Happy Valentine's Day! Tuesday 4 and More

Sorry it's taken me all day to get this written, but it is still Valentine's Day, so here we go...

Hello and Happy Valentine's Day!  There's so much happening around here that I don't know where to begin.   So I guess I'll start with our weekly Tuesday 4, which today is about, guess what?  Valentine's Day! Of Course!  So hold on tight because I intend to go way beyond the four questions for today and share some other interesting and fun things. Be sure to stay around for the whole story! But first things first:

Hi and welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.

Happy Valentine's Day!    

$24 billion dollars are spent on Valentines Day gifts! 145 million cards are sent out and the average spent on gifts is $197.50 per person.

1. As a kid did you exchange Valentines at school with the other children?

Oh yes, I can remember making the little Valentine's shoe boxes, all decorated with paper hearts and with an opening cut in the lid to receive the valentines from our classmates.  It was always so much fun to read the clever things the others would write.  Seems like I remember one of the boys (This was in elementary school, remember), writing something like, "Roses are Red, Violets are Blue. Sugar is scarce and I wish you were too!"  Yes, that's exactly what was written. I guess it must have traumatized me so much that I can still remember it over 60 years later! LOL. Actually, I thought it was funny and I probably wrote something equally saucy back to him. Those were fun times and happy memories. Not everyone wrote something that "mean".  But we were kids and we all grew up together and made lots of fun memories over the 12 years of our school days. I learned early on not to take everything kids said to me seriously, or I would have been a very unhappy child. You see, I was  a redhead with freckles, and that alone was enough to make other kids come up with things to say like "I'd rather be dead than red on the head".,  or they'd call me "Carrot Top", or "Freckle Face".  My response was usually something like "You're just jealous because you don' t have red hair!"  My red hair did give me a bit of a temper, which actually probably made me stronger as I fought back instead of being a crybaby.  It's a good thing I calmed down as I matured...LOL. (probably ought to ask my sister or my hubby about that. LOL.)  And now people can't even tell that I used to be a redhead. (Well, at least not by the hair color!)

2. Do you have special traditions for the day or does it pass on without much hoopla?

Nothing extremely special. Hubby and I usually exchange cards.  We don't spend a lot of money for Valentine's Day.  However I did buy some ribeye steaks the other day because they were on sale at a very good price, and we went ahead and ate them that night because I didn't want to wait until today and have to freeze them and then thaw them, etc.  And besides I thought I was going to have to go to choir practice tonight, but it was cancelled because there are a lot of people sick and battling colds, allergies, etc. like I had last week. 'Tis the season, with pollen filling the air and covering our cars and outdoor furniture.  Thankfully we had a good rain over the weekend, washing the air clean again, so hopefully people will stop sneezing and coughing and start feeling better.  Thankfully I do feel better now, praise God!  Anyway, the steak dinner was our Valentine treat to each other.

3 Today is the number one top day for flower and candy gifts. The only other holidays that approach it are Christmas and Chanukah. Do you ever receive candy , jewelry or flowers for the day? Which is your favorite?

None really that I can remember, except I buy the little boxes of sweetheart candies for fun. I can't eat chocolate and I'd rather have flowering plants than cut flowers so I can plant them and see them grow and bloom again and again...and I've never been much of a jewelry person. I buy what I like when I want something, but that's not very often.  

Here's Lily Grace and her friends, having a Valentine Tea Party.

She was going to mail out these valentines to her friends, but my being sick last week kind of slowed things down and it just didn't get done.  I'm sure her friends will understand...

But we did scatter little hearts here and there and things do look festive for the day...

And even the family at Pamela's Victorian Cottage had a sweet little Valentine's Tea party.

They invited all of their little fairy friends to come and join them...

And I think it is safe to say they had a "Fairy Good Time".  LOL.

4. Zoos and Pet rescues will name cockroaches or unpleasant animals after your ex and issue you a certificate. They will even write your ex's name in cat litter for you. What do you think of this "tradition"?

