Tuesday 4~ Labor Day

 Good Tuesday Morning! We are talking about Labor Day today, but I wrote about what we did on Labor Day yesterday. Actually we ceased from our labors and just relaxed and enjoyed a beautiful day! 

Labor Day




Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we ask 4 questions every week.


Labor Day is Monday, Sept. 7. The original Labor Day was September 5, 1882 when over 10,000 workers took to the streets to protest 12 hour work days for low wages and cruel practices of employers.
The first official Labor Day was on September 7th in Oregon.
President Grover Cleveland signed on for the first offical federal observance of Labor Day following the Pullman Strike in which government forces shot dead many unarmed workers strking over dramatic wages cuts and dramatic cost of living increases in a company town. Workers pay was cut 30% and they could not afford basic food. When a group of men tried to negotiate with Pullman, they were fired and 34 of them were "unalived"* by government forces.   

1. How do you observe Labor Day and were you aware of the background of it?

I really didn't know that particular story as shared above.  * My question: Where did the term "unalived" come from? That's strange terminology to me...I guess it's the pc way of saying they were killed. I believe in just telling it like it is...as sad as it is. No sense in mincing words! It sounds like it was a very sad chapter in our country's history.  Thankfully our observance of Labor Day is much more peaceful.  We didn't do anything extra special, but what we did do I wrote about yesterday HERE.


2, Many holidays become just a day off rather than a real commemoration of an event.
How do you propose we can remedy that?

A lot of communities and cities have special events and parades, etc., to commemorate these kinds of holidays. Certainly there should be more education about these holidays in our schools. I guess because I grew up in a more rural area, Labor Day was never really something that we understood that well, because it didn't seem to connect to the kinds of workers that were in our area...we didn't have labor unions, etc., like they do in the big cities,  


3. What is the most labor intensive job or activity you have done? 

When we moved back to Florida from Maine I wanted to get my foot in the door with the county school board, so I accepted a position in the Testing Department. This meant that I had to deliver testing booklets to all of the county schools for their standardized testing. Then I had to pick them back up. It was a lot of lifting and very hard on my back. I was almost 50 years old at the time, and in much better condition than I am now, but still it was hard work for me. Then the county decided to relocate the Testing Department to another location, which meant that I had to physically pack and move all of those boxes of testing materials, mostly by myself. They did provide a truck and workers to transport them to the new place, but I had to do all the labor of arranging them in the new location on shelves. There was also the daily routine of managing paperwork and scanning the tests for scoring, which involved a lot of repetitive motion. Consequently I developed a very severe case of carpal tunnel. It was extremely painful, and I had to make a work comp claim and take some time off. The best part of this story was that the school board realized that I should not have been doing all of that hard labor by myself, and they actually "promoted" me to a much better position as a school Bookkeeper, which was much more in keeping with my skills and better pay too! So all my hard labor paid off, but I truly suffered in the meantime. I am thankful to the Lord for rescuing me out of that situation and moving me on to much better things.

4. If your income was cut by 30% could you still survive? What would you do?

If our current "income" was cut by 30%, it would be quite difficult for us to survive, since we are retired and dependent upon a very fixed income. We do not have a huge savings account, and we are very careful about maintaining those funds. We would most likely have to consider selling our home and hopefully finding something that we could pay for outright and not have a mortgage. Or we would have to consider living with our kids.  In the past, when we were still young and able to work, we would just look for another job...but we are both at an age where working is not really feasible, although if I really had to, I could probably find a part time job doing something not too physical.  

I am very thankful to God for providing for us in all of our years. There were many lean times when we were raising our three children, but we never had to do without the essentials of food, clothing, and shelter. God always took care of us even when things were difficult, and our children never really knew any kind of deprivation. They may have thought they were being deprived sometimes when we couldn't buy them the new expensive shoes or jeans or "toys" that their peers may have had, but they always had what they needed and they were well taken care of.  

Here's a favorite passage that has always meant a lot to me...

Psalm 37:3-5 New King James Version

"3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;

Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord,

Trust also in Him,

And He shall bring it to pass."

I can attest to this being true!! Amen.

Now we must go "give blood" for our quarterly lab work and then off to breakfast somewhere! Hip Hip Hooray! LOL.  Have a lovely day!!!

Tuesday 4~ Traditions (& More!)

 (Posted on August 31!)  Oh yes! It's September 1st, and even though fall is not officially here for a few more weeks, September always makes us think fall from day one, even though we still haven't had Labor Day, which is usually the last summer event and then I begin my fall decorations after that. However, since Labor Day seems a little bit "late" this year, some rules may be broken. So here's the Tuesday 4 post for this week, but I've added a few extras that I usually do on the first of the month...i.e....the Calendar Roll Call.

