Quick Friday Post on a Chilly Day

 Well, yes it did get down to 29 degrees early this morning here in north central Florida.  It's currently 54 at 2:00 p.m., and bright and sunny. 

My current view

There was frost everywhere this morning...That's the top of our car as seen through the window early this  morning.  I didn't take anymore pictures of the frost outside, because that would've require going outside, and I didn't want to do that!

However, I do have a story to tell you.  You remember that I showed you this lovely "tent" HERE the other day...  and I had such high hopes that it would be a good solution for a place to bring Blackie indoors and out of the freezing cold and safe from being able to roam freely throughout the house while we were sleeping since he's not yet a trained house cat...

This is the "pet playpen", which I purchased at Walmart.  It really looked like a great solution.

However, first of all, Blackie didn't want to go inside it last evening when we were getting ready to go to bed.  He would explore it, but run back out as soon as I tried to zip him in there.  Finally I decided to just let him go back outside and sleep in his nice warm chair with a blanket draped over it and his self-warming cushion underneath his body, which does keep him quite warm. There he is right now, but this picture was taken through the window and it's not real clear. He's kind of half under the glass table on the porch, and cozied up in the chair and sound asleep.

I decided last night that I would wait until the temperature really started dropping and then I would go out and get him off the porch and put him in the tent inside until morning.  And that's what I did. Around 2:30 in the morning I looked at the weather app on my phone and it said the temperature was down to 32, which is freezing. So I bundled myself up (no pictures of me with my hoodie  and sweatpants over my nightgown), and when I opened up the back door Blackie got down out of his chair and ran right to me. So I scooped him up and brought him inside and placed him in the tent and before he could object I had the door zipped up tight.  He kind of paced back and forth for a minute, but he didn't meow a word.  I reassured him he would be nice and safe and warm in there and I told him he should just lay down and go back to sleep. And then I headed back to bed myself and prayed that he would do just that.  

I did finally get a couple of hours of sleep, but at 5:00 a.m. I thought I'd better tiptoe out there and check on him. As soon as I opened our bedroom door I could hear him meowing rather plaintively, so I rushed to see what was the matter.  I didn't have my camera with me, but I wouldn't have had time to take a picture anyway. The poor kitty was crying because the stupid 'pop up tent" decided to collapse in on top of him (thankfully it is very lightweight), and he was trapped inside with no way to escape. The tent came in that box shown above, all wound up tightly and "spring loaded", so that when you open the box and undo the tie on the tent, it springs open into that full size tent. Well, I wondered how the sides would keep from springing back down because there was no way to secure them. And apparently when Blackie leaned against one of the sides, it triggered the spring system and it just all came down on top of him.  Of course the zippered door ended up underneath him, so I had to roll him around inside of that thing until I could get to the zipper to open the door and let him out. You can imagine how he bolted out of there like a cat out of....well, you know what I mean. The poor kitty was so scared. Thankfully he allowed me to pick him back up and comfort him, but he was one frightened kitty.

So, thankfully I still have my receipt and the tent is not damaged (and no, he did not "dirty it up" one bit, which is miraculous under the circumstances!), but I can't get it back into that box, so I will take it back to Walmart as is and let THEM figure it out.  Word to the wise, don't go buying one of those things, okay?  

I fed him his breakfast and let him go outside for a while to do whatever cats do, (and I did actually set up a litter box for him, but he wasn't interested in that and wanted to go out) but then I brought him back inside and just held him for long time. He was purring so loudly. 

And yes, I do have other clothes besides that red flannel shirt, but that is what I grab to put on when I am chilled and I don't want Blackie to snag or get hairs or fleas on something good. Thankfully I think the flea treatment has helped him, but still, I'm not taking too many chances.

Oh, hubby wanted me to take a picture of him wearing his "Blackie" suit...a nice fleecy blanket that is black on one side and has a design on the other, but he was a bit jealous of all the attention Blackie was getting so he thought he'd try to look like Blackie. LOL.  Yes, we are a little crazy here, especially so early in the morning and after not having much sleep...

Not sure what we will do about Blackie tonight.  It's not going to be quite as cold, but I'm out of other options for tonight, so he will probably just have to stay on the porch in his nice cozy chair.  It really is warm with that warming mat underneath him.  We'll see what develops.

On another note, yesterday I did have the dental appointment for the rest of the deep cleaning and then the root canal and temporary crown. I was there for three hours. Thankfully things went pretty smoothly and I was impressed with the skill of not only the young dentist, but his dental assistant, and all of the very modern technology they have now to do their work.  It really was almost completely "pain free", and I didn't have any really bad after effects after the numbness wore off. I am very THANKFUL! I still have to go back in a couple of weeks for the permanent crown, but that shouldn't be all that big of a deal. 

