Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

It's Thursday of Holy Week...many will be observing this day as "Maundy Thursday", "Maundy Thursday, also referred to as Holy Thursday, or Thursday of the Lord's Supper, among other names,[note 1] is a Christian feast during Holy Week that marks the beginning of the Paschal Triduum, and commemorates the Washing of the Feet (Maundy) and Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles, as described in the canonical gospels.[1]" (Wikipedia).  Our church does not have a special Maundy Thursday service, but we will be having a Good Friday service tomorrow night.

HERE is a link to a post I have shared several times in the past regarding Maundy Thursday, or the observance of The Lord's Supper.  You may want to read it again for a special blessing today. (I actually reposted this earlier today, so may have already seen it.  I just couldn't let the day go by without acknowledging how special this day was in the life of Christ and for Christians today).

I am so excited that my Amaryllis flowers have finally blossomed!  I was afraid they weren't going to make it this year, and now they are open and beautiful for Easter! To me, this is significant, that they are blooming in time for Good Friday...the crimson red of this flower reminds us of the blood that Jesus shed on the cross for our sins.  The white Easter lilies on Easter Sunday will remind us of His resurrection from the dead and that He, the perfect and spotless Lamb of God has overcome sin and death on our behalf.  Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Hallelujah! What A Savior! 

by Philip B. Bliss

“Man of Sorrows!” what a name

For the Son of God, who came

Ruined sinners to reclaim.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,

In my place condemned He stood;

Sealed my pardon with His blood.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;

Spotless Lamb of God was He;

“Full atonement!” can it be?

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die;

“It is finished!” was His cry;

Now in Heav’n exalted high.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King,

All His ransomed home to bring,

Then anew His song we’ll sing:

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Back to the present...This morning we took a ride to the Blueberry Farm! The blueberries are finally ready to be picked...and thankfully they pick some for us for a little higher price...

You could also purchase your own blueberry bushes, already loaded with berries!  I did that a few years ago, but most of them have never really produced anything since...

Except for this this one..it looks like it will have some berries for us this year in a little while...

So until then I will purchase the already picked variety and enjoy them! They are so plump and juicy I may have eaten a few before we even got home.  Hubby said "They haven't been washed yet!"  I said, "If they kill me I'll die happy!" LOL.   I didn't eat that many...and if that little bit could kill me then they shouldn't be allowed to sell them! LOL.  Besides, I know the people who pick their own berries eat them while picking and I haven't heard of anyone getting sick or dying from it yet.  I'll trust these berries more than the ones I buy in the grocery store, which can't even compare in flavor and quality.

The plan is to bake a blueberry pie for Easter Sunday...hopefully I'll still have enough left by then. LOL.

I know you are probably wondering about the kitty-cat situation here...

Well, here's Blackie Sue, still just relaxing in her favorite blue chair on the back porch...no kittens yet...and the full moon is over...so she's on her own schedule, and the kittens will appear when they are good and ready!

And this picture is hilarious to me...this is how Sunshine was posed this morning as we were leaving to go get blueberries...He'd just had his breakfast, and because it had been a chilly night (or maybe he's just all tuckered out from whatever he was doing last night!??) I think he wanted to soak up some "sunshine" for himself!  I've never seen him able to get up on the porch railing before...and his face was resting on the little light fixture there. He seems to be a bit more frisky lately...oh...and there's been a pretty little black and white female cat coming over to visit from down the street...I hope she's been appropriately "fixed"...and so I am thinking something is going to need to be done about Sunshine. Here I thought he was just a tired old cat...but I think he still has some tricks up his paws.  I am anxious to see what color Blackie Sue's kittens are...that will tell us the true state of their "friendship".  

Good caption "It's been a hard day's night..."

Oh My Goodness!  I just heard via Facebook that our family's former store, "Dixie Cottage", is moving out of Interlachen to Keystone Heights (a town about 20 miles northwest of here)!  The person who bought the business from Benton and Rose a couple of years ago lives in that area, and apparently she has found a place there that is more reasonable rent and it will be closer to home for her, so we wish her well.  There will be a big sale here at the store before she leaves at the end of the month. 

