Currently...A Life List

Looking out my window…it is dark out there, so I’m not looking out my window. It is 11:28pm as I write this. But, if I were to get up to look out, I would likely see the canopy of the gas station that is across the road behind us and just maybe tons of stars and a big, bright moon.

As I ponder…hypocrisy and those that talk about giving, but whine the whole time they are doing it about *having* to do it. Specifically about putting others before ourselves and the whole “I’ve got to do for me over anybody else” mindset. This isn’t what Jesus teaches. We are to put others before ourselves. We are likely all guilty of this to some degree or another.

What I am learning…is that birds are people, too. They have some of the same characteristics as humans. Sometimes they share with each other, no problem. Other times, it is very definitely a “stay out of MY yard and  away from MY feeder!” attitude.

What I am reading…I just finished reading Happy Tales by Diane de Mere. You can read my review of that book here: Happy Tales.  I am also reading Creative Thursday by Marissa Anne Cummings. It was suggested to me by another blogger, but at the moment I can’t remember who.

A quote I want to share…

Carolina Wren Singing ©12 June 2017 Suzanne G. McClendon

My newest interest…watercolor.  I have three coloring books for review purposes and I use coloring pencils to color in them. I am currently using watercolor pencils, which I did not know even existed until recently. There are three ways to use them:

1. Wet the paper, then color on it.
2. Wet the pencil tip, then color with it.
3. Color with the pencil, then go over it with a brush dipped in water.

I haven’t decided yet which way I like the best. None seem to work too well for me once the point gets less than super sharp! The colors seem to flow the best when I wet the pencil tip and then color with them. I haven’t tried the first way yet.

A peek into my week…will leave you seeing nothing but me watching the birds and squirrels, reading, and regular running of the household things. At this moment, we don’t have any appointments this week.

What I’m hoping for…a life of less stress, people with self-respect and respect for others, and a consistent way to make money from home so that we can recover financially.

Please be sure to visit Paula and read her post over at: Smidgens, Snippets & Bits.

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Currently...A Life List

Looking out my window...I am wishing for it to be daylight soon so that I can go take pictures again.

As I ponder...who the new visitors, if any, will be today and, mostly, wondering if the baby wrens are okay.

What I’m learning...lots of patience. Sometimes I have to wait a very long time before the birds show up. I can hear them all over the yard, but it takes awhile for them to come to the feeders some mornings.

What I’m creating...I am working on creating a backyard habitat for the animals that live here and trying to encourage a larger variety of birds. I don’t have the income to just do an all-out do-over on this  yard, so I do a little at a time and work with what we already have for now. There are quite a few planters and such that can be used for feeders and baths in the old potting shed that came with the house.

What I’m reading...I am reading Choices by J. E. Laufer and Happy Tales by Diane de Mere.

What I’m watching...Birds and squirrels on most days. I don’t really watch television anymore. Sometimes we watch the Hotel Transylvania movies, but not often. There’s just too much to do otherwise.

What I’m hearing...traffic starting to pick up out there and the whine of the air conditioner.

What’s on my camera…Nothing is on my camera at the moment. I have already formatted the card for this morning’s adventure. But, here is the last photo taken on the Rebel.

Cardinal on the Fence ©15 May 2017 Suzanne G. McClendon

What I’m drinking...Diet Coke.

A quote I want to share…

“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want — oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” ~Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, Detective

A peek into my week...There are no real plans for this week other than to continue on the mission to declutter this house and to work on creating the backyard habitat and to take pictures of the wildlife that shows up.

A final thought...I had something all set to put here, but the brain drainer came along. Now, I have no clue what I was going to say. I hate when that happens! 


Please be sure to visit Paula, the one who came up with this great post idea, over at her cool blog.

Have a blessed day, y'all!

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.
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Please be sure to visit David over at Random Thoughts and Observations.

I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
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Currently...A Life List

LOOKING OUT MY WINDOW....The weather is looking pretty iffy out there.  It feels and looks like it is going to rain, but I haven’t seen or heard it happen yet.

AS I PONDER....How today is going to go. We have a meeting with some folks about a project they have asked us to do. I know how I feel about it (there are some bright spots, but more red flags than anything), but I’m not the only one in the picture here. I just drive the car.

What We Ate....For our either very late supper or extremely early breakfast, we had homemade chicken salad sandwiches. David said they were pretty good. It was easy enough to make, which works for me!