So, thank you all for your kind words the past few days regarding all of these things before they happened. 

Here's some words of hope and encouragment for today:

Matthew 21:21-22 NKJV

21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Matthew 19:26 NKJV

26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, 

“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

What things do YOU need to believe that God can do for you today?  ...All things are possible with God!

Saturday Musings and Blessings

 Happy Saturday Morning to you! I hope this day finds you doing well and enjoying some lovely fall weather still! I know next week temperatures are expected to plunge into freezing for many, including here! We are expecting temperatures around the freezing mark a couple of mornings next week, which seems really early for us here in North Central Florida.  And judging by the number of acorns in our yard this year, I believe we are in for a colder than normal winter!

Upon closer inspection, I realized that we actually have two different species of oak trees in our front yard! Look at the difference in the acorns!  The round lighter brown shaped acorn is from a "Water Oak", and the long darker oblong acorn is from the Southern Live Oak tree.  (I hope I have that right...the descriptions I found were confusing in different posts).

Here's our two huge oak trees in our front yard:

I'm not sure which one is the Live Oak and which one is the Water Oak. I guess I could inspect their bark and leaves to figure it out. But suffice it to say, they are both huge, and they both put out a LOT of little brown leaves for us to clean up every year, and tons of tiny acorns to get stuck in the soles of my shoes when I walk out there. Skechers shoes have those flexible rubber soles that have lots of differnt "crack" in them, which are mainly good for picking up acorns and small sticks and then I have to clean them out. That is the only thing I don't like about my Skechers!  The trees also give us a lot of shade on that end of the house, but I do fear what could happen if they ever decided to blow over in a hurricane...that has been known to happen, even in healthy trees, so we try to keep them trimmed and keep a close eye on them. Oh, and you notice that the ground is all brown under them...leaves and also no grass because grass just can't seem to grow under them.

Here's the winter weather report According to the Old Farmer's Almanac for 2025-26:

Temperatures: Near normal to slightly milder across most of the country—except in the Appalachians, Southeast, Florida, and Ohio Valley, where colder-than-average conditions are expected.

It looks like we will be in for a cold, wet winter!  (See Florida) I think that is the only state that actually says "Cold, Wet".  The good news about that is the "wet" part! hopefully for us that will mean plenty of rain to refill Still Waters Pond!  

I was concerned about checking the Old Farmer's Almanac, because I heard on the news that it was going to stop publication this next year. However, apparently that is the "Farmer's Almanac", not the "Old Farmer's Almanac", which is the one I've always liked anyway. I guess I didn't realize there were two different almanacs. 

Okay, moving right along, this morning was a beautiful warmer morning than we've been having, and since it is a Saturday, we went to the Deep Creek Farmer's Market where our son has a booth:

You can also find his  Ben & Rose's Country Woodshop on Facebook HERE

If you see something you like, you can message him and discuss price and whether or not it is shipable! Most things are.

After we left there we stopped at a new store in our little town called "Blue Pond Market". You can check out their Facebook page here:  Blue Pond Market.  It is named "Blue Pond Market" because our town, Interlachen, used to be called Blue Pond before it became Interlachen. The little lake where the old downtown area is was once called "Blue Pond",   (and you can read more about the history HERE) and this particular house was built back in the mid 1800's, before the town was incorporated. It's probably one of the oldest, if not THE oldest house in our community!

I was excited to see this place open, as they are very similar to the store our family used to own here in our town, "Dixie Cottage".  They carry similar styles of merchandise and painted furniture, etc.  It is a welcome addition to our community since the people who bought Dixie Cottage from our family finally closed their store here and moved it to another town about 20 miles away.   I do hope this store, and also another new one called "The Trading Post at Deep Creek" (which is at the location where Benton was at the farmer's market today) will succeed. Our little town doesn't have a lot of shops (besides Dollar Generals (several) and Family Dollar and a few Thrift Stores and an Ace Hardware Store.  It's nice to have some choices without having to travel too far!

So what else is happening?  

Last evening hubby and I went for a walk around 5:30 p.m., just as the sun was going down. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but suffice it to say the sun was brilliantly golden and very bright...

This past Monday our Ladies' Bible Study completed our study on "It's All Under Control", where we learned about letting go of our own control and allowing GOD to be in control of our lives, because He is already in control whether we understand it or believe it or not.  It was a good study, but now we are done with that and ready to begin a new one this next week entitled "Joy! A Bible Study on Philippians for Women".  I am looking forward to that!