So grab a cup of hot pumpkin spice tea or coffee and sit back and enjoy the "show". 

Tradition

 Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.
Tradition is an important part of any family or community and so important that people will fight to be sure they are not neglected or done away with.
From the first day of Autumn, to Halloween, All Saints Day, and Thanksgiving autumn brings many different traditions from all around the world.
School kids cut out paper leaves, pumpkins,etc. Homemakers change decor to reflect the new season.
Sweaters come out of storage... the weather is changing.


1. Why is tradition important to you?

I think traditions help us to mark special occasions and holidays and make them more memorable for our families. Many traditions have been handed down from generation to generation, and some traditions may be new and exclusive to our own current generation. Either way, I love traditions and doing things with my family that we all look forward to.  As I said above, I may be adding some other current events into this post, and here's one of our family traditions...the Birthday Cake/candle blowout. 

Yesterday we celebrated our son's birthday (which was actually Friday) here at home with our immediate family. No matter how old we are, we all enjoy having a birthday cake and candles and hearing people sing Happy Birthday to us. Here's the video of us singing to our son yesterday and him blowing out his "55" candles. LOL.

Now, here is the first try "blooper" video...we started to sing, and my hubby was doing something silly and we got to laughing so hard we had to stop singing and start over. It was worth sharing, I think.

2. Have family traditions helped to shape who you are?

Yes, I definitely think so. My parents were really big into traditions for Christmas and Easter and birthdays. We have carried on many of those traditions with our own children throughout the years, and we still do things like setting up a train set under the Christmas tree and hunting for Easter Baskets even now when our kids are all grown. It's the fun side of the holidays that our family always looks forward to, and it helps connect our family together.

3. Do you believe that tradition helps a community or shapes the unity of family and community?
Most definitely.  I love it when towns have annual traditions of things like a Christmas Parade or a Fall Festival or  4th of July fireworks or other special events that are special to that community. It helps identify their community and builds communal strength when people  come together and enjoy the fun times as well as the other times, when people need to be there for each other.

4. Are there any traditions you would like to bring back and why?

Not sure of any at the moment that we don't already do.  And every community/church/school is different in the kinds of things they like to do traditionally. That's why I love living in a smaller town and attending a small church where people do like to get together and do special events.

Now here is one of MY traditions for the first of every month...the Calendar Roll Call! Are you ready? Let's go!

I love this Thomas Kinkade painting for September...It's entitled "Morning Pledge", and if you notice the kids are gathered around the flagpole in front of the school house.  I love the old classic cars in this picture too.  I know some schools do still have the "See You At The Pole" day, where they say the pledge and also pray for their school. It's voluntary, but such a great way to start the school year. This year's SYATP event is scheduled for September 23, 2026. You can learn more about that in the link above.

And this verse is a great way to put things in order in our lives:

I love the little cabin on my Cabin Calendar for September...What a peaceful setting. The only thing this cabin needs is a big front porch!

This recipe for a Cranberry Apple Crisp is on the Susan Branch calendar for September. It sounds really good. I may have to try it!!!

Apples always seem to go well with September!!

Interesting thought to ponder:

This is the Billy Graham quotes calendar for September...

and a very good thought also to ponder...

And this verse goes along with that thought...

Here's the Teapot Calendar for September...a very unusual looking tea set, I must say...

Here's some information about it... I don't think it's exactly my idea of what a teapot should look like,  but it is interesting for sure.

I don't know if I am THIS fond of tea, but I do love it... LOL:

And last but not least, the John Sloane Country Seasons calendar for September shows this farmwife peeling apples for an apple pie...which goes along with my idea of September just fine. 

My birthday is later this month, and talk about tradtions, my mother used to bake an apple for me for my birthday instead of a cake (at my request). I do miss her wonderful pies so much, but now my sister usually does that for me, or she picks up one from Costco, which is pretty good. Here'a picture of a couple of my sister's pies on my birthday several years ago... (I think she baked two because we had a large group there, and I notice there was also a cake, brought by my sister in law! What a blessing!)

I think I was listening to them sing Happy Birthday to me! LOL.

Another September tradition is decorating the house for the autumn days and weeks...I normally wait until after Labor Day to begin my fall decorating, but the "kids" helped me get a head start yesterday with this little gift that they created:

Aren't they cute?  Especially the black cat!!  Now that I have my own black cat, I find myself drawn to all kinds of fun decor with black cats!

Oh, here's Blackie now,slieeping with one of his "toys".  Actually that toy belongs to our grandpups, but Blackie decided it was now his.  

