Happy Valentine's Day!

 Good Morning, and Happy Valentine's Day from our house to yours!  Or should I say, from our cat to yours? LOL.

Are you doing anything special today?  I don't believe that we are doing anything out of the ordinary today. Yesterday was kind of busy, and tomorrow will also be busy...because hubby's birthday is on the 16th, which is Monday, but he has an important medical appointment that day, so no celebrations could be planned on his actual birthday.  Tomorrow the kids will be here after church and we will celebrate together.  

But back to yesterday, we actually went and picked up his birthday present and brought it home...yes, he got a new recliner finally. Back when I was going through the process of getting a new recliner, we knew that he really needed one too, but had to wait a while. The kids all chipped in with me to purchase this new chair for his birthday...

I just realized that he had the arm of the chair flipped up, but that's because there is a compartment under the padded arm and also a control for a massager! So he was trying that out.  I have a feeling I may be using his chair once in a while too!

Here's his old recliner, out on the curb for now, because we've discovered in this neighborhood that usually if you put anything that looks remotely decent out on the curb, it will disappear pretty quickly. But if it isn't gone by today, our son will come and take it to the dump on Monday.  It's still functional, just pretty worn from years of use.

Anyway, back to the new chair...we soon discovered that we probably made  a mistake in buying one with that kind of upholstery...because we forgot that we have a kitty that just LOVES to climb up into "Daddy's" lap every morning after his breakfast and sit there where he feels warm and cozy and safe...but his little claws can too easily tear or scratch that kind of material, and so now our beautiful new chair is covered up with all manner of covers to protect it.  I am going to look for some kind of slip cover when we go shopping again that will be more suitable and look better than this, but for now that's what we had to do.   Amazing how a little black furry "stray cat" can change your whole routine and way of doing things...  Thankfully now that the weather is warmer, he spends more time outside, (which he loves) but he also loves this morning routine and secretly so does someone else, evn though he won't admit it. LOL.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV

"4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, 

it does not boast, it is not proud. 

5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, 

it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 

6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 

7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8  Love never fails..."

Friday Foto Friends: Valentines and Mugs. LOL.

 Good Friday Morning Friends!  I hope you are having a marvelous day! We started out pretty cold again (for us), at 34 degrees, and there was frost on the still very dry Still Waters Pond. I didn't take any pictures of it, but here's how it looked yesterday morning, if that counts.  LOL. This was after the not so great rainfall we had the night before...less than 2/10 of an inch! It seems like when the rain comes marching down and across our state it hits our city limits and splits itself around us without dropping hardly anything over us! I don't get it. It's like there's a big dome over us keeping the rain from hitting the ground, or our pond.  The only good thing it did was dampen down the smoke from those fires for a day, but guess what? The smoke was right back up again this morning, and we are now in a "RED FLAG WARNING", with high winds expected and extremely dry atmosphere, which will be like adding fuel to the fire of any smoldering ashes. So please pray for our area and many other places in central Florida that are having similar issues. It could be catastophic if we don't start getting more moisture in the air.  

Yesterday was a very damp and dark and bone chilling kind of day.  The kind of day you want to stay indoors and make soup. I didn't make any home made soup but I did eat some Campbell's chunky beef soup and it was pretty good in a pinch. Then we had cabbage cooked with kielbasa and mashed potatoes for supper, which was as good as having soup!

Blackie stayed inside for most of the day, and entertained himself with this ball...

when "Daddy" wasn't entertaining him with the string game.

Meanwhile I entertained myself by putting out the Valentine's Decorations:

I know, it's kind of busy looking, but hey! This season doesn't last as long as Christmas. Before you know it it will be gone and we'll be celebrating St. Patrick's Day! And the Easter comes soon after!

I was feeling whimsical and brought out my lovely Pink Flamingo cookie jar...(You can click HERE for the story about when that became a part of our lives).  Sadly, it's not filled with any good homemade cookies anymore. I may have to do something about that.

I'm "living life in full bloom"...in spite of the weather!

