You Are My Sunshine

“Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.”
– Helen Keller

There are times when I forget I am dragging around a foot with an injured bone – moments when I despair of lurking dark places.

But not today.

Today BigFoot-Dor is smiling.

Cindy of Mama’s Empty Nest nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award!

This special award is as inspirational as a warm sun-shiny day.

Thank You Cindy for the reminder to keep my face in the sun to avoid seeing shadows.

And the Sunshine Blogger rules include:

• Thank the blogger(s) that nominated you in the post and link back to their blog.
• Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
• Nominate 8-11 bloggers to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award Logo on your post and/or in your blog.

Now here are Cindy’s questions for me with my answers in italics:

1. Honestly now, could you live without your cell phone?  Why or why not?  I could live without it but must admit it would be sorely missed.  A few times I have driven away, forgetting the little darling and as soon as I think about it, I panic.  What if something happened?  Where would I go to call for help?
2. If someone were to name your greatest achievement in life, what would you want to be remembered for? My kindness and contagious laughter.
3. When you smell your favorite aroma, what does it make you think of? Hearty bread like the kind you get in Europe (or Whole Foods).
4. What is the most vivid dream you can remember? It was a nightmare of my whole family drowning.
5. Have you made a bucket list and if so, what is the #1 item you want to cross off? I have not made a list but I know I would include a month at a beautiful beach.
6. What is your best personality trait and your worst? My best personality trait is my eagerness to help when anyone is in distress.  My worst trait is a tendency to worry too much.
7. What would be your ultimate dream career? I already had that dream career travelling overseas as a kind of tour guide.
8. You just won $10 million, what will you do with the money? I would begin to give it away to family and friends to help them fulfill their wishes and I would fulfill a few of my own
9. Where is your favorite vacation spot and why?   I love it here for the mountain views, the wildlife and forests. It is where I am the happiest and most relaxed.
10. Which do you prefer, reading on an e-reader or reading a book with paper pages?   A book with paper pages, but I am getting used to the e-reader too now.  I am an ambidextrous reader.
11. Country life or urban dweller? What’s your preference and why? Country life!  I love it.  I love the quiet, the simplicity, the friendly people, the lack of traffic, the creatures, and more.

Now – Nominating cyberspace friends to be Sunshine Bloggers is the challenge of this award.

Over the years I have come to know and love more and more of you and to appreciate your wisdom, humor and talent. Also, I know many of you hate these award things and if you are one of those, consider this simply a nod of admiration and recognition from an awed and avid reader.

If you are not on the list and would like to be, please feel free to join the “team.”

But here are the fellow bloggers I think might respond – those who never fail to shed  sunlight on my days.  There are more of course – lots more.

Age Before Beauty

Andrew’s View of the Week

Dianna

Emjay and Them’s Blog

I choose how I will spend the rest of my life

Living and Lovin

Mehrling Muse

Musings of a Horse Mom

The Mountain Kitchen

Views and Mews by Coffee Kat

And here are your questions:

1. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?  Do you wish you were the other and why?
2. Are you an animal lover?  What pets do you have and love?
3. Who was your favorite teacher and why?
4. Have you ever had a bad habit you  broke?  What was it and how did you change it?
5. What is your favorite place to relax?  Explain where it is and why it helps.
6. What is your favorite movie of all time?
7. Do you love to travel or do you hate it?  Why?
8. Are you an organized or a disorganized person?
9. Are you always late, early, or right on time?  Are there any advantages or disadvantages to your timing?
10. Do you create lots of blog posts in advance of publishing or do you do one at a time?
11. What inspires you to create a blog post?

If you did participate in this rather insightful exercise, I thank you.  If not, I thank you anyway for shedding sunlight on my days!

 

 

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Sneaking Back Into Cyberspace

Hallelujah!

Our Christmas tree is up, decorated, and the outside wreaths alit for holiday cheer in our Virginia country world.  Twinkling lights, red bows and a second tree on the deck complete the picture.

It’s definitely looking alot like Christmas around here.

And could this little posting mean I am back to blogging?

The wish is always to re-connect but that nagging urge waxes and wans like the moon.

I am still doing physical therapy for the dragging left leg with up and down results and high hopes for a sudden healing.  Exercise sessions that look like child’s play (including walking over a cone obstacle course on a leash) leave a body physically exhausted.

But each day I surf around the blogging world  for 15 minutes to see what all of you are doing and try to comment here and there.

Sitting too long is a no-no, but surfing around forbidden territory feels grand and I relish the stolen moments online.   What fun to be slinking into off-limits cyberspace!

But, today, with fearless abandon I am dropping in for more than a moment to say,  “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good  night!”

 

 

 

 

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Random Randoms at Week’s End

Photo courtesy of the Lone Tree Museum, Lone Tree, Iowa

 

“Wash on Monday, 

Iron on Tuesday,

Mend on Wednesday,

Churn on Thursday,

Clean on Friday,

Bake on Saturday,

Rest on Sunday.”

