https://lindaghill.com/2026/03/18/one-liner-wednesday-why-3/ Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com
Almost everybody in the blog world knows I LOVE to cook & bake…and any holiday means I’m in the kitchen!
So, I don’t have to be Irish to fire up my crockpot for corned beef and veggies–and bake the real treat: Irish Soda Bread. I have 2 recipes, and make both: Traditional, and Savory.
These recipes are so easy and quick–I should make them throughout the year, not just pine away until St Pat’s Day.
The traditional recipe is sweeter–with raisins and cinnamon, and a bit of vanilla. But the “savory” bread is just as delish, if not more so: you get the sweetness (but no raisins) and a little “bite” from red pepper, garlic and caraway seeds.
I’ve baked 4 lovely round loaves to share…mmm, slice it warm and slather with buttter…heavenly!
~ Cale
☘️♥️☘️
(my back yard cherry blossoms)
https://tenthingsofthankful.blogspot.com/
Hello!😊
I’m thankful that we still don’t have snow or ice in the courtyard of the little community where I live–just blessed rain–even though the forecasts keep “threatening/warning/teasing”, scaring everyone one I know. (“Those people” who think I’m bonkers–still wearing shorts & t-shirts and going barefoot.)
The cherry blossoms are hardy and certainly crazy, or merely nonchalant–blooming without a care in the world, despite nights of still-cold-winter…they’re beautiful, with pink that lights the gray.
I’m ever and always grateful for the Lord’s most bountiful provisions–I seem to live the the life of the Bible widow whose oil and flour never ran out: which allows me to cook and bake for friends who still have to work for a living…it makes me so happy.
I’m thankful for the palpable Presence of the Lord–what joy it is to have His companionship, along with His promises and reassurances throughout His Word.
I’m blessed and grateful to also have God’s gift of sisters (though not related). They’re all doing pretty well this week–other than a virus here and there; one cheerfully half-way through chemo; the others working around our common aches and pains, and annoying stutters of memory.
I’m mostly blown away by how good my life is at this stage–I never believed it would be worth living this long–but my life is full. The days are no longer so burdened, blackened by depression and anxiety the way they used to be. Some days are tricky, sure–but most are rich with interests that pass the hours.
It’s been wonderful to let go of the self-imposed obligations of blogging for a bit–I’m thankful for a rest, and the treasure box of quotations I can post while not writing everyday.
I’m very grateful to the blogging world–so many wonderful people mingling for a moment or two. We can share a laugh, or a prayer need–as though we were simply talking over the fence.
And I mustn’t leave out my caregiver–she continues to be a 5-star shopper, and amazingly fast! (Her b’day is next week and I’ve planned a little party–with a gift and my delish “Black Magic Chocolate Cake”. I even found a YouTube of “Happy Birthday” sung in Russian–she’ll be so surprised!)
One last thing: my “furry nieces” downstairs still welcome my daily visits. They apparently think they’re “guard cats” (or maybe they’re just nosey); perched in the windowsill, they’ve got invisible SWAT gear, lazer glare eyes trained for anyone suspicious. I didn’t believe it till I heard it myself–Gracie actually growls at potential ne’er-do-well humans–yes, GROWLS, like a dog!
Oh, lest I forget something truly important, their “mom”–my nabe–has just introduced me to microwave popcorn…that’s worth a Gratitude–can I get a Hallelujah? Amen!
See you again soon,
~ Cale💖
Sometimes I think that if it were possible to tell a story often enough to make the hurt ease up, to make the words slide down my arms and away from me like water, I would tell that story a thousand times.
Anita Shreve, from her book–*The Weight of Water
Of all the fiction I’ve read in over 60 years, this line is so personal that I wish I’d writen it. ~ Cale
I’m setting up a 2nd site connected to this blog. No obligation for anyone to read, etc–but it will be where I post excerpts from “Richard’s” book about Birchwick Cliff.
That way, I can offer interested readers more background information–without burdening the 6-Sentence Story posts!
