Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

Hello Everyone! Happy Thursday!

Morning's Sunrise

My current view out the window in "My Room with a View"

Sunshine and Blackie relaxing at the end of the day.

These signs were seen on the walls at our local "Nanna's Country Cafe" today. (more about that later).

 I wanted to thank you all for your kind and thoughtful comments on my last post HERE.  It seems like we've all had some experiences with negative commenters/spammers, anonymous and unknowns in the past.  The important thing is to always remember to be kind ourselves and be careful to always put our brain in gear before we put our mouth in motion!  Here is a Scripture verse from Psalms that is a good reminder:

Psalm 141:3 NKJV

"3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

Keep watch over the door of my lips."

That, along with my "life verse" from Psalm 19:14:

Psalm 19:14 NKJV

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

If I could always remember to abide by these guidelines from God's Word, I know I would keep myself out of hot water with my tongue much better.  I've often had difficulty with "foot and mouth disease"...putting my foot in my mouth...and it is definitely something I've had to work on.  That's one reason I prefer to write instead of speak publicly.  I can edit and delete what I've written before publishing, but once the words leave my mouth there's no way to grab them back.  Sometimes I don't take time to proofread what I've written, and as soon as I hit "publish" I see my mistakes and then have to go back and fix it and pray no one was sitting right there ready to read it that quickly!   So yes, I know it can be difficult to always say the right thing and do the right thing, but spending time here in our blogging community has helped. You are all so kind and thoughtful and helpful...and that is a blessing to me every day! Thank you so much.

From Nanna's Country Cafe'

It's been a bit more of a quiet week. Today is actually our son's birthday, but we already celebrated with him over the weekend. Today he and his sweet wife had plans to go over and walk on the beach and then go into St. Augustine for lunch at a favorite seafood place. However, she woke up with a bit of a sick headache, and they got about half way there and decided to just stop at a local place and eat breakfast and then come back home.  Sometimes you just gotta listen to your body and do what is best. Thankfully our son is a sweet and thoughtful fella and he totally understood. He said he had plenty of things that needed to get done anyway in his workshop today, so he did that while she rested.  Hopefully Rose will be feeling better soon and they will have other opportunities to go do the things they had planned today.

From Nanna's Country Cafe'

Hubby and I decided to go into "town" this morning and do a little shopping. We went to Beall's Outlet and I actually found a a couple of fall tops at a very reasonable price. 

Perhaps my most favorite thing I decided to purchase were these hangers that have a kind of felt covering on them, so that silky tops and dresses won't slide off the hanger! I've been wanting these for a while, and so today was the day!! Now I just need to clean out some things in  my closet and rearrange stuff and use these on the things that need them most.

After we got back into our own little town from our shopping spree in "the big city", we decided to go out to lunch at our local "Nanna's Country Cafe'".  She's been telling us on Facebook that she's done some renovations and new decorations inside, so we decided to go check it out.  I thought this was the best "decoration" they had:

LOL.  I love this sign too:

Mooooove over...I want to see what she's eating!

I love the positive vibes they have going on in there. It made for a very "mooooving" experience. LOL. 

Well, as I was sitting here typing this post, I kept noticing that the skies were changing outside, and it just seemed like a good time to go outside and enjoy the cooler evening breeze before hopefully we get a thunderstorm.   I haven't been getting any good sunset photos yet because the sun is still setting a littler too far to the north west, plus Still Waters Pond is so dry that there's not enough water in it for any good reflections! But still the skies were looking interesting so I decided to go out and have a look. Here's what I saw and what happened next:

We had the grass cut the other day down along the shore, and because it is so dry, it just laid there in the sun and turned brown like hay.  Hay! Maybe it IS hay! Maybe we need one of those cows up there above to come eat some hay! LOL.

You can see that the pond is just a big mud hole basically right now. Pretty Ugly. (oxymoron!)

