miscellanea

Relaxing | 13 Mar. 2020 #weekendcoffeeshare

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld
Red Clover
Red Clover

Weekend Coffee Share is a time for us to take a break from our lives to enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new)! / Grab a cup of coffee and share with us! What’s been going on in your life? What are your weekend plans? Is there a topic you’ve just been ruminating on that you want to talk about?

Our host for Weekend Coffee Share is Eclectic Alli, whose coffee share post and Inlinkz link party for this weekend can be found HERE!

Welcome! Tea (hot and black) or Toddy coffee or filtered water to drink. Gluten-free veggie crackers with fresh mozzarella cheese for nibbling.

The week has flown by, and it seems as though I have not accomplished anything. I have enjoyed looking through photographs, playing with the Scampers, and keeping caught up on chores. We did, finally, do some grocery shopping, this week, and I had fish and meat for meals. There was a good sale price on salmon fillets, and so I cooked one for me and Al and cooked/froze the other.

I have spent the day reading and continuing to browse through the photography files I had uploaded to JPG Magazine over the years. I am sad that they sold their magazine name and closed down their web site. I miss the people that I got to know as I looked through their photographs and looked into their lives and exchanged messages. For $10, I got my full-resolution .jpg files and the .cvs files with photo file names, titles, and any comments on the photos in ZIP archive files. Here are a few from today’s favorites.

Wild Violet
Violet Patch

The poetry prompt, this week, was lots of fun to write to: monkey and funky. Found a photograph on one of the free sites to go with it, one that had “mood”! “Night Sounds”.

I have continued not taking the Metformin. Got the meal timing and portions tacked down, now, and my blood sugar level has evened out. I think that having a better selection of food stuffs in the house has helped. Most days, I did my weight lifting routine, but I only got out to the gazebo and the exercise bike once. The temperature outside has gone down, and the sun has been hiding. I really want to get outside, again!

Al’s just gotten home, so I have to close this. I look forward to reading your Coffee Share posts throughout the weekend.

I hope that wherever you are, you and yours are doing well — staying safe and taking care of one another.

Best wishes!
Lizl

Friday, planning | 6 Mar. 2020 #weekendcoffeeshare

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld
Honeybee on a Common Thistle Flower (2009)

Weekend Coffee Share is a time for us to take a break from our lives to enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new)! / Grab a cup of coffee and share with us! What’s been going on in your life? What are your weekend plans? Is there a topic you’ve just been ruminating on that you want to talk about?

Our host for Weekend Coffee Share is Eclectic Alli, whose coffee share post and Inlinkz link party for this weekend can be found HERE!

Buds
A Remnant
Dead Leaves, not fallen

Welcome! The wind is strong, the temperature goes up and down, (melt and freeze, melt and freeze,) and I thought that this would be a perfect afternoon to settle in to look through photographs of bees… And think about summertime and flowers. Recently, on our way home from grocery shopping, I saw a V of ducks flying northward. A cheerful sight, full of promise!

Distant friends,
call out “Coming home!”
as you fly.

Copyright © 2016-03-21, by Lizl Bennefeld. All rights reserved.

But recalling autumn’s flight…

A “V” of 16 geese flew over me, calling out to one another, heading south. The sight and sounds leave me bereft and teary eyed. Saying good-bye to old friends—not knowing if they’ll make it back here in the spring. Not knowing if I’ll still be here to greet them.

“Cloudy Passage” [a prose poem]. Copyright © 2016-11-25, by Lizl Bennefeld. All rights reserved.

The week has been quiet. I have continued reading/rereading books by the same authors as last week. I adjusted my meds schedule at the end of last weekend, and am feeling much better as this week’s gone on. Getting really tired of reading the news. I am considering the purchase of wireless headphones and streaming nature sounds.

The political campaign text messages in advance of the primaries have been amusing, but I’m ready for them to go away, now. I mailed in my primary ballot, but the state of ND’s Democratic-NPL caucus is on the 10th, by which time I trust there will be some lull in their efforts. BTW, I do read texts and voice mails, but seldom pick up the telephone for numbers I don’t recognize. Just sayin’…

I have caught up on sleep, this week. During the “wind advisory” day, we took the time off to relax, nap with the puppies, and generally do nothing. Felt really good. My energy level and enthusiasm are coming back, and I have been enjoying some interesting dreams.

