Pocketful of Memory Cards

This morning I tried to post my Wordless Wednesday with photos of my week taken with my iPhone.  Blogger tells me I have used up my 1 GB of free photo storage space.  Apparently I can purchase more space or I can used another 5GB for free via gmail.  Unfortunately they don't tell you how to do that and with great irony, I can't seem to find any instructions via Google.  If anyone can enlighten me with a link, it would be much appreciated.

Abbott Street  The grey November days are well upon us and I feel the need to hibernate.  I'm a homebody at heart and as many of you know, once the sun goes down it's difficult at the best of times to get me to leave my house.  This time of year it's next to impossible.  Often, on these damp, dark afternoons I relish the opportunity to hunker down and enjoy simple things so easily taken for granted.  Today I'm grateful for:  - a roof over my head - a working furnace - reliable electricity - clean water - tea and cocoa - homemade soup - a cozy blanket and a good book - someone to snuggle with

I was flipping across the channels on Sunday morning after we watched the movie "Unknown" and I discovered we get the Game Network or whatever it's called.  An old episode of the Pyramid was on, hosted by my first love: Donny Osmond. (Well, it's actually a toss up between Donny Osmond and Elton John). I couldn't resist watching the show even though I had no idea who those 1990's celebrities  were.   For those of you who don't know the rules of Pyramid, the finale of the show happens when the celebrity says a bunch of phrases and the contestant guess what they all have in common.   I thought just for fun I'd do this week's Gratitude Monday in a similar way.  I think you'll figure it as we go.   Clues for Number One: ...because they are cheerful ...because they are tall ...because they re-seed themselves ...because they provide food for the birds Answer:  Why I'm grateful for the sunflowers in my garden Clues for Num

Today I just want to say a big thank you.  I have so many wonderful blessings in my life, that I feel it would be bragging to list them all.  It even feels like bragging to say it would be bragging.  My life is so easy compared to the lives of many others.  Yes I do have challenges in my life, things that I've told you about and things that I haven't, but they really are small challenges in the scheme of things, in the problems that are out there today in this great wide world.   I'm grateful for those challenges -  the ups and downs that make me appreciate the good things I have in my life.  I am grateful that I have the ability and opportunity to help others. And I am grateful when something in my life shows me that I can do more than I realized. I had typed "I will try to do more," but as a wise muppet once said "Do or do not.  There is no try."  I look forward to doing more and I'm grateful for each opportunity I find to do so.

More than twenty five years ago I read Dean Koontz's Twilight Eyes . It was a book about a group of  "Goblins"; creatures that had the appearance of humans and lived human lives but had an insatiable desire for bloodshed and human suffering (much like the popular media, but that's another post).   When disaster was imminent the Goblins could be found milling about waiting to feed off the human's emotions of horror and terror resulting from the destruction that was often caused by one of them.  Slim, the book's main character, is able to recognize these evil beings  and wages war against them ( much like Nick Burkhardt on the TV show Grimm ),  One morning, more than a decade ago, I had a vivid dream with a similar theme.  Though I've since forgotten many of the details, what happened in that hypnopompic state between sleep and waking is something I'll always remember.  I was in a crowd of people.  Some wandered aimlessly, others strode forward wit