 

This is how the store looked on our Grand Opening Day

This is a link to when our kids first opened the store here in Interlachen, after moving it here from St.Augustine.

Our kids enjoyed owning the business while they did, but they were also happy when God provided a buyer so they could sell it! Owning your own business takes a LOT of work, time, and money.  They are much happier now working from home (Benton), building things and selling them online and in local farmer's markets.  Rose has continued to work at Home Depot all these years, so for her trying to run a business and work outside of that was pretty exhausting.  

Although we are sorry to see the store leaving our town, we wish the owner much success and blessings in starting over in a new location.  And so closes another door...but a new window of opportunity for her and for that community.

Here's some thoughts to carry us through tomorrow on Good Friday...

This weekend will be pretty busy for us, with Good Friday service tomorrow night, and a wedding at our church Saturday afternoon. (There will also be a community breakfast at the church Saturday morning and an Easter Egg Hunt for the children, but we most likely won't be participating in those). Then Sunday morning we have Sunday School and Church, and our choir will be presenting the Easter Cantata "It Is Finished".  The kids will be coming over after church for dinner.  Rose will be baking a ham and I will hopefully get some potato salad and deviled eggs made on Saturday sometime to have ready for Sunday, as well as bake that blueberry pie. So, if you don't see much of me over the next few days, you will know why!  Praying you and yours will have a blessed and joyful Easter weekend.

 

Wednesday Treasures

 Yesterday (Tuesday), was a great day! Why? Well because one of our fellow blogging friends, Barbara from My Journal Memories, and her hubby Gary, came to our little town to meet us for lunch at our local diner, Nanna's Country Cafe'.  Of course, this is always a joy and a blessing when two bloggers get to spend time together in person.  This is not our first in-person meeting.  We go back several years and have met in our respective homes in times past as well. It's nice when we only live about an hour apart, and we are all retired, so that makes for good opportunities for happy meetings.

However, this time we just met for lunch as they had other things of special importance on their agenda for the day,  but I will let Barbara tell you about that in her blog post!

Our hubbies also enjoyed visiting with one another, and had an interesting, pretty much non-stop conversation throughout our time of dining.  That was fine with Barbara and me, as we had our own conversation going, talking about things that two bloggers of similar interests would be able to talk about! Barbara and I both agreed that just about anything we do or see makes for good "blog fodder", (Barb's words) so we rarely run out of things to write about.

I thought this was a fun photo below...I am taking a picture of the guys over Barbara's head as she is taking their picture at the same time! LOL.

Barbara and Gary are a very handsome and happy couple, as you can tell by this photo below...

This photo is a little more sedate, but both pictures were so good, I just had to include each one...

And last, but not least, here is yours truly and my hubby...we were enjoying a beautiful breezy day with our friends.  

I am very thankful to know Barb both here in Blogland and in person. She is a very genuine, kind, and loving person, who has come through some difficult circumstances over the past several years, but God has brought her to a wonderfully blessed new place in life.  These verses come to mind when I think of Barbara...

Psalm 30:5 "...Weeping may endure for a night,

But joy comes in the morning."

Isaiah 61:3

"3...To give them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

That they may be called trees of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

Oh, and btw, Barb is so very thoughtful...she even brought us a little "hostess gift", even though we weren't even meeting at our house...and this little gift was kind of one of those "God-things" that happen when you least expect them.  

Those packets are mixtures to use to make dips. Well, just the other day at our church ladies' Bible Study we were talking about a special "May Fellowship" dinner that we have coming up, where our church ladies put on a luncheon and program and invite ladies from other churches to come as our guests. The lady in charge of the menu was saying that we needed some "dips" for chips and vegies, etc., because we do things like meat and cheese platters and fruit, veggies, desserts, etc.   I was thinking that I really wasn't all that good about making dips, so I would just do a dessert. And then I get this gift of three different kinds of dip mixes, and I told Barbara, "well now I guess I could do dips for our luncheon after all!"  They are unique mixtures and would be something different,  I just thought that was really amazing how God put that together! Thank you, Barb and Gary, for being so thoughtful.

