Wednesday Treasures

 It's about time I moved away from anniversary stories and posts to something new! However, we did have a wonderful anniversary, and I am so thankful that we lived to see another year together. I don't believe in waiting for the big ones, like 50 and 60, to celebrate. No one is promised tomorrow, so let's be sure to celebrate each day and give God thanks for His many blessings and mercies. Amen?

As I am continuing in the "Happiness Challenge" for the month of August, here's some things I am happy about...

Waking up to a brand new day, with the sun shining brightly as I put out the flag this morning...

Especially after the way the skies looked last night...our son Benton took this picture as he was leaving work around 6:00 p.m. not far from here...

Also, his wife Rose was driving home from her job at Home Depot 15 miles away in that storm. She literally had to pull off the road for a few minutes because she couldn't see to drive! 

And yes, those clouds brought in a humdinger of a thunderstorm at our house that lasted well over an hour, bringing us almost 2 inches of rain! Praise God!  

However, I was not too happy about the very frequent and powerful lightning and thunder that was relentless all during that time.  This picture was taken out our front door during the storm...I was trying to get a picture of the lightning flashes...

And although you can't see the actual flash of lightning, look at the difference in the color of the skies between the picture above and this one below, which was taken during an actual flash of lightning:

Yes, it lit up the skies like it was daylight! There was one flash so bright and so close I thought for sure it hit our house, but thankfully there is no sign of damage today.

Oh, but HERE'S something I was very happy about during the rainstorm...if you look out there beyond the tree, you can see an actual PUDDLE ON TOP of STILL WATERS POND!  Yes! The water actually puddled on top of the pond for while, which is a sign that the pond "bottom" is starting to get saturated with water, and if we had a few more days of rain like what we had last night, we just might begin to have our pond fill up again...(it's going to take more than a few days, but you get the idea...progress is being made finally!!)

However, here is how it looks this morning...there's no puddle...it's all soaked in, but if you look really closely there are some Doves out there on the pond having some breakfast of many some worms or other kinds of creatures that came to the surface during that storm!  And I bet there's more water back there where all that green vegetation is...so I'm very hopeful that little by little our pond is coming back.

As I walked around the back yard this morning, I noticed that my zinnias that I planted are getting taller and hopefully will bloom soon. These are new ones that I planted after the other garden bed of zinnias all died from the intense heat and dryness and a fungus of some kind. Hopefully these will do better.

And finally my Rose of Sharon bush has decided to bloom! I've been waiting all summer for it to bloom! It just needed more rain to help it.

And there's even more buds for more flowers! Hooray! It's little things like that that make me happy!!

And speaking of "little things" that make me happy...Having a lap full of my kitty makes me smile, even though he inhibits my progress on working on the computer...he doesn't like me to move my arms above his head and will often grab them and sometimes bite them, not too hard, but enough to let me know he doesn't like that. So that's when  I tell him that I don't like that and down he goes!  

I saw where the other day was National Black Cat day, and people were all showing their pictures of their black cats on Facebook. I may have shared a picture or two in one of the posts. I had no idea black cats were so popular!  Here's Blackie, enjoying playing footsie with me:

He loves my shoes and spends a lot of time grabbing them and biting them, thankfully not enough to reach my toes...He is a character and he definitely keeps us hopping. 

And here's one last Happy thing...I just got this copy of "The Little Squirrel"  on Amazon, written by my friend Katheryn Masterson.  I may have mentioned that I am saving them to send to a little friend for Christmas.  These books are so very well written and such delightful stories. I am so proud of Katheryn for embarking on this journey in her life.  She is the granddaughter of my friends Maura and Woody who passed away recently.  I know they would both be so proud of Katheryn's endeavors as an author.

Well, folks, I need to run along. To be honest, I haven't felt well the past few days...let's just say that all that good food I was eating to celebrate our anniversary finally caught up with me and my tendency to have IBS...and so this week my body is trying to recalibrate and recuperate before we go on Saturday to meet our extended family at a restaurant to celebrate all the August birthdays and anniversaries together...and then hopefully we will be done "celebrating" for a little while so I can get back to "normal", whatever that is...LOL.  But it's all good, and I am extremely thankful to have something to celebrate!

1. Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father;

There is no shadow of turning with thee.

Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;

As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.

Refrain:

Great is thy faithfulness,

Great is thy faithfulness,

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed thy hand hast provided;

Great is thy faithfulness,

Lord unto me.

2. Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. [Refrain]

3. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine and ten thousand beside. [Refrain]

(Based on Lamentations 3:22-23)

Lamentations 3:22–23 (KJV): "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."

Amen...and have a blessed and beautiful day.

Wednesday Blessings

 Well, here it is Wednesday evening, and this week is half over already.  I'm trying to keep up with everyone and everything, and it seems like I keep falling behind.  Hard to believe the month of August is almost half over already too!  Time just keeps flying by...and sometimes I wish I could be like Blackie sitting on the back porch, just watching the birds and not a care in the world...(oh, and it was raining lightly at this time...praise the Lord!)

Oh, for the Blackie fans...here he was sitting on my desk in the  morning while I was trying to "work" at my computer (reading blogs and trying to write),  and I introduced him to a new little friend to distract him from trying to bite my hand every time I tried to use the mouse on the computer...

It's just a funny little ink pen we got somewhere, and Blackie rather liked it, and thankfully it was a good way to distract him from my hand for a few minutes, and then he got bored and got back down and went to find daddy for a while. Whew! Finally I could get some work done! It's like having a toddler!

So, here's some things to be happy about for the August Happiness Challenge...I may have mentioned that Sunday (Aug. 16th) will be our 57th wedding anniversary.  And since it is on a Sunday, we won't try to go out to eat or anything special on that day because the restaurants are too busy usually after church. (Although I may pick up some food on the way home so I don't have to cook! That's always a plus!).

So today we decided to go out to lunch with our "kids" Benton and Rose, since they were off from work.  My first choice was our usual spot, "Corky Bells" on the St. John's River. But because we have been under another heat advisory the past couple of days, we really didn't want to go there and sit down by the riverside since it would just be too hot to enjoy. Even though they do have a nice dining room inside,  I decided I'd rather save that for September for my birthday, and we could try another seafood restaurant in town that none of us had ever been to before, named "Musselwhites".  

Here we are outside the restaurant...I am VERY happy to be standing beside my dear hubby of 57 years. God has been so very kind to us and we are very thankful and blessed. I am also happy that his eye is doing better each day since his cataract surgery last week. He does go back to the surgeon on Friday to have it checked again, but we don't anticipate any issues.

And here we are inside... I am happy to be sitting beside Rose with my sweatshirt on (when it's almost 100 degrees outside), but the AC vent inside was blowing directly on my neck and head and it was way too cold, so my sweet son Benton went out to the car and brought in my sweater, and then because the air was still blowing on me, I switched places with him at the table and sat beside Rose ... (I have become my mother and must carry a sweater in the car for when we go into places that may be too cold. LOL.  How many of you do that???)

And Benton sat in my old seat next to John.  He said it was kind of chilly and his food got cold, but he's tougher (& younger) than I am and it didn't bother him as much as it did me. LOL.

We admired the scenery/decor while we ate our coleslaw and waited for our dinner:

The decor was nice...and the coleslaw was good, but when our food came I was so shocked by the very small portions of seafood (even if it WAS the lunch menu...it was a very small portion!) that I forgot to take any pictures of our food.

All four of us were extremely disappointed in the scanty portions of seafood (I had 3 very small broiled shrimp and 4 extremely small scallops, and they were all rather tough and rubbery) along with the hush puppies and sweet potato fries ...which were good...but the seafood was very very disappointing. We debated on complaining to the waitress and/or manager, but decided to just eat our food and vowed never to go back again. We still left a good tip for the waitress, because it wasn't her fault the food was not what we expected. And for the first time in my life I wrote a rather unhappy review (nicely of course) on their website, and noticed that we were not the only ones who had been disappointed in their portions. We probably should have read the reviews before we went there, but we live and learn.  

But even though the dinner did not turn out quite as good as we hoped it would be, we were all thankful to be together and I consider myself to be very blessed indeed.  Even when things don't turn out the way we hoped they would, there is always something to be thankful for.

