For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Good morning and Happy New Year everyone!! The coffee is ready so help yourself and join Muffin and I for a few minutes to relax a bit! Muffin is bouncing with excitement this morning, and I mean she really is! Plus she keeps looking over to the door waiting for you all to arrive. It is heavy clouds again, but mild, with a temp of 20F (-7C) which is fantastic for us on January 1st. It has been mild like this many times over the years, but still not normal for us. A normal temp would be closer to -20F (-29C) and one time I can remember it being -54F (-48C) on New Year’s day. We had about the same amount of snow as we have now that day and I went out for a nice long walk. Nearly froze too. Oh well. I used to do strange things at one time. But that wasn’t the coldest day I went for a walk.
The birds are slow waking up today, so far I have only seen the chickadees and a couple of blue jays. Plus I notice that Jasper is running away with a peanut. Hmm, the redpolls have just arrived, not too many yet but hopefully all of them will be here soon. There was around 40 of them yesterday. I was never able to count above 32, but I know there was still more in the trees when those at the feeder flew, scared by something that wasn’t. They are nervous little birds and tend to fly at the slightest movement. Well, here we are, 2021. A new year. A new start. A new beginning. Which is why I chose these particular pics today as they represent a new beginning. We can all do our part to make this a great year, or a terrible year. The choice is ours. Don’t sit back and mumble and grumble because things are bad. Take time each day to look at all the good things in your life. Then choose to go out into the day with a smile and a good attitude.
The evening grosbeaks have just arrived, those bright yellow birds are fantastic. I know, I have said it before and I will likely say it again. That’s me. My daily coffee post, with slight name change, will continue to be here. My Investigations story will be back as well, on Mon, Wed., and Friday. There will be a slight name change there also. My posts, Little Things and Art In Nature will be on Tuesday each week, but will be on alternate weeks. My Country Cabin Journal will be on Thursday each week, and perhaps on Saturday at times.
Other things will get tossed in here and there, like awards, DIY posts, poems and other misc posts, since those things don’t show up very often. Several will fall under the title, Steve’s Fun Stuff, such as part 2 of our games post. Almost forgot (Muffin is sitting here looking at me with eyes half closed, which does not mean she’s tired), Muffin’s Mewsings will be here on Sundays. Whew, that was close. Hmm, this got a little long this morning, sorry about that. We hope that you will continue to enjoy coming to read whichever is your favorite post of the day! I really do hope that you all have a fantastic year with many blessings and much joy! God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
Β©2021 Steve McLeod.
Amen, Steve! Blessed and Happy New Year to you!
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Thanks Ryan! I hope your year is filled with blessings, God bless you and your family and Happy New Year!ππΊββ
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Happy new year, Steve!
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Hi Carla! I hope you have a year filled with great things and happiness, Happy New Year!ππΊββ
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Thank you so much, Steve! ππ₯³π₯
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My pleasure Carla!ππΊπ₯³
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π₯³πΉ
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Happy New Year, Steve and Muffin π Merci – amitiΓ©s
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Thank you Francefougere! I hope you have much happiness this year, Happy New Year to you!ππΊββ
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Lovely photos to kick off the New Year Steve
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Thank you so much Sheree!
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Pleasure
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Looking forward to a new year of fun with Steve and Muffin oh…and Mr. Cat too.
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Thank you very much! Hopefully we will provide fun and relaxation!ππΊπΊ
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Happy New Year to you also βΊ
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Thank you so much Susie!ππΊββI hope you have a happy and exciting year ahead!
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Here’s hoping π
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ππΈ
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Amen Steve! ππ. Thank you! Looking forward to what God is going to do in 2021! Happy New Year, Steve and Muffin! πππ
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Yes indeed, same here! I hope your year is full of blessings Beverly!ππΊππββ
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Thank you Steve! πππβοΈβοΈπ
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Well, I hope that in one of your posts you will tell us about the coldest day you went for a walked… How does it feel? How do you dress? Ok, I’m curious!
Happy New Year πΊπ
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Hmm, that’s a thought, I should tell about some of my cold walks, including that big one. Though nothing too much happened on that walk, but it was interesting anyway! It will show up in one of my Country Cabin Journal posts this month!ππΊπ₯ΆπΆββοΈ
Happy New Year!ππΈππ
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I’m glad if you can talk about it, it’s an interesting topic, at least for me.
Thank you very much!
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Yes, it’s a good idea, I have it written down on my list so I don’t forget.π
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Thanks!
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ππ₯ΆπΆββοΈπΆββοΈ
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βWe can all do our part to make this a great year, or a terrible year. The choice is ours.β
Yes, exactly. Itβs what we make of it! Everyone is saying how awful 2020 was and personally, I didnβt think it was that bad. Things were out of or control, but we learn to adapt….or not…. We can choose to be happy or miserable this year. The choice is ours.
