Tuesday 4~ St. Patrick's Day

 I had another post started for yesterday and got busy and never finished it, so now today is St. Patrick's Day, and I guess I'd better address that first and go back to the other one later! LOL.  So here we go...

St Patrick's Day

It is St. Pattys Day here at Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4...


1. Do you celebrate in any significant way?

Not particularly...I will probably be wearing green wherever I do and whatever I do, but I don't have any special plans for today except that I hope to plant my vegetables that I bought over the weekend...Benton is supposed to bring over the wooden planter boxes for me so I can get started on it...we'll see how far we get! 

Lily Grace and her dog Bailey are all dressed up for St. Patrick's Day...they are hiding in a forest of shamrocks and looking for the pot of gold! LOL.

You can click HERE for more adventures with Lily Grace!

2. Is it religious to you or secular?

It is a secular day in my mind. Although we appreciate the stories and legend of St. Patrick, we do not really connect that with anything "religious".  He was a good man and it's a fun day to remember what he did for Ireland.

3. Is there any green in your wardrobe ? Your home? Is it a good color for you?

I have some green in my wardrobe, but it is mostly either more of a forest green or a teal green. I do have one kind of emerald green top that I will wear today so I don't get pinched. LOL.

4.March has a lot of things associated with it... The Ides of March on the 15th, St. Patrick's Day and the old saying that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.
How is your March going thus far? Is it quiet? Is the weather good, bad or ugly? Is it a lion or a lamb?

Well, yestereday was certainly a lion as far as the weather is concerned! We had quite the thunderstorm yesterday afternoon, and I hear that there are trees down in various places around here. There was a lot of lightning and thunder and very wild winds for a while. Thankfully we are fine and we didn't lose power, so that's good. It also has cooled down to 40 degrees this morning after being in the 80's yesterday!

These photos of the skies were actually taken the night before last, (Sunday night), when we also had a good rain! Rain two days in a row! Woo Hoo! Prayers are being answered!  

But this is the Still Very Dry Still Waters Pond after the rain...it's like a big sponge soaking up the water, but there is still not enough to have any water on top of the ground. It's going to take a LOT more rain for that to happen.  

But hey! There's one blossom on the Bottlebrush Bush! That's a start! LOL.

Hopefully today Benton is going to bring over my above ground wooden planters so I can get the vegetable plants planted. Although I hear we might get a frost tomorrow morning, so we'll see...I may decide to wait...but then again...I hate to keep putting it off...decisions, decisions...I can always cover them...Tune in for further developments! LOL.

In keeping with the tradition of the day, HERE is a link to a post I wrote a few years ago for Toni's Creative Adventures.  Our Toni Taddeo was a very creative lady, and she often did these special "Creative Adventures" for us to make up little stories to go along with a theme. This one was my favorite, and it bears repeating again today especially for St. Patrick's Day. I hope you will take the time to revisit it and enjoy this little fairy tale today with a lovely Irish little lady.

Tuesday 4~ How?

This is a cute house...no, it's not the
house I live in, but I really love it. It has a lot
of character!

How?

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4...continued in Toni Taddeo's memory.

Let's jump right in...

"King" Blackie, making himself right at home.

1. How did you end up in the place where you are living?

Long story, but after our son got married and moved to this town, we started coming here to go to church on Sunday at the sweet little church where they were married. We fell in love with the church, the people, the small town and its affordability. We were living about 30 minutes away, in the middle of the Ocala National Forest, and far from "civilization", so to speak. The now much too large house was suddenly empty and there was nothing to hold us there, so we put our house up for sale and started looking in this town where we now live. It took about 9 months to sell our house and move here, and we are very thankful for how the Lord put it all together perfectly for us.
HERE is a link to a post I wrote just after moving into our current home.

Sunrise Monday morning...

Closer view of the sunrise through those trees...it was golden bright, for certain!

