Friday Foto Friends~Memorial Day Weekend

 Happy Friday everyone.  I've been a little out of touch the past couple of days, so trying to get caught up.  Memorial Day weekend has crept up on us...I guess summertime is here...and we have one of our Bluebird couples getting their nest ready to start another family!

I believe this is the same family who keep coming back to this birdhouse each year. This will be their second brood this spring...(summer)

Daddy (above) and Momma (below) are setting up housekeeping again...

I'm glad I had cleaned out their previous nest from the spring.  The only thing is there's a resident lizard who likes to live in that house when it's empty.  I guess he's having to find a better place to stay for now.

So I will keep you posted on the progress of this couple as things "develop".

One day earlier this week we took a little ride down the road a ways to one of our favorite places, Big Lake Kerr.  (Click Here for one of my previous posts from this location, Early Morning Splendor)

Over the past several years we have enjoyed the views from this vantage point and so we like taking this little ride now and then to have time to clear our minds and just relax a bit.

Nothing too spectacular, but it was peaceful and we had the place all to ourselves, which was nice for a change...

As we arrived, a squirrel was busily trying to get to these cat tails...I guess for a snack. His equivalent of a hot dog on a stick I guess. LOL.  We surprised him when we walked up and he got out of there quick, so no pictures. 

But we did see a beautiful Cardinal flitting around enjoying some early morning treats

I would like to ask that you keep our "kids" in your thoughts and prayers. We took Noah and Dawn up to the Jacksonville Airport yesterday to fly back to Maine in order to pick up Dawn's vehicle and drive it back down so they will have two vehicles available.  It will be a whirlwind trip back down, and so prayers are greatly appreciated. I am glad they are waiting a few days for the Memorial Day holiday traffic to die back down before traveling.

Memorial Day weekend is always a bit difficult for us, as it is the anniversary of when our son passed away after his 4 year battle with cancer. Yesterday, on May 25th, marked nine years since he died. It hardly seems possible.   But his loss is greatly felt by our family, even if we don't talk about it that much...the impact of his life and his death have left a big void.

This was one of our last visits with Matthew and his family in Maine. (Oct. 2013)

Hubby John, me, Noah, Matthew, and his wife Nicole.

And now here we are recently, with our grandson Noah and his fiancee' Dawn. 

Time marches on, and life goes on. We are thankful for having our grandson and his beloved spending time with us. But again, the impact of the loss of Noah's father and our son is greatly felt.

I know Memorial Day is meant for those who died in service to our country, but it is also for remembering our loved ones who have gone on before us who also made great sacrifices for their families.  

We are not able to visit our son's grave because it is in Maine, but we will continue to honor his memory and give thanks to God for allowing us to have this dear son for 41 years.

And we pray that his son will be able to carry on his legacy by living in such a way to honor his father's memory.

Philippians 1:5-6 NKJV

5 "for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 

6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you 

will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ"

Some photos from Still Waters Pond and the Memorial Garden this rainy morning...

You can see that the rain has really helped the pond to be replenished! Praise God!

And on a happy note, our beefsteak tomatoes are growing!

And may we all honor our Heavenly Father by living in such a way to bring honor to His name.

 "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

I Corinthians 10:31

Amen.

Have a blessed Memorial Day weekend.

John 15:12-13

12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 

13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

"Monday Monday..."

 Who remembers that song by the Mamas and the Papas?  "Monday Monday...so good to me...Monday Morning it was all I hoped it would be..."

Step back in time with me to 1966 and the Ed Sullivan Show, with Mama Cass and the rest of the group and sing along...(and if you let this video go on to the next one, "California Dreamin" will come up next...can't forget that song either!)

This was a fun little walk down memory lane from my teen years...it just popped up in my brain because it's Monday morning and I know I need to write something...so this is what you get today. LOL. Actually, this Monday morning may not be so wonderful for many people who are suffering from the various storms and crises of this past weekend...you are very much in our thoughts and prayers... more about that later...

Nothing too exciting to share from my neck of the woods. It's been so hot lately that we spend most of our time indoors, trying to stay cool. We did take a little ride on Saturday morning down to the town where we used to live in the Ocala National Forest.  One of our favorite places to to stop is the boat ramp park on Big Lake Kerr.  Two reasons, the view is always beautiful, and they have a clean public restroom! LOL.  Here are a few pictures from our visit to the lake (not the restroom! )

Just a peaceful Saturday morning, out fishing on the lake!