Sounds pretty dumb to me.  Thankfully I don't have any "ex's" to write about.  And even if I did, I can't imagine doing such a silly thing. It's best to let bygones be bygones and be thankful they are "bygones".  Even old boyfriends from high school I can't imagine doing anything that crazy.  Not even the boy who wished I was as scarce as sugar back in elementary school. LOL. 

Here's some thoughts about LOVE from the "love chapter" in the Bible, I Corinthians 13: 4-13

1 Corinthians 13:4-13

4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; 

but the greatest of these is love.

So that's the end of the Tuesday 4 meme for today. Hope you enjoyed it. You can check out what others wrote about HERE.  I wonder if any others would do what question #4 suggests???

Now moving on to the other things that I promised to share that have happened today...

The very best and most exciting thing is this:

Mr. and Mrs. Sand Hill Crane have laid an egg!!!!!  Early this morning, before it was fully bright enough to really see and get a good picture, we could tell something unusual was going on over on the little marsh island where the Cranes spend a lot of time. The camera just can't get a really good picture while it is still such low morning light, but after looking through the binoculars and then zooming in the best I could with the camera, we could definitely see that there is an egg on top of a pile of brush, and they are building up the nest more around it!!!

The both kept tending to it, adding more grass and sticks...

And a little later, when the sun was brighter I could get some better pictures...

And there you see Mrs. Crane sitting on her nest, keeping the egg nice and warm and protected from any predators...

She has been there all day long, and Mr. Crane isn't far away, keeping a close watch over  her while he forages for food. They do take turns, and sometimes she gets up to stretch her legs and walk around a bit and eat.  But it appears that she stays right there most of the time.

So this will be fun to watch. I'm so excited that they are in plain view where we can watch!! Don't worry, I will keep you posted.

And when the new little "colt" is born, I think he or she shall be called Valentine, since we first discovered the egg today!  I am assuming there is only one egg as that is all I can see, but there could be more. Time will tell. Stay tuned for further developments!

And while all that activity was going on out on the island, closer up on our shore there were more interesting events...

Mr. Cardinal came for tea...

And Mr. Bluebird was busily guarding their nest in the birdhouse by chasing away any other birds who came into his territory to feed at the birdfeeder...This is him taking a moment to scratch that itch...

Meanwhile Mr. Goldfinch flew in and had a  quick snack before he was chased away...

And then I saw a flash of bright orange in the tree...and Mr. Bluebird was in hot pursuit...but then the flash of orange landed in another tree nearby and stayed there for a minute or two, long enough for me to focus my camera and try to follow his movements from branch to branch:

He was hard to see, but I saw enough to know that it was a Baltimore Oriole! That is a bird that we do not see in these parts very often...he must be traveling through on his way back to Baltimore or wherever he goes...

I hope he hangs around a day or two and I can see him again, but at lease I was able to see this much, and it was a treat!

Here is a Link to info about the Baltimore Oriole if you want to know more about this beautiful bird.

Now, I am going to switch gears again.  I mentioned earlier that I prefer to buy or receive as gifts potted plants that I can plant in our yard and watch them grow and bloom over and over again as opposed to cut fresh flowers that are only good for a few days and then you throw them away.  For those of you who have followed me here for a long time, you will perhaps remember when we moved to our previous home in the Ocala National Forest, where all the bears and deer were...if not, just go back to my posts from the year 2012 through early 2019, and you will see where we lived and will understand the next group of pictures I am going to share.

When we moved to that house in the woods, it did not have any flowers or landscaping at all, except for a few very old azalea bushes, and well, now that I think about it, it did have a lot of wisteria, confederate jasmine, honeysuckle, holly trees, etc....things that just keep growing and growing and growing. It was beautiful in the spring.  But when we moved there I wanted to try and add some other flowering bushes and some trees, and we were blessed to have a friend who would bring potted plants from a nursery farther away and sell them at the flea market each week,,,and she kept me happy with lots of different kinds of plants coming my direction.  I think I made her happy too, because I became her best customer.  I planted a lot more azalea bushes and camellias.  But we moved away before they really took hold and grew very much, and I never really got to see them blooming as much as they would as they matured. 

