A Fresh Cup of Coffee

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

WQ - Connected To Nature

In nature we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it, under it and over it. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Your deepest roots are in nature. No matter who you are, where you live, or what kind of life you lead, you remain irrevocably linked with the rest of creation. ~Charlie Cook

To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from. ~Terry Tempest Williams

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for you soul is alive. ~Eleanora Duse

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you. ~Frank Lloyd Wright

Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God. ~George Washington Carver

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

The skies display his craftsmanship.

Day after day they continue to speak;

night after night they make him known.

They speak without a sound or word;

their voice is never heard.

Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,

and their words to all the world.

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.

~Psalm 19:1-4~

Nature is not a place to visit. It is home. ~Gary Snyder

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Wednesday Quotes is a bi-weekly opportunity for bloggers to share their writing, poetry, photos, or stories inspired by our theme. We've chosen the themes as a starting point for your creativity, and the only requirement is that your post include at least one related quote. Feel free to combine or "double-dip" with other writing or photo challenges as well. Of course, we'd appreciate a link back to us, if you'd be so kind. Add your link and please visit others and leave a comment! The link is open for two weeks.

Thanks to Marsha at Always Write for introducing us to the Wednesday Quotes challenge, and for passing the hosting duties along so we can continue sharing great quotes! Wednesday Quotes is co-hosted by Kym at A Fresh Cup of Coffee and Sadje at Keep It Alive.

Quoting reminds me there are other people in the world besides only me.

And other thoughts besides mine, and other ways of thinking.

~Gregory Maguire~

Wednesday Quotes 2026 Themes

January 7 - Resolutions

January 21 - Motivation

February 4 - Eating Out/Restaurants

February 18 - Being Responsible

March 4 - Libraries

March 18 - Perseverance

April 1 - Simplicity

April 15 - Conquering Fear

April 29 - Making a Difference

May 13 - Family Ties

May 27 - Courage

June 10 - Teachers/Mentors

June 24 - Connecting with Nature

July 8 - Milestones

July 22 - Sunrise

August 5 - Patience

August 19 - Taking a Break/Rest

September 2 - Learning from Mistakes

September 16 - Best Friends

September 30 - Elegance

October 14 - Reaching Goals

October 28 - Dreams/Nightmares

November 11 - Integrity

November 25 - Generosity

December 9 - Beauty in Nature

December 23 - True Love

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©2006-2026 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/

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Tuesday, June 23, 2026

The Flower Hour - Inspired by the Sunday Stills Theme

I was on the road most of Sunday so I didn't get a post ready to share on the theme of animals in the wild. We stayed at an Airbnb just off the main street of Lewiston, NY last week, and visited some touristy parts of Niagara Falls, and even while walking the trails a little ways from the city, we didn't encounter much wildlife. Not much that stuck around for more than a second or two in order to be photographed anyway. But we had chipmunks, squirrels, and rabbits that hung around the house and showed up in parks and populated areas, reminding us that wild animals are pretty adaptable and are often closer than we think.

But this is the Flower Hour, so I chose a couple photos from my archives that feature insects and flowers.

This post is shared at Second Wind Leisure Perspectives for the #SundayStills Photo Challenge and/or #TheFlowerHour Photo Challenge.

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Sunday, June 21, 2026

Scripture and a Snapshot - Blessed Is the Man

Children are a heritage from the LORD,

offspring a reward from him.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior

are children born in one's youth.

Blessed is the man

whose quiver is full of them.

~Psalm 127:3-5~

Happy Father's Day!

Thank you for joining Scripture & A Snapshot. Leave a link to your own post sharing a Scripture and a Snapshot. Take time to visit some of the other links and bless each other with comments.

I also link up at the Sweet Tea & Friends Monthly Link-up Party hosted by Grace-Filled Moments

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Friday, June 19, 2026

Catching Up With the Hodgepodge

A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!

Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. June 17th, 1994 was the day of the infamous O.J. Simpson car chase. What were you doing in 1994? I'm guessing somebody is going to tell me they weren't born yet but that's part of the fun of the Hodgepodge. Lots of generations are represented here.

The summer of 1994 I was pregnant with our second son. I don't remember any specifics about what we were doing that summer, though we were probably taking it easy for the most part since it was a slightly higher risk pregnancy. I don't know that we paid any attention to the low speed car chase, but I remember it was on the news.

2. What's your favorite summer salad that isn't the traditional tossed green lettuce kind of salad? Do you like fresh fruit in a salad (other than in a fruit salad of course)?

I like chicken salad, and I make it with almonds and dried cranberries, and with no celery. I don't like the texture of celery. I also started making a caprese salad platter and that's so good! I include some kind of fresh fruit on the caprese salad, like berries or peach slices, so I like that, though in general I prefer my greens and my fresh fruit to not be tossed together!

3. Is chivalry dead? Should it be?

I don't think it is, though in many ways it seems to be declining. I didn't look up a definition but to me chivalry is courtesy and good manners levelled up, and especially when it comes to gentlemen looking after the ladies around them. Good manners aren't uncommon but I would say that not all younger people are taught good manners in a way that makes it second nature to them.