It really was a beautiful day...not a cloud in the sky, and the lake was calm and smooth as glass...

until this big boat came flying in, leaving quite a wake in its path...

But not even that could distract this honeybee from having his breakfast on this lovely wildflower along the shore:

Love to see these busy pollinators out doing what they do best:

Just so long as he doesn't mistake ME for a flower! LOL.

The waters of Lake Kerr are pretty clean and clear, so clear I could see these fish swimming about...

They are still too small to have to worry about being caught by a fisherman, so I hope they enjoy their freedom to swim wherever they please...

Back on land I managed to "capture" this dragonfly while he rested on the grass...

And I guess that was all the pictures I managed to get!  Oh, until we took our walk later in the day at our usual walking place, and I saw this lovely hawk up in the tree:

Not sure if he is a Red Shouldered Hawk or a Red Tailed Hawk, and actually there were two of them in the tree when we first arrived, but the other one flew away as soon as he saw us. This one stayed put and kept a hawk-eye on us!  They were both quite large! I am glad that I am also "quite large", so they won't come preying upon me!

I know that all of us who have been watching the news this past weekend have been heart broken for the good people left behind in Afghanistan.  Our prayers are with them for their safety and peace and safe deliverance from the evil forces that are there seeking to destroy those who are believers in Christ, as well as anyone who has supported or assisted the American government. May God cover them with His strong arm of protection and shelter them in His mighty wings. Psalm 34 is a favorite Psalm of mine. The following verses in particular stand out to me this morning as I pray for the people of Afghanistan:

Psalm 34: 15-22

"15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

And His ears are open to their cry.

16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,

To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,

And delivers them out of all their troubles.

18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,

And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

20 He guards all his bones;

Not one of them is broken.

21 Evil shall slay the wicked,

And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.

22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,

And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned."

I am also praying for the people in Tennessee who have had such a horrible flood over the past few days...many have lost their lives, homes, and livelihood, and there are still quite a few people missing. Also many have suffered from the flooding in upstate NY this past week, and now many are enduring heavy rains and flooding from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Henri along the north east coast and further inland.  May God be merciful to them and lift them up out of the floodwaters to safety.  Also praying for the many who are truly suffering from Covid right now, and there are many here in our area. Sadly our hospital is full of patients and even sadder,  I understand our funeral homes are full as well...that is a very sobering thought.

I am quite humbled as I contemplate all these who are suffering so much in our land and around the world. My heart goes out to them, and I wish there was more that I could do. I am not financially able to help, and not physically able to go and do any kind of rescuing...but I know WHO is able to do all of the above, and the best thing I can do is pray. Yesterday our pastor delivered a wonderful sermon from the book of Isaiah, chapter 38, about  King Hezekiah's prayer and healing from the Lord.  You can listen to the sermon here on this video.  This message was one of hope and faith that God does hear our prayers and yes, He does answer our prayers!  I hope you will enjoy this message...as well as the Praise Team singing "Through it All" at the beginning of the video.

Through It All

by Andre Crouch

"I've had many tears and sorrows

I've had questions for tomorrow

There's been times I didn't know right from wrong

But in every situation

God gave blessed consolation

That my trials come to only make me strong

Through it all, through it all

I've learned to trust in Jesus

I've learned to trust in God

Through it all, through it all

I've learned to depend upon his word

I've been to lots of places

And I've seen a lot of faces

There’ve been times I felt so all alone

But in my lonely hours

Yes, those precious lonely hours

Jesus let me know that I was his own

Through it all, through it all

I've learned to trust in Jesus

I've learned to trust in God

Through it all, through it all

I've learned to depend upon his word

I thank God for the mountains

And I thank him for the valleys

I thank him for the storms He brought me through

For if I'd never had a problem

I wouldn’t know that He could solve them

I'd never know what faith in God could do

Through it all, through it all

I've learned to trust in Jesus

I've learned to trust in God

Through it all, through it all

I've learned to depend upon his word"

So, I hope this "Monday Monday" will be a good day for you.  May the Lord lift you up out of any deep waters in which you may be treading, trying to keep your head above water today. May He deliver you safely to the shore and take care of your every need.  

