Welcome to my "Open Window"...a place of hope, encouragement, and adventure as we journey down the road from "Closed Doors" to the new opportunities God places in our pathway. I hope you will take the time to go back and follow the trail of mixed blessings and fears, failures and triumphs from the past and side-trips in the present. Perhaps it will conjure up some of your own special memories, and be an invitation for you to share with others. I look forward to spending this time with you!
What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends
My recliner, where I sit when I'm taking a break from everything else! LOL
Oh my oh my, here we are already up to December 19th, tomorrow is the 20th...5 more days 'til Christmas! Please don't ask me if I am ready, okay? I will just say that I think my shopping is done, I'm sending out cards a few at a time, and the bed in the guest room is full, not of guests, but of gifts waiting to be wrapped. Little by little it will be done, but we've had other things going on at the same time, so it's not like normal life just stands still so we can get things ready for Christmas! This week has been busy enough...
The full moon was beautiful! This was at night...
Monday morning we both had follow up doctor appointments to get our lab results, which were pretty good for two old people. No major issues there, so we are both very thankful. However, I did talk to the doctor about my back/neck issues, and he agreed to send me for some X-Rays to make sure there's nothing new going on back there. That happened this morning, and I already have the CD of the films taken along with the written report. Nothing majorly different going on, thankfully. No bulging discs, etc., but something called "mild multilevel degenerative disc disease and facet arthropathy." I had to look this up, and here's what it is: "Multilevel degenerative disc disease means disc degeneration is occurring in more than one of the spine's intervertebral discs and in more than one spinal section." "Facet arthropathy is a type of arthritis that affects the facet joints in the spine, causing pain and stiffness due to the degeneration of cartilage within these joints, which are responsible for allowing the spine to bend and twist; essentially, it's a condition where the joints in the back of the spine wear down and become inflamed, often resulting from aging and wear and tear."
This was in the morning! We've had to get up early every day this week because of appointments!
In other words, I'm getting old and so is my spine! I will have to wait for the doctor to discuss this with me and determine what is the next step. He said something about pain management the other day, but I don't want to take more pain medication. If there are other methods of strengthening and helping me by doing therapy or non-invasive methods, I am all for that. So we shall see what he suggests and what comes next. Meanwhile, I just have to pace myself as I try to do things as nearly everything just causes me to hurt one way or the other. Thankfully it isn't severe, but it is no fun either and it definitely limits my ability to keep going at a steady pace.
"Blackie" the neighborhood cat has been visiting the back porch again. Maybe it's because of the full moon. He has nice posture, maybe he has some good ideas about back exercises! Ever watch a cat stretching their backs? LOL.
Also my hubby had an eye appointment this week at the Cornea Specialist. He has an eye condition that is being carefully monitored regarding the cornea, but he also has cataracts, and the doctor wants to take care of that first in the eye that is most affected by both conditions. Therefore, he is scheduled for cataract surgery the end of January.
We had a nice ride going to his eye appointment in Fleming Island, which is about an hour's drive north of us. We decided to take a back road on the way over, which took us past the Georgia Pacific plant in Palatka. That is where they manufacture toilet paper and paper towels .
It is also a rather smelly place, think "Paper Mill". When the wind is "just right", or maybe "just wrong", we can smell it all the way to where we live, but thankfully not very often. We are far enough away to not have to smell it all the time. I feel sorry for those who live closer to it. However, if you ask the locals who either own it or work there, they say "it smells like money" to them.
Those are huge stacks of pine tree logs, which are brought in daily by many logging trucks from all over the region.
Yes, that's what toilet paper is made from, in case you didn't know it!
It was also a foggy morning, which made the smoke hang lower to the ground than usual...
Yes, it is a smoky place. Don't ask me about the pollution issues from this. I can only imagine...
There were long lines of train cars on the tracks, waiting to ship products or whatever they ship away from (or to) the factory...
These were all stationary, just waiting for the next load to begin I guess.
Now, trains are something I can relate to! Thankfully our little train doesn't have to go to any stinky factories! LOL.
But back to our trip...we had to cross over the Black Creek inlet at the St. John's River, and it was a rather foggy morning, but I thought that made for some pretty pictures of the river and the sailboat masts in the fog...
On the thankful list is that the appointment with the eye doctor went very well and he reassured hubby of some things that made him feel better about the whole situation, and then we went out to lunch at Ruby Tuesday:
Hubby had his eyes dilated, so he looks like a movie star.
This was my lunch: Salmon on a salad, so I guess technically it's salmon salad, but not the old fashioned kind made from canned salmon! LOL. This was very good.
