.
September 4, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Kilauea Poetry
Very lovely dramatic action in the lovely blues! Nice collection of photos-
September 4, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Betsy from Tennessee
Hey There, You captured some great pictures —although thinking of that huge fire (and to think that someone SET it on purpose) drives me crazy. I feel sorry for the families of the 2 firefighters who were killed saving others.
Dramatic pictures though.
Hugs,
Betsy
September 5, 2009 at 8:35 am
Geraldine
I am so sorry about the fires. I know the fear but not the actual frightening event. We are still in the moderate to high rating for fires in this area of BC. I hope things are under control soon.
Beautiful list of things to be grateful for. You are a lucky woman!!!!
Many hugs,G 🙂