If we were having coffee together, today, I would mention that the current health crisis has me shaking my head in amused despair. Most of their “precautions” would land me in the ER quite promptly. Really looking forward to spring and summer and getting out into the back yard, if the contagion appears in this region and I can no longer leave our property or invite anyone in for an in-person visit.

My next project is to go through the current piles of boxes in my former office and throw away a lot of stuff. Including books I do not care to read again, correspondence more than 20 years old, and all greeting cards received. Too much stuff…a desire for emptier rooms and more space for pacing.

I have missed my suppertime, and so must check on the (finally) hardboiled eggs I cooked to go with my salad meal. Trying to be more conscientious about routines for menus and timing.

Best wishes for the coming week and the changing of the seasons!

Love and best wishes,
Lizl

Leap Day, not leaping | #weekendcoffeeshare 29 Feb. 2020

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld

Weekend Coffee Share is a time for us to take a break from our lives to enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new)! / Grab a cup of coffee and share with us! What’s been going on in your life? What are your weekend plans? Is there a topic you’ve just been ruminating on that you want to talk about?

Our host for Weekend Coffee Share is Eclectic Alli, whose coffee share post and Inlinkz link party for this weekend can be found HERE!

After-Breakfast Nap

Welcome! The coffee fixings are in the kitchen, and the tea is hot. Snacks, tonight, are gluten-free veggie crackers, fresh mozzarella cheese, and cashews. With the best of intentions, I still did not get to writing my weekend coffee share post until after evening “puppy time” and goodnight hugs. (The other of us is in his TV room, his puppy in his lap.) My puppy has, sensibly, fallen asleep in his own bed beside my chair.

If we were having coffee together, this evening, I would show off some of the photographs I’ve rediscovered in my JPG Magazine archives—today was the last day for the site, and I have 21 ZIP archives (1073 photograph files) downloaded from my photo pages to sort through and tag, so that I can find what I am looking for. So many memories! I would not have wanted them to disappear forever.

Saturday itself began with overcast sky and a light touch of hoarfrost on the tree branches along our street. I took photos not only of the street, this morning, but also, on Friday morning, snapshots of a few of the leaves that have reappeared as the snow begins to melt. We are hopeful of a gradual snow melt and a lessened chance of flooding, this spring.

If we were visiting together, this weekend, I might mention that my husband and I have talked about several interesting-to-us topics. During evening “puppy time”, a few days ago, which is when much serious discussion takes place, we talked about “Who am I?” Turns out that we think of self-identity, when we think of it at all, in terms of how we interact with others—not so much in terms of personal or physical traits, talents, social roles, or other characteristics. The other topic involved end-of-life capabilities and experiences of family members and a variety of life changes we observe among people in the neighborhood over the decades. Getting a better feel for how to make decisions for ourselves and for each other as circumstances change. The amusing outcome of these evening conversations seems to be that we may not have a “sense of self”, and we each have a low tolerance for doing nothing. But reading, thinking, and taking close notice of the nature/the world around us are never defined as “doing nothing”.

Thank you for stopping by, this weekend! As always, I have enjoyed this opportunity to visit. Best wishes for the remaining weekend and the week to come!

Hugs & much love,
Lizl

P.S. I have added a few poems, this week, to my Quilted Poetry blog—some new, one revised, and a favorite from my archives.

Saturday, relaxing | #weekendcoffeeshare 22-23 Feb. 2020

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld

cup of tea, 1-cup teapot, reading glasses

Weekend Coffee Share is a time for us to take a break from our lives to enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new)! / Grab a cup of coffee and share with us! What’s been going on in your life? What are your weekend plans? Is there a topic you’ve just been ruminating on that you want to talk about?

Our host for Weekend Coffee Share is Eclectic Alli, whose coffee share post and Inlinkz link party for this weekend can be found HERE!

