Corner View: everyday

Francesca, who hosts Corner View,

spotlighted her morning coffee.

I decided to show how my day begins as well

since it happens this way every day

at least Monday through Friday.

I get the coffee ready the night before,

but I don't use a timer.

I just plug it in and hit the start button on my way to let the cats up

from the basement.

I have to have a cream or flavored 'something' in my coffee,

and the flavor of  the week

this week

is the same as one of my favorite candy bars:

Almond Joy.

I used to have a protein shake

but now I have oatmeal with soy milk and  1/2 cup frozen blueberries

stirred into it.

While microwaving the oatmeal,

I read the daily Psalm calendar.

The other staples to my mornings

--even on weekends--

are my devotions

and my journal writing.

I can make it through the day without the oatmeal

or the calendar,

but coffee and time spent reading and writing

keep me sane,

as I maneuver my way through

a day of teaching English to freshmen and juniors.

For more corner views

check out Francesca's Fuoriborgo.

Barn Charm #31

I am almost out of barn photos from that drive

from Dayton, Ohio home to Barnesville.

It was a beautiful day in October.

I hope to soon capitalize on the beautiful days

we have been having recently

and take another drive close to home.

This appears to be a dairy farm.

I didn't get a shot of the home,

but I think it was made of the same brick

as the garage peeking out on the left-hand-side

in the photo below.

It occurred to me this morning that I have not seen any dairy barns

around my little area of Ohio.

Hmmm.

For more barn shots click below.

Corner View: Monument

 When I saw the topic for this week's Corner View,

I immediately thought of the Washington D.C. trip over five years ago.

My husband and I drove my dad to my brother's house near Harrisburg, PA.

We stayed with them and the four of us

 took my dad specifically to see the WWII Memorial.

Those who are frequent visitors to my blog,

most likely know that my dad was a German POW during WWII.

He had this trip on his 'bucket' list.

I have posted photos of that day and

written sentimentally about my dad.

However, for this post I am featuring women since

March is Women's History Month.

The following photos are of the monument/statue/ memorial

in honor of the women who served as nurses in the Vietnam War. 

This is the only shot I have of the insription and it is not very clear.

It says 1993 Vietnam Women's Memorial Project.

I cannot read the name under it nor am I sure that it's a 3 in the year.

But hopefully, you can still appreciate the tribute.

For more corner view monuments,

check out Francesca's Fuoriborgo



Barn Charm # 30

Here are all sorts of sizes and shapes of buildings: barns, sheds, silos, and even a house.

We could not get any closer without going way off our route,

so I did the best I could with my husband's camera

(mine takes better long shots).

This is south of Rt. 40  and east of Columbus, Ohio.

For more barns click below:

Update on my sister-in-law's stroke

Two Saturdays ago, I stopped at the city park

after attending one of my grandson's basketball games.

The sun was out and though the air was slightly nippy,

it was a beautiful day to stroll along the pond and take photos of the ducks.

This guy though, came after me. 

I had been there long enough that I guess he thought I owed him bread.

He was persistent.

I was hesitant.

He walked forward.

I walked backward.

I backed a safe distance away and headed back to my car.

I had enough pictures.

An update:

Thank you to those who have prayed for my sister-in-law.

She has been home this past week.

Her doctor forbid her to drive or to work.

She is going a bit stir-crazy.

This week she goes back to two doctors.

One is supposedly setting up a consultation at Ohio State University Hospital.

He is perplexed as to why she had a lacunar stroke at the age  of 55.

Robyn is not obese and does not have exceedingly high blood pressure.

She is a heavy smoker and drinker, but those aren't necessarily factors in this type of stroke.

A lacunar stroke is when small blood vessels burst causing a stroke

that scares the patient, but does not hinder any body functions.

She had no effects from it such as paralysis, etc.

She is still in need of prayer.

I have my second evaluation today.

I chose my biggest class and a topic I've not taught before:

intro to Of Mice and Men.

That's what kept coming up in my head.

so I 'went with it'.

The alternative was freshmen OGT practice work

and since I don't like that stuff, I was hesitant to be evaluated on it.

(OGTs --Ohio Graduation Test---are next week with the sophomores taking the real tests

and the freshmen taking practice tests.)

I am also facing several boys who have been especially disruptive.

They are not in the class in which I will be evaluated;

however, they can upset me and I don't need that today.

So please lift us up today.

Blessings to you all as you begin your week.

Corner View: Open-ended

There was no specified topic for corner view this week.

We could choose whatever we wanted.

This should be an especially interesting and quite eclectic 'view'

as we all choose our own 'direction'!

My ex-husband holding our youngest grandchild who was recently visiting from Texas.

In the background is my daughter (from Texas) and my son's daughter.

My ex's wife who for 15 years was my best friend.

What you don't see is me sitting between them.

This was the day after having gone to their home for a birthday party for Abby (from Texas).

I'm comfortable sitting between them.

We're quite comfortable with each other and the way our lives turned out.

We laugh together A LOT.

Pretty cool, huh?!

The healing power of God through grandchildren.

(Also the healing power of forgiveness, not just of them,

but especially of myself

after the extremely important acknowledgement

of my part in the destruction of the marriage and friendship.)

Oh---also gratitude---lots of it.

For more corner views check out Francesca's Fuoriborgo

Barn Charm # 29

This barn was on a side road that ran through a cluster of homes--a little community.

It was right on that road. as you can see.

The sun was starting to go down when we went by it again for a side shot.

East of Columbus, Ohio.

For more barns, click below:

Barn Charm #28

My husband was born and raised in this small town.

His friendships run long and deep.

A group of old friends gets together at one of the guy's son's place.

The son is in his twenties and a school teacher.

He has a two bedroom house and a big barn that he painted black

after tobacco barns.

Every Thursday night is guy night where they cook over a fire

and sit around drinking beer and talking.

In the winter they go inside and watch TV.

This week I'm featuring that barn.

It is approximately 100 years old.

This is the front of the barn.

Obviously, Matt the owner is a Pittsburgh Steeler fan.

Here is the back. 

 You can see part of a shed that was built to store a lawn tractor

and other small equipment.

This is the far side.  Here is a side view of the shed.

 He built steps to reach the door of the loft.

He stores stuff in there, but his girlfriend won't go in it--says it's full of bats.

You can barely see the hinges that show there is a door here

 because he painted them black also.

This is the center of activity in the summer.

This is the edge of his property.

He has probably five acres.

I had to show off some of our beautiful southeastern Ohio hills and trees.

These photos were taken last fall.

My husband headed up the team that jacked up one wall of the barn,

built a foundation under it, and rebuilt the wall. 

Here is a just a glimpse of the TV area. 

I wish I'd taken more of the inside of the finished part of the barn.

My husband doesn't go every Thursday night,

but he does enjoy his time out there.

For more barns, click below:

Barn Charm #27

Here are the last of the tobacco sign barns in my collection.

There are several beauties right here in my small town,

which I must get on film some day.

You get to see both sides as we came up on this duo

from the west.

We first parked across the high way on the west side,

then we drove a bit further and I shot some pics from the east.

The colors did not come out nearly as well when photographing from the eastern end.

But you still get the essence of the setting.

Click below for more barns.

Confronting Fear

Do not be afraid of sudden terror,

 nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;

for the LORD will be your confidence,

and will keep your foot from being caught.

Proverbs 3:25-26

Lord, help me to begin to confront the fears

I've been running away from.

I want to silence the roars that keep me from moving ahead

with my life.

Amen

(from The Confident Woman Devotional by Joyce Meyer

Barn Charm #26

These photos were taken in October 2011.

This barn and outbuilding are on a side road off of Rt. 40 East

between Columbus and Zanesville, Ohio.

I like the haphazard 'arrangement' of mailboxes

and the blue container leaning against a partly cut-down tree.

I think that may be a chicken coop or perhaps it's a rabbit hatch.

The other building is a mere spot in the upper right-hand corner.

I like how this shows the puzzle of fall in 2011 Ohio.

It could not make up its mind: many trees lost their leaves,

but some held on persistently.

Folks were still mowing lawns in the middle of November

 which has not been the norm for awhile.

I guess the angle from which I took it makes the barn look lop-sided.

The ground it is on is only slightly sloping.

This is my favorite shot.

I like the variation of colors and textures.

I hope you enjoyed these.

For more, click below.

 For those of you who follow Corner View, our hostess, Francesca of Fuoriborgo,is without Internet due to the severe ice stormsthat have hit parts of Europe.For some photos of that stormcheck out Fuoriborgo (ice storm)and Fuoriborgo snowed in. 

Corner View: Light

This week the topic is light.  I was thinking of sayings and song lyrics that have the word light in them.
One of the songs came to my mind and stuck there.  I remember when Debbie Boone first sang it with  fresh-faced innocence. I was 24 years old, a wife, and a mother.  My second child, a son, was born that year of 1978 and 'he was mine', whereas my daughter was her father's even when in my womb.  Through his marriage, I 'lost' him for awhile, but now he's back and the new woman in his life has no problem sharing him.  I can openly celebrate the light he brings into my life.

The following are two videos of Debbie Boone singing "You Light Up My Life."   The first one has a montage of nature photos full of light.   The second one is Debbie singing the song on an Oprah show---Debbie has grown into a woman in this second video.  Both are good, but the second one is shorter.
However, the sound is better on the first.
http://youtu.be/5Y2LgY4w7fw


http://youtu.be/_MQ2MsdaOLE

For more posts on life, check out Fuoriborgo.

The Lyrics:
So many nights I sit by my window
Waiting for someone to sing me his song
So many dreams I kept deep inside me
Alone in the dark but now
You’ve come along
Rollin’ at sea, adrift on the water
Could it be finally I’m turning for home?
Finally, a chance to say hey,
I love You
Never again to be all alone

You light up my life
You give me hope
To carry on
You light up my days
and fill my nights with song
It can’t be wrong
When it feels so right
‘Cause You
You light up my life

By: Debbie Boone –  from – You Light Up My Life