Category Archives: foods

So Grateful to my Vet: I Was As Sick as a Dog, but Better Now

Hello again, Barley here. You may remember my April 20 message, DogGoneIt! I was so afraid to go to the Vet for surgery. But…..

I am pleased to tell you that after oral surgery, surgery to remove a growth on my tongue, dialyses, a new renal prescription diet, plus two weeks of drugs, I am much better, am at home, and looking forward to more time with my mom.

My sincere thanks to my Vet, and to all of you who wished me well.

A very Grateful dog to an excellent Vet, with love, Barley

#gratitudelite

Be Grateful for Vegetables – They are Fun!

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Recently, @BetteMidler posted this picture on Twitter – a BrocCollie and Collieflower!

This photo made me smile. In fact, I tried to re-create it…

Look for fun activities in your life with those you love!

Eat more veggies. Improve your diets. Have fun with vegetables!

#gratitudezero

Gratitude for Pumpkin

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This is a great time of year for the pumpkin! Meet “Big Jack” our pumpkin here locally at the Outlets. Children are given blank pages to create their own story about “Big Jack”. I wonder what they are writing? Pumpkins remind me of:

Foods: pies, cupcakes, breads, cookies, soups, drinks and more
Spices: mixing pumpkin spice in so many baked goods and drinks
Smells: pumpkin smells great, especially when mixed with other hot/cold spices
Memories: walks across pumpkin farms, pumpkin carving of Jack-O-Lanterns
Tastes: which is your favorite? muffins, pies, cookies, breads, spiced drinks
Sights: children picking out their pumpkins, children decorating pumpkins, pumpkins next to front doors with lights at night. I remember when a neighbor placed their young toddler inside a cut out pumpkin, put the cap on and took a photo of the baby inside the pumpkin
Touching Pumpkins: scooping out the insides of the pumpkins (seeds etc.), smashing pumpkins, putting a light inside a pumpkin, drawing faces on pumpkins, cutting out/ fixing the cap on the pumpkin

This pumpkin season makes me feel happy. How ’bout you?

#gratitudezero

Appreciate the Spirit of Exploring Gratitude

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A dear friend in Canada shared this posting with me during her Thanksgiving. What an exploration of gratitude! I invite you to take a moment to reflect upon the various dimensions of walking along the pathway of gratitude in your own life:

Some of you will reflect upon your present circumstances in the context of whatever has happened to you in the past. (This might become part of the #gratitudelite series.)
Will your reflections help you design a new pathway to your future? How so? Depending on your musings for your future, you may even wander into the #gratitudeultra series.
Others may focus on gratitude during your own Thanksgiving holiday. You may focus on preparation for the upcoming meal. A Thanksgiving meal may be an annual larger gathering of family, and/or friends which turns the availability of food into an extension of old favorites, long time family memories of meals gone by, and stories shared again with family, and/or even with strangers who may become old friends. (Focusing on favorite foods, and repeated stories might become part of the #gratitudezero series.)
Read the first line of the highlighted image above: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life”! Wow, what a densely packed statement. Consider what you think is enough gratefulness within your own life?
But, also reflect upon what you accept or deny in your own life as you define joy and happiness?
As you explore various options for gratitude where do you find “confusion”, versus which choices or options seem crystal “clear” or best within your own life or for you?
Finally, consider that the author invited you to even explore what causes you to feel “chaos” within your own mind in contrast to an impression of “order” in your life?

My friend sent this image to me with a beautiful line “Grateful for our friendship…”

Appreciate this spirit of gratitude as you enjoy your own Thanksgiving holiday.

#gratitudeultra

I’m So Grateful for Pumpkin. It Healed Me!

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For the past two days I could not keep anything in my stomach. I vomited everything I ate multiple times. It was horrible. My mom’s friend suggested I should eat pumpkin so I did. First, I started with a simple teaspoon, then a tablespoon, then I mixed pumpkin with a bit of food, and a bit more. Yeah….. I am so grateful for pumpkin. It healed my stomach. With gratitude… Thank you pumpkin!

#gratitudezero

A Day For Gratitude

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Today is Thanksgiving – a day for Gratitude! This is typically a memorable day for all because of time with friends and family and, THE FOOD. The various parades, and runs, and shopping beginning for the holidays, new movies, lots of photos taken, and generally great times happen on this day each year.

As I reflected on this day for all of us, I paused to reflect on why each day can not be like this day? Is gratitude seasonal? Gratitude should be practiced each and every day don’t you think?

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Gratitude When Finding Favorite Foods

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As I grow older I try to limit my sweets, but I have a weakness for bread pudding. Every time I go out to eat I search the menu for “bread pudding” and order and sample whenever I find it. Last week in Westfield, Indiana I found #pumpkinbreadpudding at #GrindstoneontheMonon. It was topped with vanilla bean ice cream! It was good. My family members and I enjoyed it and, of course, compared it to our favorite previous bread puddings. We love to compare the sauces, the temperatures/textures, and ingredients. For example, my favorite topping sauce consists, in part, of cream cheese with Grand Marnier Liqueur with pecans, but I admit the vanilla bean ice cream was nearly at the top.

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Gratitude For Life’s Lessons

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An activity is suggested that compares two points in time in your life: a younger you compared to an older you. What would the older you tell the younger you? Using personal photographs practice this activity with the author and see what would be your own personal outcome?

This posting focuses on the journey to gratitude for life’s lessons. Five lessons learned on the journey to a State of Gratitude are discussed with examples from the author’s life. The Lessons include the following:

Lesson One: Love Your Family. Two poems are read: My Family, and You Carry My Genes by Marian Elsie Blake in the book, A House Inside of Me by Mary Blake Huer, available on Amazon.

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Attention: I Had An Oops!

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Many of you may remember me speaking to you in my posting on “Maybe the Best Dog Day Ever – Yum!”, and also all the photos in the posting on March 7, 2021. This was my example of pure dog gratitude when my mom gave me a beef rib! Well, I am sorry to report that when she gave me another beef rib this week, I chewed on it so enthusiastically that I ended up in my Vet’s office!

In this posting, let me give a WARNING to all little dogs. I learned the hard way.

I chewed on that beef rib so happily that I injured my jaw, my neck, my shoulders, and my entire upper body!

I cried when I barked. I cried when I walked. I stumbled in circles as I could not get comfortable for hours. My mom was afraid I had a piece of bone stuck in my neck.

The Vet checked me for neurological damage. I feel lucky today and want to tell you what I learned at the Vet.

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I Found A Surprise After Breakfast (Audio)

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On February 21, 2021 I posted after my breakfast. For persons who may not enjoy reading, I post this audio version of that post for your listening pleasure. This is a #gratitudezero category of #gratitude following the classification for #gratitude that I first posted on February 28, 2021 titled, Your Choice: Gratitude Zero, Gratitude Lite, or Gratitude Ultra.