Friday Foto Friends and Happy Thoughts

 I can't believe Friday is almost over and I haven't posted any new photos today!  I've been a bit behind in a lot of things this week, but I'm trying to get caught up.  Thankfully I do feel much better, and also hubby is feeling better too. He had a bit of a scare with his eye that just had cataract surgery two weeks ago. It was hurting a bit and he was having a lot of difficulty with bright lights, so had to wear dark glasses most of the time, even in the house. He did go see our local eye doctor to check it and make sure there wasn't anything really wrong with it, and he couldn't find anything, but assured him that sometimes it takes longer for some eyes to heal than others, and his symptoms seemed to be normal for some.  Thankfully as the week as progressed, his eye has gradually gotten better, and he's not having to wear the dark glasses in the house quite as much now. However we are keeping the blinds closed most of the day and using very minimal lighting, which tends to make me get a bit claustrophic, but thankfully this is only temporary. Whew!! And Praise God!

With that all being said, between the two of us, we haven't really ventured very far this week, except for a trip to Walmart yesterday because we were getting desperate for some things that we couldn't buy here locally. Thankfully we made it there and back (I drove) without incident.  

So what else is happening? Nothing much.  Here's what few photos I have managed to take...

The marigolds are still blooming...

And I took this picture looking out the back door at the pond, and there's Blackie in his favorite blue chair.  It's funny that this chair suddenly appeared in our front yard one day out of nowhere.  At first we left it there thinking it must've fallen off the back of someone's truck and that they'd come back looking for it, but after a couple of days no one came, so we decided it was a "gift" to us...in perfect condition, so we put it on the back porch, and immediately Blackie claimed it for his own personal chair. He doesn't like it when I sit in it either. LOL.  

Anyway, I noticed that the bottlebrush bush was really blooming again...

So I went outside this afternoon and tried to get a close up of the blossoms:

However, if you look closely, you will notice that the blossoms have a lot of honey bees on them...there were a lot more than what you see here.  I decided not to get too much closer and be happy with what I got before they decided to "get me". LOL.

By the way, I am still doing the "Happiness challenge" for August, and all these things make me happy. I'm happy I didn't get stung by the bees! LOL.  And I was happy to see this interesting cloud pattern when I put the flag out this morning.  I just love looking at clouds and sunrises and sunsets, don't you? No two are ever the same, because our Mastor Creator is always creating more and more beauties for us to enjoy. We are blessed by such an "Awesome God".  

Remember when I told you about this strange insect HERE in this post?

Anisomorpha Buprestoides...Southern Two Striped Walking Stick

Well, yesterday poor Blackie had a scary experience with this creature that was not too pleasant. If you read the information about this insect, you will note that it is "particularly well known for its very potent chemical defense spray which it deploys from a pair of glands which open at the front of its thorax."

Apparently Blackie got too curious about this creature while it was under a chair on the back porch.  When I went out to call him in for his supper, he came running into the house and was acting rather strangely, and started drooling on the floor, and then went and hid under one of the bar stools in the kitchen. He didn't want me to pet him or touch him, and he kept drooling. That's when I went back outside to see what he might have encountered (praying it wasn't a snake) and I saw this critter on the porch.  That's when I figured Blackie must've been sprayed by it.  I looked it up and it said that it could cause excessive drooling, among other unpleasant and possibly dangerous problems for cats, especially if it got in his eyes.  Blackie didn't want me to mess with him, but he finally calmed down and stopped the drooling. He wasn't interested in his water, so I put out a little bowl of milk and he lapped that up.  Then he seemed fine and went on to eat his supper and didn't show any other symptoms of trouble. Thankfully I think the spray missed his eyes and he probably didn't get too much in the mouth or face or things might have been worse. He seemed fine for the rest of the evening.  Before we let him back outside I went and took a broom to that creature and knocked him off the porch. However, I did notice a very strong chemical odor when I did that. Thankfully it didn't hit me on my face or body. SO, now we know not to mess around with these "Devil Riders", as they are also called...and from now on when I see one I will make sure it is "removed" from the premises as safely as possible.  I am happy that this story had a happy ending and that Blackie is just fine today.

I am also thankful that yesterday we had an opportunity to do something special for someone else. I am not telling you about this to bring any kind of "glory" to myself, but to share how meaningful it is to help someone else.  We have a dear man in our church who has been battling cancer for several years, and he is now nearing the end of his battle and we expect he will soon be entering heaven's gates.  Although he is under hospice care, he is at home and his daughter and wife are caring for him. Actually, his wife is not in real good health herself, and the daughter is the one trying to manage everything along with having her own husband and other family concerns to take care of.  So our church has been trying to help out by bringing meals to them this past week. And yesterday was our turn. It was such a blessing to be able to bring some comfort and share some love with this dear family. It reminded me of when our son was in his last stages of his battle with cancer, and we went up to Maine to be with him, and their friends were bringing meals every night for our family...and it was such a blessing to not have to worry about stopping to think about what to cook or if we had enough food in the house to even make anything. We were just so thankful and blessed by the gifts of others during such a difficult time.  I was happy that we were able to give back to this dear family and show them some love in Jesus' Name. 

We never realize just how much such a simple thing as a meal can mean to someone who is going through such a difficult time until we experience it for ourselves.  We can never repay those who do something special for us, but we can pay it forward and help someone else along the way. 

And so with that I will say good night. Tomorrow we travel about an hour and a half away to meet up with our extended family to celebrate the August birthdays and anniversaries together at a restaurant. It will be a fun time just being together.  

Philippians 4:12-13 NIV

12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, 

whether living in plenty or in want. 

13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.