Well, friends, that's all for this post. I am posting it early tonight because we have to go back up the road an hour + tomorrow morning to see the Eye Surgeon again. Hubby's eye is still not really doing as well as it should be since his cataract surgery, and so we are going to get it checked out.  This will be a busy rest of the week...I have a dental appointment on Wednesday, then on Thursday there's the Memorial Service for the man in our church who passed away last week..  On Friday hubby has a Dr. appointment over in Gainesville, which is another hour's drive in a different direction.  Somewhere during this week we need to fit in some hair cuts because we are looking like shaggy dogs.  So I may not be around much here in Blogland, but I will try to pop in as I am able.

Have a blessed and wonderful week everyone.

Tuesday 4~Rainy Days and Mondays

 Rainy Days and Mondays

Welcome to Tuesday 4
Many seem to have trouble with Mister Linky but, I don't so sign up below!
We've had a lot of rain recently and it got me wondering about some things.


Could we discuss it please?


1.Do rainy days and/or Mondays really get you down? If so why?

No, not really. I actually enjoy rainy days, when we have them. We just haven't had enough of them this year to even begin to get tired of.  And Monday's don't get me down either, especially now that I am retired. I actually enjoy them as a day to begin a new week with a fresh clean slate.


2. Does thunder and lightning frighten you at all?
How about your dog or cat and what do you do to help them out?

I have a healthy respect for thunder and lightning. Here in Florida we are the lightning capital of the country, I believe, and lightning is quite dangerous and should be treated as such. This was on Facebook a few days ago:

 I do love to watch it from a distance, however, and I even took some pictures this past week that I already shared on my last post, but just in case you missed this one, here it is again...   I took this picture from our front porch, but be assured the lightning was quite far away from us. However, they say it can strike up to 10 miles away, so we still have to be careful.

Regarding my cat Blackie, he does not like thunder and lightning, and I've noticed that he will find a place to hide his face and head when there's a lot of thunder going on.  I may have shared this photo before, but it's been a while. This was Blackie hiding his head under the couch when we had a lot of thunder and lightning...

3. If you are at home on a dark, rainy day what do you do with your time? Some find it a good day to cuddle up with a cuppa and read or watch TV.. what is your preference?

Oh yes, I love to spend a dark rainy day reading if I have a good book to read. If not, sometimes I like to bake cookies on a rainy day (or something else that smells really good).

If you click on this link, I think it will take you to a lot of old posts for things to do on a Rainy Afternoon.  Apparently I've thought a lot about this over the years, because there are quite a few different posts there! LOL.I'd forgotten about a few of them, so I was glad I went back and checked them out!! Some sweet memories there.


4.Ever been caught in a downpour or has rain ever ruined your plans?

Oh, yes, I've been caught in plenty of downpours over the years. Living in Florida, that can be quite often throughout the summer months, but sadly, not this summer.  I'm sure rain may have ruined some plans sometime or other, but right now I can't think of anything in particular that's worth writing about!

Update...I just remembered a time when I was caught in a downpour. I was only about 7 or 8 years old. I had been at our Summer Recreation program at our school and I was waiting for a neighbor lady to pick me up to take me home. I waited and waited and she didn't show up, so I thought I could just walk home. We lived about 3 miles from the school, out a very long country road, but I had to pass through a less desirable part of town to get to the highway that led to our long country road. All of a sudden it started to pour down rain in a bad thunderstorm. The only shelter I could see was a little overhang over the door of a saloon.  I knew I shouldn't go there, but it was the only shelter I could see, so I stood under that covering for a minute, and a man stepped outside and asked me if I wanted to come inside. I knew I couldn't do that or I would be in big trouble, so I yelled, "NO!" and I started running away in the rain. I kept running and probably had gotten about a mile when the lady who was supposed to pick me up pulled up on the highway beside me and told me to get in the car. I was soaken wet and scared and crying by that time.  She took me home, and I don't remember much after that because I'm sure my mother was at work so I don't know if the neighbor left me alone at my house or took me to her house to dry off. That's all a blur. I just know my parents were very unhappy with me for leaving the school before the neighbor picked me up, but they were all very thankful that I was safe, even though very wet and scared. I didn't know it then, but I know now that God was certainly watching over me even when I was being disobedient and foolhardy. I am very thankful for His guardian angels who certainly had a difficult job in guarding me! LOL. 

Bonus question: Why do Mondays seem to be so unpopular with so many?

I suppose Mondays are unpopular for people who hate to see the weekend come to an end and to have to go back to work or school and get back to the "grind". There have been times in my life when I hated to see Monday come because I didn't particularly like my work or else I just was enjoying the weekend so much I hated to see it end.  But for the most part, I've been thankful to have a job to go to and/or I also enjoyed being at school back in the day so I could be with my friends. I guess it's all about attitude and perspective.  I am mostly a happy person, so I make the most of whereever I am.  

