Thursday Thankfulness on Friday Morning! MAJOR UPDATE!!!

 UPDATE:  AT 2:30 P.M. BLACKIE FINALLY CAME HOME!! The little stinker didn't have one word to say about where he'd been or what he'd been doing. He just nonchalantly jumped up on the back porch when I called him (for the hundredth time today), and came inside and said "What's for dinner? I'm starved!"  So of course I fed him the whole can instead of just half (but he only ate half!) and now he is sitting in one of his favorite chairs (they are ALL his favorite, and he thinks he owns ALL of the chairs in the house), and it looks like he's going to take a nap!!  

King Blackie on his throne.  I said to him, 

"Pussycat pussycat, where have you been?

I've been up to London to visit the Queen.

Pussycat pussycat, what did you there?

I frightened a little mouse under her chair

MEOWW!"

Thanks for caring and praying for him! All's well that ends well!!

Original Post this morning:

I don't think I've done a Thursday Thankfulness post in a while. Certainly not because I haven't been thankful! Probably more because I've either been busy or preoccupied with other things  and just haven't taken the time to "count my blessings" on a Thursday! But I do count them all the time, I just don't always write about it on Thursday!  And guess what?  I started this post on Thursday evening, but I was too tired and preoccupied to keep writing, and now here it is Friday morning, so I guess this will be a "Thursday Thankfulness post on Friday!"  LOL.  I am thankful that I am awake and alive and well enough to sit here and write to you this morning!

Lamentations 3:22-26

"22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

“Therefore I hope in Him!”

25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,

To the soul who seeks Him.

26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly

For the salvation of the Lord."

This was the view from our back porch this morning (above)

And here's the view from the front porch before the sun came up:

I was out on the porches early because I was calling for Blackie.  He did not appear at the back door for breakfast as per his usual routine at 5:30 a.m. (sometimes earlier).  It is now 6:30 a.m., and he still has not appeared.  I think I know why.  We have these "Blink" cameras strategically placed around our property, and they showed an unusual amount of loose dog activity in the neighborhood during the night...with several dogs running through our yard.  Whenever that happens, Blackie goes into hiding and won't reappear until he feels safe enough to come back out.  I've been calling him and calling him (I'm sure the neighbors love hearing me calling in the early morning hours), but there's still no sign of him. Hubby says not to worry...he will show up when the sun comes up and he feels safe enough to come out of his hiding place.

I am thankful for the cameras, because they do give us an extra layer of "security" as we are able to see whatever is happening on our property even when we are not at home. 

We also have this "Ring" doorbell/camera at the front door, which not only shows us "who's there", but we can talk to them even when we aren't at home! I am thankful for this new technology and also for our "kids" Benton and Rose, who ordered them and set them up for us. It really helps to have smart and talented kids.

Now, you may wonder why I said I was too preoccupied and tired earlier in this post.  Well, it has to do with all this wonderful technology that we have and are indeed thankful for.  On Monday morning hubby and I had made a decision to change our WiFi provider to a different company, because they were offering a deal that we really couldn't pass up...a price for  WiFi service at less than half the cost of our current service, and that price was guaranteed for FIVE YEARS!  We were excited to discover that the new company had recently extended their fiber optic cables into our neighborhood so it was now available to us.

I don't know if any of you have ever gone through the process of changing from one system to another, which also included changing our cell phone provider to the new company, but if you have, you know that it is a time consuming (on the phone with technicians) process,  and not for the faint of heart or for those who are not too savvy when it comes to modern technology.  And you better not have anything else planned for a day or two, because there are so many details involved in this process that you won't be able to leave your phone or your house until everything is figured out!

New Modem

Let's just sum it all up by saying that I am thankful that it is now done...but let me tell you...it can be a real learning curve for those of us who are older and somewhat behind in the latest technology. I was shocked to discover that I would have to figure out how to switch from the old provider to the new on every piece of technological equipment we own:  Desktop computer, Laptop Computer, Smart TV, Printer, Cell Phones, and yes, also those wonderful Blink Cameras and also the Ring Doorbell Camera! Without physically going through the steps on each device, they would not work! Trust me, it was an ordeal, and I was on the phone with the technicians more than once while they walked me through it (especially for the cell phones, because hubby's phone is an older model and it required a new "SIM Card", which they mailed to us next day mail, and I had to figure out how to install that as well as make all the necessary transfers.)

