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“Q”uiet
The details in the simplest of experiences can be just what we need to see God.
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#AtoZChallenge and #CTST: Yard sailing
#CTST: garage sale finds and also interacting with interesting people while shopping in neighborhoods! Here are a few tips I’ve picked up during my yard sale exploits. Do you care to share any of yours? 1. Choose to yard sale in an area that is more upscale that your own. However, there are exceptions. I found a Canon camera lens at a garage sale on the side of a highway. You never know. 2. Selection is better earlier in the morning. However, you may get a lower price if you go mid-day or later, as people want to get rid of items. 3. Go to multi-family garage sales first,…
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#AtoZChallenge: Owls
Owl from a bird rescue at the Scottish Festival in 2012, Columbus, Ind. Photo © Diane Weidenbenner I’m not quite sure how it happened but for some reason, I got it in my head that my friend liked owls. Collected owls. Okay, loved owls! We were at a country store and she bought a card with a picture of a barn owl. She also has a solar-powered owl on the dash of her car. Are you seeing a theme here? I was. We attended a Scottish Festival in Columbus, Ind., last year and it was wonderful. We got to see sheepdogs herd sheep with just the swell of a whistle!…
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#AtoZChallenge: Il Paretaio B&B
Photo of Il Paretaio from TripAdvisor website. Many moons ago, my friend and I planned a trip to Italy. We mapped out Bed and Breakfast inns in Rome, Venice, Florence and Tuscany, in hope that we’d have a more authentic, local experience. We chose Tuscany because Karen Brown recommended Il Paretaio as a relaxing choice that also offered one of the top riding stables in Italy. We thought it would be neat to go horseback riding, as well as visit beautiful countryside. Preparation for our trip included us taking English riding lessons at a stable near Elizabeth, Colo. We learned how to saddle up the horses, ride them (posting with…
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Blogging A to Z: “I”-n memory of … good friends!
Bestie Sandy (left) and Becky, having a toast to something wonderful, at St. Mary’s Supper Club. A good friend of mine passed away from lymphoma in April 25, 2013, and I miss her. There are those people that you meet and you feel “right at home” with. Becky was that type of person. She had a wonderful sense of humor and many times we’d laugh until we were both in tears. She loved animals and rescuing them, she liked telling people’s stories (she was a journalist) and she had a big heart. She’s a big reason that I have one of the loves of my life, my dog Hershey. And,…
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Blogging A to Z: “H”-istory is awesome!
Photo by Diane Weidenbenner, 2015, Indiana. Who remembers drive-in movies? I took this photo in Indiana on one of my country drives, and it brought back fun childhood memories of times spent at our favorite drive-in movie theater in Denver, Colorado. The movie theater that we frequented was the Cinderella Twin Drive-In movie theater, which opened in 1973 near the Cinderella City mall (aerial view below). It had two screens, ran first-run, double feature movies, and could support 800 cars total (which translated into thousands of viewers). It was about 10 minutes from our house and when the weather was good, it was the place to be! It operated March…
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Winter preparations for Christmas
I listen to WGBL on my way to work and the day after Thanksgiving, they begin playing Christmas music. Recently I heard a song by Matt Brouwer and I had to call in and ask for the name because it struck a chord with me – it was “Better Days.” Here’s a sample of the lyrics: “And you ask me what I want this year And I try to make this kind and clear Just a chance that maybe We’ll find better days ‘Cause I don’t need boxes wrapped in string And designer love and empty things Just a chance that maybe We’ll find better days Refrain: So take these…
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Very thankful
It’s Thanksgiving day and Joe and I arrived safely back home among snow flurries and unexpectedly icy roads, after enjoying a delicious dinner made by my sister-in-law, Amy, in Indianapolis. We had all the familiar foods that warm our tummies and remind us of gatherings past: home-made dressing, melt-in-your mouth turkey, sweet corn casserole, green bean casserole, two sweet potato casseroles, cranberry sauce, other delicious carbs and of course yummy pumpkin, peanut butter and apple caramel pies. My nephews were present with their sweet wives and children. My two great nephews seem so grown up (the oldest is three and a half) and a great niece is expected mid-December. And,…
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St. Francis
I’ve always loved animals. When I was young, we had turtles, a Welsh Corgi and my parents raised and showed English Springer Spaniels. Today, my husband and I have one dog, Hershey (although he prefers to think of himself as a person), and four cats (three are rescues). I shared this love of animals with a good friend of mine, Becky, who passed away last year from lymphoma. She was with me when I spied Hershey as a puppy and was supportive of Joe and me adopting him. Did you know that St. Francis of Assisi, who lived from 1182-1126, felt he could communicate with animals and that he was…
