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!

Tuesday 4~The 4th on Tuesday 4

 The 4th on Tuesday 4

It's time again for Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 and this week our friend Susan suggested the topic of decorating our homes for the holidays, espcially for the 4th of July as it is the USA's 250th birthday. So, lets do that.

On July 4, 1776 we declared our independence from the British Empire and King George III when the First Continental Congress sst forth the Declaration of Independence. We became a free and sovereign, independent nation on September 3, 1783

1. Will or have you decorated for the holiday? If you don't reside in the USA, do you have a special holiday you decorate for on the outside of your home?

This is what is currently on our front door:

I did have THIS on the front door, but because the door is in the direct very hot sun for most of the day, it faded really fast and the bow curled up, and it didn't look very pretty.  So that's why the flag above is now on the door. It doesn't seem to mind the hot sun.

This garland is hanging above our dining room window. I always try to hang something there for every holiday and birthdays to make those very plain looking vertical blinds have some color. We don't often open the blinds because of the bright sun in the mornings which really heats up the house, and also because there is a lot of traffic (both cars and walking) outside the window on our street throughout the day, and quite frankly, I don't like people looking in our windows, so sadly the blinds stay closed most of the time.

I don't have these wooden flags anywhere in our house YET, but I may soon if our son doesn't sell them before the 4th.  He built/painted these and has them for sale at the Trading Post at Deep Creek, where he works part time.  I am surprised they haven't sold yet.

2. What special little touches do you add to the outside of your home? Do you enjoy puttering around in your yard?

Well, right now it is TOO HOT to do ANYTHING in our yard. Thankfully there was another quick thunderstorm last night to water the plants! I do enjoy doing more in the yard when it cools down in the fall, winter and spring, but summer is just TOO hot for man or beast!

3. Are plants and shrubs an important part of your house decor?

I do try to plant things and keep them going...but honestly, this time of year they are lucky if we get some rain to take care of them because I can't do it!  

I bought this little rose bush not to plant here, but to give to my friend Opal's husband, in memory of Opal, so that he can start a little "Memorial Garden" for her.  That's kind of my signature gift to others since that is something that meant so much to me when our son died. We couldn't get a real American Beauty kind of rose right now. It must not be the season to plant them. But I hope this little bush will be a blessing to him in memory of Opal.

4. On which holidays do you spend time decorating either inside , outside or both?

Probably the fall,Thanksgiving, and Christmas are my biggest decorating times,  and then again at Easter, but not as much as in the fall and Christmas.   We don't do a LOT of decorating outside, just a few things on the front porch and front yard. Most of our decorating is inside, and I've shown you plenty of pictures during those seasons.  I keep saying I am not going to do as much each year, but then once I get started it's hard to stop. LOL.  

Monday Monday~

 Good Monday Morning! This is the last Monday in June and it will be July 4th before we know it! With all the hoopla and celebrations going on this week, it appears that we will most likely just be staying close to home with no major activities. Our extended family has other things going on and can't travel up here. My sister Doris is having cataract surgery this week! Her first one...and then will have the other one done in a few weeks, so traveling is not really in her best interest right now. (Praying for her now, because I think it's actually happening today!) And our DIL Rose actually has to work on Saturday the 4th (Home Depot!), so we can't plan anything without her! So I think we will just enjoy a quiet 4th of July here at home and probably go watch the fireworks from a good vantage point that evening. We'll save all the traditional home-made ice-cream making fun for some other time when we can all be together to enjoy it.  We could go participate in our town celebration throughout the day, but it will most likely be too hot and too crowded for us old folks, so we will stay home and keep cool.

Today we are under a heat advisory, and it's already been too hot to stay outside for more than a few minutes anyway, and it doesn't look any cooler throughout the week, so I will take the "advice" and stay indoors where it is cool. (Praise God for air conditioning!)

It was extremely hot and very dry yesterday afternoon, so I went outside and watered my poor plants, and then later the skies looked like this:

And lo! and Behold! We actually got a nice thunderstorm that lasted for about 20 minutes, which was a surprise! Maybe going outside and watering things was the thing to do! The "heavens" looked down and had pity on me and decided to give us some reprieve!  Thank You, Lord! We'll take whatever rain we can get!!

It's been "good weather" for staying inside and reading and watching TV.  I've been "binge reading" these Rhys Bowen novels, which could be considered  kind of historical fiction mysteries. They are what I consider relaxation reading, and although they are not what I would consider to be of much "spiritual value", thankfully "the good" in the heroine wins out over the "evil" in those around her, so there's that redeeming value. This author has a LOT of books to choose from at our public library, and several different series as well as some good stand alone novels. 