While I was trying to figure out what to put out on display, I was looking at the different mugs I have that have different kinds of sayings on them, so I pulled out a few to share, but then decided to put them back away for now.  But here's the pictures I took anyway:

Let's "Rejoice in each new day"....

The mug above on the left has a quote by Hans Christian Anderson that I like. It took a few pictures to get the whole message:

"The whole world is a series of miracles, but we're so used to them we call them ordinary things."

This is another of my favorites with Job 37:34 on it: "Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God."   I bought that mug way before we ever moved here to Still Waters Pond, because I loved the design of a bird house and a Chickadee, beside a pond next to a little cabin. When I saw this mug I said, "Someday I am going to live in a cabin beside a pond and watch the birds."  Well, I do live beside a pond and I do a lot of bird watching. It isn't exactly a cabin, but it will do just fine.

"Make Things Happen"...I know I bought this mug thinking about one of my "One Words" one year, and for the life of me I can't remember which one it was now. LOL.  Might have been "Believe".  If I find it I will update this.   

20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  Matthew 19:20

I think that's the verse I was thinking about...when we believe and have faith in God, we can "make things happen"!!

Here's another favorite...another one that says "Rejoice"

But it also says, "Oh, sing to the Lord a new song; Sing to the Lord, all the earth." Psalm 96:2

And this is the one I've been using the most lately: "The Lord is my strength and my song."  from Isaiah 12:2

Back to Valentine's Day...Lily Grace and her friends are all dressed up and ready for their Valentine's Tea Party...

Which reminds me, it's time to get some Valentine's Cards sent out to some family and friends...just a few, but I don't like to let the day slip by without notice!

I guess that's it for my photos for today.  The day isn't over yet, but I need to go fix lunch for a hungry hubby (and me too) so I guess I will say so long for now.

I'm wondering if you also have coffee/tea mugs that say things that mean something to you? Maybe you can share some of your favorites sometime.

I think my favorite for today is the verse that says 

"I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."  Matthew 19:20

That's a good message to close this on. I hope it brings some hope to you as well.

Happy Valentine's Day and more!!

 Here it is Friday night, Valentine's Day evening.  And I am plumb tuckered out! LOL.  Thank you all for your sweet comments the past few days.  Many of you wanted to hear more about how things went today, as we celebrated my hubby's birthday along with Valentine's Day and also my sister and her hubby's 59th anniversary.  So here you go...We'll start with the fun stuff...Well, it was ALL fun stuff!

Here we are all gathered around the table, and of course I say, "Wait! We have to get a picture before you start eating!"  Well, Some people couldn't wait...but thanks to son Scott, who knows how to do the timer thingy on my cell phone to take a picture and jump into it himself before the actual picture snaps...here we are, all smiling and happy and hungry!

After we finished our wonderful lunch of hamburgers, hotdogs, and/or chicken thighs, potato salad, cole slaw, beans and deviled eggs, it was time for the family tradition of singing Happy Birthday to the Birthday boy:

And then of course he had to blow the candles out:

Oh, there were so many candles! LOL! But he made it, so his wish will come true! LOL.

I think he was wishing we'd quit taking pictures and get on with the cutting of the cake! There were actually two cakes...one Devil's Food with Cream Cheese/Whipped Cream frosting, and a Strawberry Cake with whipped cream topping and fresh strawberries on top. They were both good, if I do say so myself. (I baked them). LOL.

Here's some before pictures of the table, and there were Valentine's Cards, Birthday Cards, Anniversary Cards,  and Valentine candy for everyone.  

Lily Grace may have had something to do with all the little Valentines and Candy hearts for everyone...

and she and her friends sure had a nice party too!

Remember getting these kinds of Candy Hearts for Valentine's Day?

My sister Doris brought these beautiful "High Fragrance Camellias" from her garden to share with us! 

They definitely smelled so good!

After we were done eating, we girls walked around looking at the flora and fauna..here's Rose and Doris now...

And here's Doris taking a picture of some of the "flora"  (yes, we both do this...)

She was trying to identify the plant and also we were both looking at the bumblebees all over it! (and trying not to get stung!)

Come to find out it is a "Wild Radish" plant, which grows wild all over the area.  