Speaking of "blog fodder", today hubby and I went to our local Blueberry Farm so I could stock up on some fresh blueberries, both to eat now and to freeze for later...

No, I did not pick my own blueberries. They also have some already picked available, at a higher price per pound of course, but today was almost 90 degrees and I was not about to go pick my own, so here's what I got:

Don't they look delicious?  (they are! I ate quite a few before I put them away...just couldn't help myself! LOL)

They also have strawberries, but they are all "pick your own", none picked ahead for us, so I passed on that. I could have bought some strawberry plants, (see picture below of plants that are for sale),  but with my record of growing things (or killing plants), I figured I'd better pass on that idea too.

This climbing rose bush was gorgeous...wish I could've brought that home with me, but it wasn't for sale! LOL.  

And speaking of unexpected gifts.  One of the ladies in our church got quite ambitious and canned a lot of vegetables that she bought at the farmer's market.  She brought some jars of carrots with her to choir practice last night and told us to take some home, and so here is a beautiful jar of freshly canned carrots! Aren't they gorgeous?  She had her grandchildren help her peel and chop them so they could learn how to do this. I think that is wonderful! And I LOVE carrots!

One more Wednesday Treasure (which is what all of the above things are, btw).  Here is another of my Amaryllis flowers blooming! You can see a little hole in the flower where one of those nasty Lubber Grasshoppers was having his lunch the other day...but the flower persevered and continued to develop and blossom and is still beautiful just the same. 

Aren't we all a little bit like that flower?  We have all been through things in life that have punched holes in our dreams and maybe even our external beauty,  But sometimes it is those very trials and difficulties in life that help to create a woman of strength and true inner beauty. That is the real beauty that lasts forever.

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,

But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

Proverbs 31:30

And with those thoughts I will close for tonight.  I hope you enjoyed these special "treasures" today.  Good Night my friends.

Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

Happy Thursday and Friday! I combine them because it's just easier that way!  Today we had quite a thunderstorm with lots of rain and winds come through, along with a tornado watch for our area all day long. Thankfully nothing serious developed, but we did get about an inch of much needed rain. Now the sun is shining brightly and it is beautiful, but still very windy at almost 6:00 p.m.  We are just very thankful that our area was spared any major storm issues.

The Bluebirds here on Still Waters Pond stayed very active all day. This couple is actually looking at and entering house #2.  I am really confused by our bluebird families.  There has been one couple very active at house #1, and I honestly thought they must be feeding babies by now.  But then today I see this couple over at house #2, going in and out like they are getting it ready to build a new nest.  I can't tell them apart from couple #1...they really look like the same ones, and it doesn't appear that they are quite as active at house #1 now.  Could it be that the eggs in house #1 did not develop properly, and now they are looking at starting over in house #2? Or is this a different couple? I sure wish I could tag them so I'd know who's who and what's what!  This is like a bluebird soap opera! LOL. I will be keeping watch as much as possible, and I will certainly let you know of any new developments in the next episode of  "All My Family on Still Waters Pond".  LOL. Or is it General Hospital on Still Waters Pond?  Or, "As the World Turns around on Still Waters Pond?"  

I believe Dad is praying before entering this house. That's a good sign.

Mom is patiently waiting for Dad to tell her which way to go...

I've seen them both going in and out of this house #2 today, so maybe they are just twins to the other couple in house #1.  

Meanwhile in the front yard the Amaryllis plants are finally starting to bloom!  

These are bulbs that I planted a couple of years ago, and they come back each year with lovely blossoms!

This is another one just getting ready to open up...

And here's the last one just peeking up through the leaves.  It won't be long til they are all blooming!

