Happy First Day of Summer!!

Happy First Day of Summer!  I looked out the front door this morning and noticed these sweet little pink wildflowers blooming, and decided they needed a closer look! 

It is a Pale Meadowbeauty  "Pale meadowbeauty occurs naturally in wet flatwoods, open savannas, marshes, bogs and wet roadsides. It flowers spring through fall and attracts many pollinators, especially bees."   I love it when God provides special little beautiful gifts to brighten our days!  Of course, once we mow that part of the lawn again, they will be gone, but hopefully they will come back to visit again.  I do see them scattered about in various places.  Just a happy little harbinger of summer!

Remember the other day when  I showed you these blueberries that I picked from our own bush?

Well, when I went outside this morning to look at those pretty little pink flowers above, I noticed that many of the pink blueberries that I had left behind had now turned blue, so I picked another handful of berries this morning, 

and there were just enough to do this for breakfast:

Yes!  I made Blueberry Pancakes!!

And those little blueberries were just popping full of delicious blueberry goodness!!

Of course, we had to have some scrambled eggs with bits of ham to give us some added protein with our breakfast,  but I can tell you this was delightfully delicious!  And with our very own blueberries!   

Can you tell that I am just a little bit happy about this?  LOL.

I thought it was a great way to usher in the first day of summer!

After breakfast we got cleaned up and headed to town to Walmart to do some necessary grocery shopping.  Nothing too exciting about that.  We wanted to get there early to beat the heat and the Friday morning rush, and we were thankful that we did just that.  

So now we are settled in back home with nothing particular to do today except stay inside and keep cool! Summertime here in our part of the world has felt like it was already here for the past month already.  Right now it is 92 degrees and hopefully we will get a thunderstorm this evening around 7:00 p.m.   I doubt that it will cool us off by much, but at least it will add some more water to the pond and keep the grass, flowers and trees (and blueberries) growing!  And the birds and critters are all much happier when there is plenty of rain to keep their food sources growing too. 

I went outside to get the mail and then did a little "walkabout" the yard to see what things were growing along the woodsy edges of our yard...

There is a lot of this:

Inkberry/Gallberry, which is growing wild in our woodsy area. The berries will turn black in the fall. The birds will eat them, although I understand they are bitter and the birds will only eat them as a last resort! 

We have a lot of different kinds of Holly trees/bushes growing wild, especially along the shores of Still Waters Pond.  These berries will turn bright red, and the birds do love them! Especially the Cardinals, Blue Jays, Cedar Waxwings and Robins!(if they migrate through here in winter)

So I am happy to see that there's plenty of extra bird flood growing all around us for the winter time. I'm sure they find plenty of other kinds of seeds and bugs and things to eat in the summer, along with the birdseed we put in the bird feeders.

As I walked around to the back yard, I was wondering where Sunshine and Blackie were hiding to keep cool on this very warm summer afternoon.  All of a sudden, here came Sunshine from out under the back porch...

He came right up to me, sticking out his tongue to say hello I guess, and wanted me to pet him right away, which of course I did.   Who could resist that sweet face?

And then Blackie saw me loving on Sunshine, and he came out from under one of the chairs on the back porch and headed down the steps right away to get his share of lovin'.  Of course, Sunshine went to meet him and they had to bump heads and nibble on each other's ears and say hello...

And then  Blackie came down and found a nice sandy spot to roll in the dirt to say hello to me. LOL.

Silly Kitty. But yes, I did pet and love on him for a while too. He's a sweeetheart, and he didn't want to be left out of any special attention.  I think he thought it was snack time, but as you can tell, Blackie still has a bit of a tummy and really doesn't need any extra "snacks".  But at least we know that HE isn't expecting! LOL.  

Well, speaking of food, it's almost time to start thinking about supper.  I guess I didn't really make any plans today for what to cook! Oops!  But we've been doing the pizza thing on Friday nights most of the time lately anyway, so I think that's what's happening tonight as well. I just have to go to the Dollar General down the street and pick up one and cook it. Easy Peasy!

