Saturday Wanderings~Another Neighborhood Story

It's Saturday afternoon, and it's raining "cats and dogs" out there...well, maybe just cats. LOL. No dogs in sight right now. And actually the cats are in hiding somewhere out there. Can't say as I blame them. We keep getting bright flashes of lightning and very loud thunder boomers.  If I didn't enjoy watching the storm so much I just might go into hiding myself...

I took these photos after the storm had stopped...can you see the water in the mud ruts that were left from the mower getting stuck the other day?  Now they are all filled up with rain water and Still Waters Pond is being renewed raindrop by raindrop:

Oh, just as I was taking those pictures above, look who came around the pond to come play in the puddles? LOL.  Actually, they are finding tasty morsels of food coming up in the water/mud after the storm...they are happy Sand Hill Cranes!

This picture below is of a neighbor's house way across the road from us, but I can see it from our house, and prior to the storm starting in earnest, and as we could hear the thunder rolling in from a distance, I noticed there were still children swimming in that little swimming pool. I know those kids love to swim every day and if they could they'd stay in there all day long.  But I could hear the thunder, and I was getting a bit nervous about them being in that pool.  I was about a hair's width away from going over there to tell them they'd better get out before lightning strikes them, when I noticed that their mother finally must've come out and told them to get out of the pool because I saw them running into the house just as the storm was about to crash in on top of us. I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the Lord for protecting those children.  I mean, I don't want to be a nosy busy body neighbor, but I definitely did NOT want to have it on my conscience if lightning struck those children...which does happen here in Florida frequently. Just a week or so ago a young man was struck dead by lightning over at New Smyrna Beach. He was on his honeymoon.  So very sad. It's definitely nothing to play around with! So I am very thankful those children got out of the pool when they did.

Now, back to unique encounters with interesting people in the neighborhood...About a week ago I noticed an elderly woman standing in the front yard of the new house next door.  As I just happened to be outside getting our mail, I wandered over there to say hello and see if she had some questions about the house.  No, I am not the realtor, but I have been kind of an "unofficial" security person for the house since the owner/developer lives out of town and we have stayed in communication about anything happening on her property.  The lady said that she was just looking at the house and wondered if it was still for sale (which it was at that time). She asked me if it was okay for her to walk around the property, and I told her it was fine, but I offered to walk around with her because the ground is still quite uneven in places where there are lots of exposed roots and little rough spots in the terrain.  

Well, even though this lady said she was just killing time while she waited for an appointment, she did express some interest in wanting to move to a new house. We ended up having quite a "lengthy conversation" as she told me many things about her life story, including that she is 87 years old and has written many many books! I was enjoying chatting with her as she shared so many interesting things, but after quite a while I told her that I didn't want to keep her from her appointment, which she then looked at her watch and realized she was already late.  I asked her name and told her how much I had enjoyed visiting with her, and she told me her name is "Belle Tilley".  I told her that I love the name Belle,  and especially because one of my mother's older sisters was named Belle.  Anyway, she hurried off for her appointment and I was left with a feeling of how much I wished I could've talked to her longer and especially wished that I had asked her more about the books she had written.  

Do you ever have conversations with perfect strangers like that,  and wish that you could've spent more time with them and had a chance to ask them more questions? I honestly just could not shake that feeling.  She was very articulate, but also quite strong in her opinions and did not mince any words. Belle grew up in rural south Georgia, one of 8 children, and was raised on a farm.  When she was a young woman she left home by herself and headed to Orlando, Florida with nothing but a suitcase to begin a new life striking out on her own.  She reminded me a lot of my dearly departed mother in law...a person with a lot of "character" and true grit.  I told my husband she was from a generation of strong southern hard working women who never met a challenge too difficult to overcome, especially if it meant protecting or providing for their families. And even though her language and manner of speaking at times became quite "colorful", as I said, she minced no words in expressing her beliefs on most every topic...politics, religion, current events and lazy people who steal and lie, (just to name a few)...I had no doubt that she was extremely intelligent and hard working and if she liked you, she'd fight for you no matter what.