Unless....these are baby Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers.  I just discovered them on one of the amaryllis plants.  If left alone, there will be zillions of these creatures, and they will devour every amaryllis plant in sight!  

 "The eastern lubber grasshopper is a large and destructive garden pest. Lubbers are one of the few grasshopper species that occur in such significant numbers that they can cause significant damage to citrus and vegetable crops as well as ornamental landscape plants."

There is only one way to treat a lubber grasshopper...and you can be assured that I did exactly that. But I won't go into details here because there are people out there who don't understand what destructive insects can do to our agriculture.  So that is all I will say.

Meanwhile, in another part of our yard the wild blackberries are growing wild! Because that's what wild blackberry plants do! LOL.  Here is an unripe blackberry...

And here is a ripe one. They are hard to find because the birds usually find them first.  Sometimes they are kind of wormy, so I just leave them for the birds to eat.

Here's a few more developing! Not nearly enough for a blackberry cobbler or jam.

In my wanderings around the yard after the storm I discovered this large branch of an old oak tree that is covered with this fungi.  Obviously the branch is dead, but the fungi is enjoying having a place to live.  Interesting how God, in His marvelous creation, has provided for all different kinds of living organisms.  However, I do wish He wasn't so generous with those Lubber grasshoppers.  They probably are food for some kind of bird or creature, but unfortunately they don't get to them fast enough to keep them from doing damage.  Sometimes even nature gets out of control and needs some help.

In other news, I am happy to report that my friend who had some major surgery a week or so ago is now at home and is doing pretty well, all things considered.  She sent me a message a little while ago with a picture of her outside walking around in her yard. Since I didn't ask permission to share the picture, I won't, but she looks so happy and thankful. She said she had to get outside and enjoy this beautiful day (after the big storm), and check on her plants!  She is really remarkable after all she's been through. Very thankful to God for His watch care over her and for answered prayers.

My sister Doris is still not totally well from her cough, etc., but seems to be improving. And they are making some progress at their house where there was the water damage, etc., so she is happy about that. However, we still have not celebrated her and her husband's birthdays that were last week. Hopefully we will be getting together next weekend to do that, "Lord willing and the creek don't rise!" (or bathroom leaks in houses, or major thunderstorms...).  Continuing in prayer for them...

I am looking forward to meeting up with one of our blogging friends and her hubby, Barbara (and Gary), from "My Journal Memories".  The original plan was that they were coming up here today to meet us at a restaurant for lunch. But when the weather issues were forecasted for today they decided to postpone their trip until next week. They only live about an hour away, but still,  with heavy rains and high winds and tornado watches about, it would not have been a good day for a day trip. I'm glad Barb was paying attention to the weather reports and decided to change the plans ahead of time. Hopefully next week will be much better!  And we must remember to take pictures!

So here's some thoughts to finish out this day of thankfulness for God's mercy and kindness to us...

Psalm 145:8-13

8 "The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,

Slow to anger and great in mercy.

9 The Lord is good to all,

And His tender mercies are over all His works.

(you can't tell it, but it is very windy in these pictures!)

10 All Your works shall praise You, O Lord,

And Your saints shall bless You.

11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom,

And talk of Your power,

(pictures of Still Waters Pond just prior to sunset)

12 so that all people may know of your mighty acts

and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

and your dominion endures through all generations."

Good Night and God bless you all!!

Wednesday "Treasures" and Delights

 This is truly a "Wednesday Treasure".  This is the 2nd blooming of these Amaryllis plants this spring!

These are a few of the things in which I delight! (My "One Word" for 2022)

Fresh "real chicken eggs"...a gift from a lady at our church we lovingly call "The Egg Lady". She brings several dozens of eggs to share with people at church every time her hens are happily producing. These look like beautiful Easter eggs to me:

Our blueberry bushes are producing! Not quite as many as I would like, but at least they are trying!

These are two different varieties of blueberries.  Maybe I will have enough for some blueberry muffins. Or just eat them fresh on my cereal and yogurt! 

