Thursday Thankfulness

This was the sunrise on the first day of Autumn, (actually on 9/22/2026) 

A beautiful way to start my favorite season!

Yes, to answer my question on my last post, "is it fall yet?"...Yes, it's finally fall, both legally and atmospherically! At least for us here in Florida...The low today was 70, and the high was 80, and it was fairly cloudy and breezy all day, which feels like fall for us...still a little bit too humid to be perfect, but it's getting there...and tomorrow morning promises to be even better! It's supposed to be 64 degrees tomorrow morning, and a high of 80, and it should be bright and sunny, so I'm assuming lower humidity too. Which is all great since we are traveling tomorrow to visit the family as I've already told you, and the only glitch is my hubby will be performing that baptism of our niece in the swimming pool in the morning, and the pool isn't heated!  I did order him a pair of "waders" to wear in the water, which will cover his clothes and hopefully add a little warmth.

We shall see...but poor Shannon will just have to grin and bear it!  However, she's young and a very experienced swimmer in that pool, so hopefully the temperature won't bother her too much.  We had to move the actual time of the baptism up a bit earlier because Shannon has to go to work a little earlier than originally expected...so there's no time to let the sun warm up the water! Nevertheless, I know the Lord will warm all our hearts and hopefully our bodies too as we witness this very special event.  Thank you for so many who have sent words of blessing!

It felt so nice out we took a little  brief walk this morning, and here's some pretty things along the way:

Beautiful Coral Vine growing up the trunk of an old palm tree...

Can you see the bee?  I didn't notice him until I took the picture! Good thing I didn't get any closer! There were actually several bees buzzing arounf those flowers!

This pretty purple lantana was also blooming and climbing up the tree trunk...

A  little further down the walkway was this old oak tree and some more coral vine growing on that trunk! Interesting design where an old branch was cut off...

So I received a wonderful birthday package from a dear blogging friend today, who shall remain unnamed, but she knows who she is, and she always sends so many fun things to open.  Among them were four of these really cute placemats with a Black Cat on them...Looks like our Blackie, doesn't it? 

So I put one on the floor to see what Blackie would do...and well, see for yourself! 

He walked right over to that mat and laid right down on top of it!

I think he thought there was another cat on it that looked just like him! LOL.  Anyway, I guess that's Blackie's placemat from now on! LOL.

Here's a picture of Blackie and me, very early this morning, as you can tell by my "bedhead"! LOL.

He has definitely claimed this spot on my desk every morning while I am trying to read and write to you all (I think that's "Just Simply Linda's" blog post up there right now below... This is why I can't get anything done.  I had to move my mouse to the right side (I'm a lefty, and normally it's on the left) just to get it away from him so I could  work. At least in this picture he has turned his back on me so that gives me a few minutes to work without him grabbing my hand! LOL (I must have told him "No!" rather sternly when he tried to grab my hand and he got his feelings hurt so he turned his back on me. LOL)

Then he goes and sits in MY RECLINER, and I have this cover on it to help keep it from getting too covered with cat hair and whatever else he brings in with him, and to get him out of the chair so I can sit down I have to roll him up in it and roll him onto the floor, but in this case, I rolled him up and he wouldn't budge...so I just covered him up and left him there to finish his nap.  Guess who rules the roost in this house? And he doesn't even live inside full time! LOL! (nor does he pay rent! LOL)

Yes, this is my Thursday Thankfulness post. I may not have specified exactly what I am thankful for in words, but I think you can see it all in the pictures and hear it in my voice. Well, I guess you can't literally hear it, but you know what I mean! Yes, I am VERY thankful for dear friends...oh, and several more cards have come in the mail this week from blogging friends as well as other dear friends! You all are so sweet. I am not that thoughtful, I'm afraid. I rarely remember in time to send a card, and I apologize for that. I have a hard time keeping up with dates, etc., it seems anymore.  

And I am thankful for our family, with whom we will be tomorrow to celebrate Shannon's baptism and also my birthday. 

