Monday Monday! It's Spring!

 

Azaleas and bumblebee in my garden Sunday Afternoon!

Good Morning and Happy 1st Monday of Spring!  Yes, it is definitely springtime here where we are in Florida, although some may think we jumped right over spring and landed in summer already, as it has been quite warm in the higher 80's in the afternoons, but it cools down nicely in the evenings and early mornings, so if you have things you want to do outside, just do them early in the morning or later in the evening and you'll be just fine!  The only bad thing is we still aren't getting any significant rains and everything is extremely dry, so much so that we were under a "Red Flag Warning" yesterday due to the dry winds, lower humidity, and bright warm sunshine.  Not a good time for fire pits or burning leaves/trash.    

Thankfully, our birthday celebration for our son Scott yesterday was all cooked indoors, even though we had BBQ pulled pork.  I forgot to take pictures of the food...but it was all good.  I put the Boston Butt roast in the crock pot on Saturday night when I was ready for bed. It cooked on low all night long, and by morning it was all cooked and falling off the bone and ready to be "pulled"/shredded.  It turned out really good!  

In case you are interested in how I cooked it, this is what I did: 

The Boston Butt was about 6 lbs., bone in.  I added 1 regular can of low sodium chicken broth, 1/2 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar, and about a cup of Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ Sauce, in addition to rubbing the meat with some garlic powder, salt and pepper and a little chili powder.  I placed all ingredients in the crock pot and set it on low for 10 hours. Perfecto!!!

Yes, we also had some Bush's Country Style Baked Beans, a Tossed salad, and Rose brought her delicious deviled eggs. Oh, and we used some "sweet Hawaiian style" hamburger rolls for the pulled pork sandwiches, per Scott's request. I also baked the cake Scott requested...it was a vanilla cake with fudge icing.

Here's the pictures we DID take, during the birthday party time after lunch:

The most important picture! Blowing out the candles! It's a family tradition!

Then came the gift time, and these are just a few of the things he received...

And then the family pictures around the table...

Of course Benton and Rose were there...

And Rose's sister Sherrie was also with us...she's still visiting from Minnesota,  but will be heading back to the freezing north on Tuesday. 

Here's "Daddy"....a.k.a. my hubby, a.k.a. John:

And your's truly with hubby...

And here's the whole gang, thanks to Scott's expertise with setting the timer on the cellphone camera and then jumping back into the picture before it starts snapping the photo:

After we finished the cake, etc., some of us went outside to walk around the yard...

Yes, our grandpuppies Sugar and Spice were there for the big occasion...

And here's the sisters Sherrie and Rose...two lovely flowers in my garden:

And we were surprised to find these two lovely flowers blooming again:

"Hippeastrum, click on this link for more information and a previous post I wrote about discovering these for the first time"

The come up every year and surprise me!  I didn't plant them. I think they "traveled" over to our yard from some plants in my neighbor's yard! What a lovely "gift"!

Oh, remember back when our son built a couple of "cat beds"  for our porch kitties? Well they never used them as such, so I decided to "repurpose" them into planters to add to my Butterfly Garden...

I planted some butterfly type flowers in them, and hopefullly they will start growing and blossoming soon...

There's Coreopsis flowers

And a "Scorpions Tail Plant" and some Native Florida Milkweed.

Hopefully they will attract lots of butterflies to our garden!

Well, that's about it for yesterday's excitement. Not sure what's on tap for today...well, yes, there will be the Ladies' Bible Study this afternoon, and the usual stuff this morning. I need to get a move on. The sun is almost rising and Hubby just put Blackie back outside after his breakfast. Oh, yes, he was around yesterday too, but we had to keep him in a separate place away from the doggies...they almost "got into it" when the doggies first arrived and Blackie came to greet them...but not very nicely and it was utter chaos for a second or two...thankfully the doggies were on their leashes and Benton had them well in hand or they would've been high on the chase to get Blackie...but Blackie was back up in his favorite tree pretty quickly.  Whew! That was a close one!!!  I don't think they are ready to be best friends just yet! LOL.

Oh, yes, the Bluebirds have been quite busy in their "nest" lately. I do hope we will see some Baby Bluebirds before too long....

"For the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers are springing up and the time of the singing of birds has come. Yes, spring is here." Song of Solomon 2:11-12 TLB

"Father, please give me ears to hear the music of the wakening world around me. Amen."

Amen!!!

Friday Foto Friends: It's Spring Finally!

