Tommy & Smokey Update Medley

 Barn across the road

I'm starting out this blog post with a few photos I took on our walk a couple nights ago. The light just before sunset is so golden. I love it! And if you'll look closely at the first photo, you'll see the golden light shining on the inside of the barn behind the first barn. I didn't notice that until I'd already posted the photo on Instagram. Anyway, I hope you enjoy these. 

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THANK YOU, TERRI.

Terri writes in black. My responses are in blue.

There are some pretty serious issues on the National Day Calendar this week.

Let's take on a few of them!!  The titles are linked back to The National Calendar.

NATIONAL MAKING LIFE BEAUTIFUL DAY

1.  Tell us about a time you made someone's life beautiful or someone made YOUR life beautiful.

I might have made someone's life more beautiful when I relinquished our dear Tommy & Smokey last Saturday to Elizabeth, who drove all the way from Madison, WI to visit them, so we could get to know her and see if this would be a good fit for adoption.

As you know, we are moving to Wausau eventually, and because of our grandkids' severe allergies, and because we will be sharing a home with them and our daughter, it was out of the question to take Tommy & Smokey with us. I put up fliers in veterinarian offices, handed out fliers, wrote up a flyer for Instagram, for here on my blog, and asked everyone I knew to please pass the word along to help us look for a loving home for them.

Eventually I heard from a young woman named Elizabeth. And as you know, I later had phone conversations with the two character references she gave me. She came through with flying colors. So then it was down to the personal meet and greet. Would she be okay? Would Mr. C. or I get 'bad vibes'?? Would she look like a serial killer???

So last Saturday she and a friend arrived to meet the kitties. Tommy was a real gentleman and did his best to make her feel right at home. Smokey did her best to hightail it out of the room and hide upstairs. But after a nice time of talking with Elizabeth and Carlie, I think we all knew that she was going to be the perfect next home for them. She is so personable, obviously loved them immediately, and, as a bonus: loves books, loves maps, loves cats, and gave me a bag of King Arthur gluten-free flour. I mean really.

 Elizabeth and Tommy

 Think I should get non-glare lenses next time??

We're all pretty happy here (well, as happy as can be expected)

except for Tommy, who was wanting to get down.

This is the photo that Elizabeth posted on Instagram on Monday.

You can tell T&S are still a little tense, but I'm sure they'll settle in just fine.

I'll have to admit, though, that I got a catch in my throat when I was scrolling through Instagram and saw this photo of the two of them.

MY BABIES!!! 

Get over it, Judy. God gave you more than you had asked for in Elizabeth!!

Yes, God was so in this project of finding just the right person who would love Tommy & Smokey and give them a good, loving home. And Carlie the friend? She, believe it or not, volunteered to ride in the back seat of the car with the kitties, all the 3.5 hours back to Madison. That is one true friend!  I don't even dare ask how long they whined about being on a car ride. I'll pretend that they just lay down and took a great, long nap. :-))

 

NATIONAL SMILE POWER DAY

June 15th is the day we observe National Smile Power Day.  This is a day for everyone to share the power of the smile.

2.  Will you take on the challenge and smile more often on June 15th?  Why not start now!!  Have you been blessed by a smile that changed your day?

No, I won't take on the smile challenge. I already smile a lot. And I love smiling at complete strangers and trying to brighten their day. God has given me so much to be grateful for, starting with His Son and His Church, and so many other blessings besides, that how can I not smile? I'm a happy person!

 

These are the last photos of Tommy and Smokey that I'll be posting on my blog. So I would recommend following @lisbeth_michelle7  on Instagram (She has a private account so you'll need to request permission to follow her) or Elizabeth Sumner on Facebook. That's where the photos will be. I won't promise that I won't occasionally, however, post a re-run or one you've not seen if I'm feeling especially lonesome for them. But I'll try to let Elizabeth do the posting of her new 'fur babies' and stay out of the picture. This is not an easy thing!

NATIONAL RANDOM ACTS OF LIGHT DAY

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” ~ Edith Wharton

3.  Terri is a cancer survivor.  Cancer has touched most of us in one way or another.  When did someone reach out to you with an act of kindness or when did you last perform a random act of kindness for someone?

It's really such a grim subject, isn't it, and you'd think by 2019 there would be a cure. I have a friend who died of pancreatic cancer, and I know she left a huge hole of love and kindness and joy in her family and her community.  But she had hope for a future, never lost her sense of wonder and fun, and is presently with the Lord, awaiting the Resurrection of the body. God bless you, Tom, her wonderful husband, who was a perfect match for Bonnie.

