This is a monthly post made up of bits and pieces of all sorts of things. Hence, the Thing Post.
I know that 2020 has been The Year of Toilet Paper but is the Smith family carrying it too far by backlighting and photographing it?
Actually, I just threw this pack on the floor after grocery shopping and it didn’t get put away. I got up early the next morning and was struck by the artistic, aesthetic loveliness of Charmin illuminated by the night light.
I know. I don’t get out much.
I grabbed this picture one evening last week.
Home is a lovely sight, with doggy and hubby beyond the door.
We are not overly adept at doing outside decorating so I was pretty pleased that we managed to get a few things up this fall.
Usually, we try to make our front entry welcoming for our annual Thanksgiving Feast with Dare Challenge but we regretfully decided to cancel it this year since it’s a lot of people crammed into a not very large space.
Our church needed a teacher for a Wednesday night girls’ class so I volunteered until someone else is able to do it. Sarah was my intrepid assistant.
Just another thing I get to do with my sweet daughter/friend.
I caught a photo of her on the front porch enjoying her coffee and the Carolina autumn air. I know that as she sat there, she was wishing Gage was beside her.
I have looked around a long time for a list-making app that suits my needs, especially for groceries. If you haven’t yet found one you like, try AnyList. It is amazing!
Things I love:
If you are feeling at all tense right now, just stare at this picture for a few moments. Summer is an expert in the art of un-tensing.
I love that her fur blends right into the blanket. Such a snuggling companion.
Steve continues to pursue his hobby of (in his words), building, crashing, and fixing radio controlled airplanes. He spent quite a bit of time rebuilding this one, especially concentrating on cutting out and applying all those fancy lines.
Sadly, when he took it out to fly, it broke into pieces in the air after a high-speed maneuver. He’d wrecked it and rebuilt it so many times, it finally caught up with him.
But happily, the wrecked plane made a good subject for the kids’ lesson.
When we got home from Wisconsin I was greeted with the gift of a freshly cleaned house and a vase of flowers. The flowers were surrounded by cards listing various qualities I am appreciated for including the following: survivor, extraordinary, graceful, sincere, gentle, compassionate, kind, and loved.
Some of the women at the church were aware that I’d had a hard season and they joined together to send some cheer my way.
Definitely felt loved!
I can’t close without at least a couple views from Wisconsin. (I’ll have a few more in future posts.)
These were taken near my sister, Ruth’s house. When I went out for my little jaunt I asked her husband, Arnold, which would be the best direction to drive for the prettiest views. He replied, “Well, you can basically go in any direction.”
I loved that. Isn’t it great that they live somewhere where any direction is beautiful?
What about you?
Do you use an app for your lists? If so, which app? Or maybe you like doing it the old fashioned way!
Steve’s hobby has been RC planes for many years. What are some of the hobbies in your family?
We’re sad we won’t be having Thanskgiving with Dare Challenge this year. Where will you be spending your Thanksgiving? Are your plans changing due to COVID?
Dear Becky, please tell Pastor Steve that my favorite photo in this blog is the one of him with his beautiful RC airplane. He always has the most confident and endearing smile. 🙂
Fred,
I’ll tell him. And I agree on the confident and endearing smile!
Becky,
Love your thing posts!
1. Getting a large pack of Charmin, especially on sale, is always a highlight!
2. Home, hubby, hound a welcoming sight indeed. Ok, I know Summer isn’t an actual “hound dog” but…
Your entry looks great and very welcoming, sorry you won’t be able to host the DARE Thanksgiving this year. I know you and your guests always look forward to it and enjoy it so much.
3. Sarah looks so content enjoying her coffee on the porch but I’m sure she would love to have Gage at her side, enjoying some with her. So nice that the two of you can share the girls class.
4. I am an old fashioned paper and pen list maker, and I make lists for everything and always have a pen and small notebook or two with me. I’ll have to check out the app.
5. Summer looks so comfy, poets are always a great stress reliever.
6. Sorry about the demise of Steve’s plane. My great nephew was always interested in planes and also enjoyed flying them. He was the youngest ever (16) to receive his own key to the flying field. He is now in college, has his private pilot’s license and is studying/practicing for his commercial license.
7. How nice to come home to find the flowers and cards. Well deserved! How nice of the ladies to let you know that you are loved and appreciated.
