SoCS: Cozy Candles, Music, Movies, and Cats, Plus a Sheep, Rooster, and Dog in the Mirror

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “cozy.’” Use it any way you like. Have fun! (And Merry Christmas if I don’t come back before then!) Linda was worried about losing power due to a big storm up there in the great white north as I think Canada might be known (as dubbed by a comedy team in the 80s). I have to interfect that even if we lose electricity, we still have power of some kind or other, like the power of prayer, song, laughter, lighting candles (but not near smoke alarms…) I hope Linda keeps her electricity and everyone else does too.

Lighting candles has always been cozy for me. My fireplace doesn’t work as it would need a lot of repairs to be safe, but I light candles in there to give the illusion of a fire. There will be candles tonight and Christmas night, especially since the lows will be in the teens and twenties which is unusual for the Carolina Coast. Where my son lives in the mountains, the low was -6 F last night. That’s minus 6 degrees Fahrenheit. Burr. Maybe I don’t want to live there year round.

I hope everyone who has animals keeps them warm and safe inside. Up North, it might be a three dog night, meaning that’s how many dogs to sleep with. But all dogs should be inside the house. Period.

Back to cozy. I’ve been listening to cozy music on Youtube. Sometimes it makes me sleepy. I’ll share some in a bit. Or why not now? You can always come back to it when you want to relax. I especially like the picture that goes with this one.

At the sanctuary where I volunteer on Thursdays, the sheep and goats were in the barn because of the heavy rain. I’m sure they’ll all be in there tonight. The pigs, too, and some of the chickens. Other chickens will be in their coops. I still wonder how birds survive the cold. Must be some miraculous design. And they can fly! Pretty amazing when you stop to think about it.

Here are pictures of Bennie, one of the sheep, staying cozy in the barn and studying his image, along with a rooster, Marley in the mirror before I donated it to the sanctuary, and Mama Cat being cozy on the couch.

Bennie getting enrichment

Bennie looking at his friend Jeff

Maybe “Simon”

Marley in the Mirror

Mama Cat Cozy on the Couch

Speaking of CATS, I saw some hilarious/cute photos of cats getting cozy in nativity scenes. Here’s a link from Bored Panda.

David said tonight after church he wants to take Marley for a walk around the neighborhood. He took Doodle for a walk on Christmas Eve years ago and it was wonderful, so he wants to revive that tradition with Marley. It will be cold, but David’s from Connecticut and Marley is half husky, so they’ll be fine. I’ll probably be watching a Christmas movie.

Watching old Christmas movies and singing Christmas songs makes me feel cozy. It’s a bit weird how often I can watch the same movies over and over, like Elf, It’s a Wonderful Life, and more recently, Last Christmas which I just discovered this year. Last Christmas was inspired by the music of George Michael and Wham who I have paid little attention to until this movie enchanted me. I also like the starring actress Emilia Clarke who was in Solo, a Star Wars Story. It’s comforting to watch familiar movies again and again. They become like background music (like Star Trek) as I blog and do other stuff on the computer.

One of my favorite old Christmas songs was redone by James Taylor. I like how he’s changed the words just a tiny bit.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

May your heart be light

In a year our troubles will be out of sight…

Merry Christmas ~ Happy Holidays!

For more cozy streams of consciousness,

visit out host, Linda Hill’s blog

by clicking HERE!

SoCS: Produce and Productivity

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “product/produce.” Use one, use them both, use them any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use both. Have fun!

The first thing that came to mind was produce. As in strawberries, squash, and little orange tomatoes from the farmer’s market that taste soooo good! Produce = fruit and vegetables – gifts from earth, from Creator. And from bees. Gotta have bees.

Every Thursday, I chop up produce for the animals at the sanctuary. Lately, I’ve been practicing cutting produce with my left hand, because my right arm is giving me some trouble. It’s gotta be a good brain exercise but takes longer. I would not want to be a waitress, but don’t mind doing this for the animals.

I hope I get a few more grapes out back since I have tried to cut back and drape the grapevine around a fence and keep the other vines from taking over. Of course, the birds and squirrels will have some, too. We’ll see.

Nurturing the grape vine and going to the farmer’s market are much happier forms of what some might call productivity. When I used to work in an office, the measurement of productivity changed in the last 5 years of my 30-year counseling career. The measurement changed to expect more direct services in spite of mountains of paperwork/computer work being added… Oh stop it! That’s history, and I’m soooo thankful it’s history. I don’t even like the word productivity anymore. How about creativity!