And I am thankful for this furry black kitty who drives me crazy sometimes, but he sure does make life more fun and interesting. He is definitely a gift from God.  I think God knows what we need even when we don't really think we need something...

I am thankful to be able to take a walk with my hubby in the mornings, especially now that it is starting to get a little cooler.  But especially also because yesterday morning I woke up with a severe burning pain going around my heel and up my ankle/shin.  It scared me because I had just recently finished a round of a very strong antibiotic that is notorious for causing serious issues with the Achille's Tendon, Levofloxacin, and I was very concerned that something bad was about to happen. So I called the Doctor's office and told them about it and they wanted me to come in to see the Doctor. He checked me over and determined that I should not ever take this kind of antibiotic again, which includes the other one known more commonly as "Cipro". However, he did not think that my Achille's tendon was in danger of rupturing, but he said I may have some discomfort for about three weeks until the medicine is out of my system. Thankfully, my foot/ankle/heel felt a little better as I got up and moved it around a bit, but it still felt like I was walking on pins and needles all day. Today has been better, but not perfect yet.  But thankfully I can walk without pain.

I am thankful on this eve of my 76th birthday that God hs given me another year of life on this earth, and I pray that He will continually guide me and guard me and use me for His honor and glory. 

I will close with this old hymn, "Have Thine Own Way, Lord".  How many of you remember this song? Throughout my life God has used this little song to truly speak to my heart and bring me to a place of surrender and commitment when He was preparing us for some new mission or ministry. At the ripe old age of 76 I don't foresee any new  "missions or ministries" in the immediate future, but then again, one never knows when God will say as He did to the prophet Isaiah in the book of Isaiah 6:8,

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 

“Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

May I always be ready to answer His call, no matter how big or how small...

 

"Have Thine own way Lord

Have Thine own way

Thou art the potter I am the clay

Mold me and make me after Thy will

While I am waiting yielded and still

Have Thine own way Lord

Have Thine own way

Search me and try me Master today

Whiter than snow Lord wash me just now

As in Thy presence humbly I bow

Have Thine own way, Lord,

Have Thine own way;

Wounded and weary,

Help me, I pray.

Power, all power,

Surely is Thine,

Touch me and heal me,

Savior divine.

Have Thine own way Lord

Have Thine own way

Hold over my being absolute sway

Filled with Thy spirit till all can see

Christ only always living in me"

Just a little side note (via Google) on the history of the hymn "Have Thine Own Way, Lord", it was written by Adelaide A. Pollard in 1902, with the music composed by George C. Stebbins. [1, 2]
Inspiration: Pollard wrote the text after hearing an elderly woman pray at a meeting, saying it did not matter what happened as long as God had His way. [1, 2, 3]

This "elderly woman" humbly says "Amen".   And Good night to you all...on the last evening of my 75 year! Now I will soon be over 3/4 of a century old!   UPDATE:  I stand corrected by my not much younger cousin! LOL.  My cousin Becky, who is 9 months younger than I am, just saw this post and said that she "hated to inform me, but this is actually the last evening of my 76th year! And tomorrow I will begin my 77th year!"   The sad thing is, she's right!  As the "world turns" tonight into tomorrow,  I am completing 76 years on the earth. And so tomorrow I will begin the journey into my 77th year, and when it is complete, I will attain my 77th birthday!  Wow! This is too mind blowing for this old gal! I'd better get to bed and get some rest. I'm older than I thought! LOL!  Good Night!

Is It Fall Yet???

 Some of my calendars say that Tuesday, September 22nd is the first day of fall, and others say the Autumnal Equinox doesn't arrive until Wednesday, September 23rd. Which is it???  So I looked it up online and this is what I discovered...The Farmer's Almanac says this:

Home » Holidays & Events » Seasons

Fall Equinox 2026: When Is the First Day of Fall?

