What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?

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!

Friday, May 25, 2018

Friday Foto Friends - A Day to Remember


Hello Friday Foto Friends


It seems like Friday comes and I have already posted all my interesting pictures throughout the week either here or on Facebook, and then I realize I didn't save much for Friday.  So I went back through the week to see what I might have missed that you would enjoy...So here goes:

We've had a lot of rain lately, with much more to come this weekend.  One morning I noticed these mushrooms on the front lawn, looking like little flowers blooming...
I love to see all the different varieties of mushrooms that appear throughout the year. They are each so unique and interesting...Here's another example from a previous post

One rainy afternoon I decided to sort buttons from my hubby's grandmother's button collection...(Nanny Martin).   I loved looking through them and imagining what dresses or blouses they may have been on...Nanny Martin had four daughters, so she did a LOT of sewing for her girls as you can imagine.

I keep them in this old blue Mason Jar.
 Remember this picture from last Friday?  Do you recall that I told you that the picture was of some "borrowed ancestors" that we really have no clue who they are...

Well, I finally updated this plaque with a picture of "Nanny Martin" when she was a young bride (age 15).  She is the creator of that lovely old quilt, and the scraps of fabric on here are from the quilt...
I also added one of her pins...on the bottom left corner of her picture...it has an aqua gemstone in it (but some of the other smaller stones are missing), and I also added the larger key, which I believe was a key from her house.  So now this picture plaque has more personal meaning and looks nice in the guest room...


Totally changing gears here...This is a Pawpaw bush, and these are young pawpaws developing.  Just thought you'd want to know...they grow wild here in our woods ....and they will get much bigger when they are ripe. The animals apparently like them. I tried one once...they are edible fruit, but not exactly what I like to eat, so the animals are safe to have them...

This Bird Sanctuary birdhouse sits in The Secret Garden.  I've never yet seen a bird go in it, but these two lizards seem to have made it a home. Every time I go by there I see them on it.  Notice, the small one on the left is the female, and the large one on the right is the male. They are very territorial too...



Now, if you have watched the news this past week you may have seen that there have been some large sinkholes forming in The Villages, Florida, which is about an hour's drive from where we live.  I had to make a trip to The Villages this past week to see a specialist for some therapy, and I can tell you that the sinkholes are not the only thing stopping traffic in The Villages.

This Florida Soft-shelled Turtle was also stopping traffic on a busy road in the middle of The Villages.  He had apparently wandered out of a neighboring pond onto the road. Thankfully someone was stopping to put him back in the water...

And here is our friend "Smiley Bear", who stopped by one evening for a drink.  I love how he literally smiled for the camera!!!  (yes, I was inside the house sleeping when this happened. Our wildlife camera had the honor of capturing this lovely photo.  No humans were eaten in the filming of this bear)

Now I know everyone watched the Royal Wedding last Saturday.  I recorded it and watched it later in the day.  Everyone has already posted their favorite pictures of the Prince and his lovely bride, but I thought it would be good to give some attention to the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.  I understand that Prince Philip is almost 97 years old, and he was able to walk in and be a part of this royal wedding.  I think that is pretty remarkable and deserves some applause.
 I think they still make a very handsome couple...and we may not have too many more times to see them together like this...

Oh, and by the way, did any of you wear a hat to the wedding? Here you will see the corner of my  hat as I took this 'selfie' while watching the wedding...Yes, I wore it for the whole wedding. That was the only part of me that was "dressed up", hence you only see the corner of the hat.  The rest of me was sans makeup and in my old house clothes...
 I took a lot of pictures of the wedding, but I really liked this view at the end of the wedding, while they are waiting for their carriage to arrive.  I love all the people watching, and all the chimneys standing at attention in the background...

Switching gears again:  We went to visit a friend in the hospital yesterday, and this was the view from his window...they are adding on to and remodeling the outside of the hospital, so there is scaffolding everywhere...this worker was busily working while we visited...Not sure I'd want workers outside my window while I was recuperating in the hospital....

Also, outside the hospital was this "horse"...If you have ever visited Ocala, Florida, you will know that it is well known for its horse farms and breeding of race horses.  Click here for more information about these painted horse statues, that you will find scattered all over Ocala.    Here is a Pinterest Link to more of them...

This is the plaque for this particular horse, "Mistaken Identity".  Someday I would like to drive around and see how many of these horses I can find to photograph.

I will close with these pictures of this beautiful rose, that was blooming in "The Memorial Garden" this week.



The Memorial Garden was established four years ago in memory of our son, who entered heaven's gates on May 25, 2014.  

I'm afraid the garden is looking a bit jungle-like right now since we've had so much rain, but I was so thrilled to see the rose blooming, as well as the Rose of Sharon bush behind it, which was also planted in memory of Matthew.

Later today we will be participating in a Memorial Service for our daughter-in-law's mother, who passed away several weeks ago.

I trust that you and yours will have a safe and memorable Memorial Day weekend. May we always remember the sacrifices that so many have made for our freedom, as well as take a moment to remember our loved ones who have gone on before us.

"Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His saints."
Psalm 116:15

Now let us travel over to Deb's Place at Breathing in Grace and see what our other Friday Foto Friends are sharing...



Also, I just learned that "Networked Blogs" is discontinuing its service today. Not sure how that will affect any of us...I believe it mainly was the service that automatically connected my blog to Facebook, so I will have to do that manually.  I have removed it's "widget" from my blog per their instructions, so if you disappeared as a result, it was through no intention of my own.  I truly hope it doesn't disconnect any of my wonderful followers.  Please give me feedback if you know more about how this loss of service will affect our blogs.  I value each and every one of you.

