And Just Like That, It's November!

 

"Evening at Autumn Lake" , by Thomas Kinkade

Happy 1st Day of November morning to you!  I hope you didn't stay up too late chasing hobgoblins and little fairy princesses!  Or, were they chasing you? LOL.  We had a fun evening here, but there weren't nearly as many little Trick or Treaters as there was candy in my bowl to give them! Now I have to find a good place to donate the leftovers because we definitely don't need it here!  So here's the highlights from the past couple of days...

Here I am, busily stuffing little ziploc bags full of candy and also the Scripture Verse cards that I actually found at the Dollar Tree throughout the year and stocked up on them so I'd have enough...

Each bag had a variety of candy...

And one of these cards...each one was a different verse.  My prayer is that the parents will read them to the children, or vice versa, and may God bless each family with His love and peace...

Here's the finished product...I think I did about 70-75 bags...but sadly not even half of them were given out!  I don't know why there were fewer children this year...I know there were a lot of other activities going on in the community, so maybe they just didn't make it around to the neighborhoods...but now I've got to figure out what to do with them all.

I hope I didn't scare them away with my costume!  LOL.  I debated all day long whether or not to dress up. Actually, I was a bit under the weather all day, with dizziness and tummy issues, but after a good afternoon nap I finally felt better and decided that 'the show must go on' !!  So here I am:

In my mind, I was the Biblical Queen Esther...but someone (aka "Sparky", one of our blogging friends who hasn't been blogging for awhile) saw me on Facebook and played the song "Walk Like an Egyptian"...and I thought, yeah, that's probably a better description... LOL...

Here I am on my royal throne ready to hand out the royal candy:

Someone said they thought I was a Fortune Teller! Well, no thank you! I'd rather be "Queen for a Day".  (How many remember that TV show?  The grand prize would be a new washing machine and/or dryer, or a refrigerator, or some lovely thing that the poor woman needed so badly, and there would be tears of joy over receiving such wonderful prizes, and everyone would clap and cry at the same time...it really was a lovely program)

Note that I am holding my Royal Scepter!  It was a fun time, even if not so many children came, and I'm glad I persevered and did what I was determined to do.

Oh, here's my "little princess", a.k.a. Lily Grace...and her best doggy friend Bailey.  She looks more like a Rock Star than a Princess, but that's how it goes in these modern day kingdoms...LOL.

And now for the rest of the November Calendars...OH so pretty!!

Here's John Sloane's Country Seasons picture for November:

And the Tea Pot Calendar for November:

And speaking of tea time...this is the Susan Branch calendar:

Oh yes! Isn't that the truth?

And here's some words of thanksgiving from 1 Thessalonians 1:2...and yes, this is the truth also:

I do give thanks to God always for you all, and yes, I do make mention of you in my prayers often!

You are a beautiful group of people, and I truly do thank God for each and every one of you!

I pray that your November month will be filled with many blessings and true Thanksgiving!

Happy 1st Day of November!

Thursday Thankfulness

 Good Thursday Morning! I hope this day finds you all feeling '"fine as frog's hair" and warm and cozy wherever you are.  Not sure where that particular saying came from...some old country friend of mine used to say it, and it just seems to fit this morning. LOL.   (Do frogs have hair??? If they do, it must be very fine indeed! LOL)  🐸

It's currently 51 degrees here at 6:30 a.m., and our high is only expected to reacy 69 today, with clear skies and a wind chill that currently makes it feel like 47 degrees! That's a little chilly for us Floridians on a late October morning, but I'm not complaining. It feels like fall!!  And because there's a bit of a nip in the air, last night we had our first pot of chili for the season!  It was a communal effort...Rose and Benton and the grandpups came over, and we put our ingredients together and made some delicious chili!

This is my bowl, with shredded cheese, sour cream and fritos added for extra good yumminess!

Hubby was loving his bowl of chili too...and he says to thank you all for your prayers for his bout with the shingles...thankfully we did definitely catch it in time, and after the week of what he called taking the "big nasty" pill 3xday, he's completely well with no issues at all! Well, no shingles issues, that is! LOL.  We all have SOME kind of issues, don't we??? LOL.

