Happy Holidays to all from Nonny! Best wishes for a safe & joyful holiday season. Thank you for being a reader of Nonny’s Blog. The photo below is of my Christmas Cactus in full bloom... Season's Greetings & Happy Holidays from Nonny!Connie Carlisle Polley, 2025ConnieCarlislePolley.comNonnyDay.com Shop for Play Clay Hooray! or Learn about all my … Continue reading Season’s Greetings & Happy Holidays from Nonny
I feel a great sense of responsibility for what I write in my weekly blog posts. I think deeply about what I am going to say and make multiple revisions before it is finally posted. In a world of turbulent thought and turbulent events, the last thing I want to do is add to the … Continue reading Watching My Blog Post Statistics
I recently discovered a trick to more pleasurable reading of my NIV DAILY SCRIPTURE paperback. No, it’s not how much I read daily. Nor is it what time of the day I read it. I discovered I needed to break the spine of this paperback so it would lie flat to allow me to read … Continue reading Sometimes You Have to Break the Spine
My dear friend Ruthe Chambers Lusk died a few days ago. My first reaction of shock insulated me from breaking down in tears upon learning of her death. However, her passing was the first thing on my mind when I awoke this morning and little streams of hurt flowed down my cheeks. Ruthe, ten years … Continue reading On the Other Side
HOPE is . . . Happiness Deferred Opportunity to Do Good Possibilities Unlimited Energy to Keep Trying My Definition of HopeConnie Carlisle Polley, 2025ConnieCarlislePolley.comNonnyDay.com Shop for Play Clay Hooray! or Learn about all my children’s books
Some years back, a friend and I visited the Louisville Visitors Center where we met Colonel Harland Sanders whom it is fair to say is the King of Fried Chicken not only in Kentucky in the USA but all over the world. By the way, Colonel is an honorary title conferred by a Kentucky governor … Continue reading The Colonel (King of Fried Chicken) and I
There’s an old but interesting story I’d like to share with you today to help us all be sustained while life throws in our direction spears and arrows of disease, disability, defeat, and disappointment in ourselves and others. This narrative, a New Testament parable the Rabbi Jesus used to teach his disciples the power of … Continue reading The Power of Persistence
A couple of years ago, I bought a two-inch tall cactus planted in a flimsy plastic container in the plant department of my neighborhood home supply store. It had a single red bloom. I at once transplanted it into a terra-cotta container large enough to allow the cactus roots to spread out. And placed it … Continue reading Connie’s Capricious Cactus
Toward the end of last year when the air was crisp but not cold, I experienced a fright which took hold of my body pushing my adrenaline to cause me to react in what might be called a super-natural way. It was late afternoon when I heard a loud boom . . . The next … Continue reading The Fright of My Life
Recently I was driving home after a short trip to my pharmacy when I approached a red traffic light. There was a city bus to my left beginning to make a turn onto this narrow street with cars parked on both sides. It was obvious that the driver of the city bus was going to … Continue reading When Push Comes to Shove
When I was growing up, I had a Michigan cousin whose family visited my Kentucky Aunt Genie on her rural Shepherdsville plot of land usually twice a year for a Carlisle Reunion. Most of my other Carlisle aunts and uncles lived in Greater Louisville or about an hour and a half away in Lexington. And … Continue reading Our Playtime Turtles
Messages today are not always from reliable sources. And for all of us it's hard to tell what is truth from what is false. If you have done your due diligence (checked out your sources) and you are trying to persuade your readers to come to your point of view, why not present it with … Continue reading How to Make Your Message Successful
This weekend many of us are thinking about the Moms who birthed us, the Moms who raised us, or another parent figure who guided our lives. All of us began our existence totally dependent on a caregiver, without whom we wouldn't have survived. No matter who that special person is, my hope for you is … Continue reading Thanks to Our Moms!
We've all heard the saying, "Take time to smell the roses." Recently my lilac bush sprouted not only beautiful pale purple blooms but had a wonderful fresh fragrance. So, I'm saying "Take time to smell the lilacs!" If at all possible, feel some dirt beneath your feet. Take a deep breath of fresh air. Let … Continue reading Take Time to Smell The Lilacs!
