Saturday Musings and Blessings

 Happy Saturday Morning to you! I hope this day finds you doing well and enjoying some lovely fall weather still! I know next week temperatures are expected to plunge into freezing for many, including here! We are expecting temperatures around the freezing mark a couple of mornings next week, which seems really early for us here in North Central Florida.  And judging by the number of acorns in our yard this year, I believe we are in for a colder than normal winter!

Upon closer inspection, I realized that we actually have two different species of oak trees in our front yard! Look at the difference in the acorns!  The round lighter brown shaped acorn is from a "Water Oak", and the long darker oblong acorn is from the Southern Live Oak tree.  (I hope I have that right...the descriptions I found were confusing in different posts).

Here's our two huge oak trees in our front yard:

I'm not sure which one is the Live Oak and which one is the Water Oak. I guess I could inspect their bark and leaves to figure it out. But suffice it to say, they are both huge, and they both put out a LOT of little brown leaves for us to clean up every year, and tons of tiny acorns to get stuck in the soles of my shoes when I walk out there. Skechers shoes have those flexible rubber soles that have lots of differnt "crack" in them, which are mainly good for picking up acorns and small sticks and then I have to clean them out. That is the only thing I don't like about my Skechers!  The trees also give us a lot of shade on that end of the house, but I do fear what could happen if they ever decided to blow over in a hurricane...that has been known to happen, even in healthy trees, so we try to keep them trimmed and keep a close eye on them. Oh, and you notice that the ground is all brown under them...leaves and also no grass because grass just can't seem to grow under them.

Here's the winter weather report According to the Old Farmer's Almanac for 2025-26:

Temperatures: Near normal to slightly milder across most of the country—except in the Appalachians, Southeast, Florida, and Ohio Valley, where colder-than-average conditions are expected.

It looks like we will be in for a cold, wet winter!  (See Florida) I think that is the only state that actually says "Cold, Wet".  The good news about that is the "wet" part! hopefully for us that will mean plenty of rain to refill Still Waters Pond!  

I was concerned about checking the Old Farmer's Almanac, because I heard on the news that it was going to stop publication this next year. However, apparently that is the "Farmer's Almanac", not the "Old Farmer's Almanac", which is the one I've always liked anyway. I guess I didn't realize there were two different almanacs. 

Okay, moving right along, this morning was a beautiful warmer morning than we've been having, and since it is a Saturday, we went to the Deep Creek Farmer's Market where our son has a booth:

You can also find his  Ben & Rose's Country Woodshop on Facebook HERE

If you see something you like, you can message him and discuss price and whether or not it is shipable! Most things are.

After we left there we stopped at a new store in our little town called "Blue Pond Market". You can check out their Facebook page here:  Blue Pond Market.  It is named "Blue Pond Market" because our town, Interlachen, used to be called Blue Pond before it became Interlachen. The little lake where the old downtown area is was once called "Blue Pond",   (and you can read more about the history HERE) and this particular house was built back in the mid 1800's, before the town was incorporated. It's probably one of the oldest, if not THE oldest house in our community!

I was excited to see this place open, as they are very similar to the store our family used to own here in our town, "Dixie Cottage".  They carry similar styles of merchandise and painted furniture, etc.  It is a welcome addition to our community since the people who bought Dixie Cottage from our family finally closed their store here and moved it to another town about 20 miles away.   I do hope this store, and also another new one called "The Trading Post at Deep Creek" (which is at the location where Benton was at the farmer's market today) will succeed. Our little town doesn't have a lot of shops (besides Dollar Generals (several) and Family Dollar and a few Thrift Stores and an Ace Hardware Store.  It's nice to have some choices without having to travel too far!

So what else is happening?  

Last evening hubby and I went for a walk around 5:30 p.m., just as the sun was going down. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but suffice it to say the sun was brilliantly golden and very bright...

This past Monday our Ladies' Bible Study completed our study on "It's All Under Control", where we learned about letting go of our own control and allowing GOD to be in control of our lives, because He is already in control whether we understand it or believe it or not.  It was a good study, but now we are done with that and ready to begin a new one this next week entitled "Joy! A Bible Study on Philippians for Women".  I am looking forward to that!

Speaking of "JOY", yesterday afternoon hubby and I were working on a little project in our workshop/storage shed, and it gave me great joy to see, first of all, our sweet Sunshine come inside and lay down beside the Nativity for our yard, which seems to be a spot that he always likes to be near whenever he comes into the shed with us...

He seems to be feeling okay and I think the cut on his hind end is healing okay, but I am keeping a close watch on it.

It wasn't long before Blackie discovered where we all were, and here he comes to join the party:

He doesn't want to be left out of anything that we are doing...and likes to be wherever Sunshine is as well:

Of course, after checking on Sunshine he went and did his own exploring, and then when it was time for us to close up the shed we had great fun trying to corral them both and get them back out of there...I definitely don't want them to get trapped inside the shed!

When I went outside I noticed this very tan looking grasshopper...It thought he was rather nondescript...can hardly tell his eyes from his body.  