8. Love your pictures. Can’t say enough about them.
Hugs, stay safe and God bless,
Linda in Pittsburgh
Linda,
Kudos to your nephew for working so hard to follow a passion and do what he loves. I don’t have any doubt he’ll pass his commercial licensing with “flying” colors!
So nice of you to take the time to comment on each Thing in the post. And I ALWAYS appreciate your encouragement about my photography.
Have a great week, Linda!
YAY! A Thing Post!!
The picture of the TP was beautiful… Mostly because it’s Charmin and I long to use that brand, but we are cheap and use Angel Soft.
Looking through that door brings be happy feelings, it’s so homey. And you did great with your Fall décor!!
Looks like Sarah is having fun at the church class.
I just use the Wal Mart app for groceries. I add to it all week and then I put the order in on Thursday for a Friday pick up. I enjoy not having to go grocery shopping!
Aww…Summer snuggles!
I’m glad Steve sticks with his hobby even though it doesn’t go his way sometimes. But I’ll bet the Children enjoyed seeing it… messed up and all!
What an awesome sight to come home to- flowers and special notes. What a homecoming!!
I love the WI pictures…so serene.
I’m sad to hear there won’t be a DARE Thanksgiving this year, but I understand. I always enjoy to see the guys and all of the yummy food! It will be Dad, my sister, my son and I having a meal. I am going to cook.
Love Thing Posts!!
Krista,
Yeah, I always try to find Charmin on sale to make it a little more buy-able. 🙂 But when I DO buy it, I light it up!
I agree about not having to shop for groceries anymore. It’s such a luxury to tap a few keys and then have them all delivered to the car. I am hooked.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving with your family. And oh yeah, glad to know you love the Things Posts!
I am here in Shawano, today watching the rain come down, but enjoying your rural Wisconsin photos. We missed the last weeks wonderful weather here because my husband and I are working our way through Covid.
I love your use of the wide angle, and I was wondering if you are using a filter on your lense. I have had a fascination over the last year or so of the clouds and their formations over this Wisconsin landscape. They have been amazing, especially the one’s after the storms this summer. I have grown to appreciate rural Wisconsin countryside over the years as opposed to the U.P forest/lakeshore landscape that I also love.
One of these days I’d like to explore your area of the country and check out those beautiful vistas. I must add that to my to-do list. 🙂
Our Thanksgiving plans have been cancelled, so we will spend it quietly at home just the 2 of us and spend some time on skype with the kids and grandkids in multiple parts of the country. Thankful for our blessings.
Karen,
Love watching the rain come down–as long as I don’t have to go out in the middle of it!
I don’t use a filter at all. If I have time I’ll slightly edit some of the photos in Lightroom but don’t do a whole lot to them.
I agree. The cloud formations in Wisconsin are stunning, especially when they are floating over that wonderful landscape.
So sorry to hear that you and your husband are dealing with COVID. I hope you’re over the worst of it and are feeling better. Enjoy the peace of your Thanksgiving and all the long-distance conversations with all the people you love.
Thanks for the tip about AnyList – I need to check it out. I really like the feature of multiple family members being able to add to the list… Your fall entry looks lovely…So sad that you won’t be able to host Dare Challenge for Thanksgiving, but completely understandable. We will be hosting our nearby family, probably about 10 of us. Thank you, one again, for such a fun “thing” post!
Sue Ellen,
Yes, give it a try. It’s free to get started, including the option of sharing with other people.
Glad you get to be with family for Thanksgiving. Enjoy!
I love having a grocery list on my phone. We use the Alexa app and it sounds like it is a lot like yours. We can just tell Alexa to add something to one of our lists and it appears. Sometimes her interpretation of what we say is pretty funny. It’s nice to have the grocery list with me all the time, and for us to be able to share the lists.
So sorry about Steve’s beautiful plane! I’m sure the lesson he created for the kids was great! Our biggest hobby is “glamping”. We’ve been camping since our kids were little, but it’s gotten a bit more fancy over the years. We love to take our grandson with us now.
We’re having Thanksgiving with some friends since our kids and their families will be with the in-laws this year. We’ll have them all for Christmas!
The picture of Summer was so cute! She’s such an adorable little dog. And your decorations are so nice and welcoming!
Gayle,
It sounds like you’ve worked out a good schedule with your kids and their in-laws. That’s one of the (many) complexities with kids getting married; there are more families to organize. Enjoy every moment.
And do some glamping on my behalf! I haven’t camped in a hundred years but I admire those who do!
I may have to check out that list app. I have a black notebook that’s about 6.5 x 9.5 inches. I keep my to do list and list for the grocery store and Costco in it. I made a list on Excel for my mom of things I pick up for them routinely. Several days before I go down to see them, I have my mom go through it and let me know what they need. Invariably there’s usually something they forgot to tell me. I had been getting this kettle corn at Costco for my dad. A few trips ago he told me not to get it as he had gotten burned out of it. Wouldn’t you know, last week when I was going to grocery store he asked me if that’s where I got the popcorn. No, and I’ve already done my Costco trip so you’ll have to wait until next trip. Around the holidays, I usually make a grocery list on Excel that I alphabetize within category.
Your Wisconsin pictures are beautiful. The sky is so bright blue!
My hobby is reading. My brother’s family is all very musical. In fact, yesterday was my niece’s senior recital in Nebraska. She plays the piano beautifully, all by memory. And we’re talking pieces by Bach, Mozart, etc.
We are having Thanksgiving at my house – there will just be 8 or 9 of us here. My other niece’s husband is stationed in South Carolina for six months and he is not able to take leave right now. If my brother and his family weren’t coming, I was just going to order a meal from a local grocer and take it to my parents.
Phyllis,
That’s amazing that your niece can play such difficult pieces by memory. I love seeing the younger generation investing themselves in music. Kudos to her!
That’s a lot to keep track of–ordering/buying for yourself as well as keeping up with your parents’ needs. They are blessed to have you do that for them.
Reading is one of the best hobbies ever. You can learn and “travel” and be inspired and get to know people. Glad you love it, too!
How nice of your church ladies to do that for you! That is so genuinely thoughtful and I may just borrow that idea. Love it!
I am a list maker extraordinaire! I do use the Notes app in my Samsung phone for odd things. However, I have a paper shopping list on my kitchen island. I’m a real visual person, so if it isn’t on the list it probably won’t get purchased unless I accidentally remember something (that isn’t on the list) while in the store. I also have a paper ‘to-do’ list going at all times so that I can see what needs done and what I could perhaps take care of with the free time I have available. I just LOVE crossing things off my list and if I do something that isn’t on my to-do list, I will write it down so that I can cross it off. Seriously. My hubby thinks this is hilarious. 🙂 It makes me feel accomplished though, in control of my time and I never feel overwhelmed with so much to do since I’m always doing something and staying somewhat caught up.
I really enjoy running and will run on my treadmill when the weather doesn’t allow an outdoor run. Our family loves to golf but we also enjoy doing other sports and playing games like snow skiing, water skiing, basketball, Frisbee, ladder golf, corn hole, etc. We really just love being outdoors and spend as much time as we can outside. Heck, raking leaves and scooping snow is enjoyable to me!
As of right now, we are planning to have our kids and grand kids at our house for Thanksgiving. It’s not a large group and we see them quite often, so it should be fine. However, we all know that things can change quickly these days, so who really knows.
Lee Anne,
I love that you write something on your list, just so you can cross it off. 🙂 I agree; there is such a good feeling about checking off or crossing off an item. I don’t know who first thought up a to do list but they had a great idea!
I so admire your outdoor athleticism. I am just the opposite and only enjoy going out when the weather is lovely. I know you and your family must be in great shape with all of you being so active. A great example of fitness–plus, it sounds like you have great fun at the same time.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving with those you love. Such a blessing.
Love your “Thing” posts. That was quite the picture of Charmin tissue – never saw it in that “light” before. That is a great way to have your coffee, sitting on the porch on a swing – with treasured thoughts and memories as you sip your coffee. What wonderful women of your church – to make you feel so special l – wanted, needed and loved. Having our daughter and most of her family here for Thanksgiving. Married daughter might be at the in-laws. My older sister Jo will not be with us – she has changed her address from a condo to a memory care home. Very sad. Her daughter might be with us. Son lives in Oregon, so not sure what their plans are. Great farm pictures to share with us. Sorry about your plane Steve, Hmmm, Christmas is just around the corner – I wonder . . .
