Friday Foto Friends~Cozy Memories Flashback to 2017

Good Morning Friday Foto Friends!  I didn't have anything new to share with you today, so I thought I would go back into the archives and find something from an earlier October post to share with you.  This was written while we still lived in our previous home, the one I called our "Camp in the Woods House".  I wish I could say it was chilly enough here now to do this again, but we haven't quite reached that state of bliss yet.   So this can be a wishful thinking post for today...something to look forward to hopefully not too much farther into the future!  What are some things you are looking forward to doing this fall? Is it cold enough yet where you are to light a fire and have some hot cocoa?

(Original post 10/27/2017)

Come sit beside my fire with me.... 

The cocoa is warm...and the friendship is free...

"A man ( or woman) who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." 

Proverbs 18:24

"Therefore comfort each other and edify one another,

just as you also are doing."

I Thessalonians 5:11

"And above all things have fervent love for one another, for 

love will cover a multitude of sins."

"Be hospitable to one another without grumbling."

I Peter 4: 8-9

"And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;

but the greatest of these is love."

I Corinthians 13:13

Welcome to Friday Foto Friends...inspired by the first cold snap of the season here in Florida...a wonderful excuse to turn on the "wood stove" (yes, it is electric...but still warm and cozy...with no mess to clean up!)...and bring out the old fashioned stacking cocoa mugs that I grew up with, first as a child on the farm in Pennsylvania, and then in our home in Florida...(where we moved when I was six years old) 

 There were originally six of these cute little cups, one for each member of our family.  When we were settling our parents' estate, my sister and I each took three of these cups because we had such happy memories attached to them of homemade hot cocoa with marshmallows on a chilly day...and family gathered around the fire enjoying Mom's homemade cookies fresh out of the oven, which made it perfect...(wish I had some of those right now...)

I believe my mother bought these sturdy little cups from a local restaurant in Clarion, PA.  They have to be at least 70 years old...and not a crack in them!

Mom always made the hot cocoa from scratch using Hershey's cocoa.

I assume this is the recipe she used, but she most likely doubled (or tripled!) it for our large family:

Recipe for Four Servings from the Hershey Cocoa Can:

Combine 1/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa, 1/2 cup sugar, dash salt in a saucepan.  Blend in 1/3 cup hot water.  Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir two minutes.  Add 1 quart milk, stir and heat.  Do NOT boil.  Remove from heat.  Add 3/4 teaspoon vanilla.  Beat with rotary beater until foamy.  Makes about 1 quart or 4 servings.

Nowadays I make Hot Ovaltine in the microwave...that's my favorite hot chocolate and the quickest way to do it!  

What are some of your favorite family traditions on a chilly fall evening?

I hope you've enjoyed these cozy memories with me. They have certainly made me smile in a nostalgic happy way.

Have a blessed and happy Friday...and go ask someone to come and share a cup of hot cocoa with you!!

Back to the present: Click HERE for a previous post from our current house about having some hot cocoa in front of the fire. I sure hope it cools down enough soon so we can do this again.

Disappointment Turned to Thankfulness

It's been one of those days...

You know, when you work really, really hard to make things extra special...

And you arrange things just so, thinking it will be noticed and appreciated...

And even the "baby" (Baby Elva) is all dressed up and ready to be noticed...

And Pamela's Victorian Cottage is ready to welcome guests...

And the people come, who are "prospective buyers" for our house, and they kind of breeze through, looking around, but not with the kind of interest and intensity that we, as prospective sellers, would like to see. And then they tell you they are looking for "investment property", to use as a rental...and your heart does a little drop, knowing that this particular house and property are most likely not what they are really looking for...and they really didn't care how "cute" and dressed up things were...they don't plan to live here.

So, you thank them for coming...and you wish you hadn't worked quite so hard and wore yourself out trying to make things look so nice...because they really didn't notice at all...

But, as I sit here feeling sorry for myself, one of my dear friends from here in Blogland as well as Facebook sends me an encouraging message, telling me a story of how when they were trying to sell their house, and they had a really special new house picked out that they wanted, and they were meeting with the builder and making changes to the floor plans, etc, in hopes their house would sell and they could buy that wonderful new house just the way they thought they wanted it...with only two bedrooms since they were downsizing...one very large master, and the other a regular bedroom...but then their house didn't sell and they had to give up on that particular house.  They were quite disappointed.

Then a few weeks later their house finally sold, but that house that they wanted was no longer available.  They ended up choosing another house, with three smaller bedrooms, but it was okay...just not exactly what they thought they wanted.  Long story short, not long after moving into that home, their son came back home to stay with them because of an illness, and they found that they really needed that 3rd bedroom, and were so glad that God had stopped them from buying the first house as it would not have been adequate for their current needs.