2. How did you end up with the job you have/had?

I'll go with the last job I held until I retired. Due to some unpleasant circumstances at a previous job, I had left there when things got beyond what I could "live with", and then unfortunately I was unemployed for about nine months before I could find another job that was right for me. After many interviews and even some second interviews for jobs that I thought would be good, nothing seemed to be working out. Then one day I intereviewed for an office position at a large church, which I thought with my background in churches and church offices I would be a "shoo-in", but unfortunately I was not chosen for that position. I was getting very discouraged, when about 3 weeks later the office manager from that church called me and asked if I was still available, and if I would be interested in a different position in that church office. I asked what position, and she said "Mine".  She was leaving to go somewhere else, and her position as the Financial Administrator for the church was open and she and the Pastor of the church both thought I would be a good fit for it. It was a much bigger and better paying position than the one I had previously interviewed for. Of course I said yes that I would be interested, and so not long after I was hired and began my work there. I had no idea what a mess I was stepping into. The woman who was leaving the position had not done a very good job of bookkeeping, and there were a LOT of big messes to clean up in every aspect of that job. I honestly thought I had made a huge mistake once I saw the magnitude of what I was going to have to do. But God was with me, and He guided me through it one step at a time, and eventually everything that needed to be "fixed" was fixed and things worked out very well from then on. It was still an extremely challenging position, but I thank God for His guidance and constant support throughout my 6 years there until I was able to retire.

Click HERE for a link to the day I retired.

3. How did you end up with your life partner?

This picture was taken after we were engaged.

Long story short...We met while attending a community college near my home. We were introduced by a fellow whom I had dated briefly, but we were just good friends and had graduated high school together. He introduced me to my future hubby at lunch one day in the college dining room, and from then on we became inseperable...and we got married about 10 months later...and we've been together ever since...it will be 57 years of marriage this coming August!  I believe it was definitely a "God-thing"...a "match made in heaven".  Not saying everything has been perfect all these years...no, that would definitely not be true, but God had a plan for our lives, and He has been the glue that has held us together in spite of sorrows and trials and tribulations and many many moves.  Without Jesus Christ at the center of our home and marriage, I don't know if we could've survived.  And that's the honest truth! But I am VERY thankful for the life we have had together, and I wouldn't have wanted it to be any other way.  Well,  maybe less trials and tribulations...but those things helped us to grow stronger.

Ecclesiastes 4:11-13 NKJV

11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;

But how can one be warm alone?

12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.

And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Link to when we were engaged ,   And another link about our marriage

Song of Solomon 2:10-13

10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

Leaving for our honeymoon right after our wedding. My dress sure was short! LOL.

I picked some of our azaleas and my little favorite "fairy flowers" this morning.

And I picked one of the roses on the new rosebush that we planted over the weekend. 

It smells SO good!!!

4. How did your weekend go and how is the week ahead looking?

This past weekend was great. You can read more about that in the last post I wrote. The week ahead...well, I guess I need to look at one of my many calendars...actually we don't have too much planned, but that's always subject to change! I had Ladies' Bible Study on Monday afternoon, and I will have choir practice Tuesday night. We are practicing for our Easter Cantata, and it's sounding pretty good so far!  Other than that, the rest of the week is kind of "up for grabs". Somehow the days always manage to get filled up.

Thank you, Annie, for being our hostess each week here on Tuesday 4.  If you'd like to join in the fun, click HERE to add your post and/or read other posts.

 To end this post, I wanted to share this song "My Tribute" by Andre' Crouch.  It kind of answers all the questions about "HOW".  

"How can I say thanks

For all the things You've done for me?

Things so undeserved

Yet You gave to prove Your love to me

The voices of a million angels

Could not express my gratitude

All that I am

And ever hope to be

I owe it all to Thee

To God...

Be the glory

To God...

Be the glory

To God...

Be the glory

For the things He has done.

With His Blood

 He has saved me

 with His power

 He has raised me

 to God

 be the glory

For the things He has done

Just let me live my life

And let it pleasing, Lord to Thee

And should I gain any praise

Let it go to Calvary

With His Blood

 He has saved me

with His power

He has raised me

To God

 glory

For the things He has done"

Source: Musixmatch

Amen.

