One Photo, Twenty Words

Not sure if Abi is continuing with her lovely meme, but in case, here I go for November's One Photo, Twenty Words  .http://creatingpaperdreams.blogspot.co.uk/

It's the last, hanging on to the bitter end, against the wind, against the rain, it hangs on, a lesson.

Me On Monday - November 9th

Linking in with Sian at http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.ca/

This Monday sees me very ready to put the last week behind me.  It was a terrible, horrible week.  I am grasping at threads for the Thankfuls, which must be there.

Rose Huts On

 In spite of events, the weather was unbelievable in balminess - we set record temperature highs for this time of year - one day it was +21(c) / three days of walking outside with just a T-shirt & jeans! / when cutting back my rose bushes I got a thorn stuck under my skin - ouch - thank goodness for old wives remedies - Epsom salts to draw out the thorn  / all the rose huts are on, my beauties protected against snow & maundering bunnies / 

Three Cedar Sisters

the 3 cedars sisters are all wrapped in new burlap hoods & tied with red bows to protect against the winter winds / I ate too many jube jubes / happy mail, received my gift from Deb at Paper Turtle / attempting to make, my first mandala / I filled my bird feeder with mixed seed for all the little birds staying for the winter / with such mild weather the chipmunks are still about so I'm still tossing peanuts / The grasses have developed their beautiful feather tassels  & they make such a pretty sight when the wind blows through them /an amazing Universe at work moment; lost the cap & strap from my camera while out photographing the farmer turning over the field behind us, the cap strap was too close to the end, the extreme wind blew it off & I could not find in the leaves; Mr Man came out to help me find, no luck, SO annoyed with my carelessness; late

Farmer Turning Over Field For Next Year's Crop

Saturday afternoon I went out to have another look, nothing, oh so annoying, but my inner self spoke & said, sit on the bench & listen to find it; I heeded the bizarre instruction, & as I was still, I heard a tapping; what bird is that? no bird, look behind - IT was my cap & strap caught on the fence, blowing & tapping - AMAZING. Only in that moment of being still could I hear to find.

Bird Feeder Filled & Ready For Diners

What was terrible about the week?  A very dear friend's brother ended his life / I hurt because the people I care about are utterly devastated / there are no words / the next day a friend's Mother passed away, which has knocked her back for six / it was a week of funeral arrangements & services.

So Monday I welcome you with a renewal of hope & anticipation.

Grasses By The Patio

So Many Potential Pies

Linking in with Helena's Pairs at:  http://helenascreativemaven.blogspot.ca/

My Pairs this week are two displays of two types of pumpkins.  I was assured by the Produce Manager at the store that both bins of pumpkins would be perfect for roasting the flesh & the seeds.  I was hungry when I was at the store so all I saw was potential pumpkin pie.  It was also a time when green was the new orange - I had major pumpkin envy.   Last year Lady Ella & I grew pumpkins together, separated by the big pond.  We compared notes throughout the season.  Lady Ella had much more success than I did.  You can read all about our  her success here: Lady Ella's Final Pumpkin Report

Display One:  The typical round orange pumpkin, perfectly suited for carving & then perfect for the compost heap.  These are usually used for carving the scary Jack-O-Lateran on Halloween night.  Apparently if you use for the Jack-O-Lateran you should not then use for eating, this was the number one & repeated advice from Mr Produce Man.    
 

Display Two:  Is the ornament pumpkins, which seem to have become more & more the norm.  There are a variety of colours, even bi-coloured & some with grown in natural patterns.  I am sure most of these found them selves in dining room sideboard displays.  I didn't capture on film but there were a few white pumpkins.

