Quick Friday Post on a Chilly Day

 Well, yes it did get down to 29 degrees early this morning here in north central Florida.  It's currently 54 at 2:00 p.m., and bright and sunny. 

My current view

There was frost everywhere this morning...That's the top of our car as seen through the window early this  morning.  I didn't take anymore pictures of the frost outside, because that would've require going outside, and I didn't want to do that!

However, I do have a story to tell you.  You remember that I showed you this lovely "tent" HERE the other day...  and I had such high hopes that it would be a good solution for a place to bring Blackie indoors and out of the freezing cold and safe from being able to roam freely throughout the house while we were sleeping since he's not yet a trained house cat...

This is the "pet playpen", which I purchased at Walmart.  It really looked like a great solution.

However, first of all, Blackie didn't want to go inside it last evening when we were getting ready to go to bed.  He would explore it, but run back out as soon as I tried to zip him in there.  Finally I decided to just let him go back outside and sleep in his nice warm chair with a blanket draped over it and his self-warming cushion underneath his body, which does keep him quite warm. There he is right now, but this picture was taken through the window and it's not real clear. He's kind of half under the glass table on the porch, and cozied up in the chair and sound asleep.

I decided last night that I would wait until the temperature really started dropping and then I would go out and get him off the porch and put him in the tent inside until morning.  And that's what I did. Around 2:30 in the morning I looked at the weather app on my phone and it said the temperature was down to 32, which is freezing. So I bundled myself up (no pictures of me with my hoodie  and sweatpants over my nightgown), and when I opened up the back door Blackie got down out of his chair and ran right to me. So I scooped him up and brought him inside and placed him in the tent and before he could object I had the door zipped up tight.  He kind of paced back and forth for a minute, but he didn't meow a word.  I reassured him he would be nice and safe and warm in there and I told him he should just lay down and go back to sleep. And then I headed back to bed myself and prayed that he would do just that.  

I did finally get a couple of hours of sleep, but at 5:00 a.m. I thought I'd better tiptoe out there and check on him. As soon as I opened our bedroom door I could hear him meowing rather plaintively, so I rushed to see what was the matter.  I didn't have my camera with me, but I wouldn't have had time to take a picture anyway. The poor kitty was crying because the stupid 'pop up tent" decided to collapse in on top of him (thankfully it is very lightweight), and he was trapped inside with no way to escape. The tent came in that box shown above, all wound up tightly and "spring loaded", so that when you open the box and undo the tie on the tent, it springs open into that full size tent. Well, I wondered how the sides would keep from springing back down because there was no way to secure them. And apparently when Blackie leaned against one of the sides, it triggered the spring system and it just all came down on top of him.  Of course the zippered door ended up underneath him, so I had to roll him around inside of that thing until I could get to the zipper to open the door and let him out. You can imagine how he bolted out of there like a cat out of....well, you know what I mean. The poor kitty was so scared. Thankfully he allowed me to pick him back up and comfort him, but he was one frightened kitty.

So, thankfully I still have my receipt and the tent is not damaged (and no, he did not "dirty it up" one bit, which is miraculous under the circumstances!), but I can't get it back into that box, so I will take it back to Walmart as is and let THEM figure it out.  Word to the wise, don't go buying one of those things, okay?  

I fed him his breakfast and let him go outside for a while to do whatever cats do, (and I did actually set up a litter box for him, but he wasn't interested in that and wanted to go out) but then I brought him back inside and just held him for long time. He was purring so loudly. 

And yes, I do have other clothes besides that red flannel shirt, but that is what I grab to put on when I am chilled and I don't want Blackie to snag or get hairs or fleas on something good. Thankfully I think the flea treatment has helped him, but still, I'm not taking too many chances.

Oh, hubby wanted me to take a picture of him wearing his "Blackie" suit...a nice fleecy blanket that is black on one side and has a design on the other, but he was a bit jealous of all the attention Blackie was getting so he thought he'd try to look like Blackie. LOL.  Yes, we are a little crazy here, especially so early in the morning and after not having much sleep...