Tuesday 4~Simple Questions

 Simple Questions

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4. I hope you are enjoying these questions. Let me know if they can be improved and if you have any ideas for subjects!
Here are just 4 simple questions for you this week...

1. Do you have any superstitious beliefs?

That's easy to answer: NO!

2. How often do you check the weather? Where do you get your weather reports?

We check our weather app on my phone every morning. Actually, hubby and I play a little guessing game every morning. He doesn't look at the weather app,  and I ask him to guess what the current temperature is, and he has to get it within one degree to get a point. Then I ask him what the high will be for the day, and then what the conditions are/or will be all day, such as sunny, cloudy, partly cloudy, rainy, or FOGGY, like it was this morning:

 then the wind speeds, percentage of actual precipitation for the day, and the percentage of humidity.  Again, all answers have to be within 1 degree or 1 percent of the actual answer. There is no prize...just a good test of his mental acuity in the morning while drinking his coffee.  Some days he does pretty good and gets most all of them right...but when the weather is so changeable like it has been lately, it's been a bit more challenging.  I'm glad he's the one doing the guessing and I hold the answers on my phone! LOL.  For me, I guess the weather by whether or not my joints are extra stiff in the morning or not. LOL.  We do also check the weather on the TV when there's a question about any serious weather conditions (like hurricanes or tornadoes, or this winter...freeze warnings have been rather frequent for us, more so than usual for this part of the country.)

Current view outside our front door: Full Moon tonight:.(Monday night)  This was around 7:30 p.m.  I plan to try and remember to get up and look at the lunar eclipse of the moon early Tuesday morning, and if I can get some decent pictures, I will add them before I post this.

(I don't know what that aqua blob is on the picture. Maybe a UFO. LOL.)

3.What time of your life was the happiest and why do you think that was? How could life improve for you now?

That's really hard to answer, as I've been happy in every season of my life, even though there have been some very sad and difficult times as well, but even so I have a deep down joy in my heart because of Jesus living in me.   Without Him, I would not have been able to get through some of the very difficult times. 

This was probably one of the happiest times in my life...our sweet little family...our boys were still young and happy and healthy and innocent. Hubby was the Pastor of a beautiful church and we seemed to be "sitting on top of the world" for a while.  Life definitely got more difficult as the years went by, but this was a time of joy and many blessings.  (I was just 30 years old in this picture. At the time I thought I was really getting old! LOL)

To answer the rest of the question: "How could life improve for you now?"

I think for the most part things are going pretty well for people of our age, but if anything could improve, it would be to have our strength and health renewed and restored back to a time of a bit more strength, energy, and stamina.  But truly, we are very very thankful for everything we have at this stage in life. We look around us and realize that it could always be so much worse, so we are extremely thankful to God that He is taking very good care of us.

4. What things would you ordain to make everyday life happier, kinder, more prosperous, for everyone?

Here are some verses from the Bible that summarize what I believe makes life happier, kinder, and more prosperous.  If everyone could "drink of the water that (Jesus) shall give him", he would definitely have the kind of joy that never fails, no matter what the circumstances of life.

John 4:13-14~ 

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 

14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. 

But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Isaiah 12:1-3

1 "And in that day you will say:

“O Lord, I will praise You;

Though You were angry with me,

Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.

2 Behold, God is my salvation,

I will trust and not be afraid;

‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song;

He also has become my salvation.’ ”

3 Therefore with joy you will draw water
From the wells of salvation."
 

Psalm 89:1-2 NKJV

1 "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;

With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.

2 For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;

Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.”

My thoughts: there really isn't anything this world has to offer that will bring lasting happiness and prosperity.  Everything here is temporary.  Here is what Jesus said on this subject:

Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 

20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

All this "stuff" we have here to make us more comfortable and "happy" is just that, STUFF.  It's okay to make ourselves comfortable here, but don't ever think any of it is permanent. Ask someone who has had a tornado rip through their home, or a fire or a flood. They are extremely thankful when they can escape with their family intact and the clothes on their back (if they are so blessed to be able to do that).  All that STUFF is gone in a puff of wind or a torrent of water...but our souls are eternal.  That is the ONLY thing that lasts for eternity, so we best consider where we will be spending eternity while there is yet time.

