Since I didn't have many new pictures for today's "Friday Foto Friends", I thought I take you on a little trip down memory lane.
Way back in February of 2010 is when this blog began. This plaque was the inspiration for the title:
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The picture above was taken inside the house where we were living at that time, looking out of the big front window. If you click on that link above you will get a better perspective of how I was feeling and what was happening at that time in my life over 13 years ago!
In these next several pictures you will see our sons Benton and Scott back in the day, planting some flowers in the front yard of that house for my birthday that year. They were clowning around and having a good time.
They worked hard and made it look really pretty.
They were showing off their hard work and the final results. I was a happy Mama!
A year or so after those pictures were taken, God closed that door and opened another "window" to a different home out in the forest. I won't put pictures of that house here, because you've seen it many times in the years 2012-2019...before God closed that door and opened another window to the house where we currently live.
But that's not where I want to go today. I am going back to that original house where this blog began...just for a minute. This past week we took a little ride to attend the funeral of my husband's cousin Jane, which I already told you about in my last post HERE. What I didn't tell you in that post was that on our way to the town where the funeral was to be held, we had to go right past the area of this previous home we had lived in so many years ago. And since we had a little bit of time before we had to be there, we decided to take a little ride down memory lane and see how our old house looked since we left it in 2012.
Not too bad, considering that it is 11 years older...but all those lovely flowers and shrubs are long gone...and it looks like the new folks like to sit outdoors in front of the garage door. There is a nice back yard and patio, but maybe they have young kids who like to play in the front yard. I just hope they enjoy this house and are happy and blessed here. That's what really matters.
Of course we couldn't linger long lest the people inside become suspicious of our sitting in front of their house and taking pictures, especially since this was a little dead-end street and we had to turn around in the driveway and get back out of there before we attracted too much attention.
Anyway, as most of you know, it's never easy to go back to where you've been, even for a little "looksy". We only lived in that house about five years, but still some good memories were made there. I don't have as many pictures from that time, because it was before I got my digital camera...and so my blog posts from those years were mostly just a lot of writing with few pictures. But if you are interested in knowing what I was thinking about back in those early days of blogging, just go to the blog archives in the right hand column and check out the posts in the years of 2010-2011. Sometimes I like to go back and read them and remember where I was then in my life's journey and what caused me to want to start writing this blog. I'm sure if we all could get together and compare notes about what motivated us to start writing, it could be a very interesting and inspirational experience. Perhaps it would be a good idea to review those early days of blogging for each of us sometime! I'd love to hear your stories.
By the way, I still have that same plaque hanging on my wall here near my computer to remind me of my writing purpose and theme:
Meanwhile, it's been another very HOT day...this whole week we have been under a high heat advisory...so we've mostly stayed indoors as much as possible. Yesterday I was feeling kind of puny, and I decided to try my hand at making chicken and dumplings:
I made the southern style dumplings as opposed to the fluffy dumplings. This was the recipe I used. I was not really happy with the dumplings as they seemed kind of rubbery, but the chicken and broth and mashed potatoes underneath were very filling and healing, much like chicken soup! Today I felt better and ate mostly salads and fruit to make up for those dumplings and potatoes yesterday! LOL.
Well, I guess that's all I have for tonight...since it is almost time for bed already!
Here's a lovely little prayer/poem from a devotional calendar that I thought would be appropriate for all this talk of windows and doors and house and home...and may your home be blessed as well...
Amen.
Hi Pamela, You have had your blog a long time. I started blogging back in 2002 at my other site. I still have it up and it has over 300 pages. I moved to blogger in a few years ago because people had a hard time with my inline frames. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteHello Pamela! I made that same exact cross stitch about the closed doors and open windows. I made it for my Mother in Law and when she moved to her independent living apt last year I brought it here to our new home. It's hanging, guess where? Over our desk in the office! Great minds think alot. That's always been a favorite saying of mine.
ReplyDeleteWe're still suffering with heat and humidity here too. It's 10:00 pm here right now and the "feels like" temperature is 93. Way too hot. I'm so very thankful for A/C and I thank the Lord every day for the brilliant minds that invented it. I really do!
Take care and stay cool!
Blessings and love,
Betsy
Oh my goodness, Betsy! To think you have the same picture over your desk. I'd love to see a picture of that!! Yes, "great minds do think alike!" No wonder we seem to get along so well! Oh, yes I am also very thankful for Mr. Carrier, who invented air conditioning from what I understand. His invention has certainly made our lives much more pleasant here in the south, and even in your part of the country during the summer months. I do remember the days before AC, and they weren't very pleasant for sure! But we didn't know anything different so we lived with it. There are some days that I wonder how we did it. Anyway, God is good and He is so kind to us to give us these blessings. I hope you stay cool and have a wonderful weekend.
DeleteThe chicken and dumplings sure looks tasty.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to go back to memory lane every now and then and remember good times. God does look after us every stage in our lives.
God bless you and yours.
Thank you Victor. The chicken and dumplings were tasty, just a little rubbery. LOL. And yes, God DOES look after us in every stage of our lives. I am so thankful for that truth. Without His great love and care I daresay many of us would not have made it this far! May God bless you and yours as well. I appreciate your visits!