Oh, and you remember my favorite little "Fairy Flowers", as I call them, that are growing in our yard right now?

Turns out it is something called a "Blue Toadflax" wildflower! Who'd ever thought that???

That is what is growing in the "yard" of our Gnome Home...and now there is a "Mr. Toad" sitting there pretty as you please, and he said, "I Toad You so!"   LOL.

Soon we two sisters got tired of walking and sat down in the Secret Memorial Garden on the bench to take a little break, and sweet Rose took our picture:

Some people like to say we look like twins, and I expect there will be some here who see this and will wonder. But no...we're definitely not. There were "several years" between our births, and growing up we didn't look much alike at all. Somehow over the years we have kind of melded into each other...

Here we are as children, many years ago:   I'm the "little redhead" on the end, looking up at Doris, who is the cute brunette child standing next to me, holding a bouquet of flowers. I think she was born with flowers in her hand. She's the one with the green thumb in the family.  I like to take pictures of flowers, but I don't do a very good job of growing them, so I depend on God to do that for me! LOL. That's why I love wildflowers so much.  BTW, I love this photo of my family. It is rare to find color photos from way back when, but my Grandfather loved to take "Slide" photos, and they were always in color, so this picture actually was developed from a slide.  L to R, my brothers Russell (RIP), Clifford, Doris, and Me. My parents Bill and Dorothea Mursch on the back row. (RIP for both of them too).

Speaking of wildflowers, I went looking for these Wild Plum trees the other day to see if they were blooming. I found one in the area where we used to walk all the time, but I apparently was too late for some of the trees that I usually watch for them to bloom. I was happy to find these:

So I brought some home to make a bouquet for today, but they don't look quite as good as I'd hoped, plus they keep dropping petals.

But here's one pretty photo before they totally droop and die:

Speaking of drooping...I am about to droop now...so I think I will call it a night. It was a wonderful day, and I am SO thankful for our family, and especially for my sister and her hubby Art to drive all the way up to be with us today. They live almost two hours away, so that is a long trip to make round trip in one day. I tried to talk them into spending the night, but you know how we all like to sleep in our own beds at this stage in life...and thankfully I've already heard that they arrived back home safely.

And now this verse speaks to my heart...

Psalm 4:8 NKJV

8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep;

For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Good Night everyone! "Sleep tight! Don't let the bed bugs bite".   LOL.  

It's February!!! The Month for Love!

  

Can you believe it's February already? Although January seemed like a whole year took place in one month, there was so much going on in our world and country...some good, and sadly, some not so good. Praying still for families of the victims of the Washington D.C. plane crash and now another plane crash last night in Philadelphia. So very very sad for these families. Add to that the wildfires in CA., the horrific tragedy in New Orleans on New Year's Eve, and the plight of so many still in NC...it's been a rough beginning to 2025. But I am thankful that through all of the heartache and sorrows, there has been much good happening in our country and world too...the release of the hostages in Gaza, and the very positive things that are happening in our government since January 20th. We have hope and encouragement that things are going to get better and better, but still there is much to pray for and about. I know there are some who will disagree with me on some of these issues, but I don't want to debate or discuss that here. Let's just all agree to continue to pray for our nation, our President and his staff, and our families and people in general. We are exhorted to pray for our leaders whether or not we always agree with them!

1 Timothy 2:1-6 NKJV

Pray for All Men

1"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 

6 who gave Himself a ransom for all..."

Here's hoping and praying that February will be a calmer and gentler month!  It's the month for "love", with Valentine's Day in the middle of it! 

 

Lily Grace reminded me this morning that it's about time she changed her outfit from her warm winter coat and hat and boots (since it warmed up to 80 degrees already yesterday afternoon!) and get dressed in her Valentine's dress and start preparing for a Valentine's Tea Party with her friends.

So here they are, all dressed and ready to celebrate Valentine's Day and give little hearts to one another...

Do you still send Valentines to family and friends?  I do sometimes, but if so, I'd better get a move on before all the good ones are gone! Or I may have to just make some!  Did you ever do that? Make your own Valentine cards?  Those are some of the best ones of all!!