~ From Pioneer Journeys of the Ingalls Family, Pepin, Wisconsin,  Household Chores

It’s Friday again in Virginia!

I vowed to send off an events diary every week for your reading pleasure

and to share my own life in capsule form.

But I am failing to meet the challenge.

My life has been a panorama of dedication to routines and commitments.

Time to let go right and make some serious life changes?

I’m washing today and it’s FRIDAY!

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Time Out!

When I was a little girl running hard and playing hard

We had a universal  “shout out” signal.

We would scream,

“TIME OUT!!!!!!”.

It meant we needed to stop,

mostly to catch our breath.

Today I am calling for a TIME OUT again,

a retreat from blogging just for a while,

until I catch my breath.

Wait for me.

I shall return!

Photograph/illustration found on stilettosontheglassceiling

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Maple Shaded Glory

The Daily Post

Weekly Photo Challenge:  Connected

This week, show us how two (or more) things – people, objects, places – come together.

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Country Living for Beginners

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “All About Me.”

Explain why you chose your blog’s title and what it means to you.

There was another blog first.  It was a memoir for family and close friends and became the beginning of my growing love for the blogging process.  Technicolor Daydreams has now been converted to a self published hard copy book created as a gift for the special people in my life.

I thought I was through blogging, but there was more to come.

Since the old self seemed to be adequately recorded in that first blog, I began to stretch and strike different poses (much like clicking around for the perfect selfie).

And a new blog was born!

Virginia Views is the second-story canvas now used to portray a city girl’s transference to country living.  High heels on a gravel driveway, a horse in the pool, and finding puff balls  and paw paws  in the wild, are the types of stories that still make me chuckle and I hope will bring smiles to anyone interested in the vagaries of country living.

Being mostly mixed up, I originally planned this new blog enterprise to be named Country Living for Beginners.  But I misread the form and a great title became the URL address instead – https://countryliving4beginners.wordpress.com .

VIRGINIA VIEWS turned out to be the all encompassing title of the new blog and I still love it.

My friend Cindy of Photos from the Loony Bin, helped with that title, and the “views” part allows me to wander from poetry to photography to worded essays and stories, however the mood shall strike.

Of course there are always lurking recollections of  hilarious adjustments to the surprises of living “out in the county” but like an emerging butterfly, Virginia Views morphed into an eclectic introspective interpretation of life in general.

The birth and growth of a blog is a terrifically exciting process with grandiose dreams of endless material to share.

Virginia Views now features over 600 posts and even when I think there is no more to say and “nothing new under the sun”, a new story emerges. Just telling you about it is the inspiration to begin again.

Uh oh!  Watch out WordPress!  There may be more to come.

~ Dor

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Five Photos, Five Stories: #1Going Out Feet First

One of my favorite blogger friends, woodlandgnome, has invited me to participate in the Five Photos, Five Stories challenge.  The rules are to post a photo a day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo.  It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or a short paragraph.  Oh yes,  and each day nominate another blogger for the challenge.  Today I nominate Cindy of Photos from the Loony Bin.  This should be fun!

 

Mabel did not have a death wish.

She was getting old though and things were starting to show and tell.

First off people were opening doors for her as if she might be too weak to open them herself.

Then her doctor was the same age as her son and he had to keep “looking things up” to verify treatments.

Fast food clerks offered her senior citizen discounts on coffee.

Police excused her from speeding tickets if she said she was rushing to use a bathroom (from drinking too much coffee).

But that wasn’t all.

Mabel was actually beginning to witness the ravages of age.  It began with her hair which she was losing.  What used to be thick voluptuous locks were now thin limp strands.  And though she used to be a glossy brunette, she was now a dull mummy look-alike.

Then Mabel received a magnifying mirror for Christmas.  She could not remember who gave it to her (she was forgetting things too) but if she knew, she would now mail that person a poison pen letter.

She could see wrinkles!

And little hairs on her chinny chin chin.

And spots.   Many many many spots.

Mabel was depressed until she stumbled upon some magic slippers.

Actually they were magic sandals.

The sandals were magic because they made Mabel’s feet look young!

And every time she looked down at her feet she smiled.

“That’s the real me,” Mabel thought, and “I haven’t changed a bit.”

And her gait lengthened and her posture grew proud and tall, and she no longer lamented new spots and wrinkles.

She just looked down for the magic to begin.

“I want to go out feet first,” she said to herself.  And that was not just a death wish either.

It was really Mabel’s Living Wish that her new sandals would not fray or fade like the rest of her as they grew old.

 

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Pickles and Macaroons

Daily Prompt: Connect the Dots

Open your nearest book to page 82.  Take the third full sentence on the page, and work it into a post somehow.

“It wasn’t long before another idea came to mind: maybe I could sell some at the Women’s Institute meetings where housewives baked cakes, made jams, pastries, pickles and many other food items to sell.” 

