Summers Sweet Pink Saturday

Hello My Pink Saturday Friends....Here is the link to Beverly our hostess with the mostess for doing this for us faithfully each week....you will find all the other great blogs to visit and be sure to leave Bev a comment too, to tell her how much we appreciate her!

What a lazy summer week this has been....the cicadas are singing, the zinnias finally blooming and the watermelon and all the fruits and veggies from the Farmers Market simply delicious....




A bowl of saved rose petals....so pink and pretty.

Heavenly summer days and believe me, I am enjoying each and every moment as I watch the evenings slowly becoming shorter, I know that Fall is just over the hill...
We leave a little earlier in the evenings, now, for our two mile walk on the boardwalk by the St. Claire River, and when we finish our fast walk we enjoy sitting on one of the many benches and watch, hopefully, for a freighter to come steaming by. They can come in from the Atlantic and go through the St. Lawrence Seaway to a chain of magnificent Great Lakes and rivers to get to the Mississippi and out into the Gulf of Mexico. I always dream of getting a ticket on one and taking that journey...having a bag of books I never have time to read and maybe some needlework....I have put it on my bucket list. lol! The weather on the Great Lakes can be fierce, though....many freighters have broken up and sunk through the years in wild storms....like out on the oceans....infact, under our Blue Water Bridges lies in extremely deep water, a freighter that sunk there many a year ago. There were no survivors and the ship lies intact on the bottom where other freighters and super tankers travel over it.....that tells you how deep it is.


Looking North to the bridges, we are where we turn around and walk back....it is a mile each way...it is such a pretty place to walk and so much cooler on a hot evening. This is the St. Claire River and on the other side of the bridges is the mouth of gorgeous Lake Huron.


This has been a week of worry, too. One of our darling granddaughters, our Miss H. came down suddenly, and I mean suddenly! with pneumonia last Friday. She is not improving as she should.

She went back for more x-rays a couple of days ago where they showed she was worse, not better. Her meds were changed and yesterday she texted me the congestion in her chest is starting to break up and she was feeling bored, always a good sign, so I pray she is on the way back to her healthy self....this young lady had been running three miles a day in prepartion of her schools soccer season. She wanted to be the fastest on her team as they run those three miles a day in practice. I know she is anxious to get back to it and I hope she knows after this illness she is going to have to be very, very careful to pace herself and not play in the rain or it could all come back on her...Today she has an early morning appointment at the doctors where her Mom is going to ask for another chest x-ray. I hope they find that she is improving...She is a very precious girl.....I have found I worry as much about my grandchildren as I do with my own....I am sure all you Grandma's can relate!

Have a wonderful summery Pink Saturday! I am always overjoyed when I read your sweet comments and now I am off to leave you some!
With Loving Thoughts to my blogging friends....
Jil
xo

Miracle Makeover on Pink Saturday

Sadly, I have not been able to post, as I have not been able to access my blog until right now and so I am days late in joining in with this wonderful event. Miracle Makeover. This makeover is for a dear and giving little boy, Charlie, who has cancerous brain tumors....when you are at Beverly's, you must watch the video of how he was chosen to be this years recipient, so sweet, and to see the amazing makeover created just for him and his personality and dreams. And, not only did they redo Charlie's room, but they did his loving sisters as well. Charlie shares a room with his brother, Liam, and his dreams were incorporated in the room as well....I know I had tears running down my face as I watched and I am sure you will, too!
I am joining Beverly and these other blogs for MIRACLE MAKEOVER.
Each comment you leave at Beverly's and at each of the other Miracle Makeover host blogs earns a $1 donation for the next Miracle Makeover.

The goal this weekend is 5,000 comments.