Here's me with my bowl:

Sweet Rose with hers:

And sweet Benton with his bowl....now can we all eat please before it gets cold?

And guess what else we had?  I baked the first pumpkin pie of the season! Forgot to take a picture before we cut it...

Here's my piece of the pie!  It was yummy delicious too!

Now, another reason to be thankful...one of the reasons the kids came over for supper last night was because Benton had been busy building something special for our porch kitties...I heard yesterday was National Cat Day, and so it was fitting that something special should be done for them...

With the colder weather coming, I've been concerned about them having a warmer place to snuggle up and stay warm.  So Benton built these two "cat cribs"... and Blackie was right there ready to inspect and check them out as soon as we put them on the porch:

He jumped right inside and had a looksy...

He sniffed it all over and then jumped back out and went on his way.    

I put some little rugs in the bottom and a blanket, and although I couldn't get Blackie to go back inside it while we were there, I am hoping with the colder weather he and Sunshine will both be curious enough to try them out.

I am thankful for our kids, who do so many wonderful things for us, as well as just being here and being good "kids".  We are blessed to have them close by, and that is a blessing I don't take lightly!

It's hard to believe it's already the end of October and tomorrow is Halloween. I know many of you don't "celebrate Halloween", and I really don't celebrate it either. But I do participate in one way that I think is meaningful.  Our neighborhood actually gets a lot of trick or treaters, and to me, I think it's a good way to show some love and appreciation for the children of our community.  We've never had any unpleasant things happen on Halloween here, just a lot of little children with their parents, walking through the neighborhood dressed in their fun and pretty and interesting costumes, "begging for candy".  I love to welcome them and make over their costumes, and give them lots of smiles.  Last year I started a new tradition of including a card with a scripture verse written on it with their little ziploc bag of candy.  It is my hope and prayer that the parents will take the time to read the verse to their children (or the child read it for themselves), and that it will raise a question as to what it means or where did it come from.  I call it "planting a seed of faith".  We just never know how that little verse of God's Word might take root and bloom in the heart and life of the child and/or the parents.  This might be the only opportunity we have to share the love of Christ with these little ones.  

I know not everyone has a lot of children come into their neighborhoods anymore, and a lot of places don't even do door to door trick or treating.  But if your community does, maybe think about the opportunity you could have to share some words of hope and love and faith with others before you turn off your porch light.  Remember, Jesus said in Matthew 19:14 ~

... “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

This might be the only opportunity these little ones have to hear any positive things about God.  Just a thought to ponder...

Okay...enough said...I hope everyone has a beautiful rest of your October days. And don't forget to "fall back" with your clock this weekend!!! 

It's November!

Time for the Calendar Roll Call!  John Sloane's Country Seasons is up first above and below:

Don't you just love those wild turkeys in the corn field? I think that's a corn field, with the corn shucks all stacked up like that. It doesn't look like hay, so I'm thinking corn. Anyone who is more agrarian than I am may know better...But I love the picture either way!  Those turkeys just don't know how popular they will be this month! Gobble Gobble Gobble!  Fly away quick!!

Next in line is the Thomas Kincade calendar for November...I love this painting...do you see the deer in the field next to the stream?  Reminds me of where we just came from last week in the mountains, although our mountains weren't quite that rocky or steep, but it sure was beautiful!

And yes, I love this verse...no matter what we do or say,  do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, and give Him thanks and praise...and leave the outcome to Him.  

That's how I felt last night as I handed out our Halloween treats with the little Scripture "prayer cards" inside the bag.  I committed them to the Lord and prayed that whoever received them would be blessed and drawn closer to the Lord by seeing His Word.

Each baggie had a prayer card and at least 5 pieces of a variety of candies. I know I passed out about 60 of them!  The children may not have understood them, but I hope the parents will read the verse to the child and think about what it says. We can certainly pray that way. The rest is left up to God.

Aren't they adorable?

These two children were the first two of our trick or treaters! Aren't they sweet?  We had many more, and a lot of older kids this year, like middle school age. Lots of parents too. 

