Laila’s Pink ‘Bow Wow Beanie’ Toy

Molly and Laila
each love Bow Wow Beanie toys
… also ‘tug of war’

This pink toy is tough
withstanding significant
raucous play from both

Fortunately they
share their toys in friendly ways
each taking a turn

Always fun to watch
these two pooches make us laugh
every time they play

If you’d rather see
my PINK ROSES, click the link …
I shared LATE last week

Click to embiggen for better viewing & for others participating in
Pink Saturday, Camera Critters, Pet Pride and Mosaic Monday

Thought for Today

“There is a brilliant child locked inside every student.” Marva Collins

Click for comments at the TOP of the post under the title, rather than at the bottom ;–)

Advertisement

Serena Williams – 4th Wimbledon Win and my June Gratitude List from Small Reflections

Scroll down for Mosaic Monday
Ruby Tuesday and more …

Roses photographed
in my yard and filtered with
Watercolor here

One more strawberry
from my yard … delicious treat
as I wait for more

Click to embiggen for better viewing and for
others participating in Pink Saturday and Today’s Flowers

Strawberries and Cream
is the name Serena gives
to this year’s outfit

Happily today
Serena Williams achieved
13th ‘major win’

playing Wimbledon
against Zvonareva this
morning in straight sets

passing Billie Jean’s
total of 12 major wins …
What a sight to see!

Click to embiggen for better viewing and for
others participating in Mosaic Monday and Ruby Tuesday

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

South Breeze Farm hosted the Giving Thanks Challenge and I participated at Small Reflections in November of 2008 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. that I’m feeling healthier after a weekend of cold symptoms.2. my DVR hasn’t deleted tennis matches I’ve not had time to watch yet.

3. for caller ID … allowing me to ignore annoying calls from people I don’t know who ignore ‘Do Not Call’ listings hoping to sell me things or services I neither need nor want.

4. that (after uninspired & disappointingly short women’s semi-final matches yesterday) both men’s semi-final tennis matches at the French Open were competitively entertaining … although I hoped that Melzer would win the 3rd set against Rafa so the match would have continued to a 4th (and possibly 5th) set like the Berdych-Soderling match did … just because.

5. for a good night’s sleep 😉

6. both the men’s and women’s Championship Tennis Matches were competitively entertaining this year.

7. a fun catch-up visit with my sister last night on the cell phone.

8. for a free medium latte when I purchased a pound of decaf coffee beans at Peet’s today.

9. for a delicious breakfast at Mimi’s Cafe, leftovers for tomorrow, and a free 4-pack of muffins currently in my freezer 😉

10. for afternoon sunshine bringing blue skies following morning drizzles all week.

11. after weeks of tendonitis in my elbow limiting activity, I’ve been able to toss a toy for Molly to fetch this past week and we’re BOTH happy about that.

12. for a tasty home-cooked meal at a friend’s house after which we watched ‘The Blind Side’ … what a wonderfully uplifting film about real people!

13. my neighbor from across the street who loves Molly came over today to play fetch with her … saving MY arm for another day’s play.

14. to connect with friends at Retired Gal’s Lunch this afternoon and catch up on summer plans.

15. my friend ‘S’ wasn’t injured physically when she totaled her Forrester this afternoon while driving home.

16. I was available to drive ‘S’ to her last craft class this morning so she could collect her ‘creative stuph’ … it was fun to meet the people she’s talked about for the last couple of years.

17. to hear from my sister finally … (this time from Colorado) … they’ve not had cell service and I was beginning to worry just a bit because it had been quite a while since her last call, but they’ve been enjoying their adventures on the road and that’s a good thing.

18. to all the ‘virtual friends’ who continue to visit my blogs whenever I find time to post something … hopefully one of these days I’ll be able to catch up with each of you 😉

19. for the 1st bloom ever on a relatively new Day Lily in my yard … a little lighter in color than my older one.

20. Wimbledon starts tomorrow and my DVR is cleared off & set to record ESPN’s coverage so I can record matches to watch as time permits.

21. that Roger Federer found a way to come back from 2 sets down in his first 2010 match at Wimbledon against the Columbian Alejandro Falla (who played the match of his life even though he couldn’t quite pull off the upset) to win his 200th match in a major tournament (saving match points along the way) … joining the likes of Jimmy Connors at 233, Andre Agassi at 224, Ivan Lendl at 222 and Pete Sampras at 203. That could have been the worst 1st-round upset ever at Wimbledon!