 

NATIONAL LOVING DAY

National Loving Day is observed each year on June 12.   National Loving Day is an annual celebration that commemorates the anniversary of the 1967 United States Supreme Court decision Loving vs. Virginia.  This decision struck down all anti-miscegenation laws remaining in sixteen U.S. states citing “There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the equal protection clause.”  Anti-miscegenation laws in the United States were U.S. state laws banning interracial marriage.

Childhood friends, Mildred and Richard, met when she was 11, and he was 17.  Over the years they began courting and in 1958 when she turned 18, they married in Washington.  They returned to their hometown north of Richmond and two weeks later, not realizing that interracial marriage was illegal, they were arrested.  Mildred and Richard Loving pleaded guilty and to avoid jail time; they agreed to leave Virginia.

The Loving’s moved to Washington D.C. and started legal action writing to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.  Kennedy referred the case on to the American Civil Liberties Union.  The Warren Court unanimously ruled in their favor, and the Loving’s returned to their Virginia home where they resided with their three children.

 Phlox in the ditches north of Sand Creek, WI

4.  Terri admits that this turned out to be not what she thought it would be.  Our country has come a long way in recognizing that people are people and our differences are what makes life beautiful, but we still have a long way to go, unfortunately.  Your thoughts?

My thoughts are that there is one race, Adam's race, and we all belong to it, whether some think they're a cut above or not. We're all living on a gracious and generous God's earth, breathing his air, and benefiting from all he has provided. ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and yet God is merciful to all who call upon his name. His mercy endures forever. He makes a great point of saying that over and over in Scripture. And how much does he love us? Enough to die for us.

Church on Pentecost Sunday

 

NATIONAL KITCHEN KLUTZES OF AMERICA DAY

Each June 13 honors those who would like to cook and be in the kitchen, but it just doesn’t seem to work well for them.  After all, it is National Kitchen Klutzes of America Day.

5.  Had to lighten it up a bit.  Terri is a total klutz in the kitchen.  Tell us about something klutzy that happened in your kitchen... by you or another!  Can you laugh about it now?

P.S. (written after posting) I DO remember something that was prompted by another blogger's mixer smoking and quitting: I remember once when I was making a freezer dessert that called for whipping with my electric mixer for about 20 minutes. Right in the middle, my mixer died. And we were getting dinner guests that evening, so I didn't have time to waste. My husband put one of the beaters on the end of an electric drill and away we went!

And one more thing...

Okay, so I'll go with something that happened when I was a kid, and it's always possible that in the intervening years from the birth of this blog, back in February of 2010, I've already told you, but here it is:  I was probably 14? I was making 7 minute frosting for a cake. The recipe called for corn syrup. I couldn't find any. My ever helpful brother suggested corn OIL. It has to be the same thing, he assured me. Why did I EVER listen to him???  Well, you can probably guess what happened to my 7 minute frosting.

 My brother (that same brother) and his wife from Denver came to visit a couple days last week. As always, it was wonderful to be able to spend time with them.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect, about 75 degrees and sunny, so we rode in a CONVERTIBLE to see the lakeshore. After all,  Wisconsin does have 15,000 lakes, so it wasn't hard to find one nearby. 

 Fishermen ever present on Prairie Lake near Chetek, WI

in the summertime 

6.  Share something about your week so far, if you would.

The realtor, with whom we'll be listing our house, was out here on Tuesday afternoon. Do you remember the discussion as to whether or not we should remove the map wall between the kitchen and the living room?

 This photo was taken back when we had dog dishes on the floor and dog gates between the kitchen and living room.

And now I can start packing all my Emma Bridgewater and other England mugs! 

 Oh Audrey, it's you!!

Realtor says: Wall stays. Map and mug rack go.

That's a good thing because the mug rack was going to go with me anyway.

And the 1915 Home Comfort wood burning range is going with us also. The realtor said it would be a good idea to get it out of the house before any prospective buyer sees it, because if they want it, they might get their heart set on it. (Right! Keep your heart off my stove!!!). :-)) 

His biggest recommendations: paint everything a pale neutral color, have all hardware match, put in bright lights in all the light fixtures. We can do that.

And the project continues....

HomemadeSoapnSuch.Etsy.com

and

HomemadeSoapnSuch.com

are closed temporarily for this moving project. 

Do you ever have an itch that's just REALLY HARD TO REACH??

Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!

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