One Comment From You Left at Beverly's & at the 4 Blogs linked below =

$ 5 Donation on your behalf from Design Gives



Design Gives Back @Design Gives Back/Kelee



Spiritual Sunday @Spiritual Sunday/Charlotte & Ginger



Country Wings in Phoenix @Country Wings in Phoenix/Sherry



Metamorphosis Monday @Between Naps On The Porch/Susan -

comments on Monday Only

As for my blessings? I have many! I feel blessed each morning to wake up to a new day and to have the husband I do and the children that have chosen to stay in my life. I feel blessed with my grandchildren and that all are healthy and in good homes with loving parents. I feel blessed that the EKG that had a little something wrong, turned out to be nothing and my heart is strong and healthy..I feel blessed that I am able to keep my diabetes under control with no meds.....I feel blessed that my husband came through all of his skin cancer operations and we don't see anymore lesions popping out....I feel blessed that I had such a wonderful childhood and mostly, a good life and have gotten to see much of our amazing and beautiful country. I have small blessings everyday...my orchid has given me a new leaf...(I love orchids and this one was gifted to me by my husband on Mothers Day and it is truly a blessing that it is still alive. I have a brown thumb when it comes to them.) I feel blessed when I hear the birds sing and the flowers, that I so love, bloom in the garden..hear raindrops on the roof and thunder rumbling.....I feel blessed for a very good and dear friend that is like a sister and I feel blessed that God has been good to me in so many ways and while I do not understand somethings in my life, I am learning to trust in Him, put my troubles in his hands and know that all in my life is part of His plan!

May your life be filled with many Sweet Blessings!
Jil

Getting Thinner...Not An Easy Task!

No, getting thinner is not an easy task. When I was younger I did not have even an extra ounce..... having five babies? A breeze for me. I could gain 65 pounds and before they were a month old I would have my slim figure back. I was lucky if I weighed 100 pounds. And today? Ha! Mother Nature took her revenge and I have to admit, that through the years I helped her as watching children leave home and the pace slow down, food became a comfort. I was always busy, but it was a different busy and I missed the kids so much.....

Then several years ago I got dizzy while shopping in Michaels....we had recently moved to Yuma, AZ. and did not have a doctor. I found one that would see me and when my blood pressure was taken it was over 200....Scared? You bet! The doctor said I needed to loose fifty pounds and I needed to exercise. Yuma has the best walking park I have ever found.....it is by Kofa High School and is up hill and down dale! We waited for the sun to go down and then we ( dear hubs and me and sometimes the grands )walked and walked.

We did this every day and the weight slowly came off, but the BP stayed a problem and during all this I found I had diabetes, too. My fault! My fault for not staying active and eating wrong and certainly by not getting the exercise all our bodies crave. I had a warning in my life...my Dad. The whole family was shocked when it was discovered that he was diabetic. No one else as far back as one could remember had this....

Why am I telling all this? Well....I think this dear country of ours is in a lot of trouble in a lot of ways and too much weight and unhealthy habits is certainly one of them. I have read more than one article that has stated that with the overweight children of today, when they are of an age to enter our military, a large percentage could not be accepted because of their weight. They would not be fit to perform. I found that shocking. Not just to be able to defend this country, but to live! I think it is a very sad situation and I put much of the blame on lazy and to some point, uninformed parents as to what the future will hold for these youngsters!

All of this was brought to mind while we were at Lowe's last night waiting for a storm to pass and with my recent wake up call with the EKG because I really had slacked off.....I saw a magazine that took my eye. Not because I am diabetic, but because the cover looked good enough to eat!!! :) I showed it to my hubby and he mentioned it would be a good thing if everyone ate like this... (BTW..I am not on any meds and keep my sugar where it is supposed to be by watching what I eat. I eat everything from a piece of Lemon Pie to a cheeseburger, but I do use portion control and I balance what I eat through the day and I exercise. ) So, back to the magazine...I purchased it after looking through the recipes....It is a Better Homes And Gardens publication and it was $9.99. A hefty price, but well worth it as I needed some new inspiration in the kitchen and I wanted it to be healthy inspiration....

I have not had real sugar in my kitchen for years.....there is no need for it. My personal choice after trying all on the market, is Splenda. It is wonderful for baking. Just taste my chocolate chip cookies and then ask the hubby and the grands what they think of them....they can't keep out of them. And fudge? No one can tell the difference!

And, lots and I means lots, of fresh vegetables and fruits and now is the time to really enjoy them....I know the heavenly NW cherries are winding down, but like blue berries, their dark meat is so beneficial....


