The Advent Wreath

I've been in Sarasota FL for a quick trip (more to tell about that in the future...it's been a busy trip and why I didn't publish anything yesterday).  When I am here I usually attend my dad's church with him, and I enjoyed being present to watch him and my niece Jeanni (she attends church with him almost every Sunday).  An Advent Wreath is a Christian tradition celebrating the four weeks before Christmas, the birth of Jesus, and it reminded me of when I was young and my family utilized an Advent wreath in our Christmas preparations and celebrations.   

It was awesome to watch Jeanni (she's 10) in action...

...she also takes care of the young children in a Sunday school type atmosphere...here she continuing a project she's been working on with Alex (I do believe we have a teacher in the making here)...

Do you utilize an Advent Wreath in your Christmas celebrating?

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Toe Socks

Toe socks...maybe a little challenging to put on, but oh so comfortable.  My friend Bertie and I found some at Goodwill and we both got a pair, hers are blue.  I've been wearing them ever since...

...they may look funny, but they sure make keeping your feet warm while wearing flip flops (a necessary evil in the mountains and on road trips to and from Florida) easy!  LOL, there are LOTS of people who will see this picture and cringe...socks and flip flops make some people cringe!

Have you ever worn toe socks?  Do you like them?

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

I love Charlie Brown, always have...when I was young, probably 8 or 9 years old, I performed my first solo tap dance to Snoopy's "Suppertime", but that's a different story...when my girls were young sitting together and watching A Charlie Brown Christmas was a tradition that I held hard and fast to far beyond the age at which they were interested in sitting with me.  I love that show to this day and the Vince Guaraldi Trio sound track is one of my favorite Christmas CD's.  I can't say I have a favorite track, but click here if you'd like to listen to Christmas Time Is Here while you read on.

It seems we've begun a Christmas tradition here at the cabin...we find a tree somewhere on our property for our Christmas tree...the first year we cut a small dying Hemlock (we loved this bare tree)...

...last year we hiked into the mountains to find one...

...this year we selected a white pine that was too close to the garden and would have had to come down anyway...

 

 

 

 

 

...this year's tree looks pretty darn good for a Charlie Brown tree!

I hope you are enjoying your Christmas preparations...

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

The Woolly Bear's Forecast

Old Timer's say that the number of brown bands on the Woolly Bear caterpillar forecast how cold the winter will be...more brown, milder winter (I've written about this before, click here if you'd like to compare the caterpillars).

If the folklore holds true, then we are in for a mild winter...all the Woolly Bear's I've come across this season have had a significant amount of brown bands.  In fact, we found the one below in Bertie's house today...the predominance of brown and only one band of black suggests a very mild winter (I've never seen a Woolly Bear with this much brown before).

Interestingly, November's weather was quite mild today we reached 60...feels like the end of summer though it doesn't look like it.

I also read that the number of brown bands indicate the age of the caterpillar...an older Woolly Bear has more brown bands because the previous winter was mild allowing spring to begin early...last year was a relatively mild winter though it stayed quite cold late into the season.

I wonder which of the theories will hold true this year...

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Dear Santa...

The day after Thanksgiving, several of us had breakfast together.  Of course, I sat next to Liam.  After lots of interesting conversation, I asked him what he was asking Santa for Christmas.  He told me "I'm ordering a turtle".  Oh, that sounds nice I said, what would you name your turtle?  "I think I'll name him Marty".  I said that sounded like a great name and he said "then Marty it is".  I couldn't help but chuckle at his confidence and decision that Marty was the right name...I can't wait to see if Marty is in fact what the turtle will be named. 

Yesterday, Jessi sent me Liam's Christmas letter to Santa...I just had to share...

...too cute!!!  I do believe Marty will be joining the family:)

I am super excited that I will be spending Christmas week with Liam, playing with him while he is out of school for a week, going to sleep with him Christmas Eve and waking Christmas morning...not the norm as I am usually with Johny at the cabin...

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Home Sweet Home...Again

It never ceases to amaze me how wonderful it feels to get back to our cabin...even though it was only 38 degrees F inside, and everything that could be congealed was...needless to say the first thing we spent time doing was getting the wood burning stove heated up...

...it took a while for things to warm up, but there is something invigorating about running around unpacking when it's warmer outside than it is inside and trying to keep my body moving!

It's good to be back.  I feel fortunate that my life gives me so many opportunities to experience a wide variety of important and memorable moments...one moment at a time!  Life is good :)

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Here and Now

Our time here is coming to a close, so I decided to go to the dock and enjoy the river for a while.  There was a seagull close by and I threw some old bread into the air, knowing it would soon come swooping in for a snack.

As I stood tossing the tiny pieces, more gulls began to circling about, diving for scraps and screeching at each other as they competed for the crumbs.  It reminded me of Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Back about a seagull learning about life...an excellent book I read long ago. 

“Most gulls don't bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight - 

how to get from shore to food and back again”

 

 

 

 

 

Though Jonathan said...

“For most gulls it was not flying that matters, but eating. 

For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight.”

 

The gulls slowly departed when they realized there would be no more bits to nibble.  I remembered the song "Be" - Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Neil Diamond (click on the link if you'd like to listen, it's a lovely song...I performed a dance to it in high school way back when...) and I then found another powerful quote from the book...“You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way”...made me pause...am I being my true self?  here?  now?... 

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f//r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise