March Just Marched Right In!

 Can you believe it is March already?  Actually, my hubby was saying that he thought February seemed awfully long...I reminded him that it's the shortest month of the year, but there again, I agreed, it did seem long. It must've been all the crazy weather everyone was having. I'm sure many of you up north are happy to see February gone, and we all pray that March will be a calmer and kinder month.  Some of you have already seen these sunset pictures from the last night of February...but for those who haven't, here's just a sampling...

I was surprised to see those Muscovy Ducks perched in that pine  tree on the island in the Still Very Dry Still Waters Pond...

I guess they like looking at the sunset as much as I do. I noticed they flew away as soon as the sun was completely down...

And sadly, yes,  Still Waters Pond is still very dry. The wonderful rain that we got the other night did not last as long as it was supposed to,  and we got just a bit less than one inch of rain.  Every bit helps, but sadly there was hardly a puddle out there the next day...

Still, the sunset was beautiful, and I enjoyed watching it change as it descended from the skies.

With all of the turmoil going on around the world...I am definitely keeping my eyes on the skies.

Jesus said in Luke 21:25-28

25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Yes, there's a lot going on...planets lining up, the blood moon, the fall of the Iranian evil leader and his cohorts...but I am no prophet, and I know that no man knows the time or the hour of Christ's return...but Jesus went on to teach the disciples a parable in Luke 21:29-33

"29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away."

It is a wise person who pays attention to what's happening around them and around the world, and makes sure of his own position and relationship with God...There's no time like the present to prepare our hearts and minds for Christ's return. I'd rather be early than too late.  Just some "food for thought" to start off this month.

Okay,  let's switch gears...on Saturday we had the joy of visiting with my cousin Becky and her husband, who were passing through on their way back home to Ohio:

We met them at one of our most favorite places to eat, "Corky Bells" on the St. John's River. It was a little too cloudy and chilly to eat outside, but we did take a little walk down on the pier after lunch to get a few pictures. Thankfully it had warmed up a little by then.

Becky and I grew up together and seemed more like sisters than cousins.  We were just nine months apart in age, and lived about 10 miles from each other, but we were together for all family holidays, birthdays, and especially in the summer time we spent a lot of time together playing with our Barbie dolls, building houses and making clothes for them, and playing endless Monopoly games and other board games. We often found some mischief to get into as well, but we mostly just had fun and enjoyed being little girls.

This was my 10th birthday, when I got my Barbie doll, and Becky got one not long after, so we shared many hours together creating a life for our dolls. It's always fun when we get together now and remember the good old days, as well as get caught up on our lives today. Thank you, Becky and Pat, for going out of your way to visit us again!!

There was a young boy fishing on the dock, and he caught this fish! I think he threw it back in, but not before pictures were taken by us and his family too!

 

Who remembers the first fish you ever caught?  I do! There were some sweet old folks who lived down on the lake in front of our house where I grew up, and they actually had some "pet bass" that they fed off of their dock.  I was about 11 or 12 years old, and Mr. Fred Jay let me use one of his cane poles to fish from the dock.  Lo, and behold, I caught one of their "pet bass"! I think he weighed about 2 or 3 pounds.  At this point I don't remember if I kept it and brought it home, or if we threw it back in. I think there may be a picture in some box somewhere of me with that fish. I really don't remember us eating it, so it probably got thrown back in, but I do remember the thrill of that catch!!  I've never really done any fishing since then. LOL.

Since today is the first day of March, how about the Calendar Roll Call?  

Here we go:   The Country Seasons calendar by John Sloane is up first:

Love that beautiful Amaish farm scene...looks so peaceful, doesn't it? 

Next is the Thomas Kinkade picture of "Foxglove Cottage"...beautiful!!

How often has Christ said to you and me..."My grace is sufficient for thee...for My strength is made perfect in weakness...?"  It's not always what we want to hear, is it?  No one likes to be weak...we want to stay strong...but sometimes we have to give in and let God's GRACE be our all sufficiency...His Strength will be made perfect when we just get out of the way and let Him do what He needs to do in our lives.  We have to take the humble road instead of the high road.  Not easy for those of us who like to be "in control".  But if I've learned anything in this life, it's to remember that God is in control,  and when I submit to that in my mind and my actions, things go a lot smoother.