17 comments:

  1. One of those buttons looks like a smiley face. It's on the right side, white, a little more than halfway down.

    LOVE your wedding hat. Do they call it a fascinator? I thought Meghan was a beautiful bride. I like Harry too.

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    1. I see your smiley face...I see another nearby on a brownish colored button. It was such fun sorting through these oldies...No, my hat is not a fascinator. It has a full brim all the way around, but not too wide for the rules of the wedding. Yes, I thought Meghan was lovely...very natural and sweet. Harry was cute...I pray they will be very very happy. It was a wonderful wedding, with a powerful message from the pastor.

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  2. Pamela you always amaze me with your wonderful array of photos. I enjoyed seeing everyone of them. Thanks for making my day. Have a blessed one my friend.

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    1. I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures today. I also enjoyed your outhouse pics, and wrote you my life history in my comment.LOL. You are a blessing in so many ways. Thank you.

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  3. I love all your pictures today. The red rose is beautiful!!

    Love that your wore a hat to the wedding. What I can see looks really cute. I also love that photo of them waiting for the carriage. How cool is that! And that's a great picture of the Queen and Prince Phillip. It's so amazing how well they get along at their age.

    That bear photo is awesome. It does look like he's smiling. Aren't you afraid you'll run into him sometime when you are out in your yard?

    I love the photo you put together of your Nanny Martin. That is so neat. My mom and dad used to have 2 big framed pictures of and old time couple hanging over their bed. They had no idea who they were, but they certainly fit the decor of their home. lol

    I hope you have a wonderful day and a great weekend.

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    1. Thank you, Cathy. As far as the bear is concerned, we have found that the bears are just as timid about us as we are of them, unless they have their cubs with them or get cornered. We tend to make a lot of noise when we go outside, especially at night, to let them know we are coming. That usually scares them into the woods right away. If it doesn't, then we don't move until they move...and we make lots of noise. I love that your parents had some "borrowed ancestors" too. Such fun. I hope you have a blessed and wonderful weekend too.

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  4. So many cool photos today! Mr. Bear does look happy to have a pond to drink from.
    The red rose is so pretty and your memorial garden too. Maybe one day I can visit it.
    I posted a photo of the prom dress for you on my blog.

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    1. Thank you for sharing the prom dress photo. I loved it...very sophisticated!! Oh, wouldn't it be lovely to have you visit? Just keep in mind, we live in the woods, and it is rather rough and wild here...bears roaming around at night, along with coyotes and bobcats...but inside we are safe and warm and cool in the summer, and I would love to have you visit. Just keep in mind...it is a little bit rough around the edges here...

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  5. For someone who was unsure if she had any memorable photos to share this week, you did an awesome job, Pamela! I love all the pictures, but especially liked the one of your grandmother as a bride (15? Really???) as you've made it so personal to the family. So cool you wore a hat to the wedding, too. Beautiful touch, and one I never even thought about - mine would have been a baseball cap - lol! Thanks for the photos of the Queen and Prince Philip as well. No, they might not be around much longer to grace us with their presence.
    Blessings!

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    1. Thank you, Martha. Actually, that is my hubby's grandmother, and yes, 15. She was also a midwife, helping deliver babies when she was younger than that! A remarkable woman. I was blessed to get to know her before she passed. Our home houses many of her keepsakes, so I feel very close to her even though she was not MY grandmother. In some ways I knew her better than my own grandmothers...they weren't quite as close and "homey".

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  6. Pam: I had to look closely to see the lizards. They blended into the wood. Your refurbishing of the picture frame is marvelous. We had a school shooting in the next county to our west. A science teacher was wounded three times. He smacked the guns out of the boys hands and tackled him, keeping him down to the police could get there. This happened in a middle school. (grades 6-8) A young girl in that class got shot. Please pray for this city and those who attend that school.

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  7. Your photos are wonderful, as always Pam. That bear knows where the camera is now. I think he smiled on purpose to let you know! The little framed piece you changed to make it more personal is precious!! Have a good weekend, my friend!

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  8. Beautiful post. That soft-shelled turtle was a risk-taker!!!

    And the smiling bear -- how funny is that!

    May the Lord bless and comfort you on this anniversary weekend of Matthew's passing.

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  9. Wow, Pamela, you always find such amazing photos to share--capturing "snapshots" of your life. And your captions for the photos are so engaging. In the beauty of you photos of nature, I can see God's handiwork.

    Blessings!

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  10. Mercy! For someone who didn't have anything to share, you sure did your share of sharing!!!! Button, button, who's got the button? And way down yonder in the Paw Paw Patch! Your photos are wonderful and what a great observation you made about the chimneys standing at attention!

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  11. Oh, my mercy...I'm only 3 days late to visit. I'm not altogether sure what's going on in my head these days...but....love all your flowers and critters and I've gotta share a little story about the pawpaw. I grew up in Paw Paw Hollow Baptist Church...named that because of all the pawpaw trees/bushes in the "holler" behind the church! Isn't that interesting?!? HOPE you have a beautiful Memorial Day, sweet Friend! <3

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  12. Love the garden flowers and the smiling bear!

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Thank you for visiting here today. I would love for you to sign my guestbook and let me know you stopped by. I always enjoy reading your comments and words of encouragement! May you be blessed as you go on your way. Please come back and visit again soon.