Now, I can feel productive if I make cookies from bananas, peanut butter, and oatmeal, or if I give Marley a bath – which is a lot of work! Taking down the old shower curtain was productive. I’ve washed it and scrubbed it enough times. Now, I have a new one. David can put that up. It’s supposedly “biodegradable and eco-friendly.” I have not thrown the old one away. It’s hanging on the clothesline because I might wash it. Might not. I don’t have to decide until I want to decide. More important things to do. Like getting ready to go to the mountains! More on that later!

Semi-random photos that may or may not be related to the topic:

My healthy cookies –
two have chocolate

Lunch for Chickens –
squash and apples

Bees at the sanctuary
get to keep their honey

Moth on the barn
at the sanctuary

Dragonfly in my backyard

Key limes at Key Largo
(Honeymoon 2012)

~~~

For more streams of consciousness, rules, etc.

visit out host, Linda G. Hill by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Things my Parents Said about Possibility, Goats, Food, Wishes and Spit

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “a phrase you grew up with.” Include in your post a phrase your mom/dad/grandparent/sibling used all the time when you were growing up, or just write whatever inspires you based on that phrase. Enjoy!

I have to start by honoring my father, Jim, who would have been…. 91 on May 2 if he was still in this world. You may have read that my father inspired the title of my blog by telling me when I was 12 years old:

“Nothing is Impossible.”

He was told that by his scoutmaster, probably in the 1940s and passed it on to me in the 1960s. He didn’t make this statement a lot, but the tone of his voice and the state of my impressionable mind made it stick. “Nothing is impossible” became “Anything is possible.”

My dad also said,

“Outstanding!”

I think that was a common military word. It felt good to hear that one. He also said things in what sounded like Korean or Vietnamese (he served as a Marine in both those wars), but I think they were curse words, so I’m not going to try to guess how they might be spelled.

Mom often said,

“Kids are baby goats,”

She said that whenever someone would call children kids. Dad picked that up, too. Sorry, Mom, but I sometimes say kids. Mom also said,

“We don’t throw away food.”

That came from growing up during “The Great Depression.” The other thing mom said a lot was,

“Wish in one hand and spit in the other and see which one gets filled up first.”

There are other versions of that saying which Mom would not want me to share. Still, I think there is some value in wishing as long as we do the footwork to make our wishes come true. Not that we can MAKE them come true every time, but we can manifest our dreams. We can move in the direction of our hopes and dreams, one step as time. Sometimes we manifest something even better!

As I look at that word, manifest, it conjures up all kinds of trash in the stream of consciousness. It’s not a pleasant-sounding word, but it has a powerful meaning. What would be another word that means nurturing dreams into reality? Well, I don’t know. But I know this:

Dreams do come true!

Reading these sayings from my parents, it sounds like my dad was more of a dreamer and my mom was stern. That was not the case at all, at least not on the surface. Dad was practical and hardworking. Mom was more romantic, though dad had his romantic side, too. Just for the record.

I could write a whole other post about goats. Summing it up: Don’t take baby goats away from their mamas.

Mother Esther and Daughter Miracle

Friends Mira and Mary

Brothers Jack and Henry

Goats at the Blueberry Lane Sanctuary

Esther and Delilah came to the sanctuary pregnant. It was the first time they were allowed to keep their babies. I don’t have a good picture of Delilah, but Jack and Henry are her sons. Esther’s daughter was named Miracle, aka Mira, because she was a complete surprise, and her mama is so old.

Happy Mother’s Day to goat mamas, dog mamas, cat mamas, llama mamas and

all the mamas everywhere.

~~~

For more sayings, streams, and rules, visit our most excellent host, Linda G. Hill HERE.

More Than Surviving at the Farm Animal Sanctuary

Esther and Mira

Today’s prompt for Just Jot it January is “surviving.” Thanks to Wendy for the prompt and to our host, Linda Hill, for keeping us going! You can learn more about #JusJoJan at Linda’s post HERE.

Until I started volunteering at Blueberry Lane Farm Animal Sanctuary, I hadn’t had much personal experience with chickens, goats, or pigs. Now, the menagerie is like extended family. At the sanctuary, they are not just surviving, they are thriving, and they are loved.

Every Thursday, I prepare lunch for the sanctuary residents. I cut up produce and feed it to the pigs and roosters and check to make sure the goats have plenty of hay. The pigs were rescued from factory farms and the roosters from kapparot where live chickens are twirled overhead. The roosters get along fine for the most part. After feeding, I like to hang out with the gentle old lady goats. The goats were rescued from petting zoos or breeders where they were not well cared for. Esther is one of my favorites. It’s taken a while for her to trust me.

Esther’s stomachs are permanently distended because she was not fed properly. When she arrived at the sanctuary, Esther was secretly pregnant. Her daughter, Mira, short for Miracle, was a sweet surprise. Mira, being born on the farm, is friendly and assertive. Now, Esther gets different kinds of hay, forages in the yard, and gets lettuce and other greens as a treat. She loves it when I pick an occasional green leaf off of a tree for her.

