Come Saturday Morning...

It's Saturday morning, and this song popped into my head. I wonder how many of you remember this song by The Sandpipers, from late 1968-69?  Hubby and I actually had this album when we were newlyweds, and it was a favorite of ours back in the "olden days". 

"Come Saturday morning, I'm goin' away with my friend

We'll Saturday-spend till the end of the day, just I and my friend

We'll travel for miles in our Saturday smiles and then we'll move on

But we will remember long after Saturday's gone

Come Saturday morning, come Saturday morning

Come Saturday morning, I'm goin' away with my friend

We'll Saturday-laugh more than half of the day, just I and my friend

Dressed up in our rings and our Saturday things and then we'll move on

But we will remember long after Saturday's gone

Come Saturday morning, come Saturday morning

Come Saturday morning, just I and my friend

We'll travel for miles in our Saturday smiles and then we'll move on

But we will remember long after Saturday's gone

Come Saturday morning, come Saturday morning"

Wasn't that a pleasant way to start our Saturday morning? I hope you enjoyed that little blast from the past.

So here it is Saturday morning, and I thought I'd start this off with a little 5 second video from last night, which was taken on our back porch by our little Blink Camera right after we'd gone to bed.  If you look closely, past the dangling spider web that is hanging down in front of the camera, you will see Blackie the fearless running off a raccoon from the back porch...well, Blackie is actually jumping up into his favorite blue chair and the raccoon is running, and then stopped and watched for a minute to make sure no one else was following him because the big motion detector spotlight came on and put him in the spotlight. By the time I got out of bed and ran to the door to see what was going on, he was gone, but we have this little video to tell us that the "Masked Bandit" was here.  He apparently had cleaned up all the remaining crumbs of catfood and washed his dirty hands in the water dish and took off like the bandit he is.  I must remember to remove those food dishes from now on once the cats have had their fill of food.

Upon a closer look, I believe I see another cat under the table. I don't know if that is Sunshine or another neighborhood stray, but it looks like they were having a party there! 

And especially we need to keep the cat food cleaned up because look who else showed up the other evening:

This is a MALE Muscovy Duck...

Some may think he's handsome, but I do not!

Here he is with his mate, or at least one of them. I don't know if they are monogamus or not, and probably not, because I know there was another female way across the pond waiting for them on that fallen tree where they like to perch and watch and see when there might be food over here on our porch.

 

And our "guard kitty", Blackie, just sits and watches them clean up bird seed under the feeder. He doesn't even try to shoo them away.  No, I do NOT want Muscovy ducks laying eggs and breeding here in my yard! Some say the eggs are very good to eat, but these ducks tend to be very messy, dirty, and they think they own the place! I really do NOT want them here in our yard.  

They weren't the only ones who showed up...Mr. and Mrs. Sand Hill Crane came over and were looking for some bird seed too. I guess because the pond is so dry they are all looking for extra food...and you can see just interested Blackie is in their activities! Ha!

Yes, the pond is very dry, and I should not begrudge any wild creatures food, but I do draw the line when it comes to those Muscovy Ducks. If you've ever had any around you, you will understand what I mean.  I've already contacted my friends who tried to capture them and remove them last year. We'll see if they can do any better this year.

Meanwhile, let's enjoy this lovely sunset over the very dry Still Waters Pond:

And lest you think I am cruel and heartless, here's a picture of Blackie in his new little soft, cozy and warm bed on the back porch:

We bought two of them, one for Blackie, and one for Sunshine. But so far only Blackie has shown any interest in it. At least it's perhaps making him want to stay closer to home for now! Also, the temperatures are starting to drop down in the low 50's at night, so this is a way to help them stay a little warmer. When the temps drop further we will figure out a better kind of warm "shelter" for them on the porch. 

Peek a boo! I see you!

So, yes, it's Saturday morning, and it's time for the Deep Creek Farmer's Market and Fall Festival. We went over to see Benton at his booth...he's starting to display/sell the Christmas stuff he's been making:

As well as some of the other planters and fun stuff he makes:

Lots of great stuff!  

Cute guys too!  Sorry, They're not for sale! LOL.

You never know what you might see at a Farmer's Market! LOL.

And don't tell Rose, but I bought this beautiful orchid for her, because it's name is "Melinda Rose".

I know she will take good care of it and keep it alive, whereas I am not so sure that I would...

They have an anniversary coming up, so this will be a little surprise for Rose. She loves plants and flowers!