2 Corinthians 6:2 NKJV

"2 For He (Jesus) says:

“In an acceptable time I have heard you,

And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

I will try to finish this in the morning, if I can get some pictures of the "blood moon".  

Okay, here I am, 6:15 a.m. Tuesday morning.  I did go out and watch the eclipse for the first half...and I apologize for the poor quality of my pictures. I am certain many of you may have better cameras for moon shots than I do, so I expect there will be some out there with really good photos. But here's what I have, so you will know that I did what I said I would do!

I had a lot more pictures, but they really were too fuzzy to be worth showing.  So how many of you went out to watch the eclipse?  I can't wait to see your pictures!

Blackie says, "Okay, it's time to post this and get on with our day! "

He finds the most precarious spots to just lay himself down and rest a spell from his wanderings...seems like he's always right on the edge of something!  (Sometimes I feel like that too, don't you?)

Okay, my friends...be blessed and enjoy this day.  

"This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!"  

Psalm 118:24

Tuesday 4~ Grocery Shopping

 Grocery Shopping

Hello friends and welcome to Tuesday 4 in honor of Toni Taddeo.
Here are some questions for you on the topic of shopping.


1. Where do you like to buy your groceries and do you buy by the day, week or month?

We mostly buy our every day groceries at our local grocery store here in our little town. They have just changed ownership, and the new owners are improving things little by little.  We also pick up things like milk, bread and eggs at our nearby Dollar General, as it is right at the entrance to our neighborhood and very convenient to stop there as we come and go by it all the time.  For bigger items we often make a trip to the next city over, about 15 miles away, and go to Walmart.


2. What foods would we always find in your kitchen?

All the basics...milk, eggs, butter, bread, coffee, tea, canned vegies and beans and fruits, frozen meats, fresh vegies and lettuce and fresh spinach, cheeses, bologna and deli ham and hot dogs. Of course, also things like flour, sugar, rice, pasta, spices, all the basics for baking. Oh, and mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, pickles, salad dressings. Also onions, potatoes, carrots, and cabbage are usually kept on hand.

3.Do you buy anything online and if so what kinds of things are you most likely to buy there?

I sometimes make an order to Walmart for larger items that can be delivered, or things they may not have at the local store. I also order some things on Amazon as needed.  

4. Do you shop with a list on paper, on your phone or do you just shop without a list and maybe come home with things you never planned to buy?

I make a written list and try to always remember to take it with me to the store. I especially use the list for things that we may have run out of that I don't buy every week, like laundry detergent or paper goods or items in the pharmacy section of Walmart.  I keep a magnetic notepad on the refrigerator that is used to write things down as we run out of them.

Bonus question: What will you be cooking in the coming week?

Good question! I do not necessarily plan meals ahead that much. I keep a variety of meats in the freezer when I see them on special, so that I have different things to choose from throughout the week. Then I discuss the meals with hubby to find out what he feels like having. Since it's usually just the two of us we can be pretty flexible, depending upon what our mood is! Tonight we had hamburgers. However, if the ground beef had not thawed out enough for hamburgers in time, I was going to use it to make either sloppy joes or a one pot dish that I can either thaw the meat in the microwave or in the pot as I cook it. Like I said, we are pretty flexible.  Thankfully hubby is not a real picky eater.  If I know we are going to have company (like the kids) here for a meal, then of course I plan a regular menu ahead...and often we put our food together to cover all the basics.

I know you already saw this picture in my last post from the anniversary party at Cook's Buffet on Saturday.  But I purposefully took a picture of this particular section of the salad bar because I was focusing on that congealed gelatin salad on the left front corner. No, I don't plan to make it this week, but I have made one similar for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas dinner before.

