Friday Fotos Are Always A Surprise To Me!

Friday Fotos always end up being a surprise to me.  As of Thursday morning, I had no new pictures to share. It seemed like there was nothing worth looking at to even take a picture, plus it was raining.

We tried to go take a morning walk, and it started pouring on us, so we had to hurry back into the car before we got soaked.

 After the rain stopped I walked around outside to see what I could see, and I did see something really special! This lovely rosebud was drenched in raindrops (one of "My Favorite Things"....remember? "Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens..."? (Julie Andrews, Sound of Music, for those of you who may need a little extra jog to your memory)

Again, this is a rose from the "Memorial Garden Rosebush" that we brought with us from our previous home. It had been a gift in memory of our son, so I didn't want to leave it behind.

After the sun came out the rose bud began to open up even wider, 

and so I decided to cut it and bring it inside where I can enjoy it every day while it lasts:

There it sits in my mother's beautiful green glass vase, next to a picture of our son Matthew.

I always say "Thank you" to Matthew when this rose blooms, because I feel like it is a gift from him from heaven. 

Thursday, April 30, 2020 was also the first anniversary of my oldest brother Russell's passing after a hard fought battle with leukemia.  So he was very much on my heart and mind all day as well.
This picture of him below was before he got sick, standing beside the boat that he was building. He didn't get to finish the boat before he had to sail away into heaven's harbor.  I'm thinking that he and my son Matthew might just be fishing in heaven today...they both loved fishing, and if there is fishing in heaven, they've found all the good spots!

Now changing scenes a bit.  Can you see the baby bird in this picture below?

No? Well, how about this closer up view?  Trust me, he's there, right behind those big green leaves and next to the tree trunk.  How do I know? Well I saw him fluttering around in there after he had actually come and tried to get into my little den window while I was sitting here typing on the computer. I heard this tapping on the window pane, and looked up and saw this very young Cardinal flapping his wings and trying so hard to come into that window. By the time I could grab my camera he was gone, but I went outside and saw some activity in this tree:

And then I also saw this very stern looking male cardinal, most likely the father, staring at me and then flying around trying to distract me and get his fledgling child to get a move on before the human got too close.  After a flurry of excitement between the father and the mother, I eventually saw them all three fly off to another tree and then on to the woods on the other side of our property. Most likely they will be keeping him away from my window from now on...but I'll bet they'll be back to the bird feeder in the yard! I will be watching as often as possible without disturbing them too much.

I first showed you this picture below last year right when we were in the process of moving to this house.  This was the view from our front porch, to a beautiful big magnolia tree in the lot across the street.

Well, this was the view of that same tree in the bright sunshine, but I wanted to show you that it is now blooming...you can't see too many of the blossoms in this picture, but there are blossoms all around this tree...

Here's one just getting ready to open...

And here's one that is already wide open...

 And here are several looking up through the branches, some open,  and some about to open...

I am really enjoying seeing all the beautiful magnolias blooming all around our area right now. Seems like there is a magnolia tree in just about every yard!  They are so pretty. 

Now these pictures are for my sister Doris...she gave me this coleus plant last year for my birthday not long after we moved here...and it is really going to town now with new growth. 

I never knew how interesting a coleus bush could be, but their leaves are just beautiful.

 Such interesting color and patterns!! I need to transplant it and perhaps break off some of the long branches and root them and make more plants. But remember, I'm not the sister with the green thumb...she is...so I may wait until she can come visit and show me what to do...That's how she taught me how to sew...I'd try to do something difficult, and when I couldn't figure it out, I'd ask her to help me and she would show me how to do it by doing it for me...Isn't that what big sisters are for???

I am blessed to have such a patient big sister. Speaking of family, and in memory of my brother Russell, I thought I'd share a few family pictures with you:

L to R:  "The Stair-Steps" Russell, Clifford, Doris, Pam (me! "The Little Redhead") with our Dad and Mom behind us. 

Probably around the same year: Me on the front, my brother Clifford on the back behind me, Russell and Doris (in our farm home in Pennsylvania)

Our first Christmas in our new home in Florida, Me, Doris, Russell, Clifford, hanging our stockings with care.  I don't think those stockings are going to hold much!

My Dad built this house in 1957, and my parents lived there until they both had passed away. It was sold, after belonging to our family for 54 years, to a neighbor who knew and loved my parents and loved their house. It was a very special home built with much love. I miss it...but I miss the people that lived and loved there even more.

A Mursch Family Portrait Easter, 2005

Back row: Russell, me, Clifford, Doris

Mom and Dad on front.

The last Easter we were all together before my Mother passed away the next year on May 7, 2006.

The Mursch Siblings after our Father's funeral,  May, 2011

Me, Clifford, Russell, Doris

The Mursch Siblings June, 2014 at my son Matthew's Memorial Service

Russell, Clifford, Doris, Pam...and believe it or not, we didn't plan our outfits to match!!! 

We've done that a lot in our lives. 

Sadly, our last sibling picture together, April 27, 2019

Doris, Pam, Russell, Clifford

Thankfully we all got to be together that one last time.

Not trying to be melancholy here, but just thinking about how many people are not able to be with their loved ones right now due to this Covid 19, and many have not been able to say goodbye to those who have passed on because of it. It really makes us stop and count our blessings, but also reminds us to make every moment count together because we never know when it will be our last time together.

Okay, back to something more pleasant to think about:

Hubby wanted some Hot Dogs and Baked Beans for supper. That made me think about having "brown bread" with the baked beans, which is a New England thing.  The problem is I didn't think about it early enough to get the bread done in time for supper, as hubby likes to eat kind of early.  So the bread finished baking about an hour later, and now (written on Thursday night) it is cooling and waiting for me to have some for dessert!!  I am going to go slice a piece and put some butter on it and eat it for my snack while it is still warm.  It smells SO good!!

Here's the recipe I followed in case you are interested.  Those of you who make your bread without the benefit of a bread machine probably know what to do and when to do it. I mix up the ingredients, put it in the pan, push the start button and let it do the work for me. 

Brown Bread Recipe

(for Bread Machine)

1&1/2 Cups warm water

3/4 Cup Oatmeal

1/3 Cup Molasses

2 Tablespoons Butter, cut into small chunks

Place all of above ingredients in the bread pan while you mix up the dry ingredients:

3 Cups Bread Flour (I use King Arthur)

1 &1/2 Teaspoon Salt

Add above dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients already in the bread pan.

Make a little "well" in the top of the flour and add 2 Teaspoons of Bread Machine Yeast.

Set the Bread Machine for the Whole Wheat Setting and press "Start"! 

The whole process should take about 3 3/4 hours from start to finish.

Yeah, It's good!! It's Really Good!

I apologize if my post made you a little sad. That was not my intention. As I said in the beginning, "Friday Fotos always end up being a surprise to me."  When I started writing this tonight (Thursday), I had no idea what I would write or what photos I would share.  I guess I kind of meandered around in this post a bit, but some days are just like that, aren't they?

We don't always know what each day has in store for us.  But rest assured, God knows.

That reminds me of one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 139. I won't quote the whole Psalm here as it is quite long. Perhaps I will just share a few of the more pertinent verses to what I am trying to say:

Psalm 139

"1.  O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

2.  You know my sitting down and my rising up.

You understand my thought afar off.

3.  You comprehend my path and my lying down,

and are acquainted with all my ways.

4.  For there is not a word on my tongue,

but behold, O Lord,

You know it altogether."

13.  "For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother's womb.

14.  I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

and that my soul knows very well.

15.  My frame was not hidden from You,

when I was made in secret,

and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16.  Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

the days fashioned for me,

when as yet there were none of them.

17.  How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them!

18.  If I should count them, they would be more in number 

than the sand;

When I awake, I am still with You."

23.  "Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

24.  And see if there is any wicked way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting."

Amen.

This is a good place to say good night...or good morning if you are just reading this Friday morning.  (Which will be MAY DAY!!!)   It is kind of late now (Thursday evening, the last day of April!) so I think I will wait and post it in the morning.  Who knows? I may think of something else to say by then! (I hope not. I think I've said enough for one post!)  YES, I THOUGHT OF SOMETHING...IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF MAY!!!!  Good bye April, Hello May. I sure hope May will be a better month than April was! Can I get an amen?

Have a blessed and beautiful weekend my friends. Count your blessings, and remember, God is always with us. He knows our every thought and what is on our hearts.  We can trust Him to take care of any anxieties we may have. So just relax and let Him take charge of your day!!