Hopefully, the introduction will be posted tomorrow, or early next week. If the link works properly you’ll find it at https://birchwickcliff.wordpress.com/
~ Cale
I’m hoping the nabes all took their sleepy-bye meds and didn’t wake up when I just set the smoke detector off again–cooking during hours when the lease rules say residents must be Quiet (10pm till 8am)🙄
~ Cale
https://lindaghill.com/2026/03/04/one-liner-wednesday-send-help/
Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com
💖💖💖
I’m happy and grateful just to be able to share thankfuls!! I’ve not always been in this place/space…so it merits a LOUD HALLELUJAH just to “selah” (pause/consider/reflect/marvel) that!
Here’s more: I’m very thankful I didn’t have a nervous breakdown this week due to magnifying a mere misunderstanding (as my cousin would say if she were still in Texas, rather than Heaven: “you are SO Dramatic!!”). Yeah well, when God created me I guess he left out the Divine equivalent to Valium.
Seriously, though–in a conflict of whatever size, my best defense is JESUS and the Holy Spirit’s gang unit. A win-win, and no blood spilled!
I’m once again, and always grateful for the few excellent friends I have…as Kermit the frog sang, “it’s not easy being green”–and it’s not easy for reasonably normal folks to inhabit the world of a green person (cousin of Kermit).
I’m thankful we still have NO snow–some days rain, but mostly gorgeous sunshine with the promise of more, since Daylight Savings Time is just around the corner.
Glad and grateful to have a truly caring caregiver–it’s still a miracle to me that she comes back each week…and girl, she folds all my clothes up in neat little squares after doing laundry! The first time, I laughed–but she insisted they’d fit in the bureau drawers better. I feel like a queen–because I was used to quite happily just balling up and smooshing everything into drawers.
I’m thankful for all the Customer Service folks I speak with on the phone when I have a question, or want to make payments…they’re so friendly, ‘specially the guys (who’ve evidently been brought up to be kind to old women), very nice and helpful. I guess that counts for “socializing”, right?
I’m thankful the Scallops Alfredo turned out well last night–it’s even better tonight!
And my nabe and I exchanged dinners again, mid-week: I made turkey vegetable soup, she cooked Mexican. But it’s about to get rough–she has to stop pretending she needn’t follow Dr’s orders to absolutely QUIT sugar…so there go all the yummy desserts…
I’m grateful for a change in perspective about blogging this year–I’m no longer a prisoner on the chain gang of Stats…sweet Freedom indeed!!
And I’m thankful to be fully immersed in this rich Lenten season…so good to feel the depth of the Lord’s love, that He would submit to the agony of His last days on Earth so that I could be with Him forever–washed clean, made new, a Somebody beloved of God. Jesus be the Name I praise!
~ Cale
PS: I think I went over 10–is there a fine for that?😉
The first duty of love is to listen.
Paul Tillich
Personal Note: I don’t believe or agree with everything Paul Tillich believed, but this quote resonates in me. Maybe because this is the season of Lent–and I’m rereading several of Max Lucado’s books about Christ’s walk to the Cross–Tillich’s words got me thinking in the midnight hour…
Sometimes people just need to talk (whether they are strangers or folks we know)–and when we listen to someone, really listen, it expresses love which respects and values the person we’ve chosen to give our attention to…even if only for 5 or 10 minutes. It’s one of those “little” things that could hold far greater importance than we imagine to a person we–perhaps unexpectedly–feel urged to stop for…rather than pass by.
I confess I’m not always a good listener (I’ll further admit I’m not much of a ‘people-person’)…I get busy being self-consumed, and avoid or brush-off folks. If I paused and looked into their eyes, I might see their longing to simply be heard.
During His brief years on Earth, Jesus did a lot of stopping for people–He was very intentional in His contacts, connections. Busy as He was, He always had more than enough time to see them and listen–because He had a heart for people.
My life isn’t as imperatively scheduled as His was. I need to slow down, make a change…if I’m serious about following Christ, loving as He did, reflecting God’s love.
~ Cale
In the average man is curled the hero stuff that rules the world. Sam Walter Foss
Beginning in 1898, Foss served as librarian at the Somerville Public Library in Massachusetts. He married a minister’s daughter, with whom he had a daughter and son. Foss used to write a poem a day for the newspapers, and his five volumes of collected poetry are of the frank and homely “common man” variety. (Wikipedia)
Poetry ~ Cabbage After Christmas 