Speaking of "JOY", yesterday afternoon hubby and I were working on a little project in our workshop/storage shed, and it gave me great joy to see, first of all, our sweet Sunshine come inside and lay down beside the Nativity for our yard, which seems to be a spot that he always likes to be near whenever he comes into the shed with us...

He seems to be feeling okay and I think the cut on his hind end is healing okay, but I am keeping a close watch on it.

It wasn't long before Blackie discovered where we all were, and here he comes to join the party:

He doesn't want to be left out of anything that we are doing...and likes to be wherever Sunshine is as well:

Of course, after checking on Sunshine he went and did his own exploring, and then when it was time for us to close up the shed we had great fun trying to corral them both and get them back out of there...I definitely don't want them to get trapped inside the shed!

When I went outside I noticed this very tan looking grasshopper...It thought he was rather nondescript...can hardly tell his eyes from his body.  

He is called a Mischievous Bird Grasshopper. Not sure that he is so "mischievous", but he flies in swarms like a bird, so that's where the bird part comes from.  I don't mind him as long as he doesn't eat my flowers.

Okay, I guess that's all for now.  Time for my afternoon cup of tea...and also to thank the Lord for all of the wonderful ways He has blessed us.  

Psalm 16:11 NKJV

11 You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Amen! Have a lovely rest of your weekend.

Tuesday 4~ Winter Musings

 Winter Musings

Hello and welcome once again to Toni's Tuesday 4.

It's cold in these United States. Everyone seems to be chilly and some have blizzard conditions to contend with.

But I think winter is a time for us, as well as animals, to hibernate and takes things slow and easy. I think many find themselves a bit more sleepy than usual and maybe we are supposed to take the time to rest... Let's talk it over okay?

1. Do you find yourself a bit more lazy or tired as the nights get longer or does it not seem to do much to you? In general how are you doing this winter?

Yes, the longer nights, along with the time change in the fall, do make me want to go to bed earlier. It's hard to stay awake when it is dark outside. Having the Christmas tree lights on helped a lot, but now that I've taken all of that down, it's back to dark again, however, the days are starting to get a big longer now, so that helps.  In general, I am doing fine, but I think I am looking forward to spring now.

2. Do you appreciate the extra hours of dark that allow for more sleep, more leisure, less travel and hurry or not?

The thing is, whether it's dark or not, the schedule stays the same.  Even though we are retired we still try to stay on a regular schedule for going to bed and getting up in the morning. We just have to turn on more lights in the house. And during the winter days between Thanksgiving and New Years, there's no such thing as "more leisure".  The holidays create a lot activity and rush for me. Even though they are happy days, it is also a bit stressful.  Now that they are over maybe I can relax a bit more and not feel like I constantly should be doing 'something', whatever that is.

3. I know I love a hot drink on a chilly evening and the quiet of the streets outside as people stay inside more on cold nights. I feel more relaxed in the winter. How about you?

You've already seen this picture before, but yes, to answer your  question, I do love a hot drink on a chilly evening or afternoon. If it is evening, then probably either an herbal tea or hot Ovaltine. In the afternoon a regular tea with caffeine to help me perk up and keep moving is oftentimes what I need. Oh, those snowmen in the picture below have been put away now, and no more "Peppermint Patties" for me. LOL. Well...maybe there's still a couple of them available, but I'm trying to avoid them...

4. Do you ever gaze out of your window like Miss Kitty in the picture just watching the world go by? How do you find yourself relaxing on a chilly evening?

Well, you all know I do a LOT of window gazing from my "Room With a View",

But the scene outside is nothing like the one on that beautiful calendar! LOL. I wouldn't mind seeing a beautiful farm scene like that in the winter, but here in Florida where we live, this is what I see if I look out my windows in the evening...(actually these pictures were taken right now, at 6:30 a.m.)

That's what I can see that's left of the full moon in the early morning dawn before it totally descends out of our sight for the day...

It's hiding behind some trees, but that actually makes for a lovely frame around the moon, don't you think?

And this is the scene across Still Waters Pond. There is a highway on the other side of the trees and also a gas station/convenience store.  During the daytime we really can't see it that well, but at night the lights are actually kind of pretty:

Some of my pictures got a little wonky...

I guess I moved the camera and didn't realize it, but I like the pictures anyway, don't you?  I know Sandra over at MadSnapper will like these!

I love these, and couldn't do them again if I tried. They are total "accidents" that created something beautiful!