Not sure what we will do about Blackie tonight.  It's not going to be quite as cold, but I'm out of other options for tonight, so he will probably just have to stay on the porch in his nice cozy chair.  It really is warm with that warming mat underneath him.  We'll see what develops.

On another note, yesterday I did have the dental appointment for the rest of the deep cleaning and then the root canal and temporary crown. I was there for three hours. Thankfully things went pretty smoothly and I was impressed with the skill of not only the young dentist, but his dental assistant, and all of the very modern technology they have now to do their work.  It really was almost completely "pain free", and I didn't have any really bad after effects after the numbness wore off. I am very THANKFUL! I still have to go back in a couple of weeks for the permanent crown, but that shouldn't be all that big of a deal. 

So, thank you all for your kind words the past few days regarding all of these things before they happened. 

Here's some words of hope and encouragment for today:

Matthew 21:21-22 NKJV

21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Matthew 19:26 NKJV

26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, 

“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

What things do YOU need to believe that God can do for you today?  ...All things are possible with God!

Wednesday This and That...

 Tea Time with the Cardinals...

This afternoon Mr.  and Mrs. Cardinal were quite active at the bird feeder, preparing for the cold weather that is coming up tomorrow night.  

As Mrs. Cardinal flew down to the "Tea Time" feeder, I decided it was time for me to have a cup of tea as well, to take the chill off of the afternoon.  

I enjoyed watching the birds flying back and forth to the feeder while I sipped my tea and relaxed a bit from my labors.

 

Mr. Cardinal wanted to see what Mrs. Cardinal was finding so interesting...

They were certainly a beautiful bright spot of color against the drab backdrop of the wintry landscape and DRY Still Waters Pond.  Hopefully the rain that is scheduled to usher in the cold front will bring us some much needed rain. We keep hoping and praying!

So what kind of exciting things do You do on a dreary winter day when it's too chilly/windy to go outside and "play"?  

Well...some people play with soldiers and have battles...

It's been a long standing tradition that my hubby's brother would give him a bag full of soldiers for Christmas...and at some point there would be a major battlefield set up and "Daddy and the boys" would play "war".  However, we forgot to do it while they were here the other day, so someone was anxious to try out his new soldiers, but he needed someone to be the "enemy', so I was elected.

Nerf "dart" guns serve very well for the purpose.  And for a few wild and crazy moments, we shot our weapons across the battlefield at each other and then tallied up our losses.  I think in the long run, hubby won this battle, but I'm still getting used to the rules of the game. We may have to have another round soon.

This very very short video doesn't really show much because I was trying to aim my weapon and shoot my camera , or was it the other way around...oh yeah, aim my camera and shoot my weapon at the same time! Either way, it was fun.  But we are looking forward to the kids coming back over so they can have a real battle! Stay tuned...

Oops, I just checked and the video didn't work after all, so nevermind! It was too short to show much anyway!

Oh, and why does his brother give him these soldiers every year? Because he remembers his big brother playing with soldiers and setting up battlefields for all of his young childhood years, and it's one of those fun brother memories that brings back thoughts of happy times as kids.  Actually, I think his brother needs to come over and play!!! It's too bad they live 2 hours away!! We have to remember that for the next time they are together!

Now, on another note, with the colder weather coming this weekend, getting down below freezing they say, I am getting more concerned about Blackie being outside all night, even though he seems to be fine, but this is going to be colder than we've seen yet...and so because he isn't really ready to become a full time inside cat and roam freely throughout the house at night, we thought we might try something else. I saw this at Walmart today and decided to buy it and give it a try:

 

I set it up on the back porch for a few minutes so he could see it and to see what he would do with it. He went right inside and explored for a minute, but of course I did not zip it shut, so he didn't feel trapped inside.

He had fun exploring his new "tent".

I also brought it back inside and he did come inside and look at it again, but I don't want to scare him off from it so right now we are just letting him come inside occasionally and look it over, and then tomorrow night I will attempt to get him to come inside and then zip it up for the night. One question I have...do cats need to use the litter box during the night?  I'm thinking not. I don't want to put a litter box inside this with him...what do you think, those of you who have more experience than I do with cats? I would appreciate your thoughts on this, especially if you have dealt with outside cats coming inside. Thank you. You all have been such good helpers with good ideas. 