Psalm 103:1-5   A Psalm of David.

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits:

3 Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

4 Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

And so I will end this day's saga with those words from King David above, reminding us to Bless the Lord (Praise the Lord), and never forget all His benefits to us.  Yes, He does forgive our sins (iniquities), and thankfully He has healed us of more illnesses and sicknesses throughout our lives than we can even count.  I do believe He has saved us from "destruction" many times, perhaps even times we weren't aware of...and in spite of our lack of obedience or thankfulness or repentance of sins from time to time...He loves us and blesses us and "crowns us with lovingkindness and tender mercies"...perhaps when we really don't deserve them.  And yes, He does satisfy our mouths with good things much more often than we've ever been disappointed in a meal at a restaurant or anywhere else. He gives us plenty of food to eat and we should never complain, because there are so many people out there who would beg for the crumbs from our tables...  And this psalm says that our "youth is renewed like the eagle's".  At this stage in my life I would love to have a bit of youth renewal, but I am thankful that I am still in pretty good shape (for the shape I'm in), and I truly can't complain. 

So all in all I will say thank YOU Lord, for so many blessings.

Current view over Still Waters Pond.

Good Night!

Wednesday Treasures and the Photo Challenge a day late

 

I am a day late, and most always always a dollar short! LOL.  I started writing this yesterday, and then we made a trip to Walmart, came home, had lunch, took a brief power nap, took hubby to the PCP for his pre-op appointment for the upcoming cataract surgery. We were blessed to be able to get in on such short notice, because the pre-op needs to be done no later than one week prior to the surgery, and his surgery is set for August 6th, which we only found out about on Tuesday! So, with a quick call to our PCP Tuesday afternoon, they had him in on Wednesday afternoon! One of the "perks" of small town living and having a doctor's office that always tries to take care of its patients in a timely manner.

So now it is Thursday morning, and I am in a bit of a rush this morning as well. We are having someone come over for lunch today, and I've been cleaning house and making preparations for that. I will share more about this special day in a later post, because it is something special that I hinted at last week.  So stay tuned!

Meanwhile, yesterday's Photo-a-day challenge was a "TREE".  So here is my favorite tree at the Kenwood Boat Ramp where we like to go take walks...

Psalm 1:1-3

"1 Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

3 He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper."

Jeremiah 17:7-8 NKJV

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

And whose hope is the Lord.

8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,

Which spreads out its roots by the river,

And will not fear when heat comes;

But its leaf will be green

And will not be anxious in the year of drought,

Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

These are the trees around our "Still Waters Pond".  Even though the pond is still very dry, the trees continue to grow and flourish.  They have not "been anxious in the year of drought", and their leaves are still green.

Matthew 7:17-18: "So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit." 

This is the bottlebrush bush/tree that I planted several years ago, and it has grown beautifully this year in spite of the drought. The birds and bees and hummingbirds all love to come and delight in the nectar of the beautiful red flowers that have bloomed better this year than ever!

Here's a picture of that bush during one of the few rainstorms we had this past week:

Well, duty calls. I have a lot to get done before noon today, so I will leave this for now. I don't have a picture to share, but Blackie either brought in or one came in with him this morning, a little salamander type lizard. He chased it around the house for a few minutes until finally the lizard had to give up.  I shooed both Blackie and the poor lifeless lizard out the door, and that's where Blackie is staying for now. LOL. 

So with that I will bid your adieu.  Perhaps that picture could be my "Ordinary Moment" for today's photo challenge.  Although Blackie is anything but "ordinary"! LOL.  Have a blessed day everyone. 

Wednesday Treasures~Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

 Happy Wednesday! Gee, this week sure is flying right by! Seems like summertime is always in a hurry to get over and done with, which for us here in the deep south where it is so hot and humid, that is probably a blessing! But I remember when I was a kid I wanted summer to last forever! Although I also remember that by the time August rolled around I was getting anxious to get back to school and see my friends again. Back then we didn't start back to school until after Labor Day usually, but nowadays it seems that they do start back to school early in August, so I guess their summertime really isn't all that long. 