That is a cranberry/orange jello salad, with whole berry canned cranberry sauce, pecans, oranges and pineapple, and maybe some other things thrown in there too. I LOVE this salad, and I took a picture of it because I wanted to remember it. As I did so, I said out loud, "Nanny, this is for you!"  "Nanny" is my husband's mother, who of course is in heaven now...but years ago when we used to go to another one of these same restaurants together (when it was called "Holiday House"), she and I would always get this jello and talk about how much we loved it. We also both would always get the leg of lamb.  So, as I said in my previous post, going to this restaurant was a very nostalgic experience for me in so many ways.

Also, for all of you who asked in my last post if my sister Doris and I were "twins", well, no, we aren't. We are several years apart (and I am the baby, so don't go asking which one is older, okay? LOL!)  Here is how we looked 60 years ago at her wedding.  It's too bad this isn't in color, so you could tell that I was a redhead and Doris was a brunette.  I was about 5'8" and she was about 5'2".  Doris had a complexion that tanned nicely, whereas I would burn and freckle.  

L to R: Yours truly, Doris, Art, and our brother Clifford. Art was in the Army, and Clifford was in the Air Force. This was Feb. 11, 1966.

Doris and me. I was her Maid of Honor.

And here's how we looked as little girls...so you can really see we weren't twins.

Lto R: our brother Russell (R.I.P.), Clifford, Doris and me, "the little redhead". Our Dad and Mom on the back row. (R.I.P.) This was around 1953.

Somehow as we've aged we've just kind of melded together, and sometimes we scare each other by saying and doing the same things. 

And wearing the same outfits...

And automatically responding the same way to someone sneaking up behind us to take our picture while we were out for a walk with our Daddy...

That's our sweet Daddy in the middle of our silliness. 

And unbeknownst to us, we both wore the same outfit, (see below) even down to the white sweaters, at my son Matthew's wedding rehearsal party. That's our parents on either side of us, and Matthew is hugging his bride to be, Nicole, in the background, and Nicole's parents are sitting in front of us. This was way back in 1993...so many sweet memories.

Interestingly enough, (below) our brothers even got into the "act" of dressing alike now and then...again,  this was not planned...and sadly this photo was taken at my son Matthew's Celebration of Life in 2014, just 21 years after that happy occasion above. Little did we know then that in 2019 our brother Russell would also be entering heaven after a battle with leukemia:

So anyway, after all that, I just wanted you to know that we're still definitely not twins! LOL. Just sisters, with apparently some very similar characteristics...

Okay, that's enough silly stuff for this post.

You can join in the Tuesday 4 meme HERE, and also see what others are writing about.

Here's some words of wisdom from the book of Romans 15:5-6 for today:

"5 Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, 

6 that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

 

Tuesday 4~Things About You

 Things About You

Hi dear friends and welcome to Tuesday 4.. Toni Taddeo's invention and our pleasure to continue in her memory.

This week you are the topic.

1. What is something you are proud of that we don't know about?

I will have to think about this. I think you know just about everything there is to know about me, including what I ate for breakfast yesterday! LOL.  I'm not sure "proud" is the right word...how about thankful?  I am thankful that I have been married to my wonderful husband for going on 57 years, and that we were blessed with three amazing sons. I am thankful that our sons have turned out to be wonderful adults.  One of our sons is already in heaven, but I am thankful that I know that is where he is and that we will see him again someday.  I am thankful that he left us with one amazing grandson, and that our grandson called us recently to tell us about his current job and the things he's been doing.  He's 26 and lives in Maine, so we don't see him very often, and so it's always a blessing when he calls us.  I am also thankful that I have two wonderful daughter in laws. The one who was married to our son who passed away took such good care of him when he was dealing with cancer, plus she held down a very good job and raised their son to be a fine young man. She also trained to become a firefighter during that time and continues to volunteer in their local fire department. She is a hard worker and a wonderful person. We just don't see her often either because they live in Maine.  My other sweet daughter in law Rose is right here close by, and you all hear about her quite often. She is such a blessing to us, and I am so thankful God brought her into our son's life and ours at this time in our lives. She is also a hard worker and someone who is always looking for ways to help others.  So, yes, I am proud of my family, but mostly I am thankful to God for them.