Meanwhile, I've been wanting some really good fresh juicy Florida grapefruit for a while. You'd think living in Florida it would be easy to find, but no it isn't.  Florida really doesn't grow as much citrus as it used to when I was growing up here, and it's getting harder and harder to find, especially as far north in the state as we live.  But I did manage to find some at Walmart, and yes! It had a sticker on it saying it was from Ft. Pierce, FL., so I know it's got to be good! (We actually used to live in Ft. Pierce, and that is where my husband first served as a Pastor of a small church many many many years ago!!)

Normally I usually only eat one half of a grapefruit at a time, and save the other half for the next day. But this tasted SO good to me, I ate the whole thing at one sitting! LOL.

And yes, I am on a statin drug, and I know it says not to eat grapefruit with statins, but that means don't eat it at the same time as when you take your medicine, at least that's what I have heard and believe. So I ate the grapefruit in the evening and I take my meds in the morning. I have not suffered any ill effects and if had to choose between the two, I'd much prefer the grapefruit!! LOL.

Tomorrow I will be at the dentist for several hours, having the other side of my mouth deep cleaned and then the root canal done and a temporary crown put on. They said I will be there for at least 3 hours. And I doubt I will feel any too perky when I come home and the numbness wears off, so I don't expect to do much tomorrow.  Hopefully I will be back to normal on Friday...and on Saturday I am looking forward to seeing "Your Friend from Florida", Terri Dorsaneo, as she comes passing through here on her way back home from a whirlwind trip to Georgia and back! We will have lunch and a nice little visit before she has to head on down the road another two or three hours to her home.  

I am borrowing this photo from her recent post, which I think I have a copy of already but can't find it now so I am copying it from her blog. This was when she and her dear hubby Joe came by to visit us way back in 2017, when we lived in our previous home...and obviously it was right around Christmas! We have met a few times since then in person as well, but this was the first time, and I am so thankful that we got to meet her dear Joe. He was truly a very sweet and friendly man, and he and my hubby enjoyed visiting with one another.  He is greatly missed.

Well, folks, that's all for now. I will update you on everything that happens in the next few days in my next post. 

Now here is some good food for thought for today from Philippians 4:4-7, 19.

"4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, 

with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 

7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

"19 And my God shall supply all your need 

according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Be Blessed, my friends!!

Tuesday 4~Housekeeping

 Housekeeping

Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 welcomes you and we are very happy to have you back.


Can we talk about housekeeping and chores today since January was usually the time for white sales and replacing linens and towels for the household.

1. My mother ironed sheets and pillowcases. I iron the cases but not the sheets. I feel that the cases feel better after ironing and I like the fancy ruffles etc to look better. What do you do? Is ironing a waste of time for you?

I do not iron anything if I can help it. I don't recall my mother ironing sheets and pillowcases, but she did hang them on the line to dry, and they came out a lot smoother and smelled so sweet that way.  

HERE is a link to a post I wrote a few years ago about hanging sheets on the line.

2. A few friends really enjoy ironing. Are there any articles of clothing you iron ? And do you send clothing to the dry cleaner?

I rarely ever iron anymore. If something has been hanging too long and has wrinkles, I may put it back through the dryer (after dampening it a bit), to get the wrinkles out.  I no longer have many things that need to go to the dry cleaner. When my hubby was still preaching, he had suits that needed to be dry-cleaned, but he doesn't wear suits anymore except for maybe a wedding or a funeral.

3. Home is enhanced by good cooking, clean rooms, freshly made beds, quilt and the lovely touches women bring to things. What special touches do you put on your home to make it special, cozy and warm?

Click HERE for a post about the quilts in our home.  I wish I could say that I made those quilts, but I've never learned to do that. I just enjoy the ones that I've accumulated through the years from family/friends/gifts.  As far as special touches go, I try to keep our home cozy and comfortable and not the kind of house where people are afraid to touch anything or sit on the furniture. Our home is meant to be lived in and love in.  