Who remembers this fun song by Nat King Cole?  "Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer"?  Except for the beer, this would be a pretty accurate description of summertime back in the day... LOL. It just popped into my head while I was thinking about summertime. Now I can't get it out of my head. LOL.

So, switching gears, let's see what the "Photo A Day Challenge" is for today. Actually, I need to do the one for yesterday too, since I haven't done it yet!

Yesterday's photo (7th), was "Words"!  So, in looking around me right here at my desk, I found these words:

This cross-stictched picture is the original inspiration for my blog title:

And then there's this sign above the window above my desk, which my son Benton created for me back at our previous home:

Click HERE for a link to a post from where this sign below used to hang in our previous home:

And then there' this coaster on my desk:

Now we come to today's photo challenge, which is "Drink", and technically this photo could be for both yesterday and today, since there are words on my favorite morning mug of tea:

I am enjoying doing this little photo challenge that our friend  Chrissy T. over at One Season to the Next shared with us.  Perhaps you are joining in? It's not too late!

Now, on to something else that is pretty special!  IF you recall, I recently shared with you about the recent passing of my dear friend Maura and also her husband Woody. See this LINK.  

Well, I may have mentioned that their granddaughter is now living in their home. Actually, they raised their granddaughter when her own parents had some serious health issues and they have both also passed away.  So "Katheryn" was really more like a daughter to them.   Anyway, recently I learned that Katheryn has become an author!  She has just published her first book and is working on another as we speak.  When I saw what she had written, of course I just had to have a copy, and when you see it, you will probably understand why:

Most of you know of my love for the Sand Hill Cranes that we have had living in our pond throughout the years.  Well, where Katheryn lives now in her grandparents' home, there is a lovely marsh, and there are  Sand Hill Cranes who also make their home there, so she has had a front row seat to watching the lives of the Sand Hill Crane family in her yard.  So this delightful  story about The Little Sandhill Crane is from her own experience of living right there and watching them!

This book is not only a wonderful story, it is written in such a way that it encourages parents and children to read together. The story is not only entertaining, but it is also very educational and makes learning to read fun!  I would highly recommend this book for all you grandparents out there (and great-grandparents) to have to share with your grandchildren when they come to visit!  It can be found on Amazon.com

I love that Katheryn dedicated the book to her grandparents!

Well, friends, thats all for today! Time to get a move on...Yeah, tell that to Blackie, who decided to join the tea party on the buffet!

Perhaps I should take a lesson from my friend Katheryn and write a book about Blackie!!! He certainly provides enough interesting stories! LOL.

Enjoy your "Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer" while they last!

Wednesday "Treasures"

Happy Wednesday Morning everyone!  I hope this middle of the week day finds you enjoying some lovely treasures of life and living around you.  That's what I try to do on most Wednesdays...I share things I see or have or that are special in some way, or that caught my attention for some reason.  Yesterday was a rainy day all day, which is a blessing in itself!  We rejoiced in God's blessing of rain, and enjoyed a rather peaceful and pleasant day.  So that's pretty much what I am going to share with you...pictures from our "rather peaceful and pleasant day"!

We started out early for a ride and a walk, before the rains got started.  One thing on my list of places to see was this old house in our historic section of our little town...I had just heard through the "grapevine" that this grand old treasure had just gone up for sale. It's been sitting vacant for years, and we'd often drive by and try to imagine what it must have been like back in its hey-day.  I don't know too much about the history of it,  But here's a copy of what is written in the listing (which I have included below as a link if you are interested in more information):

"This turn of the 19th century home is waiting for you to restore it to its original glory. Known as the Wimberly - Eckhardt House in the early 1900s, it hosted many events by Judge Jared Wimberly and was proverbial for its hospitality. The original structure built in 1884 was an eight-room house finished in curly pine. That woodwork still adorns the windows and magnificent stairway today. The electric was updated in the 1980s."