Me On Monday - November 2nd

The empty, the barren patio - bye bye until next year

Linking in with Sian & the other Monday Ladies.http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.ca/

This weekend & past week were very full days.  On this past Sunday we turned our clocks back an hour, although that "extra" hour didn't really feel extra / My month of Thankful Thursdays wrapped up. What a wonderful exercise,  hoping that I didn't sugar coat too much. / Mother Nature is really letting us know that Autumn's days are numbered & she wants to bring in Winter.  There's that bitchy chill in the wind & air that says snow any day now /  a lady, who I part boarded her horse a few years back, called to let me know that Bud, show name Carlow's Pride, had reached a point where his legs wouldn't hold him up any more without pain & she had decided to let him go - it is SO sad saying goodbye; I fed him lots of apples & carrots.  All those things being said about the right thing, still don't make it easier to say good bye /  very excited to hear Adele's new song release - she is a talent! / Enya is also releasing new CD - another talent! /  I have completed the staff photo wall at work & while I am no Karsh, everyone is pleased with their photo & my labelling of name & job title - all those scrapping skills & stash have come into play / I have completed my 2015 December Daily title page & calendar sheet / ordered tickets for the Christmas ballet, a traditional version of the Nutcracker, The Royal Ballet will be streamed live via satellite from Europe.  Last year we saw the Bolshoi Ballet's version of the Nutcracker live from Moscow - it was brilliant / got a free Saturday play ticket on the Wednesday night lottery draw - won nothing, but oh I did enjoy that hope / the rain held off Saturday night until 7:30p for the Tick or Treators - we got 39 kids that came a calling - the cutest was a little person as a pirate.  Over all the costumes weren't that great - the teens just smear black over their face - I think when they get to be 12yrs + , it is pushing it for this game / exciting F1 race in Mexico - well done Nico /    Looking forward to the week ahead, so thanks Monday to the introduction to your friends.

Red Mums In My Planter

My Month In Numbers-October 2015

My Month In Numbers - This is Julie's original idea & you can link in with her & the other numbering folks at: Notes On Paper

I am trying this meme on for size ...

31 Days of Thankful with 6 blog posts related to this theme
9  lottery plays with my peeps, Kim & Lisa
3 in person catch up with friends
39 kids calling in for Halloween treats
1 final installment on property tax installments
4 participation in Pairs On Wednesday Helena's Pairs
Mr Man away on business 4 nights
5 days of vacation
3 books read
1 win on Deb's blog (yeah & thank you) Deb Paperturtle
2 drop off at recycle centre; 1 was yardwaste; 1 was household
2 chiropractor appointments
1 massage (aahhh)
4 participation in Me On Monday Sian's Me On Monday
28 walks outside; 5 on the treadmill
1 GP doctor visit
14 antibiotic pills taken
6 Christmas gifts bought (not wrapped)
2 eye specialist appointments for Mr Man
27 dinners made
2 shedding/molting cats 
1 good bye to a special horse & uncounted tears shed

Pumpkin Display At Grocery Store

Thankful Thursday - It's A Wrap on Sunday

From The Internet

Thank you to all that read, commented & participated with me in Thirty One Days of Thankful.  I am Thankful for this new & growing community of friends.  

I saw a theme running in my own Thankfuls - our home, our health.

Wrapping up the last two days of Thankfuls include but not exclusive to:

October 30th Thankful: for the many kind, angel like people in my life.   Mr Man says my very sore & painful right shoulder blade, is where my angel wings are trying to sprout - isn't that that nicest thing to say?  I am most Thankful for a wonderful kind loving husband.  I am Thankful for the many angels in my life & I usually find many of them in a barn, whether it be the horses or the people that love them.  This weekend we required that extra love & support of one another,  as one of our friends had to have her horse put down today.  Buddy has been having very painful, not fixable problems with his legs & if a horse can't stand, well a crappy decision had to be made, the right & kindest decision but still crappy.  I stayed with my friend during this time, it's what we do for one another.

We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another. ~Luciano de Crescenzo

 October 31st Thankful this one may sound an odd Thankful, but it is one I am very aware of being Thankful for; so far dodging the genetic bullet.  Both my parents had several health aliments (diseases), my Mother had 5 that were all on their own considered life alternating, life threatening.  Putting my parents together made for quite the genetic brew.  Several years ago I went through a lot of testing & I am most Thankful that everything has mostly turned up as NED (no evidence of disease).  I do have a few that they have termed as markers, but can be managed.  So with a huge Thankful to my own genes, life style options & the ongoing care of a fantastic doctor, I am good to go for quite some time.  I am most Thankful. 

