Thursday Thankfulness~Taking Time to Smell The Roses

I Peter 1:6-8

"6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 

7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 

8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory..."

I hope you don't mind seeing these beautiful roses from the "Double Delight" rosebush that was given to me for Mother's Day from my sweet daughter in love, Rose.  I am going to enjoy the blossoms as long as they keep blooming!  And to me, they are just too pretty to keep to myself, so that's why I'm sharing them with you.

I just wish I could share the delightful fragrance of these flowers with you!

I keep cutting these roses and bringing them inside so I can enjoy them, and also inhale their awesome fragrance!  Sometimes we just need to slow down and take the time to smell the roses along the way...

Here's one I left on the bush for now...

This was one bud that the "lubber grasshopper" was nibbling on before I discovered him. But the flower is still persevering and blooming in spite of its afflictions...there's a lesson to be learned there for us...

This bowl was something I found at a flea market a couple of years ago, and even though the flower on it is a peony, it looks so much like these roses.  It's been holding the peaches for the past few days, but I thought it was worth sharing with you too before I put it back away in the cupboard after the peaches are all gone!

Below, the flower on the right was the one the lubber grasshopper was literally devouring when I "eliminated" him from the bush, and hopefully from existence.  And again, this flower is still blooming and giving off that sweet fragrance even with its battle scars...

I liked what this little devotional calendar said, and it seems to fit today.

2 Corinthians 2:15 NKJV

15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 

Here is another one still blooming on the bush outside, and it's just so perfect that I thought I'd leave it there for a little while longer before bringing it inside.  They keep changing every day with the sunshine. 

I was doing a little walkabout the yard and saw a few other things of interest...this pink geranium is making a comeback finally after repotting it in some new fresh fertilized soil...

And these yellow mums have been hibernating in their pot since last fall.  I've been trying to keep things watered, and all of a sudden they sprang back to life!  

John 4:10-14 NKJV

10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 

12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

The first zinnia blossom in the little butterfly garden...

Remember the Gnome House that used to exist on this tree stump?

And then how it looked later after the Pileated Woodpeckers got a hold of it?

Well, I thought you'd like to see how that tree stump looks now:

Isaiah 61:2b-3

"To comfort all who mourn,

3 To console those who mourn in Zion,

To give them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

That they may be called trees of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

It is still uninhabitable for the Gnome Home, but there is certainly new "life" growing all over it!

And the Gnomes are still living happily ever after over on the Holly Tree in the Memorial Secret Garden:

And speaking of the holly tree, I was sitting on my garden bench nearby for a few minutes, and this female cardinal kept flying back and forth into the tree and acting really nervous because I was so close. Now I'm wondering if she has a nest in there or nearby, based on the way she was acting. That will be something to watch and see...

Today has been rather cloudy, which is nice for a change, but I do wish it would bring some much needed rain...anyway, it was nice to walk around outside since the clouds were keeping the temperatures a tiny bit lower. (it's only 89 instead of 95 today! Wow! A cold front! LOL)

This is the big magnolia tree across the street from us, in full bloom:

So I walked over to get some close ups...no one lives in that little house, which is for sale, btw, so I wasn't bothering anyone by looking at the beautiful magnolia blossoms...

Actually, some people walked by on the street and saw me taking pictures of the tree and said "It sure is a beautiful tree!"  And I replied, "Yes, and we need to enjoy it while it's still blooming!"    

So I hope you are enjoying these flowers, which are putting on their magnificent display for the season.  This is what they are designed to do, and then they turn into a kind of a seed cone, which eventually drops to the ground and the squirrels and some birds come and eat the bright red seeds, and many more little magnolia trees sprout up in various places.

Oh,  and btw, these magnolia blossoms also smell divinely!!

This one is getting ready to bloom any day now...

I hope you enjoyed their magnificent show!

Meanwhile, on the back porch, Blackie is licking Sunshine and giving him a head bath I guess.  Oh, btw, you can really see where they clipped Blackie's left ear when he was being "fixed". That is a sign to anyone in the future that he has had this procedure done. They do that on outdoor/feral cats. I never realized it would be such a big piece cut off! It doesn't appear to hurt or look sore in any way, thank goodness.

They are so sweet together.

They are truly sweet kitties, and I am thankful that God sent them to us to enjoy.

I'm sure if you read my last post HERE, you may be wondering how my menfolk are doing. 