Welcome! I’ve just come in from the back yard, where I put in a few miles on the exercise bike in the gazebo, where the temperature was in the 60s, this afternoon. Slowly working my way back into activity after necessary down time. Due to contact dermatitis, I have been taking antihistamines and using up a lot of aloe gel, but not washing a lot of dishes, again this week. I thought the sores had healed up, but not…so back to paper plates and bowls. Going to give it time to heal, this time around.

Early in the morning, my sister called to visit. She is putting Mother’s genealogy books into a format suitable for making printed copies for the relatives who want them, combining them in one volume to save on printing costs. Also, Mom’s Selective Memories, to be printed separately, which pretty much describes what Mom had decided should comprise her memoir. Don’t know if my sister will go with color or black-and-white. Mother felt free to use color photos, since she had decided to publish all her books in PDF.

Early in the week, we had a nice snowfall, and I got out to take photographs in the bitter cold. Bare handed, so not a ton of ’em.

Snowy Street
Snowy Garden Shed

~_~

Good Morning! Awake, again! The evening extended further into night than I had planned, when the monitor on my very, very old desktop computer decided to die. I’ve replaced it with a very old spare—one that belonged to my late mother. I am in the midst of a comprehensive data backup…and Microsoft decided to stick a major update in there.

The day is bright and sunny. The temperature is already 35°F (2°C), and the temperature in the gazebo is nearly 60°F. We removed the Scampers’ cozy shirts sometime on Saturday. I continue to read the Imager Portfolio (L.E. Modesitt, Jr.); I now am in Book 7. I also plan to (re)read A Woman of No Importance in anticipation of my alma mater’s next book reading/discussion, which starts early in March.

My hand and wrist look better, this Sunday morning, as compared to yesterday afternoon. I must leave you, now, to attempt dishwashing. I look forward to visiting with you as I am able, this afternoon and tomorrow (or later).

Best wishes for your week,
Lizl

 

Wednesday, midmorning tea

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld
b+w: grasshopper on a leaf in the garden
Grasshopper in August

In truth, I started writing this at midmorning, but time got away from me. The temperature is -4°F/-20°C with a wind chill temperature of -21°F. It seems odd to me, seeing the Hazardous Weather Outlook embrace both wind chill and river flooding in the same set of announcements. I woke up, waking the Scampers also, a bit after seven o’clock, this morning. We have gone through all of the minimal, necessary morning chores, and have climbed back into our respective beds, Charlie at Al’s feet and Thadd at mine. Continue reading “Wednesday, midmorning tea” →

Quiet Weekend | #WeekendCoffeeShare, 4 Jan. 2020

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld

Weekend Coffee Share is a time for us to take a break out of our lives and enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new)!

Grab a cup of coffee and share with us! What’s been going on in your life? What are your weekend plans? Is there a topic you’ve just been ruminating on that you want to talk about?

This Weekend’s Coffee Share Link Party can be found here, at Eclectic Alli’s blog.

Thank you for stopping by for Weekend Coffee Share! Today, I’ve got the fixings for Toddy coffee and tea (English Breakfast and an assortment of tea bags that arrive with my Stash Tea shipments of the loose leaf tea that I drink), as well as fresh mozzarella cheese, gf veggie crackers, and cashew-carrot ginger soup. (Ate all the mixed nuts before you got here.) 

It’s time that I invited someone in for a coffee break. The week has been totally quiet, staying inside to avoid the winter’s icy rain and snow, rereading favorite books, buying some new ones, and catching up on rest and relaxation. (Picked up a recent book by Paul R. Sponheim, Learning on Life’s Way, that turns out to be quite interesting. A course from him on contemporary religious thought landed me in a philosophy major, summer leading into my senior year. B&N has lowered the price on a couple other of his books, which I am inclined to investigate.)

Brunch?

This morning, I was up long enough to take care of the Scampers, and to glance at the news headlines, before curling up with the puppies for a two-hour nap. Al woke up and found the fresh coffee on his own, and has now gone out to run as many errands as he feels inspired to do. This is the day of the week that his favorite diner serves lasagna soup. He should not miss that treat! I enjoyed a bowl of yogurt and fruit.

