M. Jean Pike's Blog, page 7

On changing the world

Today’s writing prompt (What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?) got me thinking. We all want to change the world for the better, don’t we? That’s why we are here, sharing poetry, photography, stories, or just the thoughts in our heads and hearts. I don’t really remember what I hoped to accomplish when I started this blog back in 2008. But I know what I hope to accomplish now. I don’t have any grand illusions that my little blog will change the world. But I hope it changes your day, if only for a moment or two

I hope you will look beyond my clumsy attempts at photography; at an evening sky, a gorgeous flower, a rainstorm, and see what an amazing God we have. And know that He loves you.

Maybe a photo or a video of my goofy dog will bring you a smile.

Or you will see yourself in a memory from my childhood and start on a lovely journey into your own memories of childhood.

Maybe you’ll try a recipe or two that you find here.

Maybe you’ll be intrigued by a book I read and want to read it, too. Or maybe you’ll want to read one of the books I wrote – that would be amazing

Mostly though, I hope you will feel like this blog is an open door where you can come and go as you please, have a coffee, share a comment and a bit of friendship. The connections I have made here mean so much to me. I love your blog posts! I look forward to seeing what you are reading, what you’re writing, what’s growing in your garden, what you had for lunch, what your day was like… For those that stop by, even just sometimes, thank you! For those that stop by regularly, thank you!  And for those who have unsubscribed, no hard feelings. I’m sorry you did not find what you were looking for here

I’ll leave you with a little gift from my garden to brighten your day. See you next time

What to do…

… when a friend gifts you a bag of fresh tomatoes? Make soup!

Easy Tomato-Basil Soup

10 – 12 large, ripe tomatoes (peel and core)

4 tsp. butter

1 large onion (cut into wedges)

3 cups low sodium veggie broth

1 tsp sea salt

Basil (to your liking)

Saute onion wedges in butter. Add veggie broth, tomatoes, salt, and basil. bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer 40 minutes. Allow to cool. Blend thoroughly in blender. Reheat. Enjoy!

Miss Emma Inspects the Grocery Bags

In addition to her daily inspection of the yard, Miss Emma also has to inspect the grocery haul each week

Oh, and this too! :)

As an addendum to my earlier post, this makes me very happy, too

Thank you, Stephanie’s Ninth Suitcase, for your lovely and thoughtful review of Superheroes. It means so much to me!

Superheroes (Book Review)

Every good thing

This morning when I set off for the park with Miss Emma, I hadn’t seen the writing prompt yet about the 30 things that make you happy. I only knew it was 72 beautiful degrees F and after a month of very few walks, it was a perfect morning to go. And for that I was happy! As I walked, I found myself counting my blessings. The fact that I can walk at all when so many are physically disabled. That we have such a lovely, safe park to walk in, with shady trees and smooth paths. A place where children can laugh and play on the slides and swings, and the community can gather for car shows, concerts, movie nights… That I have such a lovely walking partner who is never too tired or too busy to go with me

I arrived home and opened my email and there were so many beautiful, thankful, happy posts. My friend Hazel made mention of the blessing of a running faucet. I forget sometimes what a luxury that is. A roof over my head, food on the table, my big, shady sugar Maple in the back yard. Blessings one and all.

If I really sat down to count them, the list of things that make me happy would be endless. Let me never forget their source. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights… James 1:17

Today, I won’t dwell on my problems. I won’t look inward or sideways, but upward, to the Father of heavenly lights, Whose gifts come in the form of both sunshine and rain.

And I will be happy for all of the many gifts I have been given

On cool August mornings, an excursion in a Mini Cooper, and a few needful things…

This has been the best day. I won’t lie, my first week back to work after vacation has been rough. My plan was to lay low today and try and recoup some of my energy. But it was a very welcome, breezy, 70 F this morning, so when Marge suggested we hit a couple of garage sales, I was on it like a honeybee on a sunflower

It was a nice enough day that Marge got out the Mini Cooper! It’s such a fun car. I hadn’t ridden in it yet this year. Miss Emma’s recent vet visit has left me a bit short on cash, and since there was nothing I really needed, I tucked a ten-dollar bill in my pocket, and we headed out.

I don’t live in a ritzy neighborhood by any means – but I live near one. What a blessing that they were having their neighborhood yard sales today. First stop – A pair of barely worn Sketchers for work. This is something I really do need $2.00. Score!