I cheated a bit and asked the computer to give me some Bible verses about rain, and here's the results:

Top Bible Verses About Refreshing Rain

Psalm 68:9
"You sent abundant rain, O God, to refresh the weary land."
Psalm 72:6
"May he be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth."
Hosea 6:3
"He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rains that water the earth."
Acts 3:19
"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."
Deuteronomy 32:2

"Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech distill like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants."
 

That gives us some more "food for thought" on the subject of rain.  I hope you are having a blessed and refreshing day wherever you are, rainy or not! It's hot and dry here right now (Monday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.), but upon looking at my phone weather app, it says we are expecting rainy conditions around 6:00 p.m., so I will wait and see if I can get any new pictures at that time before publishing this post.

A little later:

Well, Glad I waited! We did indeed get quite a powerful thunderstorm around 5:30 p.m.  It was quite windy in addition to the heavy rain and thunder and lightning.  We had just put Blackie back out on the porch after he finished his supper, and then there was the rumble of thunder, and he was right back at the glass doors looking in the window to the living room with a big eyes and his ears back, which said to me "Please let me in quick! I heard a big noise out here!! A storm is coming! Hurry up! Let me in!"

I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of that, but I was too busy opening the door and letting him inside.  Just in time, too. The storm really broke loose with a lot of rain and wind.  

And look where he was...if you can't tell, he's in my lap! And just as I was talking to our son on the phone (he called us to ask if it was raining at our house...he lives about a mile away), the power went out!  Yep! The lights went out, the TV went off, and of course the computer shut off as did the air conditioner. Thankfully it wasn't dark yet, but we had no idea how long it would be off.  And so we just sat there and watched the rain and prayed the power wouldn't be off for too long or we'd be getting hot.

Thankfully after about 45 minutes the power came back on and so did everything else. The rain died down and the wind stopped blowing and there was no more thunder or lightning. We survived the big storm, and after a little while Blackie went back to the door and said he was ready to go back outside, and so that's where he is now.  All's well that ends well, and so I will bring this little story about "Rainy Days and Mondays" to an end. It was quite appropriate that it did in fact rain for us on this Monday evening!  Good Night, and see you in the morning when this Tuesday 4 post will go live!!

Thanks Annie, for another great meme for this week!

Tuesday 4~ The "Ber" Months

 

The "Ber" Months

There are just 3 weeks left until the "ber" months begin. September, October, November and
December. Fall/Autumn begins in September and ends in December.


Autumn begins in September and it is called that until leaves begin to fall and then it's called "fall".
Sept means 7, Octo means 8, Novo is 9 and Deca is 10 but the numbers are off since the calendar was changed long ago from 10 months to 12.
Ber is an adjectival suffix from latin meaning month.
Let's discuss it.

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we ask just 4 questions each week to encourage blogging and enjoying the ideas and work of fellow bloggers.


1. What foods make you think of the autumn months ahead?

Mostly things like chili and soups and stews, and apple pie and pumpkin pie, and s'mores cooked on a campfire outside.

Hot dogs are always better cooked on an outdoor campfire too, especially with family or friend gathered around.

I tend to do more baking in the fall as well, because it makes the house smell so good and feel so cozy. (And in the summertime baking heats up the house too much).

2. Are there any songs you associate with the fall month?

"Shine on, shine on Harvest Moon, up in the sky!" I remember my Dad and Mom singing that song to each other.  I wrote about this in THIS POST HERE several years ago. Many of you may have already seen that before, but it's a fun trip down memory lane.  Also "See You In September".   Remember?

3. Are you looking forward to the ber months at all? Why?

Oh yes! When you live in Florida, all summer long the only thing that keeps you going is looking forward to the cooler days of fall! Our fall is not as dramatic as it is up north, but it is such a blessed reprieve from the high humidity and ultra hot days that we celebrate every day that the temperatures don't rise above 80 degrees! LOL. Fall is my favorite season, not only because I was born in September, but because I just seem to come alive again after the long hot summer. 

 

Normally we take a trip to the mountains in the fall and stay in a Airbnb cabin with our kids. But this year I don't think we are going to be able to go. I am disappointed in a way, but then again, sometimes traveling and being away for a week can be exhausting, not to mention expensive. So for now, we have decided not to take our annual trip. But you never know. Sometimes we change our minds at the last minute. Time will tell.  I will miss having views like this...

I guess I'll just have to be content with these views here from my own backyard:

That's really not so bad! Even if the pond is still dry! LOL.

Philippians 4:11 NKJV

11 "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content..."

4. School in New Jersey always begins after Labor Day and before that I would have dreams of going to school in my pajamas! Did anything simiar happen to you? Did you dread going back to school or were you happy and excited?