And hubby had a Philly cheese sub. He said it was a little spicy, but still good. I'm thinking some of those peppers weren't just plain old green peppers! LOL.
One afternoon this week I took a little walkabout over to the house next door (it's still for sale, btw), just to look at the pond and island from that perspective.
It was a beautiful afternoon, and the clouds in the blue skies were so big and fluffy!
I was trying to see if I could tell where the Sand Hill Cranes and the Canada Geese have been hiding out, because I'm not seeing them so much from our part of the pond right now. But there was no sign of them over there either, so I guess they were gone for the afternoon. They tend to fly in and out at night and morning and spend their days in other places. There are lots of lakes in this area, (hence the name of our town is "Interlachen", which actually means between the lakes), so they could be anywhere exploring and feeding for the day. Just so they come back home to roost, I am happy.
Well, it's getting close to bedtime. I'm quite ready to get there a little early tonight. I like this little scene of the cabin on the pond and the deer and the skaters and sledders and a couple of little churches . It's just a peaceful little setting and I enjoy looking at it. Would love to go crawl into that cabin and light a fire in the fireplace and curl up and go to sleep. It just looks so nice and cozy, doesn't it?
Speaking of nice and cozy:
After my appointment at the imaging place this morning we stopped by the Dollar Tree to pick up a few things. I needed to get a few more gift bags, and saw these...
I fell in love with these bags. You can't see the glitter on them, but they have glitter on the front of the bags in all the prettiest places to make them shine and shimmer. I'm afraid I'm going to have a hard time giving these bags away! LOL I may have to tell hubby to wrap my gifts in them! LOL.
Isn't this church beautiful?
Which one is your favorite? I don't know about you, but I enjoy shopping at the Dollar Tree. I guess it should be called the dollar twenty five tree now, but still, you can get some neat stuff for $1.25! Somehow I always manage to spend more than a few dollars there, but it's still fun.
Okay, now I really do need to head to bed. I hope you've had a good day and a good week. I hope you are ready for Christmas!
Makes me think about Jesus' Birth...when it was time for Him to be born, there was no waiting around. He came in the fullness of time...
Galatians 4:4-7 NKJV "4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
This is a little "sneak preview" of one of the songs that we are singing in our Christmas Cantata on Sunday. It's really beautiful...I hope you will enjoy it and think about what Mary had to go through to bring forth the Savior of the World..."It was a Labor of Love..."
I enjoyed my visit here with you, Pam! Glad you and hubby got good reports from the doctor AND from John's eye doctor. I think I'm ready for Christmas. It is what it is!! I don't stress over it anymore. It's all about love and Jesus. Nothing else matters. Sending hugs!!
Amen! "It's all about love and Jesus. Nothing else matters." So very true. I try to keep that in my mind when I find myself starting to stress over things. "Nothing else matters". Amen. Sending hugs to you too. When does your sister arrive? I know you will have a great time together! So happy for you both!
I enjoyed coming along with you to the appointments. Oh my, I also have degenerative disc disease in my lower spine (L3,L4) and before I left San Francisco to move up here I had a procedure done by the same Doctor who performed surgery on a local football player, Joe Montana. Anyway it did keep me from pain until just a couple of months ago. I’m not in pain-pain yet. Walking helps me. I know you would never, and I don’t know if it is legal there but edible cannabis in gummy chews works wonders. Sadly it is expensive and not covered by insurance. But it does work very well for serious pain, so much so the VA is considering it. Physical therapy always works for me.
That photo of Blackie almost looks like a painting of him. He’s a gorgeous cat. I’d take him.
Your husband does look like a movie star! ⭐️
You’ve mentioned before that you live in Interlachen -and I kept forgetting to mention that my 2nd great grandfather is buried at the Pineview cemetery in Interlachen. Small world - here I am from California and my ancestor is buried there. He was a Civil War veteran from Ohio. I guess he came down your way to retire. Anyway, I’m glad I finally mentioned it. 👍🏻
Oh my, Debby! Your 2nd great grandfather is buried here in Interlachen, of all places? What is his name? If I am ever over there at the cemetery I will look him up. A lot of people came here in the late 1880-90's and built hotels and homes and grew oranges, and the town was prospering. Then the big FREEZE of 1894 or 5 happened, and people who had invested in citrus here were wiped out. It was quite catastrophic for many little towns in the north central part of Florida, and so many people who had migrated here from the north ended up leaving. Our little town never really recovered. But now we are seeing more growth again because of the highway that they finally finished going through the middle of town, and businesses are starting to look at moving here (mostly fast foods like Taco Bell and Dunkin' Donuts for now) and more people are starting to buy up what was cheap land around here and are starting to build homes/manufactured homes again. So our quiet little town is starting to not feel as quiet. Anyway, if you will share the name of your ancestor with me I will try to make an effort to find his grave and take a picture of it for you sometime. Thank you for the kind words about my hubby and the black cat! LOL. Have a great day!