2. What subject or things are over rated or talked about too much in your opinion.?

Politics for sure.  We have gotten to where we don't even want to listen to the news anymore. But we pray for our country and it's leaders every day.

3. What things and topics should be talked about more often or are under rated in your opinion?

Our faith in God is something that we should be free to share anytime, anyplace.  Not "religion", but faith, and what God has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. I am thankful for this blog forum where we can share our own personal beliefs freely. It is my hope and prayer that sharing my faith will be an encouragement to others and not something they wish I'd just be quiet about.

4. Are there any things you've changed your mind about in the last few years?

Cats.  I never had much interest in cats or having a cat in the past. If you had asked me if I were a cat or a dog person, I would've said dog, even though we didn't have one. We love our two grandpups and enjoy it when they come to visit.  But then God arranged for me to take over the feeding of two neighborhood kitties that our neighbor was feeding until she became too incapacitated to do so any longer (and is now in a nursing home most likely permanently).   You've all seen the stories about Blackie and Sunshine...and how much it grieved me when Sunshine suddenly passed away.  Now Blackie has captured our hearts and right now is sitting in my hubby's lap, which I never dreamed I would see happen a few months ago!

I believe it's one of those things that God arranged for a reason...He knows what we need deep inside...and sometimes having a small furry animal depend upon us for care and love is a good thing...and to see how he responds with love back to us is even better.  

So that's the Tuesday 4 for today. You can join in HERE if you wish.

One more thing, those fires I was telling you about in our town are still going on. Here is a picture of the smoke in the skies last night:

NO, that is NOT a sunset! That is the smoke in the west at the time of when we should be having a sunset.  At that point we could not smell it here at our house, but when darkness came the smoke surrounded us and became quite noticeable. When I stepped outside for just a minute to bring Blackie back inside for the night (he was sleeping in his chair on the porch and I had to wake him up because freezing temps were on the way. And yes, he spent most of the day outside because it was a bit warmer and that is where he wanted to be), immediately my hair and clothes smelled like smoke and I had to change clothes. I would've washed my hair too, but I had just taken my shower and didn't want to start over.  It is still smokey out there this morning, which means the firefighters are still at it. This is the 4th day.  May God protect them and give them reprieve from the fire soon.

Here's some thoughts and prayer for the day from Psalm 25...

Psalm 25:1-5

"1  To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

2 O my God, I trust in You;

Let me not be ashamed;

Let not my enemies triumph over me.

3 Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;

Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

4 Show me Your ways, O Lord;

Teach me Your paths.

5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,

For You are the God of my salvation;

On You I wait all the day."

Amen.

Tuesday 4~ We've Got Questions

We've Got Questions

 Welcome once again to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4. It's nice to have you take part.

Here are some questions for you.....

1. Where did your mother and father grow up?
My Father grew up in Crafton, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Here is a link to some fun stories I wrote about where he grew up. My mother grew up mostly in Ohio, but also lived in Maryland for a short while when she was young. HERE is a link to some stories about my mother and her family.

2. Where did you grow up? 

I was born in Clarion, Pennsylvania and lived there on a farm until I was almost six years old, (and farming became too expensive  unless you had partners or government assistance and my father didn't want to go that route) but we moved to Tavares, Florida when I was in 1st grade. I lived there until I was married. HERE is a link to a post about my hometown. (where I grew up).

3. What was your favorite meal your mother made? What is your favorite recipe to make?

Gosh, I can't remember, there were so many good things my mother made. I don't know how she cooked so many wonderful meals and worked a full time job. I'm remembering her Salisbury Steaks and gravy, Mashed potatoes, and probably green peas.   

I actually just made the same thing the other day, except for the peas...we had green beans as hubby is not particularly fond of green peas, but he LOVES Salisbury steaks.  To make them I use ground chuck, and mix it up much like I would for a meatloaf...add chopped onions, bread crumbs, egg, and a little bit of ketchup and mustard, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. Make them into patties and brown them good on each side, drain off the grease, then add water and cover and simmer until they are done. Then make gravy with the water that they have been cooking in. They are SO good! 