My photo

(Internet Photo)

(Internet Photo)

My photo

(Internet Photo)

(Internet Photo)

Link to Zillow information on this house 

If you are an old house enthusiast and would like a "restoration project house", this would be a great bargain at just $149,900.   But keep in mind that it hasn't had much updating since the 1980's, so there's no telling just what all needs to be done. I do hope someone with "deep pockets" will buy it and restore it the way it ought to be done in keeping with its historical charm.   There are no pictures of the kitchen or bathrooms on the listing, so I'm thinking they are probably going to be major projects.  

Next on our little drive was a stop down at the Kenwood Recreation Park/boat ramp so we could take a little walk before the rains started.  Not too much different there to see, but here's a couple of pictures from along the way:

I noticed these pink flowers growing alongside the road, so asked hubby to stop so I could see what they were.

According to my research, this was called an "Early Wild Rose", but here is the botanical information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_blanda

Made me wish I could take some and plant them alongside our yard somewhere. So delicate and pretty!

Here's one picture I took at the boat ramp. The reflection of the trees on the water is so pretty, even on a cloudy day:

Going back out the road from the park is this little farm, and the cows were all up near the fence for feeding time, so it was a good opportunity to say "Good Mooooorning".  

I'd say they were largely unimpressed with my greeting.  They were obviously more interested in eating:

Hello!    The big whiteish bull in the background is most likely a American Brahman.  We see a lot of this type of cattle in Florida, because they do well in the warmer tropical climates.

It's always fun to see cows, isn't it?  And do you usually say "MOOOOO" when you see them? I do. LOL.

Our next stop was a real "Treasure"!   We saw this fellow alongside the road putting letters on this sign, and I said, "Hey! Stop! That's my son!"  LOL:

And so it was!! And so we stopped to say hello. I think I mentioned that our son Benton has started working part time at the "Trading Post at Deep Creek"

 

You might even recognize those little flower pots...

He also has a booth in the store, as well as he sells his large wooden garden planters here inside and outside at their weekend farm markets.

This store has lots of interesting vendors, and you might recognize the items in this picture below:

Yes, those framed photos above were taken in my yard. The bird feeders were some that I bought from this vendor when she was one our vendors at our Dixie Cottage store. I had taken those pictures to show her how the birds enjoyed the items I bought from her, and she has used those photos as a part of her booth to demonstrate how her bird feeder creations can be used:

Such fun!

Soon our little ride was over and it was starting to rain, and yes! It rained for most of the rest of the day, Praise God!  I decided it was a good day to make a pot full of "Brunswick Stew", using up the leftover BBQ pork from Sunday's lunch...

It was SO good.  I couldn't use my oven to make cornbread, so I tried to make "Hoecakes" in my iron skillet, but they didn't turn out too pretty.  But they still tasted good.  

My oven door gasket has come loose, and we need to replace it, and actually the part I ordered online arrived last night, so now we just have to figure out how to put it on. I may call my smart DIL Rose to figure it out. She's really good at that kind of thing.

Here's the info on "Brunswick Stew", in case you wonder what that is.  I used an old recipe from one of my school friends' Mama. They were originally from the Brunswick area of Georgia, and they made it the old fashioned way, sometimes using venison or pork. 

Brunswick stew

Brunswick stew is a hearty, traditional Southern comfort food, typically made with a mix of meats like chicken, pork, or even small game, along with vegetables such as corn, lima beans, and tomatoes, simmered in a savory, often BBQ-sauce-infused broth. While its origins are debated between Virginia and Georgia, modern versions often use leftover barbecue, and it's known for being a flavorful, one-pot meal that's great for feeding a crowd.

Key Ingredients
Meats:
Shredded chicken, pulled pork, or a combination; historically included squirrel or rabbit.

Vegetables:
Corn, lima beans, and tomatoes are staples; potatoes and okra are also common additions.

Base:
Chicken broth, diced tomatoes, onions, garlic, and seasonings like Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, and sometimes barbecue sauce.

Flavor Enhancers:
Brown sugar, vinegar, and hot sauce are often used to balance the flavor.


It was so good!!  

Here's some good words of advice for today from God's Word:

Proverbs 4:11-12 NIV

11 I instruct you in the way of wisdom

and lead you along straight paths.

12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;

when you run, you will not stumble.

So, if you go for a walk today...think about these verses!!  Have a blessed day everyone!!