Fun Family Friends Flowers Jesus

 I had fun this week. My son and his partner Julie visited on Sunday and Bounce met their new rescue pup, Reissie. She is a 3 year old toy poodle and the meeting was friendly. Reissie was raised for breeding and not socialized at all so everything is new to her. They rescue dogs that need homes, usually their dogs are very old and ill, so Reissie is a new experience for them.

On Wednesday 4 of us met at a friend's home to celebrate a birthday. We met at work at the university and have been friends for 30 years. One of the gals has a house in the redwoods so it is very country in feel. She fed us outside and played 3 piano pieces for us. We are quite an international group, with one of us born in California, one in Arizona, one in Communist China and one in Taiwan. We love each other and rightly so.

Dog riding a motorcycle, I like that.

 

Covered walkway at my favorite coffee shop. Below is also from the coffee shop gardens. The pink flowers are called Naked Ladies. I think they are a type of lily.

 

 Above: I planted sweet peas from seed and here are the results. Enjoy your day. Some blog friends mention being lonely. I found a way to get to know people better is to invite them to meet for coffee at a coffee shop. Best outside where you can chat freely.

I was at a fellowship of four friends at the coffee shop a few days ago where we shared Scriptures and life and worries and laughter. I started this fellowship two years ago by asking a few friends I had met in church to meet once a month. I shared 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun."

 

Funnies and asking for suggestions on bloggers to follow

Do you have any tips on bloggers to follow? I would like to follow a few more bloggers, new to blogging or long time bloggers. Please leave their "handles" in comments. It is nice to grow our blogging community. 

I read that the average age of bloggers is 65 or so. I am older than that! It would be fun to meet some young bloggers too. Also more bloggers outside the USA. Anyone know a blogger in Turkey? I attended college there and remember it fondly.

Here are some funnies:

 

 Below are my cute salt and pepper shakers I bought on a whim for our summer BBQs.

"The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well." Joe Ancis 1926-2001 This is a card. Have a smiley day friends.

Pelicans, Phil Robertson, Clever Cats, Mystery Photo

 I love pelicans. "Oh what a funny bird is a pelican. Its beak holds more than its belly can." Here is a fine fellow of a pelican from the ocean front restaurant where Wei and I treated Terry to her birthday celebration.

 

Phil Robertson is in heaven now and I love these words "When I die, don't cry. Sing. Dance. But don't cry when I die. When I die you say "He made it." The same words work for me, say "She made it". I hope not soon!

and for fun, I don't know how they managed to create this: Is it three girls and coffee, if you squint and almost close your eyes it is someone else! Someone I love.

Soon I will tell you about my gardening, I love the process and the results so much. Plus my getting a new electric panel for my house next week since my old one is failing. My house and the electric panel bringing electricity into my house are 70 years old. Expensive! 
 

Microplastic everywhere! Tips on how to avoid microplastics and a Pretty Photo

Epoch Times recently reported that for the first time plastics have been found to cross the human brain barrier. This is going to cause health problems, I am sure. A 2024 National Geographic article suggests potential risks including inflammation, oxidative stress and disruption of gut microbiota.

Before this serious topic, here is a bougainvillea I photographed in my neighborhood.

 

Here are a few things I do to avoid ingesting plastics.  

• The first is I carry a small 7 oz. thermos with me to every social event that includes free coffee and tea served in paper cups. Why? Because to be able to hold liquids paper cups have a very thin plastic lining, typically PE polyethylene or PLA polylactic acid. Otherwise the paper would dissolve. Pouring hot water or hot coffee into a paper cup causes plastics to migrate to the beverage.

• The second thing I do is not to use tea bags because to hold together in hot water the bags are sealed with plastic glue. November 2024 issue of Chemosphere recent research shows that tea bags immersed in hot water shed microplastics that gut cells absorb. No way do I drink that. I love tea and brew it with loose leaf tea in a small metal holder. So loose leaf tea for me. Mission accomplished.  

• I don't drink water from those plastic bottles so many people carry around. The water can contain  plastics from the bottle. Tap water contains only 4,000 microplastic particles annually, and bottled water up to 90,000 annually. Reverse osmosis removes microplastics from tap water, but I don't have that.
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• I have used a HEPA room air purifier for years to keep dust and pollen down in my home. I recently read that it removes microplastics from indoor air from carpets, furniture and textiles. When we had nearby wildfires the HEPA air purifiers made it easier to breathe.
  

So much microplastic entering our bodies. And so much in landfills or floating in our precious oceans. And thank you to GROK for lots of scientific documentation on this subject. Did I tell you how much I like GROK? There is a free GROK app for phones. It is much faster than old style search engines, goes deeper, and is more balanced in what it presents. I am a librarian and double check most everything.

 Let's all find things to smile about!

Funny stuff: Adopting Dogs to Lost in a Maze to the Lennon Sisters

 Some funny photos. Some clever. Some cute puppies.

 I adopted Bounce from a shelter. He was so cute right from day one. He is a teenager now, age 13.

