Welcome to my "Open Window"...a place of hope, encouragement, and adventure as we journey down the road from "Closed Doors" to the new opportunities God places in our pathway. I hope you will take the time to go back and follow the trail of mixed blessings and fears, failures and triumphs from the past and side-trips in the present. Perhaps it will conjure up some of your own special memories, and be an invitation for you to share with others. I look forward to spending this time with you!
What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!
Good Morning! Happy October! What is it about October that just makes us want to stop whatever we're doing and head outdoors, where hopefully the days are starting to get a little cooler and the leaves are starting to change into beautiful hues of orange, red and yellow...and we can't resist the temptation to have a cup of hot chocolate and sit around a campfire and roast some hot dogs and marshmallows and make s'mores with friends and family? That's how I feel when I turn the page of my calendars over to October, even if the temperatures really haven't fallen all that much yet, and here in Florida we really don't have so many beautiful leaves on the trees...but there's that certain feeling in the air (or at least in my mind) that makes me want to do all these things. At least I can dream along with Anne of Green Gables...
"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.
It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn't it? "
So let's get on with the October calendars, shall we?
John Sloane's Country Seasons October painting, "Harvest Homestead"
I love how both of these two calendars are showing people riding in a horse-drawn buggy, enjoying a beautiful autumn day in the country. Wouldn't you love to be there with them? I would!
Thomas Kinkade's "Fall Outing".
I love the Susan Branch calendar for October...all in fun...
This reminds me of the only postcard I have saved from my maternal Grandma, sent to me for Halloween when I was just seven years old.
What an interesting teapot setting for the Teapot Calendar for October:
And I agree with what C.S. Lewis had to say here:
This is the description of that tea set, if you can read it...very unique!
However, THIS is more my style for tea time in October:
And speaking of autumn leaves and October beauty...I really don't have any of my own to show you, so I will share with you some pictures our "kids" sent us from their current trip to Minnesota for a family reunion for Rose's family:
This is Rose's current family of siblings (7 kids in all!) and their father. They have not all been together at "home" at the same time in a long time, and this was very special for them! I'm so happy Rose and Benton got to make this special trip.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 NKJV
"16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,
17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work."
On another note, I wanted to let you know that we have finally been getting some good rain this week...over two inches so far! There's still a long way to go before Still Waters Pond will be full again, but at least it's a start, so we are very thankful! And also thankful that storm that was in the Atlantic didn't come ashore, but at least it helped bring us some rain!! God is so good, and we are very thankful!
Okay, that's all folks for now! I know I've been a bit AWOL here lately...just been busy with "stuff" and haven't been able to sit down and read and write like I'd like. Hopefully things will get back to some kind of normal routine soon! Have a blessed October everyone!!
Wow! Today marks the day that I turned 3/4 of century old! I still can't believe that it could be possible that I've actually lived that long! They say time sure flies when you're having fun! Well, I can't truly say that all these years have always been that much "fun", but they have been certainly blessed.
(some of my birthday gifts!)
So many lovely cards!
And Yes! "There is always something to be thankful for!"
To finish up my birthday celebration today, we traveled an hour + to meet my hubby's brother Billy and wife Peggy and their son Nicholaus for lunch.
We arrived a little early, and parked under this beautiful old oak tree so our car would be in the shade.
I had said on the way over as we drove through the Ocala National Forest that I hoped I would see a bear...Well, I did, but not exactly the kind I was looking for, but this one is much kinder and gentler...
He even let me stand next to him and "pet him". Such a nice bear.
Anyway, that's how we "killed time" until our family arrived, and here we are actually after we were finished eating and ready to go back home:
Here's the "Steiner Bros"...
And our nephew Nicholaus finally gave me a wonderful smile for a picture. He said it was his birthday gift to me. That earned him a big hug!!! He has such a great smile and is such a great guy.
On our way back home the clouds began to roll in as we traveled through the Ocala National Forest again.
They actually were the beginnings of a bit of a rainstorm, for which we were most thankful!