The other thing I enjoyed was watching this little mini-series "Seeking Persephone". The only thing was that due to the intense British accents, I needed to use "close-captioning" to understand what they were saying. LOL.  It was a good story, and even my hubby watched it with me, which is unusual. Normally he considers these "chick flicks" and has no interest in watching. LOL.

I am sorry I haven't been around much in blogland lately. It was another busy weekend, with the memorial service for our dear friend Opal on Saturday morning. There was a packed church, with family and friends attending from all over the country, literally. One of the highlights of the service was a video of Opal and a couple of our other choir members singing with her, "He Could Have Called Ten Thousand Angels". That was one of Opal's traditional songs to sing at Easter, and the other one was "O  Holy Night" at Christmas.  The video was done last year at Easter, when she had come back to church after recovering from a stroke, and she was still able to sing. I remember then that there was not a dry eye in the church, and yesterday, watching that recording, was another tear jerking moment.  My "infected tear ducts" have certainly had a workout these past few weeks. Thankfully they are getting better with the help of the 10 days worth of strong antibiotics.  

Have you ever noticed this verse in the Bible before?

Internet photo

I have seen it before, but thought it was mostly a symbolic kind of thing, not an actual "bottle".  But in our new Ladies' Bible Study that we will be resuming in September, "Jesus and Women in the First Century and Now", by Kristi McLelland, we learned that the tear bottle is an actual item that "in the ancient Near East, Jewish women collected their tears in a tear jar and poured them out to God in worship as a sign of faith, embodying God's message in Psalm 56:8 where He says He keeps our tears in a bottle." (Jesus and Women, page 6, Kristi McLelland, Lifeway Publishing)

Can you imagine literally putting all of your tears into a bottle, and that God is aware of every tear that falls? I've tried to figure out just how one could physically put their tears in a bottle in the first place...there have been times in my life when my bottle would be overflowing and have to be emptied frequently and refilled...or would I have several bottles to use instead of just one? Seriously, I'm not sure how they physically did this, but apparently they did...and God saw that and still today, He sees our sorrows and griefs, and He knows the depths of our pain...and He comforts us with His great love and compassion...and restores us and gives us the courage to keep moving forward beyond the grief and sorrow.  

The Psalmist says  "You collected all my tears in your bottle", and "You have recorded each one in Your book."  Oh my, what a book that must be! But then He wipes away our tears and gives us fresh hope and renewed strength, and a brand new day to begin again.  

Earlier in that same Psalm King David says:

"3 Whenever I am afraid,
I will trust in You.
4 In God (I will praise His word),
In God I have put my trust;
I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?"

And later in the book of Revelation...the very last book of the Bible, it says:

Revelation 21:4 NKJV

"4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

I don't know about you, but I look forward to that day...

Well, on a lighter note, I know you all look forward to some pictures of "King" Blackie...so here's some of the latest...

Blackie has gotten rather attached to our computers lately, I guess because he figures if he can get in the way of our doing our work on our computers, he will get more attention...so here he is snuggling up to my hubby's laptop...this was taken right before he pushed it off the little table and right into hubby's lap (thankfully...and not on the floor!)

And here he is laying on my desk, guarding my mouse and keyboard...I don't dare try to touch them or he will grab at my hand with his sharp little claws. He thinks it's a game...

He's daring me to even TRY to touch that mouse or keyboard! LOL.

Yes, "King Blackie" has certainly taken over our household and captured our hearts.  He's a rascal and a scamp, but he's managed to even get my hubby to feed him and cater to his desires.  It's still amazing to me how far this neighborhood stray cat has come in the past year! Perhaps God knew we would need a happy diversion from all the sorrows and sadness in the world today.  Yes, if God is keeping a record of our tears and writing them down in a book, then He certainly can send us some little joys along the way as well...and perhaps He's writing that down in "our book" as well.  I hope that someday we will see that our joys far outweighed our tears and we will say with King David in Psalms 30:11-12:

"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lordmy God, I will give thanks to You forever."

Amen.

I hope you have a joy-filled rest of your week, and that all your sorrows will be turned to joy.  Amen.

Thursday Thankfulness

Sunrise, Wednesday morning, 6/24/2026. It was too foggy this morning to take a picture!

Is it really Thursday already? This week sure is flying by! And so is this month! Wow! Someone posted that today is exactly 6 months until Christmas! I am not sure I want to think about that just yet! Someone also told me a week or so ago that they already have Halloween stuff for sale at Cracker Barrel! Now that's just downright crazy! I tend to want to take each month and holiday as it comes. Let's just enjoy today to the fullest while it is here, and in due time we can enjoy whatever holiday, event, or "celebration" that comes up.