22. the veterinarian had a big bag of Molly’s Royal Canin Duck & Potato food in stock today.

23. for a tasty breakfast and a free 4-pack of muffins at Mimi’s Cafe this morning … with leftovers for tomorrow too 😉

24. John Isner won his 3-day 1st round Marathon Match against Nicolas Mahut … though I do feel bad that either had to lose this multi-record breaking 5-setter!

25. for all I’ve learned about Photoshop Elements, allowing me to ‘fix’ and share pictures I’ve snapped of ESPN’s tennis coverage with my Nikon D60 … quite fun 😉

26. Andy Roddick is through to the Round of 16 and seems to have a good draw against Yen Hsun Leu, a player I’ve not heard of or seen play before.

27. American Sam Querrey and Australian Leyton Hewitt made it through to the Round of 16 … with Sam to play Rafa Nadal and Leyton to play Novak Djokovic on Monday. I’d like to see those matches 😉

28. that both Serena & Venus are through to the Quarter finals in both singles & doubles, but saddened at the upset of Andy Roddick along with losses by Leyton Hewitt and Sam Querrey (both in untelevised matches) … and I confess that I’m upset with NBC’s coverage starting so late on the West Coast pretty much after all matches have been concluded in England.

29. Serena has made it through to the Semi-finals though what a surprise to see both Kim Clijsters & Venus Williams upset in their matches today.

30. to watch competitive men’s Quarter-final matches today at Wimbledon … but saddened to see Roger Federer out of the tournaments & learn of his injuries.

FYI – My previous Gratitude Lists can be found here at Happily Retired Gal, my  WordPress site. 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:
2010 Lists – June, May, April, March, February, January
2009 Lists – December, November,
October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, 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

Click for comments at the TOP of the post under the title, rather than at the bottom ;–)

Friday’s Fave Five and more …

Scroll down for
Sky Watch, Midweek Blues,
Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers, and Mosaic Monday

Click for others participating in Friday’s Fave Five

1. The first four days of tennis at Wimbledon have been most memorable …
(FYI – I shared my thoughts about Day 3 at Small Reflections on Thursday and more photos at Sacred Ruminations on Saturday in Windows & Reflections at Wimbledon)… especially the first round ‘marathon match’ between John Isner of the USA and Nicolas Mahut of France that lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes over a three-day period. Because I’m in Los Angeles (not in England), I’m grateful for the excellent coverage by ESPN though it’s been challenging setting the DVR to switch back and forth from ESPN2 and ESPNU.  Amazingly Mahut (who lost the epic match 68-70) was back on court 18 just about an hour after it ended … playing doubles with his friend Arnaud Clement and that match was suspended for darkness (after the they lost the first set), so play will continue Friday.  They’re 4th up, so it’s possible play could be suspended yet again if they take the second set.  In addition on court 5, Isner will take on his 2nd round opponent Thiemo de Bakker of Holland (who played a shorter 5-setter over two days but had Thursday off to rest) finally on Friday.  If he makes it through this match (and the next against Xavier Malisse) he could come up against Rafa Nadal in the 4th round for one more hurdle in his second Wimbledon appearance ever.

Click any image to embiggen for better viewing

2. I’m relieved that Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Leyton Hewitt, and Rafa Nadal have survived the early rounds and hope things continue ‘on track’ for them. On the women’s side, Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Justine Henin, and Kim Clijsters are all off to an excellent start and I’m hopeful all my favorite players will make it to the Quarter Finals. In addition, I’ve enjoyed using my Nikon D60 to take photos of ESPN’s television coverage and Photoshop Elements to ‘crop & edit’ them to share … just because. Here are a few more from the Isner-Mahut match … and (although a totally accidental capture), the first is my personal favorite.

3. Once the morning low clouds (otherwise known as ‘June gloom’) disappears here at the beach in Southern California, skies have been blue for the most part this week with a few wispy white clouds.

Click to embiggen for better viewing and for
others participating in Sky Watch and Midweek Blues

4. While eating breakfast out with a friend at Coco’s recently we happened upon pink impatiens in parking lot planters. Below I’ve shared the mosaic I made with images straight out of the camera, then with the palette knife, watercolor, and finally poster edges filters … just because.

Click to embiggen for better viewing and for others
participating in Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers,
and Mosaic Monday

5. My sister called twice from the road this past week … we talked for more than an hour each time. It’s good to catch up with their travels this way. Her husband sent photos in email and I enjoyed seeing them in the midst of their travels too. This one is my favorite because I remember how much my sister loved to sit in trees and watch from above when we were kids.