WHAT I'M READING....I am reading a novel called Lowcountry Boil by Susan M. Boyer, a lady out of Greenville, South Carolina. It was sent for me to read and review. I don’t generally read fiction, but I’m glad I was sent this book! 

I grew up in Anderson County, South Carolina, just one county over from Greenville. It is cool reading things about places that I’ve actually been. I haven’t ever heard of an island called Stella Maris, though, and that is where the story is happening.  I did a search for Stella Maris and did find a church with that in the name. I think that church was in Mt. Pleasant, but can’t remember for sure. I think this book is part of a series and I hope to be able to read the other books by this author very soon.

WHAT I'M WATCHING...I am watching the words go up on my screen and David working on a review video.

WHAT I'M HEARING...I hear the air conditioner, an occasional car passing the house, and David playing his videos as he edits them.

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE KITCHEN...Nothing is happening there at the moment and I’m not sure what will be happening there later today either. I guess that depends on how the previously mentioned meeting goes.

A QUOTE I WANT TO SHARE...

Davey's Hand and a Butterfly ©2004-2017 Suzanne G. McClendon

A peek into my week...Aside from the meeting later this morning, I don’t know of any real plans other than tackling this stack of books for reviewing. Oh yeah, and trying to make it to everyone’s posts for the A to Z Challenge!

A final thought...We finally grew a tomato in Texas, folks!  It grew. It turned red. It got a date with some Duke’s and our tummies. What could be better?

First Tomato! ©8 April 2017 Suzanne G. McClendon

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Please be sure to visit David over at Random Thoughts and Observations.  

I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
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Currently...A Life List

Please click the image below to read Paula's post! Tell her than Suz sent you!

Looking out my window.... I see a dark sky, but also the lights from the gas station on the street behind our house.

As I ponder.... how very close I came to losing David Saturday night. His blood sugar dropped to 49 and he ate two 3 Musketeers to try to bring it back up. A little while later, maybe half an hour, we checked his sugar level again and it was 31. This made no sense. The candy bars always work and generally fairly quickly. He ate another and I checked his level again and it was 30. He ate another and was not getting any better. He got an ambulance ride to a hospital about 30 miles away. The hospital in our town closed. It was a death trap anyway. His blood sugar level started rising in the ambulance and after several tests, he was discharged to come home with me. I am so grateful for that!

What I’m learning...is that some people are more than willing to drive others nuts just because they don’t know what they want themselves.

What I’m creating...I got a new coloring book. It was sent to me to review. I have been coloring in it this evening, at least until my hands remembered that they have arthritis. So, I had to stop for a while. I love the theme of the book. The title is Tingle Boots: Life is Short…Buy the Boots. It has some awesome things in it. 

Coloring in Process

What I’m reading....I am still reading Helen by Anita Mishook and Beastia by Zoe Cruz, but I am almost done with them. I think Lowcountry Boil by Susan M. Boyer is next on the list to read and review. She is an author from Greenville, South Carolina, which is the next county over from where I grew up.

What I’m watching...I am watching messages come into Messenger from our oldest daughter as we discuss David’s health scare Saturday night.

What I’m hearing...the air conditioner and an occasional jingle as Petra jiggles her collar.

A quote I want to share...

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do." Eleanor Roosevelt

And another great one from Mrs. Roosevelt:

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”

A peek into my week... If you can figure out what is going to be happening here this week, actually happening, please let me know!  The calendar has been marked and unmarked so many times it is threatening to pack up and leave!

A final thought... Hug ‘em while you’ve got ‘em.  You never know when you no longer will!

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Please be sure to visit David over at Random Thoughts and Observations.  

I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
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Currently...A Life List

Please be sure to click the image below and visit with Paula. Tell her that Suz sent you. :)

Looking out my window...It is dark as I write this, but it will soon be sunrise on what is supposed to be a sunny day. We’ll see how that goes.

As I ponder.... I am pondering what we’ll actually get done today. I want to go to the Presbyterian flower field to practice using the reverse lens mounting thingy, but I also would rather not leave the house. I don’t want to waste a sunny day indoors, though!

What I’m learning...I can’t think of anything that I’m learning fresh and new at the moment, but there are constant reminders of old lessons learned, one being about how cruel people can be to each other. Something that I’ve read recently is keeping me on the verge of nightmares just thinking of someone doing something so horrible to another living being. Be nice, people! If you don’t want someone doing it to you, don’t do it to anybody yourself!