Hubby sent this picture to me this morning from Facebook, because he said this was a good picture of how I looked this week! LOL!!!

I am very thankful that all of my "work" this week will be well worth the savings we are getting on our WiFi and Cell Phone systems.  When I figure it up for the five year period, we will be saving over $4000.!!!  I'd say that's worth all my trouble, wouldn't you?  And that doesn't account for the possibility that our old WiFi company might have continued to raise their rates each year, as they have done pretty consistently over the past few years.  They weren't happy with me when I called them to cancel the service, and they tried to offer me all kinds of discounts...but I told them they were too late! They should've offered them BEFORE I felt frustrated with their rising prices so much that I looked elsewhere.  

Well, friends, it's time to get a move on. Blackie still hasn't come home, but I expect he will show up when he gets hungry enough.

This is Blackie's favorite place to be.

Oh, and I got a slip cover for the new recliner this week at Ollie's (where you can buy "Good Stuff Cheap!")  That works better than all the other things we were trying to keep Blackie's sharp claws off the chair...

And since that cover was blue (the only one we could find that would fit), I decided to get a blue cover for the couch as well...

Okay, folks...Thank you for being here. I appreciate each and every one of you and your sweet comments.  I thank the Lord for this place where we can meet and visit throughout the week!  You are all very special friends!

Have a blessed and wonderful day and weekend. Don't forget to "spring ahead" on your clocks Saturday night!!  

Saturday Night Review & Blessings...

If you read my previous post HERE,, then you will know the story of this rose.  This is how it looks tonight, August 6th. Tomorrow is that special anniversary date, and yes, it is blooming beautifully just in time. A very special "heavenly gift" indeed. 

So what have I been doing since the last time I wrote? Well, let's see, besides helping out quite a bit at Dixie Cottage, we've also been eating a lot of good food at  Dixie Cottage.  I know, it's not an eating establishment, but one thing about this community, people love to eat, and we don't have a lot of restaurants to choose from, so there are many food trucks and other unique food tents that pop up here and there, like this one:

"Wicked Good Hot Dogs"

We've seen this tent usually near our local Dollar General store on the weekends and some weekdays, and my son spoke to the ladies who run it and asked if they would like to set up their tent here in our parking lot on Friday for a change.  You may be asking yourself what is a "wicked good hot dog"?

Well, if you've ever visited New England, Maine in particular, you will know that one of their most popular slang terms to describe anything they really really like is that it is "wicked good".  So we knew when we saw this tent that the proprietors must be from Maine, and sure enough we were right.

Of course I had to try it for myself...they have many delicious options for the hot dogs...sauerkraut (which is what I have below), chili and cheese, peppers and onions, red pepper relishes, etc., etc.  Oh, and they also bake their own special hot dog rolls, New England style, with the opening on top instead of on the side. It is very difficult to find that kind of hot dog bun here in the south, so they make their own! That was kind of the "icing on the cake", if you ask me.

I didn't think to take a picture until I was half way through with my hot dog. It was that good. Oh, and the drinks! Wow! They freeze several different selections of drinks in that special sippy pouch, and they are also "wicked good". My choice was fresh squeezed real lemonade! I haven't had that in ages. (not since the last time I was at the Fryeburg Fair in Maine several years ago!)  

I no sooner had posted about this on Facebook than I had a message from a former school friend that she and her husband were on their way to Dixie Cottage! We had actually gone home for a little break when I saw her comment, and so we jumped back in the car and drove back over to the store to meet them! Thankfully it is only about 3 miles from our house.  This particular friend lives in a nearby community about 20 minutes away.  She's the same dear friend who brought me a whole big box full of a series of Amish Mystery books to read back in 2020 (just at the beginning of the pandemic) while I was recuperating from some major surgery.  What a wonderful surprise to see her again! She and her sweet hubby also enjoyed some "wicked good hot dogs" while we visited back in the little break room that Ben and Rose have set up in the back of the store, and then they had their little tour of the store and before they left I remembered that we must have a picture taken of us together:

I never dreamed that this store would become the "gathering place" for old school friends from my home town, but this was the second one this week! What a blessing! I wonder who will be next? Of course, you don't have to be an old school friend to come and visit.  Any wonderful friend will do! We are finding that we are making new friends already here! What a blessing!

So now, today was another culinary adventure! Unbeknownst to our son, there was another food truck coming to set up business for the day.  Apparently this BBQ truck has been setting up here every other Saturday for quite some time. The previous tenants of our building were not open on Saturdays, so  the BBQ truck could make use of the parking lot without any competition for space (except for the Barber Shop, which is on the end of our building).  However, Dixie Cottage is open for business on Saturdays, so the BBQ truck had to move over and share the space.  Really it wasn't bad...kind of a symbiotic relationship..."you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours", or something like that. One business attracts visitors to the other, so it's all good.

And of course, we had to sample their food as well.  They had smoked ribs, chicken, brisket, pork, etc.

So I picked up chicken and some potato salad and coleslaw for our supper tonight. It was also "wicked good". LOL.

However, hubby and I decided we can't keep eating all this food out all week long. One day when we were there alone all day we ordered take-out for lunch from Nana's Country Cafe' across the road. (Hamburgers).  Starting next week we will pack our lunches when we have to be at the store all day. Otherwise we'll be going broke from too much good food.

But it's all good. We've had a great week, and the store did surprisingly well for their first week of business here in this new location. This morning people came to pick up the large pieces of furniture that they had purchased earlier in the week, and the store was looking a bit bare.  So Ben and Rose are busily trying to get more inventory ready for sale before they reopen on Tuesday. It's a good problem to have, but it is also kind of stressful for them.  Hopefully things will fall into a good pattern and they will be able to maintain their stock a bit better as time goes by.

Meanwhile, here on Still Waters Pond, life goes on as usual.

This Great Blue Heron

and this White Egret are busily "shopping" for their supper from the waters of the pond this evening.

I don't think they have any worries about supplies running out or the prices being too high.

God provides for them and they are grateful for His provision.

And so are we...grateful for God's provision in so many ways. 

Lamentations 3:22-25

22 "Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

“Therefore I hope in Him!”

25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,

To the soul who seeks Him."

Why not sing this beautiful favorite hymn along with us :

Great Is Thy Faithfulness (song above by Carrie Underwood and CeCe Wynans

1 Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father,

there is no shadow of turning with thee.

Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;

as thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.

Refrain:

Great is thy faithfulness!

Great is thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

all I have needed thy hand hath provided.

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

2 Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,

sun, moon, and stars in their courses above

join with all nature in manifold witness

to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. 

[Refrain]

3 Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,

strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! 

[Refrain]

Thank you for coming along on this adventure this week. Tomorrow is the Lord's Day, and we will be worshiping at our church and hopefully taking some time to rest.

I hope you will be able to do the same.

Have a blessed SONday tomorrow! 

Good Night and God Bless.

 

Waking Up to New Life

"Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

They are NEW EVERY MORNING;

Great is Your faithfulness.

'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul,

'Therefore I hope in Him!'

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,

To the soul who seeks Him."

Lamentations 3:23-25

This was the sight that met me when I opened our drapes and looked outside our bedroom window early this morning!  This absolutely perfect Giant Swallowtail butterfly was resting on the holly tree, and when I went outside to take its picture it didn't even attempt to move.  The sun was still coming up and it was still a little too dark to get a really good picture, so I thought I would go back out when it was a little brighter, and he was gone.  I feel so blessed that I was able to capture this picture at all!  Ordinarily I wouldn't have even opened the drapes that early, but there was a "red sky" sunrise shining through the drapes, and I didn't want to miss it...and look at this wonderful surprise that God had waiting for me!

I wondered just why the butterfly chose this particular tree to rest on perhaps through the night?  Maybe he felt safe there, close to the house and away from possible predators...or maybe somehow he knew that there were pictures of butterflies hanging on the wall just inside this window!?

Do you see him through the window below?

Whatever the reason, to me it was a definite blessing and gift from God...like the verses from Lamentations above...

"Because His compassions fail not, 

They are NEW every morning...Great is Your Faithfulness!"  

What a beautiful way to start the day! Praise God!!

Let's Sing along with and old favorite hymn:
"Great Is Thy Faithfulness"

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father, There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.  Refrain: “Great is Thy faithfulness!”  “Great is Thy faithfulness!” Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided— “Great is Thy faithfulness,”  Lord, unto me! 2 Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon and stars in their courses above, Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. 3 Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! © 1923. Ren. 1951 Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, IL 60188 www.hopepublishing.com