Quick Reference: Fall Equinox 2026First day of fall 2026: Tuesday, September 22, 2026 at 8:05 p.m. EDT (5:05 p.m. PDT, 00:05 UTC on September 23)
Also called: Autumnal equinox, September equinox
The rule: The Sun crosses the celestial equator heading south
What it means: Day and night sit roughly equal across the globe
Word origin: Latin aequus (equal) plus nox (night)
Next milestone: Winter solstice on Monday, December 21, 2026

When Is the Fall Equinox 2026?

The 2026 fall equinox lands on Tuesday, September 22, 2026 at 8:05 p.m. EDT. In other US and Canadian zones that is 7:05 p.m. CDT, 6:05 p.m. MDT, 5:05 p.m. PDT, 9:05 p.m. ADT (Atlantic Canada), and 2:05 p.m. HST. In Coordinated Universal Time the equinox falls at 00:05 UTC on Wednesday, September 23, which is why some international tables list the September equinox under the 23rd rather than the 22nd.

What Is UTC?

UTC—Coordinated Universal Time—is the 24-hour time standard used as a basis for civil time today. All time zones are defined by their offset from UTC. The offset is expressed as either UTC- or UTC+ and the number of hours and minutes.

Primarily, UTC is based on mean solar time at the prime meridian running through Greenwich, UK. For every 15 degrees of longitude east or west, mean solar time changes by 1 hour. Two time components are added together to translate mean solar time to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC): International Atomic Time (TAI) measured by atomic clocks and Universal Time (UT1), the actual length of a day on Earth.

In theory, the UTC offsets countries use should reflect the local mean solar time. However, many time zone boundaries are distorted by geographical and political factors.

No Daylight Saving Time in UTC

Daylight Saving Time (DST) is not used for UTC as it is a time standard for all time zones.

So I hope this explains it for everyone! I know I was confused...but now I guess we can start celebrating the beginning of Fall today, and keep celebrating all night until tomorrow! LOL.  What do you do to celebrate the beginning of Autumn?  Well, maybe it's time for something made with pumpkins or apples or both... 

This was seen on Facebook, which started the conversation with my sister about what day was truly the beginning of Autumn...and now you know!

So, even though we are here in Florida where we still have to wait a while for those cool rainy days,  changing leaves and cozy evenings, we can pretend it's here while we sit inside our air conditioned houses and light some candles and sip our pumpkin latte's or hot apple cider while we eat pumpkin muffins or apple pies...

Enjoy!

1. Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father;

There is no shadow of turning with thee.

Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;

As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.

Refrain:

Great is thy faithfulness,

Great is thy faithfulness,

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed thy hand hast provided;

Great is thy faithfulness,

Lord unto me.

2. Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. [Refrain]

3. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine and ten thousand beside. [Refrain]

Great is thy faithfulness,

Great is thy faithfulness,

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed thy hand hast provided;

Great is thy faithfulness,

Lord unto me.

Tuesday 4 September So Far

September So Far....

Welcome once again to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4. I hope you are enjoying taking part and as always, if you have ideas for topics please let me know here or in comments on

Hello Friend!
Cottage by the Sea.


1. How has your September been so far?
So far so good...I am finally over the infection that I had and hopefully I will be able to enjoy the rest of the month (what's left of it!) with a lot of joy!

2. What events are coming up next on your calendar or have there been any special days so far for you?

So glad you asked!  My birthday is coming up on Friday, the 25th.  We unexpectedly celebrated with the immediate family on Sunday, since Rose won't be available next weekend.  And bless her sweet heart, she surprised me with cooking our whole Sunday dinner, complete with a birthday cake! It was very impromptu when we talked to each other on Saturday evening and discussed our plans for Sunday dinner since she was off for the day and would be able to attend church, etc.  I had said that I would pick up some fried chicken on the way home from church and we could put things together for a good meal since Scott was also going to be coming down for the afternoon.  Lo! and Behold! I received a text from Rose when I woke up Sunday morning saying that she was bringing the whole dinner including dessert and salad and that I wouldn't have to do anything!  Wow! Am I blessed or what? 

What she made was this very delicious Boston Butt Pork Roast stew in the crock pot, with potatoes and carrots and celery. It was so very tasty and tender and delicious!!

We also had a wonderful side salad to go along with the stew.  It was all so good! (and I didn't have to cook! What could be better than that???)

And of course we did the traditional happy birthday song and blowing out the candles routine...

Yes, I am 76. I can't believe it either. LOL.

Maybe you'd like to hear a little bit of the song...

And here's my piece of cake and some Blue Bell Ice Cream! Can't get much better than that!!

I forgot to take any pictures of the kids, shame on me, but there's Benton in the background eating his cake. I was taking a picture of the beautiful card they gave me.

And the celebration isn't over yet. We will be traveling to my brother-in-law/sister-in-law's house on Friday, the real birthday, for a gathering of the extended family. My sister and her hubby will be there too. The reason we are going there (which is about a two hour drive) is not only to celebrate my birthday, but also our niece Shannon has decided that she would like to be baptized, and she wants her Uncle John (my hubby the retired preacher) to baptize her, and it will be done in their swimming pool. I know this is not the traditional way to be baptized, but their family is not currently active in any particular church, and Shannon is 22 years old, in college, and a very busy young lady. Some of you who have been blogging friends for a long time may remember way back when she was a teenager she was involved in a bad car accident that caused her some serious hip/pelvic injuries and I had asked prayer for her. Many of you who were "with me" then did pray for her, and I know you'd be happy to know that she is doing very well physically now and I believe God is truly at work in her life spiritually as well.  We are very pleased and excited that she has asked to be baptized, and we will continue to pray that the Lord will direct her steps and give her His wisdom as she faces her future. She is on track to try to get in to law school once she completes her degree as a paralegal.  

Link to post about when Shannon had the accident
Link to post about Shannon's graduation, which was just a few months after the accident.

When my sister in law invited us to come there on Friday she asked if I minded sharing my birthday with Shannon's Baptism, and my response was that I could think of NO better way to celebrate my birthday than to be a part of Shannon's special day. To me, that is the BEST gift ever!!

3. How's the weather been in your neck of the woods?

Well, this week is promising to look a lot like the beginning fall! Our temperatures are moderating a bit each day, and by Friday it will be in the 60's in the morning and low 80's in the afternoon, which is pretty much perfect for us! Hopefully Friday will be a sunny day, and the pool will be warm at my brother-in-law's house, because my hubby has to get in the water to baptize Shannon, and he doesn't like cold water! LOL.    

We did have a nice thunderstorm yesterday afternoon (Sunday) while the kids were here. Little by little the puddle in the pond is getting bigger!  Praise God!

4. How can we be praying for you or sending our good thoughts your way?

Thank you for asking! What a nice thing to do.  Pray for our trip on Friday, and that everything will go smoothly that day. Thankfully Benton will be driving us there since hubby doesn't like to drive in traffic, and we have to skirt around Orlando to get to my brother-in-law's house.  There's no easy way to get around Orlando, so prayers are always appreciated for traveling mercies.  

Speaking of travel...this past week our son Scott ended up getting a "new to him" car. Last Sunday when he left here to drive the almost 2 hours back to his house in Jacksonville, his car starting having some major transmission issues. The car had a lot of mileage on it and he had been having some other issues with it, and he said he barely made it back home, but thankfully he did get there safely. However, he knew he would have to do something about getting a different vehicle because that one was going to be too expensive to try to fix and not worth it.  So he took the day off and went car shopping and found another vehicle just like the one he had before, but with a LOT less mileage and in far better condition...and so he was proud to show us his "new to him" new car yesterday.  

It looks practically brand new inside and outside, but it's a 2004 Lexus...(I think?)

Leather interior...all the good stuff, and at an unbelievable price, so he was very happy.

Well, that's about it.  I look forward to hearing how you all are doing. Still trying to get caught up since that Blogger glitch that hopefully is fixed for good now.  

Here's a little benediction and prayer for us to close this post...

Psalm 121:7-8  NKJV

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.