But if you look at the sun setting down behind the trees and focus on that and the beautiful clouds in the sky, it's still a lovely sight to behold!

We are supposed to be getting a thunderstorm right now, but so far I don't see or hear anything. It's been all around us this afternoon, but just seems to avoid us for some reason.

I love it when this happens...Sunshine decided to come join me on my little walkabout the yard...

Hello sweet Sunshine!!

I checked on the Zinnias, and there's still a few blooming, even though it's been so dry and I haven't been watering as much as I should...

We walked around to the front yard and could see the storm clouds forming in the east.  

By now hubby had come out to join me and then Sunshine decided to follow him back toward the house...

Blackie did not want to be left out, so he had also joined in our little walk, and then decided to take off and run and get ahead of everyone...I wish you could see how fast he was running in this picture!  It was like he was shot out of a cannon!  Sunshine is looking back to see if I'm still coming... I'm trying, Sunshine. I'm a little slow these days, but I'm coming!

Blackie beat everyone up the steps and then Sunshine ran up there to join him:

Then they did their usual checking each other over and making sure everyone is okay...and that was that. They are laying down out there now resting from their strenuous walk with us...and we are doing the same...resting in our chairs and thanking the Lord for a good day and so many blessings we can't count them.  The only thing that could make this day better would be some rain.

Oh, one more thing that made us happy this week...

I saw this picture of our grandson Noah and his mother Nicole on Facebook. They were on a "Mother/Son Day Trip" to Acadia National Park in Maine.

Since they live so far away from us we don't get to see them very often, so anytime there's a picture I'm claiming it! LOL.  And better yet, Noah sent us a nice long message bringing us up to date on his activities and happenings. It was really really good to hear from him and to know that both he and his mother are doing fine. That is an answer to many prayers.

Well, I guess that about sums up our week.  Here's a final thought, as we think about the horrific events in Minneapolis this week...we don't always understand why these things happen. There's so much sorrow, mental illness and hate in the world.  Our prayers are with those dear families who have lost sweet and precious children as well those who have been injured and hurt in their hearts because of this terrible event. May God be their comforter and healer. We can only put our trust in Him that He will be there for those dear ones and I pray that they will take refuge in Him. 

Amen.

Monday Monday Celebrations in Review

 Happy Monday Morning!  I hope you've had a blessed and peaceful, restful weekend, and are ready to enjoy this last week of August and "summer" as we know it.  Next weekend is Labor Day weekend, so that pretty much signals the end of summer and even though true autumn doesn't begin for a few more weeks, I think we are all pretty much ready for it to begin the day after Labor Day!  I know I would love to think that the summer heat will be over and we will be starting to enjoy cooler days...but here in Florida that really doesn't happen for at least another month. Still we can dream...

Meanwhile, still thinking about August...our extended family here in Florida has a lot of August birthdays and anniversaries to celebrate, and so we did just that on Saturday.  Not everyone could make it due to work schedules,  etc., but for those of us who could gather, we had a great time, as you can see below.

I love to post all the pictures the waitress took of our family, as you can see our expressions change and also because you can't really see everyone in each picture very well...

One particular nephew refuses to let us see his handsome face, but that is par for the course...and we celebrated his 23rd birthday anyway, and also the fact that he graduated from college with his Bachelor's Degree in some form of Psychology and Counseling...I don't know the exact title, but he did it, and is already working on his Master's Degree...so that is impressive. 

Just so  you know who these people are, you can probably tell the first two guys up in front are the "Steiner brothers", my hubby John and his brother "Billy". Then next to my hubby is my sister's hubby Art, next is my sister Doris, then me, then my sister in law Peggy (Billy's wife), next to her is our great nephew Jack, and his mother is next to him, my niece Debbie, then our son Benton. (Rose had to work so couldn't come), and then the smart kid who just graduated college, Nicholaus, next to his father Billy.