4. Would you rather spend a week of your summer vacation in Hawaii or Alaska? Have you ever been to either? Are they two places you really would like to see? How do you feel about 'Hawaiian pizza' aka pineapple on a pizza? Have you ever eaten Baked Alaska?

I would rather spend a week in Alaska, since I've long wanted to go there. I certainly wouldn't mind visiting Hawaii but it's never been high on my priority list. I haven't been to either state yet, but yes, I really want to go to Alaska. The combination cruise and train trip through Alaska has been on my vacation wishlist for my entire adult life. I love Hawaiian pizza and have no problem with pineapple on any pizza. It's usually my pizza order when I can order a personal pizza, because nobody else in my family likes it. I don't think I've ever had Baked Alaska, but I'd like to try it. What's not to like?

5. World Cup play is happening now . . . are you interested? Watching any matches? Did you or your children play soccer/futbol? There are eleven US cities hosting matches -

-Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York with the stadium in NJ, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle

along with three cities in Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey) and two in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver)-

You get free tickets to one of these matches. Which city do you choose? Tell us why.

Really not interested in World Cup or in soccer overall. Which isn't to say we haven't paid attention or watched matches. We spent a couple days with my sister-in-law and her husband and he is really into soccer so we watched games with him and he explained rules to us. I never played soccer myself and neither did my kids. My kids didn't like when they had the soccer units when they were in gym class. They actively disliked it, in fact. If I was offered free tickets to any of the matches, I think I'd choose Vancouver. I haven't been to Vancouver in decades and I think I'd enjoy going back and seeing a little of the city before and after the game.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

It's been a bit of a computer odyssey for me the past couple weeks. We did not have "plug and play" internet at the new house like we'd hoped, so we finally got Spectrum out to hook it up last Tuesday. So I could use our wifi instead of setting up a hotspot with my phone. But it took until Thursday before we tried setting up our desktop computer . . . and gave up on it because there is something wrong with the connection of the actual power switch. We'd previously managed a workaround of taking out the battery and putting it back in but that didn't work. Okay, at least we had my chromebook and wifi, and given that we were about to go on vacation, we planned to take the computer to be repaired at some point after we got back. Limiting, but okay. Well, second day on vacation and my chromebook would not power on. It was fully charged, hadn't been dropped or had anything spilled on it etc, just wouldn't power on. Since we didn't have a working desktop to go home to, I definitely needed to replace it. Hadn't really planned on making that purchase but I did buy it in Canada so the exchange rate was in my favor!

Needless to say, it's put me behind on blogging and for sure on commenting! So my apologies for being even later than usual in visiting others, and I've missed a lot. Also missing out because I'm on vacation and then next week I'll have family visiting.

What are you getting caught up on this week? Leave a comment and let me know!

I'm sharing in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

I host the Wednesday Quotes link-up every other Wednesday. Stop by and share a few thoughts and quotes on the current topic here: WQ - The Art of Teaching. I host the Everyday Images photo link-up every other Thursday. And find the Scripture and a Snapshot link-up here every Sunday.

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Thursday, June 18, 2026

Everyday Images #90

Welcome to my ongoing challenge and reminder to myself to take photos somewhat regularly. I'm not a photographer, but I enjoy taking everyday photos of things I find interesting or want to remember later, and I'm more likely to notice interesting things when I'm intentionally watching for them. Having some prompts that are open to interpretation has helped me pay a little more attention to what's around me. Here's how it works: Every two weeks I have a few words and phrases to focus on, and I try to find opportunities to take pictures of these things each week. The link-up post will be here every other Thursday, sharing my photos and offering a link-up for participants to share theirs. Right below the link-up is where you'll find the next set of prompts.

June Prompts - Everyday Images #90

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wildflowers

water

neighborhood spot (quarterly)

nature

adventure

favorite

twilight

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wildflowers - sorry, I cheated on this one a bit as this photo is from a month ago. Somehow I didn't manage any photos of flowers during the past couple weeks!

water - the Niagara River

neighborhood spot (quarterly) - I took the photo from inside this time.

nature

adventure - Going with the silly choice here!

favorite - my favorite little girls are my granddaughters

twilight

And a few bonus photos:

Goodbye to the apartment . . .

and hello to the new house! It's still pretty chaotic, honestly, but at least we got everything into it and made a start on getting organized.

We are currently on vacation - we first went to Ontario for a few days to visit family, picked up my Mum and Dad, and then went to the vacation house we rented near Niagara Falls, NY where the rest of the family joined us.

For our first family vacation adventure, we walked across to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and visited Bird Kingdom.

Greetings from the vacation house!

I am sharing my photos every other Thursday, along with my prompts for the next two weeks. You can use all or some of the prompts for your own photo posts, or none of the prompts and just link up a post featuring your photos. Simple rules: Your posts must be family-friendly; the photos must be your own; and the post must be mostly photos. If you do share I'd appreciate a mention and link to A Fresh Cup of Coffee on your post.

The Everyday Images link-up is posted every other Thursday, and is open for two weeks.

June Prompts - Everyday Images #91

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at home (monthly)

who I'm spending time with

what I'm working on

where I'm going

when I'm taking a break

why I'm happy today

signs

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