Still Playing Catch up!

 We'll  start out this post with some scenic views on the St. John's River from today...but more about that later...

Thank you all, for your kind and encouraging words on my most recent post about my experience in the hospital, etc.  It's been an interesting journey, but one that I am so thankful to God that it really wasn't as bad as it could have been! I am still playing "catch-up", both here in Blogland in reading your posts and trying to keep up with what's been happening in your lives, as well as here in my own little world and trying to keep up with what's going on in our own family/church/friends, etc., as well as trying to regain my strength and energy so I can keep up with daily routines.  

It reminds me of this song, which I'm sure many of you will remember from back in the day..."One Day At A Time"

Linda Randel, Gaither Homecoming

One day at a time, sweet Jesus

[Chorus]

One day at a time, sweet Jesus

That's all I'm asking from You

Just give me the strength to do everyday

What I have to do

Yesterday's gone, sweet Jesus

And tomorrow may never be mine (Ooh)

Lord, help me today, show me the way

One day at a time

[Verse 1]

I'm only human, I'm just a woman

Help me believe in what I could be and all that I am

Show me the stairway I have to climb

Lord, for my sake, teach me to take one day at a time

[Chorus]

One day at a time, sweet Jesus

That's all I'm asking from You

Just give me the strength to do everyday

What I have to do

Yesterday's gone, sweet Jesus

And tomorrow may never be mine (Ooh)

Lord, help me today, show me the way

One day at a time

[Verse 2]

Do You remember when You walked among men?

Well, Jesus, You know, if You're looking below, it's worse now than then

There's pushing and shoving, and it's clouding my mind,

So for my sake, teach me to take one day at a time

[Chorus]

One day at a time, sweet Jesus

That's all I'm asking from You

Just give me the strength to do everyday

What I have to do

Yesterday's gone, sweet Jesus

And tomorrow may never be mine (Ooh)

Lord, help me today, show me the way

One day at a time (Ooh)

I am very very thankful to have been given the blessing of another day to keep living and praising the Lord, and celebrating the good things in this life...like our 56th Anniversary, which was Saturday.  I'm sure many of you already saw the pictures on facebook, so I will spare you the details from 56 years ago...Here's a link to last year's anniversary, which has a link to previous years, so you can go back and look as much as you want. LOL.  In looking at last years', I just realized that we did the same thing then as we did today, and I even wore the same top! LOL.   Here's what we did today to celebrate belatedly since I really wasn't feeling quite up to par on our actual anniversary on Saturday. (but we did do something then, which I will get to in a minute).

We went to our favorite restaurant on the St. John's River, Corky Bells!

Here's hubby...(which again, I am very thankful that he is feeling better these days as well, and he was willing and able to take us out to lunch)

And here's your's truly today:

 

And here I was last year...yep, same top, necklace, glasses...just had shorter hair, which, if I recall, was a mistake by a new hairdresser that I never went back to! However, in both pictures, it was a windy day, and you really can't tell much about my hair as to how it should look! (I think I was also a few pounds lighter last year...something I need to work on)

This was my food today...broiled shrimp and grouper, baked potato, and coleslaw (which I had already eaten when this picture was taken, and it was sure good!) Oh, and hush puppies, which I probably shouldn't have eaten, but they were so good!

And here's hubby with his food...same fish/shrimp, only he prefers fried.

I didn't spend much time down on the deck/dock today as it was too hot, but I took this one selfie mostly because I wanted to get the blue skies and clouds in there too. That one cloud looks like a big duck! I should've worn a hat...that hair! LOL.

I couldn't stay long because I was unsupervised. Hubby had already gone back into the building, and as you can see, some of us need more supervision than others. LOL

We are very thankful indeed that we were able to go out today and do this, as it is our tradition, and last week things were so crazy I wasn't sure if we'd ever get to do this again! Yes, I am very thankful.

On Saturday, our "real" anniversary day, our sweet kids came over and brought us some supper...

Rotisserie chicken, salad, and some boiled potatoes that we buttered and smashed with our forks and added cheese and sour cream.  

I had actually decided that we needed some dessert, since it was our anniversary,  so I made a peach dump cake, which is so easy. You just take a white (or yellow) cake mix, and I melted a stick of butter and poured it in a 9"x13" pan, dumped the cake mix on top, added the 3 eggs and instead of the cup of water I used the juice/syrup from the large can of peaches. (I drained the peaches first, reserved the syrup, measured out 1 cup to use). I also added a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of vanilla.  I stirred it all up until the mixture was completely moistened,  and then added the peaches and stirred them around. Then I baked it at 350 for 30 minutes.  We put whipped cream on top, and it was so good.

