GOSIA'S FENCES AROUND THE WORLD

Our son and daughter-in-law went for a walk last weekend.  They live 15 miles away.  It looks like it was a nice, quiet trail.

However, someone had been there before and left a welcoming sign for those walking their dogs.

Here is a nice fence for Gosia's meme.  I asked if they would mind me sharing their photos just for today, and they were happy to.  Thank you My Lovelies!

I have seen photos of these boxes in other areas.  The one they came across says, "Little Free Library - Libraries big and small, we love them all.  Take a book, return a book."

Such a neat thing to do for the community.

"That's the thing about books, they let you travel without using your feet."  ~ Jhumpa Lahiri.

A great quote and very appropriate for this time of self-sheltering.  

Thank you for hosting Gosia.  If you would like to see other Fences Around the World, or join in with your own, you will find the link here.  

A FEW RAMBLES, A FEW PHOTOGRAPHS, IN ORDER AS THINGS HAPPEN

I had fun putting this together using a brick wall template in one of my iPad apps, "Pip", in a collage collection, finishing off in Paint Shop Pro which is on my laptop.  I used some of my favorite photos taken from various get togethers with son and daughter-in-law this year so far.

My laptop seems to be working okay now.  Still scratching my head on that one.  For a while there I thought I would have to be getting rid of it.  The shaking that I got on the screen has mysteriously gone away.  Am I being lulled into a false sense of security?  Maybe but I'll take it.  Still backing up everything regularly and wondering how long this will last.  

We took a friend to the airport last Tuesday.  She is spending time with family.  We had a couple of hours to enjoy a cup of tea and a chat at home, then we headed out to the airport.  We were there in the afternoon where normally the place would be hopping, but it was relatively quiet.  A good day to travel apparently.  After we saw her through the security gate we made our way home, stopping for lunch at our favorite noodle shop.  That was our main meal for the day and there was no cooking dinner that night.  Yes I take pictures of fire hydrants!

We will be getting back into the garage to do more throwing out and more tidying up, and more finding of family treasures no doubt.  The exciting part of one day, and yes I jest and yet we still enjoyed the experience, was a trip to the local refuse collection center.  We filled up the boot of the car with no longer useable items.  First you have to stop off at the kiosk at the entrance, and asked the friendly lady where we should deposit each item we had.  

We had cleaned out a box where a few cans of old paint had been held, and we wanted to dispose of them responsibly. Directed to a special area, the young man who helped Gregg told him when asked, what happened to the paint.  The young man said that if the leftover paint was less than ten years old, they gave it to Habitat for Humanity, but that our cans dated back to 2004 so that wouldn't happen.  At Gregg's surprised expression he immediately laughed, and he realized he was joking. We were happy to hear that our old left-over paint would be going to a good cause.  We also drop things off at Goodwill if what we have is in decent shape, but if they don't want it, off to the dump we go.

We also dropped things off at the recycling area, and are attempting to do our small part of keeping as much plastic out of our daily life as possible, even when it comes to going to the grocery store.  We won't use the supermarket's plastic bags for produce any more, and have bought something like these reusable produce bags.  We are slowly seeing places banning plastic bags but at Trader Joes recently, we were told that theirs are made of a biodegradable material.  Thought that was very interesting.  We still, however, will keep using our reusable produce bags, if nothing else than to keep our own trash down as much as we can.  

The refuse center is impressively organized, and that was our exciting excursion for that day, and yes I take photos of everything! (We do get trash pick up at home by the way, four pick-ups a week on various days, two for trash, one for recycling and one for yard waste; grass cuttings, trimming of branches, etc.  We can also make a phone call if we have anything larger to get rid of, but anything that we can fit into the boot of the car that won't mess the car up, we actually take it to the dump.  As I said, exciting, or as our son sometimes like to tease us and says with a chuckle, retired folks!) 

We had a Facetime chat today with our niece and nephew over the pond.  Always love seeing their smiling faces and it was good to catch up.  I told my niece as I was talking I noticed a chipmunk on the deck.  She asked me to send photos which I had taken before our call, so these were the ones I sent to her.  Two are a bit blurry because I took them through the screen on the back door, one was taken through the glass.  In one photo he is drinking out of the water bowl, but can you see how that little greedy-guts is gobbling up the seed and stuffing his cheeks?  Storing it all up for next winter no doubt!

Gregg spent a few hours with our son later.  I would have gone but felt a bit grotty, so did not want to put a damper on things.  I enjoyed hearing all about it when Gregg and I had a chat afterwards.

After a couple of heavy rain-filled, chilly days (and back to sweaters and coats), the sun is out and we will be experiencing comfortable temperatures again.  Maybe we will get out for a ride in the countryside.

Whatever you are doing enjoy, and thanks for reading this rather long ramble.

A FEW PHOTOS FROM MY BIRTHDAY WITH OUR FAMILY

I had a real nice time on my birthday.  My son and daughter-in-law came over and we all went to the Cheesecake Factory.  

I haven't been there in years.  The young lady who took care of us was very sweet.  As busy as she was, she didn't bat an eye when I asked if she would take our photograph. 

You will recognize some of these photos from my post yesterday.  

My Darlings made it extra special by being there. We had a lot of fun together, as is always the case.

The guys had fish tacos...

daughter-in-law had a delicious looking salad...

and I had the chicken pot pie, and this delicious chocolate cake.  I had heard a few of the staff singing happy birthday to someone, and I looked at our son and said, "No thank you!"  I knew what was on his mind.  Our young lady heard me and got the message, and her face was a question mark, like don't you want us to sing?  I said out loud no thank you with a greatful smile.  But she did bring me this, which I thought was a lovely touch, and not expected.

It was delicious, very rich and I could only eat a couple of bites.  I took the rest home to be enjoyed later.

 Gregg ordered a piece of cheesecake...

 and son and daughter-in-law shared key lime pie.

Gregg had given me two birthday cards early in the day, along with these gorgeous flowers.  

My favorite color roses.

And our son and daughter-in-law gave me the prettiest pillow.

I looked at the square shaped package and had a good idea what it was, even after our son jokingly said, "Bet you can't guess what this is Mom." I loved it and it couldn't have been a more perfect gift. I have been looking for pretty pillows to brighten our sofa.  I even turned it into a painting.

Here is my card from them, next to the pretty paper rose that came on top of the parcel.  The bulldog Bobby was a gift from our son years ago when he went to England on a school trip.  His grandfather, my father, was a 30 year career police officer in the UK. The background is part of a painting of the village I lived in.  That church is where Gregg and I were married in 1975.  I've shared all this before but am adding these little tidbits just in case there's anyone new popping in since then, and it was a long time ago that I last mentioned it. 

And that was this year's birthday.