So, moving right along. I decided to look her up online and also to see if I could find any information about any books written by someone named "Belle Tilley".  I checked on Amazon, and lo! and Behold!  There were actually quite a few books listed written by a Belle Tilley! However, they were mostly murder mysteries, which kind of surprised me!  But they had been written back in the early 2000's.   I wanted so badly to talk to Belle again to find out if those were her books, but I didn't know how to get in touch with her, so I just prayed for her and also told the Lord that I would love to meet up with her again.  Would you believe that yesterday we were in our local little grocery store, and I turned around and there she was!!  I was so surprised!  Immediately I went over to her and made sure it was her, and that she remembered who I was, and she did after I reminded her of our meeting.  So I asked her about the books she had written, and she told me that yes, she wrote all those murder mysteries back when she first retired.  I told her they were on Amazon, but they were priced rather high (in the $20-$25. dollar range), and she was livid!  She said that she did NOT authorize them to be sold on Amazon, and apparently someone has bought them from her supplier and is reselling them to make a huge profit, and she will not get any royalties from that.  I don't know how that works, but that is what appears has been happening.  She said that she published her books through a self publishing company called www.lulu.com, and they were the only ones authorized to sell them for her.   We didn't have time to talk long in the store, but she said she would bring me a couple of her books as a gift! I thanked her and didn't really expect to see her again anytime soon...but...  

This morning someone was knocking on our front door and when I opened it, there was Belle!  

So I invited her in and she gave me two of her books as she had promised...

I was thrilled, to say the least! And then we sat down and we talked more and more...and again, she shared many more things about her life that were very interesting.  Belle loves to talk and has much to say, and I know she is lonely since her family lives a couple of hours away from her. 

My hubby joined in on the conversation after a while and we also talked about some spiritual issues and concerns she has.  She seems very fit for her age, but I am concerned about some things that are going on with her that become obvious once she starts talking about issues she is having with neighbors and other people  and places...and although I am quite certain she could take care of herself physically,  she is at a stage in life where she could talk herself into some major difficulties with people who are not quite so compassionate and understanding.  

And so I am left with a concern to keep her in my prayers and ask the Lord to keep a close watch over her. I'm not sure if we will meet again, but then again, it seems like God keeps bringing people into our lives for a reason.  I am praying for wisdom regarding this situation and others that have recently been happening.  Here's a good passage from the book of Proverbs:

Proverbs 2:1-8

1 My son, (or daughter!) if you receive my words,

And treasure my commands within you,

2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom,

And apply your heart to understanding;

3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment,

And lift up your voice for understanding,

4 If you seek her as silver,

And search for her as for hidden treasures;

5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,

And find the knowledge of God.

6 For the Lord gives wisdom;

From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;

8 He guards the paths of justice,

And preserves the way of His saints."

So be it, Lord.

Amen.

Thank you all for again, another long post with a rather long story. I hope you will keep us and also Belle in your thoughts and prayers as well. She has come across our path for a reason...and that may be it. We never know, but God knows!  

Have a blessed rest of your weekend!

 

After the Rain "We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise"

 Sunday morning we woke up to the blessed sound of rain upon the roof!  I felt like doing a dance of praise and thanksgiving.  It is fitting that our choir was singing this song for the Sunday morning worship service:  

"We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise" medley with "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee"

Hebrews 13:14-16  NKJV

"14 For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. 

15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. 

16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased."

And even though the rain did not last very long, it was refreshing and delightful, and with it comes the promise of more to come later this week!

It's amazing what a little bit of rain does to encourage even the birds of the air! The Bluebirds came out to sit and enjoy the view of Still Waters Pond...

And also to take a little bath in the birdbath,  after admiring his reflection in the water:

Oh, that feels SO good!!!

