Tuesday 4 Summertime Easy Living?

 

Summertime Easy Living?


Hey! Welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we ask just 4 questions each week to give you something to blog about, something to think about and a reason to visit other blogs!


♫Summer time and the living is easy says the song. So how is summer going for you? Let's talk about it.....

1. How has it been so far?

Here in Florida is has been HOT, HOT, HOT! But that is the norm for us here in the Sunshine State.  However, to me it has felt hotter than normal, and lately it has been very dry as well. (but still high humidity).  This morning when we woke up it was 72 degrees, which is like a cold wave after the mostly 76-78 morning temps we've been having. It should only get up to 92 today, which is better than 97 or 98.  I know many in the southwest and far west have much higher temps than ours, but they don't have the high humidity, which does make a huge difference.  We were very thankful that, if it had to happen,  our AC broke down early in the summer, and we were able to have it replaced before the really hot summer weather got going. It has been a real blessing to have reliable AC for this heat. (However, it was a major expense we were not anticipating, so that kind of put the brakes on any further activities for a while). 

2. What have you been doing this summer?

Nothing special.  Mostly staying home and trying to stay cool. So far we've had one family funeral, my brother in law's birthday, and our 54th anniversary, which you've already heard all about. We've also had several Dr. appointments mostly for my hubby, who is still undergoing some tests and zeroing in on a future treatment plan. That has kind of tied us down this summer because so much of the testing, etc., has been spread out, waiting on different specialist's appointments, etc.  But I think we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully some decisions will be made soon on how to proceed. Thank you for your continued prayers. It's not necessarily life-threatening, at least not at this time, but it's one of those things we cannot ignore.  We are just very thankful to live near a major research and teaching hospital at the University of Florida, and we have excellent Doctors and facilities to work with.

3. What are you going to do? Any plans?

August is a busy month for our extended family, especially this last week of the month. On Saturday of this week we are going to meet up with our extended family at a restaurant about an hour + away and

 celebrate our son's birthday, 

our nephew's  21st birthday 

(also on the same day, just 31 years apart!),

 my husband's brother and wife's 25th anniversary, 

Billy and Peggy then....

And now:

and my niece Debbie's birthday:

(She was our flower girl at our wedding 54 years ago!)

Also, one other major thing I will be doing actually on Wednesday (tomorrow!).  I am having "Stem Cell Therapy" on my left arm (bicep and shoulder).  I have been dealing with a tear in my bicep and shoulder ligament for about a year. I had physical therapy for a few months, which really did nothing for this because it is a tear and a tear does not heal itself no matter how much PT you do.  Thankfully it is a "small tear", or it would have been unbearable. But it is debilitating in many ways, especially because I am left handed, and I always want to use this arm to do everything and I really can't.  So, this procedure will be very interesting, and I pray it works. They will remove via "liposuction" some fat cells from my belly (Hooray! But not enough to make any real difference in my belly, boo. LOL), and process the adipose cells with my own blood, and then return it to my body in my arm where the tears are.  The whole procedure takes about 3 hours. I will be awake. This is supposed to stimulate healing in the arm, so we shall see what develops.  It's not supposed to be painful, but my belly and my arm may be sore for a few days.  I am thankful that Benton and Rose are taking me, since it is about an hour away from home. They can go shopping and out to lunch while this is going on. Hubby would not be very comfortable waiting around in a doctor's office for me for 3 hours, so they offered to take me. They are the best!!!

4. It's been hot in most of the country but here on the Jersey coast (Where Annie lives, our hostess) it's been perfect so far. Not too hot, not too cool but just right with breezes. How are you weathering the heat. Any tips on staying cool on hot, humid days? Clothing, food, drinks, fans, air conditioning? Let us know your secrets to keeping cooler.

Of course we mostly stay indoors in the AC, watching birds from inside the house mostly, taking rides in the cool car when we can't take walks because of the high heat, reading, watching TV, and avoiding going out during the hottest parts of the day.  We try to run all errands early in the morning and get back home before the high heat sets in.

  

I was watching our Sand Hill Cranes early this morning out on the marsh island in Still Waters Pond. There were only three of them, but probably because Daddy Crane had already flown away. He does that sometimes, and then the rest of the family flies to wherever he is and they spend the day walking around and eating, and then they fly back here to the pond for the night.  

And here they go...flying over our house and away for the day to wherever it is that they go...

I also saw this armadillo ambling along in the yard early this morning, rooting for grubs and ants and whatever he likes...

Off he goes into the shady woods for the day. He will probably be back out at night when it's cooler.

Speaking of bugs...the termites finally destroyed my Secret Garden sign.  Hopefully my son will create a new one for me sometime when he has time...

Oh, another thing we did was clean out from under the deck, where a lot of old stuff was accumulating, like old empty flower pots, misc. junk, and Benton and John took it to the dump. That was nice!

So that's all the excitement from around here this summer that I can think of.

How about you? What fun are YOU having this summer?  I hope you're having a relaxing and happy time, what ever you do!

This song speaks how I feel about how God has taken care of us this summer (and always)...

"Great Is Thy Faithfulness"

(Carrie Underwood and CeCe Winans)

1 Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;

there is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;

as Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

Refrain:

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

all I have needed Thy hand hath provided:

great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

2 Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest;

sun, moon, and stars in their courses above

join with all nature in manifold witness

to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. 

[Refrain]

3 Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow:

blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! 

Refrain]

Amen!