Anyway, long story short, the other day our son and DIL took a ride down to see that house. It has recently come up for sale again. The people who bought it from us sold it last year to someone who apparently is a house flipper, and they totally redid the inside of the house and put it back up for sale at a much higher price. But they haven't done much maintenance of the outside or the grounds and things are really getting overgrown looking unkempt.  The house is empty, and so it isn't getting any "love".  The kids took some pictures around the yard and shared them with me:

Of course, since it is winter, a lot of the trees in front of the house are bare, but those will come back in the spring and summer and it will look a lot greener there.  Here's Benton with the sign he made when we lived there that says "Bear Crossing". He's holding the little bear on because it had fallen off. We put that sign there because that is exactly what it was...a Bear Crossing. The bears crossed over our yard day and night. It was their ancient trail long before that house was ever built, and they didn't change their routine just because humans decided to build a house in the middle of their territory. Many of you will remember that we had a little kiddie pool over there by those woods that the bears would stop at for a drink or to bathe. We had a night camera there so we could see who all came for a drink and a bath. Bears, both big and small, deer, raccoons, bobcats and coyotes were our frequent visitors.

In the back yard I had planted some very small cedar trees that I pulled up from alongside the road.  Now you can see how tall they are getting.

This is the arbor that Benton built in memory of our son Matthew. This was the original Memorial Garden. We had a little fountain there and it was a lovely place to sit and pray and remember our son. I planted those azaleas that are blooming. And behind it are the crepe myrtle trees that were already there, and the fence was covered with wisteria and confederate jasmine. It is all over grown and needs to be pruned really badly. It used to be so beautiful.

These are camellia bushes that I planted, and they had barely ever bloomed when we lived there, and now it looks like they are loaded with blooms. I found myself wishing they could have pulled up those plants and brought them home to me here, but that would be stealing, so I guess it's a good thing they didn't do it. I guess. LOL. The temptation is real...

More of the azaleas I planted. this area was the original Secret Garden, if you remember when I wrote about that.

Another look at the camellias...

I am  amazed that it has done so well with so little care...

And many of you will remember that when we lived there we added this front porch, and Benton used to paint signs for a living (he still does, just not as many signs anymore as furniture).  Anyway, this is one of the signs he made, and we fastened it up on the porch and left it there because it was covering a seam where two sections of the porch were joined together and it looked better to keep it covered. He was surprised to see that it was still there...

But the thing we couldn't quite get over is how stark and empty the house itself looked. They had actually painted it white and the shutters and front door are now a plain old brown instead of the pretty green they once were.  It's as if the house itself has no soul anymore. The new owners stripped a lot of the character out of the interior when they renovated it...and everything is just white and gray and cold.

Someone will come along and buy it and hopefully bring life back into it, but it sure brings to mind how much a house is just a house when there is no love inside. It takes the love of a family and the blessing of God to make a house feel warm and welcoming and happy again.

If you want to check out the listing, you can CLICK HERE. The price is extremely overpriced for the area, but then again, everything is overpriced these days of inflation.  However, I will say that it was a wonderful home for us while we were there. We made lots of happy memories there during the few years we lived there. It was the last home where our whole family was together before our son passed away. We hated to leave  behind the memorial trees and bushes that we had planted in his memory, but we took some with us at that time (the rose bush and Rose of Sharon bush that you've seen in stories/pictures here at our new Memorial Garden).

Time marches on. Lives change...we move on. And God continues to bless us wherever we are.

We carry the blessing of God with us, because He lives within our hearts and souls.  Unlike that house that is now empty and void of spirit and life, we continue to live and breathe and have joy and peace within because we have Christ living in us. He goes with us and never leaves us nor forsakes us.

Some thoughts to ponder as we close out this message and Valentine's Day post...

Hebrews 13:1,2 and 5-6

1 Let brotherly love continue. 

2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.

5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. 

For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

 6 So we may boldly say:

“The Lord is my helper;

I will not fear.

What can man do to me?”

Hope you've had a blessed and beautiful day! Thank you for hanging in with me all the way to the end of this post! 

Good night!