It's February!! (Friday Foto Friends)

Yes, it's February here in north central Florida, and even though the temperatures have been rather chilly the past few mornings, (39 today!) it has been warming up in the afternoon to the delightful high 60's, with sunshine and beauty all around...let me share a little of what I've been enjoying on our walks in the woods and also here at our own Still Waters Pond...

First, the wild plum trees are in full bloom and they are gorgeous!

Here is a close up:

Although you can't see them here, there were honey bees having a great time enjoying these blossoms!

I am so glad I discovered these trees blooming before they stopped! This is a sight worth seeing!

Another view of these same trees. At some time in history, there was a house here on this lot, and there is a paved little walkway around these trees. I imagine maybe they had a little bench here or some kind of garden spot so they could enjoy the beauty of these trees...

This setting isn't as lovely, but these trees are growing wild in the woods and most of the trees look like they are dead, but then you see these blossoms bursting forth every spring anyway! What a joy to behold! 

This tree is out in the woods in another area, and the evening sun was filtering through lighting up the trees around it...just made everything glow...

Again, these are wild, uncultivated plum trees, and every year they put on this show for all of the world around them to enjoy.  The plums themselves are rather small and not very sweet, but the birds and other wild animals enjoy them, and I suppose if I were energetic enough and could gather enough ripe plums before they dropped to the ground I might be able to make some jelly, but it would take a lot of them because they are so small and tart.  So I will just leave them for the forest creatures to enjoy. It's one of God's ways of providing for His creation...

Back on Still Waters Pond, the Canada Geese flew in yesterday morning...

From  a distance, I was having a hard time figuring out how many geese were standing in that spot, so I kept taking pictures, and once I could see them better "up close", I could see there were two there on the end, side by side, in addition to two others on the other end of the little marsh island...

It was a chilly morning, and it appears they were enjoying the warmth of the sunshine:

Such a lovely way to start our day!

And here's a lovely way to end our day...I looked out the window this evening and saw this lone Ring Necked Duck swimming around in the pond. I wonder if he's the same duck that had the battle with the turtle recently, that I told you about HERE, in case you missed it.  The rest of the duck family has not returned to the pond since that day, but occasionally I have seen this male duck swimming around by himself. Maybe the others moved on and left him here by himself...I don't know...but he seems to be swimming just fine, so thankfully, if he IS the one the turtle attacked, he seems to be okay. That's good news, and I am kind of believing that is who he is...

The sun was going down behind him, and so the pictures are kind of almost black and white, but that makes for an interesting and dramatic kind of photo...

Here you can really see the white band on his beak...and his white sides. I call these ducks 'Shamu", because of their white sides against the black. 

Can you still see him?

Can you see him now???

So let's switch gears for a minute...since today is the first day of February, it is time for the calendar roll call...This one is in my bathroom, and when I saw this picture it made me think of the island in our pond, although certainly it is not this big and we don't have any mountains around the pond, but if you look at that picture above, you will see our island mid way back on the right side, with trees growing out of it.  Now do you see why this picture made me think of our pond?  Kind of like Still Waters Pond on steroids. LOL.

Below is the Thomas Kincade calendar that we use for all our monthly appointments.

"Lovelight Cottage", what a fitting name!

And the verse is appropriate for Valentine's Day too:

This is another of my favorite verses...NO ONE, or NOTHING can separate us from the Love of Christ!! Never forget this!

Of course I love the John Sloane Country Seasons Calendar...and these happy children outside sledding down the hill in the snow...we don't see that here in Florida, but I do remember it from when we lived up north.  Fun and happy memories...

The Teapot Calendar always has such interesting teapots to show us...

As well as some interesting quotes...

LOL.  I agree...once you've buttered the toast it must be eaten before it gets cold!

The Susan Branch Calendar is also full of interesting and fun thoughts:

Speaking of strawberries...it is strawberry season in Florida...and my evening snack is often a bowl of yogurt with strawberries and granola...(I haven't mixed them up yet so I could get a picture of it before I dumped the granola on top...and yes, I do slice the strawberries first too...)