That was the extent of my activity for the day! I was still kind of weak and wobbly from my hospital stay, and just had to pace myself and do things a little at a time.

We don't usually buy gifts for each other on our anniversary, but the Lord provided these flowers for us from our own garden of zinnias. 

On Sunday we did go to church, and it was so good to see people and get hugs and thank them for their prayers, and also to give thanks to the Lord for His protection and healing.

On Monday I had an already scheduled appointment with my PCP for a follow up, and so it turned out to be perfect timing so she could hear the whole story of what happened to me last week. She checked the records that were sent over from the hospital, and gave me a good check up and said she really thinks I'm going to be just fine, but she is referring me to a cardiologist for further monitoring of this condition, which appears to be very mild and in the early stages, praise God!  Here's a passage from Psalms that gives me hope and encouragement.

103 

Psalm 103:1-5

"1 Bless the Lord, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits:

3 Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

4 Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s."

I like that part about "your youth is renewed like the eagle's".  Wouldn't that be nice? 

So anyway, this is the latest update.  Thank you all for your friendship here. May God bless each and every one, and may He "satisfy your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles!" Amen.

Here's another link to a previous anniversary (51), and it shows me wearing the same top on our 50th anniversary!! LOL. I guess when you like something, you wear it until it wears out!  There's also a lot of OLD memories from our wedding, etc., if you want to go back down memory lane, for those of you who are new here.  I like to add these links so I can go back and find them again myself. The older we get, the more help we need. LOL  Good night!

Saturday Evening on Still Waters Pond

Good evening from Still Waters Pond.  It's been an active evening on the waterfront, following a light sprinkly shower this afternoon.  The pond is still rather shallow and is shrinking from lack of rain, even with the few thunderstorms we've had this week.  

But this evening we were visited by this Juvenile White Ibis. It appears he is walking on the water, but actually that's just how shallow it is there...

However, there is apparently something good to eat there among the lily pads and mucky puddles...

Actually there were two of these juvenile white ibis'.  

They were wading around with the three white egrets...

Can you find all three?  Kind of like "Where's Waldo?  Or, where's all three Waldos??"

Meanwhile, the Sand Hill Crane family came walking up from across the pond and waited at our back door for a hand full of bird seed...which the "Master of the House" enjoys throwing to them each evening (and morning too, if they show up).

Our resident "porch kitties", Blackie and Sunshine, had a front row seat to watch all the fun in the yard and on the pond.  They whisper back and forth to each other about how silly those Cranes look with their long skinny legs and extra long necks...but they have the  utmost respect for them and will not dare to go down off the porch near them while they are in the yard.  There seems to be an unwritten law that the Sand Hill Cranes are the rulers of Still Waters Pond and its surrounds...

And as soon as the cranes were finished with their evening treat, they took off across the pond and chased away the egrets, who flew to another corner of the pond,  and also the ibis, who flew into this tree on the other side of the pond.  If the egrets and ibis' tried to get back down and across the pond, the cranes would chase them away and let them know that this was their territory and they were not welcome there!

There is definitely a territorial pecking order on this pond!   That being said, now as the sun is going down all the birds seem to have retreated to their respective corners and everyone is settling down for the night.  All is calm and peaceful once again.

The End.

Well, that's the end of THAT story! LOL.  Let's see, what else has been happening in the past few days that I haven't already told you about? Let me think...

There are no pictures, but the kids came over last night for "pizza night". They brought our grandpuppies Sugar and Spice, and we all had a fun time together.   We put up the sheet outside on the porch to block the view of the porch kitties so the doggies wouldn't go crazy.  It worked pretty well, but there was one close call when Blackie found his way in behind the sheet and right up against the glass doors!  Thankfully I saw him before the pups did, and Benton actually distracted them and got the doggies into their harness/leashes and took them out the front door for a little walk. Then I went out on the back porch and encouraged Blackie to come out from behind the sheet with a treat. I repaired the opening where he found his way behind there, and all was well from then on. Whew! That was a close one! LOL.  