Well, Praise the Lord, our son Benton was sent home the following day after several tests to see if his heart was affected in any way, and after much consideration, it was determined that he was suffering from heat exhaustion. So we are very thankful for that, and he learned a hard lesson about staying hydrated during this very hot weather we've been having.

And regarding my hubby's MRI, well, he just wasn't physically able to do it at that time and it has been rescheduled until next week.  Hopefully things will go better for him next week and then we will be able to get some answers. 

You might enjoy this choral arrangement that our choir sang this past Sunday. (see video below)  You won't see me singing because I wasn't there for choir practice when this was recorded, and also we are taking a little bit of a sabbatical right now while we wait on those test results for hubby.  He needed to take a bit of a break from his teaching responsibilities and other activities that we have been involved in for now.  Hopefully we will be able to get back soon, but sometimes you have to listen to what God is telling you about your own and loved ones' health and welfare as well and take some time off  "to smell the roses."

Anyway, I was so glad this was recorded, because it has a great message and was somewhat challenging to sing!

Our God is an Awesome God and The God of Abraham Praise medley

And when the sky was starless in the void of the night

(Our God is an awesome God)

He spoke into the darkness and created the light

(Our God is an awesome God)

Judgement and wrath He poured out on Sodom

Mercy and grace He gave us at the cross

I hope that we have not too quickly forgotten

That our God is an awesome God

Our God is an awesome God

He reigns from heaven above

With wisdom, power and love

Our God is an awesome God

Our God is an awesome God

He reigns from heaven above

With wisdom, power and love

Our God is an awesome God

The God of Abraham praise,

Who reigns enthroned above;

Ancient of everlasting days,

And God of love:

Jehovah! great I AM!

By earth and heav'n confessed;

I bow and bless the sacred name,

For ever blest.

Our God is an awesome God

He reigns from heaven above

With wisdom, power and love

Our God is an awesome God

Our God is an awesome God

He reigns from heaven above

With wisdom, power and love

Our God is an awesome God!

I can't think of any better way to close this post than with that song and message above. Our God IS an awesome God!

Psalm 47:1-2

1 Clap your hands, all you nations;

shout to God with cries of joy.

2 For the Lord Most High is awesome,

the great King over all the earth.

Amen.

Now I hope you will also take some time to go and "smell the roses" while you are able to do so. Life is so short, and we often think we are just too busy to take any time out for the pleasantries of life.  Don't do that. None of us knows how much time we have in this life, and we may be missing some of the sweetest moments by constantly staying so busy or putting things off like retirement, or a little vacation, or just some time off to do something special with the ones we love.  No one is promised tomorrow. Go ahead...go smell those roses...tell someone you love them...go out of your way to do something extra special for yourself and /or someone you love while you can. Be blessed...and be a blessing.  

Good Night my friends.

Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

 It's a beautiful day today...sun is shining and it's only about 85 degrees, which is better than the 90's of the previous week. Thankfully we've had some nice rain this week, which helps everything look greener and prettier.  Still Waters Pond is in its dry phase, which usually happens this time every year, but as soon as the summer rains start back up regularly, the pond will rejoice and be glad.  I caught this picture of our Sand Hill Crane Family "just passing through" the other evening...

I shared this picture with these verses on Facebook:

Hebrews 13:14-16

New Living Translation

"14 For this world is not our permanent home; 

we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 16 And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God."

Yesterday I went over to the lot next door and took some pictures of the big pine trees that they have marked to be cut down in preparation for the new house.  Many of these trees have been there for probably fifty years or more...they are so huge! It made me kind of sad, so I wanted to "preserve their memory" at least in photos, as once they are gone, the beauty and shade and homes for the birds and wildlife that they provided will be lost forever.   So I hope you won't mind if I share a few pictures of trees.  The trees with the green ribbons on them are the ones that will be removed.

I Chronicles 16:31-33

"31 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;

And let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”

32 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;

Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it.

33 Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the Lord,

For He is coming to judge the earth."

This shows the top of that tree above. Its branches go out a long distance, even over to our property next door. I will miss this tree...

These three tall pines will be removed, but there will be a better view of Still Waters Pond and Goose Island once they are removed.

Looking out toward the street:

This area goes around the side of Still Waters Pond, and there is such a lovely breeze under these trees:

Look at those branches on this huge tree...

Right now the sun shines through the treetops, but when they are gone the sun will flood this spot with light. It might be a good thing in the long run, but I personally prefer the shade they provide.

