Monday Monday~A New Week

Happy Monday Morning! I hope this Monday finds you all happy and ready to begin a new week full of joy, blessings, and pleasant surprises!  We never know what each day or week will bring...it's kind of like turning the page on a new chapter in an interesting mystery/adventure/romance book, and we can hardly wait to see what will happen next! My prayer for each of us is that each day will bring us only happy adventures.    

I posted these pictures on Facebook yesterday, along with this verse:

Psalm 118:24 NKJV

24 "This is the day the Lord has made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it."

I also shared the words to this familiar old song, "Morning Has Broken" (written by Eleanor Farjeon back in 1931)

1 Morning has broken

like the first morning,

blackbird has spoken

like the first bird.

Praise for the singing!

Praise for the morning!

Praise for them, springing

fresh from the Word!

2 Sweet the rain’s new fall

sunlit from heaven,

like the first dewfall

on the first grass.

Praise for the sweetness

of the wet garden,

sprung in completeness

where God’s feet pass.

3 Mine is the sunlight!

Mine is the morning

born of the one light

Eden saw play!

Praise with elation,

praise every morning,

God’s recreation

of the new day!

Such a beautiful way to start our week, don't you think?   

We did go to church yesterday, and it was a wonderful morning filled with praise and worship and learning from God's Word. That's the BEST way to start out the new week!  After church our son Scott came down from Jacksonville to have lunch with us and do his laundry. No, I don't mind that at all. He works hard outside in the extreme heat all week, and his apartment doesn't have any laundry facilities, so if he wants to drive over an hour to come do his laundry here and visit with us for the afternoon, I'm quite happy with that. We always enjoy his company.  Yesterday I didn't do anything big for lunch. We actually stopped off at our local grocery store and picked up some fresh fried chicken and some stuff to make a salad, and that was it! We didn't have to cook and there wasn't a lot of dishes to wash up, so that's just fine with me.  I also did make some Rice Krispie treats after lunch so Scott could take some home with him.   

Here's all that's left now! LOL. They were good!  I make mine a little different. In place of the 3 tbsp. of Butter, I use only 1 tbsp. butter, and 2 tbsp. of creamy Peanut Butter. (melted together). Then I also add to the Rice Krispies one cup of cheerios and 1/2 cup of lightly salted peanuts. (Adjust the amount of Rice Krispies to 5 cups instead of 6).  Mix all of that into the melted 10 oz. bag of mini marshmallows and butter/peanut butter mixture, and then pat into a buttered 13" x 9" baking pan, let cool and enjoy!  It's an easy treat to make on a day that is too hot to use the oven for baking something!

Well, I'm still trying to keep up with the July Photo A Day Challenge, but I tend to do them every other day since I don't write a post every day.  So where did I leave off?

The July 11th challenge was for a fruit and/or vegetable...so here you go:

I went outside to check our garden, and we still have some tomatoes growing!  Now, are they a fruit or a vegetable?

I checked my "trusty resources on AI" (ahem!) and this is the answer I found:

"A tomato is both, depending on how you look at it. Science says it is a fruit, but the law and culinary tradition classify it as a vegetable. [1]

• Botanically, it is a fruit: Because it develops from the flower of the tomato plant and contains seeds, it meets the exact scientific definition of a fruit. [1, 2]
• Culinarily, it is a vegetable: Chefs and dietitians treat it as a vegetable because of its savory flavor profile and the way it is used in cooking. [1, 2]
• Legally, it is a vegetable: In a famous 1893 Supreme Court case (Nix v. Hedden), the U.S. government ruled the tomato was a vegetable in order to apply specific tariffs and import taxes based on how people commonly eat and buy them. [1, 2]"

So now we all know!! It can be either or. I prefer to think of it as a vegetable, and I'm sure most of you do as well. I mean, you wouldn't put a tomato in a fruit salad, would you? 

Now, this is definitely a fruit! This extra sweet cantaloupe was so juicy and sweet, it was like eating candy!  It was really good!

I cut them up like this, and then we can have a small bowl full with our meals until it's all gone. How do YOU eat your cantaloupe? My Mom and Dad always cut them up into wedges and ate them right out of the rind with a spoon, much like you'd eat a piece of watermelon. It was usually considered something to eat with breakfast.  But I prefer my method, and I can eat it anytime!

Now, for the photo challenge for July 12, something "Soft"....