This log cabin beside the water looks like a perfect retreat when you need to just 'get away' for a while and rest and relax...

And perhaps have some tea...although this is a child's tea set...very ornate and lovely!! Perhaps a bit too ornate for a little girl to play with? Well, maybe Mommy or Grandma needs to supervise just a little bit...

Here's my own little child's tea sets...

The Buster Brown tea set originally belonged to my Aunt Margie, and then she gave it to my mother, and my mother left it to me.

And this little white tea pot and cup and saucer belonged to my paternal grandmother...so these are all pretty special to me. I just need a little girl to come and have a tea party with me...

Oh my! Here's the Susan Branch calendar for March...with Irish Coffee as the featured beverage of choice.  Probably not something that I will be trying...but here's the recipe in case you are so inclined...I don't drink coffee or whiskey, so it doesn't sound too tempting to me...

But this is a funny little riddle:

And last but not least, who doesn't love a red barn?  Wow! That's gorgeous!  

And I love what Billy Graham said in this quote:

How appropriate for our current world situation and quest for "world peace".

"Christ alone can bring lasting peace...

peace with God, peace among men and nations, 

and peace within our hearts."

Amen.

That seems like a good place to bring this post to an end.  It's almost bedtime anyway and it's been a long day. We had a wonderful church service this morning, and then our sons Scott and Benton were both here for lunch. Rose had to work unfortunately.  I cooked a meat loaf and baked potatoes and we had a tossed salad.  Then Scott and I went to work on getting his taxes done.  I had already done ours this past week and we already got our refund deposited into our bank! That was quick!  Scott's had a few more complications to figure out, be we finally got it done and he'll get a tiny refund, but that's better than owing money! When you're single with no dependents and don't own a house or have any other big deductions, you are blessed if you can get a refund at all! I keep telling him every year if he wants to get a bigger refund, he needs to get married and have some kids! LOL.  He'll be 49 this month, so time's a wasting! Oh well, some things are better just left as they are. God knows best and Mama needs to mind her own business. LOL.

Okay, "let's say goodnight, Gracie!"  "Good night Gracie!".  Who remembers George Burns and Gracie Allen? I loved Gracie.      So "good night Gracie."  Good Night.  May you sleep in peace. Amen.

Monday Monday-May Already?

Wow! Here it is the Merry Month of May already! How can that be? I think we are all kind of reeling over how quickly time seems to be passing by...especially the older we get...

As I changed the pages on my calendars I thought this would be a good place to start out on this Monday morning:

I love these John Sloane calendar pictures that he paints.  This is my Country Seasons calendar, and every month is a new delight. Wouldn't you just love to be sitting there on that beautiful front porch, surrounded by spring flowers and such a lovely view?  And that bicycle is just sitting there tempting us to come go for a ride.  I haven't been on a bike in many many many years, and I fear what might happen if I tried...I never was very good at it. Even though they say once you've learned to ride a bike it will always come back to you... I mostly remember falling off my bike in the middle of a busy road when I was 12 and skinning my knee and ripping my slacks, and turning around just in time to see a big semi truck barreling down the road toward me.  Only God could have given me the supernatural strength at that moment to pick up my bike from the pavement and throw it into the grass and jump out of the way just in time...yeah...I think that's the last time I remember riding a bike...But still, the simple joy of a delightful spring morning, riding along a country road where there are NO trucks, might be very pleasant.  Still, this old body is a bit out of shape and I can only imagine how I'd feel later...

So moving right along to the next calendar...this one is in our bathroom, where we keep all of our upcoming Dr. appointments and other important events written down so we will see it first thing in the morning.  

Don't you just love Thomas Kinkade artwork? This lovely garden roadway is very inviting. And I love that verse in Proverbs, don't you? How many of us are claiming that still for our grown children? As I was saying to a dear friend just yesterday after our Sunday School class...she was sharing with me some concerns about her adult son and whether or not he will make it to heaven...Here's the verse...that part has been done...and the son, when he was quite young, made a commitment to Christ and was baptized. So even though he may not be living like it right now...we have this promise from God. I told her to claim it by faith and just keep praying for him.  God will never let go of him no matter how far he may wander. I firmly believe that. We may not always get to see the grand reunion of our child with the Lord here on earth, but we will see it through heaven's eyes one day...just keep believing and praying...