 Happy Friday everyone! And Happy First Day of Spring!!! I bet many of you thought it would never get here...and you may still be wondering if it really is spring!  Here in Florida where we live, although it has been quite cool for us this week, it has now warmed up nicely and it definitely feels like spring! Hooray!!

And so today I finally got my veggies planted in the new planter boxes that Benton built for me!

Here's Benton and hubby just after they dumped all the bags of potting soil in the planters for me:

Next was my job...to plant the veggies that were starting to grow out of control in the kitchen:

I may still have the plants too close together. I really don't know what I'm doing.  There's zucchini on the left, and yellow summer squash on the right. (above). There are six plants of each.

And these (above) are the four beefsteak tomato plants.  Hopefully the cages will help them grow big and strong and tall.  Those of you who are experienced gardeners may say that these are all too close together. Time will tell. If I have to get more planters and spread them out more, I know just who to call!

Some of you may remember my dil Rose's sister Sherrie, who came down from Minnesota several years ago and stayed with Rose and Benton for several months. We sort of adopted her into our family as another daughter. Anyway, she's back down for a week's vacation visit, and today she really wanted to go visit a dear friend from our church who is currently spending some time in rehab following a serious illness.  So here we all are, l to r: Sherrie, Opal, yours truly, and my sweet dil Rose.

Opal was our pianist at our church for many years,  until she had a stroke last January (2025), and she has been recuperating ever since.  This old baby grand piano bookshelf (below) is in the lobby of the rehab center where she is staying. It used to be the piano in the lobby, but it didn't work anymore, so they "repurposed" it into this lovely bookshelf/shadow box.  If you notice in the picture above, there is another piano in the background, and Opal has been actually playing that one again as a part of her physical therapy. I was hoping we could get her to play today, but she really just wanted to visit, which was fine with us.

I love it when things that are no longer able to be used for their original purpose can be repurposed/rehabilitated into something lovely and useful once again. I'm glad when God does that with us as well.  

Sweet Sherrie made this pot holder for me...because she remembered that my "One Word" for 2024 was "Strength". I love this very thoughtful gift, and I will treasure it, as well as the message, and the messenger always!

Hubby and I went for a walk last evening past this old palm tree that is covered with so many vines of so many different kinds of flowers, which each take their turn to bloom in the spring. Right now it is more lovely wisteria...

Who would think anything so beautiful could come out of this mess of tangled up vines on an old dead tree?

There's also some of this beautiful purple lantana growing on the same tree...must be time for the purple spring flowers to bloom!

What a beautiful transformation!!

Further down the walkway is this old oak tree, which has this interesting "burl", or fungus in the trunk.

I've shared this tree before HERE, but I noticed that it is continuing to change as the days go by. 

It now looks like it is opening up more to the inside of the tree trunk, and it would be a great hiding place for some gnomes or hobbits. I wonder????

I do see a strange kind of face looking out at me there below...LOL.

As I said before in the other post about these "deformities" or "Burls" in the tree, they can actually be recreated into magnificent bowls with the skillful hands of a talented woodworker and a good working knowledge of a lathe.

Isaiah 42:16

I will bring the blind by a way they did not know;

I will lead them in paths they have not known.

I will make darkness light before them,

And crooked places straight.

These things I will do for them,

And not forsake them.

Springtime is a time for renewal and change and repurposing or recreating not just things, but our own bodies and minds and spirits, as we yield ourselves to the transforming power of God's Holy Spirit in our lives. 

Here's an old song that some of you may remember. It's interesting, hubby started singing this song this morning and we were trying to remember all the verses.  You just don't get to sing these great old hymns much anymore...so you may want to sing along...

Higher Ground

By: Johnson Oatman, Jr. 1898

1. I'm pressing on the upward way,

New heights I'm gaining every day;

Still praying as I onward bound,

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

Refrain:

Lord, lift me up and let me stand,

By faith, on Heaven's table land;

A higher plane than I have found;

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

2. My heart has no desire to stay

Where doubts arise and fears dismay;

Tho' some may dwell where these abound,

My pray'r, my aim is higher ground.

(Refrain)

3. I want to live above the world,

Though Satan's darts at me are hurled;

For faith has caught the joyful sound,

The song of saints on higher ground.

(Refrain)

4. I want to scale the utmost height,

And catch a gleam of glory bright;

But still I'll pray till Heav'n I've found,

Lord, lead me on to higher ground.

(Refrain)

I hope you enjoyed singing along with that old hymn, and perhaps that will be a prayer for you as we begin this spring season of renewal and transformation!  