And afterwards he sat on the bird feeder and let his fluffy, clean feathers dry in the fresh breezy air:

I'm sorry that I seem to be quite "enamored" with how handsome a cat our Sunshine is.  He's very photogenic and often gives us such wonderful poses without even knowing how much he delights us!

He decided he needed some fresh air, and was actually headed down to the pond to get a little drink from it...

But the Sand Hill Crane family was coming around the bend and stopped Sunshine in his tracks from going any further.  I was watching from inside the house and praying that Sunshine would realize his danger and get out of the way before Papa Crane came after him with his big flapping wings and sharp beak.  Thankfully, right after I took this picture Sunshine got up and ran back up the steps of the porch before the crane got any closer.    Blackie Sue had a similar experience a little earlier, and you never saw a cat run so fast as she did to scoot around and get up those steps before Papa Crane could get to her.  He did flap his wings as she scrambled to get by him, but thankfully she got out of harm's way before any harm was done.   That happened too quickly for me to get any pictures. 

Today I was motivated to plant some little flower plants that I picked up at the Garden/Farm Market on Saturday.  I know this doesn't look like much, but hopefully those plants will all bloom where they are planted and it will make a happy, colorful addition to my butterfly garden for this summer. I hope so, because I sure am hurting tonight from the  digging I did to make this little garden happen.  My neck and back muscles are definitely out of shape.

Hubby was busy with another project while I was doing my planting.  Thankfully he had some help  from a friend with his project, as his was a bit more involved and difficult.  Over the weekend some crazy driver knocked over the mailbox that belongs to our sweet neighbor across the street who is currently still in a nursing home/rehab.  Even if she was at home, she would not be able to do anything about this. 

The mailbox is across the street from her house, and is actually in the front yard of the new house next door to us, which still has not sold and the price has been reduced again.  However, I had a little conversation with the owner of this house and told her in a very kind and friendly manner that if she would go ahead and invest in some landscaping and make the house look less neglected and vacant, it might sell faster and she wouldn't have to keep lowering the price. She agreed with me and said she is looking for someone to do the landscaping now.  I hope she finds someone soon and that the house sells to those special people that I've been praying for to become our neighbors.

So anyway, I'm very thankful for hubby and our friend who took care of this today.  I wish the person who knocked it over would step up and confess and offer to pay for the expenses of repair, (even though they weren't much, but it's the principle of the thing) but I doubt that will happen.  Did you know that deliberately damaging a mailbox is a federal offense, and you could go to jail for 3 years and/or face a fine of up to $250,000 ? Yep!  That's true!  But if a person would just admit to making a mistake and pay for the damages, I think most people would drop those charges.  It's just sad that people, most likely teenagers, think it's fun to do this. They don't realize what a problem it is for people to have to repair these kinds of damages, especially elderly people who have no way to do it themselves.

Among some other things I've been planting lately is this Golden Dewdrop bush.

Interestingly enough, the flowers on this bush are purple, but it will have golden berries eventually. I thought it would be a nice bush to plant in my raised planter that Benton built and gave me, but upon reading up on it just now, I realized that this plant will actually  "grow 10 to 15 feet wide and up to 18 feet tall, depending on growing conditions and pruning frequency."

I don't think it will be staying in the little planter for very long! Now I need to figure out the right place to put it!  Aren't those purple flowers so dainty and pretty? I understand that butterflies will love it.

I am happy to see that this blueberry bush that I planted a few years ago is loaded with berries this year! 

They will probably be ripe enough to eat by June.

And last but not least, this geranium plant is starting to grow again. I repotted it (actually there are two different ones in this pot) into this larger pot, and gave it some good fresh fertilized soil, and it looks so much happier than before.

I am not much of a gardener, so I am always happy whenever anything grows and actually gets flowers and/or berries on it!

I started out this post with the song "We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise into the house of the Lord..."   and I feel like these things are all special sacrifices of praise. I praise the Lord for His kindness in sending us rain...even if it was just a little...there's more coming we trust and believe...and so we "sacrifice" our time and energy to plant things that will be beautiful and enjoyable to us as well as to the birds, butterflies and bees, which will also help pollinate other flowers and bushes all around. We 'sacrifice' our time and energy to repair something for a dear friend and neighbor who is unable to do things for herself right now. We give thanks to God for the strength and ability to do these things, even if my muscles are hurting tonight. It's a good kind of hurt when you know you've accomplished something.

We give thanks to the Lord for the peaceful and pleasant ending to a good day on Still Waters Pond.  

Sunshine is in his favorite spot, resting up for whatever the nighttime may bring...See Mr. Sand Hill Crane in the background? He's up here for a final hunt for food before retiring.  Mama and young "Trumpet" are already settled over on the nest island for the night.

Blackie Sue is in her favorite spot on the blue chair that someone dropped off of a pickup truck right onto our front lawn, and so it became "her chair".  And everyday that goes by I am more convinced that she had a "false pregnancy". She is starting to slim back down again and doesn't look as big in her tummy as before.  Unless something changes, we have an appointment to have her "fixed" next week. Then we won't have to worry about that issue anymore.  I am very thankful that it has turned out this way, even though it would've been fun to see her kittens...it is really for the best for all concerned that she's not having any.

Here's a good passage to end this post for today from the book of Ecclesiastes...

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-11 NKJV

Everything Has Its Time

"1 To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

2 A time to be born,

And a time to die;

A time to plant,

And a time to pluck what is planted;

3 A time to kill,

And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

And a time to build up;

4 A time to weep,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones,

And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace,

And a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to gain,

And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

7 A time to tear,

And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence,

And a time to speak;

8 A time to love,

And a time to hate;

A time of war,

And a time of peace.

The God-Given Task

9 What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? 

10 I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. 

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end."

So until next time, good night and be blessed my friends.

Sunday Night Review and Celebration

 Greetings Friends!  I surely hope and pray this finds you all safe and sound from the horrific storms of this weekend.  I know some of you may have been in the line of fire for those tornadoes and other terrible wind storms and thunderstorms.  We were under a tornado watch all day today, and this afternoon it did get pretty stormy and scary for a few minutes, but thankfully it passed us by with no major issues.  I do hope and pray that is the case for all of you in blogland.

We had a special day today as we were celebrating our youngest son Scott's birthday, which isn't until Tuesday, but today was the only time we could get together with him. Sadly our DIL Rose was not able to come as she had to work, but Benton and the doggies came and joined us for lunch and birthday party, and we had a great time. Here's some pictures so you can see!

Here's how it looked out on Still Waters Pond when that storm was passing through:  

The rain and wind got pretty intense for a few minutes and we prayed that no tornado would develop in this storm, and thankfully it did not.

Our grandpup Spice was pretty anxious the whole time and mostly stayed in "daddy's" arms or very close by his side...

Sugar was a little more laid back and stayed either in her bed or in a dark corner of the room waiting for the storm to pass by...

That was hardly the scene earlier when the pups got their first look at our kitty Blackie on the back porch:

First Spice and Blackie had quite the stare down

The Sugar came and joined in, and the barking started, and you can see that Blackie had his back arched and tail raised, ears in fight formation:

Thankfully the glass door was closed tight and NO ONE was about to open it! LOL

Finally Blackie, tail raised, back arched, scooted away from the window so they couldn't see him anymore, and then I'm not sure where he disappeared to because I haven't seen him since.  I'm sure he will show up when he gets hungry enough.

Speaking of hungry, before all this excitement we had a delicious lunch of lasagna, salad and garlic toast, Scott's request:

I made two pans of this, so everyone could take home some left overs, especially for Rose since she didn't get to come.  It turned out really good, but I missed my sweet DIL Rose's help with making the lasagna. She's really good at it and I used her adapted recipe from my Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook. It's so nice to have those bake in the oven lasagna noodles now that you don't have to boil ahead of time! That makes it so much easier!  I made the meat sauce yesterday and then just assembled it when I got home from church and put it in the oven to bake for 30 minutes while Benton helped me make a salad and set the table. I love all our helpers!

After our dinner settled down a bit we had the birthday celebration with cake and ice cream:

Yes, my "baby" is 48 years old! You will notice a number "2" sitting in front of the cake. Scott made that because he didn't want to admit that he was 48 either and said he thought he was only 28! LOL. Don't I wish! How can my baby be 48 when I am only 50?  LOL.

Yes, it's a family tradition that you must blow out your candles when we sing Happy Birthday to you. You are never too old to do that.   Oh, and for those of you who are wondering why he's wearing a hat in the house, well, I asked that too...he said his hair was a mess from working this morning at his job at the golf course, and he thought his hair would look worse than wearing a hat. Okay, I'll take that...I don't make a fuss over such things any more. I'm just thankful to have him here alive and well and safe and sound. That's really all that matters to me.

Next came the gifts and cards (which often contain the gifts)

Sometimes cards say special things too that mean a lot...especially when your Daddy takes the time to write it out by hand...to me those cards are the "keepers"...

Next came a special gift...this t-shirt was meaningful to Scott. "Primus" is one of his favorite musical groups, and he has been to several of their concerts over the years.  A couple of weeks ago when he was here helping to plant some trees for us, one of his favorite Primus shirts got a tear in in accidentally and he was kind of bummed since he'd had it a long time from one of those concerts.

So Amazon to the rescue. Although I couldn't find the exact same t-shirt design as the one that was torn, he was quite surprised and happy with this one just as well, so that helped make the day extra happy.

It's the little things that mean a lot...even when you're 48...

Meanwhile Benton was enjoying his cake and ice cream...

And hubby was being a bit silly and this was the only smile I could get...He was happy "having his cake and eating it too!" LOL.

And Mother and Son were having a happy ending moment:

So yes, it was a lovely birthday celebration and even though it makes me feel old to have a "baby" this old, I am very thankful to have this strong handsome and sweet son to enjoy and celebrate!

Some words of wisdom from God's Word, the Bible...God the Father talking to King Solomon: And a prayer for every son...

Proverbs 23:26 NKJV

"My son, give me your heart,

And let your eyes observe my ways."

Amen.

Here's just a few more photos from the day and from "Pamela's Wild Kingdom", as it is becoming around here it seems:

The Sand Hill Cranes continue to take turns coming in for a bite of bird seeds throughout the day, while one is sitting on the nest...

After the storm was over I walked around the pond to see if I could catch Mrs. Crane standing up on the nest so I could count how many eggs...but still I just can't manage to be there at the right time.

However, by my calculations, the eggs could be hatching out any day now. It's been almost 30 days since I first saw her sitting on the nest...

So I will be checking more often this week to see if anything has developed.

Meanwhile, these Muscovy ducks (now three of them) have been hanging around the pond quite a bit lately.

They were helping themselves to some bird seed on the ground under the bird feeder today too:

And I thought this was funny the other day...the ducks were up close to the shore of the pond, and "Sunshine" the kitty was sitting right there with her back turned to them as if she didn't know they were there...



But soon she turned around and saw them, but that didn't seem to scare the ducks away...

And I really don't think Sunshine cared too much about them being there either. It was just funny to see this.

This was a look at the little canal between our shore and Goose Island on Still Waters Pond, after the storm today.

And another look around the other side of Goose Island. Speaking of which, the Canada Geese still show up every day, but to my knowledge they have not started to build a nest anywhere on the pond that I have seen...so either it is too early, or they are going to skip nesting this year. Time will tell.

Well, friends, I think that's all for tonight! I hope you've enjoyed this lovely day with me. 

We are very thankful for God's protection over our home and family and friends. 

Final thought for the day:

So let us love one another!

Amen and Good Night!