Right now we need to focus on the 4th of July and the 250 Years of Freedom events that are happening.  I wonder what you are all planning for the 4th?  Anything spectacular?   We really haven't made any particular plans yet. I need to talk to some family members and find out what they want to do. We may just be staying home and try to keep cool!  There will be fireworks in our town, so we will most likely go find a good vantage spot to watch them. Sometimes we see enough from right here in our own backyard.  In the past we have normally had a family gathering of some kind, and we make homemade ice cream. That's a family tradition...but I'll save more about that for when we get closer to the day, and also for when I find out if we are going to do that or not this year! So stay tuned. Regardless of whether or not we do anything, we are VERY thankful for our nation and our freedoms that we hold dear, and for all those who have served our country to help keep it free! That is definitely not something to take for granted.

Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts on my previous posts.  I have been a bit behind in reading and am trying hard to catch up, but I feel like I'm on a treadmill that keeps getting faster and faster and I just can't keep up.  This infected tear duct has kind of bothered my reading ability, but the antibiotics are starting to kick in and I feel like there is improvement now and it doesn't hurt as much. So I am very thankful for that, and glad that I went to the eye doctor when I did. I am also thankful that we live in a small town and that getting in to see a doctor never seems to take a long time...both our primary care physician and our eye doctors are very good about working us in when we have something like this pop up, so that we don't have to go to an emergency room or wait forever to see someone. There are some advantages to small town living.

And just look at all these blueberries I picked off of our own bush!  And see how many are still there ripening! Wow! I have really been enjoying these blueberries on my nightly snack of yogurt and granola! What a treat and blessing to be able  to grow your own!!

Oh, and look at how the zinnias are blooming!!! What fun to see them pop open and be so bright and cheerful!

Our friend Debbi from "Debbi's Front Porch" calls these zinnias "Old Maids".  I'm not sure where that comes from, but I looked it up HERE, and it will give you more information.  Here's some excerpts from AI:

"Zinnias were popularly known as "Old Maids" from the 1920s through the 1950s. The nickname is believed to have originated because the flowers bloom continuously all summer, lasting an exceptionally long time in both the garden and the vase. [1, 2, 3]

Why Were They Called Old Maids?

• Lasting Beauty: Their incredible longevity and resilience were affectionately associated with the image of unmarried women who stayed youthful and vibrant. [1]
• Classic Garden Staple: They were commonly planted by older women and widows in the South who cherished their bright colors and easy maintenance. [1, 2]"

Whatever the reason, they are delightful to see blooming in my garden, and apparently I am not the only one who loves them...

What is that large black object in the middle of my garden...again!!!????

Well look who's here!! None other than our rascal Blackie!

"Hi Mom! Were you looking for me???  Here I am, just taking time to smell the flowers!"

"Sorry, Mom, if I smashed your flowers down again...but they will spring back up, I promise!!"

Back inside, if I want to know where Blackie is, he can usually be found hugging his scratch pad, which is infused with catnip. Not only does he scratch it like a wild cat, but he lays himself down on top of it and guards it so that no one else can get to it. I wouldn't dare try to remove him or that scratch pad right now. He is quite enamored with it. LOL.

However yesterday he was very quiet for a long time and I didn't know where he was, until I went into the kitchen and found him here:

Somehow he managed to pull the seat cushion off of my rocking chair, and laid down on it on the floor and went to sleep. I think what happened was when he tried to jump up on the chair, the cushion must've slipped off and landed on the floor, so he decided to just stay there.  

Life is never dull with Blackie around. He does keep us on our toes. (Mostly just trying to find out where he's hiding next!) Did I mention that we are thankful for him? Did you guess that already? LOL.

Today we dropped by the church to see how the quilting ladies were coming along with getting things ready for their yard sale tomorrow. They were busily hanging up all the clothes that we brought them from my friend Maura's house, and it was nice to see just how much there was! The sale was supposed to be Friday and Saturday, but since our friend Opal passed away, her Memorial Service will be held Saturday morning at the church, so the quilting ladies cancelled the sale for Saturday so they can all participate in the Memorial Service.  

I am thankful for the dedicated people we have at our church, who are ready to serve in so many different ways, and especially when things happen unexpectedly and plans have to be changed. Many of our ladies will be helping with the food for the reception that follows the service.  I will be making a dessert to take. Still haven't decided exactly what, but most likely a cake of some kind.

9 "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 

10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."

Galatians 6:9-10

Well friends, that about wraps it up for today. I am thankful for each of you, and your friendship means so much, even if we don't ever get to meet in person...this connection here is so precious.  Thank you.