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Yes indeed, we have that choice to make all the time. Even with some problems that happened to me this year, and one carry over from last year, I was still happy and made that choice every day. I don’t want to be miserable and grumble and complain all the time, good way to get sick! I know too many people that just complained all year and I just couldn’t live like that. Being happy is so much more fun, and much healthier too!
Happy New Year Hilary!! I hope you’re having a great day!ππΊββ
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Some of the people I talk to online grumble and complain all the time, and I don’t know how they can live like that. It has got to be a miserable existence. π€¦ββοΈ I would join you for coffee but I cannot find the coffee pot. Seriously. What a weird way to start my day.
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Yes, I totally agree with you.
What? Can’t find the coffee pot? What a frightening thought! Imagine starting the day with no coffee!π³π¬π€ͺ
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I guess my husband misplaced it. He said he would make me coffee but I guess he forgot. Iβve got a bad headache, but I did eventually find the coffee pot. Maybe I should go make some coffee βοΈπ
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I just can’t imagine misplacing a coffee pot. Is it very small? Good idea, it’s coffee weather for sure! And a nice cup of coffee always makes the day!πββ
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Itβs a big enough coffee pot for 2 ppl. Usually I use the single serve option, but I donβt think we even have MCDs coffee here. I manage to find the red rose tea which I couldnβt find for the longest time, so I made a mug of that.
I would go to Timβs for steeped tea but Iβm trying to stretch out a gift card which needs to last me a month. I wrote about the No Spend Challenge in my latest blog post!
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A no spend challenge, I will check that out, I don’t spend much anyway but it should be interesting. Hmm, for two people that means a 12 cup coffee pot. I still don’t know why they call it that, no one uses 6 oz cups anymore, everyone uses mugs, which are generally 10 oz, mine are 15 oz. I got the bigger ones because my doctor suggested I should cut down on the number of cups I drink per day, so I got bigger cups, thereby having fewer cups per day! I did tell my doctor, she got a good laugh out of it.ππΉββ
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This coffee pot is quite big – it came with the coffee maker. I prefer single serve coffee though. I think coffee in moderation is okay.
This is Day 2 of No Spend and so far itβs okay. I feel like I cheated because my husband went out to get groceries this morning. We already have so much food at home.
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I agree, that’s why I cut back on my coffee drinking. Yep, I’m trying to wait until I eat more of my food on hand before buying some more, except some fresh fruit perhaps. But if I go to the store I’m bound to buy something else too. Sigh.
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Thereβs temptations everywhere. I had a headache and wanted steeped tea or a fancy drink from Starbucks, but I had to stop myself and use self-control. Itβs the little things that add up. Nothing wrong with fresh fruit and groceries, but it is easy to get carried away.
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Yes indeed, those little things do add up very fast sometimes. A treat once in a while is fine but when they get to be daily (or more), it’s no longer a treat.π
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And then there are the weekly deals. Thatβs where I usually cave. The deals look so good this week. I swear that they do this on purpose π
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That’s why I never look at flyers or other things, I’m the same way, it looks so good and I buy it.π
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The these deals that get me. Especially apps these days – the Tims app I use but I might need to delete it for the time being. *sigh* A dollar here, a few dollars there… it adds up.
I donβt even remember spending $5 at Timβs since Jan 1 (itβs gift card money from rebates) but somehow I have to make the last $20 last me the rest of the month. Iβm probably going to fail this challenge. π
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That’s what I did a while back, deleted these apps that kept giving me these must have deals that just sounded too good. Can’t say that I miss them.ππ³
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Very nice. Happy New Year!
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And a very bountiful New Year to you Herb!ππΊββ
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Thank you!
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Pics are lovely ! Looking forward to your new posts ! HAPPY NEW YEAR ! βοΈβοΈππΊπΉπΉ
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Thanks so much! Happy New Year to you as well!ππΊββ
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let’s make this a great year…
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Absolutely Jim! Have a great weekend!ππΊββ
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π
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Happy New Year Steve and Muffin.
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And I hope you have a very Happy New Year Correne and Teddy!ππΊββ
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Thank you!
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Looking forward what to God’s plan! HAPPY NEW YEAR Steve and Muffin β¨π
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That’s a good way to do it Suni! Happy New Year to you as well! I pray it will be filled with blessing and happiness for you!ππΊββ
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Your words made me feel so happy π Greetings to you throughout the year Steve !!πππ΅
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So glad I was able to make you happy Suni! Thank you so much for being here!ππΊββ
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The choice is ours indeed! How can you forget about Muffinβs Mewsings ππΌ
Whatever you choose to do enjoy it both of you π»
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Well, I sort of remembered Muffin’s Mewsings.π€
Meow,meow!=HA, I have to remind you.πΎ
Maybe a little.π I’m sure we will enjoy things, thanks Ribana!ππΊββ
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