Friday Foto Friends~Be My Guest

Today was one of those kinds of days when you just don't feel like doing much...Oh, I did my normal routine in the morning...cuppa tea while checking messages, and then reading our devotions together before breakfast...This morning we had fresh blueberry pancakes, sausage links and scrambled eggs for breakfast...So I guess I did do something!  Then after cleaning up the breakfast dishes I went outside for a little while and checked on the garden...

I picked our very first tomato!! And yes, we are "thankful and blessed!"  I intended to eat it today, but for some reason I forgot. It probably needs a day on the shelf to finish ripening up at bit anyway.

I saw this little brown moth on the marigolds...looked it up and it appears to be a Dusky Herpetogramma If you want to know more, you can click on that link. It says it feeds on the leaves of grasses. So I'm not sure what it's doing on the marigold, which is supposed to keep pests away from our garden...hopefully he'll be happy to eat that instead of my squash and tomatoes! LOL.

Back inside...Blackie is watching the birds outside. I'm trying to keep him inside a little more during the day because the Bluebirds are nesting again, and they do not like him hanging around!! He likes to lay in the grass right under the birdhouse...which is like an invitation to get bopped in the head by an angry Bluebird parent! So, if I can keep him from getting into trouble, so be it!

Today a fellow was coming to mow the grass since our big mower is no longer working and it is going to be too expensive to fix, so we decided to pay this friend to mow rather than spend more money on equipment that we are getting too old to operate anyway.  He is very reasonable and does a good job, so we are thankful that he is available.  He also was cleaning out the gutters today as they are full of leaves and with the rainy season hopefully coming soon, we need them cleaned out.

Anyway, hubby was outside with the guy watching him climb up and down the ladder and making sure he didn't fall...and I decided that I really wanted to just go lay down for a few minutes. I haven't been sleeping well lately, and my body was just plain tired.  Instead of going into our bedroom, I felt the lure of the guest room drawing me in to come and "be a guest" in my own house for a little while...to see what it feels like to lay down in someplace different and feel like I'm on a little holiday...

This little sign hangs in the guest room. It originally belonged to my maternal Grandmother, and then my mother put it in her guest room...and it was one thing I really wanted to take home with me for my guest room when the time came to disperse the treasures among the remaining heirs...

"Welcome Guest, and howdedo!

This small room belongs to you.

And our house and all that's in it~

Make yourself at home each minute.

If the temperature displeases,

Take a couple of our breezes;

And if that should chill you later, 

Sit upon our radiator.

If a hungry pang is twitchin', make a raid upon our kitchen;

Help yourself to book or blotter,

easy chair or teeter-totter;

All is yours that you like best.

You're at home now!

Welcome Guest!"

by J.P. McEvoy, 1927

And so as I lay there upon the bed, instead of closing my eyes and resting like I should have been doing, I found myself looking around the room and imagining what it would feel like to actually be a guest in this room for the first time...

It's a cozy little room, filled with many treasures from loved ones who have gone on to heaven...

Nanny Martin's Singer Sewing machine...and her jar of buttons...

Quilts to lay across the bed and curl up under if the "breeze"  gets too chilly...

Many volumes of antique books, filled with stories of romance, adventure, and mystery, many written in the late 1800's  or early 1900's...the kind of books that you won't want to put down once you start reading...

Family portraits lined up on the shelves...and Teddy Bears to snuggle...

I wonder what's in that old wardrobe?  Oh...if you only knew! There are boxes and boxes of photo albums and packages of pictures that never made it into albums...but the stories these old photos could tell... (You can click HERE for the full story on this wardrobe.)

And I wonder where that Indian Brave came from?  The painting was done by a young warrior himself, many years before he knew what battles he would have to fight for his life...who now rests with his loved ones who went before him to heaven and with the Lord after he fought the good fight...

2 Timothy 4:7-8 NKJV

"7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 

8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing."