What a beautiful song. I love the words. I think we often tend to glamorize Christ's birth and forget that Mary was a young girl, all alone with Joseph in a town where she knew no one and gave birth in a dirty stable. I can only imagine what was going through her mind as she labored to give us our Messiah. I enjoyed reading about your day. It looks beautifully warm there in Florida. We thought of driving south for Christmas but not quite that far and, in the end, we'll probably stay home. Your Hubby does indeed look like a movie star with his "shades" on. We sure were blessed to get such good looking guys weren't we? Take care and get lots of rest for the cantata as they take a lot of energy out of you. And remember to rest your back. I'm so sorry that you have constant pain from yours. I have an MRI scheduled Jan. 6 for my back. First I go to the cardiologist on the 3rd to have my pacemaker check done so they can turn it off during the MRI. It's sure no fun getting old is it? lol Blessings and hugs, Betsy
Yes, that song really touches my heart. Our beautiful Christmas cards and pictures of the Manger scene tend to make it all look so pristine and perfect, but it definitely was not a place where any woman would want to give birth...much less a place for the King of kings and Lord of lords and Savior of the world to be born! No wonder the people had a hard time accepting that Jesus could be the Messiah! It was not what they expected at all! I pray that someday they will understand and see Him as He truly is, "He was the maker of the moon, He was the author of the faith, That could make the mountains move"...the Savior of the World. Oh, Betsy, I pray for you as you have an MRI, etc. I pray you will get some answers that will be helpful for you and that you can get some relief from your pain. We will have to compare notes. No, it isn't fun getting old! To me, it makes heaven look all that more desirable when the time comes!! But until then we have to keep on living and loving and trusting God. Blessings and hugs to you and yours as well, and Merry Christmas!
Great news about John! I do hope there can be a way for you to manage that pain without too much medication, too, Pamela. As we get older, it seems that doctors often tell us that's the only option. Your gift bags are exquisitely beautiful, too. I might just have to visit a Dollar Tree near us soon. :) Have a blessed weekend!
Wonderful news about John. Praise God. I once had a temporary job in the office with a paper company in Jacksonville. I learned quite a bit about how some paper making works. It's an old old way of making it but now with modern technology. I think it's the Egyptians that invented and/or perfected it. Pretty cool history. The train under the tree, the gift bags, and everything is really pretty. I added some lights on our new tongue & groove wall in the living room. Even though I decided to forgo the tree this year it still looks so festive and bright in here. It's almost the 25th! Merry CHRISTmas! 🎄
You are so right in saying “it’s not like normal life just stands still so we can get things ready for Christmas!” I was just this afternoon replying to a friend who had sent news about a mutual friend’s misfortune and commented to him that the holiday season is not immune to adversity.
As for getting old, you know you are in good company. As you said, pacing ourselves is a reasonable option, although not necessarily a cure. I have a friend out west with a condition that is termed as “not curable but treatable.” That’s interesting and sort of helps to ponder that.
Your salmon salad looks really good. I haven’t had any salmon in [too long]!
What interesting words to ponder, “But the baby in her womb, He was the maker of the moon …”
Your recliner is so demure and lovely, Pam. Is there are special story behind it? So glad those tests are behind y'all (for now) and you've a game plan in place. As I remember, those pre-surgical eye drops were the biggest annoyance. I'm going to copy your doctor's preliminary diagnosis and ask my Primary when I see her next. Sometimes I wish I could hook up to a computer like they do our cars at automotive chops and get a print-out exactly what ails us. In the words of late great Gilda Radner, "It's always something!"
PS - Whew on those paper mills. I remember when we visited Tom's sister when she lived on Amelia Island ... that 'aroma' unmistakable.
No special history on the recliner...we bought it at a used furniture store probably more than 12 years ago, and it's still going strong! I bought the Christmas pillow recently at Dollar General to brighten it up for Christmas and also to support my back! Feels good! However, I still can't sit too long in any chair or I practically need help to get back up. Such is life for the old timers! LOL.
Thank you for taking us along for the ride! It sure was interesting to see the GP plant and all. Lunch looks yummy and I am so glad your husband's appointment went well. Thank you, by the way, for the prayers for my daughter. I appreciate it.
What a great day out, that salmon salad looked delicious. I'm trying to imagine the smell, I used to work in a plywood factory and loved the smell of the logs as they were processed, it wasn't unpleasant at all.