Your genetics load the gun. Your lifestyle pulls the trigger.  Dr Mehmet Oz

From The Internet

Thankful Thursday - October 29th

From The Internet

My Thankfuls this week include but not exclusive to:

October 23rd Thankful: for the wide open space behind our home.  I am Thankful that there are horses being boarded at this farm so I can enjoy them in the field.  To me, especially in the summer, to see from our patio, 5 horses grazing with swishing tails is a sight to behold.  I am Thankful that I was gifted the love & passion of horses along with the ability to ride & be with them. 

Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance and none can say why some fields will blossom while others lay brown beneath the August sun. Kent Nerburn

October 24th Thankful: for a day of leisurely errand running, no real have to do anything, more of a day checking out things that had crossed our minds to look for,  a time to take the long way home so that I could capture some specific photos for ideas I had about Helena's Pairs.  Thankful for the community of like minded ladies & Thankful for a safe place to share in some online fun.

" and whether you believe in such things or not, those roaming spirits probably believe in you, or at least acknowledge your existence, considering that it used to be their own. Even the air feels different on Halloween, autumn-crisp and bright."  Erin Morgenstern

October 25th Thankful: for the accumulation of points at the pet food warehouse that resulted in a free bag of cat crunch.  While I was waiting for the girl on cash to figure out how to process my free bag, I had a long chat with a beautiful black & white kitty, on display for a local rescue's Adoption Day.  I am Thankful that there are so many kind hearted folks that will finally give this & the other 30 or so kitties, their final & forever home.  I could easily be a known Crazy Cat Lady.  Mr Man is most Thankful that we have stopped at just two. I think five would be a perfect number.

Cats are connoisseurs of comfort.James Herriot

October 26th Thankful: for the ability to walk.  I had two walks, one for purpose, to get those steps in & a second wandering walk, which I needed for some thought processing & head clearing.  There was a surprising level of quiet in the neighbourhood & on this walk I watched the squirrels busy busy with walnut gathering & the antics of territory claiming.  Thankful that in this pause I saw over 50 Robins on the ground pulling worms from yesterday's rain.  I think this is their last big feed before the flight south. “Her pleasure in the walk must arise from the exercise and the day, from the view of the last smiles of the year upon the tawny leaves and withered hedges, and from repeating to herself some few of the thousand poetical descriptions extant of autumn--that season of peculiar and inexhaustible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness--that season which has drawn from every poet worthy of being read some attempt at description, or some lines of feeling.”
― Jane Austen, Persuasion

October 27th Thankful; for a massage, the RMT that provides this care is very good & she respects my needs, one of which is I don't talk during a massage, I find it hard to relax at the best of times, so I need to be in silence while trying to get into the "zone".  Thankful for Marianne & the nap I was able to enjoy afterwards, at home.
“Doing something positive will help turn your mood around. When you smile, your body relaxes. When you experience human touch and interaction, it eases tension in your body.” from Return to Paradise by Simone Elkeles 

October 28th Thankful safe travels for both Mr Man & myself in our separate journeys in some very heavy rainfall & winds.  Most Thankful that the ease troughs on the house are clean & the curbs on the road are cleared of any leaf debris to allow rain to run freely away from homes & no standing water on the roads.  Thank you to the road works crew that ensured all were cleared ahead of the rains from Patricia.  I am most Thankful that Patricia's rains are moving out & will be all gone by Thursday evening. 
“The rain to the wind said,You push and I'll pelt.'They so smote the garden bed That the flowers actually knelt, And lay lodged--though not dead. I know how the flowers felt.” Robert Frost

October 29th Thankful: for a vacuum cleaner, a dishwasher & washer/dryer at home & that they work so efficiently.  I am, in spite of some grumbling, Thankful for the home that needs to be cleaned, clothes that need to be washed & dishes that needing washing.  It means I have all & more of my basic needs being met in a gracious way.  While our home may not suit all, it suits us perfectly.  I am Thankful that we both care for our home & that we both see our home as a sanctuary, a save habour in what sometimes feels like a too large life storm.  I think housework is the reason most women go to the office. ~Heloise Cruse


NOTE: Being that there are now only two days left in October - Friday & Saturday, I am going to do my final Thankful on Sunday.
 

From the Internet