Oh, look at this lovely young lady taking her dog for a walk...can you imagine the work that went into stitching that beautiful vintage piece?  It certainly makes for a comfy pillow for some sweet young lady to rest her head upon....

This piece was originally embroidered by my hubby's grandmother, Nanny Martin, and was on a table scarf. Part of the scarf was soiled and damaged, so I rescued this part and made it into a pillow case. (HERE is a LINK to when I made this, and the story connected to it.)

If you need to refresh yourself, you could use this lovely pitcher and bowl with some hot water....Also, the picture of the lady(s) on the dresser...the big one is Nanny Martin, (Pearl Waters Martin) and the photograph inset is her mother, Georgeanne Jarrard Waters.

I felt extra cozy and comfy on this sweet pillow with the bluebirds embroidered (again from Nanny Martin) on the edges (or are they Swallows? I prefer to think they are Bluebirds, since we have so many of them here).

It's so pleasant  here...

I wonder what's inside those pretty boxes? Actually those are Lily Grace's wardrobe boxes...if you felt like playing with dolls, that could easily be arranged...

I pulled up this old quilt, which was the one that Nanny Martin made for my hubby when he was young, and she saved it to give to us for our wedding gift. As an inexperienced young bride who knew nothing about old quilts, I almost ruined it for good, but thankfully a dear friend new how to restore it and saved it for future generations to enjoy.Here's a LINK to that story too.

And what about the quilt hanging on the wall behind the bed? Here's that story...another special gift. It seems like everything in this room has a story.

Oh, I just noticed this sweet picture of the two little girls walking together, holding hands...like dear sisters or special friends...

I love what it says:

"Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow.

Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.

Just walk beside me and be my friend."

So, I really never took the nap I intended to take. But after laying there for a few minutes and looking around the room and remembering all the special people and gifts and memories that were surrounding me, I felt rested and refreshed and comforted.  I felt the love of so many who had gone on before us...and the heritage of their faith and love gave me renewed strength.  I was reminded of what the Lord told the Apostle Paul when he asked to have certain "thorn in his flesh removed" (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10),,,

And I concluded that perhaps I needed that "nap" just to be reminded of all that God has done for me and what He is continuing to do...and that even when I am feeling weak or weary and worn, He will give me His grace and strength to carry on and do the next thing, whatever it is that He needs me to do. I look forward to seeing how His power is going to be "made perfect in weakness".  Because the rest of that passage above is this: 

 

"Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

No, I don't want to be infirm, reproached, in need, persecuted or in distress, but oftentimes as Christians today we do find ourselves in such situations as that, and when whatever it is that comes along gives us an opportunity to stand up for our faith in Christ, then even in our weakness, He will make us strong. I know I can rely on Him, so I do not need to worry or fret over my own weakness or inabilities. God is in control.  Praise God!!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little visit to my guest room. It seems as though lately it has become more of a catch all room as we seldom have any overnight guests. The past couple of years have been difficult in some ways for us with health issues, etc., so we really haven't encouraged too many guests to come. But it is always available should there be an opportunity to serve someone in their time of need or who just wants a place to rest from the cares of the world for a while. God knows...yes...He is in control.

And Now I'll Say Good Night! My own bed is calling...

 

Monday Night Sunset and More...

I looked outside and could see that there was a beautiful sunset, but it wasn't showing up well from our house,  so I told the hubby to "hurry up and get dressed and let's take a ride over to the boat ramp at Lake Ida really quick before the sunset gets totally down and we miss it."  I think he grabbed his pants and shoes and wallet and keys faster than I've seen him move in a long time.  We drove the back roads from our house to that neighborhood, less than one mile, and we got there just in time to see the last of the colors slipping quickly down behind the trees. Thankfully there was still enough beauty visible to be worth the trip.  This is what we saw:

Jeremiah 32:17 "Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You."