I was hoping that the rain would follow us all the way back home...
But sadly by the time we got to our house, the rain had pretty much stopped and scooted around our neighborhood...again!!! Although, I must say that last night we did get a pretty good rainshower about the time we went to bed, so we are counting our blessings for that!
This was last night's sunset. Sunshine came out to watch it with me. He seems to enjoy watching the sunset, maybe because his name is "Sunshine". But also last night he was lonely because his buddy Blackie had been AWOL again all day long and the night before..., but thankfully he showed up this afternoon at "supper time". I don't know where he goes for his little jaunts, but he sure makes Sunshine and me a little sad while he's gone.
I didn't get any pictures of Blackie tonight, but I gave him a good talking to about staying away so long and making me worry! He basically just acted like nothing was wrong and headed straight for his food as if nothing had been amiss. I'm now calling him "the little stinker!"
Anyway, as you can see by these photos, Still Waters Pond is VERY still indeed...no water at all practically! If we don't get some rain soon it will be The Still Waters Desert!
However, you have to admit the sunset was glorious!
I did post these sunset pictures on Facebook last night, along with these verses. So some of you may have already seen these. I love the autumn sunsets that we get here. I just miss the reflection on the waters of the pond.
Psalm 19:1-6 NKJV
"1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
2 Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
6 Its rising is from one end of heaven,
And its circuit to the other end;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat."
Well, if you liked last night's sunset, God provided another one for us tonight! I just love to see His glory in the heavens, don't you?
Wow!!! This is better than Fireworks on the 4th of July, if you ask me!
These are God's very own "fireworks display".
And I appreciate that He put on this beautiful show for my 75th birthday! It is a fitting ending to a wonderful birthday week! I've been so blessed by family and friends and God Himself. I just want to give Him thanks for all the things He has done!
Deuteronomy 4:39
"Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other."
To sum up this big event called my 3/4 Century birthday, let me close by thanking God for His "part" in my creation...He IS my Creator God...there is no other! How I praise Him and thank Him for being with me from the very beginning...and He will be with me until the very end of this life, and then on into eternity!
Psalm 139: 13-18
"13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
Monday, September 22 is the Autumnal Equinox, the first day of the Autumn season.
Autumn is the name of the season and fall is the term for the time of Autumn when leaves begin to fall from the trees. Let's discuss it.....
1. Are there pumpkins or chrysanthemums on your porch or are you planning on putting some out?
Yes, there are lots of mums in my front yard. I hope I can keep them alive for a while. I usually wait until October to get a pumpkin. It's too hot in September and they would rot before Halloween! LOL. I will probably put out my scarecrow in October also.
2. Are stores around you showing Autumn clothing and decor now? Here in New Jersey, leaves on some trees are changing slowly and temperatures are way down . What is it like in your neck of the woods?
Most of the autumn decor is already either gone, or is at 50% off, as the stores are making room for Christmas items now. I think it's sad that they get rid of the autumn stuff even before the first official day of Autumn! Everything is too commercialized these days.
Here's some autumn leaves on a tree trunk seen while out walking this morning.
And here's the way it looks on our current walking trail. Not much sign of Autumn yet here in north central Florida, and the temperatures get up to about 88 degrees. Our mornings have been cooler, in the high 60's, low 70's, which is nice, but it is still rather humid and much too dry! We need rain right now very badly.
3. Do you have plans for Thanksgiving yet?
Not really. Just trying to get through September and October first. Most likely we will have Thanksgiving here at our house, although I keep hinting to my DIL and son that it would be SO nice to have it at THEIR house this year, now that they have a nice new refurbished kitchen! We'll see what happens. They also have a lovely screened porch and nice shady backyard with a fire-pit. I just think it would be a perfect place for Thanksgiving here in Florida, where it is usually warm enough to eat outside.