Oh, and that is the full moon picture...I guess the moon is in a hurry to descend! LOL.

These last two pictures are looking out the front door through the glass and across the street this morning:

My hubby was just saying that it was kind of nice to look out there and see some lights and life again. For a long time that house on the end never showed any signs of life, and recently a young family has moved in there with 4 boys, and now there is always a lot of activity over there.  The one young boy loves to come over here and ask if he can do some more yard work for us so he can earn a little money. We are trying to find a few little jobs for him to do, like raking and picking up branches. Maybe this summer we can let him do a few more things. He's very sweet and respectful, and we like to encourage a young person to be industrious.   So that is a nice thing that has happened in the neighborhood recently.

It's nice to have a little "helper" come and offer his help to us.  And Jesus also has promised us that He would send us another "Helper", that is, The Holy Spirit, to come and abide with us and help us forever!

Having God's Holy Spirit abiding with us is a great comfort, as He is also known as "The Comforter". It is comforting to know that when we believe in Christ, we are never alone! His Spirit dwells within us and is there for us no matter what we may be facing each day.  That is some good news!

John 14:16 NKJV

16 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—"

Well, that's it for today's Tuesday 4. I hope you have a wonderful day today, and that you will be blessed and comforted no matter what this day brings.

O Christmas Tree Saga and "Winter Nature Scenes"

Well, we finally got our Christmas tree put up after a few complications...There's a story here...it's a bit long so pull up a chair and get a cup of coffee or tea and settle in for the saga...

I didn't take pictures of what happened before we got to this moment, where Hubby is hugging our "old tree"...

And I am saying "well, we live and learn..."

You see, this tree that you see above we have had for about 20 years. It is one of those artificial trees that you have to insert every single branch on the tree individually, and of course you also have to put the lights on manually.  Every year in the recent past I have been saying that after Christmas we need to take advantage of a sale on Christmas trees and replace this one (that also is shedding badly if you look at the floor above) and get one of those lovely pre-lit trees that also just come in three sections and you don't have to individually insert each and every branch, which is very time consuming and difficult to do for us old folks, namely me, because I am the one who normally does all of the above...

Well, just recently at our local flea market one of the vendors had a beautiful Christmas tree standing there for sale. It was the type that came in three sections, very pretty and full, and it was one of the "pre-lit" types, although they did not have it lit at the flea market because it is an outdoor market with no electricity available.  But the lady vendor said she "thought the lights worked just fine."  They only wanted $25.00 for the tree, and there was another man standing there ready to buy it if we didn't, and so,  after a minute or two of deliberation, we decided to take a chance on it. After all, even if the lights didn't work, we could always put lights on it since we have plenty. I mainly wanted it for the fact that it would be easy to put together and save myself some energy and time.

And so, finally the day came for us to bring the tree into the house and set it up. First we laid it out on the front porch and sprayed it with some bug spray, because it had been stored in an old box that looked questionable, and in Florida you just never know what might have taken up residence in the tree.  And then we left it on the porch for a while to air out before bringing it inside.

We got everything ready to put the tree together inside, and it was indeed very easy to do. I was thrilled. Except for figuring out how to connect the lights from section to section...that was a little tricky, but I finally figured that out, and then came the moment of truth...would the lights work? Well...yes and no.  I'd say about 1/4 of the lights worked and that was it. But still, I was undaunted. I would make it work. 

Hubby had to go run an errand,  and I thought I would start putting some lights on the tree. However, I am still having issues with my right arm since my surgery, and I realized that I could not reach up and stretch around the tree as normal, and so I decided to wait for help. Meanwhile I was getting a headache. The tree had a peculiar odor...not the bug spray because it was unscented, but a perfumy strong odor that just seemed to be getting stronger and stronger the longer I was in the room with the tree. I opened up the back door behind the tree to bring in some fresh air. I went out on the porch and breathed the air, but when I came back inside my headache was getting worse and I was feeling nauseous. (I am very "scents-itive" to scents)  I looked at the tree and said, "you are making me sick! I can't have you in this house!" If I could have gotten it out of the house by myself I would have, but I didn't have the strength to take it back apart and do that. So I stayed on the back porch until hubby got back home and then together we got that tree out of the house asap.

Again, I don't know if the bug spray exacerbated an already toxic issue, or if it was something else, but the tree had to go.  When our son came home we asked him to put it back in the box and put it out on the curb for the trash men to pick up. And so he did, but it was already after dark.