He is called a Mischievous Bird Grasshopper. Not sure that he is so "mischievous", but he flies in swarms like a bird, so that's where the bird part comes from.  I don't mind him as long as he doesn't eat my flowers.

Okay, I guess that's all for now.  Time for my afternoon cup of tea...and also to thank the Lord for all of the wonderful ways He has blessed us.  

Psalm 16:11 NKJV

11 You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Amen! Have a lovely rest of your weekend.

Wednesday Treasures in Pamela's Wild Kingdom

 Here it is Wednesday already! This week is just a flying on by! I guess because we had a holiday on Monday, and that always throws me off as to what day it is. It also means our garbage will be picked up a day later than normal as well.  We always have to keep track of those days since it is only once a week, and if you miss it, well, then you're stuck with stinky garbage for another week!   

Oh gee, I guess I didn't really intend to start this post off by talking about stinky garbage! LOL.  Let's see, what can I share that would be more appropriate and pleasant? How about this:

The Bluebirds continue to come visit the birdhouse every day, but so far I cannot tell that they have built any nest inside. They often stick their heads inside and look around, and sometimes even go inside, but then they come back out and think about it, but never really do anything.

And even more strange, this male decided to go check out the other birdhouse too, but then he just flew away and his mate soon joined him.  However, in a few minutes they will be back again, and go through this same routine, but without ever actually building a nest. This has been going on all spring, and for some reason they just haven't decided to settle down to nesting.   Now with these 95 degree days it is really too hot.  So I guess they're bypassing raising any new babies this year.

Speaking of nesting...this very large Florida Soft-Shelled Turtle waddled up onto the shore of Still Waters Pond and decided to lay her eggs in the middle of my butterfly garden last night! 

I was happy that our "kids" were over last night and the grandpuppies were busily watching the kitties through the sliding glass doors and therefore we saw the turtle come up on shore at the same time. 

The incubation period is 60-90 days, so I hope nothing digs up the eggs or destroys them before then. I noticed that the Sand Hill Cranes went right over there after the turtle went back in the water, and they were poking around in that area, so I hope they didn't poke the eggs.

We've had turtles come and lay eggs in our yard before, but I've never yet been able to see when the baby turles hatch and head back to the water.  

I wish I could see it happen sometime. I'll have to keep watching from about the end of July through August I guess.

There's never a dull moment here at Still Waters Pond, that's for sure!

One reason the kids came over last night was to install this RING doorbell for us.  We didn't have a regular doorbell, and it's often difficult to hear when someone comes to our door, and it's also hard to see who's out there without being obvious about it.  So we decided to try this RING doorbell so we can see who is here even if we aren't home.  It's an added security measure that I think is wise in this day and age.  How many of you already have one of these?

And here's a video of me this morning, testing it out and then trying to figure out how to download it onto my computer so I could share it with you! Hey! It works!!

The other nice thing last night was that Rose had been off from work for a couple of days, and she had cooked a delicious beef stew in the crock pot and they wanted to share it with us. I made the cornbread, and we had a wonderful evening. It even decided to thunderstorm while they were here, which was an added bonus. I didn't take any pictures, however, because I was too busy with trying to get this RING APP installed on my cell phone. Actually, Rose did it for me, but I had to watch and see what she was doing so I would know how to operate it.  They already have this at their house, and they really like it.

Speaking of rain and the fomer lack thereof,  I had mentioned once that we were thinking about putting a small swimming pool in the back yard so the wild critters could get a drink of water while it has been so dry that even the pond was drying up.  Our intention was to set our wildlife/night cam on it so we could get pictures of whatever animal showed up in the night to drink from it.  Well, so far we haven't had any night visitors, but I didn't happen to see this sweet fluffy kitty, a.k.a. "Sunshine", getting a drink.

Yes, our cats have a bowl of fresh water up on the porch that is kept refilled and fresh all day long, but for some reason Sunshine prefers to drink out of the swimming pool and before that I often saw him going down to the edge of the pond and drinking, (before it was getting so dry that he would have to walk out on the mud to get to the water).  

Isn't he sweet?  Something got his attention here for a minute...maybe he was trying to tell Blackie to come and join him.  I have seen Blackie drink from it a few times, but never when I had my camera handy.

I think I need to fill it up a little higher so he doesn't have to lean so far over to drink.  Heaven forbid if he should actually fall into the pool and get all wet! LOL.  

Speaking of things in the water...we've been taking more rides lately as it is too hot to get out and do much walking and hubby hasn't felt up to doing much anyway, and I am doing most of the driving right now, so anyway, we took a little ride down to the Kenwood Boat Ramp, where we've been many times before. 

As I was walking along the shore looking at the reflections on the water and studying the lily pads, etc., I suddenly heard a loud plunk into the water off shore just beyond where I was standing...

Thankfully I had my good camera with the zoom lens, and I was able to see what had made that fast move into the water...

Yes, a "small" alligator apparently had been resting on the shore where I was headed, and he jumped into the water just before I got too close. Shew! That was a close one for me too!!

Some of these pictures are a bit blurred, but I liked the way the reflections on the water turned out, so just enjoy the abstractedness of them with me, if you don't mind...