I am not good at much.  I mean I’m not particularly talented.  So, when I was invited to join the Women’s Institute I was shocked.  Why me?  Were they desperate or what?

You see, the Women’s Institute is a club where the women actually compete by baking cakes, making jams, pastries, pickles and lots of other food items with an eye to selling them. 

I don’t enjoy competition.  Some garden clubs are like that too.  They compete to see who has the best flower arrangements.  I would wind up with one flower in a stem vase and that would leave me shaking in the composition phase.  That is why I have never joined a garden club.

What to do?  Should I accept the invitation to join the Women’s Institute?  It wasn’t long before another idea came to mind: maybe I could make some of my coconut macaroons.  They usually come out o.k. and even though my husband hates them I think they have a certain character.

So I accepted and now any time the ladies have a “cook-in” competition, I make my Macaroons.  They have nicknamed me “The Macaroon Lady.”

Like I say,” I’m not good at much,” but with twenty years of practice, the macaroons have made me famous!

Note:  The third sentence on Page 82 of my nearest book was from  Rita Roberts, my blogger friend’s published book,

 Toffee Apples & Togas, available on Amazon.com.   It makes for delightful reading.

Note #2:  I am not really famous, but the macaroons are pretty good.

 

 

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Ten Minute Improvisation

Last Winter was Bad Enough!

Daily Prompt:  Ready, Set, Done

Today, write about anything – but you must write for exactly ten  minutes, no more, no less.

I am writing for 10 minutes.  There is nothing to say but I am writing anyway.  It is a cool, sweet morning promising that autumn is around the corner.  Autumn used to be my favorite time of year and I still feel that surge of excitement when there is a chill in the air.

The animals seem to feel it too.  A squirrel finally got up enough courage to trespass past our garden gate to forage for things he could store for winter.

People are saying this will be a horrible winter filled with snow storms and bitter cold.

I keep telling Bill to refill the wood pile.  Our wood stove can be a lifesaver in weather like that.

The worst thing that happens around here in winter is the loss of electricity.  Not being able to see in the dark is only one problem.

The worst problem is the lack of water.  We are on a well system and it needs electricity to keep going.  So when it’s off, we can’t flush toilets (and it’s too cold to go in the woods).

We have a little generator though and if there is enough fuel, that can keep us going for a few days until we need more fuel.

Why am I worried about the onslaught of a bad winter?  Well, I love studying survival tactics.  I made a book of things to do in weather emergencies or pandemics.  If you want to know some of those secrets, just let me know.

Friends tend to laugh at me because the pantry is always so full.  You will never go hungry here they say… and it’s true I guess.  Although I am not hoarding food so much anymore I do believe in stocking things up that promise to last for years.

I especially like the one about fruit cakes.

Fruitcakes in tins literally have no expiration date.  This holiday season I plan to buy several fruit cakes. 

They should last until I die.  Right?  Then I will leave them in my will to the people most important to me.  I will conduct a poll first though to see who really loves fruitcake.

My friend, Janet, makes them every year to give away, and one of her friends had his fruitcake gift shellacked to make it into a doorstop.  That would defeat my purpose of survival by saving a non perishable food.

I doubt anyone will ever read this but I will publish it anyway just because it is a fun exercise and I would recommend it to fellow bloggers.  It will give you an idea of what to write about in a regular post.

Like I am now going to write something about what is in my “Survival Book” for those who are as paranoid as I am.

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A Truly Lovely Award

Congratulations to Dorothy at Musings of a Horse Mom for receiving the One Lovely Blog Award.  Dorothy is a great horse lover and a riding diva with her own very special steed named Bear.  She also writes beautifully and posts lovely photos of Bear in action.  And thanks very much Dorothy for nominating Virginia Views for this same award. It is truly a lovely thing to be recognized by fellow bloggers we admire.  I am beyond grateful.

The rules for receiving this award are to post seven things you may not know about me, and to nominate seven other Lovely Blogs (to pay it forward).

Here are seven things you may not know about me:

1)     I once had two horses (Martini and Lucy).  They died of old age.  Lucy was 32!

2)     I live in an equestrian neighborhood.

3)      I love horses, dogs, cats, and almost any living thing.

4)     Autumn used to be my favorite time of year but now it is Spring.

5)     I am trying to walk 10,000 steps a day and have managed to reach that goal once a month. I need a horse.

6)     My favorite dessert is Crème Brulee, but then there’s ice cream, and chocolate, and…..

7)     People think I’m a great cook but I am really the great imposter.  My recipes usually have less than 5 ingredients and take less than 20 minutes to prepare.

Of course, every blog I follow is lovely (to me) and would that I could I would list them all.  But here are seven lovely blogs I nominate for the One Lovely Blog Award. Believe me, they are worth checking out.

Silver in the Barn

Jill Weatherholt

Always Backroads

Hope*thehappyhugger

Living and Lovin 

morristownmemos 

denobears

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