Tag Inspire

You are beautiful!

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You are beautiful… Have you been told this before?

Imagine my day… pouring rain, on freeway, tire pressure light goes on, panic, stopped at two gas stations, air pressure machines not working, no umbrella, sopping wet, frustrated, worried…

Stopped at third gas station… a nice man asked if I needed help. He told me of a tire place around the corner… as I was about to leave, with sincerity, still looking me in the eye, he said, “You are beautiful!”

A Guardian Angel moment… I was caught off guard. I looked like the dog in the photo.

One side of my brain was saying, “Come on, look at you, such a mess, how could he say you are beautiful?”

The other side of my brain was grinning, “Look at you, even with no makeup, sopping wet, someone thinks, you are beautiful!”

I thanked him. His words have stayed with me.

As I drove off, smiling / puzzled, I thought, “Have I ever been told I was BEAUTIFUL?”

No, I have not. Sure, if I was dressed up going to a party, someone “might” have said, “You LOOK beautiful tonight, but not you ARE beautiful.” I thought about the difference in these words.

So, here is to a Guardian Angel type of moment. The Universe sending me a sweet message out of the blue.

Bucket List – Someone has said, “I’m beautiful!” Done – feels good, especially coming from a stranger, no prompting. We should all be told we are beautiful, once in our lifetime.

PAY IT FORWARD… Now, I will have to do the same for someone else. Give someone a compliment. It warms our hearts, it makes us feel good.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Great Audio Book by Abraham Verghese!

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I enjoy working on puzzles while listening to an audio book. Finding the right book is tricky. The story line has to be engaging, but also the narrator’s voice makes or breaks the story.

Bingo – Abraham Verghese’s, “Cutting for Stone” was a fantastic family saga set in Ethiopia with a focus on medicine. Sunil Malhotra was a perfect choice to narrate the book. I immediately sensed the author had a medical background, the surgery scenes were so detailed. Oh, not gory, not like that, professional.

I don’t want to give the story away. Verghese did a wonderful job of building the scenes and giving a good ending, ie, not a predictable one. He’s Indian, lived in Ethiopia and works in the medical field. The sign of an excellent book is when you keep wondering whether it really happened! He accomplished that.

Here is the puzzle I worked on. A lot of fun.

Now, I’m off to find a NEW book to read. Maybe Verghese has another one I will like.

Any recommendations, let me know. I tend to enjoy historical fiction.

Enjoy the weekend!

The Bald Eagles had two babies…

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Credit: Pixabay, Photographer: Schlappohr

Did you know that the Bald Eagles had two babies recently. They are so big already.

There is a live feed owned and operated by Friends of Big Bear Valley. They have strict copyright rules in place for screenshots / videos, so be mindful if you want to share with others.

The Eagles have names. The Father is Shadow, Mother is Jackie, the eaglets are Gizmo & Sunny.

I visit daily to see them. I’m curious to see what happens when they take their first flight. Also, I learned the other day that the eagles will not have white hair until they are five years old. Yesterday, Shadow brought a huge fish to the nest. They were all happy!

If you have an interest, venture over to YouTube, there are a lot of videos to watch.

Last year, the eggs did not hatch. This year a success!

Flower first, THEN a fruit!

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Nature is amazing. While I eat fruit, I’ve never thought about “how” it is grown, start to finish.

My friend was excited to show me that her fruit trees are budding. A few years ago, she planted a cherry tree. The tree became huge, but no cherries. After investigation, they found that they needed a “second” cherry tree for pollination.

Here you see the Black Tartarian Cherry:

Next, the Santa Rosa Plum:

Here you have Nectarines:

I’ve always preferred nectarines over peaches. Although, sometimes peaches seem juicier.

Have you planted any fruit trees?

Spring – The sun was so BRIGHT today!

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We have had such rain the past week or so. It does get gloomy. So, today I was pleasantly surprised to take a walk this morning and feel the warm sun. As I looked up, I thought how amazing the sun was, so huge.

Then as I continued on, spring flowers are popping up.

Have a wonderful Spring filled weekend!!

How 6 Million People Read My Blog Post!

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Did it work? Did I catch your attention with the 6 Million readers?

I saw an article on the art of blog writing. It mentioned that it helps to use a “number” in the title. Personally, I always steer clear of posts that say, “3 Best Gluten Free Breads,” or “10 Worst TV Shows,” etc. I used to get sucked into those, then realized they were full of “fluff.” WHY, because they got the memo that adding a number to their title would get you readers/followers, so a bit boring, lots of copy cat articles.

I sold advertising for magazines years ago. We had certain issues that used the “number technique.” It did work. Our February Wedding issue focused on the 10 Best Wedding Planners, June would be the 20 Best Dentists, September focused on the 5 Best Senior Centers… You get the idea.

It helped sell advertising. Think about it, were these companies really the BEST or were they the ones willing to pay high advertising rates? This is when I realized, there are a lot of “fake” articles out there.

So, if you want to be an influencer, then you need to write in a certain way.

If, you are like me, and write for enjoyment. Then you write your post, get your coffee, sit back and see who comes. If no one comes, tweak things a bit, then see / hope your numbers soar.

Have fun writing!

Food: Eating berries are good for us, but…

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Ok, I hope I don’t make too many people cringe by saying this, but every time I eat a blackberry, they remind of ants. YES, they look like a group of ants in my mind.

Blackberries are a strange fruit, so many little black balls that pop in your mouth. We had a blackberry tree where I grew up. It was glorious to pick blackberries daily and just munch on them non-stop, fingers turning purple. Of course, there was a mad dash to get to the tree first before siblings / friends ate them.

You probably won’t look at blackberries the same now.

I’m off to eat some more…

Below ZERO Temps… What do YOU do?

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This past week has been cold, below zero temps the other day. It’s not possible to walk, so I had to find “something” to do.

Joann Fabric had a huge yarn sale. I decided, time to knit a blanket. It’s coming along. I feel a bit like a granny. Since it will be big, it might take until Fall to complete, depends on how much time I commit to it.

While knitting, I’ve been watching Top Chef on Netflix. I didn’t know that show was still on. As they race against the clock competing, it keeps me going. Keep knitting – one more row, one more row!

Right now, I have dark grey and this light blue color. I’m trying to decide, stay with those two colors only or add this purple violet color. I’m always drawn to bright colors versus earth tones.

I’m amused when I go on a train or bus and see people knitting/crocheting. It does take time, we have to use every minute to get the project done!

Do you have a winter project?

It’s official, today is Valentine’s Day!

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My daughter sent me this, it’s cute. I’ve also received messages from family, friends, vendors (those are sweet) just sending wishes for a heart filled day! I think this day is about love and kindness.

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day and a wonderful weekend!