And be thankful along with me that this guy was probably only about 4' long and not his Mama or his Papa alligator!  Believe me, I was being very watchful just in case they were still sunning themselves along the shore where I couldn't see them among the weeds...

His reflection of his eyes in the water looks rather strange...but we won't go there...

So , all is calm, all is well out there on the canal...

Just don't go swimming in there, okay?

Okay, back to this beautiful patriotic cross that our son made, which is a lovely way to express your faith in God and support of our country, especially for the 4th of July and other patriotic holidays...

Some of you expressed interest in it.  He doesn't have it on his Etsy site yet, but if anyone is interested in buying one, you can contact him on their Ben & Rose's Country Woodshop Facebook page and send him a message, and he will be happy to talk to you about this and any other items you are interested in, like the Easter Empty Tomb that he made. If you aren't on Facebook, contact me via  my email (link attached HERE), and I will forward your information to him.  I'm not trying to sell things here, but I am sharing this only because some have expressed interest in it.   Thank you!

2 Chronicles 7:14  KJV

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Well, I guess that's it for today's Wednesday Treasures.  I hope you enjoyed visiting here today in "Pamela's Wild Kingdom". LOL..you just never know what you will see!    Have a blessed and happy week my friends.

A Day of Peace and Prayer

I wrote this from my "Secret Memorial Garden" this afternoon:
It’s 90 degrees outside and I am sitting here beside Still Waters Pond drinking a cup of hot tea 🍵. I must be crazy. But I am enjoying the peaceful surroundings. In the midst of so much chaos and sorrow in our land I just needed to get away from the world situation and pray. Don’t let my silence fool you. I am very saddened by the events of this past week, especially concerning George Floyd and his senseless death. Praying for appropriate justice to be done on his behalf. But I pray one horrendous act does not lead to further irreparable harm for more innocent people. May God help us to do the right things. Amen 🙏  

And that is all I will say about the current situation. We are all being bombarded with the horrific news from around the country...so much so that I had to turn off the TV and just get away from it for a while.  We did watch the launch of the SpaceEx rocket with two astronauts into space. That was something very positive and "uplifting"...pun intended.  Praying for their safety and successful mission to the International Space Station.

Now on to other things from the past couple of days:

Some of you may remember this beautiful Gloxinia plant that I brought with us from our old house when we moved. It is finally blooming again...and even has another bud ready to open:    This was a plant that I had basically given up on. I had just put it out in the bushes at our old house because I thought it was dead.  And then one day I looked and there it was, blooming like this! And so I paid closer attention to it, and it kept blooming all last summer. So it came with us when we moved, and it went kind of dormant for the winter, and now here it is again!  Just goes to show you that you should never give up on someone just because they don't perform exactly as you think they should all the time. Perhaps they just needed a little rest away from the noise and time to recover and bloom once again!

I noticed this little green lizard climbing on my new garden flag in the front yard today.  It looks like he wants to look at that pretty butterfly:

Or maybe he's just jealous that the butterfly and flowers get all the attention, and he wanted some too! So, yes, he got my attention!!

Something else that got my attention was the Great Blue Heron sitting so prettily on the other side of the pond. I tried to be very quiet as I took its picture....

But he didn't like it and up and up and away he flew! Which was just fine with me, because I rarely ever get a great picture of these birds in flight!  This was pretty good for high noon and in motion!!

My Facebook friends already saw these pictures, but today was "Demo Day" for Ben & Rose's Country Woodshop old shed.  For those who may not know, that is the name of our son and his wife's woodworking business where they build shelves for their Etsy Sites,   BR Coastal Rustic Decor and also Rustic Forest Studio.  They also build tables and refurbish other vintage furniture to be sold in local unique furniture shops.   Anyway, this old shed had a leaky roof among other problems, so our son and a friend tore it down today to make way for a brand new shed workshop.  Their business has been expanding over these past several months, even with the pandemic going on, and they need more room to work!

This story is to be continued when the new shed arrives...

Our sweet Grandpuppies, Sugar and Spice, were supervising the whole demo operation. 

I will close this with the words of this Psalm that we read this morning in our daily devotions. I found it particularly appropriate for our current situation in this country.  

Psalm 11

1.  "In the Lord I put my trust;

How can you say to my soul, 

'Flee as a bird to your mountain'?

2.  For look! The wicked bend their bow,

They make ready their arrow on the string,

That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.

3.  If the foundations are destroyed,

What can the righteous do?

4.  The Lord is in His holy temple,

The Lord's throne is in heaven;

His eyes behold,

His eyelids test the sons of men.

5.  The Lord tests the righteous,

but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.

6.  Upon the wicked He will rain coals;

Fire and brimstone and a burning wind;

Shall be the portion of their cup.

7.  For the Lord is righteous,

He loves righteousness;

His countenance beholds the upright."

I don't think I need to add anything to this at all...

Have a blessed night and beautiful day of worship tomorrow...wherever you may be to worship the Lord, make it a day of peace and prayer. Our country is in desperate need for both.  Amen.