Nights of Ordinary Thanksgiving

Sometimes when I cannot fall asleep, I start to thank God for all of the things I can think of.  The list is full of things taken for granted: being able to eat, breathe, and walk without assistance.  Thanking Him for my teeth, eyes, ears, skin, feet, etc.  Thanking Him for the house and everything in it, etc.  You get the idea.

Some days I can hardly walk because of a hip problem, so I am thankful to be able to walk and drive.  Sometimes climbing steps takes me a bit longer than I would like.

So, there I lie in bed, thanking God for lists of ordinary things and if I get through the list and still can't sleep I start to thank Him for the beauty and majesty of his creation.  I tell Him how beautiful His flowers are, and the amazing variety of His birds and sea creatures.  Eventually after I start listing these things, my mind wanders and I relax all the while seeing those beautiful images and eventually I nod off and then it's morning and time to get up.

Compassionate Thanksgiving

Both of my dogs were rescue dogs.  I could not turn away from them.  I've been given more love and laughter from these two pets than I could have ever imagined.  I'm thankful I was given a compassionate heart and that they jumped into it, love at first sight.

Thanks For Being My Friend

Thanks Jesus for not giving up on me when I probably deserved being abandoned by you.  Although it felt like you did walk away, you didn't.  Sometimes just leaning on a friend quietly is all that is needed to know I am loved, refreshed, then ready to get up and make an effort to face things again.

Thanking in Silence vs Thanking On the Web

I've made an effort to be more thankful.  Over the past three years when situations have given me tremendous grief and hardships I decided to just be thankful for being able to cope.  Not being victorious or successful, just to be able to cope.  I'm thankful for patience learned by being beaten down but not destroyed. 

This was a silent prayer of thanksgiving which is now out there...

Happy Birthday To Me and Here's a New Etsy Treasury

Birthday Treasury on etsy

If you view the treasury on Etsy after this original post, you will find it changed with replacement items all of which are just as fabulous and lovely as these items here.   

Land of the Giant Vegetables

Llanharry, Wales featured a Giant Vegetable Show.  Lots of huge, gigantic homegrown veggies and proud gardeners.  Here is one photo from the show, featuring Mr. Joseph Atherton, the photo is from Walesonline, see the website for the full photo show and article.

I chose the photo of the giant leek to show here as it reminds me of the time, way back when, when Mom forced me to wear a little fabric felt leek on my coat to show the IRA that I was Welsh and therefore should be safe when walking about London.

I don't know if the leek stopped an attack, but I still have the little leek brooch, don't wear it, but glad Mom was always looking out for me.

Her brother, my uncle,  was an excellent gardener and grew lots of veg which we enjoyed on our plates.  No pesticides, for him.    Fresh and flavorful.