Friday Foto Friends...Fridays are better with friends

 Greetings to all my wonderful Friday Foto Friends...and all friends everywhere! Hope you have had a marvelous week...and hope you took pictures to prove it!  That is what Friday Foto Friends is all about...sharing our favorite pictures from the week of whatever we did, wherever we went, and whoever we were with.  You are always welcome to join us. You can link up with the group every Friday over at Deb's place, "Breathing in Grace". Click on that link to take you there.

Meanwhile this week I got inspired by a photo on Facebook that was on the "Tea for Thought" page:

Internet Photo from "Tea for Thought" Facebook Page
"Share it with someone you love"

 Some of the rest of you also enjoyed this and we kind of started talking about having a "Teddy Bear Picnic/Tea Party".   One of my friends asked me if I knew this little song, "Teddy Bears Picnic", and so I looked it up, and here it is, sung by Anne Murray.  Since listening to this, my hubby and I have both had this cute little song going around in our heads and we find ourselves singing it as we ride along on a country ride or even when we were taking a walk. It is a catchy tune and once you listen, you'll be singing it too:

 And one thing led to another.  I noticed that one of our blogging friends, Mary at "Visits with Mary" had a cute picture of a teddy bear on her header that was all dressed up with pearls and lace. (I hope she still has that header up when you go look. If not, Mary, could you post a picture again so they can see?) 

Anyway, that inspired me to dress up one of my teddybears:

 Then I noticed that another of my friends (Annie from "Cottage by the Sea") had also posted a picture of her teddy bears ready for a picnic on her Facebook page (sorry, no link for that picture, so Annie, if you want to share it on your blog they can all see it!),  and again, that inspired me to get a few of my TeddyBear friends together for a tea party:

These cute little teddies are always ready for a tea party:

 And this cute little Kitty says that "Life is One Big Tea Party"

Oh, my dollies didn't want to be left out.  Here they came with their teddy bears and picnic baskets, ready for the party!  One even brought a cake! Now they can all enjoy the party!

So that was fun.  Maybe you will want to have a little tea party with your teddies or dollies or maybe even with some real people friends. Whatever you do, have fun, and "Share it with someone you love".

Matthew 18:2-4 (NKJV)

2 Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Now on to other pictures from the week.

Today we took a little ride (as we hummed "Teddy Bear Picnic") and discovered this little creek in the woods alongside the road.  This is known as "Gum Creek", and it runs through the woods in one of the areas where we are looking for a new house whenever we ever sell our present home.

 You will notice that the water seems to look rusty red. This is caused by "tannins" in the water, which are caused by the breaking down of organic material like bark, leaves, and roots, and are a part of the natural process.  The water in the soil becomes rich with tannins and seeps into the ground water. It is a natural phenomenon that is found in many parts of the world.

 Here is another interesting phenomenon...this vine, (which is a weed vine), is growing on our fence.  The vine is sending out shoots of roots, looking for something to grasp onto.  I think these scroll-looking curl-e-ques are kind of pretty...

 I don't really want this vine on my fence, because it will tangle and choke out the vines I do want, like my wisteria and confederate jasmine vines, but right now it is interesting and pretty, so I will leave it for a little while...

Speaking of interesting and pretty, this beautiful red amaryllis flower just opened right up, without even sending up a tall stem like it normally does. I received this plant/bulb for Christmas from my son and his wife, and planted it right away.  I was surprised to see it blooming before it really got very tall. But I love it!

It looks right at home among my African Violet plants on the window sill in the sun porch.  So wonderful to see such lovely color in the drabness of winter.

Well, friends, I hope you have enjoyed this little picnic/tea party/ride through the woods and back home again.  As many of you are aware, we are trying to sell our home and move to a community about 30 miles away, near our son and daughter in law and the church that we attend. We've had some disappointing prospective buyers who didn't show up or others that came and went and never came back. We've seen a few houses we'd like to buy, but can't do anything without selling our house first. And so we wait, and we pray, and we take rides and dream and sing little songs and visit with friends and stay busy while we wait.  We know that when God is ready to move us, it will all fall into place.  We are trying to be patient...

Reading in the book "The Way of Abundance" by Ann Voskamp, here's a few thoughts about "Abundance", (my One Word for 2019)

"Sure, life and people will try to tell you loudly that you need to be like a rock, that you'll need to harden up to live in a harsh world, be impenetrable, unmoved.  But no one can really live the abundant life that way.  Rocks don't breathe. Because they're dead."  (Ann Voskamp, pg. 33)

"Questions for Reflection" (page 34)

• "Where might God be working to soften your heart today in the midst of your work?
• Where might there be hardness in your heart that is hindering your growth into the abundant life?"

Hmm, I stop and think about this.  This week had some "hard places", and I had a difficult time staying pleasant in the face of frustration and downright rudeness.  I had to stop and check myself for wrong attitudes.  Instead of getting angry and frustrated, I had to realize that God was working on my behalf...He has this situation all timed out perfectly, and when the time is right, everything will fall into place. I need to be thankful even when there are bumps in the road and disappointments along the way because it is all apart of His protection and provision for me. There is a bigger picture here that I can't see right now, and I need to trust God enough that even this is a part of His plan for my "growth into the abundant life."  

Okay, friends...let's go enjoy this Friday with friends. God bless you all abundantly above all you could ask or think!

Hold the presses! Just as I was about to hit "publish" for this post, I looked outside and saw this beautiful sunrise, so I grabbed my camera and ran down the road to the neighborhood pond to capture some pictures before it became covered with the clouds:

I knew you wouldn't want to miss it!  Praise God in the mornings...Praise Him in the evenings! Praise Him ALL day long!!!  Okay...go have a marvelous day my friends! Yes, Fridays are better with friends!