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Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts

Monday, August 17, 2026

More than just coping with it all

 


This is a tiny bar of soap...maybe 1-1/2 inches across!



Helen sent me some meds that she picked up for me in Black Mountain, because I'm in insurance limbo with switching to Colorado healthcare from NC. She included this tiny little soap bar...especially for us people named Rogers (no relation to Rev. Fred Rogers however.)

Incidentally it triggered my interest enough to re-watch the movie with Tom Hanks in it, about Mr. Rogers. It's not like a biography, but an interesting fictionalized account of his encounters with a troubled writer.

Most of these are vitamins, but a couple are for blood pressure and heart and breathing stuff.



My screen wallpaper from the Dripolator in Black Mountain, just gives me a hug of nostalgia to see my friends Helen and Teresa as they were placing their orders.


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and then there's this...


A ritual for dealing with the wildfires.





A pagan blessing for the day...

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This week's loaf of homebaked bread. I didn't have a recipe, which is good because this loaf is forgettable...supposed to be cheese loaf, but can't taste it at all. But I usually toast my bread and then put something else on top of it, so it will have that flavor even if the cheese disappeared. Since the size of the loaf is so unwieldy I usually cut it in half, then slice off each half for half slices at a time. 

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

My treasures

 Keeping the gold, looking to meet new friends...

One fabulous treasure in this lifetime has been my friend, Helen, who celebrated her 87th last week.




Another of my besties, Teresa, with her granddaughter Madison...remembering a picnic at Mt. Mitchell NC.

My Alpaca Peruvian shawl, here worn by me at my son Russ' wedding in 2000. It was packed and I thought lost, but I just rediscovered it at the bottom of a box. My youngest son, Tai, gave it to me on his return from a college trip to Peru. Huge sentimental value here! (I know, I very seldom have had a perm for my hair...it's a one off!)

Dragon wishes for a wonderful life for each of my readers!


 Tai working on his stuff, (preparing for teaching in a week) while I'm sitting at the desk in the corner by the window. Yep, my shoes are discarded, because my feet hurt! (Taken Thursday afternoon.)

I noticed how high the ceilings are here. (More later about this).


Looking  the other direction from the kitchen with the desk in that far corner, which is where I do most of my blogging, and reading other's publications! (Taken Friday morning.)

If you notice the bare walls, it's because we can't hang anything on them. No pictures! I have several boxes of them ready to hang, and now they'll just get put into tubs to store them. I'm glad I brought three tall bookcases with me, which give something high to look at along the wall. All the walls are plaster or concrete! So it's very quiet here, and I'm calling this my cave home. My tree-enclosed apartment in Black Mountain was named The Nest.

My son Russ suggests trying Command Strips. I've used them on wallboard walls, but these spackled plaster or concrete block ones may be a challenge.

Sharing with Tom's Tuesday Treasures!

I am especially glad of the divine gift of laughter; it has made the world human and lovable, despite all its pain and wrong.

W.E.B. DU BOIS


Sunday afternoon, after a lovely 59 degrees at dawn. I now have 2 times of day...go out before 11, then stay inside and close the blinds until 7:30 pm when the sun sets. Windows can open usually by midnight!

I wanted to try this coffee shop, but they were closed on Sunday when I drove by. The school building is Smiley and the coffee shop used to be called Smiley's...but now is Blue Wing.


Between my building at the corner of E. 3rd Ave and 14th St, and Blue Wing Coffee Shop in Smiley School building, is this lovely little old home.

I'll be sharing many of the beautiful old homes on E. 3rd Ave here in Durango.

Through the screen, 3 of the Four Firs I love to see each morning. So far I've seen crows and blue birds flying by. It's a hoot to see some fly to the roof right above my window...whoosh!






Saturday, July 11, 2026

Neighbors

 

OK the universe just posted this by mistake, but perhaps it's good to see since we've got quite a lot of the opposite kind of weather these days!

My shaky hands/fingers will sometimes do whatever I have little control over.

I walked (last week) to the top of the hill in the apartment complex in North Carolina. Just to breathe deeply the cool air...though later in the day it was muggy as can be, triggering lots of coughing fits. But for a while I could just get out of breath and stop for a bit to catch my breath. At the top of the parking lot, where I stopped, I found a neighbor having breakfast.



After my first photo on phone, I kept walking and taking more, hoping to get a closer image with my 5X magnification limit.


He actually continued nibbling in between these shots, perhaps 10 seconds apart.

Sharing with Saturday's Critters.




Some other views of my neighbors...




And my back was aching as I walked back down the hill.