Here's an old song..."Summertime", from Porgy and Bess...

Summertime, And the livin' is easy Fish are jumpin' And the cotton is high Your daddy's rich And your mamma's good lookin' So hush little baby Don't you cry One of these mornings You're going to rise up singing Then you'll spread your wings And you'll take to the sky But till that morning There's a'nothing can harm you With daddy and mamma standing by

And here is a song that truly speaks to me, no matter what the season or time:

“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.

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,” 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.

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,” Lord, unto me!

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!

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,” Lord, unto me!

Amen!

I hope that your summertime is filled with new mercies and all that you have needed, and that you will know just how great is God's faithfulness unto you! Amen.

Thursday Thankfulness

 Hello from Still Waters Pond!  These photos were taken early in the morning, as the sun was rising behind us in the east, and lighting up the trees in the west with a delightful golden sun!

You can see that Still Waters Pond is starting to fill up again after some nice rains...

And the Sand Hill Crane family had just flown in to say Good Morning!

What a lovely way to start the day!

And this was how the sky looked in the east as the sun was rising up behind the clouds...

A good time to rise up and say a prayer for our nation and the world situation, especially in Israel.

I've been sitting here reading other blogs and appreciating all of the beautiful things you all write and share with us. It is always uplifting and encouraging to connect with you. Perhaps that should be my #1 item on the thankfulness list for tonight.  

These are not really ranked by order of value or importance, but just thoughts and things as I think about them.  Yesterday I had a doctor appointment that I had been waiting on for 2 months to discuss some chronic and frustrating physical issues that I deal with on a too regular of a basis.  I was thankful for a doctor who listened, made copious notes as we talked, and then made wonderful recommendations and  helpful suggestions and a prescription that should help with several issues I am dealing with. She also assured me that there didn't appear to be any serious underlying problem that I needed to be concerned about. So that was a comfort and a blessing.

We are still waiting for hubby's July 1st appointment. Thankfully he seems to be doing a little better as we just take things kind of easy and one day at a time, giving thanks to the Lord for His kindness and mercy and grace.

We are thankful for the daily rain (almost daily, I should say) that is filling Still Waters Pond and replenishing the earth.  It is a comfort to us to know that if we just wait on the Lord, good things will come.

James 5:7-8

"7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 

8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand."

This stained glass ornament hangs in our kitchen window, a daily reminder to me to "wait upon the Lord", and He WILL renew my (and my hubby's and anyone else who needs it) strength. And we shall "mount up with wings as the eagle..."  and the rest of that verse says: "they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."   That is a promise that I am going to claim by faith for both hubby and myself. We are waiting on the Lord to do just that, in His time.

These are just a few of the things I am thankful for tonight. Thank you for being there and visiting with me today.  May God be with you and hear your prayers as you wait on Him as well.  Amen.

Monday Monday~Father's Day and Storms

 Happy Monday evening!  I'm just getting around to sitting down here at the computer and trying to think of what to say!  Hope you have been having a good Monday, and that your weekend was special in every way.  We had a wonderful Father's Day get together with the kids yesterday.  Our son Scott came and grilled boneless/skinless chicken thighs for us. I made potato salad and corn on the cob, a tossed salad, and a blueberry pie at hubby's request.  Rose brought the deviled eggs.  I forgot to take a picture of our meal, but here's the blueberry pie right after it came out of the oven. You can see it was bubbling over with blueberry juice!

Hubby declared it was the best blueberry pie he'd ever eaten!

I was happy to hear that, because these were blueberries that I'd gotten fresh (already picked) from the blueberry farm last month and froze them. Unfortunately, they have a picking machine that tends to leave a bit of the stem on the berries, and I had to hand pick the stems off of almost every single berry! Imagine that when the blueberries were thawing and becoming a bit soft...yeah, it was a tedious job, but no one found a stem in their piece of pie! LOL.  Next year I guess I will have to go and pick my own blueberries so I can be sure there are no stems left on them!

