Posted in Life, Stories

Happy Spring!

I LOVE spring!  To feel the warmth of the sun after winter’s chill is healing to my soul.  I love the smell of newly tilled earth and freshly cut lawns.  My BFF gave me a rosebush for my birthday (photo above) and I love the multi colored blooms!

I started some snapdragon seeds indoors this winter and have been rewarded with some amazing colors! See photos below.

Texas’ state flower is the Bluebonnet.  The flowers grow wild along the roads and in fields in the spring.  Below, you will see bluebonnets in bloom along a country road and blue and RED bonnets growing in my brother’s yard!

Here’s a full view of my pretty little rosebush. (below) Looking at the one bloom on it, you would think that the blooms would be yellow.  But they are a multicolored bloom changing from yellow to yellow with pink tips.  I also have a couple of new buds on the bush that look to be mostly pink.  It’s going to be fun to see how they change as they open!  🙂

One more photo.  (I can’t help myself)  Below is a photo of a petunia plant that I saved when I first bought my house a year ago.  When I first saw it, it had one little bloom on it.  I was having a lot of work done on the yard at the time and I couldn’t let the little thing die.  So I dug it up and put it in a pot.  It lasted through the winter and is now blooming like crazy!

If you are still in the grips of winter, I’m sorry.  Spring IS coming.  Hopefully the photos that I’ve shared here brought you a warm smile!

Thank you for joining me on this journey. ❤

Posted in Life

International Women’s Day

I Feel quite honored that International Women’s Day happens to fall on my Birthday!  Today, honor a lovely woman in your life! 

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.” — Cherokee proverb

How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are? — Satchel Paige

Life is too short to be small. — Benjamin Disraeli

We are always the same age inside. – Gertrude Stein

Let your joy be in your journey, not in some distant goal. – Tim Cook

May you live as long as you want and never want as long as you live. – Irish blessing

Image by Markéta (Machová) Klimešová from Pixabay

Posted in Life, Poetry, Prose, quotes, Stories, Writing

Anniversary

  1. 9 Year Anniversary Achievement
    Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!
    You registered on WordPress.com 9 years ago.
    Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

    I received the message above from WordPress yesterday.  This kind of thing makes me reminisce, thinking about how I got here.  My blog has gone through many changes over the years.  It’s still a mish mash of life experiences, poetry or whatever else I happen to fancy at the moment.  I’ve made some wonderful friends along the way. 

    For those of you who have come along for the ride, I thank you!   

Posted in Life, mental illness

Counseling Services Available

In November of last year, I did a post about Affordable Mental Health Counseling.  You can see that post HERE.

I asked my readers if they had information about Affordable Counseling services to please let me know and I will add it to my Mental Health Help Page.

The nice people at Boca Recovery Center contacted me about their services.  They have 4 locations.  2 in Florida, 1 in Indiana and 1 in New Jersey.  

When it comes to affordability, they offer a program called the Badgley Scholarship where people can write a letter to Boca and one bed is covered free of charge a month at their facilities.  They also have a free 24/7 Helpline at 1-800-516-4357. 

If you have more questions, there is a wealth of information on their website HERE.

There is a growing need for Mental Health Services, especially for those with lower incomes.  If any of my readers has information about these types of services and would like for me to add them to my Mental Health Help Page, please contact me, through my Contact Page, and I would be happy to add the information. 

Copyright 2023 Penny Wilson All Rights Reserved

Posted in Life, Poetry, Stories, Writing

For the Love of Books

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I love books.  I love the look of them, the feel of them, I love their smell.  I love the excitement I feel when I crack open the first page and the adventures that await me within those pages.   I love the shiny, glossy book jacket and reading those tantalizing, teasing words on the jacket.

I learned to read and developed a love of reading at a Very young age.  I could read long before I started school  Whenever the family would take a trip I was always reading the billboards or other signs aloud to everyone on the car.  Loudly of course!  🙂

The first time I met my grandparents, on my mother’s side, I drug my Grandpa over to the couch and sat him down and read to him.  I was very proud of the fact that I could read.  I think I was about 3 years old.

My mother raised 4 of us kids mostly by herself.  She didn’t have an education to speak of, so money was tight, always.  But when I opened a book, I was transported to another place and time.  It was a fantastic way for me to entertain myself.

I would walk to the library in the summertime and bring back an armload of books every few days.  During the summer, I averaged reading about a book a day.

No matter what you read, you learn something.  I kept a dictionary handy when I was reading.  If I came across a word that I could not figure out the meaning by the context of the sentence or paragraph, I would look it up.

I still love to read, but don’t take the time to do it as much anymore.

I think my life has been much more fruitful and accomplished because of my love of reading and my learning along the way.

As a kid, I used to read everything from Shakespeare to Poe to Sci-Fi to love stories.   I love biographies.  I love learning about people like Abe Lincoln, or my favorite artists.

My 2 older brothers always had comic books in the house, which I read.  But those comics would spark my interest in people like Sherlock Holmes or Isaac Asimov.  So my taste in books has varied widely.

I have some old books that I have packed around with me for years that I just cannot part with.  One is a favorite from the 1970’s, which is beautifully illustrated about the life of Gnomes.  Another is a book, also from the 70’s called “Shut Up and Eat Your Shoe Shoes!”  It’s a hilarious true story about a couple that homesteads in Alaska.  I also have some rare, old Tarzan books that I may pass down to my eldest grandson some day.

These books evoke wonderful memories of a simpler time for me.

I still have a stack of books on my night stand that are gathering dust.  Maybe it’s time to crack open one of them and make a new friend….

Copyright (C) Penny Wilson

Posted in Life, Poetry, Prose, Stories, Writing

Final Roundup #Name Your Number Challenge

Happy Thursday!  Below is a list (in no particular order) of posts and links from those that have joined in the #Name Your Number Challenge.  Please show them some love and visit a few (or all!) of them.

From Dawn Benedict:

https://dawnbenedict.wordpress.com/2023/01/29/whispered-warning/

https://dawnbenedict.wordpress.com/2023/01/30/last-bite/

https://dawnbenedict.wordpress.com/2023/01/31/exceed-the-numbers/

From KS Woods:

https://kswoodwrites.blog/2023/01/30/true-love/

From The Reluctant Poet:

https://thereluctantpoetweb.wordpress.com/2023/01/30/no-longer-a-home/

https://thereluctantpoetweb.wordpress.com/2023/01/31/come-find-me/

From Poetisatinta

https://poetisatinta.wordpress.com/2023/01/29/jusjojans-sunday-muse/

https://poetisatinta.wordpress.com/2023/01/30/magnetic-blue-glass-sky/

https://poetisatinta.wordpress.com/2023/01/31/write-till-the-end-jusjojan/

And in case you missed any, Here are mine:

Bruises Left

Wreckage

If you participated and I missed your post, please contact me and I will add it.  THANK YOU to everyone that has joined in!