Since it is February 1st, it is also time for the calendar roll call for the month! I already showed you the Thomas Kinkade calendar above, which is always beautiful!!

Here's the John Sloane Country Seasons picture for February, entitled "Morning Commute".  I like that idea...for farmers this would be their morning and evening commute...out to the barn to feed the animals, or milk the cows, or whatever needs to be done, regardless of the weather. Those of who who have farm animals know that the work goes on no matter what!  

That looks like our neighborhood cat "Blackie", who is sitting on our back porch right now enjoying a nap in the wicker chair. Seems to be his favorite place to spend the days lately. Not sure where he goes for the night...probably "prowling around". LOL.

Speaking of farm animals...we took a little ride this morning and these fellas were heading toward the road. Thankfully they stopped.  I'm not sure if they are someone's pet pot bellied pigs or what...but if so, they'd better get them back inside the fence before they become someone's bacon for breakfast!

I think the one is saying to other, "Oh, you're such a ham!" LOL.

Yeah, that one sure does have a "pot belly" !!  He's a real "porker". LOL.

Now this is a switch...the Teapot Calendar had an interesting teapot for this month:

Are any of you Star Trek fans?  This is actually from the Next Generation of Star Trek, which I never watched.  I only remember Captain Kirk and Spock and his crew, but this one is all about Captain Picard and his love of tea!  And apparently this teapot and cups is what they envisioned we would be using in the future! 

Here's an interesting thought...

I'll take the tea, please, anyway you want to serve it! LOL.

Ah, this is a lovely little basket of pink violets...what a delightful Valentine's gift!

May our hearts all be united with love!

And last but not least, the calendar in my bathroom has what is called "Quiet Moments" on each month.  I don't know how many of you will be planting flowers in February where you live, but here in Florida that would not be uncommon. It's time to start cleaning out our gardens and preparing for some fresh new colors for spring!

Speaking of spring...Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird were back to look at house #1 again. I guess they are still trying to decide which one will be most suitable for building their nest this time:

Mr. Bluebird is giving the house a complete checkover, roof:

Front Door:

Meanwhile, Mrs. Bluebird sits in the tree above patiently waiting for his assessment:

This time he goes inside and checks out every detail:

He comes back out and says, "Hey, Marge! I think you'll like this one! It's nice and clean!"

So he went back inside to give it another inspection:

"Yep, I think this is the one!! I like the view from here the best!"

I guess Marge is telling him that it's up to him. She's still up in the tree and doesn't want to come down for a look.

He's looking at me as if to say, "So, what would YOU do?"

Time will tell which one they finally decide on. Stay tuned for further episodes of the saga of Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird at Still Waters Pond!

And speaking of Still Waters Pond, this was our visitor early this morning:

Mr. (or could be Mrs.?) Great White Egret!

He was stepping right along in search of something good for breakfast.

I think he's spied something in those weeds...maybe a juicy frog...

He fished around for a while and then flew away.  Maybe the fish (or frogs) just weren't biting today!

So that's about it for this first day of February. I've just put a pork loin roast (no, it's NOT one of those pot bellied pigs, but could be a distant cousin! )  in the oven and soon I'll need to go peel some potatoes to cook so we can have mashed potatoes and gravy with it. (Hubby's request).  BTW:

Our trip back to the eye doctor yesterday morning for hubby's follow up appointment was rather "eye-straining" for me:

The fog was "thick as pea soup"!    (Don't worry,  I wasn't taking pictures while driving. I was either stopped, or hubby took the pictures for me)

This is just a brief video hubby took wile we were moving.  

I can tell you I was "white knuckling" the steering wheel all the way there of that 1 hour drive!  But the good news is, hubby's eye is doing very well and the doctor was pleased with his progress after 24 hours. We go back again next Friday for a one week check up. Hopefully it won't be foggy again! But hubby can drive then! LOL.

Here's some words of wisdom for today from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a. (NKJV)

4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, 

is not puffed up; 

5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 

6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 

7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails.

Just one more:  I John 4:7-8

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 

8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

Let us love one another! Amen! So long until next time!!