My friend then said to me: 

"The Bible tells us to wait on the Lord, that is so very true. We don't know our future but He does. He is leading you through this venture so everything will work out for your best interest. "

Yes, that is so true, and I truly appreciate my friend (you know who you are!) for sharing this story with me just now as I was starting to write this post. It helped change my whole attitude and demeanor from being frustrated and discouraged, to hopeful and thankful again.


Another blogging and Facebook friend posted this verse on her page this morning:

Today's Verse: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” -

1 Thessalonians 5:11

I love how our friends here do exactly what this Bible verse says...You know, we can say a lot of negative things about Facebook and they would probably be true, but there are also many wonderful things about it...and that is the fellowship of friends that we have there, and here, in blogland.  I have met so many wonderful people here, and keep up with many old friends as well, and we are able to bless one another with words of encouragement, often just at the right moment.  I had another friend email me this morning to tell me she would be praying for me as we showed the house today. Again, this is a friend that I met through blogging and facebook.  (and have also had the joy and privilege of meeting face to face as well).

This week another of our friends has been sitting in the hospital with her husband, who has been in ICU.  She reached out to her friends here, and one thing led to another, and she actually called me on the phone the other night and we were able to talk to each other "in person" for the first time, and to encourage one another. The good news is her husband is on his way to rehab today, and appears to be doing much better. Many friends have been praying, and God is answering those prayers.

So, what started out to be kind of discouraging, disheartening, and disappointing, has turned out to be a blessing to me today.  I know in my heart that God is in control, and that He is working ALL things together for my good, (Romans 8:28), and therefore, I will rest in that knowledge and trust in His goodness.  And my hubby and I will just enjoy having a clean house for the rest of the day. I may even go have a little mini tea party with myself and Baby Elva, just for the fun of it.  

God knows when and if this house will sell, and He has just the right kind of people who will come and love it as much as I do and appreciate the special things about this house as they make it into their own home.

Meanwhile, You are always welcome to come for a visit...and I will definitely put the tea-kettle on so we can have a tea party!!

Have a blessed day...and Thank YOU, dear friends, for being exactly that!

Dear Friends!!!

Friday Foto Friends - Some Friendly Thoughts

I saw this picture on Facebook and couldn't resist...

It made me think about my wonderful blogging friends as well as some of my local "face to face" friends and family...

It seems to embody all the things we tend to have in common...love of a good cup of tea (or coffee for those of you who must! LOL), a stack full of good books that we can't seem to get enough of...some bon-bons and cupcakes, pretty flowers, and a spirit of adventure!!  Who among us wouldn't just love to do exactly this...remember when we played house and had tea parties as little girls?  My sister and I did...we had a special table-cloth that fit over a card-table that had a picture of a house painted on it...windows, a door, the roof, and we could sit under the table and play with our dollies and have tea parties and "pretend" we were grown up mommies.

 (Something similar to this idea below found on the internet:)


Last weekend my sister and I celebrated her birthday with a little tea party.  We didn't have to crawl under the table to have our party (thank goodness! We'd probably still be stuck there!)..and now we are both grown up mommies for real!  (I know some of you who are my Facebook friends may have already seen some of these pictures, so bear with me)

We used the cute little teapot with a birdie on the lid that my sister had given me one year for my birthday or Christmas, I forget which...

And we used the Haviland China Tea Cups that came from our Grandma Tedlie, via our mother when she passed.  My sister and I shared the collection so that we each have some of the same...

Then we took our tea party out to the front porch because it was such a lovely day:

and sat and rocked like two little old ladies and listened to the birdies and talked about things we enjoy...flowers, birds, and our families...

Kind of like this old painting which belonged to our grandmother...I believe this picture is entitled "The Gossips",   but we weren't gossiping...just visiting, which is entirely altogether different!

I count you all as my special friends, whether we have met in person or not. I look forward to this gathering each week...love to hear about your life and what you've been doing and the things you have seen. It truly is like visiting with dear friends, and I do thank God for each and every one of you.

~Some thoughts on Friendship~

"If you would be loved, love and be lovable."

Benjamin Franklin

Philippians 1:3 

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you"

"The better part of one's life consists of his friendships."

Abraham Lincoln

I Thessalonians 5:11 

"Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing."

Proverbs 17:17a 

"A friend loves at all times..."

"Being with you is like walking on a very clear morning..

definitely the sensation of belonging there."

E.B. White

I hope you've enjoyed this little friendly visit today.  Now let us join our other Friday Foto Friends over at Deb's Place, Breathing in Grace, and see what's been happening in your lives!!