Photos of my birthday and some ideas

Yes, it is social isolation and my sons prepared a birthday celebration for me, which we celebrated on April 25, the actual day. They planned everything so the cooking etc. would be healthy and we would be outdoors on my backyard patio.

Above is a photo of Lane and me and below are photos of Colt and Lane.

We wore masks and maintained a distance, and stayed outside. The weather was gorgeous, 75 degrees, and it said 80 degrees on my patio. It felt rather hot sitting in the sun so my younger son got out his pop up canvas awning, size about 10 feet by 10 feet. He uses it when camping in his van in the desert. The canvas made it ideal to be outside and now I want a canvas shade for the patio, maybe one that will roll up when not needed. Below shows the canvas awning and patio as seen from the kitchen, and you see Bounce resting. The awning sets up in a few minutes and created a delightful shade.

We had shrimp on skewers, fresh salmon, marinated steak, and zucchini, onions. asparagus and mushrooms, all cooked on our grill by the superchefs, my sons.

My kitchen table is full of flowers, plants and cards. If you look closely you can see a gift of a new orchid, on the left. We agreed this is the best meal we have had since the lockdown. I said it is the best meal I have had this year. This is the first time since the crisis we have enjoyed a meal together and lots of laughter and bonding time. It seemed like normal life. Except for the masks, ha ha. And no hugging.
Here is my purple clematis.

My sons, Zoom meetings and Jesus are keeping me sane, or maintaining a semblance thereof.
It is helpful to remember the words of Jesus: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life ... Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" Matthew 6:25
And James wrote "Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise." James 5:13
Til this crisis passes and we meet again, be safe.

Mostly light hearted post, a friend is moving away

Here is another mostly light hearted post from me.
A blog friend completely surprised me with a care package that included this darling antique tea cup from her collection. She also included some Jasmine green tea, and chocolates as you can see. In the vase are the first lilac blooms from my lilac this spring. Thank you Lauren from My Wonderfully Made Blog
All of you blog friends make my life that much brighter during these difficult times.

On a wistful note; one of my longtime friends is moving away from the city where we live, due to financial necessity. She is moving on April 18 and because we are being careful we can't even hug goodbye. Don't tell her ha ha, but I bought her a cute friendship memento. It is ceramic, edged with gold paint, and says "A true friendship is a journey without an end." Actually I am more than wistful, I am sad about her moving. But I need to support her in her journey.

Even the box it arrived in is cute. It says "There is only one happiness in life, to love and to be loved."

You friends will know I don't post many recipes but difficult times call for difficult, or in this case tasty, measures. Shrimp, green bean and bowtie dinner. Delish. I saute the fresh green beans in a splash of olive oil, a splash of soy sauce and a pat of butter for a couple minutes. You can add chopped garlic if desired. Keep the beans a bit crunchy, not all mushy! Boil the frozen raw shrimp 2 minutes and cook the cute bowtie pasta. Drain shrimp and pasta, then stir in the pasta and shrimp into the pan where you cooked the green beans. Voila, it is pretty, easy and healthy.
You could substitute broccoli, add fresh grated parmesan, use other pasta. But don't you just love the bowtie shape? It is called Farfalle in Italian.
More plants from my front yard which I enjoy when sitting on my patio. Actually they make my heart sing, I love their colors.

The red flowers cover my Australian Tea Tree, or Leptospermum Scoparium, which grew from a one gallon size to eight feet tall in 20 years, and the yellow flowers or Leucospermum, are from my new South African shrub, planted a year ago. Many times Leucospermum are wrongly called Australian natives, but they are native to South Africa. The yellow bush will grow to 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide.

Above is Bounce, my 14 pound security patrol partner. He inspects many things along the way, and occasionally nibbles on some grass. People are very cooperative about staying far away in this time of social distancing. Some people walk in the middle of the street. There are plenty of people walking and jogging, skateboarding, bicycling, pushing baby strollers, but there are so many streets and sidewalks near the bay that we easily keep our distance. Temperature here is in the 60s with an occasional 70, so we love being outside.

On the lighter side: My First Venture Using Zoom and Books, Books, Books

Instead of posting about you know what! here are some other words from me.
Zoom and My First Zoom Meeting
First, I am so pleased with myself; a few hours before the meeting happened, I was invited to a Zoom meeting. I've been wanting to try that so I said yes, and it worked for me right away! Amazing but true. I think it is beginner's luck. About 5 households managed to join in, hurray. Several people were frustrated and could not join. I think they will sort it out for the next Zoom meetup next week. What fun to see people's laughing faces, there was a lot of humor as people signed in, tried to sit so the top of their heads showed, we could see them but they couldn't see us, etc. A couple of the ladies joked about how long their hair is getting. The leader asked if we had read any good books and I told them about Falling Forward. See below for more on this wonderful book.
Books, books, books.
If you know me you won't be surprised I am telling you what books I am enjoying.

Beholding and Becoming: The Art of Everyday Worship by Ruth Chou Simons. Ruth is a brilliant watercolor artist and the book is overflowing with her dainty paintings of nature. Plus Ruth has six sons, wow! The first photo is from the book, each page is glorious, and the second photo is of the cover with more of her art. In 850 detailed watercolors the author explains how God demonstrates His love and His faithfulness even in our mundane moments. Her paintings and words remind us that God created all things. Thank you FlowerLady for recommending Beholding and Becoming.

Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled by Dorothy Gilman. This is a great book that will take you to the wild deserts of Syria with the world's most unlikely and very capable spy, Mrs. Pollifax. A senior citizen, she accidentally is recruited by the CIA to become a spy because when you see her, you know she could no way be a spy. The first book in the series is The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax and there are at least 14 books. I am not reading them in order, but must tell you the first book has its special charm as we learn how bored Emily Pollifax is with her routine life of a widow. She sure seized the day when she finagled her way into her first work as a spy.

An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor. This is the first and very entertaining book in a series set in the small village of Ballybucklebo. A young doctor finds his first job there assisting the large, kind and gruff village doctor. The villagers are an eccentric lot and very appealing and the book has plenty of humor in it. The series has about 15 books in it. Patrick Taylor retired as a doctor and lives in Canada and Ireland, and was born and raised in Bangor County Down in Northern Ireland.

Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life. This book is a fabulous find and I am very excited about it, since it applies to me and everyone who is in the second half of life, and anyone who wants ideas about growing closer to God. I guestimate that people who are 45 and up are in the second half of life, so that includes not only us senior citizens. Rohr says that the first half of life may end sooner, sometimes through difficulties at a young age, and this deepening second half could begin even in your twenties. I am just beginning this book and am underlining like crazy (I rarely do that) but so many thoughts of the author's are helpful and wise. Richard Rohr is a Franciscan priest for the last 40 years and founded The Center for Action and Contemplation, and he explores how our failings in the first half of life can be the foundation for our ongoing spiritual growth.
Happy Trails To You
Who else remembers Roy Rogers and Dale Evans riding their horses and singing Happy trails to you, until we meet again. Happy trails to you, keep smiling until then. Dale's horse was a buckskin named Buttermilk and Roy's horse was Trigger. Happy trails for you today, whether still out in the world working at essential jobs, or staying home and reading, knitting, painting, creating, nurturing family and others. Don't forget to nurture yourself. For me I recommend a Lindt chocolate truffle every day.