Monday Monday!

Oh my goodness! Here it is the second Monday in January of 2024 already and I still haven't shared my new calendar pictures with you! A whole week of the New Year has already passed! Sure seems like time is flying to me! Does it to you?  Well, for some of you, I can imagine you'd like it to speed up a little faster and skip right over all this snow and ice of winter that some of you may be experiencing right now:

Thankfully that picture is on my calendar and not in my window! Although it is beautiful in its own  special way, and for those of you who love winter, I say enjoy it and make the most of it while it lasts! For the rest of us who prefer our temperatures a little bit milder, let us be thankful to be living in the south. Although this morning it is 48 degrees and not expected to rise above 63, with rain throughout the day...which makes for a kind of cloudy, chilly kind of day where it feels better to stay inside and write and read blog posts!

Here's another lovely winter scene of the Thomas Kinkade calendar:

I especially love the church scene with all of God's creation around it...although the reality is most likely you wouldn't find a real and active church in a setting quite like this. Where do the people park their cars? Maybe this is, like it says, the "Deer Creek Chapel", and perhaps it is sitting in a woodsy retreat center or camp and people actually walk to church from their cabins.  Now, that I would "deerly love". (pun intended). LOL.

I also love the Scripture verse on the picture:

"He that sat upon the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.'" Revelation 21:5

And then this verse is on the calendar at the bottom:

Some wonderful thoughts to ponder as we begin a New Year!

Certainly better than the thoughts expressed on this little calendar by Susan Branch:

Oh my! Not exactly the best philosophy to start out the New Year...but it's all in good fun:

LOL. 

Back to winter again...Here is the scene on the John Sloane  Country Seasons 2024 January calendar:

Now, I could enjoy being in a place like that and taking a sleigh ride over the fields and through the woods. That would be delightful!

But amazingly enough, we have azaleas blooming here in Florida:

And this is not on my calendar, but in my yard!

Not a lot of them yet, as it is a bit early, but here and there they are blooming!  I thought you might enjoy seeing a spot of bright color after all the snow scenes!  

And these are the scenes from Still Waters Pond yesterday afternoon:

Our Sand Hill Crane Family was out there for a long time, foraging for food on the what appears to be sinking marsh island.  With the rain we've been getting lately this little marshy island is starting to dissipate and will eventually either break up into smaller sections or just sink back to the bottom of the pond.  Here's some interesting information about these kinds of floating islands.  So, if the Crane family was planning to build their nest on this section of the pond, they might want to look for something a little more stable!   

This is where is saw that "egg" the other day...and now it is pretty much underwater! So it's a good thing it really wasn't an egg!! LOL

And since the whole family is still together, I guess they aren't in "nest building mode" just yet. Time will tell.  

We woke up a little late this morning, which was nice since I haven't been sleeping really well lately, so any extra sleep I can get I appreciate.  But we start back with our Ladies' and Men's Bible Studies this afternoon after our break for the holidays the past two Mondays.  So it is back to "business as usual"...the holidays are over! However, I still haven't taken down our tree or other decorations. Yesterday the kids were all here for the afternoon, watching football and just enjoying family time together (no pictures, however!)  and so I didn't want to have a big mess of clean up while they were here. It was nice to have one more day of what felt like holiday time with the family. Scott was here and he grilled some boneless chicken thighs for us, and we had a nice little lunch of chicken, salad, a baked potato and rolls.  

We still haven't gotten together with our extended family to celebrate Christmas. Hoping to connect this coming weekend at a restaurant about an hour away, where it is a good distance for each of us from our homes. Sadly, my sister in law Peggy's Mom passed away right before New Year's, and so they have been dealing with sorrow and grief and having a Celebration of her life this past weekend. Her passing was not unexpected, but still it hurts deeply and my heart goes out to Peggy and her family.  We do hope that we will be able to have a good visit with her and their family along with my sister (who is finally better from her bad cold/sore throat) and her hubby and family (?)...still yet  to be determined exactly just who and when, etc. 

Okay, folks, it's time for breakfast and hubby is patiently waiting for me to finish this and get a move on with our day.  

One of my favorite old hymns:

 "Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not, Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

(verse 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

(verse 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 10, 000 beside

Chorus:

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

Great is Thy faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

 Amen!