This is another very large tree. I would like to count the "rings" on these tree trunks once they are cut open, to see just how old they are. I wonder if that will be possible...

Looking over across the little canal portion of Still Waters Pond that goes around Goose Island:

Another view of Goose Island. I call it that because that is where the Canada Geese built their nest.

Thank you for bearing with me while I probably am boring you with so many pictures of trees. I am mainly doing this for my own memory, as I want to remember how beautiful this is before it is changed forever.  I still pray for the people who will live here on this lot, and hope that they will truly appreciate the beauty that will hopefully still be preserved as much as possible.

Speaking of neighbors and houses and trees:

I have named this little house "Magnolia Cottage", because that is a huge magnolia tree in front of it. I should have taken a picture when it had more blossoms, but I didn't think of it then.  This is the little house across the street that was brought in and placed there a couple of years ago. I thought I wrote about it then, but I can't find any reference to it.  I remember writing that I was a bit disappointed because I thought they would put a new house on this empty lot, and instead this older manufactured home was brought in that needed a LOT of work to refurbish it. It has taken this man who brought it here a couple of years to get it ready to sell. He worked on it in his spare time, plus had lots of delays for inspections and had to put in a new septic system, etc., so it has been a long process.  Originally he told me that his daughter was going to live there, but since it has taken so long she has found another place, and so now I am of the assumption that he is going to sell it. It has been completely restored inside and out, and is a cute little cottage house.  So I am praying for these potential new neighbors as well.  

Now onto other things...Some of you have asked about my "new glasses" that I mentioned were giving me some difficulty.  Well, I went back to the eye doctor the other day, and he checked the prescription and said it was correct. He suggested (as I figured he would), that I wear them for another week and see how they do. Maybe my 'brain' just needs to get used to them he said... Well, time will tell.  The jury is still out. When I try to read my right eye continues to get very strained.  So we shall see what develops.

My other issue that I mentioned is still a "work in progress", LOL.  I am working on diet and also taking some "supplemental" help as suggested by the doctor. I am also looking at more natural ways of correcting the problem. I am thankful for friends who have given some excellent advice, and hopefully things will "work out" for the best very soon. 

I will close with these thoughts for today...and pray that you and yours have a lovely rest of your week. 

Amen.

Wednesday Treasures?

 I honestly don't have anything in particular to share today. I missed the Tuesday 4 meme yesterday about going to the seashore.  I had a busy day and really didn't have time to focus on it and couldn't think of anything clever to say anyway. Ever have days like that?  I don't even think I have any new pictures to share with you since my Monday post. So why am I here?  I don't know...just thought I should check in before you think I've checked out...LOL.  

Right now I am waiting for some Blueberry Bran Muffins (Click HERE for recipe) to come out of the oven. I can smell them baking and they smell SO good. I have my extra timer sitting here beside me so I can hear it when they are done. If I rely on the timer on my stove, I most likely will not hear it from where I am now and the muffins will get "overdone".  So I must pay attention...

Well, they're done already!!   Just gotta let them cool for a spell while I write to you...

I went outside to check on my own blueberries...I found one to eat right off the bush:

And these are on a different bush, but not quite ripe yet.

We planted several blueberry bushes last spring, in hopes that this year we would have plenty of our own blueberries to eat. However, I apparently didn't fertilize them enough or give them enough water or something, because they haven't produced much.  

Thankfully, we have a very large blueberry farm here in our town and the berries are ripe right now, so I was able to go get some from them the other day to have enough for eating and baking, etc. I may go back and get some more today. There is nothing quite as good as fresh blueberries right from the bush!  And they are huge! And so sweet and juicy!

Here's all I have left of the 2 lbs. I bought last week:

I've been eating them with cantaloupe, on my yogurt and granola, and just at random. They are SO good. Yes, I must add that to the list of "things to do" today...

 (a little later)  And so we did make the trip about two miles south of town to the blueberry farm...

And we were met with a sign on the door that says they are now closed for the 2022 season, and they will see us next year!  What???? How did I miss that?  I thought they'd be going on longer than that!!  Well, "snooze, you lose", as they say.  I guess I missed the first part of the season and didn't realize it had already been going on for a while. Well, doggone it! Now we won't have anymore really FRESH blueberries to eat!!!! I'm rather bummed, can you tell?

Oh well, back to where I was when I started this post over three hours ago...

