51 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 12-13-18”

  3. I went to yesterday’s thread to catch up on what was going on.
    Nothing going on except Donna’s story.
    Then I scrolled to the top and it said Janice’s Birthday.
    I thought for a second, “That was yesterday!”
    Then it occurred to me’
    “You’re on yesterday’s thread, nuthead!”

    But it’s early.

    Liked by 3 people

  4. Good morning. Snow and ice here also. I have completed my last assignment for this semester. I am waiting for grades on the final for 3 classes. The other 2 I have an A. Wishing everyone a productive day.

    Liked by 6 people

  5. It is cold in here this morning. I came out of my room and it was like walking outside without a coat. Somebody had left the back door open and the wind was blowing all that cold air right in the house. But, I have a fire going and a blanket around me and time to read the Word of God this morning. Chores don’t start for another hour.

    Liked by 3 people

  6. It’s chilly here, up to the 40s. I told Art this morning that it’s LA dog park cold and had to explain what that means. He took me to the grocery store at 7:30 a.m. It’s the perfect time for avoiding the crowds!

    Never say that the blind can’t lead the blind. Karen is giving me great instruction in using Uber. She said they have done a lot to make it better so she feels more secure taking it now. Yesterday she took it to the hospital medical building where she saw some docs and got lab work done. I could tell she was exhausted when I talked to her.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. That bird is a yellow-rumped warbler. I’ll give you three guesses why it is called that. 🙂 It’s also known as butter-butt. I’ve only seen them in the fall, though they have a bit more colorful markings in spring and I am hoping to see multiple warbler species this coming spring.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. If it is 40 by the fire, what is it away from the fire?

    We are above average in temperature, which I enjoy. OTOH, I do not wish to lose the little snow we have. It is a good insulator for people’s septic tanks. It is also nice for skiers to have. Not really enough for the snowmobilers around here right now. We may reach 40 on the weekend.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. On the weekend thread (I think it was), there was a discussion about Bible reading methods. I didn’t take the time to comment then, so here is my late comment. 🙂

    Like many of you, I have read the Bible through in one year several times. I’ve also stretched out those one-year plans to two years. Sometimes I’ve made up my own plans. The made-up plan I am doing now will take sometime between two-and-a-half to not-quite-three years to finish.

    Somewhere recently, I read that although it is good to sometimes read the Bible through in a year, it is also good to take our time with it at other times. That makes sense to me.

    With Proverbs, many people like to read it through each month. My problem with reading Proverbs is that it is not a flowing kind of read, like when reading an account of an event. It is one thought, then another, then another, and I find them blurring together, not really sinking in as they should.

    So. . .this time around, I am reading one proverb a day, then the study note, then reading the same proverb again, and contemplating it. To keep track of which one I am on, I am coordinating them with the date, since most chapters seem to only have 30 + a couple more each chapter. (I’ll double-up at the end of each chapter.) (Chapters 1 through 9 can be read straight. The individual proverbs start in chapter 10.)

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  11. I am not that enamored with Proverbs. I try to read a Psalm every day, and something from NT, but not Proverbs. And some of the OT I skim -speed read- through.

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  14. It’s 59 here in my house, but the heater is now on. I have to sign into the state Fish and Game Commission meeting in a few minutes, I’ll be waiting for the coyote item (#35), of course. A few locals are at the meeting (which is south of here, in Oceanside) to speak about why something needs to be done about urban coyotes. But a commission staffer told me a few days ago that this item is a recurring one, it’s routinely not acted upon, so it’ll just be people talking before they move on to the next item.

    I also have a story to do about a swimmer we wrote about a few times early this year who was embarking on what they dubbed “The Longest Swim” across the Pacific Ocean. He trained locally and one of our nonprofits was backing him in what was a mission to bring attention to plastics pollution in the ocean.

    But the Longest Swim got shorter when he had to call it quits early this week due to damage to the accompanying boat.

    Re small dogs: We had one at the dog park, not a small dog but a medium sized dog, a cattle dog mix of some kind, named Bruce. But he was a little terror, always provoking other dogs (he was playing but he was a very rough player). A provocateur of the first order. So we all gave him the nick name of North Korea. Sometimes he came to the park with another dog, a Rottweiler, whom we named Russia.

    Jo must be at LAX by now.