4 . If we can arrange an autumn trip or get away for you, where will you choose to go and why>
We do plan to take a trip the middle of October, to the north Georgia mountain and stay in a cabin with our son and DIL for a few days. It should be beautiful at that time, and we hope to go get some apples and do some sight seeing in the mountains. We have been doing this for several years now, and it is always a lovely getaway for all of us. However, if we could do it, I would love to go all the way to Maine and see the leaves up there, but especially see our grandson and spend some time with him for his birthday like we used to when he was a little boy. Now he will be 26 in October. Hard for me to believe. But it is a long trip and very expensive to stay up there, so I don't see us being able to do that anytime soon.
I wrote THIS last year (click HERE) about the Autumn Equinox, with a funny story about how our grandson told me about the Autumn Equinox when he was just five years old. It's one of those precious little memories that always pops up in my mind when I think about the first day of Autumn.
Sunrise, September 22, 2025, the first day of Autumn!
Happy Monday! I hope this finds you all enjoying this first official day of Autumn! We've been "pretending" it was autumn here already for a few weeks, not so much in temperature, although it has been a rather mild September for Florida, but in decorations and wishful thinking! But September is special for me in a more significant way, as it is also my birthmonth! And this particular birthday, which is coming up actually on the 25th, marks my 3/4 century mark, so it really is significant to me! I can't believe I'm really this old! LOL.
So we started out celebrating early this past weekend, since that is when the "kids" could all be here at the same time. Originally we had hoped that my sister and her family could come up and join us as well, but they live a couple of hours away and sometimes it's just not that easy to get everyone together with work schedules and other concerns, so we decided that we'll get together with them another time. Like I told my sister on the phone, "I'll be 75 for a whole year, so we can celebrate anytime!"
Anyway, on Saturday Scott came down and joined Benton and Rose and hubby and me at the Sonny's BBQ in Palatka for lunch. (If you're a Facebook friend, you've probably already seen most of these photos, so just bear with me, and thank you already for your sweet comments there!)
Sorry this picture shows my food already partially eaten, but I wanted to show you that I had a half rack of Baby Back ribs, some other sliced smoked pork, a sweet potato and coleslaw! I can't believe I ate the whole thing! It was SO good!! (I gave my garlic toast to the kids, so I didn't eat any bread! That's good, right?)
Then we went home and sweet DIL Rose had baked an apple pie for my birthday "cake", which is what I prefer. My mother had always baked an apple pie for me, and then when she passed away my sister Doris took over that little job, but since she couldn't come, Rose took care of it! She's a keeper!
Everyone is singing Happy Birthday to me...
And then comes the best part...the "big blow"....
It took every breath I had to blow out all those 75 candles! LOL.
But I did it! So now I hope all my wishes will come true!
Here I am with sweet hubby and son Scott...
And here's my sweet Benton and precious Rose... I am SO thankful for our wonderful family. God has been so good to us.
Next came the gifts...son Scott is a man of many talents. One of his specialties is turning trash into treasure...in the past you may have seen some of his creations using Dove Candy wrappers to create special characters...(although I can't find these in my old blogs, but I know I shared them on Facebook years ago)
He created these "Ninja Warriors" to symbolize warriors fighting against cancer, after our son Matthew fought a valiant battle for four years before God called him home. They are created with Dove Candy wrappers and aluminum foil. The details are amazing. I think this was a kind of therapy for him in dealing with the loss of his brother at the time.
These are some other characters he created as gifts over the years, just a small example of the many more he has given away to friends and family. We usually gift him with bags of Dove candy for Easter, birthdays, and Christmas, so he has more "supplies" for his craft, but lately he's kind of quit doing this in favor of some other new creations...
Like painting! Years ago when he was a teenager he wanted a Bob Ross painting kit, and so he got one for Christmas, but at that time he never really did anything with it. Now, many years later he has renewed his interest in painting and so this is what he gave me for my birthday:
I think it's beautiful!! But there's more to the story.
In keeping with his tradition of creating treasures from trash, he paints things on the back of cardboard boxes from food items like Hostess Twinkies and in this case, tea bags! He wanted me to have this particular one and framed it so you can see the tea bag design on the back, because he knows how much I love tea! Isn't that amazing? It's definitely a treasure to me!!!