I actually had a doctor appointment this past week, a follow up to the lab work from the preceding week. Everything was fine except I was told that I am one point away from being pre-diabetic! That was a shock to me, as I rarely eat desserts/sweets anymore, I try to eat really healthy, I don't drink sweetened drinks and drink mostly water  except for one cup of hot tea in the morning and a glass of unsweet tea for lunch.  Of course the doctor reminded me about the breads, potatoes and all those "carbs" that I am most likely eating that do the damage even without eating a lot of surgary sweets.  So now I am looking at labels on everything I eat. I know some of you are on no-carb diets...I may have to start taking notes from you about what to eat and what not to eat.

The day after I got that news we went out to breakfast because hubby had to have some more lab work done.  We went to a place called "Colee's", which is in Palatka.  We've been there before and always enjoy their good breakfasts. 

I know they have some wonderful homemade breads and biscuits and even a huge cinnamon bun, but I refrained from ordering any of those tempting things...

And got a spinach and cheddar cheese omelette with a side order of bacon and some wheat toast, (which I barely ate).

Hubby hasn't been told that he can't eat carbs,  so he ordered the eggs, grits, biscuit, and sausage.

I'm sure we'd both be better off without all of those carbs, but someone other than me will have to tell him that. LOL.  Maybe that will come out as a result of all the lab work he has been having done. We shall see what develops.

I just realized that today is my Daddy's birthday. He would be 107 years old. My daddy was a wonderful, fun loving, and a good Chrstian father and family man.  This is one of my favorite pictures of my sister Doris on the left, Daddy in the middle, and me on the right. Someone snuck up behind us to take this picture while we were out for a walk, and you can see how we all reacted.  That should tell you something about our family...LOL.

I love this picture that resurfaced just a few years ago. This was on our farm in Pennsylvania. I've shared it here before so you probably have already seen it, but it's always worth repeating in my mind. This was our family around 1952.

Clifford, Russell, Laddie, Mama, Doris, Daddy and me.

And here we were in 2005, back row l to r: 

Russell, me, Clifford, Doris

Mama and Daddy on the front.

Mama died the following year (2006), and Daddy died in 2011. My brother Russell died in 2019.  So that leaves Clifford, Doris, and me.

I am extremely thankful for the family God gave me.  

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Daddy! Until we are all reunited in heaven someday.

Psalm 103:1-5

1"Bless the Lord, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits:

3 Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

4 Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s."

Thank You, Lord, for all of these blessings...Amen.

And good night to all...Have a wonderful SONday tomorrow!

Sunday Blessings

 Today was a beautiful Sunday! We started out at 68 degrees, but it did end up in the high 80's, but still, when it starts getting into the 60's in the morning, we feel like it must be Fall!!  The skies were blue and it was a beautiful day to worship and to celebrate!

We started our day at church, and if you'd like to hear the choir singing "Oh, How I love Jesus!", you can click on this video below, and then stay around for a great message from Luke 17:11-19, "Maintaining an Attitude of Gratitude".  

Here's the lyrics to the song if you'd like to sing along.

"There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth

It sounds like music in my ear, the sweetest name on earth.

O how I love Jesus! O how I love Jesus! O how I love Jesus!

Because He first loved me!

It tells me of a Savior’s love, who died to set me free

It tells me of His precious blood, the sinner’s perfect plea.

O how I love Jesus! O how I love Jesus! O how I love Jesus!

Because He first loved me!

It tells me what my Father hath in store for every day

And, tho’ I tread a darksome path, yields sunshine all the way

O how I love Jesus! O how I love Jesus! O how I love Jesus!

Because He first loved me!

It tells of One whose loving heart can feel my deepest woe

Who in each sorrow bears a part that none can bear below.

O how I love Jesus! O how I love Jesus! O how I love Jesus!

Because He first loved me!"

That was a great way to start the day!  Then following church we headed to "Hog Wild Country Cafe'" for lunch with family, and yes, quite a few of our church friends.  No, it was not meant to be a birthday party for me, I called it my "non-birthday party celebration".  We just all went out to eat and had a great time. Here's some pictures so you can see how much fun we were having:

We had a great crowd of folks, and you can see for yourself how interesting the 'atmosphere' is inside this restaurant:

There's Rose and me, with some of our friends at the next table:

Some more of our friends:

Here's some familiar faces: Our sons Benton &Scott, and Benton's wife Rose...

And there's John with some of our church friends:

That's our Pastor and wife at the end, and other friends on the left.