    Liked by 2 people

  16. Good Morning Everyone. It took me a while to get here.
    My little nest may be overflowing for Christmas. I told you that Grandpa was scheming to have Maddie Christmas Eve and morning. I spoke with her Daddy last night and he agreed that they are coming over to spend the night. That’s good. I have a queen sized bed in one room. I guilted BG into spending Christmas Eve with me “just one more time to make me happy after all that I have done for you this year”. She agreed and I was going to put her in the room with the daybed and trundle.
    I got home last night and the Marine has asked to come home for Christmas from California. I have always told him the door is always open, just call and let me know you are on the way. He will be here December 20 through January 3.
    Don’t get me wrong. This makes me VERY happy. It means that Mr. P and I have come a looonnnggg way with our children over the last 6 years. The first year we were married, I invited the Marine home for Christmas and he informed me he did not need to rely on strangers for Christmas. He had family. This will be the 3rd time he has asked to come home. Selfishly, I want MY babies for Christmas. BG and Maddie. I will figure it out. Grandpa may have to sleep on the sofa Christmas Eve. That probably will work well for him. He and Maddie are taking their morning nap there right now.
    See? Typing it all out to you solved my dilemma. 😉

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  17. Sounds like it’ll be a fun, action-packed holiday, Kim 🙂 Big refrigerator I hope?

    Coyotes, crows, mountain lions and bumble bees; heavy agenda.

    Commission conclusion on coyote issue is: “It’s complicated.”

    Now to chase down names and sources for more … another long work day at home. Ugh.

    (Oh, updates on gray wolves and bullfrogs and non-native turtles are coming next)

    I do have the knee brace on, the knee gets these burning sensations off and on, feels better with the brace on, although it sure felt good, too, when I took it off last night after many hours.

    Liked by 1 person

  19. I am looking forward to it. It is something I have always secretly wanted.
    I can cook and cook and cook.
    Grandpa THINKS he is Santa Claus. Two car seats just arrived at my front door. One for Maddie’s mommy and one for Grandpa.

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  20. My husband told me yesterday that it was supposed to rain this afternoon (as it is doing), so if I wanted to get down to the pond today, morning would be the best time.

    I got down there the earliest I ever have, silly me, thinking I would get one of my rare sunrises, and be able to watch it rise over the pond. Wouldn’t you know it, no visible hint of sunrise today except that it got a little brighter. And I was too early for good photos. I gave up on watching a sunrise and headed for the trail, thinking I was early enough to see some form of wildlife, whether owl or coon or who knows what.

    A muskrat showed up, let me get 8-10 feet from him, and let me watch him as long as I wanted. He’d chew on the reeds a bit, and then dive, and I’d see him upside-down in the water, his tail waving away as he worked on some sort of construction work underwater. He was too close to the bank for me to see more than his tail and rump when he went under, but I’d use the time he was gone to change my location and get photos from a different angle next time he was on the surface. Once he gave me a rather suspicious look after I’d moved by several feet while he was away; that time he was making sure I was still respecting his personal space, but otherwise ignored me. Muskrats are so much fun! They’re cute, and they often let you get really close as long as you are otherwise behaving yourself and they know they can get away quickly.

    Back at the pond later, mallards were chasing each other, and I was trying to photograph them when a red-shouldered hawk flew into a tree, and then its mate flew into a different tree. I knew there was a pair of them, but I’d only seen one, or one at a time anyway. The kingfisher was also at the pond.

    There hasn’t been much to see lately except the lingering fall color, but getting there early can mean getting some pretty good views! I knew there were muskrats in that smaller pond, but I’d never actually seen one in it. (That was the same pond with the beaver. A summer of walking by it has netted me views of a pair of mallards, one speckled frog, one beaver, and one muskrat. Until the rodents showed up, it was rather boring! Well, butterflies and bees would come to the flowers growing on it, and dragonflies would fly by occasionally, but it hasn’t been a place to watch turtles or herons or mammals.)

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  24. We will be having some of our Christmas Eve (our main celebration) and Christmas morning festivities upstairs in Nightingale’s living room. That will be different, but nice.

    I’m not sure just what we’re going to do where, but Nightingale has it planned out. Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas morning breakfast will still be downstairs.

    A little later on Christmas Day, The Boy will get picked up around noon, Nightingale will leave around 2:30 for work, and Chickadee will be picked up sometime in the afternoon to go with the McKs. The Boy is going to be spending the night at his other grandparents’ house (a very rare event), so I will have a relaxing and quiet Christmas afternoon and evening. I am looking forward to that. (Especially since starting that night, Nightingale will be working four nights in a row.)

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  25. Nightingale was telling me about a somewhat curmudgeonly (but also nice) man in his 90s at the nursing home. He does not seem to have any family that visits, and still has most of his mental faculties. She was casually chatting with him about desserts, to find out what kind he may like, so she can bake him something for Christmas.

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  27. We’ve discussed love languages on here at least a couple times, I think. One of the cautions that is given is to be open to receiving love in a way other than how you would prefer or expect it.