Thought for Today

“Be an experimental person. Break up fixed routines. Expose yourself to new restaurants, new books, new theatres, new friends; take a different route to work someday, take a different vacation this year, do something new and different this weekend.” David J. Schwartz

Click for comments at the TOP of the post under the title, rather than at the bottom ;–)

FaveFive … Miscellaneous Memes

Scroll down for
Sky Watch, Midweek Blues,
Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers,
Weekend Reflections, Window Views, Just for Joy,
Camera Critters, Pet Pride, Mosaic and Macro Monday

Click for others participating in Friday’s Fave Five

1. I’ve enjoyed watching the skies change from ‘drizzily grey’ in the morning to pretty blues with wispy clouds drifting by in the afternoon … and capturing views with my camera to share here today and at Sacred Ruminations yesterday.

Click to embiggen for better viewing and for
others participating in Sky Watch and Midweek Blues

2. My struggling Endless Summer Hydrangea remains small but is finally producing some lovely pink blossoms … and I’ve enjoyed creating and experimenting with filters on this mosaic … the first is straight out of the camera, in the middle is Paint Daubs (with the mosaic flipped horizontally) and at the bottom I used the Watercolor filter.

3. After enjoying and sharing photos of African Lily blossoms from around my neighborhood a couple of week ago, I was delighted to discover two buds on my own potted African Lily … and photographed them over the three day period they lasted.

Click to embiggen for better viewing and for others
participating in Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers,
Mosaic Monday, and Macro Monday

4. With tendonitis in my elbow, it’s been quite some time since I’ve been able to toss a toy for Molly to fetch … but this past week my elbow felt better and we played several days. I love trying to capture her catching the toy in the air and returning it joyfully (with her ears flying) … just for the JOY of it!

Click to embiggen for better viewing and for others
sharing Camera Critters, Pet Pride and Just for the JOY of it!

5. I enjoyed a tasty breakfast at Mimi’s Cafe on a drizzily Wednesday morning this week and took these photos for Window Views & Weekend Reflections.

Click to embiggen for better viewing and for others
participating in Weekend Reflections and Window Views

Thought for Today

“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Click for comments at the TOP of the post under the title, rather than at the bottom ;–)

Beautiful Blossoms …

One gladiola
survived ‘doggie play’ and PINK
loveliness emerged

Click to embiggen for better viewing and for
others participating in Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers,
Macro Monday and Mosaic Monday

If time permits … you might enjoy this brief inspirational video clip from Simple Truths entitled ‘The Push‘ … I watch it occasionally, just because … and it ALWAYS touches my spirit with its simple but powerful reminder 😉

Thought for Today

“We can never discover new continents until we have the courage to lose sight of all coasts.” Andre Gide

Click for comments at the TOP of the post under the title, rather than at the bottom ;–)

Pink Flowers – Shadows – Critters – Macros and My April Gratitude List from Small Reflections

Scroll down for Camera Critters, Shadow Shots, and
My April Gratitude List transferred from
the sidebar at Small Reflections

My early pink Spring roses took a beating from recent rains followed by strong winds … but are still fascinating to me. I hope you enjoy my pink floral views.

Click any image to embiggen for better viewing and for
others participating in Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers,
Mosaic and Macro Monday too

Molly Smells the Fading Roses
on a Sunny Spring Afternoon

Click to embiggen for better viewing and for
others participating in Camera Critters, Pet Pride,
and Shadow Shot Sunday

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

South Breeze Farm hosted the Giving Thanks Challenge and I participated at Small Reflections in November of 2008 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 a pleasant day spent with my sister while accomplishing a few necessary tasks.

2. for the day to rest & recover at home 😉

3. to spend the afternoon with a good friend … enjoying lunch then helping her run some errands and trouble-shooting some computer problems for her.

4. I’ve learned about and signed up for the 2010 Summer Writers Retreat at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House & Conference Center in Taos, New Mexico … I’m looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and meeting new people too.

5. there’s room for Molly at Camp Ilene when I go to Taos this summer so she’ll get a ‘doggie’ vacation … with the opportunity to play with fur-friends for a couple of weeks while I’m away from home.

6. to connect & catch up with another friend for brunch … using a ‘buy one breakfast – get one free’ coupon at Mimi’s Cafe.

7. for the opportunity to reconnect with my cousin & his wife (along with my sister & her husband) at the Knott’s Berry Farm Chicken House this morning.