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And as I move away from the familiar to be closer to at least one family member, I was happy to help out my next door neighbor this week. She lives here to be close to her daughter who just had a second baby. My neighbor doesn't drive much, but keeps her van running. She needed a ride to pick it up. I needed ice cream. So the cost for her was to stop at the "Blue Cone" for ice cream on the way to her car place where it had been worked on. Mmm, that soft serve locally owned little store makes just the right coolness for a hot day!

Yes, neighbors are important, as are family, and especially our chosen family, our friends! At least for me that's what I've learned in this lifetime.

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There is nothing more difficult yet more gratifying in our society than living with sincere, active, constructive hope for the human spirit.

MARIA POPOVA

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To be fair to phone readers, and Vicki Lane, who commented on the header, here it is.

Photo from the U.S. Coast Guard Eagle, her sister ships, Portugal's Sagres, Romania's Mircea and Germany's Gorch Fock in the Sister Ship Race (Germany won) on the way to Boston July 11, 2026




Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Lovin' my life

 I gotta admit, there are days when it feels like h-e-l-l and days when I feel so loved and embraced by the world, that I just sit here in awe. In high school we used to say "H-E double hockey sticks." We were being raised to be proper young ladies. Then the 60s and 70s happened (to me at least!)

The other day (the day after one from hell) I had friends give me a memory mug.




I don't know how many years we've been going on day trips. But probably 7-9 years. I'll ask Teresa, who's younger than me!

We drive somewhere within 50 miles and spend the day looking around at stores if it's a town, or sites and maybe waterfalls, find somewhere to either purchase lunch or bring a picnic, and take a selfie! So Teresa and Helen put this collection of selfies together for me to take with me when  I move...if I move.

Yep, the question of moving gives me high blood pressure when dealing with the iffy situations that come up. My sons are totally supportive of my desire to live where I can breathe better, hopefully a drier climate.


Yes, I cried when they gave the mug to me the other day over coffee. What sweet people I have as friends!




I even updated my blogger portrait photo!


There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.

A.J. MUSTE



Wednesday, December 17, 2025

The joyful season

 Some happy memories...

Me as a Mud Buddy in 2011/ (My pottery life was from 2008-2020)

Selling pottery at the tailgate market with friends Cathy Babula, Bette Potter Jones and Marsha  Cozart. 2011

And more recently...
Barbara Baker bakes Macarons (not macaroons!) and sells them at lots of St. Petersburg and Tampa outdoor festivals. (And a few indoor ones as well!) moonlitmacaraons.com


Barb and her hubby, my son Marty, a few years ago.


My son, Russ and his wife Michelle, hosted my trip to visit them and their daughters for Christmas!

 

Tai and his wife Kendra. I had to search to find photos of these outdoor people not wearing sunglasses!

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Byron Ballard gave an uplifting talk at UUCSV in Black Mountain a few weeks back. (Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Swannanoa Valley) Poor quality of photo taken from my monitor where I watched the YouTube of the service (https://www.youtube.com/@uucsvproductions).

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First time back at the original Ole's Guacamole Restaurant in Black Mountain.

 They've completely renovated following the flood with Hurricane Helene in Sept. 2024.


The lunch prices are still reasonable (my Enchiladas Suisa were $8.99 and I had enough to take home for another meal!) There are many new items on the menu also...like the one my friend had across the table from me.

All the furniture is new, with each chair and table and booth backing having different Mexican paintings.

I had to get a photo of the parrot! I know that guy sitting below it I think, and I didn't even notice him till later. I hope he didn't think I was taking his photo!


I missed taking a photo of their tree in the lobby, so will have to return sometime before Christmas!

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Another dearly loved restaurant also reopened that week, but I won't have a chance to go there till maybe this week. I'll try to remember to take photos before eating my bar-b-que!!

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Today's goddess: Vinča,  Neolithic Period

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Winter Solstice is 4 days away

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Today's quote:

'Pagan’ is a term that includes a diverse spiritual paths and communities who believe in a wide range of deities and ethical codes. Yet there are some things we hold in common: that the sacred is manifest in nature and in human beings, that we strive to live lives of honor and integrity, that we value human life and the lives of other living creatures, and cherish the beauty and diversity that makes up this living world. Pagans believe that we must each be our own spiritual authority and follow our conscience. The vast majority of us hold to those traditional American values of freedom of belief, freedom of speech, of liberty and justice for all. Many branches and organizations within the Pagan community have struggled for years to win the rights of Pagans in the military to freely practice their faith in life and in death to be buried with a pentacle, a Pagan symbol to mark their grave.

Source: Starhawk

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Christmas Decorations

I was told this was originally a firetruck.

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Spiraling dance...