So we have family from both sides of the aisle, my hubby's family, and my family, and we all love each other and get along great.  We are blessed to be close enough to enjoy these special events together.

So that was Saturday.  Now for Sunday.  After church we came home and our son Scott had arrived from his home and work an hour or more north of us. Thankfully Rose was off from work also, so our "local family" could gather together to celebrate Benton's birthday, which is actually later this week.

Per his request we had grilled bratwurst and hamburgers, beans, potato salad and deviled eggs. This is my plate.  I actually did not eat the buns, and a very little bit of potato salad.  I'm trying hard to cut back on carbs as much as possible, but it isn't that easy, as most of you probably already know.

The bratwurst was cooked on the grill and then smothered with saute'd peppers and onions. That was yummy! The hamburger was smothered with swiss cheese, fresh onion and tomatoes, and topped with mustard. The beans I "baked" in the crock pot with onions and a little bacon along with mustard and ketchup. They were yummy too. Rose made the potato salad and deviled eggs, which were delicious!

Rose also baked the birthday cake, a yellow cake with chocolate icing, per Benton's request. That is what I always baked for him growing up. So here we are singing Happy Birthday. I think Benton was singing as well. I wish I had recorded us singing.  But you know the song:

Happy Birthday to you!, Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday Dear Benton!

Happy Birthday to you!!

And Many More!! LOL.

And then the big blow out!  54!!! How can THAT be?   

Oh, it was so hard to blow out all those 54 candles! LOL.

Yay! He did it!! I hope he made a good wish! LOL.

We teased him that next year he will be eligible for the senior discounts every where! LOL.  But again...I still don't know how he got to be that old already!! It seems like just yesterday he was a new born 9lb. 13 oz. bouncing baby boy!

I just want to pause and thank the Lord for the blessings of family and friends.  We've all been through difficulties in life. No one escapes troubles and trials. But even so, we have so much for which to be thankful. Even when things have looked bleak and impossible, God has made a way. He has never failed us nor forsaken us. So, at this moment in time, I want to say how thankful I am for all that God has done for me and for our loved ones, and for His unfailing grace. And I look at the final verse here below..."For the Lord is good; His mercy endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations."  

I hope you have a blessed and wonderful rest of your week! May you know that the Lord IS good, and that His mercy endures forever, and that His faithfulness also endures for all generations..."

Amen.

Post UPDATE:  Public Service Announcement:  To the "UNKNOWN" commenter who left a less than complimentary comment on this post earlier, I have removed your comment because it was not considered kind or uplifting or appropriate.  There are certain "unwritten" rules that we bloggers abide by, and they are good rules that are based on kindness and consideration of one another.  The number one rule is one that most of us learned in childhood and should also be abiding by as adults: 

1. If you can't say something nice, it's better to not say anything at all.
2. If you wish to leave a comment, it is common courtesy to also identify yourself. Anonymous or unknown comments will be deleted unless the commenter identifies himself at some point. I do understand that sometimes we become "anonymous" if we are using our iPhone or other method of communication that Blogger can't identify. We should always try to find a way to identify ourselves when that happens. 
3. This blog is my personal "property" when it comes to what is considered appropriate or not suitable for print.  If I do not feel that a comment is in good taste or that it could cause harm or embarrassment to someone else, I reserve the right to remove such comments without  notice or apology to the commenter.
4. I also will delete comments from those I perceive to be spammers or promoting their own personal products in my space, or if I discover upon checking your website or blogspace that I am not comfortable with such content that you are promoting, I reserve the right to delete any links posted to my posts or comments.
5. Also, all photographs contained in my blogs, unless they are identified or credited to others, are my personal property and are not open to be copied by others without my permission.

I am sorry to have to make this announcement, as most of this should be common sense, but occasionally there are some who don't seem to understand the code of kindness and consideration for others. Thank you all for understanding.  

Friday Foto Friends: Skies, Cranes, Cats and Butterflies!

 Good Morning everyone! It's a beautiful Friday morning here in our neck of the woods.  Currently 81 degrees at 9:30 a.m., but it "feels like" 86, which means it's still hot and humid here!  We should get some thunderstorms this afternoon...thankfully!  We need the rain so badly here on our Still Waters Pond!

Here's how the skies looked this morning as the sun was rising actually behind us in the east, but reflecting on the clouds in the west, making it look like there was a sunrise over Still Waters Pond!

It's always a surprise when I see the sunshine in the west in the early morning like this! 

As you can tell by these and the following pictures, Still Waters Pond is still in need of a lot of water!

Where you see all that green grass is actually where there should be water!! We just haven't had enough rain this summer to fill it back  up like it should be.  I'm hoping that will change soon as we head into September.  Thankfully we haven't had any hurricanes here yet, but September is usually the time they develop in this area, so hopefully if they do they will only bring us some much needed rain and nothing worse!  So thankful that Hurricane Erin stayed out to sea, but still I know it did some damage along the coastal areas along the shores of the Atlantic. Praying no one we know has been affected by flooding or other damage.

Here's how the skies looked over the pond a couple of afternoons ago...I like how the sunlight was shining through all those clouds...

I think we may have gotten a good thunderstorm out of this, but still it's not quite enough.

Come rain or shine, our sweet porch kitties don't mind, as long as we remember to feed them on time! LOL

And also as long as no one disturbs their nap time, which is practically any time at all...

Yesterday afternoon I noticed this beautiful Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly enjoying the nectar from our Bottlebrush bush.

I was so happy that it hung around long enough for me to go out and get some good pictures of it.

There were also some bees enjoying the flowers...but I stayed as far away as I could from them!

Apparently they don't bother the butterfly and there were plenty of flowers for everyone:

I hope you don't mind so many photos! We just don't get to see these very often, so I like to take advantage of these photo ops when they occur!

While I was out there watching the butterfly, the Sand Hill Crane family came walking up along the shore of Still Waters Pond...

One of them apparently prefers to walk in the pond instead of on the shore, but it is still so shallow out there they could pretty much walk all the way across the pond!

Since they saw me out there, they figured it must be 'dinner time', and yes, it was. We usually throw them a handful of bird seed in the afternoon and morning (if they show up).  

And believe it or not, this one below is "Trumpet", the "baby" crane, who is now definitely as big as his parents. He was actually standing in our little "kiddy" pool getting a drink of water when I took these pictures!

Mama Crane also went to the pool for a drink, and Blackie our kitty just sat on the porch and watched. The cats and cranes don't bother each other. They seem to have respect for one another.

Oh, I guess I came to the end of my pictures for now.  So I will pause to say thank you to all of you who have been so faithful and kind to read my posts and make such wonderful comments.  I don't always leave replies because I'm not sure if you come back to read them or not, but I do read every comment and appreciate you all so much. I can't seem to figure out how to connect through email to you directly from my blog. My computer wants to send me to some other place and it takes so long to get it figured out that I give up.  Please know that I appreciate each and every one of you, and I look forward to hearing from you and also to read your blogs if you have them. I know there are some who make comments who don't have blogs, and if I can make a connection with you I will, but if there's no blog to connect to, there's no way to send a personal message. Still, I enjoy hearing from you. I am always surprised when I find out how far reaching our blogs really are! This is a happy place, and I thank you each and every one for your friendship here.

I need to get moving...hubby has a doctor appointment in a few minutes, so it's time to go. I am feeling much better than last week, and am so thankful. Tomorrow we are traveling an hour or so away to meet up with our extended family at a restaurant for lunch and for an August birthday/anniversary celebration! There are so many in our family who have either birthdays or anniversaries in August that we have made it an annual tradition to get together to just celebrate family!  I'm sure I'll have pictures to share from that!

(internet photo)

(internet photo)

Amen.