8. today at home to rest & recover after watering the yard this morning before the winds kicked up outside.

9. to spend today with my sister … hanging out & having lunch later at Matsu, my favorite local Japanese restaurant.

10. I’m beginning my days writing ‘morning pages’ as I used to do for decades …

11. my roses have started to bloom already 😉

12. the rain stopped long enough to squeeze in a walk with Molly this morning before I went to my Windows 7 class.

13. for one final breakfast at the Harbor House Cafe in Sunset Beach shared with my sister this morning before she and her husband head for Yosemite and places beyond.

14. I drove into my sister’s after today’s Windows 7 class to teach her (one final time) about labeling photos in Windows Photo Gallery before she & her husband leave on this trip and hopefully she won’t spend HOURS ‘renaming’ the photos as she’s done on previous trips.

15. that through sheer persistence and experimentation, I’ve managed (finally) to correct some of the frustrating ‘glitches’ on the Dell Inspiron resulting from all those dreaded Blue Screen of Death Crashes during the first 20 months I owned it … before (with Dell Tech Support’s assistance over a month or so) finally ‘stabilizing’ the system.

16. for all the beautiful ROSES blooming in my yard currently … pink, red (scroll down for these), and apricot (I’ll add the link soon once I share them – see the end of my April 23rd post here at Small Reflections).

17. I’m getting my files backed up on an external drive, slowly but steadily. One of these days I’ll figure out how to make that happen automatically.

18. to be attending a ‘Spring concert’ this afternoon with friends.

19. I’ve managed to find and copy most of the photo & data files from an old backup of the Dell that ‘crashed’ a few weeks ago and I’m very relieved.

20. I ran errands after class today so the Explorer has a full tank of gas, Molly has food & treats and I have fresh groceries in the house.

21. It’s started to rain late this afternoon … and I’ve moved Ms. Kitty’s bed and the blue chairs to a dry alcove by the front door.

22. the weather cleared enough for a pleasant camera walk this afternoon and I remembered to pay my bills online today.

23. to have connected by phone this morning with my sister and her husband as they were leaving Yosemite … headed up and over the Sierra Nevada Mts.

24. for beautiful clear sunny weather to spend time in my garden (after a sleepless night due to noisy neighbors) and an evening phone call from my sister letting me know they made it safely over the mountains … staying in Bishop, CA for the night before heading to Death Valley on Sunday.

25. for a good night’s sleep … and David Pogue’s Windows 7: The Missing Manual. What an incredibly useful (not to mention entertaining) resource!

26. I’ve set up an automatic backup for my Sony Vaio and shifted relevant files from an external backup of the old Dell Inspiron 9100 that crashed a while back.

27. my brother-in-law managed to share three ‘snow photos’ from their recent visit to Yosemite with help from their oldest son. Here’s one … I’ve shared the others on Friday at Sacred Ruminations: (They’ve been resized to be smallish files but you can click to embiggen a bit for better viewing)

28. for all I’ve learned in my Windows 7 class that ended today and the week-long ‘break’ before the next session begins.

29. I’ve checked out Goldstar.com … finally! What a nifty way to save money while getting out to enjoy entertainment opportunities.

30. for my sister’s sons … Happy 28th birthday to Daniel and happy 30th ‘gotcha-day’ to Casey! I love you both 😉

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:
2010 Lists –April, March, February, January
2009 Lists – December, November,
October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January
2008 Lists – December, November

Thought for Today

“It doesn’t matter where you’ve been, it only matters where you’re going.” Brian Tracy

Click for comments at the TOP of the post under the title, rather than at the bottom ;–)

Roses, roses, everywhere …

My PINK roses here
RED ones on my other blogs …
ending with ‘pastel’

climbing roses … small
and short-lived but abundant
yellow, peach, and pink

Click to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in Pink Saturday,
Today’s Flowers, Shadow Shot Sunday,
Color Carnival and Mosaic Monday

Ohmygosh … it’s been a WHOLE WEEK since I’ve posted anything here, and even longer since I’ve visited anyone in the Blogosphere! Real life activities have kept me busy and away from the computer lately. Thanks to everyone for your continued visits and comments in the face of my absence. My ‘reader’ is collecting your posts and hopefully I’ll find time soon to begin catching up.

Last Wednesday I published my first ‘Mr. Lincoln’ rose of the season at Small Reflections and yesterday I shared my first Veteran’s Honor roses at Sacred Ruminations (along with some Beauty, Skies, Window Views, Reflections, FAVES & musings … Just for the JOY of it) … and I’m hoping to update my gratitude list then publish Camera Critters and Pet Pride at Small Reflections later today.