Yes, Blackie is quite soft and mostly sweet. (He has his moments...) LOL. And he likes soft places to sit; mostly in one of our laps, but this morning he chose this chair with a cushion and a pillow with Scripture Verses. And no, that verse there that says "Be still and know that I am God", is NOT referring to Blackie, although there are moments that I do believe he thinks it is! LOL. 

As for today's photo challenge (13), it is a "shadow".  Right now the sun is not shining and I don't see any good shadows around, so I will have to wait on this one and see what develops later.

Meanwhile:

One last thing!Click this LINK to more exciting news from my friend Katheryn Masterson, the author! This link is from Facebook, so if you are not on Facebook it may not pop up, so let me see if I can do it another way.   Here we go:

"I'm so excited to share that The Little Ladybug is now available!

This is the second book in my We Read Together series, designed to help children build confidence while enjoying storytime with a parent, grandparent, teacher, or caregiver.

Follow one curious little ladybug as she follows a butterfly into an unexpected adventure and discovers that the greatest wonders were waiting close to home all along.

Thank you to everyone who has supported my journey as an author. Every encouraging word, comment, share, and book purchase means more than you know.

If you know a young reader who loves nature, ladybugs, or storytime, I'd be so grateful if you'd share this post.

The Little Ladybug is available now on Amazon! "

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H8C4QQ8J

I had no idea that my friend Katheryn was going to be such a prolific writer! She is truly talented and these little books are so great for young children...and for parents and grandparents to share with them! I haven't ordered this one yet, but I do intend to soon. But meanwhile, please check it out on Amazon and perhaps you can share it with others also who might be interested.  It's just so exciting to see such talented new authors out there!   I know Katheryn's grandparents would be SO proud of her! I know I am!

Okay, one last thing for sure this time: I saw this little meme on Facebook yesterday, and I thought it described me pretty well:

For those of you who know me, or have followed my posts here in blogland for a while, you will have to agree that it is describing me pretty much to a "T".  And I hope I never change.  And I give all glory to God for all these things that HE has created and done for us all to enjoy.

Isaiah 25:1 

"O Lord, You are my God.

I will exalt You,

I will praise Your name,

For You have done wonderful things;

Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth."

Amen.

Now, let's go have a wonderful day, shall we? Talk to you later!

 

It's A "Stormy" Weekend in July

 Hello Everyone! Hey! It's the 2nd Saturday in July! What does that mean? Well...it means it's HOT. That's about the best way I can describe it!  LOL.  We have been under a "heat advisory" every day this week, with highs in the high 90's with a heat index around 110...and that's hot, even for Florida.   It's also prime weather for pop up thunderstorms, which have mostly passed us by until yesterday afternoon, and then we had a doozy!!

It's been a long time since we've had a real thunderstorm with extreme lightning, winds, and hail! But we sure did have it yesterday afternoon...and here's just a snippet of how it sounded:

 Here's how it looked on our front porch:

 

I was afraid our umbrellas on the porch were going to blow away, but it was too scary (and wet) for me to go out and try to put them down, so we just took our chances that they would stay put, and thank the Lord, they did.  I was actually more worried about our big old oak trees in the front yard, especially concerned about the possibility of them dropping some big branches or even falling on our house.  Again, thank the Lord they stayed upright and intact!  Thankfully our car was not parked under them, which we normally do on these hot days to keep it shaded, but hubby had already gone out and moved the car out from under the trees before the storm started.   But even still, no branches came down, not even tiny ones! That's pretty much a miracle in itself, because even in small rain storms little branches will blow down!

Those tiny white specks are hail stones. They were about dime size for the most part. Thankfully not big enough to do any damage, but they sure were loud on the windows and our metal roof!

This was the view on our covered back porch! The wind was blowing from the west, which is the side of this porch, and everything on the porch was soaked, and the sound of the hail under the metal roof was deafening. But again, no damage done, praise the Lord.

When the storm started, thankfully Blackie was safe inside the house. He had been sleeping on the couch, but with the first crack of thunder and lightning, he woke up and looked around rather startledly. Then when the hail and high winds started, he jumped down off the couch and stuck his head under the couch, and stayed there until the storm passed by.  Poor baby. He was so scared, but he was smarter than we were.  He knew he should cover his head in a bad storm like that in case of a tornado, while we were running back and forth from window to window to look outside and see what was going on. Sometimes I do believe that animals are smarter than humans.

After the storm was finally over, I went outside on the back porch to look around, and I heard this Muscovy duck making a low quacking sound and running back and forth in the yard, reminding me of a "chicken with her head cut off".   You could tell she was very nervous and shook up, and just kept running around and round making that noise. Usually they are rather quiet ducks and do not have a loud quack. 

Finally, she jumped into the little swimming pool that we keep out there to give water to the critters since the pond is still dry (yes! even after the rain storm it is still dry). 

She stayed in the pool and bathed herself for quite some time.  Finally I guess she felt safe and clean enough to fly away, and I haven't seen her since.

I am writing this on Saturday afternoon, and now as I am sitting here looking out my window in my "Room With A View", I can see the dark skies and hear the thunder rolling around once again. It is also starting to rain. Thankfully no hail so far. I'll let you know if that changes!

Meanwhile, I'm not doing a very good job of keeping up with this photo-a-day challenge. Today is the 11th, and I still haven't done one for the 10th, which was supposed to be "Busy".

This morning our son picked us up in his pick up truck and drove us down to that "Joe's Stuff n Such" place again.  (you can click on that link to see when we went there back in June).  The reason for this trip was to return/exchange a screen door for our sliding glass doors on the back porch.  We had purchased a used one from them a few weeks ago...they sell all kinds of doors, windows, etc., used, and some new, and the one we got didn't quite fit, so we took it back to today and found another one. It mostly fits, but still needs some tweaking, but it will do.  Now whenever it gets cooler again we can open up the backdoor and let some fresh air in the house. That will be nice!  

Of course, no trip to that place would be right if I didn't take some more pictures. I will call this my "Busy" photo for July 10th, because that place is very "busy", filled from top to bottom with so much "stuff and such" you just wouldn't believe it all.  So here you go:

This was the first thing we saw when we pulled up and parked...this very old blue car...

I rather like this shade of blue, but probably not for a car...

Oh! It's a Mercedes Benz! I have no clue how old it is, but it's old, that's for sure!

Talking about old, How about this ancient "Fordson" tractor?  HERE is a link to some information about this old tractor.

Per Google AI: 

"The Fordson tractor was a pioneer of mechanized agriculture, mass-produced by Henry Ford & Son starting in 1917. Dubbed the “Model T of the Soil”, it became the first lightweight, affordable, and mass-produced tractor, revolutionizing farming and largely replacing horse-drawn labor. [1, 2, 3, 4]"  

I think I would have to disagree with the term "Lightweight".  It looks pretty heavy to me! LOL.

Next we came upon these old bathtubs...who wouldn't just love to have one of these? Oh, and I love that old sink too!  (The only problem with the tubs is getting in and out of them...)

Now here is a relic from the past!  Look at this old "Underwood" Typewriter!  How many of you learned to type on an old manual typewriter similar to this?  I did!  They wouldn't let us type on an electric typewriter until we mastered the manual one. Oh, those were the days my friend!  

And I didn't open this case this time, but I did the last time we were there, and there is a very nice OLD antique Singer Sewing machine in there, with an electric motor attached. I am still tempted to go back and get this. I don't know how much they want for it, but I bet it would work better than the new cheap plastic Singer sewing machine I bought at Walmart a few years ago, that jams and breaks needles and literally drives me crazy every time I try to sew anything, so that is why I don't sew anymore! I bet this old one, with some TLC and a good oil job, would probably hum right along like a Singer should! They sure don't make them like they used to!

Here's the last sight as we drove away...the other side of their sign out front...

This was the picture of the other side that I showed last time we were there. Can't read it either, but everyone seems to know what this place is!

If you're curious enough to want to go visit them, here's the information. They are only open on Saturdays from 9-3.  

Well, the storm has passed by...we had a nice little rainstorm without too much drama while I was writing...and now I need to get up and move around, so I will say goodnight, and I hope you enjoyed this visit as much as I did! 

In closing....Here's a song that goes along with these couple of  stormy days..."Til the Storm Passes By"...This can be applied to more than just the weather kind of storms, but also to the storms that we face in our lives from time to time..."Precious Lord, hear my cry...keep me safe 'til the storm passes by..."

‘Til the Storm Passes By

Song by Gaither Vocal Band ‧ 2014

Lyrics

"In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face

While the storm howls above me, and there's no hiding place

'Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more

Till the clouds roll forever from the sky

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

Many times Satan whispered

There is no use to try

For there's no end of sorrow, there's no hope by and by

But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I'll rise

Where the storms never darken the skies

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more

Till the clouds roll forever from the sky

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand

Keep me safe till the storm passes by"

Amen, and I hope you are safe in the "hollow" of God's hands every day.

Peaceful Journey on the Pond~Updated 7/10/2026

Today is Friday, July 10, 2026, almost exactly 6 years after this post was originally written.  Today, being Friday, I normally post some kind of photos for the day, but I just couldn't come up with anything new! And also, I've been trying to keep up with a Photo-a-Day challenge for July, and I'm starting to fall behind.  The challenge for yesterday, July 9th, was supposed to be "calm", and today would be "busy".  

We were busy this morning going to Walmart to do our weekly big shopping, but I didn't try to take any pictures of that. Who wants to see busy people at Walmart??? LOL.  So I decided to try and focus on the one for yesterday that I missed, "calm".  And since I didn't have anything new to share, I went back into the archives and found this post, which was written during Covid, and when our beloved Still Waters Pond still had plenty of water in it. Because we couldn't go too many places back then or do too much with people, I enjoyed spending some peaceful time in my kayak, paddling around Still Waters Pond. So I decided that this very "calm" post would be perfect for today, to make up for not having any pictures of anything "calm" for yesterday.  I will try to get caught up on the others perhaps this weekend.  

So without further adieu, here is my very calming post written in July of 2020 from Still Waters Pond. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did writing it back then and reflecting on it once again today. I pray that it will have a very calming effect on you and give you some peace in your life today. Be blessed my friends...

Original Post written July 24, 2020

Are you ready for a little trip around Still Water Pond with me?  I think it is about time, don't you? I haven't been out on the pond in over a week, and this morning I decided I didn't care how warm and muggy it is out there, a little voyage around the pond was just what I needed.

So come along with me and enjoy the ride. I will caution you, however, the rowing was rather difficult today. The water lilies are so thick in the pond that it is almost impossible to work our way through them.  But once out there on the water, there was no turning back. It was a kind of spiritual challenge to keep going until I found a sense of peace and calm enveloping my soul.

Philippians 3:13-14

13.  "Brethren (sisters!), I do not count myself to have apprehended;

but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind 

and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

14.  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

I am not sure what that is in the picture above...some kind of egg sack for some kind of insect perhaps? Anyone have any ideas? I may have to look it up.  Whatever it was, I let it stay right there. Didn't look like something that I wanted to bring home with me. So I kept paddling onward...

Ah, this is more like it!! This lovely lily was turning her face toward me as if to say, "Here I am, take my picture please! I am posing just for you!"    One of the little "prizes" of this journey today...

I was surprised to discover this blackberry bush growing up through this old post from a long ago forgotten dock in the middle of the pond.  Talk about perseverance!  How is it growing there? Perhaps some bird left the seed while sitting on that perch eating some blackberries?

Reminds me of this verse also in Philippians 4:13~~

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

While I was laboring in my efforts to paddle around the pond today, I was praying for a sense of peace from the stresses of the world. And I also asked the Lord for something extra special to see today...and all of a sudden a duck flew up and away over on the other side by the bank. Of course I was too slow to get a picture of him, but then I looked again, and this lovely female wood duck swam into view:

She lingered a little while, contemplating her next move. I could tell she was anxious to join her mate who had flown away, but she seemed to be reluctant to join him too quickly. I wonder if they are nesting in that area and perhaps she was distraught about leaving her nest? I don't know, and I didn't want to get too close to disturb her. So I sat quietly in my kayak and thanked the Lord for allowing me to see her and that she sat still long enough for me to get a few pictures...

However, she could see me out of the corner of her eye and right after this picture she flew up up and away to join her mate.  

So I rounded the bend in the pond and started my homeward stretch. The reflections were lovely here in the shadow of the trees of the little island, so I sat and reflected upon their beauty for another moment.

Philippians 4:4-7

4.  "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice!

5.  Let your gentleness be known to all men.

The Lord is at hand.

6.  Be anxious for nothing,

but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,

let your requests be made known to God;

7.  And the peace of God,

which surpasses all understanding,

will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

I hope you enjoyed this little trip around the pond with me today. I must say that even though my arm muscles are tired from rowing against those lilies, the sense of peace and joy that I feel in my heart now is well worth the effort.   And that is how it is in our journey through this life.  We will face many challenges and struggles throughout our days, but when we reach  that "goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:14), it will be worth it all.  We will forget those things that were behind us, and we will rejoice in the Lord carrying us through to victory.

Have a blessed and peaceful day my friends.