Sunday, July 29, 2018

Days like this . . . . . . . .


I am truly thankful for my home today.
I admit I moan about it at times, the small size, lack of a pantry, concern about stairs
 as we age, the now pressing need to replace the entire HVAC system, the never
 ending garden chores, the biting bugs and rascally wildlife visitors in the garden,
 and so forth.
 Of course there are lots of good things too, enough for another story some day!
A bright, new, easy to maintain, turnkey condo on one level, just ready to furnish
 and relax in as we age, with a patio ready for pots of plants and kitchen herbs
 fills my dreams.

But, as I said, today I'm happy and extremely grateful for the cottage home I do have.

Earlier this week I started a post to share here about a special new woman who
 has shown up in my life. Thanks to other family members doing the 23andMe DNA
 testing, and being on Ancestry.com, I now have a second cousin in California. 
She has been sharing so much info, and lovely photos of the family (my mother's
 side) which I'd never seen. I have been able to assist her with names, dates and
 stories to enable her to do more work on the family tree. 
Over the past two weeks we've chatted on the phone and exchanged dozens
 of emails. Our Canadian-born grandfathers were brothers and she inherited
 several steamer trunks full of photos and history from her late grandmother. 
Now she's going through them and finding such treasures. . . . . . . . . but, and this
 is the very sad part, yesterday she and her husband lost their home in the huge,
 horrific, Carr wildfire which swept through a section of Redding in northern California!
 They and their pets are safe, however I'm not sure yet what, if anything else, they
 were able to save.

Life can be so sad. Linda and her neighbors must be in shock over 
losing their much-loved homes and my heart goes out to them all.


Cottage garden with Sunflowers - Summer 2018
Gazebo - Spring 2018
Potting Shed - Summer 2018

At some other time I hope to share more about the family treasures 
Linda found in the trunks. Meanwhile, I hope you, like me, will pray
for an end to this devastating wildfire which brave firefighters on the
 ground, and in the air, are trying to stop, and that there will be no
 further loss of lives or properties. 
This is really a bad one, in fact being named perhaps the worst ever in
 northern California. Even more worrisome is the that the weather forecast
 is not sounding kind at all for the coming week, and halting the spread of
 this massive fire will take an unbelievable effort by many, many
 brave people!



9 comments:

  1. Oh, Mary, the fire seems to be getting worse. The lose of life is so sad. I am so sorry that your newly found family member is one of those who has lost their home. It is awful. The firefighters try so hard but the most they can manage to do is contain the fire as best they can. It is up to Mother Nature to stop or slow the devastation, unfortunately.

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  2. Dear Mary - I am so sorry to learn that your new found second cousin has lost her home in one of the current wildfires raging through California - we have just watched it on the news. It feels as if it is no time at all since the last ones were raging through the countryside and devastating all before them. I really don't know how people manage to pick up the pieces of their life again when something like that happens.

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  3. What sad news. I hope that the fire will be contained soon. It's been such a devastating summer here in Europe with fires in Greece and now in Spain. I tend to complain about many t hings too but we should be more grateful for what we have.

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  4. The fires are terrible this year all around the world; I am sure you heard about the one in Greece where more than 80 people lost their lives.
    That your newfound cousin and her family are safe is certainly something to be immensely grateful for, just as being safe in your own home.
    Lovely paintings - are they real paintings, or reworked photos?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, that news from Greece was so very sad.
      Not real paintings - I purchased the Waterlogue app for my phone - it's a lot of fun and I can turn my photos into watercolors!

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  5. Such sad news; your reminder to be thankful for the homes we have is so timely. I'm glad your cousin is safe, but what shock she must be experiencing.

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  6. I'm so sorry to hear about the Carr fire's destruction of your second cousin's home. They are having a terrible time up there right now. It's fire season in California; it could be our turn next...though I pray not. I join you and many others in praying for everyone involved. I like your Waterlogue "paintings"....

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  7. Dear Mary, Such sad news about the fires. It breaks my heart when I hear of firefighters losing their lives trying to help. They are the true heros.

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  8. Oh NO!!! So sorry to hear this. Yes, it does make us appreciate what we have all the more. This is indeed a bad fire. Thanks for letting us know.

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