Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

I know, I know, it's Friday already, so what's with the "Thursday Thankfulness" title?  Well, believe it or not I tried to get this started last night, but didn't get very far, so now here it is Friday evening at 7:15 and I'm just getting back to it! I started out without many pictures, but seem to have accumulated a few more as the day has progressed, so just bear with me while I take you along for the "ride", or walk, or conversation...

Hope your week has been wonderful...Ours has been busy, hence why I am so late in posting.  Here's where I started out last night...

Perhaps YOU should be thankful that I am not your florist! LOL. I picked this bouquet of wildflowers one day this week when we went for a walk.  

It is a mixture of Coral Vine, wild Lantana, Wild Poinsettia and some other little yellow daisy type of flower.  

They were growing wild and free and I wanted to bring some home with me to enjoy for a few days, until the flowers started dropping and the water started getting smelly...you know how that is...LOL.  Those little pink coral vine flowers basically dropped all over the place, but they were still beautiful and a pleasure to watch on my kitchen counter above the sink.  

I could have picked some more tonight when we went for a walk in the same place, 

but decided to just leave them for the bees and butterflies to enjoy...

I had to "wade" through some pretty tall, thick grasses/weeds to get this close, and didn't have my good camera with me, so these pictures aren't as great as I'd like them to be, but you get "the picture" anyway I hope.  

As I rounded the house to the back yard to do some watering because it has been so dry again the past few days, I noticed the Sand Hill Crane Family out on "Crane Island", enjoying their evening supper.

They did stop to watch me from a distance, I'm sure they were hopeful that I'd throw out some birdseed for them.

But I mostly was enjoying the way the sun was setting behind the trees and lighting up the surroundings in a beautiful golden light.

I watered the plants...

I've been enjoying this geranium that is blooming on the porch!  

And I love the way the sun was filtering through the trees to the "Secret Memorial Garden".

I was VERY excited to see a bud on the Don Juan Memorial Rose bush...the first one in well over a year! I thought it had died away for sure, but kept watering and pruning (and even fertilized it once), and praying it would bloom again.  A few weeks ago we had a friend doing some weed-whacking and trimming for us, and unbeknownst to me, he whacked this plant back down to the roots! I was really upset when I saw it, but didn't say anything.  But guess what? That must be what it needed, because it started growing new leaves and stems, and now there is a bud!  I am hopeful that it will bloom in time for my birthday next Wednesday! That would be a real blessing if it did, since this is the rosebush that was planted in memory of our son Matthew in 2014. We brought it here with us when we moved to this house in 2019, and at first it did fine, but like I said about a year and a half ago it just quit blooming.  I guess it just needed to take a break and rest for a while and regain its strength.  I think I understand that, don't you?  Perhaps there's a lesson there for us! 

 

Psalm 27:14

"Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord!"

I will keep you posted on further developments.

Speaking of waiting on the Lord and being strong again...one thing we did this week was mow the lawn. Although we don't have a huge yard, what we have is very bumpy, hilly, and sandy, and not a lot of good grass, but what is there has to be kept mowed or it will become overwhelming. This section of the yard it what I've chosen to do with the push mower.  A year ago I could not do this at all because of my shoulder, neck, and back issues.  But little by little I have regained some strength, and now I am very thankful to be able to do this again.  It is truly an answer to prayer.  (Strength is my "One Word" for 2024)

Hubby does all of the front yard with the riding mower, which is fine with me. We can't use the riding mower on the back yard because it is so sloped and uneven.  So he does all the other areas that are on flatter ground. This below is the driveway and front area of the house. We don't really have a lot of grass there because of the oak trees.  There are more acorns and leaves than grass, but what is there has to be cut. We do not have a paved driveway or sidewalks...just a lot of sand, which gets tracked into the house, but that's another story for another time! LOL.

He also mows this lot, which is where our septic/drain field is.  However, because the drain field is above ground, it is a mound with some sloping sides that he cannot do with the riding mower, so I also do those sides with the push mower. It is a self-propelled mower, but that really doesn't mean much if you ask me. I still have to push it, and it isn't easy, but I am determined to do it to help strengthen my arms and back.  However, I will admit that it takes me a couple of days to recover!

I am truly thankful to be able to do this again! It really is an answer to prayer.

What else did we do this week? Well, let's see, on Wednesday hubby had a doctor's appointment in Gainesville for some routine tests,  which is about an hour's drive away. So we made it there actually a few minutes early, and thankfully they took him right in. We were back out of there within about a half hour, and back on the road home around 10:00 a.m.  We got into our hometown around 10:50 (there wasn't as much traffic as in the early ride over), and decided to go to True Grits, a local restaurant,  for an early lunch.

We used to go there all the time after church, but they started getting too busy and couldn't handle our larger groups of people from church, so we quit going there.  However, on a week day, before noon, it wasn't very busy, and we enjoyed a good "senior discount" lunch of Country Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes with white gravy, and fried okra, and a biscuit. It was only $6.99 (plus beverage)  What else would you expect at a place called "True Grits"?  Well, yes, they do serve grits with breakfast, but we didn't want breakfast.  And they call it "True Grits" actually after the John Wayne movie of the same name, and there are many pictures of John Wayne in the restaurant.  It's a nice place...I just wish they weren't so crowded on Sundays! LOL.

And speaking of restaurants and going out to eat after church, we are planning to go out this Sunday to my favorite place here in our little town, "Hog Wild Country Cafe'".  We plan to go with our kids, including Scott, to celebrate my birthday a few days early since Scott can't be here during the week.

Here's a picture of hubby and me there a couple of years ago,  obviously when it was a bit cooler outside, hence the fire inside! I don't expect there to be a fire this weekend! Even though our mornings have been in the low 70's this week (even down to 69 one morning!), it still warms up to the high 80's in the afternoon, so I'm sure there won't be any fire in the wood stove yet! But there will be warmth in our hearts to be together with our family (and maybe some friends from church, we will see if any want to go there on Sunday) We always have a good time there.

Oh, back to the back yard this evening...The Sand Hill Crane family DID finally come across the pond to visit, hoping for some treats, and they did happen to find some bird seed on the ground...

This is "Abe" below, the very grown up "colt".  He is finally getting his red topknot on his head, and it's getting harder and harder to tell him apart from his parents.  He will probably still be hanging around with them for a couple more months, but I expect he will have to go out on his own most likely around Christmas, if not sooner.  Then it will be interesting to see if Mom and Dad Crane decide to build another nest this winter out on "Crane Island".  Time will tell, and we'll be watching for sure.

Well, with that I think I will close for the night. It is now 8:19 p.m. So that only took an hour to write! LOL.

Here's some good thoughts from my devotional reading tonight:

Psalm 121:7-8

New International Version

"7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—

He will watch over your life;

8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore."

And with those comforting thoughts, I will say good night and may God be with you always.

Amen.

 

O Christmas Tree Saga and "Winter Nature Scenes"

Well, we finally got our Christmas tree put up after a few complications...There's a story here...it's a bit long so pull up a chair and get a cup of coffee or tea and settle in for the saga...

I didn't take pictures of what happened before we got to this moment, where Hubby is hugging our "old tree"...

And I am saying "well, we live and learn..."

You see, this tree that you see above we have had for about 20 years. It is one of those artificial trees that you have to insert every single branch on the tree individually, and of course you also have to put the lights on manually.  Every year in the recent past I have been saying that after Christmas we need to take advantage of a sale on Christmas trees and replace this one (that also is shedding badly if you look at the floor above) and get one of those lovely pre-lit trees that also just come in three sections and you don't have to individually insert each and every branch, which is very time consuming and difficult to do for us old folks, namely me, because I am the one who normally does all of the above...

Well, just recently at our local flea market one of the vendors had a beautiful Christmas tree standing there for sale. It was the type that came in three sections, very pretty and full, and it was one of the "pre-lit" types, although they did not have it lit at the flea market because it is an outdoor market with no electricity available.  But the lady vendor said she "thought the lights worked just fine."  They only wanted $25.00 for the tree, and there was another man standing there ready to buy it if we didn't, and so,  after a minute or two of deliberation, we decided to take a chance on it. After all, even if the lights didn't work, we could always put lights on it since we have plenty. I mainly wanted it for the fact that it would be easy to put together and save myself some energy and time.

And so, finally the day came for us to bring the tree into the house and set it up. First we laid it out on the front porch and sprayed it with some bug spray, because it had been stored in an old box that looked questionable, and in Florida you just never know what might have taken up residence in the tree.  And then we left it on the porch for a while to air out before bringing it inside.

We got everything ready to put the tree together inside, and it was indeed very easy to do. I was thrilled. Except for figuring out how to connect the lights from section to section...that was a little tricky, but I finally figured that out, and then came the moment of truth...would the lights work? Well...yes and no.  I'd say about 1/4 of the lights worked and that was it. But still, I was undaunted. I would make it work. 

Hubby had to go run an errand,  and I thought I would start putting some lights on the tree. However, I am still having issues with my right arm since my surgery, and I realized that I could not reach up and stretch around the tree as normal, and so I decided to wait for help. Meanwhile I was getting a headache. The tree had a peculiar odor...not the bug spray because it was unscented, but a perfumy strong odor that just seemed to be getting stronger and stronger the longer I was in the room with the tree. I opened up the back door behind the tree to bring in some fresh air. I went out on the porch and breathed the air, but when I came back inside my headache was getting worse and I was feeling nauseous. (I am very "scents-itive" to scents)  I looked at the tree and said, "you are making me sick! I can't have you in this house!" If I could have gotten it out of the house by myself I would have, but I didn't have the strength to take it back apart and do that. So I stayed on the back porch until hubby got back home and then together we got that tree out of the house asap.

Again, I don't know if the bug spray exacerbated an already toxic issue, or if it was something else, but the tree had to go.  When our son came home we asked him to put it back in the box and put it out on the curb for the trash men to pick up. And so he did, but it was already after dark.