Hubby is deep in conversation while we were waiting for our food...

Sometimes I wonder if these silent guests are really listening in on our conversations! LOL.

They kind of both have an "all-knowing" look about them, don't you think? LOL.

Son Scott left his signature straw wrapper people for the waitress to enjoy...and she did! She was carrying them with her up to the kitchen as we were leaving and showing them to everyone and remarking about how cute they were.  This is something he has done ever since I can remember. I wonder how many straw wrapper people still exist somewhere in someone's collection of interesting things found on restaurant tables...LOL.

After leaving the restaurant we headed home, and Benton and Rose stopped by their house to pick up the pups and the apple pie and ice cream and headed to our house for a little "party".

Sugar and Spice are always glad they can be a part of the family gatherings.

Having an apple pie for my birthday (which isn't until Wednesday, but this is when the kids could be here together), is a tradition started by my mother. She baked a homemade apple pie for me (at my request, actually) for many birthdays. When she passed away my sister Doris took up the tradition, sometimes baking a homemade pie, and most times bringing one from Costco or someplace, but it was always good.  

My sister lives over an hour away and it doesn't look like we are going to be able to get together this time for my birthday, so thankfully my sweet dil Rose stepped up to the plate, and she and Mrs. Smith collaborated on a delicious Dutch Apple Pie.  We actually waited to bake it when we got home so it was really fresh and hot when we were ready to eat it!

Here I am enjoying listening to the family singing Happy Birthday to me...

And then I blew out the candles...all 74 of them! LOL.  One was sinking into the pie so we had to hurry.

After having our pie and vanilla ice cream we gathered around the table and Scott managed a timed photo on my cell phone. He's really good at setting up the phone and timer and jumping into the photo just in the nick of time!

I was enjoying my piece of pie on this sweet little plate that I picked up at the Dollar Tree this week!

I added it to my collection from the past couple of years...and now I have two of each design so there's enough for us to use for desserts through the fall days...

I am always so thankful and grateful to God when we can gather as a family and also with friends and celebrate LIFE!!  Life is just too short to ignore these special times and milestones.   I am extremely thankful and grateful for every day that God gives me to live and enjoy life.

I rejoice like Hannah in the Old Testament, when she had prayed that God would give her a son after many years of barrenness, and He answered her prayer and gave her Samuel...it's a beautiful story that you can read more about in 1 Samuel 1-2.  Here is her prayer after Samuel was born:

1 Samuel 2:1-2  NKJV

Hannah’s Prayer

2 And Hannah prayed and said:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord;

My horn is exalted in the Lord.

I smile at my enemies,

Because I rejoice in Your salvation.

2 “No one is holy like the Lord,

For there is none besides You,

Nor is there any rock like our God.

I do rejoice in the Lord, because He has blessed me with a beautiful family and good friends.  And although God called our son Matthew home at a much too early of an age (41), He brought our son Benton a wonderful wife named Rose, and she has been such a blessing to me and to our family. 

And just as the kids were leaving to go back to their homes, an Amazon delivery truck drove up in front of our house, and stopped, and came out bringing me a big box. I said I hadn't ordered anything and wasn't expecting anything, and the delivery man said, "well, maybe it's a surprise gift!"  I said, "Well, I guess it could be since my birthday is coming, but I have no clue who it could be from!".  So we came inside and opened the package and it was a wonderful gift from one of our very dear and precious blogging friends! I will not name names, but she knows who she is, and she also knows how overwhelmed I was when this came!  This dear friend has been going through some really difficult times in her own life, and I honestly do not know how she found the time to even think of me and send me such a sweet and wonderful gift. I am truly humbled and blessed and thankful.  Here it is:

She knows that I love churches, and this one looks a lot like our own little church!  It is so sweet, and it lights up!  It's decorated for Christmas, but not so much so that we can't go ahead and enjoy it right now, which I intend to do right up and through Christmas, and who knows? It may just stay out all year long!

I love the details...see the little bike?

And I love that it has a Sunday School, and a little box of Children's Bibles.  It is really perfect in every way.  I've already told my friend how much I love it and how much I love her, but I wanted you all to see this too.  Sometimes people just really amaze me, you know what I mean???

I will close with this portion of Psalm 103:1-5

103 

"1 Bless the Lord, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits:

3 Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

4 Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s."

And with that I will say Amen and Good Night to one and all! May the Lord bless you and keep you always.