Tuesday 4~Toiletries and Cosmetics, and The Photo A Day Challenge

 

Happy Tuesday!  Before we get into the subjects of the day, I wanted to share this picture from our ride up to the Eye Surgeon's appointments this morning. Hubby and I both had appointments to discuss whether or not we were ready for cataract surgery.  As it turns out, thankfully my doctor said I could still wait awhile and he doesn't need to see me again for a year, unless I develop more symptoms.  However, hubby is scheduled to have his right eye done the first week in August. He's already had the left eye done.  So we will be making that hour's trip again in August.   That picture is of where the Black Creek comes across from the St. John's River, and I always love to take a picture when we pass by there. As you can see, it was a beautiful morning, and we are thankful for a safe ride up and back. Also, we had lunch at Ruby Tuesday's after our appointment.  I especially wanted to go there to have their honey glazed salmon on a salad.  And since hubby had his eyes dilated and couldn't drive, I got to choose where to go! LOL.  It was so good!

Okay, let's get on with the program for today!

Toiletries and Cosmetics

Welcome to Tuesday 4 which was started by Toni Taddeo and kept up in memory and honor of her.
How about talking about cosmetics and toiletries this week?

Let's jump right in, shall we?

1. What brand of shampoo do you think works best for you and what does it do for you?

2. Do you use cosmetics and if so what do you use?

Here's my stash of cosmetics...Covergirl Clean Makeup, Avon Tawny Eyebrow pencil, Avon black wash off/waterproof mascara (although I rarely use it anymore), "Believe" Eye Shadow,  (bought at Dollar General), Avon Glimmer Lipstick, and Avon Glimmer Blush Stick. 

Oh, and Aveeno Fragrance Free Daily Moisturizing Body Lotion for my face and hands and anywhere else that needs it.

I also use some Beef Tallow Balm/Cream...These are locally created. I love the "Fat Mama's Tallow" Lavender Balm, but "Fat Mama" has stopped making it as they are not processing as much beef tallow as they once were. So I have just discovered this "Hippie Dippie Florida Beef Tallow Whipped Frankincense Cream" at the Deep Creek Trading Post.  I use these products primarily on my heels and toes and elbows, or other rough dry patches on my skin.   I would like to ask the Hippie Dippie people if they could make some with the Lavender scent instead of the Frankinsense, because I love lavender fragrance so much better. We shall see what develops.

3. Do you use a washcloth on your face?

Yes, I believe using a washcloth is very healthy for your skin, to help fully cleanse, exfoliate, open your pores and give your face a healthy glow. At least that's what my mama taught me, so that is what I do!

4. Do you have an all time favorite perfume or scent that you wear? If you don't wear perfumes, is there a scent that you love in general?  

I do NOT wear any kind of perfume as perfumes are just too strong for me and they give me a serious sick headache. I honestly don't know how people can stand to wear that stuff all the time! LOL.   But if they do, I much prefer that they don't give me any hugs because it literally makes me ill. I love hugs...just can't tolerate the strong scents, even in the same room. Sorry. Same with candles and air fresheners, and especially Bath and Body Works soaps, etc. They are WAY too strong for me!

However, I do love the lavender essential oil fragrance in my soap and lotions, as long as it isn't too strong. The bar of soap below is a Lavender scented Goats Milk Soap, and it is locally made. We used to sell this at our family owned Dixie Cottage store. The lady who makes it lives in Salt Springs, and she doesn't make it much anymore, but she will make up a batch for Rose and me and we buy a few month's supply at a time. She makes some other fragrances also, but lavender is my favorite. The Goats Milk Soap is so good for our skin. 

Now, let's move on to the July Photo a Day Challenge for today, shall we?  

Today's challenge (21), is "RED".  Well, I had to think about that because I don't have a lot of red in my house, but I remembered something special that I had tucked away for MANY years in a dresser drawer (about 58 years to be exact).

Yes, ladies, this is MY Letterman's Jacket from high school!  Our school colors were Red and White, and I lettered in Cheerleading:

Oh, this picture could have been for the day 19th Black and White photo challenge:

Yes, that's "me", from my senior yearbook. The cheerleading uniform is also red and white. We had to wear sweaters, which, as you can imagine, here in Florida could be quite 'warm" to say the least! Although we may have had a few chilly fall nights during our football season, after spending a couple of hours at a football game jumping up and down and cheering and doing our little cheer routines (NO GYMNASTICS back when I was a cheerleader, thank goodness! I would never have qualified for that! LOL) the sweaters could get quite hot and miserable! Especially in this very humid climate. But somehow we survived and we were very proud to wear our uniforms.  And I was very honored to be inducted into the "sacred" Letterman's Club, which was primarily made up of football, basketball, and baseball players, with the exception of the cheerleaders! I honestly don't remember that we ever did anything all that special, except for have a banquet at the end of the school year to hand out the awards to all of the athletes. But it was a fun time.  I sure couldn't do any of that cheerleading stuff today!!  My body just doesn't have the strength anymore for that kind of activity.