4. Do you recall Mom or Grandma sprinkling and ironing clothing? Was there a laundry day set aside and an ironing day? What is washday like at your house>

Yes, I do recall my mother sprinkling and ironing clothing. Thankfully I was the youngest child and I managed to escape most of that "chore". My sister did a lot of the ironing for one of her chores. (I cleaned the bathroom and dusted the house).  Then I recall for a while that my mother actually took our ironing to a lady in town who did it for us to earn some money. My mother was working full time and we kids were busy in school activities, etc., and it was a big help to have the ironing done for us. I don't think she charged much or we couldn't have done it.  And yes, Saturdays were laundry day. My mother would make us strip our beds and the sheets would get washed and hung on the line. Then all the other laundry would get washed and also hung on the line, until one fine day we were able to afford an electric dryer. But my mother still hung the sheets and most of the towels on the line. Of course in Florida, we would get a lot of pop up thunderstorms and we'd have to run out and get the clothes off the line right away! Those were exciting times! LOL.    Washday here now is most anytime I see we need to do a load of towels and underwear, and then a load of clothes.  They are washed and dryed and folded and put away as soon as possible so they don't lay there and get wrinkled!  By doing smaller loads more often it doesn't become a huge job all on one day. I prefer it that way since I'm retired.

However we choose to do our laundry or clean our homes, we are to be a sweet fragrance to Christ in all that we do...

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 says this:

"Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the FRAGRANCE of HIS knowledge in every place.

For we are to God the FRAGRANCE of Christ

among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death,

and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.

And who is sufficient for these things?"

I pray that my home and my life will be a sweet smelling fragrance of God to those who enter in.  Amen.

Now let's go see what others are sharing today on Tuesday 4! Have a blessed and clean and fresh day! Click HERE!

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!!

It Was A Foggy Saturday Morning!

I started writing this post early this morning when it looked like this outside: 

We've had a lot of these foggy mornings lately, and my heart goes out to those who have to drive in it. It may not be as bad as a snow storm, but the visibility can be just as bad in some places. 

I much prefer to drive when it looks like this, which was yesterday morning:

And I also prefer to be home when the sun is setting in the west like it did last night:

It can be brutal heading west when the sun is going down, so it's much nicer to just stay here and enjoy watching it over "Still NO Waters Pond".  I do miss the beautiful reflections we used to get on the water during the sunsets.  Hopefully we will get some spring rains that will bring the pond back to its natural beauty.  We are supposed to get some rain tomorrow and again sometime during next week, along with a drop in the temperatures again...back into the 40's and high 30's in the mornings, and 50's and 60's for the high. Today it's 83 degrees right now. No wonder people keep getting sick!

I finally got all the Christmas decorations and the tree down and put away yesterday.  So instead of the tree in front of this window, here's the view now:

Oh, wait! Who's that???  Blackie? Where did YOU come from??? You're supposed to be on the outside looking in, not the inside looking out! LOL!

I wanted to thank you all for your input regarding flea treatments, etc. for Blackie.  I did zero in on one that sounds affordable and safe for an outside/inside cat. One of my very old friends from many years ago sent me a private message to tell me what she uses for their inside/outside cat. She reads my blog, but never comments on here, so it was a surprise to get an email from her with just the information I needed.  I ordered it from Amazon and it came today and we already applied it to Blackie's back of the neck...and he promptly went outside and rolled in the sand and now the spot has sand stuck on it, but hopefully that won't affect the effectiveness of the treatment. He does love to roll in the sand!!!!

I don't foresee Blackie becoming a full time indoor cat anytime soon, but we do enjoy letting him come inside for a few minutes and explore, and then I scoop him up and give him some snuggles and put him back outside (until the next time he manages to scoot in the door when we open it). For now he's happy and so are we with that arrangement.  Time will tell what will develop.

As I was cleaning off the kitchen counter where  so much of the Christmas decorations were, I rediscovered this little knicknack...

Here's what it says:

Amen!!

The little saying above that says "Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings while the dawn is still dark" actually came from a Chinese Fortune Cookie, and I kept it because it spoke to me. 