Happy November!

Well, it's November, folks!  We made it this far in 2020, and if we can survive this week we just might make it to the end of 2020!  Praying and trusting that God will be with us this week as we cast our ballots (most of us already have) and as we wait on the results and pray for God's will to be done. That is my prayer. Regardless of what people may think, God is still in control and we will trust Him to do what is best for all concerned. But that still doesn't mean that you shouldn't vote. Do your part, but most of all, pray and seek God's wisdom first.

Okay, that is all I will say about that for now. I may have a lot more to say after tomorrow.

I see Thanksgiving on the calendar...and I have no clue just what we are going to do yet. Haven't talked recently to my relatives who are close enough to come and share Thanksgiving with us as they usually do, to see what they are thinking and what they feel "comfortable enough" to do. What are you folks doing this year? 

Here's the picture from my John Sloane Country Seasons Calendar for November. Today I really could have used that firewood to build a fire...it got pretty chilly here in Florida...in the 50's this morning and currently this evening it is 56, and it has been quite windy all day. At least it was sunny, so that was nice. I know many of you are much colder where you are, so I'm not complaining. But this is Florida, after all!  (And it is expected to go down into the 40's tonight!)

And here's the picture from my Tea Times calendar for November:

Cute tea set with the fox hunters on the hunt.  Poor widdle foxy.

I think I'd rather do as C.S. Lewis says here:

Yes, on a chilly fall day, put a fire in the fireplace (ours is electric) and sit down with a cup of tea and a good book and just relax and enjoy!!

My cup may not have been that fancy fox hunting group on the English countryside, but it is an "Olde English Countryside" design...

This cup is very old and has cracks in it, but I love the pictures on it.

See? I told you it was an "Olde English Countryside"!

So, what have you been doing today? We spent the morning at Walmart buying groceries. That was our walk for today as it was just too cold and windy this morning to walk outside. Then I went to our church Ladies' Bible Study this afternoon...still studying Joshua, and the discussion today was from Joshua 5, and also Leviticus 26:40-42,  talking about "circumcision of the heart".  God says of the Hebrew people, that if they will "confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors...their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward Me...then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land." (Leviticus 26:40-42)  In essence, when we turn back from our sinful ways toward God, He will forgive us and remember His promises toward us...

I believe our nation is in need of this kind of humbling and repentance and then forgiveness and healing from God.  Tonight, on the eve of this very important election, we really need to pray for our country to turn back to God so that He will heal our land.

In the meantime, how about some pictures from my weekend?

We took a nice little ride back down to the area where we used to live and stopped in at the boat ramp onto Big Lake Kerr...a lovely place where I've taken many beautiful pictures in the past.  I noticed these pretty yellow flowers along the shore and when I went to take a picture of the flowers I realized there were these very different looking butterflies flitting all around them.  Not sure that I've ever seen this particular butterfly before, but I looked it up and it is a "White Peacock"

This one below looks a little battle scarred:

But they both were enjoying their dinner of nectar from these lovely flowers. They didn't seem to notice me at all!

Then I turned my sights to the gorgeous smooth waters of Big Lake Kerr, and the perfectly clear blue skies above:

This lake has a very nice white sandy bottom, making it a nice place for swimming and boating.

It was a perfect morning!

Then we came home to our own Still Waters Pond and I noticed this very unusual bird swaying in the weeds along the shore.  It is an American Bittern, and this was my first sighting of this particular bird. 

I noticed that he seemed to be swaying in the weeds, and then I read in my Audubon bird guide that "when an observer is nearby, he will often stretch its neck up, point his bill skyward, and sway slowly from side to side, as if imitating waving reeds."  And that is exactly what he did for a very long time.

I was able to watch him from a distance for quite a while, and then decided I'd best go away so he could get back to his fishing and stop the swaying...

Not long after this he moved on to different parts of the pond, but I felt honored to be able to watch him for so long. I believe our Still Waters Pond would be a perfect habitat for him! Maybe he'll be back!

Interestingly enough, we read the 23rd Psalm in our morning devotions today. Perhaps it is good to review this Psalm again as we prepare our hearts for the upcoming events this week:

"The Lord is my Shepherd; 

I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and You staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil; 

My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

May the Lord give us peace of mind and soul no matter what.

Have a blessed week my friends.