Thankful Thursday with Rebecca Jo...

Rebecca Jo hosts Thankful Thursday on her blog, Knit by God's Hand.  You can join in HERE!!  Thanks, Rebecca Jo!!

**There is always so much to be thankful for, and I am thankful every day... not just on Thankful Thursday.  It is nice, though, to have the weekly meme as a reminder of our blessings!

**First and foremost, Joe's heart cath yesterday went well.  Dr. Owen found no other blockages or worries, other than his aortic valve that does need to be replaced.   We were headed home by 3:30 in the afternoon!!  Your prayers were felt mightily!

**I am thankful that so many people are moved to serve as volunteers.  Patricia is a hospital volunteer in the Cath Lab Family Waiting Room, looking after all the family members waiting for information about their loved one's surgery.  She had a 500-hour pin on!  I blurred her face since I did not ask permission to post the picture.

**We are thankful for those prayers lifted for us by our dear friends and family. Blessed!!

**I am thankful that my boss's wife filled in for me yesterday.  I bought her flowers and left a thank-you note for her.  She texted me a thank you for the flowers and her good wishes for Joe's well-being.

**I am thankful for Amazon.com and that I can shop from my recliner and receive my items in two days.  My new mouse was waiting for me at the door when we got home from the hospital. My old mouse wheel didn't work anymore. This new one is quiet and just kind of kicky cute!!

**As always, I am thankful for each of you!!  Thanks for your visit!!  And wow... goodbye February!

Peace & hugs!  God bless!!

A Strawberry Wednesday Medley...

NATIONAL STRAWBERRY DAY – February 27

NATIONAL STRAWBERRY DAY

HOW TO OBSERVE

While the best season for strawberries is from late April to August, now might be a good time to scout out strawberry festivals and pick-your-own farms or plan to plant your own strawberry patch. Imagine sitting in your very own patch eating sun-warmed, sweet berries you picked or even grew yourself under clear blue skies.

1.  There was a lot of info that I just eliminated from this post (above), but on this 🍓National Strawberry Day🍓, do you have a favorite recipe for strawberries?  Would you share it with us?  I don't have a 'favorite' recipe because I just like to clean them, quarter them, and put them over some cake with whipped cream... strawberry shortcake is the best!

2.  Some people think the smaller, northern varieties are sweeter than the larger berries that grow in the south and in California.  What are your thoughts on that?  My grandmother (mom's mom) grew strawberries in Ohio and she always said they were the sweetest but she never turned down a Florida strawberry when she was down here in the winter!  

3.  There is a Strawberry Festival right here in Plant City, Florida (next town over from Lakeland) and it is a huge event that lasts 11 days with headliner acts each day.  Have you ever been to a Strawberry Festival?  I have attended the Plant City Strawberry Festival but we haven't been in years. It is very crowded and is more like a county fair than a little festival. It is huge and traffic is backed up for miles. We avoid going that way during the festival.

4.  Strawberries are grown in every US state.  Have you ever grown them in your garden?  When I lived in Maryland, I did indeed have a strawberry patch in our garden.  They just kept coming back. You have to thin out the plants now and then, but they just come back each year. Yumminess!!

5.  Strawberry is the only fruit that has seeds on the outside, and technically it is not a berry but rather a fruit, and would you be surprised to learn that strawberries belong to the rose family?  Do you have any strawberry trivia to share with us?  Americans eat about 3.5 pounds of fresh strawberries a year.  I think I am nearly there with our first batch, which was gone in less than a week!

6.  Tell us something random about your week!!  Not very random but we had Joe's pre-admission yesterday and are reporting to the hospital this morning at 6:30.  Oh my gosh!  The good part of that is that we may get to come home and not have them keep him overnight for observation. Fingers crossed!  Prayers appreciated!


If you answered these on your blog, you may link up with others who also answered and perhaps meet some new folks!!

Thanks for your visit today!  Peace & hugs!!  

God bless you!!

Inlinkz Link Party

Tuesday's Questions for the Wednesday Medley...

Before I start this week's questions, I want to let you know that our blogging friend, Diane, at Lavender Dreams, had her blog ripped from her last week without notice.  She is trying to get "them" to reinstate it or at least communicate with her.  If you know Diane, you know there was nothing bad in her posts, ever!!  She has created a new blog and asked her connections to let everyone know to back up your blogs so you don't lose everything someday and to direct you to her new blog:   https://lavenderdreamsnew.blogspot.com

Note:  It appears that (perhaps) the original Lavender Dreams has been restored to Diana. She is hopeful that is the case... (I still backed up my blog!).