So that's the picture show for today...I hope you enjoyed the show!  I wonder what was your favorite picture...and why?

So what have we been up to this week?  Hmmm, let me think...doesn't seem like we've done a lot of anything...just some shopping here and there and running errands...and oh! I got energetic and went out to the storage shed to clean out some old file cabinet drawers. They mostly have things like old bank statements from more than 10 years ago and other paid bills, etc., and honestly, I don't know why we still have them! I think when we moved there wasn't enough time to really sort through things and clean them out, and so they have been waiting for such a time as this.  There are warranties and instruction manuals for appliances that we no longer have, and just a lot of miscellaneous stuff that I really don't know what to do with.  Back when we were in the ministry I was involved in a lot of different women's ministries, Bible Studies, Ladies' Retreats and working with youth and children.  I saved a lot of material from those days, much of which is very outdated now and probably not worth saving.  I need to take a little more time and go through it more carefully before I just throw it away. Then there are files of things like college transcripts, professional certificates (hubby's stuff mostly), old resumes', letters from our years in the ministry, again...stuff that really doesn't have much value to us now that we are retired, but I still can't just throw them away.  I did manage to throw out two big garbage bags full of miscellaneous stuff, but there is a lot more waiting.  

I did find a picture tucked in among some things that really didn't belong there, and it certainly was worth keeping:

This was our Jr. High school cheerleaders in the front, during a Homecoming Parade in 1963.  Yes, I am in that photo. I wonder if you can find me?

If you picked the 4th girl from the left, between the A and R, you would be correct:

I was in 8th grade.  Those were certainly fun and happy days...and homecoming was always an exciting time.  As I look at that picture I am saddened to realize that out of those seven cheerleaders,  only four of us are still living today.  That really makes me stop and think.  Back then we all thought we'd live forever...never thought things like heart disease and cancer would strike any of us and take us home to heaven before we reached a really "old age".   But it did.  These "girls" left behind dear husbands, children and grandchildren and siblings and friends who will miss them until that day when we are reunited in heaven for the greatest "Homecoming" of all!  I can imagine there will be a lot of "cheering" going on on that day!  

In the meantime, I believe they and many other "saints" who have already gone on to glory are a big cheering section in the grandstands of heaven, cheering us on as we run this race we call life.  How do I know this?  Well, the Bible tells me so!  

Hebrews 12:1-2 says:

"1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 

2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

These are some thoughts to ponder as we close out this day and week and consider the next stage of our journey called life.  And let us who are here on earth also cheer each other on in our pursuits of living. That's why we are here...to lift each other up when we fall and rejoice with one another when we rejoice, and weep together when we weep. I am thankful for this great cheerleading squad that we have!!

"Two bits, four bits, six bits a dollar! All for our team stand up and holler!"  Yay!!!

Good night and sleep tight dear friends!

God is watching over us.

Amen.

 

Friday Foto Friends Ducks and Birds and Miscellaneous Stuff!

The Ring Necked Ducks are back! I first told you about them three years ago HERE and again HERE,  and as I went back and re-read those posts from exactly three years ago, I was amazed to see that all of the same things are happening again right now just like they did then! All of these pictures are current, but if you go back and read the previous linked 3 year old posts you will see what I mean!

These fun little diving ducks haven't been back over the past couple of years, except for maybe one or two of them by themselves.  And now here they are again, in a big group, males and females...all having so much fun swimming round and round in circles and diving down and up for their food. It's like they are playing "marco polo" in a pool.  Please forgive so many photos...I just can't stop watching them!

We are so thankful for our Still Waters Pond and all the beauty that God provides for us to enjoy.

Psalm 27:7-8 NKJV

7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!

Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

8 When You said, “Seek My face,”

My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”

Psalm 28:6-7 NKJV

6 Blessed be the Lord,

Because He has heard the voice of my supplications!

7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;

My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;

Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,

And with my song I will praise Him.