Speaking of "overdone".  Yesterday was a busy day, as I said. We started the morning out with me having to go the Dr. office to do labs.  That was uneventful enough, thankfully, and then we went out to breakfast at our local "greasy spoon", "Nana's".  It's one of those small local cafe's where you can get a good breakfast or lunch pretty inexpensively, and it's always good. It's not fancy by any means, but the service is good and the people are very accommodating.  I had a wonderful breakfast of one huge blueberry pancake (they actually used the fresh blueberries from that blueberry farm!), bacon, scrambled eggs and hash browns!  (I didn't take any pictures! But it was sure good!) However, that filled me up so much that we didn't need any lunch and also I totally forgot about laying something out to cook for supper.  Well, hubby to rescue...he said he'd go pick up a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store. Sounded good to me. However, when we opened up that chicken, it was the most pathetic looking thing I'd ever seen! I'd say it was about the size of a small pigeon instead of a chicken. The legs were so puny and the wings were so skinny I doubt that chicken could have even run or flown to get away! But worse than that, it was so OVERCOOKED it was totally inedible.  We couldn't find enough edible meat on that carcass to even fill one sandwich if you wanted to, nor would you want to, it was so dry and overdone! I felt really bad because our son Scott came home from work pretty tired, hot, and hungry after working out in the heat all day, and he certainly deserved a good supper!  Thankfully, he's a very talented cook as well, and found some leftover ham in the fridge that was still good (but we were getting tired of eating ham), and made himself a wonderful quesadilla with that. I had baked some potatoes and made a salad, and hubby and I weren't really that hungry, so we just ate the baked potatoes and salad and we were happy. But you can bet I called the manager of that store and told him all about that pathetic overcooked scrawny chicken in as nice of terms as I could manage. He said to come in and get our money back or a new chicken anytime.  I said we'd take the money, thank you.  And so we did that today after our disappointing trip to the closed Blueberry Farm. No problem. Got our money back and hopefully someone had a chat with the deli people about how to properly cook a rotisserie chicken! IF I ever buy another one there, you can bet it will be inspected before it leaves the store!

Okay, let's end this rambling post up on a more pleasant note!

I've been trying to get some decent pictures of this pretty red male Cardinal for a while. He's so quick to get a seed and fly away that I rarely can grab my camera in time.

But today he cooperated a little longer than usual, but I still had to be quick!

He's much more vibrantly red in person...but I noticed something odd about him. He seems to be missing his longer tail feathers!  

There...he turned around and gave me a closer look! Sure enough, he's missing quite a few feathers, but he seems to fly just fine. I don't want to think about what might have happened to cause that problem...but he seems to have survived whatever it was and is managing life just fine without them!

Must be a lesson there for us somewhere...

Meanwhile, I've been enjoying the beautiful magnolia tree across the street from us. It is in full bloom right now, and the blossoms are so large and gorgeous!

I actually picked this one this morning and put it in a glass bowl of water, and within an hour or so this is how it looked:

I was enjoying it sitting on my kitchen counter, but soon realized that the exquisite fragrance of this blossom was a bit overpowering and was contributing to my headache (which is much better, BTW, praise God, but I don't want to put it to the test too much...) and so, the magnolia blossom was relegated to the back porch table, where I can see it without having to smell it...

Is anyone else fragrance sensitive like this? I can't be in the room with gardenias, Easter Lilies, or other strong flowers or else I will get a powerful headache...

However, that was not the source of my headache that I've been having. We moved the pot of Easter Lilies to the back porch as soon as it started having more than one blossom at a time on it.

I am very thankful to be feeling much better and give thanks to God for His guidance and healing touch.

The issue is not totally gone, but it's manageable, and I am indeed most grateful.

Well friends, I guess I should wind this up. It's now lunch time.

What treasures did I share today for my Wednesday Treasures?

Well, treasures aren't always "things" we have in our china cupboards or other material items.

They are the delights we find in God's creation...the birds, the flowers, the berries...the little lessons we learn from nature about adapting to difficult situations and still flying high...

Even when things don't go as planned or hoped, we learn to "make lemonade" out of lemons and carry on. 

John 10:10

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

Yes, there are always those out there who want to steal our joy or cause disappointments or even try to "clip our wings" so we can't fly high, but Jesus reminds us that He came to give us life, and to have it more abundantly.  Regardless of our frustrations, disappointments, and even our "injuries" in life, through Christ we have hope, peace, and yes, even joy in the abundant life that He gives us when we put our trust in Him. That's the treasure I have that I want to share with you today.

Amen.