On to the next stop, and uh-oh, the husband and son were left unattended to manage the sale. He just wanted to be done and offered everything at rock bottom prices! He confessed that he would have liked to load it all up and take it to the dump, hand his wife $400 at the end of the day and tell her he sold it all – but he didn’t think he had enough cash to keep his kid from tattling, lol.

A strange phenomenon has occurred in our town recently. We have several car washes but not a single one has a vacuum anymore. We have a very nice hand wash and detailing place, but I can’t help it, I’m too thrifty to pay for what I can do myself. Keeping the car looking nice can be quite a challenge with Miss Emma’s shedding. I’ve been wanting to get myself a little Shop Vac.

$5.00. Score!

If you saw my post about superheroes awhile back, you know about my nephew, Michael, and how he loves coloring books and making cards for people on the prayer list. Since today is National Coloring Book Day, Marge couldn’t resist getting him this cute Paw Patrol coloring book for his collection.

She also scored a whole box filled with colored papers, stickers and envelopes for his cardmaking ministry. $1.50 well spent

Looks like he approves!

With just $3 left in my pocket, we headed to the last sale. I’ll pause here to say I really, really need a new coat. I’ve worn my current one for about five years, and my beautiful friend, Sue, wore it a year or two before she gave it to me. I love my coat. But it’s sure showing its age. Buying a coat is a big deal for me. I have to love it. And I have to be able to afford it

I had no problem whatsoever spending my last $3 on this gorgeous leather coat!

It started to get hot out, so with the Mini Cooper full of treasures and my heart full of the joy of a fun morning with my sister, we called it a day.

Another fine garage sale adventure in the books!

True Colors (My life with hair)

I recently went back to my natural hair color after more than forty years of coloring. So far it’s been freeing. I went on a hunt this morning to find a pic of my pre-coloring days. Goodness, what a stroll down memory lane that turned out to be! It seems I’ve had a different color and style for each phase of my life. Have you done that too? I thought it might be fun to contrast similar pics at different life seasons. If you have a moment, grab a coffee and come for a little walk through time with me…

This is me as a youngster sporting micro bangs (courtesy of Mom ) As you can see, I was quite the fashionista, lol.

My oldest sister and I, two blondies with our grandma. I’m smiling so big. Grandma was one of my very favorite people

Me with Grandma sometime in the mid- 80s, when frosted hair was the thing.

2019 and this time I am the grandma

My sister, Marge, and I on a trip to Florida in the 1970s. Still a fashionista!

Early 90’s with my cockatiel, Curly. I was looking pretty curly, myself.

Me and my bestie at around 14 years old. The last pic I could find before…

I turned sixteen and took cosmetology classes at the local career and tech center. This was the year I discovered the wonderful world of bleach and perms

By the next year I was a senior and wanted to be Farah Fawcett. We all did.

My Blondie phase. Sometime in the mid 90s.

In the early 2000’s I did this!

A life change at 50 came with a new look. Chunky auburn and caramel highlights.

Two years later I was back to red!

My grandbabies are growing up and I am starting to fall out of love with bleach.

Full circle. It’s been quite a ride, but I’m getting off the hair color train now.

What colors and styles have you tried over the years? I’d love to hear about your hair adventures

July – It was a hot one!

Man it’s a hot one. Like seven inches from the midday sun…

Remember that old Matchbox 20 song? That’s the way July has seemed to me. Sizzling, seven-inches-from-the-sun, HOT! The heat was just too much for my flowers. That, and the rain that seemed to fall by the bucketful, flooding my yard. In May when I planted my flower boxes with multicolored petunias, I had high hopes of making my little porch look homey and inviting.

Sadly, I had to dump them early this year. Instead of what I envisioned, it rather began to look like the Wicked Witch of the West lives here.

I do have a few nice things left in the beds.

Petite zinnias

Cone flowers

Dahlias

It was hard to keep up with the watering this year. Maybe next year will be better

I read six books in July and have almost completed my seventh.

Speaking of Summer by Kalisha Buckhanon.  This one took me by surprise. I love unreliable narrator stories. What I thought was a story about a missing person turned out to be something else entirely. The writing was good, just a little hard to follow in places. Four stars.

Love in A Lifeboat by Karen Malley. This book releases in September and I was thrilled to receive an ARC since I’ve loved all of the other books in Karen Malley’s Chester County Couples series. This beautiful, sweeping Christian romance did not disappoint. Five stars

The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg. I have been a longtime fan of Elizabeth Berg’s books. Some hit harder than others. This was a fun, quirky romance about a 40-year high school reunion, told from the viewpoints of those who attended. Four Stars

I read two books by one of my favorite Christian Romance authors, Erin Stevenson. A new release called Under the August Sky and an older title, Sisters Ever After. Both are solid Five Star reads. I have never been to Montanna, but the author’s lovely, vivid descriptions in Sisters made me want to pack my bags and go visit this charming small town!

