Friday Foto Friends "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"

It's Friday night, and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around our house...

Well, the tree is standing, and it has lights on it! Thanks to the kids coming over yesterday and bringing in the many boxes from the sheds, and they even set up the tree for us and then left the rest for us to finish...

Oh, I want you to see just what a wonderful daughter in law we have...while the guys were in the shed doing "something", who knows what, she loaded up all those boxes in the truck all by herself! Then they drove them over to our steps (no pictures of that) and yes, Benton and John did help unload them and bring them into the house.  But I just wanted you to see our super woman Rose at work!!!

Yes! She's definitely a "keeper".  

If' you've known me very long, you know I have this euphemistic dream of living in a log cabin, and since I don't think it's ever going to happen in real life, I can dream...and that becomes my "theme" for some of the Christmas decor...

Skating on the pond in front of the cabin...(at least that pond has some water/ice in it! LOL)

Sitting by the fire enjoying the view...

Oh, maybe my "real cabin" would look something like this...

Or this...

Or this...

But right now it's more like this...

Click HERE for more on the history of this little log cabin.

Complete with a tree house, another one of my childhood dreams...I always told my daddy I wanted a tree house, but he was never able to build one in our tall skinny pine trees in our back yard, so one year for Christmas after I was an adult and married with my own family, he gave me this tree house for Christmas!  I will always treasure it!

I think that little snowman needs some sled driving lessons!  Or maybe the deer ran out in front of him and caused him to run into the cabin!  Maybe the owl can tell us "whoooooo" did what!! LOL.

Speaking of water in the pond...the weather forecast says we are supposed to start getting some rain tonight around 9:00 p.m., and then we are supposed to have rain for the next three days!  Please pray that this forecast is correct!! That could help break the dry spell and begin the restoration of Still Waters Pond.

This is how is looked tonight when the Sand Hill Cranes and White Egret were out there hunting for some supper...

The clouds were building up in the western sky at sunset...

Although they say "red skies at night, sailor's delight"....I'm hoping these clouds mean sailors should take warning...

Time will tell...and you know I'm praying for that rain to come and stay around for a while...

I know these guys would sure appreciate it too!

Blackie was following me around while I was taking pictures of the clouds.  He's doing fine, but I know he's lonely since Sunshine left us.  He stays close to home and tries to get inside every chance he gets...

And today I received this very nice pet carrier for him from our neighbor's daughter across the street. This is from the home where Blackie and Sunshine were originally being fed, but the lady has since been moved to a Rehab/nursing home, and it's looking more and more like she will not be able to come back home to her house to live. I met her daughter there today, and she gave me this carrier so I will have it when/if I need to take Blackie to the vet. I am very appreciative of this!! Blackie probably won't like it, but still it's wonderful to have this available if needed.

Okay, back to the Christmas decorations...I finally was able to get to the box with the Nativity inside...

I always look forward to setting this up first, but I had to take things as I could get to them in the stacks.  This is the whole reason we celebrate Christmas, and without Jesus at the center of our home, there would be no reason to celebrate at all...

Hark the Herald Angels sing, "Glory to the newborn King"...

Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled...

Joyful, all ye nations, rise,

join the triumph of the skies;

with th'angelic hosts proclaim,

"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"

Hark! The herald angels sing! Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ, by highest heaven adored,

Christ, the everlasting Lord,

late in time behold him come,

offspring of the Virgin's womb:

veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

hail th'incarnate Deity,

pleased with us in flesh to dwell,

Jesus, our Immanuel. 

[Refrain]

Hark the Herald Angels sing, Glory to the newborn King!

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!

Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

Light and life to all he brings,

risen with healing in his wings.

Mild he lays his glory by,

born that we no more may die,

born to raise us from the earth,

born to give us second birth. 

"Hark the Herald angels sing! Glory to the Newborn King!"

(Last night's full moon. Tonight it's too cloudy, praise God!)

Well, friends, I think I will leave it here for tonight. There's more to show, but I'll save that for another day.  I've been working a little bit at a time, and still resting in between. Today I have felt better than I have in over a week, so I am very very thankful that the medicine is doing its job and God is doing His work of healing in my body day by day.   Thank you for your kind words and prayers on my behalf.

I will close with these verses from our Advent readings from yesterday morning: (12/4/2025)

Jeremiah 33:14-16  NKJV

14 ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:

15 ‘In those days and at that time

I will cause to grow up to David

A Branch of righteousness;

He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

16 In those days Judah will be saved,

And Jerusalem will dwell safely.

And this is the name by which she will be called:

THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’

Our blogging friend Mary at Visits With Mary posted this wonderful list of Advent Readings for the 24 days of Christmas on her blog on December 1st.  You can click on that link to go to her page and see the list and perhaps you may want to follow it for your own Advent devotional readings each day. It's not too late to catch up!

However you may choose to celebrate the Christmas season, my prayer is that you and yours will celebrate the true "reason for the season"....the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord and Coming King! Amen.

