There was a space Where weeds were growing A promising spot Where neglect was showing.
So the Nursing Home Auxiliary Started a No-Show-Fundraiser And hundreds of givers Gave to hire the labor
Weeds were removed And a concrete pad was poured A pergola was built The residents and staff were floored!
The pergola looked bare So barn quilts were added Flowers in the flower bed Some benches (no, not padded)
The Lion’s Club bought the benches For a sprinkler system the MV Woman’s Club paid A resident’s daughters donated the flowers Amazing improvements were made
This inviting space brought joy To the residents and staff alike More flowers and colors were added It matched all the fundraising hype
This Friday there will be an Open House A Thank You for all the kind folks Who gave to make this possible Come have a look and share Rootbeer Floats
That’s as close as I could come to a rootbeer float!
Well, they won’t be THAT fancy!!
Ecclesiates 3:11
“He has made everything beautiful in His time.”
We are making everything beautiful in our time, too!
Come and visit our beautiful, inviting, peaceful space. We’d love to sit a spell and chat with you!
2:00 to 4:00 PM Friday, June 30 Madison Valley Manor 211 N Main St. Ennis, MT 59729 madisonvalleymanor.com
I probably never will travel to Uganda, but my friend, Lisa Glines, just returned from a trip there. I was privileged to travel with her – vicariously, of course.
Lisa’s daughter-in-law, Aneesa, was Lisa’s travel partner. Aneesa celebrated her birthday with their wonderful Ugandan travel guides and travel partners. This photo is their friend, Sam, celebrating with them. Happy Birthday, Aneesa!
Thank you, Lisa, and Aneesa, for sharing your adventure!
One of their guides was a bird expert.
This is the Crested Crane, Royal Uganda’s national bird
Other guides were animal experts who knew just how to find where these exotic animals lived, swam, and dined.
Doesn’t Aneesa look like a fun-filled travel partner?
Waiting for a hand-out?
Sunrises and sunsets were spectacular!
Must have been quite a thrill to get so close to these beautiful animals.
Ready to travel home. Thank you so much for sharing!!
And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”
I may not have had a tunic to share… nor food to share with you today, but I had travel photos that were graciously shared with me… so time to pass them on with gratitude for Lisa’s big heart! I hope you enjoyed the virtual Uganda trip, too.
Sharing colors my world. I hope it colored yours today, too. Have a Happy Presidents’ Day here in the USA, and a Marvelous Monday, my friends.
Tin Yan Chans art is amazing. I was inspired to create this poem after enjoying his works.
Deep within the Rockies Where no traffic flows Is a peaceful hidden lake Where gorgeous lupine grows
The lake is filled with fish And if you know your way, You can walk to find real joy Come join me friends, let’s play
The lake is beautiful in every season You can visit it for no reason Other than to enjoy its beauty Ot wait til its trees are fruity
It’s an artist’s paradise The scenery is always nice Sit quietly and wait for the butterflies Look carefully – they’re a sight for sore eyes!
Claudia at Humoring the Goddess did some research and shared the fact that Tin Yan Chan, a master artist, had his God-given talents recognized in Canada in the late 20th century. She wrote, “… at 16 he was admitted to the Wuhan South Central China Academy of Fine Arts.”
I am so fascinated by this artist’s work that I intend to do a little research of my own. His website shows several additional paintings and about a dozen in a section labeled “sold.” Wouldn’t you enjoy having one of his masterpieces in your home?
Tin Van Chan has developed his artistic talent and made his creations available to the world. What talent do YOU have that you’ve developed and generously shared?
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me’.” Erma Bombeck
Today I used my rusty talent (playing the accordion) at church. Our pianist was unable to attend, so I was asked to step up. My accordion has been dropped and some of the keys sound a bit weird – but I stepped up and did my best. Hopefully it was better than trying to sing all the hymns A Cappella!
An easier talent to share is the one that has a harder time getting rusty: Teaching! On Tuesdays I share my love of scripture with my 10-year-old friend, Hailey, and in the evening with my lady friends at our local nursing home. Through the years I have developed my spiritual gift of teaching, and as you have heard many times, I’m sure, “Once a teacher, always a teacher.” Like Erma Bombeck, I want to “use everything [God] gave me.” Our talents are given to us to be shared.
So, share your talent Your talent’s God’s gift to you It’s meant to be shared.
For many of you, it’s writing prose or poetry. For some of you, it’s photography. For others, it’s music or public speaking. I really appreciate those whose talent is fixing my car or unplugging the drain on my sink! Some are math wizards or skilled carpenters> All God’s gifts of talent are meant to be shared, What’s yours?
Share with me what talent you thank God for giving to you. How are you sharing it?
Happy Day after Thanksgiving! It’s a heat wave – we’re finally above freezing! The icicles are melting.
Time to “cool it” and let the turkey and stuffing settle while making turkey soup with the leftovers.
