Monday Monday and the Tuesday 4~What Do You Call It?

Here it is the Monday after the 4th of July...the 250th Anniversary of our nation...and I am sure many people are still trying to get back to "normal" from the holiday weekend.  

This was the sunset on July 4th.  It will have to suffice for my photo challenge picture for July 5th of grass. You can see the green grass where the pond is supposed to be. LOL.  

The challenge for today is "white".  These pictures below will have to be the "white" photos...even though you will also see a Black Cat in the pictures, namely, "King Blackie".  This morning he decided to lay on my computer keyboard, which caused my computer to start doing some strange things...

And pretty soon I saw this message appear on my screen from Google...

It says, "How can we help you?"  I wanted to type on the search bar, "How do you keep a cat from laying on your keyboard?"  The little rascal just wanted to play and wouldn't let me pick him up and remove him, so I had to move away from the desk and finally he decided it wasn't any fun anymore to be there so he moved. What a stinker he can be!! LOL.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend...I've seen a few posts already and am trying to get around to visit. Our weekend was actually rather quiet.  We did end up on Saturday night with our "kids" here for some home made pizza. I added an update to my Saturday post HERE to show some pictures of that. Rose brought all the ingredients and we had a good time making the pizzas. I had also baked a strawberry cake for dessert.  We didn't end up going to see the fireworks, however, as hubby and I were both pretty tired and decided to just go to bed and listened to the booms all around us. LOL.  

Sunday morning I woke up with a headache and some tummy issues, and decided not to go to church and actually went back to bed for an extra morning nap. However, we knew our son Scott was coming down to do his laundry and stay for lunch, and also Benton was coming over after church because Rose had to go to work. I had some country style ribs that I put in the crock pot early in the morning when I first woke up at 5:30 a.m. to feed the cat...(Yes, much like having a new baby...no matter how bad you feel, you still gotta get up and feed them!) and I made some scalloped potatoes (the boxed kind, which are pretty good), some canned green beans and a tossed salad, oh and some deviled eggs. (I had already boiled the eggs on Saturday). So we ended up with a nice lunch, and by then I was feeling a bit better. I didn't take any new pictures, however, which is too bad because it all looked so good! But we had a nice visit with the boys and I sent them home with some "doggy bags" of leftovers. 

So that's about it for us for the weekend. Now, let's move on to the Tuesday 4, shall we?

What Do You Call It?

Welcome to Tuesday 4 which was started by our friend Toni Taddeo and kept up in memory of her.   (Thanks to our friend Annie, who is the hostess with the mostest!)

Different sections of the USA have different words and customs they use. Let's talk about them.

1. In New Jersey you put your groceries in a paper bag or plastic bag. In Athens, Ohio where I went to university, you put them in a paper sack. Is it bag , sack or something else where you live?

Here in Florida we put our groceries in a plastic bag, although in some places they still ask you if you want "paper or plastic?"  I prefer plastic because it doesn't tear so easily and cold or wet things don't soak through. I reuse the plastic bags for trash bags in my bathrooms and also to bag up some other items before I put them in the larger garbage bag for the trash. They are also used for many other things as needed. I do not waste them!

2. Though no one seems to wear them anymore, NJ says Stockings.
Athens, Ohio used to call them "hose" and in Britain they are tights.
What about where you live?

Although they are getting harder and harder to find to purchase, I still like to wear panty hose with dresses for church or other dress up occasions.  I prefer control top panty hose. So I basically call them panty hose, but I also may say "I need to put my stockings on first" when I am getting dressed up.  I also wear knee highs with slacks, mainly because they feel better with my shoes and they just look better than bare ankles. My mother was a stickler for proper dress, including wearing "stockings", and when I am tempted about going hose-less with a Sunday dress, I can hear my mother's voice inside my head telling me to always dress like a lady. LOL.  However, if it is a casual summer dress and I have sandals to wear with it, I will go without hose.  

3.Soda, Pop, Coke?  

Here in the south most all soft drinks are called "Coke", regardless of what flavor you really want.  We'd say after school, "Let's go to the drug store and get a coke!"  But in reality, we would get a Root Beer, or a Pepsi, or an Orange or Grape Nehi drink, or a Coke, depending upon what brand they carried. Our small town drug store also made things like a Vanilla Coke or a Cherry Coke if you wanted it.  (And they only cost 5 cents back in the day when I was a teenager. That tells you how old I am).   Oh, and that "very accurate map of what America calls a cola" is not necessarily true for Florida.  I rarely ever hear anyone say "soda" here. However,  because Florida is such a melting pot of people from all over the country, a lot of our southern idioms are getting changed. There are very few true southerners or Florida natives here anymore, except maybe in the real rural parts of the state. 