We've been reading through Proverbs this month, because there are 31 chapters, one for each day. However, we missed a few while we were on vacation and I am trying to get caught up.  Here is a portion of Proverbs chapter 25, verses 11-12:

 

"11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold

In settings of silver.

12 Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold

Is a wise rebuker to an obedient ear."

Some wise words of advice when you think about things to say in response to others, perhaps on Facebook. 

And this was on the daily devotional calendar words for the day: 

These two different quotes seem to go hand in hand...a good reminder to be "slow to rebuke or discourage" others...and in this case, to be a wise counselor/mentor for a younger person is something to think about...be "sympathetic, encouraging, eager to develop, and slow to rebuke or discourage".  I don't have too many children or younger people in my life right now, but I pray that if I should  have one come my way that I would be this kind of friend to them. I know I am thankful for the older, wise counselors that I had in my life when I was younger.  They knew how to speak the right words at the right time to encourage me in the right direction. Most of them are long gone on to heaven now, but I thank the Lord for them and remember them fondly.  May the Lord help me to be that kind of person always. Amen.

Have a blessed and beautiful day, my friends.  I hope you are enjoying this "Saturday Morning".

Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

The Autumn season always brings out such feelings of gratefulness... 

Grateful to God for His abundance of harvest and gifts of grace...

This little daily devotional calendar has a good thought for today:

"I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God."  Abraham Lincoln.

"When you pray, I will listen. You will find Me when you seek Me."  Jeremiah 29:12-13 TLB

Although, technically, to me, even looking "down upon the earth", I could never see how anyone could be an atheist. Maybe if they look at the evil in the world, perhaps, but not when you look upon the world that God created. There is so much beauty all around us if we just stop and take the time to look and appreciate it. Especially during the fall season...so much color on display for us to enjoy! Only a creative God could design such perfection in all of the seasons...

And we are indeed thankful to have been where we could enjoy such beauty in the mountains last week, but we are equally thankful to be back home again..."Home Sweet Home", and yes, I hope to "Stay Awhile"...

How do you like my fall pillow? It was actually a cloth shopping bag, but I wasn't using it as such, and I thought it would be prettier as a pillow. So I stuffed a pillow inside and stitched the top closed so it can be enjoyed  every day as a place to be comfy and cozy during this season. When the fall days are over and it's time to start decorating for Christmas (after Thanksgiving!), then I will just snip the stitches off the top and pull out the pillow to be used elsewhere...maybe I'll find a Christmas bag to put it in!

Meanwhile, back to nature and God's beautiful creation all around us...

I saw this beautiful Red Shouldered Hawk yesterday afternoon here on the shore of our very dry Still Waters Pond.

Even though the pond is indeed very dry...

the Hawk continues to hunt and find food out on the marshy areas and along the shore.  These hawks nest here every year, and so they are a pretty common sight in our neighborhood.

I was happy to get these close up views of him in the pine tree just outside our back porch.

You can see why he's called a "red-shouldered hawk", by the rusty reddish area on the shoulder of his wing.

Isn't he beautiful?

Thankfully our kitties are too big for him to try to pick up. However, if we had smaller kittens around, I would be concerned for their well-being.

Mostly he likes to get mice and moles and lizards and probably frogs on the pond if he can find any these days.  We sure do still need a LOT of rain to bring the pond back to where it should be for this time of year. I am missing our Canadian Geese and Wood Ducks and others. We aren't even seeing much of the Sand Hill Cranes anymore, and when we do it is only the two adults. I think the youngster, "Trumpet", has moved out on his own already. I hope the adults will still be able to build their nest out there on the pond...usually in January. Time will tell. Praying for rain in the meantime.

This is a picture/painting that was in our bedroom at the cabin we stayed at in Georgia. I think God knew I'd love seeing that! I've missed our Bluebirds here at home.  They never did nest here this year, although they kept coming to the birdhouses and looking inside them, they never really moved in. I've missed them.

This was another painting that was in our bedroom. It's a Thomas Kinkade painting, appropriately of a little log cabin in the mountains, and I love the verse below it,  John 4:13-14.

John 4:13-14 NKJV

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Back at home again, we were concerned that Blackie had not showed up yet since our return. Sunshine came in time for supper the day after we got home, but Blackie apparently was still off visiting somewhere else until last evening when I was outside visiting with our neighbor and thanking him for taking care of the kitties while we were gone. I looked across the street just in time to see Blackie running along in front of our other neighbor's house, and so I called to him and when he heard my voice and saw me he came running right over!

Again, Sunshine was a little standoffish with Blackie, but one Blackie ate his supper and started cozying up to Sunshine again, he relented and allowed him to lick his head and show his affection once again.

Yes, Blackie, you are a scamp! But we all still love you!

I am indeed thankful for our home and family, even our little wild kingdom here. There's never a dull moment, that's for sure!

I am also thankful that hubby is feeling better and that the shingles never did completely develop since we were able to catch it in time! That's a real blessing.

We are thankful that we were able to take that little vacation, but we are also thankful that we are back home safely and that life is getting back to normal once again.  (whatever "normal" is...it's all good!)

Psalm 145:1-3

"1 I will extol You, my God, O King;

And I will bless Your name forever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless You,

And I will praise Your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

And His greatness is unsearchable."

Amen.

The Mountains Are Calling...

  Well, Hello Dear Friends in Blogland!  I'm finally back from our week's trip to the mountains! The Mountains were calling, and so we went! We are SO thankful to have made the trip up and back safely, with no major issues in travels or other...well, if there were any, I'll get to that later...But for the moment, I just want to say THANK YOU to the Lord, for His protection and care of us throughout this journey.  

I may be taking a few "liberties" with these photos in connecting them to Psalm 121, but it seemed as though it would be a good way to share them.  Most of these photos were taken by me, but a few were taken by my sweet daughter in love, Rose, and shared with me:

Psalm 121

1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—

From whence comes my help?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

The leaves were just beginning to turn color, but it was still beautiful!

3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel

Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper;

The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

6 The sun shall not strike you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.

8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in

Our Grandpuppies, Sugar and Spice

From this time forth, and even forevermore.

As you can tell by the photos, we had a beautiful setting in staying at "The Little Cabin in the Woods". It was very quiet, peaceful, and cozy, a perfect place and exactly what we needed. We are indeed thankful for this blessing of time spent with our family.

Our sweet Daughter in Love Rose also provided much of the food for our meals at the cabin. She had purchased and prepared a lot of food in advance and brought it with us in a cooler. It made meals a lot easier to plan and we didn't have to eat out so often. We are so blessed to have such a sweetheart for a daughter in law. I honestly don't know how she did it all, since she was working right up until the day we left for our trip.  (Being younger does help!) 

The Porch was a lovely place to sit and relax and enjoy the views and the peac and quiet...

The firepit was beckoning us to come and enjoy a good time around the fire:

And so we did!

Hubby was relaxing after an urgent care visit to discover that he had shingles developing...but thankfully we caught it in time and the medicine they gave him made him peaceful and tranquil, but it stopped the pain and the development of the virus, so we were thankful to have been able to find a place that could take him in and presribe what was needed!

Time to roast some marshmallows!!

Oh yummy!!! Graham Cracker, Hershey Bar, and Toasted Marshmallows! It doesn't get better than this!

I look forward to this event every year...the highlight of our trip in my mind!

Messy, but oh so good! LOL. 

If  you've ever had a s'more, you know why they call them "s'mores".  You just gotta have  "some more".

So much fun!!!!

No trip to the north Georgia mountains would be complete without a visit to Mercier Apple Orchard:

It's a fascinating place, where they bring in the apples from the orchards by the wagon load and process them, some into apple cider, apple butter, and pies, apple fritters, apple cider donuts, and of course, just plain apples...all kinds of varieties.

The only bad thing about this day was that we didn't know that Tuesdays and Thursdays (we went on Thursday), are BUS TOUR days during peak apple season, and the place was PACKED with people from the busses, all in search of apples and everything else. It was bumper to bumper and we really couldn't get around to see much because of the long lines waiting to check out. If we ever go back, we will remember NOT to go on a Tuesday or a Thursday!

We did manage to get some delicious Apple Butter and a bag of Ever Crisp apples, plus some donuts and apple fritters (which are long gone now).  I wish we could've brought home more apples, but we just didn't have space for them in the car along with everything else.

We also took a little ride up to the two towns on the border of Georgia and Tennessee, McCaysville, GA, and Copperhill, TN. (Click on that link for more information about this area. It's very interesting!)

We are standing at one of the bridges that spans the Toccoa River on the Georgia side, and the Ocoee River on the Tennessee side...same river, just two different names for each state.

The BLUE line is drawn through the town to show you where the state line is.

There's Benton and Rose standing on the state line.

Benton is standing in front of that Blue Ridge Scenic Railway engine. It was in town, having brought tourists there from the town of Blue Ridge down the road a ways, actually near where we were staying. Benton and Rose have done this train trip in the past, but this day we just drove ourselves up so we could have more time to visit the town and eat lunch there. It was very interesting.