Then I heard the honking of some Canada Geese, and was thrilled to see they were there on the lake, preparing for take-off:

(Yes, there were a couple of people sitting on the dock, fishing. I apologized for interrupting their peaceful evening. They didn't seem to mind.)

As you can imagine,  I was pretty excited to be able to witness this beautiful sight...not just a sunset, but the geese taking off in flight, heading off to their nighttime resting place, wherever that may be on the other side of the lake somewhere.

I watched until I couldn't really see them any more, and the sun was almost totally down, so it was time to head back home.

It was a trip worth taking, and I'm so glad hubby was willing to humor me in such a hurry! 

We've missed seeing the Canada Geese on our own Still Waters Pond this year, thanks to the lack of rain and the fact that the pond is totally dry. I am thankful to know that they still have plenty of places around where they can swim and fish and build their nests. Life goes on...just not on our pond this year. I am still not too sure if our Sand Hill Crane couple is building a nest on the pond or not.  They do land on the pond every day and go around behind the island where they nested last year, but I can't get around there to check because I'd have to cross over the new neighbor's yard to get there and see if there's a nest.  We will just have to wait and see if they present us with any new baby "colts" in the next month.  The cranes are not as dependent on having a full pond upon which to build their nest, but the fact that there is no water makes them more vulnerable to predators who can walk across the dry pond to get to their eggs or new babies...so that makes it a little more precarious for them. Like I said, time will tell. We will definitely be watching.

On another note, I keep trying to get a picture of Blackie with Lily Grace...but Blackie isn't really all that interested in sweet little girls dressed up for Valentine's Day.  

That, plus the fact that he really doesn't like to have his picture taken at all makes it difficult to get a good photo when he's on the move.    Oh well, we tried, Lily!

Maybe next time!

Tomorrow (Tuesday) will be a busy day, so I probably won't have much time for visiting/reading/commenting. Hubby and I both have fasting blood tests first thing in the morning, and then we will go out to breakfast to "break the fast".  After that there is a Celebration of Life at our church at noon, with a reception to follow.  Sadly this is for a dear lady who was very sick with COPD complications for a long time, and she was quite ready for Jesus to take her home.  She is greatly missed...a former children's Sunday School teacher for many years, and also she was very active in our women's ministries.  She leaves behind a husband and adult children and grandchildren.

We have another dear lady in the local Hospice house right now. I went to visit her and her husband on Saturday. She was not responsive at all, but I do believe she could hear and I hope she knew I was there. This dear lady is the one who crocheted a beautiful shawl/cape for me while she was actually doing chemo! (the story is HERE). She has been battling cancer for about 2 & 1/2 years, and a stronger woman than her I do not believe I've ever known.  She truly has fought a hard battle, and was so determined to keep fighting, but it appears that her battle is almost over, and soon she will be able to say with the Apostle Paul: 

2 Timothy 4:7-8 NIV

" 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 

8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, 

the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, 

but also to all who have longed for his appearing."

I am truly going to miss her smiling face and determined spirit.

Tuesday night is choir practice, and we've started working on our Easter Cantata, so that takes some extra work and energy in addition to our regular music that we prepare for each Sunday.  It's hard to believe Easter will be here before we know it. I believe Ash Wednesday is next Wednesday, February 18th, so that is the beginning of Lent.

Of course, this weekend is Valentine's Day, and then hubby's birthday is on Monday, the 16th, but we will celebrate with our kids on Sunday afternoon.  I am trying to convince him to go look at a new recliner (for him). His is in pretty bad shape and it's time to replace it.  The kids have already told me that they will chip in to help cover the cost as their birthday gift to him.  He doesn't know that yet, but I may have to tell him so he will be more willing to go shopping for the chair.  Hopefully we will do that this week, but it probably will have to be ordered and so most likely it won't be delivered until next week.

I guess that about sums it up for now.  I will check in with you all as soon as I am able.

Psalm 89:1-2 NIV

"1 I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;

with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known

through all generations.

2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever,

that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself."