Be Still My Soul...

Hello! I was just sitting here in my "Room with a View", looking out the window as I was trying to decide what to write about, and there were these three Sand Hill Cranes walking about on the other side of Still Waters Pond. So I hopped up and went out on the porch and took a few pictures...

I hadn't seen them lately...they are the little family that would sometimes fly in and fly out, I thought earlier in the year looking for a good place for a nest, but the Canada Geese had already beat them to it so they went elsewhere.

But then a few months later came back and brought their "baby" with them. So they show up now and again and have a snack on the pond and then fly up and over the house and away to who knows where for the night.

So, just after they flew away, and I do mean literally up and over the house right up in front of me...I thought they were aiming right for my window but shot straight up and over the house at the last minute...not long after as I was trying to once again organize by thoughts about what I should write...the sky looked like this, and I had to run back out on the porch to take some more pictures...

I mean, who can resist a lovely sunset right before your very eyes? 

I know I can't. I wait until the very last, or until the bugs start biting ferociously, whichever comes first...

Snapping pictures every minute as the skies change right before our eyes...

And finally the bugs got the better of me and I headed inside, but it was worth the pain of a few bug bites...

Previously I had been sitting out on our swing, enjoying the sounds of the frogs on the pond and the stillness of the evening setting in, wishing I had some friends and family to come join me in the afterglow of day...but I had to realize that summertime in Florida really isn't the time to sit outside in the evening for very long.  If it's not too hot and muggy, it's definitely too buggy.  When I relayed my feelings about wishing we could have a gathering outside in the evening, my hubby reminded me of those details, but promised when the weather cools down in the fall and the mosquitoes go away, we can begin to really enjoy our back yard and set up our firepit and do all the things I love to do.  

I sure hope he remembers his promise to do this in the fall, because things might be a little different for me this fall.  In case you've wondered, I did finally get the results of the MRI I had a few weeks ago on my neck...(remember THIS post a while ago?)  Just as I kind of figured, my neck is a mess with bulging disks and impinged nerves, etc., etc., and I have been referred to a neurosurgeon for further examination.  I finally got a call from his office today, telling me the earliest appointment he can see me is September 1st! Wow!  Meanwhile, I am on some strong medication to relieve the pain and spasms in my neck, but I don't know how long I can stay on that without further treatment. So, unless the doctor gets a cancellation and can see me sooner, (or if we decide to look for a different doctor who isn't so booked...but this one came highly recommended)...I'm kind of being put "on hold" for a while as far as making any plans or going anywhere or doing anything beyond the essential regular routine. Thankfully the medication is helping to relieve the nerve pain, but I kind of feel like I am in "la la land" and don't think I should drive or do anything too "exciting". 

So I hope you enjoy the pictures of the lovely blossoms on the Rose of Sharon bush in the Secret Memorial Garden,

and the myriads of new hollyberries ripening on the big holly tree...

I was thrilled to see so many berries again after last year's record "crop" and the flocks of Robins and Cedar Waxwings who showed up to eat them on their way south for the winter...

All this wonderful rain we've been having seems to have helped them develop and multiply!

For now I've ceased helping out at our kids' "Dixie Cottage" store once a week because not being able to rest during the day was putting extra strain on my neck (I missed my nap! LOL) , and we've also had to put off our plans to go to Maine in October to visit our grandson. I am just having to pace myself and not overdo it or things flare up again.

So that's that. Hopefully there will be some non-surgical alternatives that will help relieve this condition. I really hadn't counted on having to wait so long to even talk to a neurosurgeon, but I guess that is just the way it is these days.  I know I am not alone in having to wait for specialized treatment, and many people are in much worse condition that I am in, so I am trying to remain positive and not complain...just a bit frustrated right now. I don't like taking medicine if there is a better way.

So I tell you all of this not for sympathy or even for advice, but would just appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we seek these answers. 

This popped up in my little "Choose Grace" devotional book. Thought it was appropriate for today and for what I'm currently experiencing:

Yes, Lord, thank You for the gift of "stillness" (beside Still Waters Pond?), and again, help me to learn to wait patiently for You.  Amen.

I just realized as I was typing this that one of my friends at church and fellow choir member has asked me to sing a duet with her in the near future, "Be Still My Soul"... Hmmm...God must be trying to tell me something again...

1 Be still, my soul! for God is on your side;

bear patiently the cross of grief or pain:

leave to your God to order and provide,

who through all changes faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul! your best, your heav’nly Friend

through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

2 Be still, my soul! for God will undertake

to guide the future surely as the past.

Your hope, your confidence, let nothing shake;

all now mysterious shall be clear at last.

Be still, my soul! the waves and winds still know

the voice that calmed their fury long ago.

3 Be still, my soul! the hour is hastening on

when we shall be forever in God's peace;

when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,

love’s joys restored, our strivings all shall cease.

Be still my soul! when change and tears are past,

all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Good Night.

 

Sorry I've been M.I.A.

 I feel like I've been Missing in Action this week! I just couldn't seem to sit down and write anything worth posting, and so I took a little break for a few days.  Now I feel so out of touch. Where do I begin? I will have to go back through my photos from the week and see what is worth sharing.  Some of it may not make much sense...that's just how I'm feeling...not making much sense...

First of all, I can't believe we are already half way through the month of May! Where did May go???

This is a picture from my Country Seasons calendar by the artist John Sloane.  

I think the days of the month have followed that gaggle of geese right out the road...

I did discover this lovely little dessert plate at the flea market... I know, I know...I don't need anymore dessert plates...some day they will end up in the church thrift store for someone else to discover and enjoy, but for now I am enjoying it, and I thought you would too:

Jeepers! It's real gold!  

Never know what you may find for $1.00 at the flea market!

This lovely Great White Egret came strolling by on Still Waters Pond one day this week:

He just kind of blends right in, doesn't he? That's his way of camouflaging himself I guess, so I can't see him. LOL. Kind of like hiding in plain view...

Speaking of "hiding in plain view", this slider turtle was moving along on the ground instead of in the pond where he came from.  Not sure where he was going, but he was headed in the wrong direction...

I got up nose to nose with him and told him he was headed in the wrong direction, but I didn't really want to interfere after my experience with our little goose family a few weeks ago, so I just talked to him for a minute...

He shut his eyes and hid from me right there in plain view again...

And then he decided to turn around and head back to the pond like a good boy:

Hopefully he is back where he belongs now...

I was thrilled to see lots of new buds on the Rose of Sharon bush in the Secret Memorial Garden this week:

(yes, that is Lily Grace making a cameo appearance just to let you know she is still alive and well too!)

And was rewarded with some lovely blossoms each day:   This was one of the plants we brought with us from the former Memorial Garden at the old house. It seems to really love it here now that I've finally planted it in the ground.  

And this Gloxinia plant is another that I brought with me, and it is still in a pot. It dies back in the winter, and then pops back up in the spring and has the most lovely blossoms:

Now here is something to chuckle about but also take seriously:

Picture of the week:

Buyers beware: This is why you don't want to buy a house online without coming and looking at it in person first. What the Zillow and other groups like that don't show you is what may be "lurking" down the street. A snowbird friend of mine from up north bought a house  through a realtor,  sight unseen, and when she arrived she discovered this living down the street:

Reminded me of this famous quote from one of our favorite movies, "Christmas Vacation":

Just a little humorous warning to those who may be considering migrating south for the winter or even permanently...be sure to have someone you trust check out the neighborhood first!

Now switching gears to something very pleasant. Today we had the privilege of celebrating the graduation of our nephew Nicholaus as he graduated from high school:

After this past year of distance learning, missing out on many school activities, etc., he persevered and made it through with high grades and just being an all around good young man! So very proud of him.

He will be starting classes at Seminole State College in Sanford, Florida, this summer.

Here he is with his Dad, my husband's brother Bill:

This is his talented and sweet mother Peggy, who had outdone herself with decorations and food, etc. for family and friends to come and enjoy:

She did have some wonderful helpers from her side of the family, but I neglected to get their pictures. I am truly sorry. 

Here's a few more of the decorations and favors:

and desserts:

Here's Nicholaus with his family, Peggy, Bill, Nick, and Shannon

This is Bill and my hubby John

My sister Doris and her hubby Art were also there for the occasion

Here's yours truly and my sister in a selfie...

And here's Nick with our good friend Paula, who is like family...

Well, it is late, and I need to get to bed. Tomorrow is Sunday, and my hubby is going to preach at our church since our Pastor is on vacation. So we need to get to bed. Morning comes early.

Here's a good verse for today and for always:

Amen!

And Please Pray for Israel.

And please pray for our country too.

Good night dear friends. I will try to be a better communicator next week.

Great Things He Has Done!

 The other day I was wandering around the back yard and noticed something blooming in the Memorial Garden:

This is the Rose of Sharon bush that we brought with us when we moved last summer. It was originally planted in the Memorial Garden at our previous home, in loving memory of our son Matthew. This particular bush was chosen by his wife Nicole.

The plant was looking a little weak recently, after a spell of extremely hot and dry weather, and I was afraid we were going to lose it. But no! God revived this plant and it is finally blooming again. These are the first blooms since our move a year ago.

Here is another one today, after the rain! Just in time for our 51st anniversary tomorrow. Usually the memorial rose bush blooms on our special days, like birthdays and Mother's Day, and I always say a little "Thank you" to our son Matthew, for those heaven-sent gifts.  This time it is the Rose of Sharon instead of the rose bush. Maybe because the month of August is also he and his wife's anniversary month.  They would have been married 27 years on August 7th. I probably need to send a picture of this to Nicole.  Hard to believe it has been six years already since he passed.

But I don't want to dwell there today. The good news is, we will see Matthew again someday!

Thank You, Jesus!

I had a nice little tea time the other afternoon. I used our "good wedding china" teacup and dessert plate in keeping with our anniversary theme this week. I discovered some delicious Cranberry Orange Muffins at the grocery store, and decided to buy some just for me (hubby doesn't care for them). They were very good with a cup of Earl Grey Tea.  

I found out that our younger son who lives here with us also loves that kind of muffin! So, being a good mother that I am, I shared my muffins with him. I need to just bake some, but I never seem to have the orange zest/orange juice that is required to make them. I think they also are best with fresh cranberries, which can be hard to find this time of year. Maybe Craisins would work okay. I'll have to try. Anyone have any good recipes?

Speaking of recipes:  A dear friend from the past surprised me by sending me this cookbook in the mail! "Boston Tea Parties,  Recipes from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston."   I was totally shocked to receive this lovely gift, as I have not seen this friend in many, many years. She and her husband were members of a church in  New London, Ohio, when my husband was the Youth and Music Director there while attending Seminary many years ago. Now, her husband is a retired minister and is serving in that same church as their Associate Minister!  She saw on Facebook that I loved to have tea parties, and she said that she had been given this cookbook some time ago but really never used it and she thought I would enjoy it more!  

I just checked to see if there is a recipe for Cranberry Orange Muffins...and although there isn't one exactly like that, there are several other delicious sounding recipes that also use fresh cranberries..."Cranberry Lemon Bread", Cranberry Cookies, and Cranberry Crumbles. Oh, there is also a Cranberry Chutney  recipe that sounds really good, which can be used in Chicken Salad or on "either smoked turkey and provolone or ham and Swiss cheese croissant sandwiches."  Maybe I should share that recipe. It sounds good!

(Internet Photo)

Cranberry Chutney

1 pound cranberries, picked over and washed

1 cup sugar

1 cup honey

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon finely chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped.

Combine all the ingredients, except walnuts, in a saucepan.  

Cook until cranberries pop open, about 10 minutes.  

Skim foam from surface.  Cool. Stir in walnuts.  

Yield: 4 cups.  

"The chutney may be made ahead and frozen"

Thank you, Sheri, for this lovely cookbook! I do believe I am going to get some good recipes from this!

This morning the skies were so beautiful. It looked like the sun was rising in the west over the pond, which isn't possible, but it was the reflection of the sun on the clouds.

So I went to look out on the east side of the house, and this is what I saw:

That's the moon and I think that little dot to the right is maybe Venus? Anyway, I thought that was interesting.  The skies were kind of mixed up this morning, but beautiful nonetheless.

These were the skies the other evening as we were driving over to take our usual walk after supper.

But, as you can see, there were soon raindrops on our windshield, so we ended up not walking after all.

And it is raining again right now as I am writing this.

We are planning to go out to eat in a while with our kids, over at our favorite restaurant beside the 

St. John's River., "Corky Bells". They are taking us out for our anniversary dinner.

I hope it stops raining in time so we can sit outside on the deck overlooking the river like we did before.

But, if not, we will still have a great time just being with our family for this special occasion.

Tomorrow is the real anniversary, but we plan to go to church and then will meet with our friends for brunch after church at the local restaurant.

So that will be enough celebrating for us two old folks. 

This morning we both mowed the yard. And then had to take a nap. LOL.

Switching gears for a minute...If you remember reading HERE a few weeks ago about our son and his wife's new workshop shed for their business, "Ben & Rose's Country Woodshop", I promised to share more as they were able to get things more set up. Well, they have been so busy with this business that they've hardly had time to set things up properly...just had to put tools in there and get to work. We stopped by yesterday and our son gave us the tour of how things look right now.  He apologized because it wasn't as organized and neat as he hoped to have it, but there's been no time to do all the things he intended to do. They've just been that busy! Praise God!!

So here is our son Benton, giving us the tour and telling us how each "work station" works for him as he constructs their tables, benches, shelves, and other custom pieces as needed.

Here he is demonstrating the hose that sucks the sawdust out of the tools into the container. Thankfully it wasn't turned on when he put it up to his eardrum. It might have sucked his brains out! LOL.

Such a tease!

And here he is explaining how he gets the wood from the one side and feeds it through to the saw, etc. Hubby is very interested and listening carefully.

Here's the grandpuppies, Sugar and Spice. They came out to check things out too.  

These are some examples of the types of furniture they build. These items are set up for sale on consignment in a new store called "Rustic Knots", which had its grand opening today, in St. John's Florida. (near St. Augustine and Jacksonville). 

Console Tables are very popular:

So are Kitchen Island Carts:

And this is a more rustic kind of Console Table.

They also have this Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BRCoastalRusticDecor 

Our son Benton does the carpentry, and his lovely wife Rose does the painting. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of her as well. She was busy getting ready to go to her other job at Home Depot. Very busy people these days! We are thankful to the Lord for blessing their business so wonderfully.

Can't wait to see them in a little while when we go out to eat. 

I'll have more pictures later for tomorrow's post.

This song pretty well sums up how I feel today. Won't you sing along?

To God Be The Glory, Great Things He Has Done! (By Fanny Crosby)

1 To God be the glory, great things He hath done,

So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,

Who yielded His life our redemption to win,

And opened the life-gate that all may go in.

Chorus:

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

Let the earth hear His voice;

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

Let the people rejoice;

Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,

And give Him the glory; great things He hath done.

2 Oh, perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,

To every believer the promise of God;

The vilest offender who truly believes,

That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Chorus

3 Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,

And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;

But purer, and higher, and greater will be

Our wonder, our transport when Jesus we see.

Chorus

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

Let the earth hear His voice;

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

Let the people rejoice;

Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,

And give Him the glory; great things He hath done!

Amen.