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Here is a medley of questions you may choose to answer on your Wednesday blog.  I always start with the National Day and base questions from there. No rules and there is no obligation. Link up if you want to.  I'm doing this to fill my Wednesday and if you are interested, then I invite you to join in!!  It might be fun!!

NATIONAL STRAWBERRY DAY – February 27

NATIONAL STRAWBERRY DAY

We continue with February’s heart-shaped and red theme by observing National Strawberry Day on February 27. These juicy, sweet berries can brighten up any dish and are delicious all on their own.

There are a few different stories behind the origin of the name. The more widely accepted version is that the berries would drop off the leaves and become “strewn” about the plant. Overtime “strewn-berries” became “strawberries”. There was a time (and some gardeners still do this today) when strawberry beds were mulched with straw, insulating the plants over the winter, keeping weeds at bay during the growing season and making them easier to harvest. Another sweet story tells of English children stringing the berries on grass straws and selling the “straw berries” in their neighborhoods.

Not only are they delicious, but they are also fragrant. One of the more aromatic fruits, they belong to the rose family.

Strawberries are grown in nearly every corner of the Earth (if the Earth had corners) except for her most frozen southern and northern reaches. Along with all these possible locations, there are over 600 varieties of strawberries as well.

An excellent source of Vitamin C, strawberries are also a good source of folic acid, potassium and fiber. At 55 calories and zero fat in 1 cup, these sweet things hit the spot when a snack time is calling!

HOW TO OBSERVE

While the best season for strawberries is from late April to August, now might be a good time to scout out strawberry festivals and pick-your-own farms or plan to plant your own strawberry patch. Imagine sitting in your very own patch eating sun-warmed, sweet berries you picked or even grew yourself under clear blue skies.

BERRY PICKING TIPS:

• Pick fully ripe berries. Strawberries don’t continue to ripen if picked too early like bananas or pears.
• Don’t overfill your container. Berries are tender and can bruise easily.
• Don’t wash the fruit until you are ready to eat. Strawberries are susceptible to mold and washing will speed up spoilage.
• The best time to pick strawberries is on cool, cloudy days, but if they will be eaten right away, any time is perfect!
• If you pick more than you can eat before they spoil, strawberries freeze very well. Pluck off the green caps and toss into a freezer bag. Use for smoothies, ice cream or cake toppings.

You may want to have a fresh bowl of strawberries now, or maybe give one of the following recipes a try:

Strawberry Pretzel SaladStrawberry Spinach SaladEasy Strawberry Banana SmoothiesEasy Fresh Strawberry PieStrawberries and Cream Bread Pudding

Use #NationalStrawberryDay to post on social media.

HISTORY

Within our research, we were unable to identify the creator of National Strawberry Day.  It is listed as an American Food Holiday.

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1.  Given all that information on this 🍓National Strawberry Day🍓, do you have a favorite recipe for strawberries?  Would you share it with us?

2.  Some people think the smaller, northern varieties are sweeter than the larger berries that grow in the south and in California.  What are your thoughts on that?

3.  There is a Strawberry Festival right here in Plant City, Florida (next town over from Lakeland) and it is a huge event that lasts 11 days with headliner acts each day.  Have you ever been to a Strawberry Festival?

4.  Strawberries are grown in every US state.  Have you ever grown them in your garden?

5.  Strawberry is the only fruit that has seeds on the outside, and technically it is not a berry but rather a fruit, and would you be surprised to learn that strawberries belong to the rose family?  Do you have any strawberry trivia to share with us?

6.  Tell us something random about your week!!

Thanks for your visit!!  Visit me tomorrow and link up with others who are answering the questions on their blogs!  The linky can be found at the bottom of my blog tomorrow.

Peace & hugs!!  God bless!!

Monday's Weekend Update....

I don't have pictures from any day over the weekend so all I can do is write about what entailed and share some older photos, perhaps.

Thursday, after work, Joe and I got haircuts at Reflections of Excellence. We have been going to Teena for years and years. Love her and her family.  Her dad was a barber there before he retired and her oldest son has followed in her footsteps and works there. This picture was taken in June...

On Friday morning, I met my friend, Shirley, at Fred's Market for breakfast.  Cindee was supposed to come too, but she begged off.  She and her hubby just bought a new house and they are in the middle of moving - going back and forth and she had three errands to run that morning.  Shirley and I ate and talked for over an hour so we had a nice time catching up.  We both got the blue plate special.  One trip to the buffet and always enough.

Friday was also the second anniversary of our moving to Mas Verde and our new home here. We still love it!!  Joe and I went grocery shopping. Blah, blah, blah.  LOL

I had to work on Saturday morning and we were busy.  Makes the time go faster. I did laundry on Saturday afternoon.

We went to church Sunday morning and neither of us coughed while there!  Whoohoo!  It felt good to be back, worshiping with other believers!

Grandson Tristan called us from Texas Sunday afternoon! We get texts but rarely a call.  He told us that he is applying for a job in Orlando so, of course, we are hoping it comes through for him!!  I think there might be a girl involved in the decision.  He told us she is in Tampa. That puts Lakeland smack dab in the middle!! He has been offered a job with Lockheed Martin in Texas but is trying to get them to put him in Orlando.  He also told us that he won an award for the top student in Economics.  He graduates from SMU in May.

We had Helen and Cheryl over for lunch after church. I made beef stew in the crockpot, deviled eggs, and strawberry shortcake.  We were all satisfied!  Sunday evening, Al and Theresa stopped by.  Al (still works at the Museum) told us about this year's Gala, which was Saturday night.  My longer-time friends here will remember me posting about The Gala in years past. It is a premier black-tie formal dinner, dance, and auction fund-raiser for the Museum (where I worked for 20+ years).  Joe and I got to go and sit with the guests and have a delicious dinner before I had to work helping to close out the auction purchases.  I do miss being there because it was always a fun time to be part of.  I stopped myself going there Saturday afternoon, just to peak in at the decorations.  The auction is online now and I put a bid in on a couple of things and got them both!  Didn't expect to get one and got both. They have already hit the bank account so I need to go by and pick things up this week.  It was fun to at least bid on the auction. One was a gift card for our favorite Palance Pizza and the other is a breakfast basket with Champaign and utensils and pancake/waffle mixes.  Here are some photos from previous Galas.

I am at work this morning.  Joe has pre-admission at the hospital tomorrow afternoon and his catheterization is Wednesday.  Your prayers are always appreciated!  And speaking of prayer requests, my youngest sister, Tammy's husband, Bruce, had a mild heart attack and they think also a mini-stroke early yesterday morning.  He is in the hospital, in Tifton, Georgia.  We are waiting to hear the results of his MRI   Many of you know that Bruce suffered a major brain-bleed stroke three years ago.  He is still recovering from that and this set-back breaks my heart.  Hoping he will bounce back from this.

Thanks for your visit! Wishing you a good week ahead!

Peace & hugs!  God bless!!

A Compassionate Sunday Stealing...

Compassion Questions

Hi! I'm your host Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World". . Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. (Past hosts include: Our first - Judd Corizan, Mr. L, Kwizgiver and Bud)  Cheers to all of us thieves!

These are suggested questions for sponsors of children through Compassion International to ask their sponsored children.

1. What is the most fun thing you have ever done?  Gosh, I've had lots of fun through the years but our trip to Italy stands out as one of the most fun!!

2. Are you left-handed or right-handed?  I am right-handed.

3. What is the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?  I have wonderful people in my life who bless me all the time but Joe married me!! 

4. What is the biggest animal you’ve seen in the wild?  In the wild...  a Buffalo, perhaps, on an airboat ride.  I have pictures of him...

5. What is the smallest animal you’ve seen in the wild?  Chipmunks.

6. Do you ever have funny dreams at night?  I don't remember my dreams.

7. If you could make a law for your country, what would it be?  Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.   I think that law already exists, though.

8. What would you do if you were invisible for a day?  I'm really not a nosey person so I really can't think of anything.

9. If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be?  I like being me.

10. What would you like to change about yourself?  My metabolism.

11. What is your daily routine?  Get out of bed, feed the cats, shower, get dressed, start the day with coffee and breakfast, either go to work or whatever I have on the calendar, think about dinner, make dinner, watch TV or go out again, feed the cats, clean the litter boxes, go to bed and get ready to start it all again!

12. What would your perfect day be like?  Relaxing at the beach or just a quiet jammie day at home with nothing to do but watch TV and/or read!

13. How old were you when you learned to read?  I probably learned some in kindergarten, but remember getting my Reading Circle sticker in first grade for reading all the books we were supposed to read.  I have always loved to read.

14. What is the most interesting thing you know?  I am pretty well schooled on Joe's heart issues and the decisions facing us in the weeks ahead.  I've watched lots of videos and read lots of articles on the TAVR.  Probably not interesting to anyone else but it has held my interest recently.