And then there is this verse at the bottom of the calendar page:

I am waiting on this Easter lily from last year to open up any day now. This is in the Secret Memorial Garden.  I am getting ready to plant my new lily from this year as well. One day there will hopefully be many lilies blooming in this special place.

I've got a few other flowers waiting to be planted there also...I just need my son with the strong back and arms to dig a few holes for me so they can get planted...

And speaking of flowers...these lovely amaryllis flowers are blooming in the front yard.  I went out to look at them this morning and was taking this picture when I noticed that one of the flowers was missing some of its petals...

Something has been munching on my flowers!!!

I found the culprit (actually, I found 3 of these ugly young Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers on or around my amaryllis plants...one of their favorite foods.

I will only state that these particular ones are no longer there. And if any of their cousins come calling, they will soon be "dismissed" as well. They have a voracious appetite and will eat your beautiful plants in no time at all. Sorry, buster! Not this time!!

Now on to more pleasant thoughts again...

Here is my other favorite calendar, the Teapot calendar that my sister gives me each year for Christmas...it's a tradition that I hope won't change! I love these calendars and their beautiful pictures of all different kinds of teapots. They often include recipes and other interesting histories of the teapot shown or of the time period from which it came:

And there is always some kind of pleasant quote about the lovely art of tea time.  I like this one in particular below:

Speaking of tea time...I told you in my last post HERE about the lovely visit I had with my blogging friend Debbi from Debbi's Front Porch. Although we did not have "tea time" per se', we did drink iced tea while we visited and had such a wonderful wonderful time.  Debbi is a very loving and kind and thoughtful person, and she loves to give gifts. It's just her nature.  I already shared a little about that in the previous post, but I didn't show you this:

She knows how much I love having tea parties, and she found this beautiful antique china sugar bowl and creamer and wanted me to have them for my tea parties. Aren't they gorgeous?

And here's our "little girls", my Lily Grace, and Debbi's Tracie, and Amybelle, along with Bailey the puppy, enjoying our visit...

Another thoughtful gift was this book

"The Tea Party Book"

It is primarily a book filled with wonderful ideas for tea parties for children, with all kinds of fun things to do for party decorations, favors, and recipes that even a child can make (with a little help from Mom).

I love it. And since I don't have a little girl child to have tea parties with, I may just have to use this for future adventures with Lily Grace.  I know I promised she was going to write her own post about our visit, but I haven't been able to sit down with her and get it done yet...so thought I might as well share this part now while it is fresh on my mind.

I just love these ideas, don't you?  I may have to adopt some little children to have tea parties with.

Or, maybe we could just be little children again and enjoy them ourselves??? Why not?

Oh, but that' not all! Our dear friends also raise chickens!  

"Beauty, Polly Anna, Blondie, and big Goldie" provided us with some delicious and very fresh

"real chicken eggs".  (that's what I call eggs that I know came straight from some real happy chickens that are loved and cared for by sweet people who enjoy raising their chickens. Happy chickens produce the best eggs!)

Aren't they lovely?  And they sure taste good! There's nothing better than fresh farm eggs!

Back to the Secret Memorial Garden again for a minute...

I looked out the window this morning and this was the view in the garden:

One of our neighborhood cats was sitting and watching the birds, 

and more importantly, watching this one:

Thankfully Mom and Dad Crane were close by so "Colt" was not in any danger. But  I wanted you to see how big he is getting now.  And you can see a more defined wing on his side.  Not sure when his wings will be big enough to fly, but for now he's just eating and eating and growing and growing and growing!

Now, back to what's going on with me personally...I know many of you were wondering if I would get to go visit with our other blogging friends on Saturday...Well, no, I didn't get to go, but they sent me this picture of them together:

You may have already seen this on their posts if you know these wonderful ladies....and if you don't, you need to go visit their blogs and get acquainted. They are lovely women who mean so much to me.

Terri "Your Friend From Florida", Barbara, "Sweet Tea and Sandals", and Linda, "Just Simply Linda".