    With Nightingale, I often feel what I perceive as a kind of aloofness from her. I am one who uses touch to convey my love and affection, and she doesn’t like to be touched. When she is upset or crying (which she rarely does around me), I cannot put my arm around her shoulders, or try to hug her, because it will annoy her instead of comfort her. (That was a real hard one for me to learn years ago.) Hubby and I would say “I love you” to each other frequently throughout the day, but Nightingale very rarely says it to me, nor does she often return it when I say it to her.

    But I have come to recognize and appreciate her ways of showing her love to me. One of her ways is to buy treats for me when she is grocery shopping. Her choosing to come downstairs to chat with me for a while on her days off is another way. There are other little things she does that say “I love you” without words or a touch, which I can’t think of right now, but I recognize them when they happen.

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  29. I was scrolling through my word processor and found some posts that I had made years ago. Some back in 2010, for this site. Lots I would like to repeat, but won’t
    Except. I couldn’t resist this.

    This stirred some memories for me, and it may for some of you, too.
    Poem attributed to Tina Trivett. Elvera used to make aprons out of scrap material in the late fifties. She sold them for $2 each. It helped us a lot.
    Grandma’s Apron
    I don’t think our kids know what an apron is.
    The principal use of Grandma’s apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
    It was wonderful for drying children’s tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears…
    From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
    When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.
    And when the weather was cold grandma wrapped it around her arms.
    Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
    Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
    From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.
    After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
    In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
    When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
    When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men-folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
    It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that ‘old-time apron’ that served so many purposes.
    REMEMBER:
    Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool.
    Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw
    They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.
    I never caught anything from an apron…
    But Love.

    😉

    Liked by 7 people

  30. Loved reading that post, Chas. I have some aprons I rarely use. I do like them. Two were made for me as gifts. I also have one that is a fancy purple and white crochet that seems too nice to use. I guess maybe it was for Easter. It was from a relative’s collection.

    Liked by 1 person

  32. Eleven and twelve year olds are enjoying reading the dictionary. They are on portcullis. I don’t know why. But they are having fun and learning so they will continue until they stop.

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  34. Mom once put on a new apron. It had three pockets in it, and there were three of us at home, so jokingly I put my hand in one and said it was my pocket, and my siblings did the same. Mom went into the bedroom and came out. “Which one was yours?” We each pointed, and she indicated no, put our hands in. She’d put a piece of candy in each.

    She wore that apron several times through the years. Sometimes she remembered to stock the pockets and sometimes she didn’t, but we always tried them. 🙂

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  35. So much to like and love on here today. 🙂

    Husband is at an elders’ meeting tonight. I’ve sorted a few boxes into separate piles for each cabinet. Boy, there’s a lot. They’re heavy too, so I need to be careful.

    I am feeling better mentally than I was on Sunday. I still have the chronic sinus infection but I do have an ENT appointment in January. Thank you all, for praying for me.

    Husband saw the orthopaedic surgeon today. No good news. Nothing can be done for his knees, but doc suggested hyaluronic acid injections which help lubricate the joints and don’t cause deterioration like cortisone does. He’s feeling very disappointed.

    Husband brought home our Christmas tree yesterday. It is sitting in it’s stand in the corner, completely naked. We just don’t know what to do next with the kitchen and all, but we are moving forward.

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  36. Sorry about the ‘knee news’ kare.

    I don’t know what to do about a tree this year since my ornaments are *somewhere* in the garage but I don’t know where — and with this sprained knee, I can’t really go looking too much for them at this point. Maybe I could get a really small tree, I think I could pull together enough things to decorate one of those on the fly.

    Kim will be glad to know I now have 3 red bows I can put on the 3 outdoor wreaths to tie in with my big poinsettias 🙂 At least the outside of the house is looking festive and nice. The front porch Mexican table and chairs finally came in stock, debating whether to buy them now or wait.

    Another very busy day at work, I’m beat. I’m hoping tomorrow will be a “1-story” day and then I can have my 2nd vacation week off to rest from all of it! Too many things going on all at once, yesterday was brutal. Today, sort of brutal but a little easier (though still incredibly busy and full). dining room table is piled high with notes, printouts, notebooks, laptop computer … I need to get that den in order so I can set up a work space in there — it also has a nice, padded desk chair that’s a LOT more comfortable than these antique wood dining chairs I have.

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  37. The children brought in the little four foot tree from Italy. They put on a string of little white lights and made some clay ornaments that we dried in the oven. They put those on the tree. Then they brought in the cross husband made years ago for a Church Christmas play. We got snowed home so somebody else provided the cross and we bring this one out every year. The children brought in an ancient string of colored lights to go on it. I wrote out the verses from Philippians 2,about how we should have the same attitude as He, Giving of Himself. At the foot of the cross is an empty wooden cradle. That is it for our decorating.

    Liked by 3 people

  38. DJ (and maybe Kare, too) – You could buy one of those little pre-decorated trees, just for this year, and then maybe use it as an extra decoration in future years. So you could have a little token tree, without having to stress about decorating a big one.

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  40. I have about 40 fake trees. Husband insists on having a main tree that is real 🙂
    (Most of the fake trees are 2′ and under but I have several larger ones – I’m a little Christmas obsessed sometimes) He will get the lights on and we’ll just do simple decorations.

    Liked by 1 person

  43. Kare, I don’t like fake trees, and never had one till I married my husband. Our first Christmas we trotted to the store to buy a new (fake) one to replace the old one, since we would be putting it in a different place in the house and the old one wouldn’t work. It was so difficult to me to watch us spend what seemed like a lot of money to buy something I didn’t want.

    Really that first Christmas was quite hard for me, overall. His family was largely strangers to me, the traditions new and awkward. The girls decorated our tree and I came in, trying to stay out of their way and let them have their own time together, only to put on four or five favorites of my own ornaments (so that the next year those few would look familiar). My husband encouraged me to help, but I would rather have just let them do it, and I knew they probably would too. We’d only been married two months and they hardly knew me (especially the one who had been away at college except for holiday weekends). Also, they decorated much of the room, rearranging it in ways that I didn’t like (moving my reading chair to put the Christmas tree in its place) and putting up some decorations I found strange and uninviting, like a stuffed rabbit on the wall and a few Christmas angels. Overall my sense was “Only a month; I can get through that.” But a couple of years (that might have been one of them) kept us from taking the tree down till February, and that didn’t make me eager to put it up again just a few months later.

    Last year neither of the girls was living there. We had taken the house off the market for a couple of months, but we were in “waiting to list” mode. Since the girls weren’t living with us and my husband didn’t care either way about the tree, I made the luxurious choice not to have one. I don’t know that I’d ever had one six years in a row, unless it was as a child, and I’d never had a fake one, and I simply did not want it up. We sold that one we bought before we moved, but kept a smaller one. This year we have no place to put it, which is fine with me.

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  44. Cheryl, I like a real tree in the living room. There’s just something about the glow of the lights – it makes me happy. The fake trees are for ‘extra’ decorations. It is sort of silly, but I enjoy it and when we have people in, they all seem to enjoy the experience. Again, I decorate, everyone else brings the food 🙂

    Right now I have several small white trees with white lights scattered around the house. They were used at the camp fundraising dinner and I just brought them home and plunked them anywhere there was a spot. We fall asleep to the glow of the one in our room.

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  45. Kare, my mother-in-law has several too (all fake, different sizes). The girls tell how when they were little they loved going from room to room to find them all and remember favorites. She also has several dozen Dickens lighted houses that stay up for about three months. They’re really pretty, but that stuff isn’t my thing. A single Christmas tree, tablecloth, dishes, stockings, and a random decoration here or there (such as wreaths) is plenty for me.

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  46. I’m thinking of just using white ornaments this year. I wonder if my husband will notice. He does the lights and then I put on the ornaments and trimmings.

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  48. My mother was horrified by ‘fake’ trees — but back then, when they were first becoming “a thing,” they could be pretty atrocious.

    My aunt and uncle, who were quite the groovy couple and managed a ‘singles’ apartment building where many flight attendants and aspiring actors and actresses stayed, one year bought an aluminum tree with a color wheel that turned the true pink, blue, green and red, by turns. It was quite the conversation piece.

    The fake trees now are so real looking that I can see why one might buy one of the large, ‘good’ ones at an after-Christmas sale.

    But I’m my mother’s daughter and I still prefer a real tree, with all the smells and bells and baubles, as the main Christmas decoration in a house.

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  51. The beauty of the yellow-rumped warbler photo posted earlier was partly in its leaves. Green is my favorite color and I love leaves, and was happy in fall when the warblers and wrens could often be found among this nice, tidy backdrop instead of the dying weeds of other places. Well, the cedar waxwing has a lovely backdrop, too, and looks nice among the berries. That day had multiple waxwings, and I finally got several shots of them eating berries. This shot would have been perfect if the bird had the red “wax” on its wings and if a couple more birds had been in the photo, but I like it as is.

    Unfortunately waxwings are shy birds, and they wouldn’t come to a tree or bush I stood too near, so I had to find where they were and be content to zoom in. That meant that zooming in too closely generally wouldn’t work (too much “noise”), but getting waxwings with berries is special enough that a photographer is content to abide by their conditions for taking pictures!

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