Now here's something extra special:

This comment below just popped up from 12 years ago on my Facebook Memories, right when I needed it most! 12 years ago when our son Matthew Steiner wrote this he had just been (very sadly) diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer. He asked his then 10 yr. old son to pray for him, and this is what he prayed (see full message from my Facebook memories below).

Matthew posted this morning: "Last night, I asked Noah to pray that God would calm my nerves. He prayed, "Lord, yesterday dad was a teepee. The day before, he was a wigwam. Help him tomorrow to not be two tents".   That's our 10 yr. old grandson Noah...what a sweetheart! He knows how to keep things in perspective! "

What I found so wonderful about seeing this memory pop up today was that I'd just been to the Doctor this morning, after having a CT Scan for some constant headaches that I've been having lately. Thankfully, nothing serious showed up on the scan, but the Doctor said my headaches are most likely being caused by "tension". Apparently I am being "two tents", as our grandson Noah Steiner called it when he was 10. So I am claiming this prayer for myself today. Lord, I'd rather be a teepee or a wigwam than two tents! Thank You, Jesus, for this blessing today, out of the "mouth of babes". Noah Steiner is 22 now...and I don't know if he's on Facebook because he's traveling somewhere out in the desert of southwest USA, camping out...but he has a camper, not a teepee or a wigwam or "two tents". LOL  

I am very very thankful that the diagnosis is a tension headache rather than something else more serious. The doctor is prescribing some medication that is more specific for this type of headache, so I'm praying that will help.  I didn't realize I was being "two tents".  So please pray that I will be able to relax and just rest in the Lord.  Of course, recalling this memory about our son Matthew brought back some unhappy memories, but I know he is completely healed today and enjoying the peace of heaven. There is no need for him to ever be "two tents" again.    

This is a picture of Matthew with Noah, probably right about that same time.  They both took Tae Kwon Doh together until Matthew had to start chemo.  He fought valiantly for four years until the Lord called him home.

Switching gears on to a little bit of happy news from here at Still Waters Pond:  

I am having to deal with a bit of "empty nest syndrome".  We noticed that the Mama and Papa Bluebird were no longer coming back and forth feeding the babies in the birdhouse. After a full day of no action I realized that the babies must have left the nest sometime when I wasn't looking...Here's what the inside of the birdhouse looks like now:

Apparently they must have made it safely out of the nest and on to their new life in the treetops.  I saw no signs of any traumatic issues around the nest or on the ground, so I am thankful to know they are on their way! But I do miss all the daily activity surrounding the birdhouse.  Hopefully the parents will come back in a few weeks and start another brood. Last year they did three times!

I wasn't sure if this was Daniel Boone (a.k.a. "Bobby the Squirrel") wearing a "coon-skin hat", or our neighborhood squirrel pretending to be "The Thinker". He sat in this pose for quite a while, so of course I figured he wanted me to take his picture. After this he left and was off to the treetops again.

Thankfully our Sand Hill Crane family are still hanging around, and we get to watch the antics of "Colt" as he continues to grow and grow and grow...

However, they are spending more and more of the day wandering around the neighborhood and not as much time in our yard.

We mostly see them in the early morning as they come ashore from their night on the island, and then again in the late afternoon, as it appears "Colt" is taking his evening bath, splish-splashing around and cooling off before they head back to the island for the night.

Other major news:

I got some new glasses after I don't know how many years:

(don't look too closely... I was having a bad hair day as well as a headache)

Here's what they look like on the "arms":  

They are rather plain and simple, if you ask me. I liked my older ones better, but didn't have that option this time. The important thing is to be able to see better. I'm still adjusting to that as well! LOL.

But here's some good things to think about as we close this out for the night:

This came from this little devotional book that I love to quote from now and then:

I need not be "two tents" about my future or my present...when I place my trust in the Lord, I can be confident that He will take care of every need I may have, and I know He will never disappoint me.

Thank You, Jesus, for this promise. I can rest confidently in You.

Amen.