Monday Monday

Happy Monday Morning in Mid January!  Welcome to a little bit of winter/spring? here in FLorida!  Two days ago it was in the 80's, and today it started out in the low 40's...and as the week progresses it will actually dip back down to below freezing again!  

The Robins have finally arrived on their migration from the north to the south for the rest of the winter!

They have been all over the place the last couple of days, looking for worms or bugs or berries or whatever they can find to help store up energy for the rest of their flight southward.

Matthew 6:26-27   

"26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 

27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

They actually got here a little bit later than usual. Normally we've seen them come through in late November, and in some times past this holly tree was loaded with berries just waiting for them. But sadly most of the berries have already been picked by other birds and/or squirrels, so there weren't a lot left for the Robins.

However, I know there are other holly trees all around the pond and I am sure they are finding enough to eat, because they are still out there, coming in swarms...and even covering the dry pond. So there must be something out there for them!

Anyway, it's always fun to see them as they pass through. We will look forward to seeing them again later in the spring on their way back north.

Even though it was a chilly start, the sun was coming up and brightening our day so it feels a little warmer.

It was a beautiful start to the day, and we are thankful for the sunshine, even though I'm still watching for that rain to come and refill our pond!

Speaking of our pond, someone posted these pages on Facebook from some old sales brochures from this community, from back in the late 1960's, when they first developed this area.  In the picture below, if you look at that half moon shaped pond at the bottom of this aerial view of our neighborhood,  that is our Still Waters Pond from back in the very beginning!  Do you see the two little islands that kind of look like eyebrows?  Those are the islands I can see from our yard as we look at the pond. That green strip of land on the east side of the pond is where our house is now. (it would be the top side as you are looking at the picture, with the street running at an angle, which is actually the street that runs in front of our house).  There were no trees around the pond then, or actually not many trees at all in the neighborhood.

I love that it says you will have "carefree outdoor living in an ideal climate"...LOL. They meant wintertime I am sure.  Anyone moving here in the summertime soon learned there was not such a great "ideal climate" in the summer, and you spent more time indoors with the AC, if you had it! Back then they didn't have central AC, so I believe a lot of these homes were built mainly for "snowbirds" who only spent the winter here.  "So Where the Sun Stays"..."You can escape from a teeming city atmosphere. Be free of winter's blizzards, smoke, smog, and pollution.  There's fun-in-the-sun living all year long".  LOL.   That's debateable for sure!

This picture below is another view of our pond, taken from the west side of it and looking across to where those two islands are with only a few palm trees on them. That chalet/A frame looking house would have been directly across the street from our house if our house was there,  but our house wasn't put here until about 2003. Just look at Still Waters Pond!!No lily pads, and lots of WATER!  But no real trees around it either.  It wasn't the lovely bird/wildlife sanctuary that we enjoy now.

Here's a more recent aerial view of the pond, taken from a different angle, our house is at the bottom of the picture, with the street running in front of it. Across that street is where that A Frame house used to be.  And yes, that is a 4 lane highway running on the south side of the pond. Back when this area was developed, it was just a two lane highway, and I'm sure it was much quieter.

This is a view of the pond from our back porch, as it looked when we still had water in Still Waters Pond:

Again, those A-frame houses would have been on the street across from where our house is now:

And this is the house that is in that location across the street from us now:  (Or rather the huge magnolia tree that is across the street! LOL)  I don't know what happened to those A-Frames, however. I think they were promotional homes back in the day, but for some reason they didn't survive the test of time!  

Yes,  it was a snowbird's paradise for the time, with inexpensive mobile homes, carefree living, lots of lakes and sunshine!  Sadly, now so many of those mobile homes are over 50 years old and they don't look quite as nice as they did then.   We are thankful for the house that we have that is much newer and more modern, but yes, it is an old time "trailer park" from the 60's-70's in most of the rest of the neighborhood.  There are quite a few newer manufactured homes throughout the neighborhood, but there are still a lot of the old, which I wish some could be removed...but it is what it is. We bought our house here because it was affordable and on the pond, and close to our kids who live in a different neighborhood about a mile away, and we love our community and church.  There are some things that I wish I could change about the neighborhood, but for the most part people are friendly and the community is quiet, except for a few loud trucks and cars now and then passing by, but we are thankful to have a place we can afford and enjoy our retirement. Oh, and we have some nice new neighbors next door to us in that new house I told you about many times before. They are sweet Christian people and we are thankful to have them as neighbors. 

Switching gears a bit...since the weather IS getting so cold, our little friend Lily Grace was hoping to go sledding! She got this nifty sled for Christmas (it was a thrift store discovery that was just the right size for Lily, so of course it couldn't be passed up!)  So she's looking for a nice snowy spot to take a sled ride.  

Since most of the winter scenery has been put away with the Christmas stuff, we had to discover some clever backgrounds to find just the right place for her to go sledding.  This place looks like it will do just fine. I see lots of children over there sledding down that hill and having a great time, so Lily Grace is on her way to have some winter fun!

Whee!  What a ride!! 

That was fun!!!

After all of that excitement Lily Grace went back inside and had some hot cocoa with her friends! That was a fun adventure for a chilly day!!

Speaking of cozy adventures...yesterday the "kids" came over after church and we had lunch together, and then these guys all snuggled up on the couch together:

Yes, that's Benton holding Sugar, and Rose holding Spice. One big happy family!!

And yes, Scott was here for the afternoon too, and you can see he's nice and comfy in his flannels...LOL. He finally set up the display case that Benton built for him for Christmas, and put his collection of Camaro cars in there.

Looks pretty neat!  Also his Aunt and Uncle gave him that book for Christmas that is displayed below about Muscle Cars, so he added that to his collection.  Yes, he keeps these things here at home in his room even though he doesn't stay here all the time anymore. He works about an hour + away, so has a room that he rents from a friend who is close to his work, but this is still his permanent home where he keeps his "stuff".   That's fine with us. We enjoy having him come home whenever he can, even if to do laundry! It's always a joy to have your kids come home.  

One last thing...I've been enjoying these poinsettias that I bought back before Christmas. Thankfully they survived the freezing weather a couple of weeks ago because I put them under the back porch where the frost wouldn't be able to touch them. Looks like I'm going to have to do it again this week!

The spots on the petals are actually rain drops, as it was misting rain a bit yesterday with the cold front coming through. They were sparkling like diamonts, but these pictures don't do them justice.

So please just imagine that all those spots are like diamonds sparkling in the sunshine, okay?

Thinking of sparkling or looking radiant...I will close today with this portion of Psalm 34:1-8

I 

"1  I will bless the Lord at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;

The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

And let us exalt His name together.

4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me,

And delivered me from all my fears.

5 They looked to Him and were radiant,

And their faces were not ashamed.

6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,

And saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,

And delivers them.

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!"

Amen.

Have a blessed and beautiful week, my friends. And be radiant!!