I don't remember being overly anxious about going back to school. Mostly I couldn't wait to get back to seeing my friends every day, and the beginning of football season and all of the fun fall activities.  The only anxiety I remember having was trying to find some new clothes and shoes that fit to start out the new school year.  I was the youngest of four children, and we didn't have a lot of money and so we really didn't get a lot of new stuff, but usually we tried to have at least one new outfit to wear the first day of school. After that I either had to sew my own new clothes or wear my sister's hand me downs, but she ended up being much shorter than me and so once I began growing taller I could no longer wear any of her clothes,  so I had to have some new things.  And of course, back then, girls wore dresses to school...no slacks or t-shirts. We had to dress nicely. To answer the question, I was usually happy and excited to get back to school. 

HERE's a link to a former post I wrote about 'the ber months".

And HERE's a fun post about autumn from Pamela's Victorian Cottage.

5 

I am also thinking about how nice it will be when we get back to our normal routines at church for the fall and winter.  Choir practice will start back up the week after Labor Day, and so will our Ladies' Bible Study. I have missed those activities and gatherings with others over the summer. Although it's nice to have a little break from it for a while, it's just like when I looked forward to getting back to school to see all my friends, I kind of feel the same way about these activities.  Yes, I do see all the same people at our regular church services on Sunday, but it's just not quite the same as being together in a smaller group. There are some different groups that meet over the summer, but I have not been able to participate in them due to circumstances beyond my control.   I truly miss the more personal connection with other ladies in particular that we have at Bible Study...and I also miss singing in the choir and helping to lead the congregation in worship with our music. It will be nice to get back together again.

Psalm 37:3-5 NKJV

"3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;

Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord,

Trust also in Him,

And He shall bring it to pass."

Meanwhile, since we are still in August...we have some things to look forward to this month.  This coming Sunday (16th) will be our 57th wedding anniversary!  We don't have any specific plans yet to celebrate, but we usually try to go out to lunch at a favorite restaurant sometime the week of our anniversary.  And then our son Benton will celebrate his 55th birthday later this month! That's pretty hard for me to believe...I will soon have a son who qualifies as a "senior citizen". LOL. Where did the time go?   We do have plans to meet up with our extended Florida family on August 22nd at a restaurant that is mutually convenient in distance for all of us for lunch. We have a LOT of family birthdays and anniversaries in August, so we usually try to get together sometime during the month to celebrate everyone together. That's always a fun time to look forward to.

I didn't specify anything in particular today that I am "happy" about for my August happiness challenge, but suffice it to say, I am happy about all of the above that I've written. I thank the Lord for so many wonderful blessings...and especially the gift of family and friends. God has been very gracious and kind and I am truly grateful.  Amen. 

Tuesday 4: Your New Town

This is a dream-time meme for today...thinking about a town of my dreams. So why not dream along with me?

Your New Town

Welcome to Tuesday 4 begun by Toni Taddeo and kept up in her memory. We are so glad to have you joining in! You can make your post as elaborate or as simple as you wish. The object really is to share with others.

This week let us talk about a new town/city/village that you are going to create. It is brand new.

1. You are establishing a new community. Where will it be located? What will the surroundings be like? Describe the environment and the weather which you get to create.

Although I am thankful to currently be living in north central Florida, where we do not have extreme weather too often (except for the high heat in summer), my new town will be in a part of the country where we get more of the four seasons, but with a mild winter...just enough to enjoy perhaps a little snow for the holidays, but no extreme or extended freezing/blizzard type weather. Spring will be beautiful, with all manner of blooming trees and flowers, and summer will be warm enough to enjoy swimming and boating and gardening, but no extreme high heat or humidity. Autumn will be gloriously colorful, with crisp, cold air, apple orchards and pumpkin patches, hiking trails and places to explore. This idyllic town will be in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, probably somewhere in north Georgia or south western North Carolina or southeastern Tennessee.

2. You are in charge of naming this new town. What will you call it and is it a town, village , city? Is it country, suburb or city? I am still debating in my mind what to name my new little town, and yes, it is a town, with a village like atmosphere. It would be considered more rural than city or suburb, but the closest larger city would be within 15 or 20 miles.  I will give the name of this town at the end of my post, because I am still thinking about it as I write.

3. What features will your new town have? Library? parks? restaurants? Rural or metropolitan area?

Oh, my new town will definitely have a public library, well stocked with wonderful books, and yes, there will be parks in every direction, with a central park on the town square, complete with a gazebo for summer and fall community actitivities like concerts and festivals. There will be parks for children to enjoy, and also most likely there will be some kind of a public beach or waterfront with a place for family picnics and swimming and/or canoeing/kayaking in season. There will also be hiking trails around the community. 