Who knows, maybe next year I'll be able to pick enough blueberries off of my own bush to bake a pie! This is a bush I planted a few years ago, and this is really the first year it has had so many berries.

I just went and picked this little handful of ripe ones. Maybe not enough for a pie, but they will taste good in my yogurt or on some cereal. There's just something very satisfying about picking your own fruit and eating it!  I consider it a gift from God! I know I sure didn't do anything to make these grow, except water them when it was so dry. But God did everything else.

Anyway, I digress.  Back to yesterday...here's the "kids" with "Daddy"...

And here's the whole bunch of us.

This is one of my most favorite pictures of my hubby, reading Bible stories to our little boys in bed at bedtime. As you can see, Scott is just a baby, then Benton was about 5 &1/2, and Matthew was 4. These are very precious memories.

And here's a picture of "Daddy" and his boys and our one grandson Noah, taken back in  February of 2014 at the last time our whole family was together before Matthew passed away from cancer in May of 2014.    It's sad to me that we will never be able to have a "complete" family portrait again...but we will all be together again in heaven some day, and that celebration will never end!

And speaking of other great fathers...Here's hubby's father and my hubby John and his little brother Billy. This was taken at Daytona Beach back in the late1950's.  Notice the Studebaker car behind them. That was their car.  Our family had one of those too back in the day! They were built like a tank! LOL.

And here I am with my Daddy. This was taken on a Sunday afternoon. I think he had been reading the funny papers to me and we fell asleep.  I was pretty young. LOL.

So after our kids left we took a nap too.  Then when we woke up, there was quite a thunderstorm brewing.

The rain was so heavy at times it was like a "white out" on Still Waters Pond!

And yes, it did help to start refilling the pond! WooHoo! We are very thankful for that!

At one point, I could actually see and hear very small bits of hail hitting against the front picture window!

And although you can't see it here, we had two umbrellas open on the front porch, one on each table, which helps to shade our front window/porch on these very hot and sunny days. I usually try to put the umbrellas down when a storm is coming, but this one blew up so quickly I didn't have time, and the umbrella from the table on the left literally was lifted up by the wind and blown over the top of the other umbrella...

And landed on the other side of the deck outside of the porch railing on the ground!  That was quite a blow!!

Thankfully no harm was done to the umbrella or the tables, but it just shows how quickly things can change in a bad storm!!

But thankfully, when we know we have Jesus with us in this "boat of life"...we do not need to fear what the winds and waves and storms of life can do to us...He rebukes the wind and the "sea", and says, "Peace be still!", and the storms will cease...

Mark 4:35-41 NKJV
35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 

37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 

38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace,be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 

40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” 

41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

Even though there are still times in life when I may feel fearful and anxious about things that are happening around me or in my family, (or in the world at large), I am reminded of this story where Jesus rebuked the disciples and asked them why they were so fearful..."How is it that you have no faith?"  He wanted them and us to know that when you have Jesus in the boat with you, there is nothing to fear.  The important question to ask ourselves is if we have Jesus in our boat with us.  If not, there's no time like the present to invite Him to join us in our life's journey. When Jesus is with us, we can sleep in peace while the storms are raging. God is in control. 

Like these porch kitties...Blackie and Sunshine...sleeping in perfect peace...

And just for fun...these were taken last night after the storm...Sunshine sometimes likes to jump up onto the porch railing and watch the world go by...

"Hey! I see you looking at me!"

"Am I yawning because I'm bored with looking at you? Or am I laughing at a good private joke?  I'll never tell."

"There's nothing too exciting in there to see, so I'll just lay down here on the this railing ignore you!"

And with that, I think I will close this for tonight.

Psalm 4:8 NKJV

8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep;

For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Amen.