As I looked through the photographs that I took (snapshots, really) during the week, I found a few that pleased me.

cotoneaster fruit, red and green leaves
Autumn Fruit and Leave
Black-Eyed Susans
Black-Eyed Susans
Shade and Sun
Shade and Sun
suspect the red leaves are virginia creeper
Unwanted Vines
Cotoneaster Fruit
Cotoneaster Fruit

I would also tell you that I have continued to go through my beginning exercises on the piano, almost every day, and adding new ones as I feel that I’ve mastered some of the beginning ones. My mind, eyes, and fingers seem to be reconnecting. I am hopeful. I have also incorporated more specific balance and flexibility exercises into my (dance/ballet/strength exercise) routine. Although it’s been 40 years or more since I have danced in public. Other than once at one of Al’s employer’s Christmas parties in the 1990s.

An interesting (to me) aside, here: During my meeting with my doctor, middle of last month, she asked if I were having any problems with stiffness or other physical mobility issues, and realized that I don’t really have any constant or frequently recurring problems with motion. Other than occasional vertigo when my ears get stuffed up, but I don’t think that was what she meant. My mother, my Mom’s older sister, and my younger sister had/has arthritis. I don’t recall my father’s having any troubles of that sort at all. Or his parents. Funny thing, heredity and distribution of physical traits. My sister and I were discussing that via telephone, yesterday. I will continue to work on the coordination and balance exercises. Diligently!

The Scampers are getting restless as their suppertime nears, and so I (reluctantly) must take a break to see to them and to supper. I have enjoyed your visit and look forward to reading your weekend coffee share or other weekend post as I am able.

Best wishes for your week!

Hugs & much love!
Lizl

New Year’s Day Afternoon

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld
photo through the window, looking east
Looking Out

Mostly Cloudy/-6°F (-21°C). One degree warmer than our forecast high temperature, here in eastern North Dakota USA.

If you’d dropped in, this afternoon, I would offer to heat a second cup of Toddy coffee. I’ve also gluten-free veggie crackers and hot bread cheese (leipäjuusto) to offer. The Scampers occupy the loveseat. Thadd is sound asleep right across from me, and Charlie has been looking out through the curtains, but no cars are passing by for him to woof at.

I made some major changes at the end of the year, canceling both of my domains and Personal plans with WordPress, and so they have reverted to the generic [myblogname].wordpress.com. That means that the [myblogname] dot net URLs no longer work. My blogs, all of them but my journal.thewrittenword.net, have been drastically underused. That may have something to do with my tendency to, periodically, delete them and start over from scratch. #SorryNotSorry

It has occurred to me that I have not put together a chapbook of my poetry since 1990 or 1991, which I had printed locally and then hand sold, netting the grand sum of a little more than $200 after expenses. Also did special editions for individuals to give as gifts to a friend, to a child, &c. So much cozier than what I imagine working through a publishing company might be. Thinking about going through the Quilted Poetry blog and weeding out, editing, and such. Reorganizing to some sort of a plan.

That reminds me of the frustrations of computer programming. One runs out of coding projects before one runs out of the joy, and then is stuck with revisions, updates, and troubleshooting—none of which is fun—and the joy only returns with the next new project. It didn’t take long for me to switch to operations, which had a routine but also many day-to-day variables. 

I have creamed the WordPress version update at The Written Word, but I have also upgraded to a new hosting plan, which will triple the web space. That was the domain name for my business starting in 1988, about three and a half years after I left corporate IT to do freelance writing (job search, mostly) and academic style/ESL editing and consulting. Eventually, I became absorbed in my own writing (and in photography), and so arriving at retirement four years ago was a good thing. The demands on my energy couldn’t sustain dealing with the radical bifurcation.. The last two years, I took on no new projects or clients, and just scheduled my long-time customers for their routine work. I do miss them, but I am much more comfortable now and able to do things at my own pace—a flexible schedule.

I have a nice metaphorical stack of ebooks to read and some more preorders to look forward to.

My bread-cheese breakfast is wearing off, and so I must seek out a proper meal before the day runs out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lizl