My wife spotted the plant from the bathroom window. I had to go outside to inspect it more closely. She brought it to my attention. The plant lay below the window and had delicate purple bells almost like another flower we had in another part of the yard except the other one was white and these purple flowers shaped in a bell were longer although about the same width. Another surprise that day. Life is full of little surprises and all you have to do is pay attention. How that flower got there I will never know. Serendipity!
Tags: flowers, life, life is full of little surprises, little surprises, my wife, pay attention, plants, serendipity
Posted in beauty, flowers, God, knowledge&learning, local, nature, time |
Only by grace both of us are passionate about listening to music. I share the best music I know and come across with her. And that is a gift being able to do that. In the beginning I opened a whole lot of worlds to her: British music and other kinds. I never forget the emotional impact of any piece of music. And I share that music with her easily. And that is only by grace.
Tags: British music, emotional impact of music, God, music, my wife, only by grace, share music
Posted in God, knowledge&learning, local, love, marriage, music, time |
In the beginning of our marriage every morning I would play this Nicole Nordeman CD. She asked me to play the music today and memories came flooding back. Everything was new between us then. I like to say we are an old married couple but we are not–twelve years I think. Every day is still another discovery. I know she is a gift and only here by serendipity. The music reminded me of that fact.
Tags: everything was new then, God, marriage, married couple, memories, music, my wife, Nicole Nordeman, serendipity, she is a gift
Posted in God, knowledge&learning, local, love, marriage, music, time |
Tilla is so unpredictable. Two nights ago he would not come into my bedroom after I called his name repeatedly and not until my wife came in to bed. Yesterday I went to bed and my dog immediately followed me to my bedroom and fell asleep at the foot of my bed. I did not say one word to him or call his name once. My favorite dog is so unpredictable. I never know what he is going to do next.
Tags: dog sleeps at the foot of my bed, dogs, my wife, pets, Tilla
Posted in humor, local, love, pets, relationships, time |
I was thrilled two nights ago when Tilla, my favorite dog, joined us on our king-sized bed. My wife had to “nudge” him over so she had enough space. Last night I called him repeatedly after I went to bed and he would not come. Finally my wife joined me and called him and he lay on the cushioned bed that is on the side of the bed, which was originally set up for his sister, Coco. My wife said he was standing on the pillow under the computer looking somewhat conflicted and “guilty” when I was calling him. He likes tight spaces. Anyway, I was happy when he finally came to our bedroom. The week I was gone hardly any animals slept with her. I guess we broke their routine.
Tags: Coco, dog bed, dog routine, dogs, my wife, pets, Tilla
Posted in local, love, pets, relationships, time |
It is a gift we have an activity we both enjoy regularly. We have a fierce Scrabble Rivalry. And sometimes I win. And sometimes she wins. Neither of us get bored for each game is different. We play almost every night. I don’t take that activity for granted. It is a gift to both of us. I am amazed the inventor of Scrabble thought out this game so well. It is always challenging. A lot of our games go down to the last move or two. Lopsided scores happen less frequently.
Tags: activity we both enjoy, each game is different, my wife, Scrabble, scrabble rivalry
Posted in God, local, marriage, time |
I appreciated my home better after I was gone a week. All my music at my fingertips. My wife, of course. And all my pets–all seven cats and three dogs. Now I am usually in charge of meals. There is nothing like being gone and back and realizing all your amenities are near by. Now I made my own coffee and drank out of my special cup. My coffee now tasted like I remembered it to. I did not have to listen to too many lectures when I did something wrong. My friend was a bit opinionated and overbearing, which is not to say my wife can’t be–she can. All in all I was glad to be home and grateful I had one to return to.
Tags: appreciated my home, cats, dogs, four dogs, glad to be home, God, grateful, music, my old friend, my own coffee, my wife, pets, seven cats, vacation
Posted in God, life, local, love, marriage, music, pets, time |
Our three dogs must have been really hungry. I only fill the dogs’ bowls once a day in the morning. When I went to the vet with Coco, she had lost over seven pounds. She was getting really chunky so that was a good thing. I went away for a week. My wife was not paying attention and left an open almost full bag of cat food in the kitchen. I usually store cat food in the garage. Then she noticed the dogs had a “picnic” and must have been really hungry. Half of it was gone.
Tags: cat food, cats, Coco, dogs, dogs ate cat food, feed the dogs, my wife, pets, three dogs, vet
Posted in humor, local, pets, time |
We had a new visitor in our yard last night–an adult cottontail, which we viewed from our living room window. Sometimes we see rabbits from our kitchen window but we have not seen one from there in months. There are raspberry thickets in back, I believe, they hide under. The new visitor was there a few minutes and disappeared into the bush. I have lived here for over ten years and this is the first time I remember seeing a cottontail from my living room window. Once my wife actually saw a turkey in our front yard. I have never seen a turkey in our yard. A few days ago she saw a three foot black snake on our lawn from the bathroom window. You never know exactly what you are going to see from our living window or in our yard.
Tags: black snake, cottontail rabbit, my wife, nature, our yard, rabbits, raspberry plants, visitor in our yard, wild turkey, wildlife
Posted in animals, God, knowledge&learning, local, nature, time |
In the week I was gone the two tomato plants grew quickly. There were quite a few little green tomatoes while a week ago there was almost none. My wife had splurged and bought quite a few plants while I was on vacation–many still in their original containers and needed to be planted. She bought two beautiful budding fuchsia plants one of which I hung from the white pine tree in view from our large living room window. Every year we put one up there and the plant does well there as long as we keep it watered.
The weather finally became seasonal–sixties and seventies. I thought we went straight from winter into summer for a short time. At least it seemed that way. Today I was thrilled I noticed a flower that had little white snow bells. My wife said it was a perennial. The grass was also cut when I got home. All these things happened in the week I was gone.
Tags: fuchsia, gardening, little green tomatoes, living room window, my wife, perennial, spring, summer, tomato plants, vacation, weather, white pine tree, white snow bells flower, winter
Posted in beauty, flowers, God, knowledge&learning, local, nature, seasons, time |
I want to give my wife a big “Thank You.” She got me a good piece of luggage made by Samsonite. You have no idea how much easier it was navigating to my proper gate in the airports. In Dulles Airport going to the next terminal was nerve wracking. My shuttle was not even moving and the clock in front said my plane was boarding already. Finally I was in the right terminal and then I found out my gate was all the way on the other end. Being able to easily navigate my luggage made my “quick walk” to the gate easier. Needless to say I made my flight but barely. I even discovered on my return flight I could also put my day bag on top of it making my journey easier. This trip to New Orleans was the first time I used it. My baggage rolled easily. A big thank you.
Tags: airport terminals, airports, luggage, my wife, New Orleans, Samsonite luggage, thank-you, vacation
Posted in marriage, time |
I saw a new bird today. Chuck spotted it at one of his feeders. He thought, at first, it was an albino (of a pigeon or mourning dove but then he brought out his bird book. It was a type of dove he had never seen before. It was white and had a ring around its neck. I will give you its precise name when I look it up in my bird book. It is always exciting when you see a new species of bird. I might try to photograph the red headed woodpecker for my wife later. It is a common species here but not so in Pennsylvania.
Tags: albino dove, bird book, bird-feeders, bird-watching, birds, Chuck, dove, mourning dove, my wife, new bird sighting, New Orleans, pigeon, red headed woodpecker, vacation
Posted in beauty, birds, God, knowledge&learning, nature, time |
