Wednesday Treasures ~ And a Prayer Request

 

I started to publish this post last night, and then when I went over to my Facebook page I saw this announcement from our dear friend Barbara at Sweet Tea and Sandals:

"Tom Mims is being transferred to hospice care tomorrow. All of our children and grandchildren are en route now. Pray for sweet times together. Visits will be severely limited due to COVID restrictions. Pray we have more time with my Beloved, the love of my life. Holding on to Joshua 1:9, "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear for God is with [me]."

To say I am in shock would be an understatement. We've been following the story of Barbara's "Beloved" Tom for the past three weeks, as he has been in ICU with COVID, but the hope was, until last night apparently, that he was getting better and would soon be transferred to a different hospital that specializes in lung care until he could go home.  However, after reading Barbara's post in her blog (highlighted above), his lungs are in very bad shape and it seems as though Hospice is the best option for him at this time.  My heart is breaking for them and for their family. This picture was taken of them when they came to visit us in our new home last fall. They so graciously brought us some storage totes that they no longer needed after their big move the previous summer into their new home about an hour away from us. We had such a great visit with them. Such gracious and loving people. Tom celebrated his 70th birthday this past Sunday, and their 50th wedding anniversary is upcoming in December. Please keep Barbara and Tom and family in your thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time.  

After that news I really wasn't sure if I wanted to continue my regular post.  But since it was already written, and perhaps we all need some beauty and joy in our hearts right at this moment, I will go ahead as planned...but my heart is truly heavy this morning as I prepare this.  Here is what I had already written last night:

I hope you don't mind if I share a few more pictures of the Robins and Cedar Waxwings in the holly tree. They are still diligently at it, eating every berry in sight. I believe the tree will be bare by Thanksgiving Day! I can't imagine how they can eat so many berries in such a short amount of time, but there are a lot of birds and they just keep flying in and out all day long.  It has been fascinating to watch. The only downside is they like to fly back to the big oak trees in our front yard and sit there until they are ready to fly back to the holly tree for more berries. While they are in the oak tree, they are right over top of our car, and you can imagine what they are doing to our car while they sit up above...yes...so we have had to park our car in a different location until they are gone! What a mess! We had to take the car to the car wash yesterday morning.

So enjoy these pictures of the birds while I look for something else to share with you for my Wednesday Treasures:

Look at that face!  I think he sees me!

This Cedar Waxwing is doing some fancy acrobatics, hanging sideways on the branch and apparently he is flexing his wing out to give him balance as he picks the berries of the branch.

Now he's a little more upright and in better position.

There aren't as many of the Cedar Waxwings as the Robins, so I am thrilled when I can get a picture of one.

These two robins seem to be working very closely. Maybe they are related.

And this lone Robin sat there looking out over Still Waters Pond for a long time. I think he was contemplating where to go from here. Maybe calculating how far they will have to travel to get to the next big holly tree when this one runs out of berries!

Okay, I found some interesting things, but these aren't my treasures. However, they are vintage treasures from the past. We went out for lunch with some friends after church on Sunday to a different place than where we normally go. This place is a little further down the road, and we've been there before, but they recently changed owners and the new folks have cleaned it up a bit and made it more interesting. I enjoyed walking around taking pictures of some of the things they have sitting around.  Maybe you will like them too:

The new owner has been buying mismatched vintage dishes from the thrift stores and using them for their dinnerware. This pretty little Johnson Brothers saucer was used for our bread.

Here's the pattern/name in case you are interested! I loved it!

They are starting to sell more gift items. I love this vintage gas stove they are using for display:

And this vintage General Electric refrigerator reminds me of the one my parents had when I was growing up. I can remember learning how to defrost the freezer! I was so happy when, for my parents' 30th wedding anniversary, we four kids went together and bought them a new frost-free refrigerator! It was harvest gold, in keeping with the times. 30 years later, for their 60th wedding anniversary, we bought them another one, this time it was a lovely almond color. That one lasted them the rest of their lives as my mother passed away around their 64th anniversary and my dad lived five years longer. I believe we sold it with their house.  Anyway, I digress....let's keep moving on before I get too nostalgic.

I went into the ladies' room, and look what they had!

Thankfully, that wasn't all they had, but I thought, gee! I could've used that last week while waiting for them to come clean out our septic tank...which they did finally do by the way, thank the Lord!!

Also they had this granite ware in the ladies' room, sitting on top of a enamel topped "Hoosier Table"

This is the label that is still on the table. My Hoosier Cupboard originally had a label like that too, but it had been painted over so many times that it kind of dissolved when I stripped the cupboard to refinish it. I always wished I could find another label to put on my cupboard, and I must admit I was tempted  to "borrow this", but I knew better.  Maybe I will print a copy of it and glue it on my cupboard. That would be okay, wouldn't it? LOL.

Gee, I wish I'd known! I could have brought my laundry and washed my clothes while we dined! LOL. How many of you remember using a wringer washer? I know my mother had one on the farm in PA., but when we moved to Florida in 1956 we got an automatic washing machine. It was still a few years before we got a dryer, however, so clothes were always hung on the line. They smelled so good!

Now if you get bored you can always take a little ride around on the tricycle, or in the cute little kiddie car! Hard to believe we were ever small enough to ride in such a thing!

Now, someone tell me. Is this a chamber pot, or just a pretty casserole?

I thought maybe since it was in the hutch it was a casserole or soup tureen? Maybe, maybe not.

They had a lot of old photographs from the little community that used to be where this place was. It's long gone now, but apparently at one time it was a "thriving" little town.

When you step up on the front porch of the restaurant, "Pappy" wants to tell your fortune. He seems to be better at cracking funny jokes and insulting people in a fun way. 

Here is the restaurant: Hog Wild Country Cafe'.  They have great BBQ. Right now they just do lunch and supper. I wish they had breakfast too.  Just seems like it is a breakfast kind of place.  Anyway, we had a good time, and enjoyed seeing all the fun memorabilia. There's much much more to see, but these struck my fancy this time. Maybe next time I go I'll show you the rest of it!

So now I am getting ready for Thanksgiving. Started doing some housecleaning today (writing on Tuesday) and will finish that up tomorrow. (Wed.)  I have a friend actually coming over to help me a little bit. She does house cleaning for a living and needs some work right now, and I need some help with some things so it sounds like a win win to me.  Then I will get busy and bake the pumpkin pies and start getting other things ready to cook Thursday morning. My sweet daughter in love is cooking the turkey at their house and will bring it here when ready! What a blessing to have our children living near by. And as of this moment, my sister and her immediate family will be coming to join us for dinner. If the weather is nice enough, we may just dine outside on the porch, to help keep the fresh air flowing around us. Pray that everyone stays safe and healthy. That is our biggest concern for this day.

I hope that you and yours will have a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving. No matter how big or small our gatherings may be, let us take this opportunity to truly thank the Lord for bringing us safely through this year and all that it has involved. And for those who have had illness or even may be fighting it right now, our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, praying that the Lord will give you strength to keep going and the peace to know that God is with you and will never let you go. (Praying especially for Barbara and Tom Mims, and also some of our other blogging friends who have also been diagnosed recently with Covid.) If we've learned anything lately, it is that this illness/virus is truly a serious and vicious foe that is not to be toyed with. 

The 23rd Psalm seems to be the most appropriate message I can share with you today, in light of all that has transpired in the past 24 hours:

Psalm 23

23 The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

3 He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

Sunset on Still Waters Pond, 11-24-2020

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.

Amen.

Sunrise~ A new day is dawning. Let us give thanks to the Lord, and not take anything or anyone for granted. May God be with you all. Amen.