Our patio, yard and quote

Here are some photos taken this month, which show the view from my kitchen through our patio doors. When I stand at the kitchen sink and look left this is what I see on our patio.

The plant on the left on the table is a pot of pink roses and on the right is a planter of purple petunias, rose cosmos, white bacopas and dusty miller, both of these are gifts from my sons for Mother's Day. Note grey kitty Fluffy on table.

Here is Fluffy on patio, near some potting soil. She chose us by showing up in our fenced back yard about five years ago.
My friend has this quote as her email signature line:
"Occasionally weep deeply over the life you hoped would be. Grieve the losses. Then wash your face. Trust God. And embrace the life you have." by John Piper

What makes you smile? Some things that make me smile

I thought I would share with you some things that make me smile. Since the death of my husband last November these smile bringers are doubly precious.

Pretty much any flower, and some weeds too, make me smile. Years ago I went to a garden center and asked for Jupiter's Beard. The plant expert said that is a weed. I thought "ouch, poor plant, now that is hurtful". When I lived on a farm the neighbor lady called these "Meet Me By the Gate"; also called Valerian. I always think of them as "Meet Me By the Gate" and think of Ann, my neighbor. The photo above has a bouquet of Canterbury Bells and Sweet Peas from my garden.

Song birds in my garden, the hoot of an owl in a nearby tree, and the pelicans soaring along our bay.

Feeling a refreshing breeze. I do not like to be too hot, so I welcome the cooling touch of a breeze.

Picking a vegetable from our garden, admiring it and eating it. For a moment I feel like a pioneer woman. I would like to have chickens here in my city yard and enjoy the photos of you blog friends who have chickens, horses, donkeys, pigs and all the farm critters.

Our cat Fluffy asleep on a soft new blanket. She does sleep a LOT. Cats by their example teach us to be relaxed; they are not worriers.

My dog Bounce adopted from the shelter in the fall of 2016. He is a fun dog and loves to go on walks three times a day so that keeps me active and outdoors. Note the red amaryllis blooming in May.

Watching comedies on TV. I have a new subscription to Acorn TV which offers great British and Australian shows. New ones for me now that I have Acorn TV are Ladies of Letters (my favorite), French Fields and Boomers. Acorn has a whole slew of mysteries and dramas and documentaries too, often on British history which I enjoy. Andy Griffith and the town of Mayberry are great places to visit via our TV and I watch this series on Netflix.

Flowers with what I imagine to be the scent of heaven. For me this includes lilacs, old fashioned roses like the Peace rose, gardenias, common heliotrope, jasmine, sweet peas and lemon blossoms on my two small lemon trees. I planted a heliotrope a year ago and my husband said that is a favorite scent of his so I just break off a tiny sprig and put it in a little vase to enjoy in the house. I recently read on a blog or Facebook that heliotrope is toxic to dogs so keep the plant where dogs can't snack on it. A nickname for this plant is "sugar plant" so I can see why it might attract dogs; the flowers do smell like sugar.

My list could be a very long one. Maybe I should write another book, ha ha. 

What things bring you joy?

Senior Citizens in New Novels

Now that I have achieved the much wanted (ha ha) title of senior citizen I am finding some novels that have older main characters ranging in age from late fifties to age 100.
Here are a few I have read recently.

"Old Age Private Eye" by A.W. Blakely. The first in the Old Age Pensioner Investigations series about Stanley, a pensioner about 68 years old who is so bored in retirement that on a whim he posts a notice that he is a private investigator. He is amazed when he is hired for a job and finds he needs to hire help so he hires his daughter who is newly divorced and job hunting; the other team member is his trusty dog, Roobarb. The setting is "the heart of England."

"The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules" by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg. The first book in the League of Pensioners series, all the main characters use Zimmer frames or as we call them in the USA, walkers. The main gal, Martha is 79 and decides to begin a life of crime to free her from her home from the aged, which she compares to a prison. The setting is the Netherlands and she recruits four friends from the home where she lives to form a gang. They pull off some dramatic crimes, and attempt jewel, bank and art robberies. They are so inept sometimes they succeed. After all, who could believe these harmless oldies could steal priceless Impressionist paintings?

"A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backman
Ove is a curmudgeon, a widower with a short fuse and he is a mean and prejudiced neighbor to people trying to be helpful. I don't know why Ove is a mere 59 in this novel, he seems like 69 or older. Against his will he is befriended by the young couple who move next door. You will find humor, despair and hope here, and the novel deserves the description of "heart warming." The author is Swedish. I love this book and plan to read the others Backman wrote.

"The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared" by Jonas Jonasson. Alan has no plan except to escape out a window in order to miss his 100 year birthday party at the retirement home. Wow, does he have adventures. He finds stolen money, there are murderous thugs chasing him, he meets a friendly elephant and makes friends along the way. The author is a Swedish journalist. I read that there is a sequel to this book and Alan is 101 in it.
Are there other books you can add to this list? Please add them in comments, I think we would all like to hear about more books featuring senior citizens.