Fresh from the garden...yuuuuuum!

Michigan Peaches....the tastiest of all!!!

I did not mean for this to be so long... :( but it greatly saddens me when we are walking down on the boardwalk by the water, or at the mall or anyplace, and see more morbidly obese children and grownups than I do healthy slim ones....Since I have gotten myself back on track, I feel so much better. I have much more energy and I feel happier, too. And, I can't say there is anything I miss eating!

From time to time I will put a recipe on from the above book....this post got a bit too long to do it this time!
Talk soon and cheers to living healthy for us all! It will make a better America!
Jil

After The Storm....

This was quite the day.....
First a doctors appointment...never fun! Five weeks ago I had an EKG and the doctor saw an abnormality and so I had to have a stress test..Yuck! I thought of not doing it, and I thought that was not fair to myself or my family so for three weeks before the test I tried to get myself in shape by fast walking two miles each night, hot and steamy or not! I am not sure it helped me on the treadmill as it was set on an incline and it did not move at a pace I would have liked! I made it through, though, huffing and puffing....lol! This test involved the dye and the imaging and was three hours long!
Today, the doctor came in smiling and handed me the report saying I was just fine....not a thing wrong. Well, I tried to tell him that in the first place! Really, I did! I hadn't been worried, but it is always nice to get good news!

And, the doctor handed Mr.S his report from his CT Scan on his neck....it, too, was a thumbs up! (With all of the skin cancer surgeries he has had, he wanted to be sure the huskiness of his voice was not due to something more serious than allergies.) So, this has been a day full of sweet blessings!

After the doctor it was errands and hubs was with me as he had to stop at Lowes for a new garage door opener. We almost did not get the van out of the garage this morning! :( Then to the store and then to the farmers market for fresh homegrown tomatoes and corn and Michigan peaches....I say this every year,....you have not eaten a peach until you have eaten a Michigan peach!

As I was putting the groceries away, Mr. S was working on the garage door opener only to find the one he purchased was not for our door, so after dinner, off we went again to get one compatible with ours....when we left home we saw that a shower was brewing, heard the ocassional thunder and thought nothing of it and went on. When we arrived at Lowe's we saw that it was more than just a little shower, but you know men, and on we went into the store. Shortly, the lightening and thunder began crashing and the rain, well, it was a mega burst for sure....I wandered around looking at Orchids and hubs sat with others in the lawn furniture until it abated enough for us to dash to the car. Once home, it stopped and then it started up again with the sun shinning and I knew that somewhere I would see a rainbow....
I remember my Mom telling me once, that the rainbow was the sign of good things....well, good things did happen today and so very thankful I am. This time we were lucky!

Wishing you all many blessings and beautiful rainbows,
Jil

Pink Saturday And A Garden Party

Hello Sweet Pink Saturday And Etsy Cottage Style peeps....I am joining both Beverly for PINK SATURDAY and Etsy Cottage Style for their Garden Party with pictures of members gardens this year....It was a slow spring because of the weather in so many different spots throughout the country, but now that summer is here there should be some fantasic flowers to admire...Do come and stroll through our gardens...


I have been showing some of my flowers through the year, but here are some new with some of the old pictures....I hope you enjoy them!




Landscape roses that are so hardy and just bloom and bloom! Love them!



Two different plants of Pinks....



One of my Hydrangea bushes. I purchased three about six or seven years ago...the instructions said they were for indoors only. Well, as you can see I put them out and they are huge and doing well! All three are this pretty pink, but I would love to have a blue one and will have to learn how to adjust the soil acidity to have one!

A little rose like Begonia...I just love this variety and have several.

Sweet Violets....of which I suddenly have way too many and they will have to be greatly thinned!!!!

Precious Bleeding Hearts








I have been enjoying thoroughly, each and every new bloom in the gardens as I know this season does not last nearly as long as I wish it could.....when the days are short, dark, snowy and cold

I will be thinking spring and summer and just waiting for Mother Nature to wake up all her beautiful works of art that are sleeping beneath the ground.

Happy Pink Saturday, Happy Gardening and Happy Summer!!!
Smiles :-)
Jil
xo