And here's a little reel I saw on Facebook that I enjoyed so much...not sure if you can see it or not...maybe not if you don't have Facebook...but if so, just enjoy this little cabin in the woods with me. Looks like a perfect place to spend the fall...and maybe longer...

 https://www.facebook.com/reel/1258465113076019  Little Cabin in the Woods

Saturday Morning

 Good Saturday Morning everyone!  I hope this morning finds you bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to enjoy a wonderful day!

This funny little ink pen says good morning to you...and to Blackie too!

Blackie loves to jump up on my computer desk when I'm sitting here trying to write to you and/or read your posts, and the only thing that saves me is this funny little fuzzy headed pen. I rub his ears and cheeks and chin with it, and he loves it, and then sometimes he bites it, but at least he's biting it instead of me! LOL.  He doesn't like for me to reach for the computer mouse or keyboard and so he nips at me and tries to get all my attention. It can be quite exasperating, but I give him some good head rubs and pretty soon he's happy to jump back down in search of other adventures (or to finish his breakfast food instead of me! LOL)

Yesterday afternoon, after I finished writing a post HERE, where I didn't have a lot of pictures to share, I went outside and took a little walkabout the yard, and as I was examining this holly bush to see if it had any berries forming on it (it didn't, I think it's male bush instead of a female, and I guess that makes a difference in whether or not it will bear berries!),  I almost missed it, but suddenly I discovered this teensy tiny little tree frog hiding in between the leaves:

I wonder if you can spot him in this picture below?  Yeah, so you see how difficult it was for me to discover him there!

Isn't he sweet?  He can't be more than an inch long, and he's quite well camouflaged there in his little hiding place:

After I took a few pictures he was starting to squirm a bit, and I was afraid he was going to suddenly leap out at me, so I decided to leave him alone and let him rest up for his evening activities. These little critters get much more active at night, catching mosquitoes on their tongues and having them for supper, and singing songs with their very loud voices for such a tiny little creature.

After looking him up, I decided that he is an American Green Tree Frog,  even though he looks a bit darker than what we normally see out in the open.

"The American green tree frog is a small, bright green amphibian native to the southeastern United States. [1, 2]

Physical Characteristics

Size: Adults grow between 1.25 and 2.5 inches long. Females are usually larger than males. [1, 2, 3]
Color: They have bright lime-green or yellow-green skin, sometimes with tiny gold flecks. A white or cream-colored stripe runs from the mouth down the side of the body. [1, 2, 3]
Adaptations: They can change their color to darker olive or gray depending on the temperature or background. Sticky toe pads help them climb trees and glass. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]"

If you want to hear a green tree frog "calling" his mate, here's a video for you. When you live in Florida in the country during the warmer/wetter season, you can hear this all night long if you leave your windows open. I grew up listening to these things because we didn't have AC back then, and so we had to leave our windows open. After a while you get used to the noise, but there were sometimes that the windows got cranked shut, oops!! Oh no! and the frogs were "silenced". LOL. You would have to have lived here to understand appreciate that...

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hyla_cinerea_call_video.webm

Not long after this fun discovery I was sitting inside looking out the window and noticed that it was suddenly raining, while the sun was still shining! 

That puddle over there next to the green bushes is getting larger. One of these days I hope it will cover the whole pond!

So of course I had to go investigate and see if perhaps there was a rainbow out there, and I was not disappointed:

Don't you just love to see rainbows in the sky after the rain?  The sign of God's promises to us:

Genesis 9:13-17 NKJV

"13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

After the rain stopped Still Waters Pond was bathed in golden sunlight...

It was just so beautiful! I can almost forgive it for not having much water in it when it looks like this! LOL.  But I'm still praying that it will fill back up somehow before time for the migrating geese and ducks and Sand Hill Cranes to come back for the winter. It will take a lot more rain for that to happen, but "all things are possible with God"!   Matthew 19:26

Actually, last evening before the little surprise rain shower, while I was still outside doing my little "walkabout" the yard, I was in the front yard picking up some branches that had fallen out of our big oak trees, and a car pulled off the side of the street in front of our house and a lady opened her window and said hello...and I looked and it was actually the two ladies who manage our Dollar General store here at the entrance to our neighborhood.  They recognized me and stopped to say hi, and they had their kids in the car, and one of the girls, probably about 11 or 12 years old,  stuck her head out the window and said, "Here, I wanted to give you this!"