However, this is the kind of strength I do have..."The Joy of the Lord is My Strength"...Nehemiah 8:10

When we walk with the Lord, He gives us the strength to accomplish everything we need to do...and gives us the joy that the world can't take away!  

Praise the Lord!

Okay, That's All folks!

Have a blessed rest of your day!

Friday Foto Friends~ It's December!!

Happy December 1st, 2023!  Can we believe that December is finally here? I know, for some it has seemed like a very long year...but for many of us, we can't figure out where all the time has gone. The year has just flown by, even with all of its ups and downs, goods and bads...(is that a word?)...There may be a few happy to see the year coming to an end.  But let us enjoy this month first...

I'm sure many of you have already put up your Christmas tree...I wonder how many still go out and cut a real tree...or do you purchase a live tree from a lot somewhere...or I expect the majority of us have artificial trees that we have to pull out of storage and put back together...with or without lights attached already?    

John Sloane "Country Seasons" 2023 Calendar for December

Some of my fondest memories are of when our little family went out to find "the perfect tree".  When we lived up north we often went out in the freezing weather and snow...like those sweet children above (but without the draft horses and big wagon, sadly...I would have loved that!)...and my hubby and children patiently waited on me to find that perfect tree. Every side, up and down, had to be inspected for bare spaces and proper fullness, the right height and perfect shape.  It was a toe and nose numbing experience...but once the right tree was finally found we cut it down and dragged it back to our car and tied it on top and away we went...hoping it would actually fit inside the house!

This fuzzy picture below is an example of one of those special Christmas trees...That tree you see standing in the background behind my hubby and our three sons on Christmas morning in Ohio many years ago...that tree was originally about 20 feet tall, and we cut off the top 10 feet of it for our tree! We had 10' tall ceilings in that old house, and I was determined to find a tree to reach the top even if we had to cut down a whole big tree, which we did...probably much to the chagrin of the tree owner...but he actually didn't mind and was happy for us to have it.  You can see it helped make our Christmas merry and bright!

If you want to hear the whole story of that Christmas, you can read about it HERE, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas".

Here's a link to a more recent search for the "perfect Christmas Tree"

And another link to see that tree actually in the house...it's a happy ending...LOL.

So December also is the beginning of Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, the Advent of our Lord.  It's not just about Christmas trees and gifts and shopping and baking and all of the "fun stuff", but it's about the most special gift ever...the "Gift" of God's "only begotten Son", sent to us with love from God the Father.

And that perfect gift was sent to us so that we might have peace...

Yes, in the world we do have much tribulation, but we can be of good cheer, because Christ has overcome the world, and through Him we too are overcomers! Praise God for this amazing gift...free to all who will accept it.

I continue on with the pictures from my December calendars...this one is on the Teapot Calendar:

I wonder how often we have felt "relieved by a summons to tea"...or dinner or a call to come away from whatever we are doing that may or may not be so pleasant to come to that which gives us a time of rest and refreshment.  I know that during the busy times of this month it might be a nice idea to take some breaks and enjoy a little tea time either by yourself or with a friend...it can certainly refresh our spirits and help us keep things in perspective...

I haven't done much decorating yet, but here's what I've managed so far...

I love this little "Recipe for a Happy Christmas"~

I love those happy thoughts, don't you?

And what a thought provoking "thought for the day" this is:

I like this idea...yes, we need to laugh often and sweetly...and "radiate widely your pleasure and health."

I think that goes along nicely with the idea of the verse I shared recently 

"The Joy of the Lord is your strength."  Nehemiah 8:10.

When we know the Lord His joy bubbles up from within us and radiates out to everyone we meet.

That should be our goal for this season of "comfort and joy".  

God rest ye merry gentlemen Let nothing you dismay Remember Christ our Savior Was born on Christmas Day To save us all from Satan's pow'r When we were gone astray Oh tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy Oh tidings of comfort and joy In Bethlehem, in Jewry This blessed Babe was born And laid within a manger Upon this blessed morn The which His Mother Mary Did nothing take in scorn Oh tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy Oh tidings of comfort and joy From God our Heavenly Father A blessed Angel came, And unto certain Shepherds Brought tidings of the same, How that in Bethlehem was born The Son of God by name. Oh tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy Oh tidings of comfort and joy

 Have a blessed December/Advent/Preparation for the Advent of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord!