Surviving is usually better than not surviving, especially if there’s the hope of something better. Animals living in small cages, enclosures where they cannot turn around, as with veal calves and lactating pigs, or living in terribly crowded conditions on factory farms, may be surviving, but their lives are miserable. We humans can do better. This is why I’ve progressed to being about 95% vegan and why I volunteer at the sanctuary. If you’ve thought about reducing your meat consumption, it’s now easier than ever. Vegan alternatives and restaurants are popping up in most cities. Consider meatless Mondays. It’s a great time of year for minestrone or lentil soup!

‘The most ethical diet just so happens to be the most environmentally sound diet and just so happens to be the healthiest’ – Dr Michael Gregor (quote found here.)

Sheep and Goats

Esther and Mira

Goat Nuzzling

A happy pig

Patrick and Francis

Rooster Emmanuel likes
hanging out with the pigs.

Nice tail feathers

Owl keeping watch

Leo is so handsome

Padre and Bennie in the summertime

Don’t forget to check out Linda and Wendy’s posts at the links above!

SoCS: Thanks for the Vaccination Nudge

My friend Mary who is a pediatrician nudged me to get vaccinated early this year. I wasn’t in any hurry and might not have even been vaccinated if she hadn’t nudged me early on with a link to a local clinic. I wanted to see what happened. I knew from my side effects to the flu shot, that my side effects to the covid vaccine were likely to be significant, and they were. But now, I’m glad I got the shots.

Saturday I dropped some school supplies off to a community organizer. We chatted in her living room without masks. I had mine in my pocket, but knew we’d both been vaccinated. She offered me a hug as I was about to leave, and I accepted warmly. Not sorry about that. But maybe it wouldn’t have hurt to wear a mask. I found out yesterday that she tested positive for covid. I think she’s okay, but her daughter is in the hospital.

I’ve heard of a lot of people who were vaccinated testing positive for covid, but their symptoms are mild compared to people who have not been vaccinated. My friend who tested positive but was NOT vaccinated has been in ICU for three weeks and on a ventilator. He is ten years younger than me. He’s also a wonderful person who has done a lot for the community. God, I hope he’s going to be okay. Lots of people are praying.

I am thankful for my doctor friend nudging me to get vaccinated. I’m feeling okay, recovering from plantar fascitis and a pulled muscle in my back. My body is good at healing, if maybe slower than it used to be. Still, I think I’m going to lay low, take it easy, and wear my mask when I go anywhere. Life is precious.

Some of these photos are from the farm animal sanctuary where I prepare lunch on Thursdays.

• 

  Me in my angel mask

• 

  Leo isn’t so sure about his new perch.

• 

  The goats like the fennel in the chicken yard.

• 

  Patrick reminds me of a big dog.

• 

  Padre is so handsome.

• 

  A skink in my backyard.

• 

  Girl at the beach.

• 

  The vegan chocolate “ice cream” is my favorite.

Our Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday was: “my.” Start your post with the word “My.” Bonus points if you end your post with “yours.” Enjoy!

For more streams of consciouness along with rules visit out host, Linda Hill at this link.

Good News Tuesday: Sibling Adoption, Marathon Sanctuary, & a Special Donation

I hope you’re all having a lovely holiday. I didn’t completely forget about Good News Tuesday. I had most of this post done a few days ago, back when I remembered that Christmas was on Tuesday. After this morning’s hike and some veggie lasagna, I was just settling in for a nap when I realized, it’s Tuesday! The good news doesn’t stop! So here we go….

 

Seven Siblings are adopted After 1,035 days in Foster Care.

Michael and Terri Hawthorn’s four biological children were mostly grown up. In April they adopted toddler twins. On December 3rd, they adopted seven siblings. I think you’ll enjoy their story:

 

 

 

On-Going Marathon Mass Provides Sanctuary for One Family

A Church in The Netherlands has been holding a 24/7 around the clock church service for over 6 weeks to provide sanctuary for an Armenian family.  It was a special treat for me to hear them singing some of my favorite Taize chants.  I love how volunteers from many denominations are helping.

 

 

…

Donating instead of Shipping

This couple is moving from California to North Carolina. But instead of shipping their stuff across the country, they’re donating  almost all their possessions to California Firefighters.

 

 

May the Holy Days bring and Abundance of

Peace and Joy

to You and Your Loved Ones.

Merry Christmas!

No Kill, No Cage Sanctuary for Cats

This lady found her true calling in “retirement.” In another video, she said she gave up her house to the cats and lives in a trailer. She also rescues a few dogs who live on the property, and everybody gets along.

Got good news? Feel free to share! It can be global, local, or personal!