As far as restaurants go, there will be delightful little cafe's on the town square, a bakery and a tea room, a pizza parlor, and other small home town and locally owned diners and restaurants to enjoy a variety of kinds of food. However, there will not be any franchised type of restaurants...and no "fast food" places, except for what is created and owned by the local people. There will be a locally owned grocery store that is well stocked with fresh vegetables and fruits and really good meats, and a really good deli/bakery.   This town will be developed with a town square with the City Hall or County courthouse in the center of the square, and businesses will be located all around the square and within walking distance.  There will be interesting gift shops with items created by local artisans and craftsmen. Our new little town will encourage entrepreneurship, and each store will be uniquely designed and owned and operated by the local people. Oh, there will also be an old fashioned Drug and Five and Dime Store with a Soda Fountain, where you can sit at the counter and get an ice-cream soda or sundae, or your favorite soda fountain drink with hamburger and fries or a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch, while you wait for your prescription to be filled,  

Our town is very friendly and welcoming, and you will find an atmosphere of people who are happy to live and work and thrive in this community.  There are wonderful churches and civic groups who are actively involved in the daily workings of this little town, making it a peaceful and happy place to live. Of course there is a local Police Department and Fire Department, and these home-town "heroes" help keep the community safe and secure. There is also a small community hospital for the more routine medical needs and emergencies, but the larger county hospital will be in the next city about 15 miles away.

Oh, I almost forgot...Our town will have an old historic Train Depot and there will be train rides available through the countryside and mountains and also to the Apple Orchards in the fall, and also a special Christmas train ride in December.  Also, the town will always be decorated for Christmas throughout the holiday season and there will be caroling on the square and other fun and meaningful Christmas activities throughout the month of December. There will also be a live Nativity Scene nightly on the square, with live animals and people.  The true meaning of Christmas will be celebrated along with a Christmas Parade with Santa.  

4. Your new town has a high school and it is your job to name it. What name do you give it? 

Well, I guess the high school will be named after the town name, and the school mascot will be something indicative of the local wildlife.  Since our town is in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, I'm thinking the mascot will probably be the Bears.  I am still debating on the name of the town, but it's going to be something like Mountain Laurel, named for the beautiful mountain laurels that bloom in the spring all around the area.  

Internet Photo of Mountain Laurels blooming

Mountain Laurel flowers information.

Okay, that's my town! Now let's go see what others are dreaming up today, shall we?  Click here to join the fun.

Tuesday 4~Toiletries and Cosmetics, and The Photo A Day Challenge

 

Happy Tuesday!  Before we get into the subjects of the day, I wanted to share this picture from our ride up to the Eye Surgeon's appointments this morning. Hubby and I both had appointments to discuss whether or not we were ready for cataract surgery.  As it turns out, thankfully my doctor said I could still wait awhile and he doesn't need to see me again for a year, unless I develop more symptoms.  However, hubby is scheduled to have his right eye done the first week in August. He's already had the left eye done.  So we will be making that hour's trip again in August.   That picture is of where the Black Creek comes across from the St. John's River, and I always love to take a picture when we pass by there. As you can see, it was a beautiful morning, and we are thankful for a safe ride up and back. Also, we had lunch at Ruby Tuesday's after our appointment.  I especially wanted to go there to have their honey glazed salmon on a salad.  And since hubby had his eyes dilated and couldn't drive, I got to choose where to go! LOL.  It was so good!

Okay, let's get on with the program for today!

Toiletries and Cosmetics

Welcome to Tuesday 4 which was started by Toni Taddeo and kept up in memory and honor of her.
How about talking about cosmetics and toiletries this week?

Let's jump right in, shall we?

1. What brand of shampoo do you think works best for you and what does it do for you?

2. Do you use cosmetics and if so what do you use?

Here's my stash of cosmetics...Covergirl Clean Makeup, Avon Tawny Eyebrow pencil, Avon black wash off/waterproof mascara (although I rarely use it anymore), "Believe" Eye Shadow,  (bought at Dollar General), Avon Glimmer Lipstick, and Avon Glimmer Blush Stick. 

Oh, and Aveeno Fragrance Free Daily Moisturizing Body Lotion for my face and hands and anywhere else that needs it.

I also use some Beef Tallow Balm/Cream...These are locally created. I love the "Fat Mama's Tallow" Lavender Balm, but "Fat Mama" has stopped making it as they are not processing as much beef tallow as they once were. So I have just discovered this "Hippie Dippie Florida Beef Tallow Whipped Frankincense Cream" at the Deep Creek Trading Post.  I use these products primarily on my heels and toes and elbows, or other rough dry patches on my skin.   I would like to ask the Hippie Dippie people if they could make some with the Lavender scent instead of the Frankinsense, because I love lavender fragrance so much better. We shall see what develops.

3. Do you use a washcloth on your face?

Yes, I believe using a washcloth is very healthy for your skin, to help fully cleanse, exfoliate, open your pores and give your face a healthy glow. At least that's what my mama taught me, so that is what I do!

