Sunday Evening "It's About Time"

I thought you might like to see that the Sand Hill Crane couple still stops by in our weedy yard every so often to say hello, 

My poor zinnia garden is pretty well toast and weeds. They also had a fungus and didn't do very well at all. I've planted some new seeds in a different location, and if they make it I will let you know. It's just been too hot and dry for anything nice to grow.

And to get a drink from the swimming pool that we keep filled up just for that purpose since it's so dry and Still Waters Pond is still very dry.

They seem to be most appreciative.

And Blackie loves to watch them from a distance. He's knows better than to get too close. It they had babies with them they would definitely chase him away...

"Hi Mom! Don't worry, I'm being good."

Here it is Sunday evening, and we are winding down with July as well as the photo-a-day-challenge. Today's challenge was 9 o'clock!  Well, at 9:00 this morning I was getting ready for church and didn't have time to take a picture of a clock.  And now it is about 8:11 p.m., and I don't feel like waiting until 9:00 to take a picture tonight. So, I cheated a bit.

This "Anniversary Clock" has been sitting on the Secretary Desk for ages, and it needed a new battery put in. So I decided to go ahead and put in a new battery and set it for 9:00 so I could take a picture. But by the time I got the battery in and the time set, and the mirrored back put back on and arranged it in such a way so you couldn't see my reflection in the mirror so well or on the glass...well, it was already past 9:00! 

I tried a couple of times (actually several, because of the reflections...I didn't want you to see my hands on the camera)

Or too much dust in the corners so I had to take it apart and clean it better...LOL.

This clock was given to us by my husband's Aunt Florence many years ago. She owned a furniture store in New Jersey, and I can't remember exactly when she gave this to us, but I'm thinking it's when we went there to visit her. BTW, the Army Soldier in the background was my hubby's father...and Aunt Florence was his sister. So this clock holds special memories, dust and all!  

And by the time I get finished writing this post, it will probably be 9:00! LOL

Today was a lovely day. We were blessed this morning to receive 10 new members! That is quite remarkable for our small church! Such a blessing! As you can see by all the gray heads in the pews, we need to keep bringing in new members, and especially some that are younger! 

It was also wonderful that our "kids" were here for lunch after church. Here's Rose and Benton and our grandpups Sugar and Spice. We were having some "cool" dessert, Marie Callendar's frozen Key Lime Pie and/or Banana Cream Pie. They were refreshing and I didn't have to bake.    Scott was also here, but I failed to take his picture.  He was busily enjoying his piece of Key Lime pie too.  We also had Fried Chicken that I picked up at the grocery store on the way home from church,  along with some coleslaw and Hawaiian Rolls. I did cook some mashed potatoes and made a tossed salad. It was nice not to have to cook anything but the potatoes, as it is SO hot, and I didn't want to ask Scott to grill anything outside in the heat.  All in all it was a good meal and a good time visiting with our kids. Always such a joy.

I had mentioned the other day that we needed to have some tree work done on Friday. One of the windy storms we had earlier in the week had knocked down some very large and heavy branches from some oak trees in the woods lot next to our house. Thankfully they weren't close enough to the house to hit it, but they did land on the chain link fence and needed to be cleaned up. So our son Benton came over and also a fellow from our church who helps us with our yardwork, and they worked really hard in the extreme heat to cut back those branches and clean it up the best they could.

It really was a bigger job than what they had equipment to handle, but they got the worst of it done and we are very thankfuly they managed without injury or too much heat exhaustion.

It was only 9:00 in the morning, and yet, it was already so hot that they really couldn't stay out there for very long.  

Someday when it's a bit cooler  than it has been we will get a lot more work done, but right now they did all that needed to be done.

Since our photo theme was about time, I thought I would close with a few Scripture verses about Time:

Isaiah 64:4  NIV

4 Since ancient times no one has heard,

no ear has perceived,

no eye has seen any God besides you,

who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

Psalm 31:14-15a

But I trust in you, Lord;

I say, “You are my God.”

15 My times are in your hands;

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

Well Folks, I did it! I managed to keep writing until 9:00, and then I had to run around like a crazy person taking pictures of clocks before they changed the time. so these are the ones I managed to get!:

(on the bottom of my computer desktop screen).