Wednesday Treasures: Just Popping In

 It's Wednesday night...and the moon is bright!

This is the scene from our front porch tonight..."Silent Night, Holy Night..."

All is calm...all is bright...Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child, Holy Infant so tender and mild,

Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace..."

A little bit earlier there was a beautiful sunset over our own Still Waters (still dry) Pond.  Do you see the duck in the tree?

I'm thinking this may be one of the Muscovy Ducks that I really don't appreciate so much, but he does make for a beautiful picture in the tree at sunset, so I have agree that even a duck I don't like has a purpose in life...

God says in Psalm 46:10-11 NKJV

10 Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!

11 The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

And with my enforced "quarantine" this week, I am learning to appreciate the stillness and the presence of God.  We took a little ride to try to catch more of the sunset before it totally disappeared...and to get out of the house for a little bit.  Hubby is going stir crazy I think...but he also thought I needed a change of scenery for a little while too. So we rode over to another lake nearby to catch the rest of the sunset...(a lake that is NOT dry!!)

I hope we didn't disturb these fishermen too much.

It really was a beautiful night.

And just so you know, we do still have some beautiful scenes on our own Still Waters Pond in the daytime...even if there isn't any water...This Great Blue Heron flew up into a tree to check out things. Actually there were two of them. I was thinking maybe they were looking for a place to build their nest because they do nest in the trees, but the other one flew away and this one still hangs around during the day to "fish"...for what, I'm not sure...maybe frogs...

We also had two of these interesting Wood Storks fly in for a few minutes. I didn't get a picture of the other one. They have been here in the past years as well, but they saw that there was no water and they took off pretty quickly. 

Mister Red Shouldered Hawk manages to keep finding food here however.  I see him flying about all around and over the pond throughout the day.  There is life out there, just not like what we are used to.

He saw something down there on the dry pond bed and gobbled it up and flew away:

And actually, you can barely tell it, but it was raining a little bit yesterday afternoon! It totally surprised us! but it didn't last for long.  The forecast does show rain coming this weekend, so I am praying it will be something worth waiting for!

Today was a good day for soup. It turned a little cooler, and I've been wanting soup. This was a quick one, however. I opened up a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup and added a can of mixed vegetables and some onion flakes, garlic powder, and pepper, and Ritz Crackers, and it was really good for a  quick lunch.  I actually also made beef stew in the crock pot for supper with some fresh home made biscuits. I forgot to take any pictures of that, however. It was really good, and there's some leftover for tomorrow. Hooray!

We were watching What's My Line while we ate our lunch, and I was surprised to see Gloria Swanson as their special "mystery guest".  This was from early 1950's.  I was thrilled to see her, because I actually met her in person on my 10th birthday. (which would have been a few years after this particular program).  I wrote about that memorable event HERE, several years ago.

While I'm resting, I am doing little bits here and there of decorating things that I have available to work with. Tomorrow Benton is coming over to bring in the boxes of decorations from the shed along with our tree so I can get to the rest of it a little at a time.

Lily Grace and my "Margie Doll" (see link for more information on her) wanted to be dressed in some Christmas dresses, so here they are.  Margie Doll is my doll that I've had since my 7th birthday, a gift from my Aunt Margie, so that's why I named her Margie Doll.  Lily Grace you all should know by know...but if you don't, you can read all about her in her own blog, The Adventures of Lily Grace. That link will take you to a post written several years ago when Lily first learned about an Advent Calendar.  We haven't written any new adventures in a while, but maybe we need to think about that.  Lily still has adventures...but Mommie is just too tired and busy to write more than one blog at a time. LOL.

Here's the rest of Lily's friends.  We'll be getting things ready for Christmas more and more as the boxes are opened and things are rediscovered!

Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts and prayers regarding my illness. I am getting better day by day, and I'm trying not to do too much, but you know how it is...there's just so much to do during this Advent season!  But God has me here in a time of waiting and resting...and I want to use this time wisely to prepare my heart for the Advent of our Lord...yes, the Advent of the Christ child that we celebrate at Christmas, but also the 2nd Advent of our Lord, Who will "come with a strong hand...and His arm shall rule for Him; Behold His reward is with Him, and His work before Him..."  (see these verses below.) Yes, Christ is coming again...and we need to "Be still and know that (He) is God..." and prepare our hearts for this very good news, for those who believe.  There is so much for which to prepare our hearts...I hope we are all ready...

Isaiah 40:8-11 NKJV

"8 The grass withers, the flower fades,

But the word of our God stands forever.”

9 O Zion,

You who bring good tidings,

Get up into the high mountain;

O Jerusalem,

You who bring good tidings,

Lift up your voice with strength,

Lift it up, be not afraid;

Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”

10 Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand,

And His arm shall rule for Him;

Behold, His reward is with Him,

And His work before Him.

11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd;

He will gather the lambs with His arm,

And carry them in His bosom,

And gently lead those who are with young."

Amen

I hope you enjoyed my "Wednesday Treasures" for tonight.  Have a blessed and peaceful rest of your week.