4. Do you have an all time favorite perfume or scent that you wear? If you don't wear perfumes, is there a scent that you love in general?  

I do NOT wear any kind of perfume as perfumes are just too strong for me and they give me a serious sick headache. I honestly don't know how people can stand to wear that stuff all the time! LOL.   But if they do, I much prefer that they don't give me any hugs because it literally makes me ill. I love hugs...just can't tolerate the strong scents, even in the same room. Sorry. Same with candles and air fresheners, and especially Bath and Body Works soaps, etc. They are WAY too strong for me!

However, I do love the lavender essential oil fragrance in my soap and lotions, as long as it isn't too strong. The bar of soap below is a Lavender scented Goats Milk Soap, and it is locally made. We used to sell this at our family owned Dixie Cottage store. The lady who makes it lives in Salt Springs, and she doesn't make it much anymore, but she will make up a batch for Rose and me and we buy a few month's supply at a time. She makes some other fragrances also, but lavender is my favorite. The Goats Milk Soap is so good for our skin. 

Now, let's move on to the July Photo a Day Challenge for today, shall we?  

Today's challenge (21), is "RED".  Well, I had to think about that because I don't have a lot of red in my house, but I remembered something special that I had tucked away for MANY years in a dresser drawer (about 58 years to be exact).

Yes, ladies, this is MY Letterman's Jacket from high school!  Our school colors were Red and White, and I lettered in Cheerleading:

Oh, this picture could have been for the day 19th Black and White photo challenge:

Yes, that's "me", from my senior yearbook. The cheerleading uniform is also red and white. We had to wear sweaters, which, as you can imagine, here in Florida could be quite 'warm" to say the least! Although we may have had a few chilly fall nights during our football season, after spending a couple of hours at a football game jumping up and down and cheering and doing our little cheer routines (NO GYMNASTICS back when I was a cheerleader, thank goodness! I would never have qualified for that! LOL) the sweaters could get quite hot and miserable! Especially in this very humid climate. But somehow we survived and we were very proud to wear our uniforms.  And I was very honored to be inducted into the "sacred" Letterman's Club, which was primarily made up of football, basketball, and baseball players, with the exception of the cheerleaders! I honestly don't remember that we ever did anything all that special, except for have a banquet at the end of the school year to hand out the awards to all of the athletes. But it was a fun time.  I sure couldn't do any of that cheerleading stuff today!!  My body just doesn't have the strength anymore for that kind of activity.

However, this is the kind of strength I do have..."The Joy of the Lord is My Strength"...Nehemiah 8:10

When we walk with the Lord, He gives us the strength to accomplish everything we need to do...and gives us the joy that the world can't take away!  

Praise the Lord!

Okay, That's All folks!

Have a blessed rest of your day!

Tuesday 4~ Summertime

 Summertime

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4...
Summer time is upon us.


1. What special memories do you have about summer when you were younger?

Between the two of these links below from older posts about my summertime adventures as a child, you will get the big picture of just about everything I can remember.  Let me suffice it to say that I have a lot of happy summertime memories of vacation trips through the mountains, camping in the State Parks (in a tent) along the way to and from Ohio to visit relatives. Those were the happiest times of my young life. In addition to these memories  there were day trips to the beach or the springs that are all around us in the Ocala National Forest. Some of these excursions  (to the springs) were with the school summertime program, and that was always a lot of fun. 

I hope you will take the time to click on these links and get the whole story of my summertime childhood memories. They are too numerous to repeat  writing again! LOL. (and my memory is fading. LOL).
Here's a link to some of my favorite summer memories

And HERE is another link to more summertime memories

2. What is the highest temperature you've experienced in summer? What about so far this summer? How do you weather the heat or humidity?

We've been having heat indexes of over 110 degrees, which means the actual temperatures were in the very high 90's, with humidity also in the high 90's. Last week we were under a heat advisory almost every day. So far this week it has been a tad cooler, only in the high 80's and lower 90's, which is a nice break. We've also been getting more afternoon pop up thunderstorms. We still need a lot more rain to fill  up our pond, but at least the grass and plants are being watered for me. LOL.   As far as in my whole life, probably the highest temperature I've experienced would be what we had last week, although I do remember times when the actual temperature was over 100.  I know some places in the country have hotter temps than that all the time, but they don't have the high humidity usually to go along with it, which truly makes it feel a lot hotter.  

When it is this hot we stay indoors with our air conditioning running around the clock. We avoid going out in the afternoon as much as possible, and try to get all of our errands and outdoor chores done in the early morning or after the sun starts going down in the evening.