It reminds me of this verse from Hebrews 11:1:

"1.  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

To me, that means that faith is having confidence that the things God has promised in His Word will indeed happen, even when I can't see them yet.   And so, like the bird who can "feel the light and sing while the dawn is still dark", I too can sing and smile with confidence that what God has promised to us, He will deliver.  

Even though the Christmas items have mostly been put away, there's still little reminders here and there...like that cup full of Christmas candy that no one seems to want to eat...

And I still haven't taken down the Christmas cards that were strung up on the room divider in the foyer...

We did enjoy receiving so many lovely cards. There were a few more that didn't make it on this arrangement because I just got lazy, but we enjoyed them just the same. LOL.

I know we didn't get as many as usual, but I didn't send out as many as usual either, because I was sick most of the month of December. I feel blessed that we somehow still managed to have Christmas at all! God is good, and we are very thankful. And as someone said recently in their blog (I'd have to go back and check to see who it was), we need to keep the Christmas spirit going on into the New Year and all year long, and continue in the spirit of love and kindness and generosity and hope and joy and peace and faith!

On another note, after the fog lifted we took a little ride this morning. Remember last week when we went to the Kenwood Boat Ramp and saw how little water was there?  Well, yesterday someone told me that if we took another little road right next to that location, we would be able to drive all the way to where the water is and where the boaters can still put in their boats and go out into what's left of the river/lake and go fishing or take a boat ride.  And so this morning we decided to ride down there and see it for ourselves, and here's what we discovered:

You can see a lot of trucks/boat trailers lined up along the shore...and there were a lot more than this, so they are out there somewhere in that water having a great day hopefully and catching whatever fish are there!

Normally there was water all the way to the tree lines, and when they release the water again in March all this bare ground will be covered in water again.

It was fascinating to see all the mussel shells all over the ground.  

There were a lot of water birds along the shore finding something good to eat.  Also, in the distance, if you notice all those tree stumps...those are cypress tree knees and or/trunks, from where they cut the trees years ago to create this reservoir.  The water in the middle is apparently the original river that flows through there naturally.

This place is fascinating to me...it's like being on a different planet! LOL.

That's an interesting cloud floating up in the sky (below).  Kind of looks like an angel!  You can also see there was still some fog lingering along the top of the water.  

I hope you enjoyed these photos. I really enjoyed being there. It was a unique experience.

After we left the river/lake/resesrvoir ?,  we stopped in at the Deep Creek Game Farm and Trading Post. Our son was there selling his garden planter/containers, so we visited with him a while, and then I went around to the different vendors and into the Trading Post store.  Out of everything there to look at, this is the main thing that caught my attention...can you guess why?

I was really tempted to buy it as it really wasn't very expensive, but to be honest, I wasn't too thrilled with the giant sea turtle flying into the window, so I decided to pass it up. I loved the church and the window and everything else about it, however.  It's still tempting because it goes along with my blog so perfectly, but I am proud of myself for not giving into temptation.  It's just kind of a strange painting I think.

Still, the theme makes one think, doesn't it?  "When God closes a door, He opens a window". That's the quote that got me started on this blog some 16 years ago.  HERE is a LINK to that very first blog post.

And the verse mentioned in that post goes along very well with the pictures above of the "rivers in the desert".    I know I've often quoted these verses, but they bear repeating as we are still beginning a new year, hopefully filled with many "new things",  and roads in the wilderness and rivers in the desert of wherever we may find ourselves from time to time.  

Isaiah 43:18-19 NKJV

18 “Do not remember the former things,

Nor consider the things of old.

19 Behold, I will do a new thing,

Now it shall spring forth;

Shall you not know it?

I will even make a road in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert."

May we be like that little bird, who "feels the light and sings while the dawn is still dark."  Amen? Amen.

And also, "Just as God gives the birds an abundance of seeds, He sends us His blessings and cares for our needs."   Amen,  and Praise the Lord!

It's almost dark now, and I've  finally finished this post. I hope you have a blessed and wonderful evening and "SONday" tomorrow.