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.

Fun book, unlikely friends and Heated Cat House

This is the story of Arthur, Mandy and Lucille, as they form a friendship which is surprising to all of them. Mandy is a hurting teen, Arthur is widowed from Nola, the love of his life, and Lucille is his lonely next door neighbor. Arthur, age 85, encounters Mandy in the cemetery where he visits his wife every day and where Mandy goes when she skips school. Arthur looks at cemetery grave stones and thinks he hears clearly glimpses of the buried people’s lives. Mandy playfully changes Arthur’s last name to Truluv, isn’t that charming? Together the three of them find their way forward in life. I am avoiding giving away plot details, but let me tell you, now I know why Berg is read by so many people. There is another book by her, "Night of Miracles" that has some of the same characters in it, and is a sequel, which I want to read.

You won't believe what I just did. I ordered a cat house with a heated floor for my cat who sleeps on my patio. The photo above is what the house looks like. I live in California so it is not all that cold but she is aging, like me, and the heated pad will be comfy for her, I hope. My sons and I think that my dog will take naps in it during the day. The pad only heats when a cat or dog sits on it, a clever feature. An important feature that I learned about when researching before buying is that a cat house needs front and back doors so your cat can not be trapped in it. Both doors are clear plastic and the back door only opens outwards.
I will post photos of my kitty in her new house in future, when she gets in. So far she is not interested or definitely cautious.
What's new at your house, in your life?
P.S. Added Nove. 24. My cat Fluffy discovered her heated cat house on Thanksgiving and slept in it that night and she finds it warm and cozy.

A Friend

friendship
Originally uploaded by Meir Jacob | מאיר יעקב
I discovered this poem, which I consider PERFECT, and hope you like it too.

Friend is a word of Royal tone;
Friend is a Poem all alone.                            by A Persian Poet

I dedicate this post to all my friends, both here in blogland and those who live near me and who I see in person. I love you guys.

Daffodils, Wordless Wednesday

daffodils on a windowsill
Originally uploaded by Muffet
Yes, it is wordless Wednesday and here I am adding words!
I bought 2 bouquets of daffodils, grown in Washington state, for $2 each, at Whole Foods store.
I thought they undercharged me, but I checked and that was the right price.
I gave one bouquet to a friend, who is in her late 80s, and recently moved to assisted living. Sad to say, this is the first time in 20 years of our friendship that I can see my friend is "fading". She was mostly alert and carried on a conversation but did ask me if I've been practicing piano, which I have never played, so that was not good. She was thrilled to have the bouquet, it is so cheery.

The Friends We Keep review and Bible study series

I highly recommend "The Friends We Keep" for insight into friendships we have over the years, new and old, some supportive and nurturing, and some that come to an end.

During a particularly painful time in her life, Sarah Zacharias Davis learned how delightful–and wounding–women can be in friendship. She saw how some friendships end badly, others die slow deaths, and how a chance acquaintance can become that enduring friend you need.

The Friends We Keep is Sarah’s thoughtful account of her own story and the stories of other women about navigating friendship. Her revealing discoveries tackle the questions every woman asks:

• Why do we long so for women friends?
• Do we need friends like we need air or food or water?
• What causes cattiness, competition, and co-dependency in too many friendships?
• Why do some friendships last forever and others only a season?
• How do I foster friendship?
• When is it time to let a friend go, and how do I do so?

With heartfelt, intelligent writing, Sarah explores these questions and more with personal stories, cultural references and history, faith, and grace. In the process, she delivers wisdom for navigating the challenges, mysteries, and delights of friendship: why we need friendships with other women, what it means to be safe in relationship, and how to embrace what a friend has to offer, whether meager or generous.

Summary for 40 Minute Bible Studies

The 40 Minute Bible Study series from beloved Bible teacher Kay Arthur and the teaching staff of Precept Ministries tackles important issues in brief, easy-to-grasp lessons you can use personally or for small-group discussion. Each book in the series includes six 40-minute studies designed to draw you into God’s Word through basic inductive Bible study. There are 16 titles in the series, with topics ranging from fasting and forgiveness to prayer and worship. With no homework required, everyone in the group can work through the lesson together at the same time. Let these respected Bible teachers lead you in a study that will transform your thinking—and your life.

Titles Include:

•The Essentials of Effective Prayer •Being a Disciple: Counting the Cost

•Building a Marriage That Really Works •Discovering What the Future Holds

•Forgiveness: Breaking the Power of the Past •Having a Real Relationship with God

•How Do You Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk? •Living a Life of Real Worship

•How to Make Choices You Won’t Regret •Living Victoriously in Difficult Times

•Money & Possessions: The Quest for Contentment •Rising to the Call of Leadership

•How Do You Know God’s Your Father? •Key Principles of Biblical Fasting

•A Man’s Strategy for Conquering Temptation •What Does the Bible Say About Sex?

The publisher is kindly offering one of the Bible studies free to one person who leaves a comment here. The title is "What does the Bible say about sex?'

Friendship Online

Online friendship

Have you made friends that you have “met” only virtually, on the Internet, through emails? Can these friends be truly life affirming, trust worthy, and an important part of your life?

Some of you, like me, already have found that the answer to this question is “yes.” Can you successfully collaborate to write a book together? YES indeedy.

I have five close friends, living in three states, in an online writers group, that began very informally in the fall of 2005. As we each reached out, carefully, we began to know and trust each other. Sometimes I could share a heart ache with my virtual sisters that I didn’t care to share with my coworkers. Since, for us, our initial common link is that we are all Christian writers, we share both faith and writing concerns with each other.

Being a writer has a lonely aspect to it. We six gals are all married with children, but when we sit down to write, we are alone. We feel sweetly connected as we write in our homes in Texas, Ohio and California. Others that love us are supportive, but writers share a special bond. We know how rejection stings, and acceptance sings! In our stalwart band, we commiserate about having editors say harsh no, and cheer lead for each other when a much more discerning editor says yes.

In the world of freelance writing, both for magazines and newspapers, and for books, the number of rejections is overwhelmingly more than the number of acceptances (except for Stephen King or John Grisham or Cecil Murphey, of course).

We have taken the group name of Word Quilters, and our members are Cathy Messecar, Karen Robbins, Leslie Wilson, Brenda Nixon, Trish Berg, and myself, Terra Hangen. The book we wrote together, under the leadership of Cathy, is A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts, to be published by Leafwood in October 2008.

Excitement builds for me as the contract for our book is headed to my home, via the U.S. mail. It was mailed to me yesterday, January 11, 2008, for future historians wanting to track the history of this brilliant (smile) group. The topic of the book is Christmas and bringing the joy of the holy day to your house, and leaving out any stressful aspects.

My husband promises to take a photo of me signing my very first book contract. Hey, Karen, Leslie, Cathy, Trish and Brenda, I love you babes!