I was very sad not to be able to go, but to answer your other question that you probably have, yes I did go to the Doctor on Friday. I was very pleased that I actually got to see someone different than before. He is a P.A., but I think he ought to be the doctor. He took his time and listened to my concerns and was not so quick to just dismiss me with strong medicines that would take more than a month to work. He recognized the problem right away and tried a different approach.  However, what he prescribed involved a muscle relaxer and some prednisone, and I wasn't too sure how I would react and be able to drive an hour and a half away to have lunch with our friends, and my husband was not able to take me, and so I sadly made the decision to not go to meet the "girls". It was the right choice, as I found that the medicine did make me rather jittery and tired that first day and I probably would have driven off the road at some point. LOL.  But the good news is, I am adapting to the medicine and have not had the bad headaches since I started taking it!  So I am hopeful that we are on the right track and that I will be getting back to "normal" (whatever that is) soon.

And I was happy to be able to go to church yesterday, as my hubby was preaching!

Our Pastor was out of town on vacation, so he asked if my hubby would fill in for him. He was very pleased to do so. He doesn't get too many opportunities to preach anymore, and it's good for him to do this.  God truly blessed and the service was wonderful.  Praise God! This service wasn't pre-recorded like our others are, so it will just have to be in our memory!

Although here is nice picture that my friend Debbi took of us the other evening when we were out to dinner with them. We are so thankful for good friends and God's blessing.

I will finish with these thoughts for today:

Psalm 28:6-7

"6 Blessed be the Lord,

Because He has heard the voice of my supplications!

7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;

My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;

Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,

And with my song I will praise Him."

Amen.

Happy Merry Month of May everyone!!

Breakfast With Buster Brown and Teddy

 I woke up this morning with a hunger for Bran Muffins.  Anytime I go to the trouble to mix up fresh homemade muffins for breakfast, the occasion deserves a little fanfare and celebration! I'm sure some of you are saying, "She has too much time on her hands."  "The girl's gone daffy in the head, and she hasn't even had anesthesia yet!" Yes, you are probably right...but if I don't do this now, it will probably be a while before I feel up to baking anything for a while, and besides, today is a good day for a good day!

So, in honor of this great occasion, I decided to use my little "Buster Brown" Tea Set and invite my teddy bear friends for a tea party.(Click HERE for a little more history on this tea set)

This antique child's tea set originally belonged to my mother's oldest sister, my Aunt Margie. My mother remembers playing with this tea set when she was a child, and when my Aunt Margie passed away, my mother was given the set.  My mother knew of my love for having tea parties, and she promised it to me when she passed away, and so now I have it.  I have actually shared a part of the set with my sister so that we both could enjoy it. One of these days I would love for my sister to bring her little cup and saucer and whatever else she has over to my house and we will have a little tea party together like we did as children. (Perhaps when she gets around to retiring one of these days!)

Meanwhile, I will just enjoy this by myself...with the little Teddy Bear friends.

(Remember my "One Word" for 2020 is "joyful" ?  So  this is one way to be "joyful", by "enjoying the little things".)

You may wonder about this picture card that is sitting there beside the tea set. Well, I've had this card for I don't know how many years, but I fell in love with it whenever I found it.  It is called,

"Breakfast with Teddy" 

by:

Jessie Wilcox Smith

1909

I guess I loved it because I could picture myself as that little red-headed girl, enjoying her breakfast with her Teddy Bear watching.

 By the way, the flowers are another bouquet of those lovely "Lady Lupine" flowers that I found while on our walk yesterday.

Just in case you want to have your own little tea party with some fresh homemade Blueberry Bran muffins, here is the recipe:

Recipe for Blueberry Bran Muffins   Servings: 12 small muffins, or 6 large.

Ingredients:
2 Cups Bran Flakes or All-Bran Cereal
1 1/4 Cups Milk
1 egg
1/4 cup oil or 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (my choice)
1 1/4 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon salt
3/4 Teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 to 1 cup of fresh blueberries (depends on how many blueberries you prefer)

Directions:  Preheat oven to 400℉ Grease Muffin pan for 12 muffins

1.  Combine cereal and milk in mixing bowl. Let stand 1/2 hour, until cereal is well soaked.
Then:
2.  Add egg and oil (or applesauce instead of the oil, which is my preference), mix well.
3.  Add rest of ingredients. Mix just until combined.
4.  Put into muffin pans sprayed with PAM.  (Today I used cupcake papers, but I think the greased muffin pans would have worked better as the muffins really stuck to the paper.)
5.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy the Little Things !!