Willy Nilly Friday Five, 10 Things of Thankful

Welcome & Happy Friday.

Today I'm joining Tanya for Willy-Nilly Friday Five and Josie for Ten Things of Thankful.

This is my first time joining in this meme but I think it's a good one to participate in.


TEN THINGS OF THANKFUL

The first 5 things are also part of WILLY-NILLY FRIDAY FIVE


1. Last week while dealing with our computer issues I was driving out to WalMart to try and find a DSL Modem to replace the one we had that had gone bad due to a "power surge" earlier in the week.  So I am stopped at a traffice light when I hear a loud pop followed by another pop and a jolt to our van. - We had been rear ended because the car behind us had been rear ended and it threw them into the back of our van.  - I got out and looked at the damage to the van and told the driver of the car behind me I wasn't even going to worry about it and he could deal with the car that hit him.  So I'm thankful that we weren't hurt and that this was the only damage to our van.

2. I'm thankful for my Granddaughter, Coleen and the fact that she wants to share fun little things with her Grandma.  Her teacher showed the kids a website the other day at school and Coleen had to show it to me. - Warning it's addictive.  It's called: Quick Draw - Just click on the link and have fun.

3.  We've had so much rain this month we've almost needed row boats to get around (well it seems that way) so I'm thankful that today it's not raining and my daffodils look like this...

Instead of this:

4.  I'm thankful for being able to see this yesterday on a short little drive I took with my mom.

It's always fun to spot this group of deer that hang out in a residential area.

5.  I'm thankful for cute birthday gifts like this solar flower that I got from my daughter & granddaughter for my birthday last week & for everyone that has wished me a Happy B-Day recently.

It's pretty during the day just as it is and at night that little ball in the center changed colors.  So pretty.

6. I'm thankful for:  Peanut Butter...yes, it's my go to breakfast when we are short on grocery money and I can even eat it right out of the jar for a snack too.  Yum!

7.  I'm thankful for Casper The Friendly Squirrel...that's what I've named this little fellow who is always willing to come and take peanuts from my hand. - Coleen was able to get a picture of him yesterday taking peanuts from me.

Coleen asked me how I knew which squirrel it was and I can tell you this little fellow has a stubby tail and I know it's him by his tail and the fact he isn't afraid to take the peanuts out of my hand like most of the other squirrels are.

8.  I'm thankful that my husband has been able to find jobs to help keep money coming in as it's been really "tight" budget wise since he retired and now has to depend on finding work on his own.

9.  I'm thankful for all our kitties (Miss Dottie, Callie-Jo, Harley, Captain Cuddles, Ghost, Spooky-Boo, Bandit, Pepper, and Caramel Honeybun) as they always make me smile. Like Miss Dottie here cramming herself into a cardboard box that was way to small but she managed to fit inside it.

10. I'm thankful for everyone who stops by my blog and leaves a comment or just stops in because it makes me feel goo to know you've been by.  - I hope you've enjoyed your stay here today. 

Have a great weekend.

Good Fences and Little Things Thursday - March 30, 2017

Welcome Back! - Hope you are having a wonderful day.

Today I'm joining Gosia (Looking for Identity) for Good Fences Around the World and Tamar (Randomosity) for Little Things Thursday.

Up first

GOOD FENCES:  Last week I featured a fence taken in Weston, OR on Main Street.  - Today I'm featuring another fence from that same little town.

I happened to walk past the Library there and noticed how charming it was.  Sadly I didn't get a picture of the entire library, I'm not sure why that is either.  But I did notice the little white picket fence in front of the library...

It's a pretty typical metal picket fence but what caught my eye was the colorful poster on the fence.

Here I was trying to capture the fence and the flower boxes behind it (which the focus turned out more on the fence but you can still see the flower box in the background)

Now you can see the flowers better.  They were gorgeous.

One thing I noticed is that in all the photos I also managed to get reflections of the fence in the library windows.



So now for LITTLE THINGS THURSDAY:

 This is one of the gifts I received for my birthday last week.  He makes me smile.

 

Also making me smile was this lovely gift I received from one of my bowling league team mates, Patty.

 

 It was so sweet of her to remember my birthday and those cats are just so precious looking.

 

Hope you have enjoyed your stop here today.

Seasons - Back up and Running

Hip Hip Hooray! - We are back online and running again. - Only one thing...I have a new e-mail address now.  If you subscribe to my blog for e-mail updates you'll need to resubscribe using the button in my sidebar.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

Join Jesh (Artworks from JeshSt.G) for SEASONS this week.  It's been a few weeks since I've paricipated.  We had a super snowy winter and now a super rainy spring so I haven't been outside much and just didn't have a lot to share.

I celebrated my birthday last Monday (March 20) on the first day of spring.  It "rained"....but atleast the sun came out for a few minutes.

We took our annual trip to the Wildhorse Casino on Wednesday....didn't win but came home with some of the money that we took over.  Had a good time though - sorry no pictures.

 The crocus have since bloomed and died but I managed to snap a picture of my mom's before they were all gone.

Went out one night and took pictures of the trees around our neighborhood .  I liked the different colors.

 

 



 Finally after one of our rain storms I noticed a beautiful rainbow in the sky.  I had to take a picture.  Since we have power lines in the way I shot a close-up through some trees.  -  I used this photo for a 52 Frames assignment on (Details).  I love the colors here and the detail of the budding trees.

Have a great week.

Just Checking In

Hi! - Well we finally got our computer issues fixed!!!!! - We are now off of Dial-Up (which by the way if you are still using Dial-Up you are living in the stone ages as I was told several times) - Anyway I hope to be back blogging on a regular basis now and visiting your blogs more often.

Just for fun:

Bandit looked to be having a rough day yesterday.  Sort of like I felt until we had our computer back up and running.

Now we're feeling all calm and relaxed!

Hope you all have a nice day.

Good Fences and Computer Woes

Welcome! - You may have noticed that I have been absent from the blog for awhile & also from commenting on your blogs.  - I truly do apologize for not stopping by.  - There is a reason though...We are having "computer issues" (again) and I am unable to log into a lot of stuff or it takes forever for me to load, comment etc...so until the problem is fixed I won't be blogging much or stopping by to leave comments on your blogs as it just takes far to long to do that.  It's taken me a good 1/2 hour already just to try and upload photos for today's post.

Thought I might try joining GOOD FENCES today though.

 

We took a short trip last year to a near by town (Weston, OR) for breakfast one Saturday and I happened to snap some photos of this fence on Main Street across from the restaurant.

Behind that fence and greenery was a little stream as well.  It makes for a lovely scene I think.

The placques on the post have information about the Main Street Project there in the town. -

Some of the detail of the fence.  The top portion of the fence for some reason reminds me of "bats" - Do you think so too?

 Some of the circular detail of the fence as well.

Finally the little lamps on the post were rather charming.

I hope you've enjoyed this small town fence as much as I did.

Have a great day.

Book Review - For The Record

 
 

 I received a copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review of the book.

 

Overview from Baker Publishing/Bethany House:

Rather Than Wait for a Hero, She Decided to Create One
Betsy Huckabee has big-city dreams, but nobody outside of tiny Pine Gap, Missouri, seems interested in the articles she writes for her uncle's newspaper. Her hopes for independence may be crushed, until the best idea she's ever had comes riding into town.

Deputy Joel Puckett didn't want to leave Texas, but unfair circumstances have made moving to Pine Gap his only shot at keeping a badge. Worse, this small town has big problems, and masked marauders have become too comfortable taking justice into their own hands. He needs to make clear that he's the law in this town--and that job is made more difficult with a nosy reporter who seems to follow him everywhere he goes.

The hero Betsy creates to be the star in a serial for the ladies' pages is based on the dashing deputy, but he's definitely fictional. And since the pieces run only in newspapers far away, no one will ever know. But the more time she spends with Deputy Puckett, the more she appreciates the real hero--and the more she realizes what her ambition could cost him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My thoughts:  Normally I'm not a big fan of "Historical Romances" as I tend to prefer more modern settings.

I found,  For The Record by Regina Jennings to be an exception to that rule.
The plot was fun and entertaining. 

The main characters were Betsy Huckabee, a small town girl with big city dreams of becoming a Reporter.  A profession that really wasn't one a female held during the late 1800's. Betsey is spunky and persistent and goes for what she wants in life.

The male lead in the story is, Deputy Joel Puckett.  He is a sheriff sent to help clean up the problems in small town, Pine Gap.  This includes a ban of secretive town members mascurading at night as, "The Bald Knobbers."

Betsey hatches a plan to create a make-believe Hero based on the new sheriff and sell her stories to a newspaper in a larger city hoping that her story will bring her bigger & better things.

Joel has a bit of a "secret past" that unfolds throughout the story as he & Betsey are drawn together.

I think the author did a great job in making the characters believable and fun to read about.  You find yourself rooting for them to solve the mystery plot of the book and have a happily ever after.

I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it to anyone wanting a light-hearted romance filled with a bit of mystery and suspense.

Late for the Party

Welcome! - Yes it's Saturday and I'm late for the Party....What party?  - Well how about Good Fences Around the World & Willy-Nilly Friday Five.

Busy week....no excuse.

  Up first for GOOD FENCES

Spotted this decorative piece on a gate while out on a walk this past week.

I think it dresses up the plain wooden fence nicely.  Don't you?

Next to the pretty orange ball they had this sign:

Of course there were no fresh cut flowers because it's still winter here and about the only flowers growing now would be early crocus. 

Now let's join Tanya (Around Roanoke) for WILLY-NILLY FRIDAY 5

1.  It's time once again to sign up for the Teacup/Mug Exchange hosted by Stephanie from: The Enchanting Rose blog!!!

This is always so much fun.  You get to make friends with the person you send to and the person who sends to you.  It's so exciting when your package arrives, just like Christmas.  It's also a lot of fun picking out items to send to your partner.  You won't want to miss this so go sign up now.

2.  Coleen had to dress up in 80's fashion for a school project.  We are on a limited budget so had to find things she already had to work for the theme.  Here is what she & her mom came up with.

I think they did an awesome job.

3.  The winter was super hard on the roads here in "Wally World" (aka Walla Walla) -  Our street was a mess...pot holes, up rooted asphalt etc....they came the other day to do a "temporary" fix on the road.

This was part of the crew working on the road right in front of my mom's house and our house.  They just put down gravel and won't put new asphalt until late March or early April.  Not much of an improvement but better than nothing at all.

4.  Hubby was sitting at the table the other day and said to me:  "I think I may need you to wash off the back of my head."  -  I said,  "Why?"
He said, "Well a board hit me in the back of the head this morning while I was working and I think it might have some dried blood on it."

So I go look and told him,  "You are going to the ER to have that looked at right now."  He's like,  "No it's fine."  But being the nice wife that I am I said, "To bad, go get it checked out."  He did....

Here is the cut on his head before on the left & after they cleaned it up on the right.

Thankfully no concussion, no stitches needed (they glued it).  It's sore but he's lucky it wasn' t worse.  Men!

5.  Finally I leave you with a little video of our sweet kitty,  Caramel playing "fetch."

 

She is such a silly little thing and we love her to pieces.

 

Have a great day & thanks for stopping by.