Thank you for your comment. Regarding "the smell", a paper mill smells a lot like rotten eggs or sulfur, or someone's very bad "gas". Not a pleasant smell at all. Not like a plywood factory! LOL. Trust me, you wouldn't want to live near it!
Oh my!!! That song is beautiful. A labor of love..I was so touched by it. I know your cantata will be wonderful and so poignant. Glad all of your appointments went well. I do pray that you can get back relief in the most non-envasive way. You got me thinking about many summer camping trips long, long ago. We would drive up to Oregon and pass many sawmills along the way. YES... the Odor could be terrible. There is no smell like it. Thanks...I think, haha, for the memory. Sue
Pam: I love the gift bags, Glad to hear that your medical appointments went rather well. I am at a standstill with COVID visiting us. We have had someone get what we need for us. Roger is coming in the 28th. (One of our better decisions this year.) Several of my church family also have COVID. PLEASE PRAY FOR US!!! Peace and blessings to you and yours.
Thank you for visiting here today. I would love for you to sign my guestbook and let me know you stopped by. I always enjoy reading your comments and words of encouragement! May you be blessed as you go on your way. Please come back and visit again soon.
I enjoyed my visit here with you, Pam! Glad you and hubby got good reports from the doctor AND from John's eye doctor. I think I'm ready for Christmas. It is what it is!! I don't stress over it anymore. It's all about love and Jesus. Nothing else matters. Sending hugs!!
ReplyDeleteAmen! "It's all about love and Jesus. Nothing else matters." So very true. I try to keep that in my mind when I find myself starting to stress over things. "Nothing else matters". Amen. Sending hugs to you too. When does your sister arrive? I know you will have a great time together! So happy for you both!
DeleteI enjoyed coming along with you to the appointments. Oh my, I also have degenerative disc disease in my lower spine (L3,L4) and before I left San Francisco to move up here I had a procedure done by the
ReplyDeletesame Doctor who performed surgery on a local football player, Joe Montana. Anyway it did keep me from pain until just a couple of months ago. I’m not in pain-pain yet. Walking helps me. I know you would never, and I don’t know if it is legal there but edible cannabis in gummy chews works wonders. Sadly it is expensive and not covered by insurance. But it does work very well for serious pain, so much so the VA is considering it. Physical therapy always works for me.
That photo of Blackie almost looks like a painting of him. He’s a gorgeous cat. I’d take him.
Your husband does look like a movie star! ⭐️
You’ve mentioned before that you live in Interlachen -and I kept forgetting to mention that my 2nd great grandfather is buried at the Pineview cemetery in Interlachen. Small world - here I am from California and my ancestor is buried there. He was a Civil War veteran from Ohio. I guess he came down your way to retire. Anyway, I’m glad I finally mentioned it.
👍🏻
Oh my, Debby! Your 2nd great grandfather is buried here in Interlachen, of all places? What is his name? If I am ever over there at the cemetery I will look him up. A lot of people came here in the late 1880-90's and built hotels and homes and grew oranges, and the town was prospering. Then the big FREEZE of 1894 or 5 happened, and people who had invested in citrus here were wiped out. It was quite catastrophic for many little towns in the north central part of Florida, and so many people who had migrated here from the north ended up leaving. Our little town never really recovered. But now we are seeing more growth again because of the highway that they finally finished going through the middle of town, and businesses are starting to look at moving here (mostly fast foods like Taco Bell and Dunkin' Donuts for now) and more people are starting to buy up what was cheap land around here and are starting to build homes/manufactured homes again. So our quiet little town is starting to not feel as quiet. Anyway, if you will share the name of your ancestor with me I will try to make an effort to find his grave and take a picture of it for you sometime.
DeleteThank you for the kind words about my hubby and the black cat! LOL. Have a great day!
What a beautiful song. I love the words. I think we often tend to glamorize Christ's birth and forget that Mary was a young girl, all alone with Joseph in a town where she knew no one and gave birth in a dirty stable. I can only imagine what was going through her mind as she labored to give us our Messiah.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about your day. It looks beautifully warm there in Florida. We thought of driving south for Christmas but not quite that far and, in the end, we'll probably stay home.
Your Hubby does indeed look like a movie star with his "shades" on. We sure were blessed to get such good looking guys weren't we?
Take care and get lots of rest for the cantata as they take a lot of energy out of you. And remember to rest your back. I'm so sorry that you have constant pain from yours. I have an MRI scheduled Jan. 6 for my back. First I go to the cardiologist on the 3rd to have my pacemaker check done so they can turn it off during the MRI. It's sure no fun getting old is it? lol
Blessings and hugs,
Betsy
Yes, that song really touches my heart. Our beautiful Christmas cards and pictures of the Manger scene tend to make it all look so pristine and perfect, but it definitely was not a place where any woman would want to give birth...much less a place for the King of kings and Lord of lords and Savior of the world to be born! No wonder the people had a hard time accepting that Jesus could be the Messiah! It was not what they expected at all! I pray that someday they will understand and see Him as He truly is, "He was the maker of the moon, He was the author of the faith, That could make the mountains move"...the Savior of the World.
DeleteOh, Betsy, I pray for you as you have an MRI, etc. I pray you will get some answers that will be helpful for you and that you can get some relief from your pain. We will have to compare notes. No, it isn't fun getting old! To me, it makes heaven look all that more desirable when the time comes!! But until then we have to keep on living and loving and trusting God.
Blessings and hugs to you and yours as well, and Merry Christmas!
Great news about John! I do hope there can be a way for you to manage that pain without too much medication, too, Pamela. As we get older, it seems that doctors often tell us that's the only option. Your gift bags are exquisitely beautiful, too. I might just have to visit a Dollar Tree near us soon. :) Have a blessed weekend!
ReplyDeleteWonderful news about John. Praise God.
ReplyDeleteI once had a temporary job in the office with a paper company in Jacksonville. I learned quite a bit about how some paper making works. It's an old old way of making it but now with modern technology. I think it's the Egyptians that invented and/or perfected it. Pretty cool history.
The train under the tree, the gift bags, and everything is really pretty. I added some lights on our new tongue & groove wall in the living room. Even though I decided to forgo the tree this year it still looks so festive and bright in here.
It's almost the 25th! Merry CHRISTmas! 🎄
You are so right in saying “it’s not like normal life just stands still so we can get things ready for Christmas!” I was just this afternoon replying to a friend who had sent news about a mutual friend’s misfortune and commented to him that the holiday season is not immune to adversity.
ReplyDeleteAs for getting old, you know you are in good company. As you said, pacing ourselves is a reasonable option, although not necessarily a cure. I have a friend out west with a condition that is termed as “not curable but treatable.” That’s interesting and sort of helps to ponder that.
Your salmon salad looks really good. I haven’t had any salmon in [too long]!
What interesting words to ponder, “But the baby in her womb, He was the maker of the moon …”
Your recliner is so demure and lovely, Pam. Is there are special story behind it? So glad those tests are behind y'all (for now) and you've a game plan in place. As I remember, those pre-surgical eye drops were the biggest annoyance. I'm going to copy your doctor's preliminary diagnosis and ask my Primary when I see her next. Sometimes I wish I could hook up to a computer like they do our cars at automotive chops and get a print-out exactly what ails us. In the words of late great Gilda Radner, "It's always something!"
ReplyDeletePS - Whew on those paper mills. I remember when we visited Tom's sister when she lived on Amelia Island ... that 'aroma' unmistakable.
No special history on the recliner...we bought it at a used furniture store probably more than 12 years ago, and it's still going strong! I bought the Christmas pillow recently at Dollar General to brighten it up for Christmas and also to support my back! Feels good! However, I still can't sit too long in any chair or I practically need help to get back up. Such is life for the old timers! LOL.
DeleteThank you for taking us along for the ride! It sure was interesting to see the GP plant and all. Lunch looks yummy and I am so glad your husband's appointment went well. Thank you, by the way, for the prayers for my daughter. I appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great day out, that salmon salad looked delicious. I'm trying to imagine the smell, I used to work in a plywood factory and loved the smell of the logs as they were processed, it wasn't unpleasant at all.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. Regarding "the smell", a paper mill smells a lot like rotten eggs or sulfur, or someone's very bad "gas". Not a pleasant smell at all. Not like a plywood factory! LOL. Trust me, you wouldn't want to live near it!
DeleteOh my!!! That song is beautiful. A labor of love..I was so touched by it.
ReplyDeleteI know your cantata will be wonderful and so poignant.
Glad all of your appointments went well. I do pray that you can get back relief in the most non-envasive way.
You got me thinking about many summer camping trips long, long ago.
We would drive up to Oregon and pass many sawmills along the way. YES... the Odor could be terrible. There is no smell like it. Thanks...I think, haha, for the memory.
Sue
Pam: I love the gift bags, Glad to hear that your medical appointments went rather well. I am at a standstill with COVID visiting us. We have had someone get what we need for us. Roger is coming in the 28th. (One of our better decisions this year.) Several of my church family also have COVID. PLEASE PRAY FOR US!!! Peace and blessings to you and yours.
ReplyDelete