Friday Foto Friends

 Oh My Goodness! It's Friday the 13th!  What does that mean to me? Absolutely Nothing! Except that it's Friday, and we'll probably have pizza for supper tonight! LOL.  We used to order Domino's pizza and go pick it up because it's not that far from us, but the last time we ordered it, let's just say it was not up to par, and we decided that we actually like baking our own "D'Giornos"  pizza here at home. I buy a supreme pizza at the Dollar General that is within a block or so of our home, and we doctor it up a little bit more and put it in the oven and eat it hot and fresh just the way we like it...and for a much lower price!  So that's our big Friday night splurge! LOL.  Sometimes, if Rose doesn't have to work late, they come over and bring their favorite pizza and join us. That's even more fun!  I enjoy working together with my sweet daughter in love in the kitchen. She's also a very good cook, and we work well together and have a good time.  

And that brings me to this, which is not in my kitchen, but thankfully it is currently in my sister Doris' kitchen.  This beautiful needlepoint picture used to hang in our mother's "kitchen" and dining room combination.  Our paternal Grandma Mursch did the needlework, and it is a sweet memory from my growing up years to see it again.  

The other day, Debby, a blogger friend  from My Shasta Home, made the comment on my Tuesday 4~A Cozy Home blog post that she used to have a plaque in her kitchen that said this same thing, and it reminded me of the one from my family home, so I asked my sister to send me a picture of it.  Thank you, Doris, for sending me this picture at my request.

This is actually a picture of my brother Clifford, which was taken right after he gave me my first digital camera. This was the first picture I took! You can blame him for me sharing so many photos all the time! He took pity on me for being the last person on earth who was still developing film...he worked for Kodak and happened to have an older digital camera sitting around that he thought I could use! I told him that he unleashed something crazy in me...I've been snapping pictures of everything I see ever since! LOL.  

Anyway, I wanted to share this picture because it is the only one I can find without having to do a lot of searching through old photo albums to show where this needlepoint picture used to hang in my parents' home.  This was the dining room wall, which was actually attached to the kitchen and close to the open living room.  This was the home my daddy built back in 1957, where I did most of my growing up until I got married and left home at age almost 19.  Sadly we had to sell the house after my parents left this earth for their heavenly home. So I'm glad I still have lots of pictures (just most of them are in albums or boxes since they were taken before the digital camera).  

And the saying on the needlepoint was very true concerning my mother's kitchen/dining room combination. That is where the memories were made...around that table, with loved ones and friends and so much good food that came out of my mother's kitchen!

The other counted cross stitch picture you can see on the wall was actually done by Clifford's wife Caryl, as a gift to my mother many years ago.  Cliff and Caryl live in Charlotte, NC., and that is where we often go for family reunions, although I haven't heard that there will be one this year.

This is the needlepoint picture that I have, which my grandmother also created, and it used to hang in her kitchen!  So my sister and I each have one of our Grandma Mursch's needlepoints to remember her by as well as giving us happy memories of home and family.

So I started writing this post early this morning, but as per usual we had things to get done this morning and now I am just getting back to writing at 2:00 in the afternoon!  I didn't write a Thursday Thankfulness post yesterday, not because I wasn't thankful, but because I just never got around to it! And I was kind of hoping for some news before I wrote. We finally got a phone call this morning from the specialist for my hubby to schedule an appointment for a consultation and evaluation of the results of his MRI on July 1st. Although that is still a few weeks away, at least now we have something scheduled and "progress" is being made.  Thankfully he is not in a situation where he is in a lot of pain or discomfort, but does have to be careful of what he does as he has issues with fatigue and balance, so we are just taking things slowly and trying to stay away from too much stress and activity.  It's good to know that help is on the way.