It was this little clothespin, that had been painted and had written Romans 15:13 on it!  I was so very surprised and pleased and thanked her profusely, and told her I would go look up the verse right away and I would treasure it.  Here is the verse:

Wow! What an unexpected surprise and blessing!  And yes, I will keep this little clothespin as a reminder to pray for those children and also those two ladies. I mentioned recently that they both showed up at the Celebration of Life for one of our church members, and I was so surprised to see them at our church.  Me thinks I need to keep praying...perhaps God is working behind the scenes there and there's a lot more to this story...we just never know...

And so I will close this post on that note...remembering that God works in mysterious ways...and we need to always be ready to give an answer for the faith that we have.

Especially in this day and time in our country and world...our faith is being tested and we who are believers are often maligned for our faith and our stand for righteousness and truth...here's some good verses to encourage us in our daily lives and to continue to have faith and courage and not give up hope. God is working through us in ways we don't always realize or understand, so stand strong!

1 Peter 3:14-16 NKJV

14 "But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” 

15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; 

16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed."

Amen.

Friday Foto Friends! A Little This and That

 Hooray for Friday!  And I think Blogger has finally fixed the glitch about the uploads/feed of the new posts...at least some are starting to come through, and that is a real blessing!  I know I still have to go back and catch up with some of you, but at least it will be a little easier to do so now.  

I haven't done much writing this week as I haven't felt 100%, but praise the Lord I am finally feeling a lot better than I was. I'm almost through with the antibiotics, and once that is over I know I will feel a lot better!

The other nice thing is our temperatures are starting  to come down ever so slightly, and it was pleasant enough this morning to go outside and walk around the yard a little bit and pick some of my little zinnias that are finally blooming!

They are tiny flowers, but still bright and pretty and they make me smile.

Actually these pictures were taken several mornings ago when I put out the flag, but I never got around to sharing them with you, so here you go...

I just thought these clouds were pretty interesting...

That one big dimpled looking cloud looks like a big hamburger...which reminds me that today is National Cheeseburger day! 

So we went to our local "Hog Wild Country Cafe'" and had a cheeseburger for lunch. Sadly, no one had told them that today was a special cheeseburger day, but that's okay. Their burgers are much better than any fast food place anyway, regardless of the prices or discounts for today!

This isn't my picture, but one I found on the internet of their bacon cheeseburger, which is very good too. I actually had a burger with swiss cheese on it instead, and it was yummy!

I don't have a bunch of photos for today, or even a lot of stuff to share, but I just wanted to check in and let you know that I am still still alive and kicking and very thankful for that!

One last thought...I love to pick up these boxes of "Prayer Cards" at the Dollar Tree whenever I see a new set of them. I use them for various things throughout the year, and then I also add a card to each little baggy of candy that I prepare for our neighborhood Trick or Treaters on Halloween. I figure that even if the child can't read it or understand it, the parent hopefully will see it and it will bless them.  But meanwhile, I thought I'd share a few with you today to give you some words of hope and encouragement on this Friday in September...

Each one is a promise and a blessing of one kind or another from God's Word...

What better thoughts can we have than to be reminded of God's great love and faithfulness to us every day?

Sunrise and Sunset and all the times in between...

Oh, how wonderful to know this!

If we would practice this we would find so much more peace of mind in our lives...

And I love this...a good place to end for today...

I hope you enjoyed reading these verses, and perhaps you will want to save them for future reference, when you need a little boost from God to keep going! Yes, "Have patience...God isn't finished yet!" Praise God for that good news!!!  I'd say "the best is yet to come!"

Amen,  and Good Night!!

Have a blessed weekend.