One sweet little girl of about 3-4 years old just came up close to me and looked into my face and then she reached out and hugged me! I was so overcome by that. I pray she saw Jesus in my face. That is what I was hoping for.

We didn't go all out with decorations...just this funny scarecrow and the wooden pumpkin and ghost...

And Mr. Jack O Lantern was smiling at everyone:

Oh, and Lily Grace, with her dog Bailey the Wonder Dog, was dressed up as a Hippie Rock Star...

And they had a really good time entertaining the kiddos...

As it got darker, the outdoor lights came on and the house and yard were aglow with a welcoming light.

One teenage boy, as he was actually thanking me for the candy, said, "Oh, your house looks awesome!"

I was flabbergasted!  I know many people do much more elaborate displays and spooky themes, and ours was just simple stuff.  But he turned back around as he was walking away to thank me and tell me that!  Reminds me of the story of the Ten Lepers whom Jesus healed, and as they went away only one returned to thank Jesus...(Luke 17:11-19).   Now, I'm not saying that no one else thanked me during the evening, because actually many did. Especially the little children...they turned back and waved and said "thank you", and one little one said "Be safe!"  Apparently she had heard that spoken to her several times and thought it was something important to tell me! I loved it.   Reminds me again of another Bible Story, found in Matthew 19:13-15, where Jesus blesses little children:

"13 Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And He laid His hands on them and departed from there."

Please don't misunderstand me, because I am not trying to equate Halloween Trick or Treating with Jesus  blessing the little children, except that again, we are Christ's ambassadors to the world. We are the Light of Christ here on earth.  If our intention is to bless the children and show them love, and we are committing our works to the glory of God, then yes,  we are to be as "Christ" to them...and let God take care of the rest of it.  We are planting seeds of Christ's love by faith.  I am still praying for them today.

I guess I kind of got side-tracked there.  Moving right along and back to the calendars for November:

This one certainly reminds me of where we just were on our vacation in the mountains of North Georgia! So beautiful!!

Happy Teapot Calendar! I love this photo with the fire in the fireplace, delicious cookies ready to be eaten, an open book, fresh flowers, and a very lovely teapot and cup of tea...what a cozy and comforting setting...I could certainly appreciate that, couldn't you?

Apparently the teapot is made by Royal Doulton, and this tells more about it:

Here's a quote from Jane Austin, for all you Jane Austin Fans:

Now, this Susan Branch calendar comes up with some "interesting" pictures, to say the least. LOL.  This is so funny...but I'm not sure if I am going to like looking at that poor naked turkey body for the whole month of November! LOL.  It makes me think of what my mother said once, that she hated to handle a whole plucked turkey or chicken because they reminded her too much of a baby! So...now I can't unsee that and may have to cover up this picture. LOL.  

I do like this quote below, however, and I think it actually comes from a Christmas song, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas...", but I can see where it also applies to Thanksgiving...where we have "faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us, once more..."

November is a big month: We turn our clocks back this weekend, We must VOTE on Tuesday if you haven't already (we have!), There's Veteran's Day on the 11th, which also happens to be Benton and Rose's anniversary!  Then there's Thanksgiving on the 28th! Really late this year! I may have to start my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving this year! LOL. 

 

Speaking of Thanksgiving, do you already know where you will spend it? Are you hosting or traveling elsewhere?  We really haven't made any definite plans yet. I'm waiting to hear what all the rest of the family is doing...whether they want to come here or have us go there, but we really aren't crazy about traveling on Thanksgiving (or Christmas either), so we shall see what develops. The main thing is, wherever we go, we need to make sure that it is a day of Thanks-giving. Not just a lot of turkey and dressing and good food and pies, but a day to celebrate the blessings that God has given us, and to share that joy and blessing with others, whether it be family or friends, or maybe even strangers that you don't know that well yet...Share the love, share the hope, share the joy, and give thanks to God with a grateful heart!

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"Oh Give Thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever..." Psalm 136:1

(My photo)

So from our house to yours,

Have a blessed and beautiful November and Thanksgiving season! 

Good Night!