Good Evening Friends! Nothing too exciting going on here in our neck of the woods. I've just been trying to get caught up on things around the house since we were gone for four days. You know, 4 days doesn't sound like much, but when you get back home and have things waiting for you to do, and then you are tired and a bit "sluggish" physically from too much good food and sitting long spells of traveling, well, you know, you just have to take it easy and let your body catch up. I hated to miss our UMW gathering and choir practice this week, but just didn't have the energy, etc., to get up and go. Plus I missed our Bible Study on Monday when we were still away. And church on Sunday too. Wow...seems like we were gone a month! Looking forward to getting back to church tomorrow and seeing everyone again. It's great to get away, but it's great to get back home and back into a routine again too!
So hubby and I are trying to take our normal daily walks, morning and evening.
The dew was heavy this morning, but as the sun came out it was shining through the dew drops on this little pine tree and looked like diamonds sparkling on the tree. Kind of made me want to start decorating for Christmas...but no! That will have to wait until after Thanksgiving! I am a one holiday at a time person and believe in giving each holiday its full attention. There will be plenty of time for Christmas after Thanksgiving is over.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, I did a little rearranging of the fall decorations and brought out the Pilgrims and turkeys and changed things over to Thanksgiving instead of Halloween.
I know our friend Barbara over at Sweet Tea and Sandals will recognize this couple. She happens to have their twins living over at her house, and I believe she has also brought her couple out of hiding for the season as well. Speaking of Barbara....in case you weren't already aware, her sweet "Beloved" hubby has been in the hospital in ICU for the past week +, being treated for Covid 19. It's been a difficult time for both of them, but thankfully he is finally starting to improve and hopefully will be able to come home soon. Prayers are much appreciated.
Also, our friend Mary Jane at Visits With Mary has finally gone home from the hospital/rehab following her bout with Covid 19. We are very thankful for that answer to prayer.
Debby Ray from My Favorite Things has been battling cancer and frequent infections making it difficult for her to have the necessary treatments. She definitely needs our prayers. I know that some of her family members have also been diagnosed with Covid 19, and that is an added concern for her well-being.
Our friend Cecelia at Following My King will be having some major surgery next week and also is in need of our prayers.
I know there are others in our blogging community in need of our prayers...and I am so glad that we can come together here in agreement for one another as needed. This is a great little community of friends, and when I count my blessings, you are part of those blessings I am thankful for.
Thank You, Lord, for friends who care. Amen.
Now about some other things that aren't nearly so important.
Several weeks ago in one of our "Tuesday 4" memes the question was asked about a "wish list", or "things you need to buy". I already told you about our refrigerator and how we needed to replace that, and we already found one that has met our needs. The other thing I had mentioned was that we needed to replace our very old acrylic blanket. Well, that need has also been met by a very unique way.
You may ask what this watch has to do with a blanket?
Well, that is a picture of an LLBean watch that I had for many years. Actually, it was the 2nd one that I had, because the first one died and it had a life time warranty and so it was replaced. Well, this one also died, so I sent it back to LLBean for either repair or replacement, and they said they could no longer replace it because they no longer make that particular watch, and this one was irreparable. But because I had that life time warranty (which they no longer offer either, but they still had to honor mine), they gave me a gift card for the amount of the watch. Now mind you, LLBean watches are not cheap. The only reason I had this watch was because it had been a gift many years ago from a dear friend when we lived in the New England area. I could never have afforded that watch. But I loved it. It suited me just fine. I have other less expensive but fancier watches that I wear to church or for dress up, but this was my every day watch that I loved.
So I very reluctantly agreed to accept the gift card to LLBean in lieu of replacing my watch. And I was thankful that they were willing to do even that.
So...I needed a new blanket. After researching the kind of blanket that I really wanted, I found that it was no longer available at any reasonable price. I don't know why an acrylic blanket with a satin binding should be so expensive. They used to be cheap. But for some reason they are now very hard to find and very expensive when you do find them. So I gave up on that. But I decided to see what LLBean had for blankets. They didn't have an acrylic blanket either, but they did have this very nice organic cotton blanket, which after reading the comments I determined it just might fill the bill for our blanket needs. And no, it wasn't very "cheap" either, but that gift card was exactly the amount I needed to buy it! And so I went ahead and ordered the blanket, praying that it would be comfortable and keep us warm enough but not too hot...just right (like Goldilocks and the 3 bears). It took several weeks to arrive as it was coming from Portugal apparently. I know. LL Bean is in Freeport, Maine. I've been there several times. But apparently this particular blanket was imported from Portugal, not Maine. (The ones from Maine were even more expensive and didn't have the size I needed in stock anyway)
So the blanket finally arrived, and I put it on our bed and waited to see what my hubby would say...(that's not him...that's my "bear bear" that hubby gave me when I had surgery last spring. Now he also sleeps beside me every night. LOL)
Hubby and I both agreed that the blanket is very comfortable. It doesn't have a satin binding, and it did shrink a little when I washed it, but it still fits and I think it is going to be just fine.
And then we decided to go to Walmart and buy me an inexpensive watch to replace the one I had.
It works just fine and will meet my needs very well.
Does anyone else still wear a watch? I know many don't because they have cell phones. But old habits are hard to break. When I walk out of the house I need to have a watch on my wrist. When I come back home the watch comes off. That's just how it is. I feel naked without it when I go out.
Now, you wouldn't want me to go around feeling naked, would you? LOL.
And so thus ends another day. When I looked out the back door to the pond this evening I noticed this beautiful sunset. Then we realized it was getting late and we'd better hurry and go take our walk before it gets dark. I can't get used to this time change. We have to adjust our walking schedule in the evening to go earlier than we used to go.
So we jumped in the car and drove the 3 miles to the place where we walk, and this was the sunset as we were driving down the road:
It just got prettier and prettier.
Thankfully we still had enough daylight to take our walk and make it back home before dark. And here I am writing to you.
I hope that you are also counting your blessings as we prepare our hearts to celebrate Thanksgiving in just about a week and a half. We finally have made plans with our family for who is coming and what they are bringing. It won't be a huge crowd like we've had in the past, just immediate family and my sister and her immediate family. We pray that all will be safe and healthy and that we will be able to enjoy this time together without fear of any virus. I am hoping the weather will be nice enough to eat on the back porch.
Tomorrow is Sunday. I hope you will be able to attend the church of your choice, and if not, perhaps you can watch one online. I will post our church service sometime tomorrow.
Psalm 113
1. "Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
Praise the name of the Lord!
2. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore!
3. From the rising of the sun to its going down
the Lord's name is to be praised."
Amen!
Goodnight everyone!! Please take care!!