Sharyn,
It’s tough when holidays arrive and the people we usually celebrate with are not able to be present. Life moves on and memories remain. I know you will miss Jo at Thanksgiving.
Steve has another plane that he is working on to get flight-worthy. He loves that part of the process as much as flying. And it’s a good thing!
I love Steve’s planes! When we were teenagers my brother was really into building and launching model rockets. I remember multiple Thanksgivings when we’d eat dinner and then trek out to the park near our house for him to launch them off. He’s now an engineer at NASA!
Sorry no DARE Challenge dinner this year-I know it’s always such a meaningful event for both your family and the men involved. We’re also doing a scaled down Thanksgiving this year due to Covid. We’re in the Midwest where this is a significant surge right now, so large gatherings are being discouraged. Hopefully by Easter it will be safer to gather with extended family again!
Linnae,
Isn’t it funny how a lifelong talent/ambition can show up in someone so young? As you all gathered around on those Thanksgivings to watch the rocket launches, you probably never dreamed those small beginnings would take him to NASA. Love that story!
Yes, I’ve been reading about the surge in the Midwest; crazy how it moves and surges from one state to another without warning. Glad you get to have a scaled-down gathering at least. Enjoy!
I write out my lists on scraps of paper. It works well for me except when I lose a list. I once retraced my steps in Walmart to find a dropped list-and found it. My husband build balsa wood model planes, but not to fly. He has made them as a boy and then started again in retirement. I love to quilt. Covid will effect our Thanksgiving as my husbands 2 out of state sons will not be traveling in, and we will not go to his nearby son’s for dinner as we are just being over cautious. We will have a quiet dinner at home, but I do insist on turkey as I love turkey and turkey sandwiches.
Patti,
Congrats on finding your lost list at Walmart; not an easy task to find a small item in a large space.
Yeah, Steve uses balsa wood in his planes, too. I guess it’s a very light wood? I’m glad your husband is getting into the hobby again.
Glad to know you are helping keep quilting alive. That’s one of those things from our past that definitely needs to keep going. Steve has several quilts his grandmas made him; such treasures.
I swear to goodness gracious, those of us who are photographically/light minded can make a lovely photo out of the most mundane of things! It’s a gift 🙂
So sweet for you to have received the flowers with all the cards, such a thoughtful group to take a moment and honor you.
It is sad about the Dare cancellation, it will be missed this year, but we shall all try to focus forward to better days.
No visitors or visits for Thanksgiving for us. Its hard, for sure. I’m just thankful that my entire family remains healthy so far, I feel very fortunate and if we can make it to a possible vaccine, that will be amazing.
I will spend my thanksgiving afternoon pureeing my Sarah’s thanksgiving dinner(turkey, potatoes, vegs, gravy) in my newly acquired blender that blends all foods to such a smooth consistency that she can have it via her gtube. I am so happy to finally be able to give her previous typical every day meals, rather than the premade formulas and blends. It’s the little things here haha.
Will Sarah see Gage over the holidays? It must be hard to be apart right now, I remember the feeling.
Lesley,
Yes, I am a gifted toilet-paper photographer. I could put it on my resume.
I’m not sure what Sarah’s plans are for Thanksgiving or what any of us have planned, for that matter. I guess we have a few days to put a plan together!
How great to have found a blender that will accomplish such a wonderful task of preparing Thanksgiving food for sweet Sarah! It’s really amazing that it is strong enough to make it usable in a g-tube. Glad you and your family are staying healthy. Many hugs.
I have been busy reading about the US election and I guess you can say I am no longer a night owl. You see I wanted to stay up listening to Biden’s speech. He was meant speak at 8 PM et however in Denmark that means 2 AM but he was delayed. And I fell asleep/went to bed at 2.15 AM.
We do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Denmark 🙂
I love reading and I just ordered a thriller written by Bill Clinton (former president) and James Patterson .
Wierd to think when I was born it was Bush senior in was office.
Katrina,
Well, I had no idea that Bill Clinton had co-written a thriller. I’m always learning something new from my readers. Glad to hear how much you love reading!
That’s a big time difference between the U.S. and Denmark; no wonder you fell asleep!