Hero, sub, grinder, hoagie?  Usually they are called a Sub around these parts, but there is a place not far from us that is called the "Hometown Heros Sub Shop".  We haven't been there yet, but I hear it's good.

4. Shopping cart or trolley. buggy? What do you call it?  To me it's usually a buggy, but sometimes I do say cart. 

So I guess that's it for now.  I  hope you are having a wonderful week.  It's mighty hot here in our part of the country, but I hear it's hot just about every where. So please stay cool and hydrated and out of "harm's way" as much as possible.  God bless you all, and God bless America! "The Land of the free, and the Home of the Brave!"  Praise God!

Happy 250th Birthday, America!

I started writing this post yesterday, on the 3rd of July.  I didn't get very far before our internet went down. We've been having issues with it all week, and yesterday it was up and down like a yo-yo. So I never did get back to finishing this post, and now it's Saturday, July 4th.  But I will go ahead and try to pick up where I left off yesterday, so bear with me, and Happy 4th of July!

Written on July 3, 2026:

Today is the day before the 4th of July, and I'm still getting myself in a more festive spirit. This tray/sign below was created by my son a few years ago, and it puts things in proper perspective: 

Always put GOD first, and then your family and loved ones, and then your country, and life will run more smoothly.

This is one of my favorite verses on this subject:

Joshua 24:15 NIV

15 "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. 

But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Our blogging friend Chrissy T at One Season to the Next  has given a Photo Challenge for the month of July.  I'm just getting around to participating. I think I already did some outdoors photos and flower photos previously this week HERE,

 So we will pick up with the photo challenge of food for July 3:..see below...

We had blueberry pancakes for breakfast yesterday morning, made with our very own home grown blueberries!! It just doesn't get any better than that!

And for today, July 4th, something that "sparkles", well, this wreath did sparkle in the sunshine:

And so did this, but you can't tell it in the picture...so just take my word for it, okay? It sparkles! And maybe later tonight (4th), I will get some pictures of the fireworks when they "sparkle".

Sadly, our family isn't going to be getting together today to celebrate like we have in the past, but Lily Grace and her dog Bailey are ready for a  4th of July picnic:

And so are her friends...

And Lily Grace says HERE is a link to some special memories from the 4th of July in 2021, shared from her blog, The Adventures of Lily Grace.

And inside that blog is another link HERE, with pictures from some very special family times in the past on the 4th of July.  I love to look back at those special times and remember them, especially when we can't all be together again as in the past. Several of those family members are now celebrating every day in heaven...thanks to Jesus giving us the biggest gift of freedom ever...we are set free from our sins through faith in Him...

John 8:31-36
31 "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

Oh, I wanted to share some pictures of what was going on in our yard yesterday morning...it was definitely a morning for "the birds"...

So, here's the story...You really can't see him too well in this picture, but there is a big Hawk sitting on the branch of that pine tree. There is also a hummingbird on the feeder...

Good Morning Mr. Hawk! How are you today???

He says, "I'm fine and dandy. Just don't bother me right now. I am watching for something to eat for breakfast out there.."

And then he flew away out over the pond, but then I realized there was ANOTHER Hawk sitting on a different branch of the same tree!

And Mr. Bluebird also sees him...and he is keeping a close watch on him because there are new baby bluebirds in the birdhouse, and we definitely don't want anything to happen to them like last time, when a big old crow came and snatched one out of the nest...

So you can bet that Mr. Bluebird is being very protective and watchful, but it seems that the two hawks had other prey on their minds out on the other side of the pond, because he soon flew away to join his mate or brother or whatever...

Mr. Blue bird is telling Mrs. Blue bird to watch out for them...

All the while, Blackie was sitting on the porch and watching all of the activities out there. Thankfully, he knew to stay quiet and still and didn't interfere in the activity of the Bluebirds or the Hawks.

Isn't Mr. Bluebird beautiful? They have been quite active lately, as I think the babies are getting bigger every day and they are busily finding juicy grasshoppers and other insects to feed them all day long...

Here's Mama Bluebird, watching for Daddy Bluebird to come back with more food:

They are both quite busy bringing food to the nest. Notice the blue of blur at the top of the pole...that's the Daddy taking off to find more food while Mama feed the babies with whatever she has found:

Now Daddy watches for the Mama to come back:

There she is...

And there's Daddy, with food in his mouth, waiting his turn to go into the house to feed the babies.

Mama keeps a watchful eye on things...

Daddy says "We are thankful that the Hawks went away and didn't disturb our nest, and now we can continue to feed our babies and hopefully watch them fly to freedom one of these days soon!"

All in all it was a lovely morning for bird watching. And I am VERY thankful to the Lord for all of these blessings...and especially for our freedom to enjoy them.

John 8:36 "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

So today, in the midst of all the hoopla and celebration, fireworks and barbeques and ice cream and watermelon...Let us pause and remember to thank GOD for our freedom...our freedom to enjoy this day without fear of our enemies coming to stop us...and freedom to enjoy this day, knowing that we are ultimately free from our sins when we have faith in Christ...and one day we will be set free from this earthly body to enjoy our eternal life, free from sickness and sorrow and the fear of death.  Praise God!

Have a blessed and beautiful and happy 4th of July!

UPDATE: Our "kids" came over around 4:00 p.m, after Rose got off work, and we made homemade pizza. It was good, and a nice way to celebrate the day!

 

 

It's July!! God Bless America!!

Happy July! Yes, it is the first day of July, and you know what that means! It's time for the calendar roll-call! So let's begin with the one that expresses what we think of most when we think of the month of July:

Yes!!This year in particular, "The 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence!"

"America! America! God shed His grace on thee! And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea!" (America the Beautiful).   And I pray that God will continue to "shed His grace on thee!"  We are a nation that seems to be struggling with our identity as a "Christian nation"...but thankfully our nation's currency still states, "In God We Trust", and I pray that we never change that, or I fear that the freedoms and blessings we are enjoying now will cease to be.

Continuing on with our calendar, the Susan Branch calendar (see above and below) encourages us to read the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. I have not done that, and perhaps I should! Have you read it? Please tell us about it!

I also love this Thomas Kinkade picture for July...yes! 

We wave our flag proudly on the frong porch of our house every day!

(Those umbrellas are there to help shade the front window, as the sun is scorching hot all morning on the eastern side of the house. Someday I hope we can build a porch roof to help shade the windows and the door, but until then, this is the best we can do).

This is the freedom that is the BEST freedom of all...To be free from our sins because of the great sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross:

The Country Seasons Calendar by John Sloane shows this little boy on the farm doing his chores and day dreaming about life somewhere else someday...I wonder if he ever left the farm, or perhaps he realized how blessed he was to be living right there!

Love this picture and the quote by Billy Graham:

And this scripture verse on that calendar...yes, it is from God's abundance and grace that we can enjoy these blessings and freedoms that we hold so dear...

It would be nice to have a log (or stone?) cabin to escape to for the holidays, wouldn't it?

And the teapot calendar is a combination of things...there's a teapot, but you see ice cubes and lemons and iced tea, and a fan...That's the kind of tea we need to be drinking in July for sure! Sorry, I covered up the picture that was hanging on the wall in this one because it was a modern art depiction that was totally inappropriate in my opinion. So I placed the Bible verse over it, "Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey His commandments will grow in wisdom."  Psalm 111:10.  Much better!

Yes, the teapot probably has been the center of many confidant type conversations...as well as the focus of some lovely tea parties and happiness of people coming together...however in the summertime, it mostly likely would be the pitcher of iced tea or lemonade. LOL.

Now just some random photos from the past couple of days...I picked a bunch of my zinnias, ("Old Maids") because they were getting heat-stressed and also a lot of them were bent over and stems broken because of a certain cat laying on top of them, so I brought them inside and gave them a chance to enjoy a few days inside to brighten our kitchen:

The flowers are very small, probably because I had too many crowded into once place and it's been SO hot and dry, but they are still pretty... 

We took a ride to the Kenwood Boat ramp yesterday, and here's a few pictures I took...love this lonely mushroom under the cool shade of the palmettos...

It was a clear and sunny day, even if very hot...

And God's special gift to me was this Great Blue Heron standing on the shore and fishing for his breakfast...

This morning we were blessed with a full moon!

And with this I will close...

John 16:33 King James Version

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Amen and Praise the Lord!

Have a wonderfully blessed 4th of July!