By morning, before daylight, that box and tree were gone!  I guess someone passing by decided to see just what we had put on our curb and they decided they wanted it badly enough to take it. Which is fine with me, but I do hope that whatever that odor was wasn't really toxic enough to make someone else sick. And mainly, I just don't want them to bring it back to our house! LOL.

And so, we got our old tree out of the shed and hubby actually helped me put it all together, one branch at a time.  Our son Scott thankfully put all the lights on for us, and then I was able to finally put on the decorations a little at a time. 

And that's the saga of the Christmas Tree.

It looks so pretty, I think it will just have to last us another 20 years...

Oh, and guess what?  The kids are coming over tomorrow night to set up the train and village under the tree like we did last year for the first time in over 30 years! A new tradition has been started, and this little girl is so happy!

Okay, so now, what else is new?

Remember my "One Word" for 2021 was "Believe"?

Well, we were in Walmart the other day and I saw these plates, and I 'believe' they were calling my name...I only bought two. I believe that will do, but don't you agree that I needed these plates? I am glad you agree...

This morning we woke up to a very foggy morning...

This is how it looked out on Still Waters Pond. My son said it looked very "wintry" to him...one could just imagine that was all snow and ice out there...a blizzard blowing in from the north...

I noticed these yellow hearts on the tree by the pond...grapevine leaves changing color for fall/winter, and red maple leaves make a nice contrast against the green tree and foggy background...

The fog also showed me where I need to sweep down some cobwebs on the back porch:

Oh, and also I checked something else we've been concerned about. Lately we've had a lot of wasps swarming on the back porch in the afternoon sun. They appeared to be flying in behind that thermometer attached over there on that post. I looked behind it since it was so cool and foggy this morning, and sure enough, there was quite a large nest of wasps sitting there sleeping in on this cool morning.  So I sent out our Ninja Warrior son to take care the enemy wasps whilst they slept:

Armed with two cans of long distance wasp spray, he knocked them out of that nest in no time at all:

And those mean old wasps started dropping like "flies".

The thermometer may never be the same...

And there is one lone witness to the massacre sitting out there in the tree on this foggy wintry day:

A little later, when the fog lifted and the sun broke through, we decided to take a walk. I ventured onto a path less traveled through the woods and made another new discovery:

This strange looking plant is known as a Ghost plant, or Indian Pipes

Have you ever seen such a plant before? I never have in my life, and this was the only one anywhere around that I could see.  Another of God's mysteries and interesting parts of His creation.

Then, not far from this I saw this empty tortoise shell:

I am thinking it is from a Gopher Tortoise, because we have many of their holes and tunnels all around in these woods.  

Now for more "winter nature scenes" from here in Florida...

My hubby discovered these two beautiful white/gray feathery plumes in our yard. I believe they came from a Sand Hill Crane, but they are so light and feathery and pretty, I just had to keep them.

Not sure what to do with them, but I decided to temporarily at least add them to the Tea cup tree as "Angel Wings"...

Okay, now for the most interesting Christmas gift I think I've ever received...

This came in the mail today, and it had no name attached as to who it was from, but I had been given a heads up earlier in the week from one of my dear old "fun" friends to expect a gift in the mail coming from Montana. Now, she was not in Montana, but the gift was being sent from Montana. She then sent me pictures of several things from Montana, like buffalo and elk. I asked if she was sending me some "Buffalo Chips", because in the past I have received Moose Poop from Maine (actually it was candy), and many Pink Flamingoes from Florida and other unusual gift items throughout the years. She is the kind of friend that you just never know what to expect.

So when this arrived today in the mail, I wasn't too surprised, but yet, it was certainly not something I'd ever expected to receive, that's for certain! LOL

Yes, this is a "Bird Nesting Globe", filled with 100% natural Alpaca fleece.

Lots of varieties of Alpaca wool went into this very interesting and unusual gift.

And so, of course I set about right away to find a place to hang it.

However, the little branch I tried to hang it on broke, so I had to come up with another idea, at least for now.

My son is like my hubby...he loves to take funny pictures of me.

Finally we decided to hang it on this bird feeder hook until we can come up with a better plan for hanging it in a tree.

So now the birds have their very own Alpaca nesting globe,  so they should be all set for winter!

Tell, me what is the most unusual Christmas gift you've ever received?

Can you top this one?

Yesterday I told my hubby I was tired of waiting for my arm to get better and for my energy to return following my surgery 5 weeks ago. I no sooner said that than we sat down to read our morning devotions, and this was the verse that came up in the devotions:

"Wait on the Lord;

Be of good courage,

And He shall strengthen your heart;

Wait, I say, on the Lord!"

Psalm 27:14

So there you go. That's what Advent is all about...waiting for the coming of the Lord into our homes, hearts, lives, world.  The Good News is, He's already here...Emmanuel means, "God with us".  Jesus is already here...so let us just be patient and wait on Him to strengthen our hearts, our bodies, and our lives...He will not fail us. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Have a blessed and wonderful Advent season...preparing for the Birthday of Jesus!