 

Above is a photo of the tile stairs of a restaurant I like. In fact I was there with two friends who treated me to a birthday lunch recently.

 Above is a photo I took before I threw these items out. Who is old enough to know what these are? I am 80 so yes I know.

 I've not been a big fan of the Lennon Sisters but I saw this photo of them and the third one from the left could be my twin! At about age 10. I think the resemblance is amazing. Have a great week!

 

The Big 8 0 Birthday, Yes 80 for Me

 Happy Birthday to Me at Age 80

Yes the BIG 8 0.

I've been treated like a princess by family and friends. Two friends separately told me that my sons spoil me rotten. I agree and I rather enjoy it.

 My birthday table in the kitchen. My lemon tree gift is outside on the patio.

 God is good and I remember to count my blessings. Have a great day dear blog friends.

Knights, Ladies and Rumpole

 Hi beautiful ladies and handsome gents. Do you love knights and chivalry and ladies as much as I do? Knights and ladies in armor. Women in flowing gowns. Fighting for justice and honor. Here are some photos I found on X and Truth Social. I also love PreRaphaelite painters, and they often use knights and ladies in their paintings. I discovered them when visiting the Tate Gallery in London and they have become my favorite painters.

 These two paintings are not PreRaphaelite and may be AI generated. In England my husband and I visited the dramatic site of Tintagel Castle, said to be the castle of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. It is worth a visit. It is perched on cliffs near the water and looks easily defensible.

Who likes the tv series Rumpole of the Bailey? The actor who plays him is cast perfectly. He is a bit rumpled and wants justice for his clients. He is not interested in climbing the ladder of the legal profession. His wife pushes him to climb but he doesn't.

I just bought this book of Rumpole novels by John Mortimer, I think I will enjoy it.

What have you been up to? From my previous post you can see that this spring I am out in the garden and planting and weeding and pruning. At my age I prune or weed or plant for 15 minutes and then go in the house to read or watch TV. If you are younger you likely have lots of energy, as I used to. Gardening brings me joy, does it you?
 

Plants for spring and Talking to the Shepherd

 Hi friends. I can tell it is spring because I went to the locally owned garden center and bought quite a few plants and seeds. Are you doing this too? I know some of you in Australia have different seasons of course.

Two daisy type flowers for a large pot I have, where a lemon tree grew for many years. Plus a six pack of 6 sugar pea plants and a six pack of red butter lettuce plants. Also seeds for round carrots and mixed colors of radishes seeds. Today I planted the pea plants and red lettuce in my waist high planter.

Isn't this cute? Dennis says "Do you count sheep to get to sleep, grandpa?" and grandpa says "Nope, I talk to the shepherd."
 

Love Your Pet Day, Hudson Taylor Mission to China, Crazy Old Lady Me

 

That is so cute, every day is love your pet day at our houses, right?

Hudson Taylor, what a great man, he felt called to go on mission to China in 1853. A poor man, he dared to go all the way to China to bring Christ to the people there. Taylor's journey from England to China took almost six months. Imagine the harsh conditions on the small ship. He had many adventures and soon learned to dress in Chinese attire so people would stop and listen to him. He faced robbers and violence. He learned Chinese so he could preach and talk with the people. His memoir was originally titled "To China With Love", showing how much he loved the Chinese people. 

Last but not least, a fun cartoon for all of us old ladies and gentlemen. You youngsters may attain this one day too.

 

Joy in 2025

 

I have always loved horses and rode them at a riding stable, the two I rode were Sunset and Frosty.

My pink rose bush in spring or summer., It is an old rare variety that I bought at a university arboretum about 30 years ago.

I am hoping that 2025 will be a joyful and hopeful year overall for all of us.

I purchased the above painting from a charity store named something like Habitat. This is a large painting 32" x 44" and it barely fit into my car and on the wall in my bedroom, but it did fit. It gives me smiles when I look at the girl and and the flowers and woodland scene. What do you have in your home that brings you smiles?

Sadness

 I am feeling down friends. Two of my best friends died suddenly recently, Pam on November 10 and AudreyRose on January 10. These friends lived in town so we enjoyed meeting for coffee and as sisters in Christ. I am stunned. They were each 72 and did not have life threatening conditions. How do we pick ourselves up after these sad events?

 

I was just coming to grips with Pam's death when AudreyRose died. Her other friend went to Audrey's home to pick her up and take her to lunch and found her dead. I met these women in church. AudreyRose asked me to be her Christian mentor as she was a new Christian, and we got to know each other well as we met at my home for coffee and Bible study and laughter. Each of them was a person who loved to give and helped others because of their love for Christ. We were fun loving and laughed a lot.

Here is an answer to the question I asked, how do we come to grips with loss and sadness: Jesus says Focus on Me, not the storm. One happy thought is that Pam and AudreyRose are happily chatting in heaven. Love and peace to you all. You are each a treasure to me.

Jan. 23 2025 I read through your many kind thoughtful comments and each one touched my heart and gave me a smile. It is helpful to share sadness and get "hugs" from each of you via your comments.
 

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