June Reflections

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June Reflections

Summer has arrived in earnest, with temperatures in the nineties this week. I’m thankful for air conditioning and ceiling fans!

I like when we get past the summer solstice. It’s hard to wind down when it’s still light outside so late.

All the plants are well-established now. I got peonies for Mother’s Day, but I think we may have missed their blooming cycle. The leaves look healthy, so we can look forward to their flowers next year. The wildflowers are prolific and provide a nice view from the windows.

We enjoyed getting together for Father’s Day with all the family (our oldest in RI was there via FaceTime). We enjoyed exploring Ancient Lore Village when they had a free weekend event. It’s full of buildings that look like they’re out of Lord of the Rings.

I had a routine cardiologist appointment, plus the appointment to renew my driver’s license and get my Real ID. I’m glad to have those behind me.

I also met with a friend to have lunch and talk about ideas for making cards.

Watching

We haven’t really watched much worth mentioning except The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler again. It’s based on the true story of a Polish social worker who worked with the Resistance and smuggled thousands of Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto and placed them with other families until the war was over.

Creating

I made three Father’s Day cards, letting the Cricut do the heavy lifting this time.

This was for my stepfather:

Father's Day card

The Cricut did the writing as well as the cutting.

This was for Jim:

Father's Day card

The Cricut has some designs that can be sent to the computer to print out, then the Cricut cuts around them.

This was Jason’s:

Father's Day card

Reading

Since last time I have finished:

  • Minor Prophets 1 by the Navigators. I didn’t review this, except a brief mention on GoodReads. I was disappointed. It had a lot of questions with no answers and very little insight.
  • Code Name Edelweiss by Stephanie Landsem. Excellent! Based on a true story of Hitler trying to infiltrate Hollywood and a Jewish man with an underground network of unprofessional spies.
  • Every Hour Until Then by Gabrielle Meyer, her latest Time Crossers novel (audiobook). A young woman living in both 1888 and 1938 discovers her sister in 1888 is one of Jack the Ripper’s victims. She wants to save her sister, but knowingly changing history will cause her to lose her life in that timeline. Excellent!
  • Ribbon of Years: A Timeless Journey of Love, Loss, and Unwavering Grace is a novel by Robin Lee Hatcher (audiobook). A woman’s life story from rebellious teenager to settled woman of faith is told through objects she left behind at her death. It was just okay for me, but the friend who recommended it loved it.

I’m currently reading:

  • Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Thessalonians (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) by Mark Howell. I’ve not read this author nor this series before–giving them a try.
  • The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950 – 1963, compiled by Walter Hooper. I’m getting near the end!
  • Rembrandt Is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art through the Eyes of Faith by Russ Ramsey. I am loving this so far.
  • North! or Be Eaten, the second in the Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson.
  • Larkspur Cove by Lisa Wingate, audiobook.

Blogging

Besides the weekly Friday Fave Fives, Saturday Laudable Linkage, and book reviews, I’ve posted these since last time:

  • Rays of Glory. Those glorious sunbeams filtering through clouds show up because light hits dust and other particles in the air. It’s amazing that God can be glorified when His light reflects off our “dust.”
  • The Mission for My Remaining Years. There are some things we may not be able to do as we get older. But we can always share what God has taught us and point people to Him.
  • A Good Father Reflects God. No father is perfect, and some are farther from perfection than others. But God gives us a picture of a good father to help us understand His love for us.
  • Your Soul Needs Food Even When It Doesn’t Want It. When we’re sick, we still need food for health and strength even when we don’t have an appetite. The same is true spiritually.
  • Simple Card-Making Ideas. Not my usual kind of post, but a discussion of card-making with a friend grew into a blog post.

Looking ahead, I have a couple of medical appointments in July, Independence Day, and Jason’s birthday. Otherwise, it looks to be a quiet month. I hope to work on my manuscript a bit.

How’s your summer going so far?

14 thoughts on “June Reflections”

  1. Barbara, your cards are amazing and special because you tailor them to the person you are creating them for. I always enjoy seeing what you’ve come up with.

    Glad your cardiologist appointment went well and that you now have your license renewed and your Real ID. I’ve had mine for a while now and was even able to renew them this year online, but I just saw in the news that starting in July there’s going to be a more stringent renewal starting for people 70 and over and one has to go into the DMV for the renewal as opposed to doing it online.

    Thank you for mentioning Irena Sendler and linking to the movie trailer. I do know about her but didn’t realize there was a movie. Was it hard to watch?

    Have a great rest of your week, my friend.

    • I hadn’t heard that about more stringent rules for driver’s license renewal for those over 70. I wonder why–I guess because of declining vision. I renewed online last time, but I think here we’re only allowed to do that every other time. But with needing the Real ID this time, I would have needed to go in anyway. I was kind of surprised not to be required to have a vision test.

      I’ve often thought that it would be good for drivers to have to take short tests of driving rules when they renew their licenses. I wouldn’t really want to take one. But when you observe people who don’t know what to do in a 4-way stop or who has the right of way, it feels like a brushing up on the rules would be beneficial.

      I didn’t find the Irena Sendler movie hard to watch ,except near the end when she is captured. There are a couple of brief scenes of her being beaten, but it’s not terribly graphic–I’ve seen much worse in WW2 movies. I was mainly inspired by her courage and drive to do the right thing. It was hard to watch some of the families make the decision to let their children go. At the very end there’s a clip of the real Irena speaking.

  3. What beautiful cards! You are, indeed, a craftsman! My goal this next week to renew my driver’s license and get a “Real I.D.” We are holidaying at the beach this week – you need a real I.D. or passport to see the Blue Angels – I never thought to bring my passport to the beach!

  4. I agree with you about enjoying when daylight hours are shorter. It just seems so disconcerting to have it light out at 9 pm.

    Such clever cards! That Cricut machine is amazing.

    I’m so glad to have the Real ID adventure behind me as well. The only downside is that I now have to live another 8 years with my current driver’s license photo. UGH.

  5. Looks like a good month, and a good one to come. The Rembrandt book sounds interesting; I’ll look forward to your review on that. As always, I love seeing your cards. I too sometimes have gotten a plant and felt like I missed its blooming cycle. I usually get online and see what I can learn about it. Peonies are gorgeous so I hope at some point yours will take off!

  8. I love the father’s day cards! Peonies don’t like to be transplanted so they rarely bloom their first (or sometimes even second) year but as long as they look nice and green I’m sure you’ll be enjoying blooms in no time!

  9. What a great wrapup. I haven’t done a wrap up in a while, though I keep meaning to. Lol. I always appreciate seeing your cards. I have Code Name Eldiwise (sp?) in my Kindle save list.

    Thanks bunches for sharing with Sweet Tea & Friends this month sweet friend.

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