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.
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.
Daniel played the part of Jack (as in Jack and the beanstalk) in Into the Woods.
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.
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”
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.
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!
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!
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.
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).
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
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.
My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.
1. This visually very pretty (and delicious) box of dried fruit and nuts from Turkey. (A belated Father’s Day gift).
2. Looking forward to an end-of-Pride Month gathering tomorrow here in Savannah.
3. The Amazing Ability to doze off every night for Sensational Sleep.
4. Crepe Myrtle (“Lily of the South”) blossoms all over Savannah this hot summer.
5. Clouds.
Like sleep, I find them so mysterious.
“I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all”
Joni Mitchell (and me!)
But I do love them.
Have a Jolly last weekend in June.
My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.
1. LOVE-ly coffee.
2. Watching (spying on?) and documenting my Handsome Hubby, as he walks toward our little car heading to an appointment.
3. Spices! Robert and I love them.
Our spice drawer ..
Our spice shelf …
Our Spice Club! …
Once a month or so, our local library offers patrons a new spice, along with an explanation and several recipes. This month is a spice I have never heard about before: Summer Savory.
“Summer savory, Satureja hortensis, is a sweet- and spicy-smelling herb, lighter in flavor than winter savory. It is a member of the Lamiaceae, or mint family, and is indigenous to the Mediterranean region. It is also closely related to rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, and mar-joram. Summer savory had both culinary and medicinal uses in ancient Greece and Rome.” Bull Street Library Spice Club
4. The amazing ability to simply Pay Attention. (That trait is sometimes a bit of a challenge for me and my “all over the map” brain.)
5. I SO appreciate the theme of this year’s Pride Festival in Atlanta.
May we all have a weekend where, even on the most minute of levels, we Realize that we can Resist that which attempts to damage our lives.
1. Air conditioning! Savannah …
Ridiculously hot for spring. And yet, there is no climate crisis?!
2. Our bathroom window curtain.
It is a physical manifestation of simple joy.
3. Our incredible cell phones. (And occasionally the common sense to put them down.)
4. Reaching 15,000 minutes on my 10% Happier meditation app.
5. Reading this terrific new little book about the wonder of our natural world.
And here is a neat little Serviceberry tree outside our cottage at a recent state park stay.
May you discover some Happy Bringers in the weekend ahead.
My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.
(A Day Late)
1. Our Travel Buddies. Have I told you about them?
These three little fellows go with us on our every little excursion. And get prominently displayed (by HR).
3. The precious ability to cry.
4. Remembering our daily fire up in the north Georgia mountains last weekend, where the lows were in the 50’s and highs in the upper 60’s.
The five day weather forecast for here in Savannah …
5. On a walk this morning, coming across this (somehow) discarded photo on the sidewalk.
May her little life be filled with joy.
And may your weekend be a Photograph of Beauty.
NealEnJoy 