Our dear friends, the Humphreys, invited us to share the Thanksgiving feast with them. Such a lot of food! God bless them; they sent half the leftovers home with us. We are enjoying them a lot!!
Bob and I tried not to overstuff ourselves. Not easy!!
Kathy set a really pretty table.
Meantime, in Maryland, our friend Laina is recuperating from surgery, so her daughter, Katy, came over and created a phenomenal meal. Take a look at that turkey. Isn’t it beautiful? Katy’s sister and her fiance’ joined them. Thank God for our technology, we are able to share photos and greetings with one another.
In California, our son, Ty, and his wife, Monika celebrated Thanksgiving with his in-laws, two of his kids and two grandkids at a time-share in Napa. Here is a wreath they made with expressions of their gratitude. Don’t you love it?
On Thanksgiving Day, Ty and his son (our grandson,Jordan) plus his daughter (our granddaughter, Faith) and her husband participated in a “Turkey Trot.” Good for them, huh?
I have a wonderful picture of the whole family, but with my two great-granddaughters in the photo, I can’t post it. You’ll just have to imagine it!
I hope your Thanksgiving weekend is filled with more family and friends gathering to celebrate your blessings with you.
NanoPoblano2022 has invited us to reblog an old post each day during this month of November. I’m having fun going back through some of my first posts… Here is one from our vacation in southern California in 2014. The roadrunner picture in the original post was not available so I borrowed one from Pexels. Thanks!
January 27 2014
There was a Time Magazine article by Lily Rothman in which the author quoted artist, Brendan O’Connell, “Nostalgia makes memory warm.” O’Connell stopped to say parenthetically, “That’s actually a significant thought,” and I paused. Hmm – memories, nostalgia, warmth. Yes, it’s true. Not all memories are warm, but all nostalgic memories are warm. Do you agree? When you think of warm memories, what comes to mind? Here’s mine:
Childhood
Climbing Hillsides Into Lands Dense with Hidden Occupants Ordering Hot Dogs.
Hah! That’s my whimsical acrostic for today – looking back on yesterdays.
But, how about Making Memories Today?
There’s no better place to make memories than where you are right now today! For me, whether it is in the warm desert on vacation in the southern California sun with roadrunners scampering by and sun casting spakles on cactus, or back home in the cold snows of Montana, each day is a memory in the making. The climate doesn’t determine the warmth of the memories. The people I am with, the events we choose, the lessons I learn, the visions I absorb: those are the nostalgia of tomorrow. I am making warm memories today – wherever I am!
Nov. 5, 2022 – our snow is almost all melted now. With today’s winds, the rest of it will blow off the roof of our house (peeking through the trees there).
That acrostic up there was mine back in 2014… but I have no idea how that could have been true. We lived in the flat central valley of California. No hillsides to climb! If I were looking back at my childhood and creating an acrostic today, it would say:
CHILDHOOD
C hasing H ounds I nto L ittle D ugouts H aving O odles O f D ead animals
Oh my! That one is reality! My dad owned a Tallow Works and one of his jobs was picking up dead animals from ranchers and farmers and bringing those animals back to the “plant” where we lived. We always had at least one dog as a pet… and they were always “hounds.” No money for pedigrees!! In our bare fields behind our house, my neighbors (cousins) and I would dig holes and create pretend worlds. That 2014 acrostic must have come out of that pretending. Sometimes our best memories are the imaginary ones, don’t you think?
If you were to write a childhood acrostic today, would yours be real? Or would you pretend?
I hope your real world is full of happy memories – warm nostalgia. Have a great day today, my friends. .
I had a warm, huggy, loving daddy. My memories of him are certainly warm nostalgia!!
NanoPoblano2022 asked us to reblog an old post during this month of November. One a day. I’m going to try to do that.
I added this image to the 2012 post. Back then, I did not understand how to use WordPress to its greatest advantage with memes and images that enhanced the words. My purpose in blogging today remains the same a it was a decade ago: to encourage love, joy, peace, faith, and unity among my blogging friends and to inspire us all to live a happier, more purpose-filled life.
My 2012 post:
.
“My confession, admission, and plea to God today is this:
None of us lives to just self alone; Each of us lives for the other. Whatever we do, be it rosy or blue, Reflects on our sister and brother.
None of us sits on the judgment seat. We’re not assigned to decide If someone’s dull or bright, wrong or right, Sending them to a corner to hide.
None of us lives a faultless life, Though we try our utmost to seek The humble hill to fulfill Your will In our deeds and the words we speak.
We stumble and fall and fail to be Examples of the upright and strong. Try as we may, we know that someday We’ll have to account for each wrong.
We’ll each have to stand before Your judgment seat And review how we’ve spent every minute. So, Lord, help us give every day that we live All the love and the grace You put in it.
Help us to generously welcome all To be part of whatever we do. None of us lives to ourselves alone; We always reflect on You.
