Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 8/29/25

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. Fresh South Georgia Bi-color Corn.

Or as I call it, Bisexual Corn.

2. My new, neat little sitting and reading area in our bedroom. Robert put up the shelves next to my chair.

Now he can watch his superhero movies and shows in the living room, and I can read, quietly, in the bedroom.

It probably doesn’t look like much to you, but these couple of square feet are my own little nest to settle, relax, breathe and read.

3. The incredible ability to make plans. To prepare. To dream. To think ahead.

4. Incredible truth, which I often don’t pause to remember.

We were walking through Hobby lobby the other day, when Robert said, “Neal pick up these, hold them. Let me take a few pictures of your truth.”

5. A very inappropriate, but humorous and truthful candle I saw on my older daughter Amy’s bedside table recently.

May you enjoy some inappropriate humor this weekend!

Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 8/22/25

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. To show you (yet again) that it doesn’t take very much to make me happy, I was thrilled (maybe with a small “t” but still thrilled) seeing these neat “tissues don’t have to be in a rectangular or square box” Kleenex in the bathroom at my therapist’s office. TMI?

2. Sort of related (at least in color) to Happiness Bringer #1 above, the first day of Autumn 2025 is one month from today!

Of course it’s 90° with a Real Feel near 100 today in Savannah, but at least we can dream/remember …

3. Robert and I took part in the Savannah Photo Club’s Third Sunday Photo Walk last Sunday morn. Such fun!

There we are, in the middle of the frame, a bit blurry.

For two hours we traversed around Savannah’s Historic District, snapping pictures left and right.

We plan to make the Savannah Photo Walk part of our monthly agenda.

4. After the photo walk, we toured the Savannah College of Art and Design’s Museum of Art display, A Gathering of Bells.

Upon entry, you were giving a white glove for your dominant hand, so that you could ring the clappers in the bells!

HR, clappering away.

“As museum visitors strike the clapper against the shell, their action becomes participation and metaphor simultaneously: we hear the ringing bell vibrate and sense how our gestures reverberate outward toward others.”

Such a unique sculpture display/experience.

5. The pleasure of a simple little nap.

Benny on my Belly

Make your weekend ahead have some Simple Little Pleasures.

Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 8/15/25

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. Green beans.

They are crisp-perfect, simply drizzled with olive oil and a little salt, and put in the oven for about 15 minutes.

2. This cute little doggie store on my morning walk.

3. The amazing ability to remember. What a gift.

4. What we need more of:

5. Robert’s love of fancy coffee … that’s not in a paper cup.

Starbucks this morning.

What’s on your Happiness List today?

Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 8/8/25

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. Stone fruit still life.

And what Robert made with it …

Clafoutis.

“Clafoutis is a French dessert made with fruit covered in a batter that consists of eggs, sugar, milk, and flour. It’s a thick custard that is similar to flan in texture. It is usually made with cherries, but other fruits can be used as well.” prettysimplesweet.com

Oh my goodness! It was wonderful.

We invited Tillamook strawberry ice cream to join us for breakfast. 

2. Grandson Daniel, singing “Come What May” (from Moulin Rouge) with his girlfriend Amalie at a recent concert. Daniel’s last Savannah performance before his freshman year of college.

3. Realizing that every minute is a new beginning.

4. HR and purple.

5. Seeing this on my walk this morning. And realizing that it is a truth that life finds a way.

Even if we are not always happy about that outcome.

May you be happy about the outcome of this weekend ahead!

Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 8/1/25

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. Our hibiscus FINALLY blooming.

2. This fancy butter at a new breakfast place the other day. (It doesn’t take too much to make me happy.)

3. Robert, sitting outside the new breakfast place, Bread and Butter—inside Auspicious Bakery. With leftovers.

4. Always having enough food to eat. What a blessing.

5. Finding fantastic pimento cheese at a local produce stand.

May you find a Fantastic Something this first weekend in August.

Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 7/25/25

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. My favorite summer lunch: simple Tomato Sandwich with vine-ripe tomatoes, accompanied by mayo, thinly sliced Vidalia onions, and a sprinkling of fresh thyme, salt and pepper.

Oh my GOODness!

2. Going to Tybee Island Post Theater to see grandson Daniel’s final Savannah play before heading off to musical theatre college in the fall.

Granddaughter Madison, ex-wife Donna, along with HR and me waiting for the show to begin. 