DeletePamela, one of my boys works at Carrier, installing/maintaining AC units, mostly hospitals, big buildings. It is definitely something to be thankful for, I've been in Florida quite a few times, and the Walmart parking lot in the summer is absolutely punishing. Here in New York, there are sometimes ten days a year when it gets above 90. It gets humid, but not always. We don't even have AC, save a unit in one of the bedrooms for when the grandkids take a nap. I LOVE that you drove by your old place, and kept a low profile, ha. I still have dreams about a place we lived for five years when we were young with little ones, you get attached to your home, then leave a piece of your heart there when you move on. I love your blog, btw. Thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting, Della! I am so amazed at you and your lovely big family. I just went over and visited you at your blog. You are blessed to be spending your summer in NY instead of here in Florida. But I don't envy you your winters in NY! I've lived in the north for many years...NH, ME, MI, and OH, so I am well aware of what that's like! We manage to suffer through our summers here feeling quite thankful we don't have to deal with snow and ice, etc. in the winter. Talking about previous homes, we have moved quite a bit in our 54 years of marriage. My hubby was a minister and we moved a lot for things like seminary, degrees, and from one small church to another, etc., I have LOTS of memories of houses we've lived in, although many were not for a lot of years. Someday I think I will write a story about each move we made and the houses we lived in. It will be exhausting...! LOL. Thank you for visiting. I hope to get better acquainted with you. You really amaze me!!
DeleteWaiting to hear your moving stories. I have moved 31 times. Am now a minimalist. My grandsons say, Nana says things are not important but people are. Memories. I truly believe that. I love your sweet blog.
DeleteOh dear on your old home's transformation! I wonder why the new owners chose to pull out all those beautiful flowers and greenery. Oh well, you've a great attitude about what really matters.
ReplyDeleteNow! I'm going to come back and read about your personal blog's germination. I want to do that, too! I do recall taking pains to ensure none of my coworkers or friends knew about my blog (heh-heh).
Glad to know you're feeling a little better, but please don't over-do. This heat is exhausting!
I, too, started blogging around 2010, Pamela. I remember that it started out as a daily devotion based on the scripture reading of the day (from the Book of Common Prayer). After a year of this, I realized that it really was too much to keep on this type of schedule, so went to a less demanding schedule. I haven't gone back to that time on my blog, but maybe I should, just to see where my head was then.
ReplyDeleteI do like the photos of your former home, too, and I must agree - it's hard to go back.
Blessings!
Pam: It's always a treat to come to your blog. Your sons did a very good thing in planting those flowers at your old house. God has blessed you many times over. Peace and blessings to you and yours.
ReplyDeleteMy first blog post was June 23, 2008, at Blogger. I had zero followers and commentors for a long time but I kept plugging along. I can't remember who my first "follower" was (or still is). Then some time later I moved on to WordPress.
ReplyDeleteWe used to drive by our old home in Jacksonville but quit doing it because it and the neighborhood has really gone downhill. I'm glad we got outta there when we did. Our life is so much better here in Georgia. So much better. Florida is too expensive and there's too many moving into the State now. Even Steve's little sister (Cindy) and her family are gonna move up here from South Floria eventually. It costs too much there for their meager income.
Y'all have a great day. Sure hope it cools off. I'm so ready for Fall.
Love xx
Your chicken and dumplings look so gooood! One of my favorite meals, I always order them when we go to Cracker Barrel. Love the poem you shared, a wonderful message for our homes.
ReplyDeleteHi Pamela. I love that cross stitch sampler and the wonderful message which you transformed into the name of your blog. It is sometimes very hard to go back and see the places we used to love and what has happened to them. I am so glad that God provided a new beginning for you whenever one was needed. It was fun to see a picture of your office where you write your blog. I hope you have a good weekend. See you again soon.
ReplyDeleteI think it is always interesting to go back and check out a former home. We lived in our former home for 28 years before moving into this retirement community six plus years ago. Gosh, seems like last week instead of six years! I enjoyed your walk down memory lane and thanks for taking us along!! Love & hugs!
ReplyDeleteI was brought up to believe one can always go home...but you know...I just don't think that is true...at least in some instances. We too visited our old house last week while up north, it just isn't the same and maybe too soon after Liam's passing...anyways, your chicken and dumplings look just fine to me and I would eat them, smiles. Wishing you beautiful Saturday my friend. smiles
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of visiting a previous home, I can ride my bike past my last house at any time since it's only a few minutes away (depending on how fast I pedal!! ha-ha!). But driving past former residences, or looking at photos of them, has a tendency to make me nostalgic with a leaning toward melancholy, so it's not something I like to do often.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I make the connection where your blog title originated. Seems I should have been able to put that together before now but I guess I am getting slow:) I love it...as well as the plague for your inspiration. It is definitely hard to "go back" even if just for a quick drive by. I'm glad you have good memories from that house. That is a blessing. Here's to a fully air conditioned week ahead:)
ReplyDelete