Friday Foto Friends: Welcome September!

Welcome September!!!  The first of the "ber" months! All my favorites!

Actually, these pictures were taken yesterday morning, on the last day of August, but this morning was too cloudy for a good photo, so I figured we could say "farewell to August" as we welcome September!

Do you see the "super moon" in the photos below?  That was taken around 7:00 a.m. yesterday morning, as the moon was sinking down beyond the horizon and Still Waters Pond.

I thought it was quite "picture-worthy", don't you?

I'm so glad I got to see it, as it was hidden this morning behind thick clouds.  These photos were taken the day AFTER Hurricane Idalia had made her way up the Gulf Coast and across the Big Bend and Northern section of our state and on into Southeast Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. I hope she is fizzled out in the Atlantic ocean by now!  My heart goes out to those who lost so much in this storm.  Thankfully there was not a high death toll anywhere, but a lot of damage especially along the coast due to storm surge.  We are so very very thankful that it bypassed our area and barely even left us a puddle to wade through or a tree limb to pick up. Quite a miracle, I'd say!

So now we truly welcome September, and pray that she doesn't have any more surprise storms awaiting us.  We don't dare let our guard down until after October!

But meanwhile, we can enjoy the beauties of this beginning month of autumn. Also my birth month, so it definitely is a special month for me.

As per my norm, I like to share pictures of the different calendars I have throughout the house for each new month.  This one above is the John Sloane Country Seasons calendar.  This painting is called 

"A Taste of Summer", with the jars of freshly canned vegetables from the garden sitting in the sink and on the windowsill.  I wish that was a photo from my kitchen, but alas! We do not have a garden and I never had really learned how to can vegetables, etc.  I've made jellies before, but that's about it.  We left the farm and moved to Florida when I was 5, and then my mother had to go to work as a secretary when I started school, and so the farming/gardening way of life became a thing of the past.  I'm sorry I missed out on it.

Seeing that box of Ivory Snow in the picture above made me think about this jar of Ivory "Flakes" in my Hoosier Cupboard.  It's very old...I've never used them...just have them on display in the cupboard for old times' sake.  

I haven't started my fall decorations yet...it's been too hot and with all the hurricane prep and other things I've been going through lately, I just haven't had the energy or time.  Hopefully when Scott comes home this weekend he can bring in the tubs of decor from the shed and I can start working on it next week.  So these photos from inside the Hoosier Cupboard will be a little nod to September/fall for now!

Yes, it's a bit of a hodgepodge of old stuff...kind of a part of the family "museum" here...LOL.

I love this little Susan Branch calendar...it has such fun and homey things to say about each new month:

Thomas Kinkade always captures the most wonderful scenes in his paintings as well...look  at all the detail in this one entitled "Country Living"...I think I'd love to live there...how about you?

Yes, faith without works is dead...  If we are not willing to back up our faith with some positive action, then we will probably not see too many prayers answered... Kind of like the old saying "a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step..."   Take a step of faith and you will see great things happen...

Wow, this is a lovely teapot on the September Tea Pot calendar...

Interesting quote...I never thought about there being "connoisseurs of blue" before, have you?  I do like blue, but I don't think I'm a connoisseur of it...what would that look like???

And the last, but not least, of my calendars...this one hangs in my bathroom where I can write down all the appointments for the month.  It helps to be able to see it every day when I wake up (or when I sit on the throne to contemplate important issues of life...LOL)  Wouldn't this be a lovely place to sit and dream?  It reminds me of my Aunt Margie's garden in Crafton, Pa.  I know there's a picture somewhere showing her beautiful flowers like this in bloom...but I doubt that I have it.  I need to ask my sister Doris to look for it in the family albums...Doris, if you are reading this...do you know where to find that picture??? LOL.  I will let you know if she finds it...but it may take a while...

What a lovely surprise to receive these beautiful cards in the mail this week from a couple of you dear blogging friends!  I tell you, blogging friends are the best people in the world!! All of you, whether you remember to send cards out or not...I love having regular "conversations" with you here in Blogland...every day is like finding a nice letter in the mail!!  I don't know who invented blogging, but I'm so glad we all found out about it!

Now, it wouldn't be September without this creature!!!  My hubby looked outside and saw this guy today and said "it must be September because I've seen the first love bug of the season!" Just like clock work, they show up in September and May!  This one is still alone, but it won't be long before it will have a mate...and they will "mate for life", which may not be very long, and lay their eggs somewhere in the trees or dirt or something so they can hatch in the spring.  They don't bite, and they serve no useful purpose that I know of. They mostly like to fly around in swarms near the roadways and stick to the grill and windows of automobiles,  making a huge mess and also eating the paint off the hood if you don't keep them washed off.  If you've never experienced the semi-annual "plague" of the love bugs, be thankful!!  They mostly stay in the south, primarily here in Florida.

Well friends, this ends the first blog post of the month of September, 2023.  Hopefully it will be a month of much joy and many blessings for all of us.  (and no more hurricanes!!)

Psalm 5:8,11-12

8 Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies;

Make Your way straight before my face.

11 But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;

Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;

Let those also who love Your name

Be joyful in You.

12 For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;

With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

 

A Brand New Day

I woke up thinking about the fact that it has been one year since we sold our "old" home and bought this "new home", and oh! what a journey this has been!! I have attached a couple of posts here from last year when we were going through all of that, in case you missed them or just want to go back and remember along with me:

This was the "view" of "Still Waters Pond" when we first saw it a year ago.

Click HERE for "Exciting News"  This particular post was written when we finally had buyers for our previous house and we also had found the home of our dreams and were able to go ahead and sign that contract to purchase it. 

This is how "Still Waters Pond" looks today. 

In that post I also talked about the last Sunday for our former pastor, who was retiring.  What is interesting, here we are again a year later, and the "new pastor" we received last year was truly only serving as an interim and was part time (actually serving two churches at the same time, and we greatly appreciate his ministry to us for this past year), and now this week we will be beginning another new chapter in the life of our church with another new pastor, who will be full time. We are very excited because he is a person that we already know and love and we believe this will be a very blessed season in the life of our church. But that is another story for another day.  Please pray for our church this week as we plan to reopen finally after being closed all these months due to Covid 19. 

 

A welcome message from our new Pastor.

Perhaps you will remember when I wrote  this Last Message From Here.  Kind of a bittersweet post as we began packing up all of our belongings in preparation for the very big move to our new community and home.

The front door and porch of our last house on the 4th of July last year.

And then I wrote this "First Post from HERE" after we got moved into our church parsonage for a temporary stay until we could close on our new house and get moved again...

Here's our selfie in front of the church parsonage after we had moved in all of our stuff to stay temporarily for about 6 weeks.

And then do you Remember this Post...An Interesting Coincidence?  

Not our front door...but you should read the post linked above to get the "coincidence".

And this is how our front door looks now:

Anyway, I've just been walking back through the past year and all of the ups and downs and good times and not so good times, and I wanted to pause and say, "Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings!"  As we all know this year, 2020, in particular, has been filled with many difficulties for our country. When we were in the process of moving last summer to our new home we never could have imagined all that would be taking place here less than a year later.  But we are very thankful that we are here. We are surrounded by God's beauty and have our family and friends nearby. Our little church has been closed for a few months, but we are getting ready to begin a new chapter there as well...a new beginning in many ways besides the fact that we are getting a new Pastor.  We will be meeting in our Fellowship Hall so we can be more "socially distanced". We will wear masks, and there won't be any congregational or choir singing for a while. There are still many challenges ahead for all of us.  But one thing is for certain, God has not changed.  He is still in control. He will continue to be with us and go with us through whatever challenges lie ahead.

Here are some words from the Psalms that give me comfort today:

Psalm 4:6-8

6.  "There are many who say,

"Who will show us any good?"

Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us.

7.  You have put gladness in my heart,

More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.

8.  I will both lie down in peace, and sleep;

For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."

Psalm 5:11-12

11.  " But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;

Let them ever shout for joy,

because You defend them;

Let those also who love Your name be joyful in You.

12.  For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;

With favor You will surround him as with a shield."

The sun is rising on a brand new day in our lives. Let us rejoice and put our trust in the Lord!

Amen.