Soon I’ll share my ‘apricot’ Just Joey Roses
I hope you’re each enjoying a wonderful weekend 😉

Thought for Today

“An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field.” Niels Bohr

Click for comments at the TOP of the post under the title, rather than at the bottom ;–)

Molly will be 5 years old on December 31st

… so we’re celebrating this weekend with our
Camera Critters and Pet Pride fur-friends.

Scroll down for Pink Saturday

Molly as a pup
April of 2005 …
bundled energy

Earlier this year
Molly’s best friend moved away ..
Here’s their last play date

Dalmatian puppy
named Aloha now lives where
Jenke used to live

Molly currently …
older, wiser, more mature
bundled energy 😉

Click to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in
Camera Critters, Pet Pride and Mosaic Monday

Molly sez …
“Mom made this award
for all of my virtual
fur-friends to enjoy”

Please ‘snag’ to enjoy
on your blogs and pass along
to all your fur-friends

Kitty sitting on
a PINK cushion watching me …
PINK Christmas roses

California views
for our friends buried in snow
… Christmas skies and blooms

Click to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in
Pink Saturday and Today’s Flowers

Thought for Today

“Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.” Chili Davis

Click for comments at the TOP of the post under the title, rather than at the bottom ;–)

Beach Sunsets Reflected in Windows

Returning from a
sunset ‘photo shoot’ my eyes
spotted reflections

in the windows of
these houses facing the beach
… sunset with palm trees.

The older I get
I find traditions changing
each and ev’ry year

but it seems we will
gather as a family
once again this year 😉

Click to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in Haiku Friday, Sky Watch,
Pink Saturday, Weekend Reflections and Window Views

Experimenting
in Photoshop Elements
I came up with two

versions that I found
pleasing to my own eyes and
decided to share

Click to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in Mosaic Monday and Blue Monday

Multi-tasking at
busy times of year is the
best that I can do

Wishing everyone
joyful celebrations with
family and friends

Click to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in Color Carnival and Window Views

Thought for Today

“Weekends don’t count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless.”
Bill Watterson

Click for comments at the TOP of the post under the title, rather than at the bottom ;–)

ShadowShots-NeighborhoodViews-Flowers

Hoping for some rain
I have many shadows and
blossoms from last week.

Click to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in:
Shadow Shot Sunday, Today’s Flowers,
and Mosaic Monday

Thought for Today

“After all is said and done, more is said than done.” Aesop

Click for comments at the TOP of the post under the title, rather than at the bottom ;–)

Mosaics of Pink Blossoms and Shadows

Originals-straight out of the camera

Palette Knife

Poster Edges

Click to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in:
Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday,
Today’s Flowers, and Mosaic Monday

 

Thought for Today

 

“My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant’s point of view.” H. Fred Ale

Click for comments at the TOP of the post under the title, rather than at the bottom ;–)

 

 

An Unusual Southern California Fall Find

Scroll down for Blue Monday, Ruby Tuesday,
My World and Wordless Outdoor Wednesday too

After being sick
last week I am catching up
by multi-tasking

Here in Southern Cal
we don’t see many color
changes, but walking

recently I found
colorful deciduous
trees and snapped a few

photographs to share
in mosaics … splendidly
this week, just because

Originals … straight out of the camera

Palette Knife

Click to embiggen for better viewing

Accented Edges, lightened

Invert

Accented Edges Solarized

Click to embiggen for better viewing

Accented Edges

Poster Edges

Click to embiggen for better viewing

ALMOST

Colored Pencil

Solarized

Click to embiggen and for others participating in

Mellow Yellow, Mosaic, and Blue Monday …

Ruby Tuesday, My World, Outdoor Wednesday,
Color Carnival, and Wordless Wednesday too.

Thought for Today

“Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.” Dalai Lama

Click for comments at the TOP of the post under the title, rather
than at the bottom ;–)

Belated Pink Saturday, Monday Flower Mosaic – My October Gratitude List from Small Reflections

Photo Hunt & Color Carnival are in the next post

Belatedly here …

I hope you enjoy my pink

flower mosaics

Stained Glass Filter

Solarize, lightened

Click to ‘embiggen’ and for others participating in

Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers & Mosaic Monday

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

South Breeze Farm hosted the Giving Thanks Challenge and I participated at Small Reflections in November of 2008 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. Molly got to play with canine fur-friends at Camp Ilene while I drove a friend up to her house in Lake Arrowhead so she could take care of business related to the sale of the place now that she’s moved back to the beach.

2. the hot, dry, windy weather is predicted to end early next week and we’ve got a chance for drizzles … finally.

3. my sister called last night from the road … outside of Boise, Idaho and we were able to catch up with one another in a long chat on the cell phone.

4. the weather has cooled off considerably today.

5. I’ve finally managed to sort out the data in Quicken after multiple computer crashes messed thing up.

6. to have made it through last night’s Digital Media class on my own (since my friend ‘C’ is on the road with her husband) without getting totally lost even though it’s been months since the previous DM class … a HUGE relief actually.

7. to catch up with my friend ‘C’ (currently RV traveling in Michigan) on the cell phone today … almost as if she was in town.

8. for my sister’s photos from the road ;–)

9. the smell (and taste) of coffee (laced with half & half) in the mornings.

10. for a chance of rain next week … I’m keeping my fingers crossed because it’s been a long time since the ‘wet stuph’ fell in Southern California, but I’m also hoping it won’t cause landslides in the recently burned areas.

11. for the company of fur-friends.

12. we have cool overcast cloudy skies with the promise of rain for the next few days … I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

13. for overnight rain and morning drizzles.

14. we actually got REAL RAIN falling S L O W L Y enough last night & this morning so as not to cause mudslides in burn areas … I captured raindrops on blossoms to share at Happily Retired Gal & rain clouds to share in a T-13 Haiku Friday Sky Watch mosaic today here at Small Reflections.

15. for a full night’s sleep without interruption!

16. for friendly neighbors 😉

17. I was at home when my sister called from the road today. We had a good visit on the phone.

18. for wonderful memories of my brother.

19. for blue skies and lovely weather.

20. my neighbor shared new varieties of plants with me as she modified her own garden … then helped me split & replant my Amaryllis bulbs this morning.

21. Alice Audrey shared Nemo’s Award with Happily Retired Gal and that I’ve passed it along to others in my T-13 post there.

22. to celebrate my 2nd Blogoversary at Small Reflections today!

23. our local library invited Lisa See, author of Shanghai Girls, to give a talk yesterday … it was wonderful!

24. for a long catch up visit on the phone with my sister today.

25. Molly has two Golden Retrievers visiting next door and has gotten to play with them all week.

26. for the new PSE6 techniques I’ve been learning this month.

27. to be getting my hair cut tomorrow 😉

28. I’m able to pay bills online rather than writing individual checks and mailing them as I did once upon a time.

29. for a full-night of uninterrupted sleep!

30. the weather is sunny & clear … ‘buy one, get one free’ breakfast for lunch at Ruby’s on the HB pier was delicious … and my errands are finished so I’m home again this afternoon with time to relax and perhaps visit a few blogs before taking Molly for her afternoon walk.

31. Ms Kitty’s reclusive rather than friendly with strangers … especially at this time of year.

 

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 – October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, 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

Click for comments at the TOP of the post under the title, rather than at the bottom ;–)

 

Scenic Yellows from Alaska

Today’s Flowers are in the next post

Scenic photos from

my sister in Alaska

RV traveling

Collaboration..

I create the mosaics

then share on my blogs.

Mellow Yellow signs

on the Alaskan Highway

‘not exact, but close’

Originals – Straight out of the Camera

Until embiggened

dif’rences seem minimal …

Click and you will see!

Paint Daubs

Palette Knife

Ink Outlines

Click to ‘embiggen’ and for others participating in

Scenic Sunday

Mellow Yellow & Mosaic Monday

Thought for Today

“Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.” Anatole France

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Watery Outdoor Views in Reds and Blues

Today’s Flowers are in the next post.

Scenic photos from

my sister in Canada

RV traveling

Collaboration..

I create the mosaics

then share on my blogs.

These natural blues

against subtle ‘ruby’ reds

create lovely views.

Until embiggened

dif’rences seem minimal …

Click and you will see!

Originals – Straight out of the Camera

Accented Edges

Ink Outlines

Palette Knife

Poster Edges

Ruby Foliage

Click to embiggen and for others participating in …

Mosaic Monday,

Blue Monday and Ruby Tuesday

Watery & Outdoor Wednesday … too.

Thought for Today

“Man’s heart away from nature becomes hard.” Standing Bear

Click for comments at the TOP of the post under the title, rather than at the bottom ;–)