Have a blessed and wonderful Spring time!!!

Springing Ahead!

 Happy Sunday!  So, did you remember to "spring ahead" last night?  Time change always throws me for a loop for about a week, while my body time clock adjusts to losing an hour of sleep, but gaining an hour of daylight...which is nice, but I really do wish they'd just leave it one way or the other once and for all! That's my 2 cents worth, for all it's worth! LOL. 2 cents isn't worth much these days, but I guess if you kept adding them up over time they would be worth something! Now that they've quit minting new pennies, I wonder if our old pennies will go up in value?  I have a nice stash of them just in case. LOL.

So, let's move along to some springing sensations from this past week. Or at least things you haven't already seen this week.  

The following pictures were taken today, when our son Scott was here...and he did some planting for me, which is always such a blessing!  The rosebush is a replacement for the one Rose and Benton had given me last year I think for Mother's Day...and I loved it so much, but alas! It did not get enough water and it died before I ever was able to get it properly planted.  So I purchased another one to replace it this week, and Scott planted it for me in one of the planter boxes that Benton builds.  This way, if it doesn't seem to be getting enough sunlight (or too much) where it is, I can move it until we find the perfect spot for it...and I promise to keep it well watered!

Isaiah 35:1-4, 10

The Future Glory of Zion

 1 "The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them,

And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;

Isn't it beautiful?

2 It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice,

Even with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

The excellence of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord,

The excellency of our God.

I also asked Scott to plant this Cassia bush before it also died in its pot. It's been waiting all winter to be planted, and thankfully it did not freeze in the cold weather we had!

3 Strengthen the weak hands,

And make firm the feeble knees.

4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted,

“Be strong, do not fear!

Behold, your God will come with vengeance,

With the recompense of God;

He will come and save you.”

10  And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,

And come to Zion with singing,

With everlasting joy on their heads.

Yes, in spite of the drought we are still having, many things are starting to bloom around here.  The Carolina  Jessamine continues to blossom and flourish along the fences and in the trees all around here...

I love seeing these pretty yellow flowers blossoming forth from the winter's dryness...giving us hope for the future that the rains will come and everything will continue to thrive and bring us much joy.

They shall obtain joy and gladness,

And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

The azaleas are also blooming!

And the bluebirds are singing and I think they are building a nest this time! I sure hope so!!

Couldn't resist this pretty garden flag when I was a Ollies' this past week. Also the one up above.

Yesterday we went to the Garden/Farmer's Market where our son was selling his planter boxes, and there was a lady there who makes these beautiful bags! She had a lot of different styles and sizes and colors, but this one just stood out to me and seemed to be begging me to take it home!  I couldn't resist! It was the only one like it, and it probably cost more than I should've spent, but I just loved the bright cheerful spring flowers and also the size and style of the bag...so I splurged...

It's very well made, and has pockets on the outside and the inside...and it zips shut. It is big enough to carry my Bible and little notebook, along with all my other essential purse stuff for church and Bible Study.  I love it!

And of course you are all so kind to have been so concerned about our sweet Blackie this week when he disappeared for a day. Thankfully he was back home in time for supper.  Well, today he had new another adventure.  Apparently when we were leaving for church this morning we were a bit distracted in getting out the door as I had some extra things I was taking and hubby went out one door and brought the car around to the front door for me...and I loaded up my stuff and away we went.  When we got home and opened up the door, who comes out of our bedroom but that rascal Blackie!!!!  Apparently he had managed to slip by one or the other of us as we were leaving, and so he was in the house by himself for a couple of hours. That has never happened before, so it was a new experience for him and for us. Nothing was amiss, except my hubby noticed that one of the clothes baskets in our closet was turned over and clothes were spilling out onto the floor.  Apparently he had decided to take a nap in our closet in the clothes basket!  The little scamp!  

Well, later, after lunch and after Scott left to go back home, we needed a nap. (remember we lost an hour of sleep last night, right?)  Anyway, Blackie was still in the house (he'd been in and out during the afternoon, but now was in)  and where did he go but right back to our bedroom closet, and jumped in the clothesbasket again!!  Here's Mr. Innocent King Blackie now:

I let him stay there while I tried to take a nap. In about five minutes, when I was almost sound asleep, he came and tried to spring up on our bed with us, but no, we are not ready for that experience just yet, so I picked him up and took him back outside for now. 

So that's our "springing ahead" post for today!  What exciting things are you doing to get ready for spring? 

Time to go...May God be with you in every season of your life.  Amen.