And the next surprise was to see Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird make an appearance!  They were checking out the birdhouse...I'm not sure if they are ready to start building a nest yet, but time will tell.

Spring must be in the air, even though it is still technically winter!

And again, here are the wild plum blossoms. I went back to check on them since we had a little freeze the other morning, and they look just fine. 

And yes, when you look back at those early posts, you will see they were blooming at the same time then as now. So I guess everything is right on time and in it's season...

Song of Songs 2:10-13 NIV

"10 My beloved spoke and said to me,

“Arise, my darling,

my beautiful one, come with me.

11 See! The winter is past;

the rains are over and gone.

12 Flowers appear on the earth;

the season of singing has come,

the cooing of doves

is heard in our land.

13 The fig tree forms its early fruit;

the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.

Arise, come, my darling;

my beautiful one, come with me.”

Switching gears a bit...Yesterday hubby said he would like some kind of oatmeal bars to snack on...some kind of "healthy snack".  So I looked up some recipes and this is what I came up with:

Easy No-Bake Oatmeal Bars Recipe 

I like that they are no-bake bars! They should be kept in the refrigerator, however, because the peanut butter and honey mixture might become too soft if left out at room temperature. They are very good. I added some raisins and lightly salted peanuts to the recipe to give them more texture and flavor. The recipe also called for drizzled melted chocolate over them, but I didn't do that as I really don't eat chocolate and to me that would take away the "healthy part". LOL.  They would kind of remind you of those chocolate peanut butter no bake oatmeal cookies we used to get at school, but without the chocolate.  (Remember those?) I think this qualifies as a healthy snack. Oatmeal, honey, peanut butter, cinnamon, raisins and peanuts! Fiber and protein and no cholesterol! 

Today was a long day, and that is why I didn't post earlier. We had to go to St. Augustine for a Dr. appt. (hubby), and that took longer than we expected. I had hoped to do a little bit of sight-seeing along the way, but there was no time by the time we got out of there and it was time for a late lunch already. So we tried a new to us place for lunch on the way home: Culver's.

  It's basically a fast food hamburger place, but they make the burgers fresh, never frozen, and the other stuff is fresh and good too. We both decided to get the fried jumbo shrimp instead of burgers (I was shocked! Hubby always wants a burger when they are supposed to be good ones! LOL).

I like the cup:

The food was good and I would go back...but I still prefer a place to sit down and be waited on as opposed to fast food style. They did bring our food to us after we ordered and sat down.

I guess they are based in Wisconsin. Hey, our blogging friend Nana Diana Takes a Break was just writing about the fact that she lives in Wisconsin and she listed some things that are special about her state. She didn't mention Culver's, however, so Diana, maybe you need to check this out if it is near you!

So on our way home I was thinking I needed some real photos for today's post, but hubby was anxious to get home. So I just snapped a few pictures as we drove through the city of Palatka after making a wrong turn because of road work and having to detour around the town...and this was a much better view than the way he was going anyway...That's a quick glimpse of the St. John's River at the riverfront park downtown.

Here's one of the big very old homes near the riverfront, and hey! It's for sale! Any takers?

And those of you who have driven through the old part of Palatka will recognize this walkthrough "tunnel" under the railroad tracks:

Well folks, that's all for today. It's dark out there now. I did have some beautiful sunset pictures that I took a few minutes ago, but somehow I lost them when I was trying to post them into my computer from my phone. You'll just have to take my word for it, it was a very beautiful sunset tonight! I am hoping the pink/red skies will mean that we are going to get some rain tomorrow, because it is getting very dry and smoky out there. Must be some woods burning somewhere nearby, which is always a concern this time of year.

Some final words of wisdom for today:

Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV

3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, 

and show you great and mighty things, 

which you do not know.’

My "One Word", Listen, doesn't just apply to me listening, but also to the wonderful promise that God also listens to us when we call upon Him...and not only that, but He will answer us when we call, and show us "great and mighty things, which you do not know."  Oh, how great is our God! Amen? Amen.

Good Night dear friends.