When I was an elementary school child living a stone’s throw from my maternal grandparents, for a time my normal morning routine was to walk to Mom and Pop’s house, eat breakfast, and be walked to school by Pop. The thing I remember most about breakfast was what Mom (that's what I called my grandmother) … Continue reading Is Your Jelly Sweet Enough?
As I was video-chatting with one of my grandsons, our conversation drifted to a time in my marriage before my husband and I had children. I told this grandson that my first full-time teaching position was in the adjacent community of Jeffersontown, known to most of us as J-town. My husband Edgar was working as … Continue reading Special Delivery: Good Doughnuts and Good Memories
I recently pulled out a couple of my Travel Scrapbooks and I started thinking about trips I’ve been fortunate to take: France in 1992 Spain, Portugal, and Morocco in 1998 Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 2000 Alaska in 2005 These Scrapbooks are currently sitting on the top shelf of a Bookcase in what we call … Continue reading My Travel Scrapbooks
Have you ever wondered where the expression “When it rains, it pours” comes from? It dates back at least to the slogan associated with the girl on the cylinder of Morton Salt, which first appeared in 1914. I happened to purchase a container recently when grocery shopping. And there she was! Looking just as playful … Continue reading When It Rains, It Pours
We are living in a time of scammers. These are persons who derive their livelihood through lies and deception. We need to be on guard to distinguish real opportunities for advancement from those which are schemes to rob from us. It's easy to get caught up in the attractiveness of a perceived opportunity. Pause to … Continue reading Fake Gold
It seems that when a bad or unfortunate event occurs, another happens. And perhaps even more than one. We need to remember we can't always control what comes into our lives. However, when we find ourselves the recipient of these downpours let's not be completely washed out. Instead let's accept help and strength from caring … Continue reading Coping With Life’s Circumstances
We made it to February, and I am feeling closer to springtime! Maybe you are too. Let's enjoy and share Valentine cards, candies, and cookies. Let's see if we can be a positive ray of warm sunshine as we shake off blustery January days. I'm going to close my eyes and sip my Chamomile tea. … Continue reading February Greetings
Do you ever look in your refrigerator or the shelves where you keep your grocery staples and say, “I just don’t have anything that I can use to make something good to eat.” I guess I’ll have to go out to a restaurant. Or maybe I’ll go to a fast-food drive-through. Or I could get … Continue reading Using What You’ve Got
Compromise can denote a positive or a negative action. Positively it involves civil discussion on the merits of a particular action. When we can voice our point of view without getting into a shouting match, we are on our way to showing respect for the person or persons we are engaging with, even if we … Continue reading The Names We Use: COMPROMISE
Alpha is the first and Omega the last or final letter of the Greek alphabet. As a unit they are used in various contexts: the beginning and the end, completeness, essence, dominant and submissive. In the Holy Bible New Testament book of Revelation, or the Apocalypse, the term Alpha and Omega refers to God and … Continue reading The Names We Use: ALPHA AND OMEGA
Today’s saying, “A baker’s dozen,” marks the thirteenth of what I might call Nonny’s borrowed ‘words of wisdom.’ Purportedly in times past the proprietor of an Old World British bakery would put in an extra roll or loaf to make sure the baker would not suffer a penalty from the government. Sometimes the baker would … Continue reading A Baker’s Dozen (Sayings I Grew Up With #13)
I used to use the saying, “Kalte hände, warmes herz. Cold hands, warm heart,” first pronouncing the German, and then the English every Sunday morning when members of my church congregation would shake hands with one another during a time of morning greeting. I never got the simple greeting of “Good Morning!” Here’s why. I’ve … Continue reading Kalte Hände, Warmes Herz: Cold Hands, Warm Heart (Sayings I Grew Up With #12)
Many of us tend to associate getting older with negative consequences. Actually life experiences over many years can help us grow in productive ways. Assertiveness and speaking out are attributes I have grown into over time. I have followed the adage, "The squeaky wheel get the oil," and let my voice be heard when I … Continue reading The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Oil (Sayings I Grew Up With #11)
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