The reason we found this area so intriguing is because I know at least one of my husband's great aunts was born in the town of  Copperhill, TN., and his grandmother was born in the Blue Ridge area on the Georgia side, in a place called "the Devil's Backbone", (according to notes I've read from family members) because of the way the ridge of the mountain looks, I guess. Anyway, His great grandparents lived in this community back in the 1890's, but we have no idea exactly where. A lot has changed since then.  But I found this painting in one of the many shops there very interesting:

If you look closely, you will notice that the name on the depot is "Waters Depot".  Well, my husband's great grandfather's last name was Waters. His grandmother's maiden name was Waters, and she apparently grew up in this area.  I have no idea if there is any connection because I really don't know how long they lived in that community, but I found it very interesting that this painting was there in that community where they lived. It makes me VERY  CURIOUS as to the history of this painting. Not sure how to go about finding out more. I should've  asked in the store, if they knew the artist or the history of the picture, but didn't think long enough about it at the time. Now I'm kicking myself! I notice it does say in a handwritten note under the train, "In memory of Susan Long".  Wow, another mystery!!

Either way, whether or not there's any connection, I found it very interesting to think that my husband's ancestors once walked on those hills and streets in that area, over 125 years ago!

Speaking of hubby's relatives, we did actually meet up with one of his cousins from that same side of the family, and had lunch with her. She recently moved to that area from California. I may have told you about his cousin having to evacuate their home in the fires out there this past winter. Thankfully their house was spared, but did have a lot of smoke damage. Fortunately, they had already made plans to move to Georgia prior to the fire, and they were able to sell their home and make that move last spring. We were so happy to be able to see Linda, and actually pray with her as she was scheduled for some serious neck surgery this past Monday (yesterday!). Her husband notified us last night that her surgery was very successful and she was doing fine, so that was great news.

For those of you who aren't on my Facebook page, you may not have known about the near calamity we had prior to leaving for our trip last week.  Thankfully, we had already made plans to rent a van for our trip since we were taking the kids and the two grandpups. Neither of our family's personal vehicles could have transported all of  us very comfortably. Anyway, we had just picked up the rental van and our son was driving it, and we were following him back to our house in our car to drop it off and load up the van for the trip. Suddenly, in the middle of the 4-lane highway in the 60 MPH zone, our car stalled out while driving. Thankfully hubby was able to steer the car to the side of the road and we were able to stop it there safely.  We called ahead to Benton to come back and get us as he was further ahead and didn't see us go off the road.  We called for a tow-truck and also called the dealership where we had bought that car just a few months ago. Thankfully it was still under warranty (even though it was a used vehicle).   When we contacted the service manager at the dealership he knew right away what was probably wrong with the car, since there apparently was a recall out for that same make and model.  The tow truck came and got the car and took it to the dealership, and we were able to carry on with our trip in the rental van.  

After all the excitement of the moment, when we were able to pause and reflect on all that happened, we really had to stop and thank the Lord for His protection over us.  Thankfully there wasn't much traffic on that road at that time, and we were able to get off the road safely. But we stopped and thought about what if we had been driving our car on our trip to Georgia instead of the rental van, and if that had happened on the interstate highway with all of the fast moving traffic around it on several lanes...I shudder to think what could have happened, and also the fact that we would have been stranded far from home with no vehicle or way to get anywhere!  Wow! Praise GOD we had already planned on not taking that vehicle on the trip, and Praise GOD we were not in heavy traffic when it stalled and we were close to home with our son close by to pick us up...so many things that were already being taken care of before we even knew we would need that help! 

Back to Psalm 121 from the beginning of this post:

"1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—

From whence comes my help?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;

 He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel

Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper;

The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

6 The sun shall not strike you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.

8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in

From this time forth, and even forevermore."

Amen.

Thank you for hanging in there with me through this whole long post. Now I need to get back to visiting with you all. I've missed your posts and I hope to get caught up soon.

Oh, and yes, my neighbor took good care of feeding the cats while we were gone. He said he never saw them, but they did come and eat the food.  This afternoon Sunshine finally showed up and when he saw me he just meowed and meowed and meowed, as if to say, "Where have you been? I missed you so much!" I said the same thing to him.  I haven't seen Blackie yet, but I know he was here some while we were gone because I could see him on the security camera we have on the porch.  He'll show up when he gets hungry enough.   It looks like Sunshine needs something cleaned from his eye, but I'm not sure he'll let me do anything with it. At least I know he's safe and sound and hopefully things will get back to normal here soon.

Good night everyone! And Give thanks to the Lord for the special ways He has protected and cared for you each day as well. Amen.