The kitchen wall clock

My cell phone screen

The clock that sits in front of our TV in the living room.

My wrist watch. I almost didn't get there in time!

Well, now it is TIME for bed, so I will say good night and God bless you all!

Wednesday Treasures and the Photo Challenge a day late

 

I am a day late, and most always always a dollar short! LOL.  I started writing this yesterday, and then we made a trip to Walmart, came home, had lunch, took a brief power nap, took hubby to the PCP for his pre-op appointment for the upcoming cataract surgery. We were blessed to be able to get in on such short notice, because the pre-op needs to be done no later than one week prior to the surgery, and his surgery is set for August 6th, which we only found out about on Tuesday! So, with a quick call to our PCP Tuesday afternoon, they had him in on Wednesday afternoon! One of the "perks" of small town living and having a doctor's office that always tries to take care of its patients in a timely manner.

So now it is Thursday morning, and I am in a bit of a rush this morning as well. We are having someone come over for lunch today, and I've been cleaning house and making preparations for that. I will share more about this special day in a later post, because it is something special that I hinted at last week.  So stay tuned!

Meanwhile, yesterday's Photo-a-day challenge was a "TREE".  So here is my favorite tree at the Kenwood Boat Ramp where we like to go take walks...

Psalm 1:1-3

"1 Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

3 He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper."

Jeremiah 17:7-8 NKJV

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

And whose hope is the Lord.

8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,

Which spreads out its roots by the river,

And will not fear when heat comes;

But its leaf will be green

And will not be anxious in the year of drought,

Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

These are the trees around our "Still Waters Pond".  Even though the pond is still very dry, the trees continue to grow and flourish.  They have not "been anxious in the year of drought", and their leaves are still green.

Matthew 7:17-18: "So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit." 

This is the bottlebrush bush/tree that I planted several years ago, and it has grown beautifully this year in spite of the drought. The birds and bees and hummingbirds all love to come and delight in the nectar of the beautiful red flowers that have bloomed better this year than ever!

Here's a picture of that bush during one of the few rainstorms we had this past week:

Well, duty calls. I have a lot to get done before noon today, so I will leave this for now. I don't have a picture to share, but Blackie either brought in or one came in with him this morning, a little salamander type lizard. He chased it around the house for a few minutes until finally the lizard had to give up.  I shooed both Blackie and the poor lifeless lizard out the door, and that's where Blackie is staying for now. LOL. 

So with that I will bid your adieu.  Perhaps that picture could be my "Ordinary Moment" for today's photo challenge.  Although Blackie is anything but "ordinary"! LOL.  Have a blessed day everyone. 

Thursday 6 and Thursday Thankfulness

 My friend Syl over at Sylify is the hostess for this Thursday 6 meme each week. Just six questions. Syl lives in the Netherlands (right, Syl?), and I enjoy visiting with her on her blog throughout the week.  Since I didn't have anything else in particular planned for today, I thought I would give this a try, so here you go!

Welcome!
Theme of the week:  Greetings

1. Did you already have snow this season?

No, because I live in Florida, where snow would be quite unusual, especially in November. It has happened before in January or February, but never enough to accumulate...it usually melts before it hits the ground, but when it does happen, everyone goes crazy for a few minutes just wanting to enjoy it!

Newspaper articles about when it snowed in Central Florida in 1977.  I remember this night, because I was about 8 months pregnant with our youngest son, and I had just arrived at church with our other two children for Wednesday night church, (or some other program).  We had just gotten inside the building and had taken off our jackets when people came in saying it was snowing...and the kids and everyone ran back outside without jackets to see the snow!  My hubby was working as a FHP State Trooper at that time, and he was actually directing traffic out in the snow. He said people were driving like they forgot how to drive. It was crazy everywhere! But so much fun for a few minutes.

2. Who puts the rubbish outside? How?

Usually my hubby and I take the rubbish out together, and we just did that a few minutes ago, because the garbage truck will arrive around 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, and we need to put it out tonight rather than try to wake up on time to catch them in the morning.  

3. At what time did you close the curtains yesterday?

Well, the curtains on the front side of the house stay closed all the time because we live on a rather busy street and I don't like people looking in our windows as they drive by. Plus the sun is very bright on that side of the house in the morning, so we keep them shut to keep the sun from being too hot in the house. 