3. What's been on your menu so far this summer?

Nothing extra special, I'm sorry to say. I try to avoid using the oven as much as possible, so very little baking is done or any kinds of meats/roasts that have to be cooked in the oven. However, yesterday afternoon was cloudy and rainy and a bit cooler, so I decided to cook a meatloaf in the oven. We can eat on that for a few days with sandwiches, etc.   We do eat more salads and fresh fruits in the summer.  

I had a root beer float last night. Does that count?

4. What is on your reading list this summer... anything to recommend to us? What's on your TV this summer. Any music you're liking this summer?

I have still been "binge reading" books from this author, Rhys Bowen. I am about finished with this stack, and will take them back to the library tomorrow, where there is at least one more waiting for me to pick up. I think I have a couple more on "hold", which means when they are available from other locations in our county they will transfer them to our library and I will be able to check them out. Ilove that we have this system so that we can order books online through their website and they keep me quite covered with good reading material.  I enjoy these mysteries by this author.  She is quite a prolific writer.

We were surprised to find this little book inside our mailbox last evening when I went out to get the mail. It was not something I had ordered, and it was literally just placed in our mailbox with a card on top addressed to us, but not sent through the mail. It was a gift to us from our Pastor, who apparently was passing by and put it in our mailbox.  We were surprised and blessed by the little gift, and we definitely called him afterwards to let him know how much we appreciated it.

The book is delightful. It is the story of the two ladies who were the original authors of the song "Jesus Loves Me".  They had written the words into a novel they had written, which was published into a book.

Here are the original lyrics:

The novel was entitled "Say and Seal", written in 1860 by Susan and Anna Warner. The Gospel Hymnwriter William B. Bradbury later read the book and the words to the song, and he added the chorus that we know so well and set it to the melody that we sing still today. Actually, we sing this little song every Sunday morning in our church when our children are dismissed to go to Children's Church.

The little book tells the life story of Susan and Anna Warner and their family. One thing that really stood out to my hubby and me (we read this out loud together last night...it's a short book and well worth the read...) was the fact that early on in their lives they had suffered some severe setbacks in their financial status along with other great sorrows.   This says below that "Anna Warner lived long enough to realize that had there been no black sheep (one of their brothers), no moments of bereavement, no stock market crash, no eviction from New York (city), no financial worries--if there had been none of those things, there would have been no books, no worldwide ministry, no thousands of inspired Cadets (West Point was across the Hudson River from their home, and the ladies did Bible studies with them in their home), and no "Jesus Loves Me."   (Page 91).

That little paragraph really spoke to us, because we have also experienced great setbacks and difficulties and sorrows in our lives, and yet God used those experiences to shape and mold us and literally make us stronger in our faith.  Oftentimes it's the things we fear the most ever happening that become the very things that help us become the people God wants us to become.  Those life experiences teach us to rely more on God and His faithfulness, and not so much on our own resources and strength. 

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV

"9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 

10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Does that last verse above remind you of something?   How about the first verse to the song Jesus Loves Me?

"Jesus loves me, this I know,

For the Bible tells me so;

Little ones to Him belong,

They are weak, but He is strong."

And the chorus:

"Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me,

the Bible tells me so.

So yes, this was a great little gift to find in our mailbox last night. You know, I used to sing this song to my babies while they were still in my womb.  And I continued singing it to them every time I rocked them to sleep.  More than anything, I wanted them to know "Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so!"  If they never learned anything else from me, that was the one thing most important of all.

I guess this answered the question about what we are reading and what music we are liking this summer. 

As far as TV is concerned, hubby is watching the FIFA Soccer matches, and then together we watch things like "Maine Cabin Masters", "Castle Impossible", and the old Price is Right shows from when Bob Barker was still on there, among other things.  I am not into TV as much as he is. I enjoy reading and writing more than TV.

Well, friends, I guess that's all for now. It's been raining pretty hard while I was finishing this up. Another severe thunderstorm blew through.  

Oh, one last thing...I'm falling behind again in my photo-a-day challenge.  I never did do yesterday's "shadow" picture. It's been too cloudy!

And today (14), is "On the floor".  Let me take a look around and see what I can find...

Well, the only thing on MY floor is probably a lot of dirt and dust to be swept up, so I decided to look outside my window in my room with a view, and I saw this little Wren on the porch railing. 

Because it has been raining and is so cloudy, it's not very clear, plus I am taking this picture through a tinted window.

He was having a conversation with the Red Headed Woodpecker doorknocker.

And finally he flew down to the "floor" of the porch, although he is not very clearly seen here, but he is on the floor, so that should qualify for this picture! LOL.

And with that I will call this post finished!  I hope you are having a lovely summer day wherever you are! Blessings to all of you, and remember, "Yes, Jesus Loves Me (YOU!)... The Bible tells me so!"

Amen and good day.