What I’m creating...I am mostly creating more picture files right now. The flower garden afghan is on hold while I work on reading the books for the reviews I’ve agreed to do.

What I’m reading...I am still reading Helen by Anita Mishook. It is a very interesting story. I am also reading Beastia by Zoe Cruz. Reviews for them will be posted during the next month. All I can say about Beastia at the moment is…WOW!

What I’m watching...I am watching Petra wander around the room as well as trying to convince David to pick her up.

What I’m hearing...I am hearing the whine of the air conditioner. Yes, it is 47 degrees and we have the air conditioner on. I can’t bear it to be off!

What I’m drinking...Diet Coke and water. Not together, mind you.

What’s happening in the kitchen...I cooked chicken in the crockpot and it is cooling off so that I can put it into the refrigerator. We’ll have chicken and rice as well as chicken salad sandwiches and enchiladas (maybe) using this chicken during the week.

A quote I want to share...

Dandelion ©2017 Suzanne G. McClendon

Happenings in my backyard...We bought two tomato plants from Tractor Supply a week or so ago. We figured the only way we’d ever get tomatoes, aside from buying them in the produce department, is to buy a plant with tomatoes already on it. One of these plants had two decent-sized ones on it already. We figured those would be the only two we got out of the deal. Well, now between the two plants there are six tomatoes! Two little bitty ones are on the plant that had the two to start with and two are on the other plant. I saw the little bitty ones before I saw any on the other plant, but those new ones on the other plant are growing much faster than the newest ones on the plant that came with two already.

Also, we got a new bird feeder. We used to have a ton of them out there and kept them stocked. Finances and yard-interferers got in the way, and I just stopped fooling with them. I’ve missed it very much, though! We used to have a family of cardinals here and they were fun to watch. I hope the birds will come back. I have yet to see any evidence of them at this new feeder.

A peek into my week...
The rest of this week is “no have tos” and I am glad of that! Our appointments are done for the week.  All that is left is to go out and find flowers to photograph or to just stay home and chill, our choice. YAY!

A final thought...
Well, I finally have an appointment with an ophthalmologist to discuss my cataract situation. The appointment is March 30. Prayers are much appreciated!

Have a blessed day, y'all. :)



Notice: This post contains affiliate links.  If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for your support!

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Please be sure to visit David over at Random Thoughts and Observations.  

I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

Currently...A Life List

Looking out my window....At the moment, I see nothing but darkness out my window. Earlier, however, I saw the results of the yard workers’ efforts.

As I ponder....Where my life goes from here. That has been so much to happen in the month of February. Some of it was so overwhelming that I’m still trying to catch my breath.

What I am learning...No matter what I do, how I plan, how I try to be, it doesn’t make a difference. Things are still going to come along and lick the chocolate off my candy, so to speak.

What I am creating...At the moment, I am still working on a Grandmother’s Flower Garden crocheted afghan. This is going to take awhile. It was going to be baby-sized to start with, but I’ve decided to make it for a grown-up girl who loves bright colors. She said they make her happy.

What I am reading....ACK! My need-to-read-and-review stack has grown to overwhelming proportions this past month. I have a book called Helen, which is about Nazis in California in the 1930s. Also, there is one called Evil Speaks, which is a mystery book involving some teenagers. Neither of these are the types of books that I typically read. I usually read non-fiction, so this should be an interesting adventure.

What I am watching...words go onto the screen in front of me and David doing a search on Swagbucks.

A picture that I want to share....

Old House Near Lake Lovely ©2017 Suzanne G. McClendon

What I am drinking....V-8 Original, water, and Diet Coke are the drinks beside me at the moment.

What’s happening in the kitchen...It looks like a tornado is happening in there. What will be happening is a major re-organizing and tossing adventure.

A quote I want to share...

Bluebonnet ©2017 Suzanne G. McClendon

Fighting...tears. For weeks now, it has been all I can do to keep from crying.

A peek into my week...This week wasn’t supposed to have any more “have tos” in it, but that has changed. Oh well, at least there are some “want tos” in there, too. We’re going on a wildflower hunt on Wednesday if it doesn’t rain.

A final thought...What do you do when you know something is the right thing to do for the people in your life, but you don’t know the right way to do it? Doing it wrong could make things even more difficult all around. Doing it right would make things better for everyone involved, but that “right way” is elusive.




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Please be sure to visit David over at Random Thoughts and Observations.  

I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!