Here's the view from the front porch early this morning:

 The blinds on the back side of the house overlooking the pond are open for much of the morning, but when the sun moves around to the southwestern side of the house, we have to close them during the middle part of the day or it makes it too warm in the house and the glare off the pond (when there's water in it) is hard to look at.  Then we usually open them back up when the sun goes down in the evening (or on a cloudy day they stay open all the time, which I love).  We don't normally close them back up at night on that side of the house because there's no one behind us to look in them.  

This was the view from our back porch windows last night:

Blackie and Sunshine were enjoying watching the sun going down:

Psalm 113:3 NKJV

3 From the rising of the sun to its going down

The Lord’s name is to be praised.

4. How do you keep warm during the night? What kind of cover?

Funny you should ask...when the cold snap hit a week or so ago, we brought out the new set of flannel sheets that I bought at the end of last winter. I've been anxious to put them on the bed, because I just love the little cabins and pine trees in the snow...

Aren't they cute?  And they are so soft and warm and cozy.  They make me smile just to look at them!

And when I really get chilled, I add this sherpa lined blanket that I got for Christmas last year:

It is super cozy!! Especially when I snuggle up with my little brown "Bear Bear" you see there...and of course my big Teddy Bear hubby too...

When the temperatures start to drop, I think "cozy" is my favorite word...

5. Have you bought Christmas cards yet?

I actually just ordered some yesterday. They don't seem to be carrying them at Walmart anymore and I have a hard time finding any locally, so I had to order them. I also bought some Christmas postage stamps today, but what a sticker shock that was! I may be limiting my Christmas card list this year to people that I don't communicate with online  that much...I don't know...we'll see. I do love to receive cards in the mail, so it's only right that I should send them out too...but it's really getting to be quite expensive!

6. Do you feed the birds when it's cold?

Yes...Feeding and watching the birds is one of our favorite pasttimes in the winter/spring months.

 

Now that we have these porch kitties living here, I do hope they won't scare away all of our pretty birds this winter.  Time will tell.   Mostly our cats just lay there on the porch and watch the birds...they really haven't been that interested in stalking them, so I hope that will be the norm for this winter...

I guess that's the end of the questions for the week for Thursday 6, but I still have more to say! (Of course!) LOL.

Yesterday we had some fellas from our church come and trim those big oak trees in the front. They cut back a lot of low hanging branches and really made them look a lot better!

Here's the finished product!  They cleaned everything up and it looks so nice!  We are very thankful for their hard work and excellent job!

While I was standing on the front porch, this beautiful Gulf Fritillary butterfly came and landed on the pot of Penta that is still blooming so prettily! What a blessing! 

Another thing I am thankful for this past week was as I mentioned in an earlier post HERE, that son Scott came home and cleaned up his room so very nicely.  Then son Benton came over on Tuesday and hauled away some things to the dump, and also helped me get the bed set up the way I wanted it.  I didn't take any before pictures (because it was too big of a mess!!) but here's the after pictures:

The bed used to be turned so that it was up against that wall where the head of the bed is now. You couldn't get beside it on that side so it was very hard to make the bed, but that's the way Scott always liked it.  This way is much better for my purposes and to possibly use it as a guest room now. 

Here's the organ that Scott inherited from my parents' house...(he's the only one that wanted it). It's quite old now and very heavy, but it still works, and he still loves to play it when he comes home, so it will stay there until he has a house of his own to move it to someday.

Here he is playing it at my parents' home when he was about 11. That was where you'd find him everytime we went there.  He doesn't read music, but he makes it up as he goes, and it's actually quite nice. I wish he'd taken piano lessons when he was young...but he calls this his "therapy".

Here's Scott a few years ago when we were in the process of moving and had our stuff stored at the church parsonage where we stayed until we closed on this house...(another long story).

I am very thankful for our family and for these sweet memories.  

Well, it's getting late, and I need to wrap this up.  If you wanted to join in the Thursday 6, it's not too late. Click HERE for the questions.  Thank you, Syl, for coming up with the questions for the week! I enjoyed this!

Psalm 100  NKJV

A Song of Praise for the Lord’s Faithfulness to His People

A Psalm of Thanksgiving.

"1 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!

2 Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

3 Know that the Lord, He is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

5 For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations."