Happy September/Labor Day!Updated

UPDATE at 3:45 p.m.: Blackie is HOME!!

He didn't give us any explanation as to where he'd been all day, but he came home for supper and he's hungry! He looks fine...so I guess he just needed a day out on the "town" or something...who knows? But we are very happy he's home, and as you can see, Sunshine is happy too.  So thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for our wayward kitty!    

I love a happy ending, don't you?   

Happy September 1st, 2025! Happy Labor Day!  Hooray for the "ber" months to finally arrive! My favorite time of year!  And in keeping with celebrating the beginning of the "ber" months (SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER, DecemBER), let's start out with the calendar roll call!

I kind of love this one...do you see the rainbow across the lake? This is the kind of scene that I love...and even though our Still Waters Pond has never had quite this much water in it, this picture reminds me of our beautiful pond and the lovely sunsets we have enjoyed here.

Some of you have already seen these photos on Facebook last week, but this is how our Still Waters Pond looked a few mornings ago...pretty much encased in fog, and you can see how desperately dry the pond is right now...we definitely need those rainstorms to come our way instead of circumventing our area every day and giving us false hope!

Okay, let's get back on track...back to the September Calendars!  Oh, I DO love this John Sloane Country Seasons calendar...and this picture is picture perfect!  Entitled "Ladies in Waiting"...the young lady is waiting for some customers at her vegetable wagon, and the hens are waiting for ??? A Rooster??? LOL.   And I'm waiting for the apples to ripen...nothing like fresh apples in the fall. I am excited that next month we plan to go to the North Georgia Mountains for a few days with our kids, and the highlight is always to go get some fresh apples at the apple orchards!   So I guess I am a "lady in waiting" too!

I'm still waiting to do our fall decorating when hubby and I can get out to the shed and bring in all the containers of decor. (Or until a strong son comes and does it for us...we'll see which comes first!)  But meanwhile I changed out a few things here and there with items that I already have in the house, and we went to the Dollar General this morning and saw these two new fall mugs and decided they needed to come home with us. 

Guess which one is going to be hubby's, and which one is going to be mine?

Believe it or not, hubby picked the Pumpkin Patch one, but only after I said I would buy two of the same "grateful, thankful, blessed" mugs so we could each have the same thing...he said "No, I want the Pumpkin Patch mug and you can have the other one." I asked if he was sure, and he said yes, he was sure, so there you go! Did you guess that?

And speaking still about waiting...Here is Sunshine, up on top of the grill on the back porch and looking inside my window while I sit here and work. This was actually a little earlier this morning. Normally the grill is Blackie's favorite spot, but for some reason Blackie has not shown up yet this morning, which is VERY strange.   When I went out to feed them at 7:00 Sunshine was the only one here. I called and called for Blackie, but he never showed up to eat.  A little while later is when Sunshine decided to jump up on Blackie's favorite perch and he sat there for a long time, watching me through the window and also watching for Blackie to arrive.  It is now after 10:30 a.m., and still no sign of Blackie.  We drove around the neighborhood a while ago to make sure he wasn't laying on the road somewhere, and praying that he wasn't...and no sign of him.  I go out and call every so often and even rattled the treat container so he could hear it, but still no response.  This is unusual for Blackie, so I am praying that he's not hurt somewhere.  If he doesn't show up soon I will put a notice on our community "word of mouth" on Facebook to see if anyone has seen him. Of course, there are many black cats around and they all pretty much look alike, but Blackie has that clipped ear which should distinguish him.  So, if you don't mind, please say a little prayer for his safe return. Thank you. I will keep you posted.

Meanwhile, I'm  keeping busy.  Here's the Susan Branch calendar for September. I love the little poem by Louisa May Alcott:

I used to be like that child, always doodling on my pages. I once was very artistic, but not so much anymore. It's one of those talents that if you don't use it, you lose it. Maybe if I really tried it would come back...but I just don't seem to have the drive for it anymore.

Oh, and this is on that calendar too: "Be Your Own Best Friend".  Well, yes, we need to take care of ourselves and be kind to ourselves, but we need good friends too. I appreciate having YOU as dear friends! Thank you.

This is a little sign of fall...that huge sycamore tree that we pass by on our walk is starting to turn golden. They are one of the first trees to lose their leaves here, and the leaves are HUGE!  We had four of these huge trees at our last house, and raking up those leaves was a bit of a pain!  I enjoyed the shade in the summer, but wasn't crazy about them in the fall! 

Back to the calendars:  Here's the Thomas  Kinkade one for September:

I love that scene, don't you?

And this is one of my favorite verses, which was on this particular calendar as well:

I love the little Chinese looking teapot on the Teapot Calendar for September.  Very colorful!

Below is a little teapot that I have that I like to set out in the fall because of it's colors. Although it says it was made in Austria, to me it has the look of a Chinese design. What do you think?

This is the back side of the design:

Here's a fun little quote from Rudyard Kipling:

Yes, if I didn't have any tea for a week it would feel like the "bottom is out of the Universe" to me as well! LOL.

Yesterday our church had a 5th Sunday Potluck dinner after church. Hubby took this picture of me with my mouth full!  Hello!

I took his picture and at least I had the decency to make sure his mouth wasn't full! LOL.  I was just so happy that he actually wanted to stay for the dinner. It's been a while since he felt like doing things at church, especially after church, when he'd like to be home taking a nap! So this is a good sign that he is truly getting better.  We still don't know for sure what was wrong, but we are very thankful that whatever it was seems to be going away. Praise God! Thank you for your prayers over the past few months!  I believe they have been answered.  And I am feeling much better too, so that is also a big answer to prayer.

As a matter of fact, I felt well enough last night to make myself a chocolate soda! I probably shouldn't have, but I just wanted one. Besides, the ice-cream we used had no sugar added and only 1/2 the fat, and it still tasted good!  The club soda used to make the soda has no sugar or calories at all, so the only real sugar was in the tablespoon of Hershey's chocolate syrup, which couldn't have been too much, right?  Oh, and one squirt of whipped cream! It was good, and sometimes we just need to treat ourselves.

Well, it is now 2:16 p.m.  I've been working on this post throughout the day as I have had time. I just went back outside a little while ago and walked around calling Blackie. I did also put a post on our community "Word of Mouth" Facebook page to see if anyone has seen him. I called my neighbor who used to feed the kitties before she got sick to see if she has heard or seen him over there. By the way, she is feeling much better now and is at home, but is not able to take care of the cats due to very decreased mobility. Anyway, no, she hasn't heard any strange noises under her house (where the cats used to go).  I went over and walked around there and called him and looked under there, but no sight or sound of him.  So we will wait and see if he shows up for supper around 4:00, and if not, maybe we'll take a ride a little further out in our neighborhood.   Sunshine has stayed close to the house all day and seems rather clingy.  I've asked him if he knows where Blackie could be, but he's not like the dog Lassie and hasn't tried to get me to follow him anywhere.  So we will just have to wait and pray.  Y'all knew I'd get attached to these cats, didn't you?  Yeah...I am. I am praying for the best outcome, but preparing myself for the possibility that Blackie may not come home.  Time will tell. Cats can be strange and they like to wander sometimes. We'll see...

Blackie and Sunshine last week. They sure love each other.

On that note, I will close this, but I will update it later if there is any good news. Meanwhile, this was on the Susan Branch calendar, and I love it:

Amen!

Happy Labor Day. (picture taken on that foggy morning.)

 

Thursday Thankfulness

 It's so hot I had to open up my own ice-cream shoppe and make myself a chocolate ice cream soda today to cool off! LOL.

It was fun sitting there on the stools at the counter, slurping away at my old fashioned chocolate soda, just like the good old days!

Yep! Ahhh!  It was good to the last slurp! 

I am very thankful for our cool house and the ability to do special things to enjoy a hot summer day without having to be outside in the heat!

I am also thankful that earlier this week our son came over and installed grab bars for us in our bathrooms!  Here's hubby's bathroom: (and yes, I know that's busy wallpaper, but remember,this is a manufactured home, and that's how they come. I keep saying that someday I will paint over it, but that day hasn't come yet...)

This one is in my bathroom, right above the cute toilet paper holder that he made for me last year, and where his sweet wife painted the cute little chickadees on it.   (And yes, both bathrooms have the same wallpaper, and actually, we have a third bathroom, and it has the same stuff too!)

So thankful for smart kids!!

I'm thankful for these little tiny cherry tomatoes growing in this pot! I stuck a small pot with a tomato plant in this larger pot of geraniums and another flower, and I had intended to repot it in the dirt instead of leaving it in the little tiny pot, but it still took root in this pot and started growing and producing tomatoes even without me doing that! I can't take any credit except for keeping it watered. God did all the rest!

Sometimes even the most unlikely combinations surprise us with something good!!  

And here's a couple of zinnia blossoms, still growing strong even in this drought!

Yes, I do water them almost every day, but I am thankful that they just keep on smiling up at us regardless of the weather!

I mentioned that the new house next door has sold, and there has been a lot of activity over there this week, but still no one has actually moved in.  They did, however, install a fence in the back yard, and brought in a new little shed/garage, to store their lawn mower and tools!  So that's progress!  I am thankful that they are doing things to take care of their property.  We still haven't met the new owners, but hopefully once they are moved in there will time for that!

I am also thankful that hubby's appointment with our doctor today went really well, and he really listened and took care of making sure the referral to the neurologist went through. Apparently someone in the office dropped the ball on that and it was supposed to have been done already, so he personally made sure it was done today, and we got a call from their office this afternoon, making an appointment for next week. So that was good news!

And here's some interesting, not really so funny to me stories from my childhood. (But I can laugh about them now).

These photos below are from the internet because I don't have any of the real deal to share, but I saw these first two on Facebook this week and it took me back down memory lane.

The Hay Wagon story, as I remember it, I was about 4 years old, and we kids were riding on top of the loaded hay wagon like this,  with our Dad driving the tractor pulling the wagon back to the barn from the field. Our tractor was a much older Farmall Tractor...not a fancy rig like this.  Anyway, when he turned the corner in the road to head for the barn, apparently he drove under a tree and a tree limb came out across the top of the hay and knocked me off of the top and onto the ground!  Thankfully I only had the wind knocked out of me and apparently there were no injuries, but to this day I can still feel what that thud and wind being knocked out me felt like!  

Next, I saw this picture and oh boy, did it ever bring back THAT memory!  Yes, that could well be me! Again, I was about 4, and somehow I managed to go down to the corn crib by myself to feed the cows, or so I thought. But Mr. Rooster came charging out of the barnyard with his spurs on his feet flying at me, and I let out a scream and my mother came running with a broom and chased him off of me.  I understand that we had rooster stew for supper that night!

Now, for the last story...again when I was about the same age...our farm had a 2-seater outhouse. It was not as fancy as this one...

I remember it looking more like this: (maybe not that bad, but you get the idea)

And I'm not sure if there were actual seats like these, or if there were just holes, but anyway, trust me, it was a stinky old outhouse!  LOL.  However, our outhouse had a little gas heater in it near the door, because our farm had natural gas wells on the property (in Pennyslvania), and so I guess we had free gas and could afford to have a heater in our outhouse...and it was cold there as you can well imagine.

Anyway, on this particular day my older sister Doris and I went to the outhouse together. The door on the outhouse had a hook and eye latch inside to keep the door closed,  but when you went outside there was a wooden block on the door that you would turn and it would hold the door closed.  My sister said that if I ever was in there alone and someone forgot and turned the block on the door on the outside, that all I would have to do is push really hard against the door and it would open from the inside. Then she went out and left me in there and latched the door from the outside. She said she forgot and didn't mean to do it, but I've never been too sure about that. LOL.  Anyway, me being only 4, I wasn't really that strong, and when I tried to push the door open, it wouldn't budge.  So I started pounding on the door and screaming, and while in the process of pushing on the door somehow I got my hair caught in the little heater and it singed my hair, and then I really started screaming, and my mother heard me and came and let me out of the outhouse. Of course my sister said she was sorry, and of course I forgive her, but I've sure never forgotten it (and I've never let her forget it either! LOL.)

I share those little stories from my childhood to pause and remember that even then, God was watching over me. In each situation I could have been seriously hurt, but thankfully I mostly was just scared and perhaps my little child pride was wounded a bit. If I've never done it before, I want to thank the Lord now for His watchcare over me way back then.  He knew me, He loved me, and He had a plan for my life that a fall from a haywagon, an attack by a mean old rooster, and a hair-singed locked up in an outhouse experience couldn't keep from happening.  I am extremely grateful to God, and I want Him to know it.

This was true then, and it's still true today...

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, 

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

And this passage from Psalm 139:

Psalm 139: 13-18

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

I am so very thankful for this knowledge...and for the fact that even now, in my 75th year of life, God is still with me, and He continues to take care of me...and He still has plans for my life...plans to prosper me and not harm me, to give me a hope and a future...     Thank You, Lord!!

I hope you didn't mind this little trip down memory lane with me. I wonder how many of you could look back at your life and see the many times God protected you and kept you from being hurt in serious ways that may have totally changed your life.  Or, even if serious things did happen in your life, (and yes, I've experienced those too),  perhaps you can see the ways He used those things for your good even still.  

Romans 8:28 NKJV

"28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, 

to those who are the called according to His purpose."

Thank you for spending this time with me.  I hope you have a lovely rest of your week. And no matter what we may be going through, there is always something to be thankful for.

Amen.

Thursday Thankfulness

 Wow, this week sure has flown by! And every day has brought us a little bit of rain here and there, so we are thankful for that. Hopefully some more is on the way this afternoon around 5:00, according to the weather app on my phone. However, we've found that not to always be exactly accurate, but at least it gives us an idea of what to expect and be prepared!  

With all the rain our little zinnia garden is starting to really blossom!

Some kind of bug on this one:

These were almost spent, but I brought them inside to enjoy to the very end:

One of our blogging friends, Debbi at Debbi's Front Porch kept mentioning something about her "Old Maids" growing/blooming, but I didn't know what she was talking about, so I asked her, and she said she was talking about her zinnias.  I had never heard that term before for zinnias, so I looked it up online and here is what I found on someone's post on Facebook:

"Creative Gardening"

Tinatin Noghashvili ·

"Did you know zinnias used to be called Old Maids? They were long lasting flowers and similar to the bright colors old unmarried women used to wear.
They were very popular from the 1920’s to the 50’s and then their popularity somewhat dwindled.
That name isn’t in use much more and zinnias are now again growing in popularity. They are easy to grow, last a long time in the vase and come in so many wonderful colors! Their ability to attract pollinators is also a big plus. Everyone should try growing this beautiful flower!"

Internet Photo

I love that picture, don't you? And that explains about the "Old Maids" in my garden! Thank you, Debbi, for piqueing my curiosity about that!

Talking about curiosity...Whenever I step out of the back door these two curious cats come running to see what I am doing...

One would think they were joined at the hip! LOL.  Looks like Blackie is running in his sleep!

They are actually hoping I'll give them something more to eat, but I think they are well fed enough!

Actually, I did do something different on the porch. Our "kids" were coming over for supper, and they always bring the Grand Puppies,Sugar and Spice. Well, if the kitties are on the back porch where they can see them, the pups go crazy and want to go outside.  So we thought we'd try a little subterfuge and build a screen so the cats couldn't be seen by the dogs.  Before I was smart enough to tuck in the bottom part of the sheet under the chair legs that are on the other side of this "curtain", Blackie was actually under there playing hide and seek in the curtain. Can you see his lump in the middle?

Here's the finished product, and it actually worked pretty well until the cats figured out how to get around it and showed up on the other side of the curtain where the pups could see them.  I didn't get any pictures of all that excitement, but suffice it to say the best of plans don't always work when you're dealing with two curious cats and two very excitable doggies!

Here's where they ended up, but the pups were gone home by the time I took this picture. LOL.

This is what we had for supper...Rose was off  from work today, and so she wanted to roast a pork loin  and bring it here.  I cooked the mashed potatoes and corn on the cob and we made gravy when she got here with the meat. We also had a nice green salad. It was all very yummy!

There was more to their plan to come over today.  If you recall a couple of weeks ago they helped us install a "Ring" doorbell, which has worked very well and we are thankful for it.  The next part of our "security package" was to install some "Blink" Cameras outside in a few places.

And here is a test to see if I can actually share a video from the back porch camera...looks like it's there. Let me know if you can open it.  I'm just learning all the functions and how to operate it.  This was taken just a minute ago.  

You may wonder why all the security measures all of a sudden? Well, it's something we've been thinking about for a while, and to be honest, at our age, it's just something that we feel like we need to give us "eyes" all around the property.  The nice thing is we can access this from anywhere we are as long as I have my phone.  It gives us that extra level of security when there are things that "go bump in the night", or if we have to be away for any length of time.  And yes, we know that God is always watching over us and we are not afraid, but in this day and age it is wise to be vigilant. 

Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 

7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

So we are very thankful that our kids helped us set this up. It's nice to have young people around who are capable of tackling these kinds of jobs for us! We are blessed and very very thankful.

I know some have wondered how hubby is doing...he's feeling a bit better and we are very thankful to God for His help and kindness and grace.  We met with our primary care doctor to go over the results of his tests, and now he is being referred to a specialist for further evaluation. We don't know when that will be yet, as we are waiting for the specialist to contact us to set up an appointment. We are just thankful that it doesn't appear to be anything that needs immediate or urgent attention, but definitely needs to be addressed.  So we are taking things one day at a time and trusting God to work all things together for our good.  (Romans 8:28) He knows our needs and concerns, and He is taking care of things beyond our control. And we also know that God's timing is always perfect. So we will trust in His time schedule.  Again, we are thankful and blessed.  However, we are still taking things a bit easier and not participating in too many extra-curricular activities.  When we know better what the plan is for the future, we will be able to assess our future activities a little better.

Well, friends, it is getting past my bedtime. It's been a wonderful day and I am very thankful. 

I hope you are doing well also, and I hope to catch up with you as I am able. "Good Night, Sleep Tight, Don't let the Bed Bugs bite!" LOL.