Also, in a previous post I had mentioned that I hoped I could get one of my strong sons to dig a hole and plant this Rose of Sharon bush for me...and so here's Scott doing just that!
Thank you, sweet Scott! Now may it grow and prosper!
But Scott isn't the only one with artistic/creative talent in the family...son Benton built these wooden planters for me to put my mums in. I had already bought the mums, but didn't want to dig holes in the ground, so he built these to hold them, and they are just perfect! What a wonderful gift!
And sweet Rose not only baked the apple pie, but she gave me these cookbooks because she knew that I was wanting to try some different diet plans, and also she got some for herself too so we can all start trying to eat healthier, after we finished the pie, of course!
I also received a fun package in the mail from one of my dearest blogging friends, who shall remain nameless but she knows who she is and how very dear she is to my heart. Oh, Lily Grace helped open up this package because this person is very dear to her as well...
There were all kinds of fun and interesting things in the package, including these beautiful china handled tea spoons, each with a different floral pattern...so beautiful!
And this lovely pillow case, which fits perfectly on a little pillow that I have:
And also this lovely acrylic stained glass window hanger with such beautiful birds on it!
And she never forgets her "niece Lily Grace", so there was a fun little blue pony with a comb to comb her long tail and mane...
I don't know how she packed so many fun things in one little box, but there was also this wonderful fall potholder mitt that matches some dishes I already have...
And also this beautiful "Grateful" hand towel, which also matches some dishes that I have!
And yes, I am extremely Thankful and Grateful for this dear friend, as well as for my family and all of my wonderful friends out here in Blogland!
It truly was a wonderful early birthday celebration. We don't really have any special plans for my actual day, but we will see what develops. The "kids" are getting ready to go on a trip to Minnesota to see Rose's father and her other siblings up there, so that is one reason we needed plan the celebration a little early. Maybe hubby and I will do something together on the actual day...we shall see.
Meanwhile, yesterday at church was a special day also. One of our dear members is moving away, and she is someone who has done so much for our church and community over the years...just a very committed Christian woman, and we are all going to miss her so much. In honor of our friend, it was decided that everyone who could would wear a hat on Sunday, since "Norma" always wears a hat to church. She was really surprised to see us all there wearing hats and was very touched by our love.
Here's a few pictures that were taken to put on our church Facebook page:
This is Norma...and she was actually making an announcement about something coming up even though she is leaving. Then we surprised her with a nice gift card from the church and the congregation and choir sang the song "Friends", which brought a few tears to all our eyes.
This is our Pastor and wife. Someone said he looked like "The Godfather". LOL.
He did take his hat off to preach the sermon. He said he didn't want to look like a gangster while he was preaching. LOL.
This is our choir
Here's the song "Friends are Friends Forever" by Michael W. Smith along with Amy Grant.
It was a kind of bittersweet day.
But we are thankful for Norma and pray for her in her new adventures. We know God will use her wherever she goes.
John took this picture of me before we left home for church. That floppy hat was in my eyes all morning, but it was fun.
Let's see what else is going on? Well, some have asked if our kids have ever finished their kitchen remodeling project...and actually they are just about finished. They sent me these pictures last night:
They still have to finish the backsplash and some other trim work and then they will take off the blue plastic covering on the new dishwasher. That came on it from the store, and they left it on to protect it while painting.
They are also still working on the area behind Rose below. That is their utility area and also a little "breakfast nook", but they use it as a work area for their Etsy business.
Everything looks so bright and clean and fresh!!
They painted over the paneling with a white paint, and painted the wood cabinets with that kind of a coastal greenish bluish color...I think it's called Quietude, or something like that. And then they put on new butcher block countertops.
These are some "before photos":
It's been quite a project, and I know they are happy to finally be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!
Let me just close by saying how very thankful I am to be alive and well and celebrating my 75th year of life! I give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His love and mercy endures forever!!
Psalm 16:5-8
5 O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You maintain my lot.
6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Yes, I have a good inheritance.
7 I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
.PNG)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)