Friday Foto Friends~Thanksgiving Roundup

Some people call today "Black Friday".  I call it the day of rest after Thanksgiving.

This is how the sky looked around 7:00 a.m. today..."Red sky at morning...shopping malls take warning...the shoppers are coming, come rain or shine!" LOL.   

But not me. I wouldn't go shopping today if my life depended on it...I'd rather stay home and relax and savor the sweet memories of the past few days...This was the sunrise yesterday morning...Thanksgiving day dawned bright and clear and quite chilly for us here in Florida, around 50 degrees...but it was a perfect day in every way...

Let's take a walk back in time over the past couple of days so I can remember it all while it is still "fresh" on my mind...

The first guests to arrive for Thanksgiving were the Sand Hill Crane Family and Mr. Great Blue Heron:

I tried to catch the photo of the Crane family flying across Still Waters Pond to come and have their Thanksgiving day breakfast along the shore...but my camera wasn't fast enough for them.  When they decide to pick up and fly, they do it quickly.  Mr. Heron just stayed calm and relaxed over on the post...

Mrs. Cardinal was nonplussed by their arrival. She just kept eating away at her breakfast at the lovely cut glass diner...

Mr. Heron must have been taking an early morning nap. He has his chin tucked into his wings and he's not paying any attention to what's going on around him.  Maybe he was up all night...

Of course, a lot of preparation for Thanksgiving day began the day before...and I needed all the help I could get. So Lily Grace volunteered to help me bake the pumpkin pies:

She really is a great little helper...she made sure we beat the eggs just right and then we put in the right amounts of spices...

And then she helped stir in the can of pumpkin...

Once the pies were baked she declared they were the prettiest pies we ever baked...

Now back to Thanksgiving morning...the table is all set and ready...

And some more of our special guests have arrived: Sugar and Spice are here to keep everything running smoothly...

Mr. and Mrs. Little Pilgrim are poised at their place on the table.  Hey! I just noticed today that Mrs. Pilgrim is a redhead, and Mr. Pilgrim has dark hair! Just like my hubby and me,  back when our hair was still "young"...LOL. Afraid it's not quite that bright anymore...

Finally everything was ready, and we asked the Lord's blessing on our food

And the serving/dining began:

It's so nice to see these smiling faces:

Even if he does have his eyes closed! LOL:

These turkeys were having a little chat and giving thanks that they weren't the ones being roasted today:

I guess I should have figured out how to take this picture with me in it too...but here's our family and our special guest, the "other Pamela", a dear friend from our church who is a "snow-bird" and we are her Florida family...

Oh, there I am, the two Pamela's could mean double trouble...LOL.

Scott was taking some random photos without us looking...everything was SO good we didn't want to waste anymore time with photos...

Rose and Benton were a big help...they cooked the turkey plus other things...and that was a BIG help to me!

After we finished eating but before everyone left the table we spent some time going around the table sharing what we were thankful for. It was a very sweet and moving time.  This is Scott telling his stories of thankfulness...

We were each and every one extremely grateful for all that God has done for us in this past year.

One special story I want to share...there is a dear couple in our church who we invited to join us for Thanksgiving dinner, but because the wife is currently undergoing treatments for cancer and is immunocompromised they could not come and dine with us.  However, she insisted on baking a pie for our dessert even though they couldn't be here.  Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of our desserts, and I wish I had because it was a beautiful pumpkin chiffon/coconut pie.  It was delicious.  I offered to send home dinner for them, but because of her illness she is very careful about what she can eat at this time and so they wanted to prepare their own meal. But what I want to share with you is what she said when I thanked her for the pie:  She said "I'm very thankful I could cook a meal today--I'm happy to see today...attitude is everything...cancer hates joy, so I choose joy!"    

Wow! That really touched my heart...and made me really think about the things I take for granted...and when she said "I choose joy",  I remembered this verse that I have sitting on my countertop in the kitchen, 

"The Joy of the Lord is your strength"  Nehemiah 8:10

You may remember the story of this little "Prayer Pillow" from this story on Mother's Day.  I love what my friend said, "so I choose joy".  Yes, I want to choose JOY each day as well. Something to really think about at this time of Thanksgiving and as we begin the advent of Christmas...

So as we faze out the Thanksgiving decor and have a last cup of Pumpkin Spice tea

while I sit here writing this post...

And before we get all caught up in the hustle and bustle of the "shop 'til you drop" season and all things leading up to Christmas...Let us take these last few moments of the day to remember to 

"Be thankful, grateful and blessed"...

And most of all, to choose JOY!

Happy Thanksgiving!!