One thing I've been trying to do is order new Skechers shoes for hubby. Everytime I order them online and get them, for one reason or another they do not fit/work for him, so we have to send them back, which of course is a hassle.  Finally this morning we had to go to town to send back the last pair of shoes I ordered on Amazon. If you take them to Staples they will package them and ship them back for free, so we did that and I finally talked hubby into going into a real shoe store and trying some shoes on before we buy them! (what is it about men and shopping and trying things on?  At least my hubby just never wants to do that)  And I know he doesn't feel well and his energy level is limited, but we went early before any crowds, and discovered that they have a great supply of all kinds of shoes, including Skechers, and he was able to try some on and discovered that he needed a whole size longer than what he's always worn. I think they are making the shoes smaller since they are made in China, and the sizing isn't true to what we are used to. Anyway, thankfully he found a pair that he liked that fit, and they were even on sale! So we actually saved money in the long run! Win Win!

Seems like I haven't shared much from Pamela's Wild Kingdom on Still Waters Pond lately...so let's see what's been going on out there...

I've mentioned that it's been very hot and dry lately, even with a few thunderstorms here and there, they have not brought enough rain to refill Still Waters Pond yet. It will take a LOT more rain (and possibly a hurricane!) to bring it back to where it needs to be.  All that green grass you see in the picture below behind the bird house should be under water, and those "lily pads" you see are sitting in muck right now...no water!  So it is no wonder that "Trumpet", our young Sand Hill Crane, might be thirsty for some fresh water in the little swimming pool.

And he's not the only one enjoying the pool these days...Yes, that's our resident Muscovy Duck taking a swim in the pool.  Again...there's just not much water left anywhere in the pond for swimming even for a duck!

And since she is putting on quite a lovely show for us while she bathes, I decided to quit fighting it and let her stay around...as long as she doesn't eat our cats' food before they get a chance to finish it!

I think she's thankful for a good clean place to bathe and cool off!

Although the Sand Hill Cranes aren't always so welcoming of Miss Duck.  They had just chased her away by flapping their huge wings at her, and she flew back across the pond to get out of harms' way.

We had a nother surprise visitor!  Remember here when I shared pictures of a Florida Soft Shelled Turtle supposedly laying her eggs in our yard?  Well, actually, I never could find any real evidence of her laying any eggs at that time. It looked like she was trying to, but there wasn't any dirt dug up or anything that resembled a turtle "nest" after she left, so I am thinking that attempt wasn't really successfull.  However, we came home from town the other morning just in time to see this turtle covered in sand and heading back to the pond from our yard...

Yes, that is what the pond looks like right now in most places...very very dry...

The turtle had a long ways to go to finally get back to some water.

But this is the mess he left on our yard...you can see where she apparently had been wallowing in the sand and making a hollowed out area where hopefully she was successful in laying her egss this time:

(those are my big feet, not turtle eggs! LOL!)

Here's another view of the area and how far it is is from the pond... hopefully eventually the pond will fill back up to almost that same area and the baby turtles won't have so far to go to find water when they hatch.  

Hey! It just started raining right this minute while I was writing this!

According to my phone, it is only going to last about 10 minutes, but at least it's something! I won't complain! Every drop counts!! Praise God!

Actually, just to show you how dry it is, I took these pictures around the pond over next door at the new house that is still for sale (and the price has been reduced again recently!)  Most all of that green grassy area should be under water...so that gives you a good idea of how far the pond has receded.

This is looking from their yard back toward our yard:

And this was taken from the yard of the neighbor's house, looking into the pond, which is mostly dry there too...

It's still such a beautiful location, and I continue to pray for whomever our new neighbors will be. They must be someone really special, because God has been holding this house for them and reducing the price so that whoever it is will be able to afford it when the time is right!

These sweet little yellow flowers are still blooming alongside the pond. They don't seem to mind that the pond is almost dry. They know the rains will come and the pond will fill back up, so they keep blooming where they are planted.

Well friends, it's almost pizza time, and I haven't bought it yet from the store, so I'd better get a move on and go get it while the rain has stopped for a while. 

Here are some words of hope and encouragement from 2 Corinthians 4:15-18

"15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, 

may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 

17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 

18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

Amen.

Have a lovely weekend, my friends!!