It's February!

Yes, It's February! I love February! It seems to signal a transitional time between winter and spring...and with all the happy and fun events of the month it just seems to be a month of hope and joy and love!

Yes, Valentine's Day is coming...

And today I searched and searched in vain for the container holding my little Valentine decorations from last year...I have NO CLUE where I put them! Usually they are stored in the big container that holds other springtime decorations, like St. Patrick's Day and Easter.  But I looked in there and there was no sign of them...so now I've got to keep thinking and searching. I refuse to go buy more stuff when I know I have all those things hidden around here somewhere!

Oh well...hopefully I will discover them before February 14th!

Meanwhile...Today was Groundhog Day! (maybe the groundhog took them and hid them in his burrow).

Did any of you tune in to watch Punxsutawney Phil make his annual prediction of whether or not we will have six more weeks of winter or an early spring?

Well, if you were watching, you already know that he saw his shadow and predicted that there will be six more weeks of winter! And I guess Old Man Winter is already marching across the country again as we speak.  I hope you all stay safe and warm, wherever you are.

Thankfully it has been warm here these last couple of days, and we've enjoyed plenty of sunshine for a change!

I spent some time sitting out by Still Waters Pond yesterday afternoon, soaking up some free natural 

Vitamin D. That sure felt good. Just what the doctor ordered...

I enjoyed a cup of tea while I listened to the birdies singing in the trees...

I think they were singing this song:

"Oh sing to the Lord a new song.

Sing to the Lord, all the earth."

Psalm 96:1

My little friend Lily Grace and her doggy Bailey came along with me and enjoyed singing along too.

Just a little girl and her dog...  (and a BIG girl and her doll...oh well, what can I say?)

While I was sitting out there I heard a car pull up out front and our friends from church brought us another bag full of grapefruit from their tree. He had picked as much as he could before we had that big freeze the other morning!

Let me tell you...it doesn't get much better than this! Fresh Florida grapefruit right off the tree!!! Free natural Vitamin C! Again, just what the doctor ordered!

Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings on me!!  If you were here I'd gladly share some with you!

Now here's something you might enjoy also...

This is an "Oatmeal Cake", from my sister Doris' special recipe.  My hubby was craving cake yesterday...he seems to have gotten his appetite back since our bout with that nasty virus. Last week it was Gingerbread...this week he wanted Oatmeal cake!

I don't know if I've ever shared this recipe before...

Here it is. I don't think my sister will mind my sharing it with you. Just so long as you don't bring it to the same dinner party that she's coming to! LOL.  It's a very moist and delicious cake. Always a favorite everywhere it goes!

CORRECTION!  That should read 9 x 13 " pan, not 11 x 13. Not sure where that came from!!! Sorry.

Okay, here's another February-mid winter delight...flannel sheets!

Do you use flannel sheets?  On those chilly nights they sure do feel good. I was washing/changing our sheets the other day and when I put this sheet back on I was smiling. Don't you just love these little owls drinking their hot cocoa/coffee/tea, sitting in the tree?

We'll probably enjoy these until it starts to warm up and stays warm...but until then, they sure make me happy.

Can you tell we must be feeling better? Praise God! Today hubby and I actually went outside and raked some leaves and small branches from under the big oak trees in the front yard.  I love the shade those trees give, but they sure do make a mess this time of year with all their little brown leaves, acorns and dead branches that fall out of the tree when the wind blows. I know I will be feeling it tomorrow, especially in my arm with the frozen shoulder...

(this is an older picture of the trees, but you get the idea)

Speaking of the arm with the frozen shoulder...tomorrow I meet with the Orthopedic surgeon for an evaluation. I am hoping he will just give me a shot in the arm that will help it to not hurt so much and then I can work on the physical therapy a bit more. I had to quit going to PT while I was sick, so now I basically need to start over.  The one thing I do NOT want is surgery!!

What are you looking forward to this month?  Oh, my hubby's birthday is in a couple of weeks. We usually try to have some kind of family/friends get together around his birthday, but the way things have been lately I don't know just what we'll be able to do. I am hoping we can do something special. That's usually the highlight of the month!

Okay, I guess I've rambled on enough. I want to thank the Lord for His healing touch on our bodies. We are so very very thankful. And thankful for you all, who have been very supportive and kind and encouraging!  I hope your February is full of only good things!!  