I picked up Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Rubia on a recent thrifting adventure. I read the first two chapters before I even left the store. There was no doubt the book was coming home with me. Just wow! It kept me guessing to the very end. The characters were so well drawn and likeable I found myself wanting them to get away with murder, lol.

I took a much needed weeks’ vacation this month. I did a lot of promo work for SUPERHEROES (Coming next month!) and made some progress on overhauling Blackberry Summer.

This lovely gift was sent to me by a dear friend who knew I needed a shot of encouragement. Thank God for friends!

Speaking of friends, I went on two thrifting adventures and had a lovely lunch date during my week off. Three wonderful days with four friends I haven’t spent nearly enough time with lately.

There wasn’t a lot else on the calendar this month. I took Miss Emma to the vet and got myself a haircut. I went a little shorter than I intended, but all of the overprocessed, bleached hair is now gone, and I am back to my natural color after more than forty years! I can also say that I have stuck to my healthy eating plan. I have not had a single ice cream cone, cupcake or cookie the whole month. Next month I may treat myself to a little splurge as a reward What should I get??

All in all it was a month to feel good about. Now if it would just cool down…

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Remember those essays we had to write at the beginning of each school year? I promise, this isn’t one of those I’ve been on vacation this week and have loved every minute of it. Normally I would have spent this week at Lake Erie, but Emma did not do well at the kennel last year. She was sick and anxious for a long time after I returned home, and I couldn’t bring myself to put her through that again. So we had a staycation at home instead.

Mostly the week was about getting rested and refreshed. But I got a lot of writing done, got caught up on a few things around the house I had been putting off, and had a lovely lunch with friends on Thursday.  I didn’t want the week to slip away without catching up with my friend Barb. We worked together at a little Catholic school that has since closed down. Between our work schedules and other obligations we don’t spend much time together anymore, so I made getting together this week a priority. With one day left, today was the day. Bright and early this morning we headed to Columbus for… you guessed it… a day of thrifting!

Of course, our adventure started with Dunkin

We hit the shops on Grandview first. Barb found some beautiful skirts and tops for work. I got a book, lol.

We found a neat little curiosity shop, and though neither of us were in the market for furniture, it was fun to poke around.

Thrifting works up an appetite, so we went in search of a fun dining experience and decided on this little Greek place.

The atmosphere was very cozy, the perfect place to talk and catch up. And eat! I hadn’t ever had a Gyro before. I went with the Gyro and Rice Bowl. It was fabulous! The next time I am in Columbus I will definitely go to The Gyro Shop. If I can find it again

With our tummies full we headed to the shops in Upper Arlington to see what we could see there – and we saw plenty at this Volunteers of America thrift store!

All in all, I came home with two books and a cute top. But it wasn’t really about that. It was about reconnecting with a dear friend. About laughter. About making memories . Mission accomplished

Miss Emma — Watchdog Extraordinaire

Miss Emma has been laying low this week. A visit to the vet on Monday revealed she has somehow strained the muscles in her back and hips. He prescribed a muscle relaxer that has made her super sleepy. Other than quick trips to do her business, she’s barely been outside at all. Today she felt well enough to do her daily inspection of the yard. Things were not at all as they should be.

The moment we stepped outside she alerted me (and the neighborhood) to an intruder on our neighbor’s porch.

Turned out, it was our neighbor herself, but with her back turned, who knew? You can’t be too careful these days. Better to be barky than sorry

On the other side, there was this to deal with…

I’m not sure why our neighbor mowing his lawn was cause for alarm, but Miss Emma let him know, in no uncertain terms, that it was unacceptable. Not sure he got the message over the roar of the mower, but she tried.

We have a new set of neighbors this summer. A young family with two children and a dog named Gabby. Gabby likes to stand at the top of the hill and stare at Emma. Emma has invited her to play numerous times, but Gabby doesn’t seem to leave her yard, even though she isn’t chained. Emma cannot understand that at all! Gabby was not outside this time, but Emma always watches for her, just in case.

There is always so much to keep track of in our neighborhood. It’s such a relief that Miss Emma is feeling better and is back on yard patrol duty. I think the neighbors will all sleep better tonight. I know I certainly will