15. What makes you nervous?  I don't worry or get nervous anymore. I give it to God. Seriously. I'm not just saying that. Having faith makes such a difference, friends!!

16. What is your favorite flower?  The simple daisy.  But please don't pick them for me!

17. Have you ever ridden on a horse or any other animal?  Yes, I have!  A horse several times and a baby elephant once when I was a little kid.

18. What time do you go to bed?  By 10:00 on a work night.  Later when I don't have to set the alarm.

19. What time do you get up?  Six a.m. on a work day;  8:30 or 9:00 if there is no place to go.

20. Do you know how to swim?  I do and used to be pretty good. I was a qualified, card-carrying lifeguard when I was in high school, though never got to work as one.

Thanks to Bev Sykes for today's meme!! You can visit her and join in HERE!!

Thank you for your visit!  Peace & hugs.  God bless!!

Saturday 9: John Lennon's Dream...

No. 9 Dream

Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! 

Saturday 9: No. 9 Dream (1974)
 
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) John Lennon liked the number 9. It shows up in three of his songs (in addition to this song, he performed "Revolution #9" and "The One after 909" with the Beatles). He was born on the 9th of October, as was his son Sean. Coincidentally, "No. 9 Dream" hit #9 on the Billboard chart. Do you have a favorite number?   Not really, but three keeps showing up in my life.

2) The phrase repeated in the chorus, "Ah bowakawa pousse pousse" means nothing. It's gibberish that John sang until he could come up with "real" lyrics for this melody. Then he decided he liked the sound of it, so he kept it. Can you think of a word that's fun to say just because you like how it sounds?  I have answered with this before, so how about Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious? 

3) John referred to "No. 9 Dream" as an example of "craftsmanship writing." A snatch of the melody just came to him and he got it down on a tape recorder, wrote lyrics, arranged it and recorded it in short order because he needed another song to finish the LP, Walls and Bridges. What's the last thing that you did because you were supposed to or you had to, and not because you wanted to? Ha... go to work, even though I really do like my part-time job.

4) Yet once "No. 9 Dream" was recorded, it became one of John's favorite of his solo songs. He loved its ethereal feel. Tell us about something that turned out better than you thought it would. My part-time job!!

5) When he was working, John drank a lot of tea, as many as 30 cups in a day. Do you take your tea with cream, sugar, honey, or lemon?  Hot tea with two stevia packets, please. Sweet ICED tea with stevia or half n half at a restaurant.  Sweet tea here in the south is just too sweet for me.


6) During his reclusive years (1975 to 1980), John didn't have household help, preferring to take care of his young son and housework himself. He did, however, have a chauffeur on call around the clock. If you could afford to a staff of one, what single thing would you have him/her do?  Clean.  

7) When John was a boy, he requested watercolors and colored pencils for his birthday and at Christmastime. Do you recall a special birthday or Christmas gift you received as a child?  I got oil paints for Christmas when I was in 7th grade. Loved that gift!!

8) Beatles producer George Martin said John was "a completely impractical man." Would you describe yourself as impulsive, with flashes of practicality? Or are you practical, with flashes of impulsivity?  I am not impulsive at all and tend to be too practical at times, so neither of those describes me.


9) Random question -- Congratulations! You just one the Saturday 9 Sweepstakes, and the prize is your choice of a boat or a motorcycle. Which one do you take?  The boat, please!!
  

Thanks to Crazy Sam for this week's Saturday 9!!  You can find her blog HERE to join in!

Thanks for your visit today!  

Peace & hugs!  God bless!!

Photos on Friday...

Debbie decided to quit hosting her Friday Foto Friends.  We will miss linking up on her blog, Breathing in Grace, but she is on Facebook so you can find her there!  Thank you, Deb, for so many years hosting us!!

I don't have many, but did pick a few new photos to share with you! We went to the farm (Joe's client) on Wednesday afternoon.  I didn't get to feed the horses carrots this week because they were all visiting the equine dentist and were in separate stalls waiting for their exams and cleanings.  BUT, there were lots of cattle around!!

Four little babies. Wish you could see them better!

And we stopped at our favorite Palance Pizza for dinner on the way home.  Joe had an Italian sub and I had spaghetti with meat sauce.  We shared an antipasto salad. Yummy good!

             

Friday is my day off!! I am having a late breakfast
with my girlfriends, Cindee and Shirley!

I do work tomorrow and it will be a busy day. 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Peace & hugs!!  God bless!!