 

Here's Mom cooking in her kitchen...

 She probably just got home from work...note she is wearing a dress with an apron and still has her earrings on, which she didn't ordinarily wear at home. LOL.

And she had to feed a family of six hungry people...two big teenage boys who were football players, my dad who worked hard all day at the post office, and my sister and I who were growing girls.  Here's a picture of us kids not long after we moved to that house:

4. What are the advantages you enjoy where you live?

Where we live now? Well, let's see...it's not far from our local small town and grocery store, doctor, church, Dollar General, gas stations, etc.  And the closest bigger city is only 15 miles, where there is a Walmart, small hospital, and many other stores and restaurants, etc.    It is still a "small city", and we don't have to fight traffic to get there.  Where we live is semi-rural, and even though it isn't fancy, it's  friendly and convenient.  We are very thankful for our home and community. And our kids live nearby. You can't beat that!

So now, why don't you tell us all about you?  You can join in the fun HERE

(Writing this on Monday afternoon) Oh, one last thing...Thank you all on your comments on my Sunday post! Some of you asked how Blackie did in the new kennel/crate last night. 

Well, MUCH better! We brought him inside around 10:00 p.m., when we were going to bed. I put him inside the crate and tossed a couple of treats in there and shut the door and he didn't object one bit. I will admit that I probably did not sleep as well as he did, as I had one ear on the door of our room trying to hear if he was making any noise out there, and a couple of times I tiptoed out to where I could peek at him without him seeing me, and he was perfectly peaceful.  I ended up getting up around 5:00 a.m. and let him out and fed him, and then I encouraged him to go outside to go potty, but he really didn't want to go out in the 30 degree weather, and the porch actually was icy from the rain we had the day before.  Finally he stayed out for a little while, but was right back at the door wanting to come inside, so we brought him in and let him wander around the house for a while.  He discovered this box and promptly jumped right in and twisted and turned about in it for a few minutes and then jumped back out and went and tried to make the back of our couch a scratching post, so that was that and outside he went!

 By then the sun was up and it wasn't too bad, but the pond looked like this:

Yes, that is frost. I also did see a few tiny snowflakes swirling in the light on the porch while it was still dark outside. I know the northernmost part of Florida did get snow yesterday, but we really weren't supposed to,  however, I know what I saw! It was snow! Frost doesn't come down in flakes and swirl around!

So all in all it was a good night, and he may have to come back in tonight too because of the freezing temps.  I'm glad we have this option and it helps my conscience knowing he's not outside freezing!

One more thing, in my last post I told you about our visit with blogging friend Terri. She posted her version of our visit HERE today, if you want to check it out!  It sure is fun to meet up with our blogging friends in person, and I wish we could ALL do that someday!! Wouldn't that be wonderful?  It would take some doing to make it happen, but it sure would be fun!  

Okay, I think that's all for now. This post will go live Tuesday morning, but we will be traveling to Gainesville for an important doctor appointment for my hubby, so I won't be around all day to visit. I'll try to catch up with everyone hopefully Wednesday.  Blessings to all!!!

Some words from God's Word to ponder:

Hebrews 4:12-13 NIV

12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

That definitely gives us some "food for thought".   Amen.

P.S. Tuesday morning 5:51 a.m., I had some "help" with posting this blog this morning:

Yes, that's Blackie, and yes, he spent the night indoors again last night and did very well. Never heard a peep out of him, but he was sure happy to see me come let him out of that crate this morning!

And for those of you who may not remember or weren't here with me then, that "clipped ear" you see is from when he went to be neutered. Because he went to a special program for neutering and spaying "feral" or stray outdoor cats, they clipped his ear to show that he has been neutered.  Although I'm not crazy about it, it does give him a special extra "charm".  

Okay, time to get this thing published so I can go on about my duties today. We will be on the road in a couple of hours to drive an hour away for a medical appointment for hubby. TTYL.