My husband Scott and I recently had the privilege of vacationing at the Big Island of Hawaii.

We hiked to breathtaking waterfalls, inside a volcano, and to one of only four green sand beaches in the world. We ate tasty Hawaiian food and watched the sunset while swimming in the cerulean ocean.

But as beautiful as these sites were, they pale in comparison to the man I saw carrying a large wooden cross over his shoulder as he hiked up a hill.

Scott and I were running late and several miles away from an exclusive golf course. I wanted to stop but knew Scott would miss his tee time. I said a silent prayer that somehow, I would be able to meet that man.

Well, God answered my prayer.

As we pulled out of the golf course near sunset, there was the man from hours earlier—carrying the cross!

I hopped…

Edinburgh Castle – Defender of the Nation

After landing in Glasgow, we traveled to Edinburgh to see this extraordinary castle. Due to travel and having to get to the wedding venue in Maybole, Ayrshire, we didn’t spend nearly as much time as required to really see all the extraordinary history on this particular Scotland site.

This castle has housed royalty, prisoners and served as a major military fortress. Merely driving up to the site is captivating. The structure itself is imposing and being up on Castle Hill makes it a view worth staring at for a good long while.

A few of the highlights of this castle: “…it was home to kings and queens for many centuries.” Built on a hill, it had tremendous military advantage (even if it was seized in just 30 minutes back in 1639).  “The castle is the most besieged place in Britain.”

One very long line we…

This morning I could see a bit of orange light permeating through the blinds.  When I peeked outside to see what was in store for this Friday’s sky, I literally said, “Wow” and grabbed my camera!

Isn’t this a beauty?  The skypainter was certainly in a colorful mood this morning, don’t you think?

It’s a long weekend here in the US and Canada.  I hope this sunrise begins your weekend (no matter what part of the world you find yourself in at the moment) in a splendorous way!

I’m edging back into weekly blogging again and I’m planning on weekly posts rather than daily posts, so here we go with the sticking of the toe into the water to begin with. It has been a very busy six months. After the previous three years of insanity it has been good to finally be able to just get on with working on what I love, breathe a little, and figure out what my new life will be. What I finally figured out is that you never know. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. This year has been filled with all sorts of fabulous projects from editing jobs to illustration and a couple of cover designs. I’ve had to move the publication date for my new non-fiction book, The Secret Life of People further towards the middle of September as work for my clients is always a priority, but…

Flower of the Day – Red & Yellow

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A nice bouquet of deep red flowers with lots of petals, and having yellow centers. A bit of green leaves are at the bottom.

 

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For Cee’s Flower of the Day:

FOTD – August 30, 2019 – Dahlia

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Thanks for visiting! Peace ☮️

© 2019 BS

Friday-follies-season-4-episode-9/

ENVIRONMENTAL MODERATION

A long time ago, they called Joey Buran “The California Kid.”  His whole life prior to 1984 had been devoted to his dream of winning professional surfing’s most prestigious event- the Pipeline Masters in Hawaii.  Above all he wanted glory, a modest payoff for his years of training and hard work. At almost the exact same time as his final heat ended, having just won, a tropical rainstorm moved through and sent everyone on the beach packing.  Instead of victoriously hoisting the winner’s trophy overhead, basking in the admiration of his fellow surfers while thousands of scantily-clad, adoring fans cheered and waited for autographs, Joey sat on the beach- alone, and wet, and devoid of the praise he so desperately deserved.

I feel like that’s what happened in last month’s MWWC35 to the winner @thedrunkencyclist.  His victory was eclipsed (yeah, I just did that) by a series of…

A very hearty Hamburger Stew that is full of ground beef, vegetables and is made on your stovetop. This is a great way to use up all the vegetables before they go bad. A very easy stew.

Adapted from: Mennonite & Amish Recipes and More

Ingredients

Prepare all of the vegetables.

In a deep stock pot, add the ground beef.

Cook over medium heat until no pink

remains. Drain the grease and set aside.

In a large pan over medium heat add

the oil, mushrooms, carrots, celery &

onion. Cook until the vegetables start

to get tender, stirring frequently.

Pour the vegetables into the ground beef pot.

Add all the rest of the ingredients.

Stir and bring to a boil over medium-high

heat. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and

simmer for about 30 minutes or

until the potatoes are tender.

Ladle into serving bowls and enjoy!