Daniel played the part of Jack (as in Jack and the beanstalk) in Into the Woods.

Daniel with his girlfriend Amalie, who was the lead actress (the Baker’s Wife) in the play.

3. I know I say this often, but what a blessing air-conditioning is. I know it’s very hot in many, many places, but here in Savannah the heat is exacerbated by ridiculously thick humidity.

Real Feel 108

Real Feel 110

Weekend:

But as Marjorie Taylor Greene says, there’s no climate crisis!

4. The ability to lift my coffee cup up to my mouth each morning. What a blessing!

5. Our overly photographed kitty cat Benny.

May you have an Overpopulation of Good this last weekend in July.

Continue reading “Five Friday Happy Bringers 7/25/25”
Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 7/18/25 (Food Heavy)

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. Discovering a new (to me) type of peas at our little independent grocer, Red & White.

Sandandy Peas, fresh and shelled

Google told me that Sandandy peas “often spelled Sadandy or Sa Dandy are a type of cream pea, which falls under the broader category of southern peas or cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata).”

So Very Good! With an Earthy Flavor.

And leftovers for the freezer …

2. These stickers about breathing I recently ran across and had to buy.

3. Speaking of breathing, I so appreciate that our bodies breathe by themselves. We don’t have to force the breath. It simply happens.

4. Popcorn! Ex-wife Donna recently gave Robert and me this neat Movie Night Popcorn Set for Father’s Day.

The other evening in the middle of a movie (FYI: Twilight Kiss Suk Suk), I jumped from the couch and yelled, “Our popcorn gift! Pause the movie!”

And we did something which both of us realized we haven’t done in years, maybe decades: we popped popcorn “the old fashioned way” on the stovetop instead of in the microwave.

We had such fun!

Sometimes Slow is so much better than Fast.

5. I have mentioned before that HR and I love our local library’s “Spice Club.” Once a month or so, our Bull Street Library offers patrons a new spice, along with an explanation and several recipes.

Some of our Spice Club materials.

This month is Mace. I had never heard of Mace as a spice, only that self defense spray.

Well, listen to this: “The web-like outer covering of the nutmeg seed, Mace, imparts a more pungent and spicier flavor to food than nutmeg. Mace is most popular in European foods where it is used in both savory and sweet dishes, especially in French cuisine that calls for this spice to be used in tandem with nutmeg to balance the flavors; it is also the dominant flavor in doughnuts and a great companion for chocolate. Add whole mace to fruits while cooking; it can also be used in savory favorites, such as patés, creamed spinach and mashed potatoes.” Spiceworld.com

From the accompanying recipes, I chose cookies (mainly because they looked so easy to make.)

They were delicious!

May you have a Bit/Bite of Deliciousness this weekend!

Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 7/12/25

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. Beautiful reflections (during a recent walk in daughter Amy’s neighborhood).

2. Rest. Sometimes you simply have to lie down.

Amy’s dog Coastal (named for their medical company, Coastal Care Partners) after Robert and I took her for a long walk in the South Georgia heat.

3. Speaking of South Georgia heat, how HAPPY I am for the blessing of air conditioning in Savannah!

Tuesday of this week.

4. Sitting near these Lively Ladies the other morning at a new coffee shop we were trying out near us, Foxtail Coffee Company.

They asked HR to take their pic.

“Wave, be silly!” Robert instructed.

We discovered that they are a group of ladies called “Savannah Newcomers,” which has been around for nearly 70 years! Most of the members are no longer newcomers, but they liked the group so much they just keep coming.

I asked if Robert and I could become members. They dodged the question in demure Southern Belle fashion and told us how happy they were to have met us. (I think that meant, “No.)

5. Walking to our car in the Publix parking lot yesterday …

… And seeing this:

For some reason, the view gave me pause and reminded me that life continues even in the starkest of environments.

May your life be filled with a bit of LIFE this weekend (in whatever way you define LIFE).

Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 7/5/25

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. Local summertime green beans.

2. The evolutionary A B C’s of our Fourth of July afternoon nap yesterday.

A.

B.

C.

3. The amazing ability to step out of bed, stretch and start a brand new day! (Everyone is not able to do that incredible feat.)

4. Pink

Crepe Myrtle

5. Being able to watch Savannah’s fireworks through our living room window.

Make your weekend have a few colorful and firework-y crackles, whistles, bangs and sizzles.