Here's some food for thought:

"Commit your works to the Lord,

And your thoughts will be established."

Proverbs 16:3

Sounds good to me!

 

"In My Heart There Rings A Melody"

 Happy Sunday Morning Friends!

In My Heart there rings a melody....come join in the singing and stay for a great message from our Pastor!

I have a song that Jesus gave me, 

It was sent from heav'n above; 

There never was a sweeter melody, 

'tis a melody of love. 

 

Chorus: 

In my heart there rings a melody, 

There rings a melody with heaven's harmony; 

In my heart there rings a melody; 

There rings a melody of love. 

 I love the Christ who died on Calv'ry, 

For He washed my sins away; 

He put within my heart a melody,

 And I know it's there to stay. 

 Chorus

 'Till by be endless theme in glory, 

 With the angels I will sing; 

'Twill be a song with glorious harmony, 

When the courts of heaven ring. 

 Chorus

Ephesians 5:19 NKJV

"Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 

singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,"

Psalm 96:1

Psalms 40:3

He has put a new song in my mouth—

Praise to our God;

Many will see it and fear,

And will trust in the Lord.

Hope you have a wonderful day of rejoicing and singing praise to our God! Happy SONday!!

Friday Foto Friends-Joyful Trees and Other Beauties

"Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.

Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord.

For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.

He shall judge the world with righteousness,

And the peoples with His truth."

Psalm 96:12-13

We took a ride this past week to a little town on the other side of the St. John's River, to visit some dear people at a church where my husband used to be the pastor. They had invited him to come and speak at a "Seniors Luncheon" ...JOY...Just-Older-Youth, they call themselves, and afterwards we enjoyed a marvelous pot-luck luncheon.  I'd say we were definitely in luck with that luncheon...such great cooks they have at that church! It was a wonderful time of singing, preaching, and eating.  The pictures above were taken as we drove around that little community,..the town is known for its fern business, supplying ferns to the florists of the nation.  The top pictures are of a natural hammock of oak trees with the ferns growing underneath their shade. So beautiful, don't you think?

The picture below is of the church parsonage next door, where the pastor lives. That is where we lived when we served at that church almost 20 years ago! (Time sure flies!) We weren't there for very long, but yet we made such long lasting friendships there...some very special people. So thankful for the privilege of serving the Lord there.

"Oh sing to the Lord a new song!

Sing to the Lord, all the earth.

Sing to the Lord, bless His name;

Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day."

Psalm 96:1-2

This little mockingbird likes to perch on the tree right outside our bathroom window. I love the expression on his face as he is looking in at me looking out at him! 

I wonder what he is thinking? Maybe I should ask you to caption this...

And speaking of looking out the windows, this is what I saw this morning (Thursday) when I looked out our front windows to our front yard:

What a wonderful way to start the day!!

In this picture below the deer had all run over to the far side of the yard as a truck drove by on the road. They were ready to leap into the woods and hide if that truck had gotten any closer...

After the truck passed by, the leader of the herd went to the road to check both ways before they decided to move on down the road themselves... (I love that one little deer who always seems to know I'm watching them)

And there they go!

Back to the back yard fence we go...I came home today from a ladies' luncheon (forgot to take pictures!)  and found these "new friends" sitting on the fence posts...Our neighbor loves to tease us with these things he finds at yard sales and he wants to share them with us so he leaves them on the fence posts for us to enjoy.  I think I need to tell him that we are trying to downsize and get rid of things, but I don't want to hurt his feelings. He is a dear soul and this is his way of having fun...so we are playing along and having fun with this...

 "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!

Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come before His presence with Thanksgiving;

Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms."

Psalm 95:1-2

I hope that each of you will have a marvelous Thanksgiving...hard to believe that is next week already! I know it will be a busy week for all, so we will catch up with each other as we are able.  The important thing is BE Thankful in all things!! We are a very blessed people. Please Pray for the people in California who have lost their homes, and also for those in Mexico Beach, FL and Panama City, FL, who are all suffering the loss of their homes and many also who have lost loved ones. May God be merciful to them and send the help that they need. Amen.

Now let us venture over to Deb's place at Breathing in Grace and visit our other Friday Foto Friends.