By morning, before daylight, that box and tree were gone!  I guess someone passing by decided to see just what we had put on our curb and they decided they wanted it badly enough to take it. Which is fine with me, but I do hope that whatever that odor was wasn't really toxic enough to make someone else sick. And mainly, I just don't want them to bring it back to our house! LOL.

And so, we got our old tree out of the shed and hubby actually helped me put it all together, one branch at a time.  Our son Scott thankfully put all the lights on for us, and then I was able to finally put on the decorations a little at a time. 

And that's the saga of the Christmas Tree.

It looks so pretty, I think it will just have to last us another 20 years...

Oh, and guess what?  The kids are coming over tomorrow night to set up the train and village under the tree like we did last year for the first time in over 30 years! A new tradition has been started, and this little girl is so happy!

Okay, so now, what else is new?

Remember my "One Word" for 2021 was "Believe"?

Well, we were in Walmart the other day and I saw these plates, and I 'believe' they were calling my name...I only bought two. I believe that will do, but don't you agree that I needed these plates? I am glad you agree...

This morning we woke up to a very foggy morning...

This is how it looked out on Still Waters Pond. My son said it looked very "wintry" to him...one could just imagine that was all snow and ice out there...a blizzard blowing in from the north...

I noticed these yellow hearts on the tree by the pond...grapevine leaves changing color for fall/winter, and red maple leaves make a nice contrast against the green tree and foggy background...

The fog also showed me where I need to sweep down some cobwebs on the back porch:

Oh, and also I checked something else we've been concerned about. Lately we've had a lot of wasps swarming on the back porch in the afternoon sun. They appeared to be flying in behind that thermometer attached over there on that post. I looked behind it since it was so cool and foggy this morning, and sure enough, there was quite a large nest of wasps sitting there sleeping in on this cool morning.  So I sent out our Ninja Warrior son to take care the enemy wasps whilst they slept:

Armed with two cans of long distance wasp spray, he knocked them out of that nest in no time at all:

And those mean old wasps started dropping like "flies".

The thermometer may never be the same...

And there is one lone witness to the massacre sitting out there in the tree on this foggy wintry day:

A little later, when the fog lifted and the sun broke through, we decided to take a walk. I ventured onto a path less traveled through the woods and made another new discovery:

This strange looking plant is known as a Ghost plant, or Indian Pipes

Have you ever seen such a plant before? I never have in my life, and this was the only one anywhere around that I could see.  Another of God's mysteries and interesting parts of His creation.

Then, not far from this I saw this empty tortoise shell:

I am thinking it is from a Gopher Tortoise, because we have many of their holes and tunnels all around in these woods.  

Now for more "winter nature scenes" from here in Florida...

My hubby discovered these two beautiful white/gray feathery plumes in our yard. I believe they came from a Sand Hill Crane, but they are so light and feathery and pretty, I just had to keep them.

Not sure what to do with them, but I decided to temporarily at least add them to the Tea cup tree as "Angel Wings"...

Okay, now for the most interesting Christmas gift I think I've ever received...

This came in the mail today, and it had no name attached as to who it was from, but I had been given a heads up earlier in the week from one of my dear old "fun" friends to expect a gift in the mail coming from Montana. Now, she was not in Montana, but the gift was being sent from Montana. She then sent me pictures of several things from Montana, like buffalo and elk. I asked if she was sending me some "Buffalo Chips", because in the past I have received Moose Poop from Maine (actually it was candy), and many Pink Flamingoes from Florida and other unusual gift items throughout the years. She is the kind of friend that you just never know what to expect.

So when this arrived today in the mail, I wasn't too surprised, but yet, it was certainly not something I'd ever expected to receive, that's for certain! LOL

Yes, this is a "Bird Nesting Globe", filled with 100% natural Alpaca fleece.

Lots of varieties of Alpaca wool went into this very interesting and unusual gift.

And so, of course I set about right away to find a place to hang it.

However, the little branch I tried to hang it on broke, so I had to come up with another idea, at least for now.

My son is like my hubby...he loves to take funny pictures of me.

Finally we decided to hang it on this bird feeder hook until we can come up with a better plan for hanging it in a tree.

So now the birds have their very own Alpaca nesting globe,  so they should be all set for winter!

Tell, me what is the most unusual Christmas gift you've ever received?

Can you top this one?

Yesterday I told my hubby I was tired of waiting for my arm to get better and for my energy to return following my surgery 5 weeks ago. I no sooner said that than we sat down to read our morning devotions, and this was the verse that came up in the devotions:

"Wait on the Lord;

Be of good courage,

And He shall strengthen your heart;

Wait, I say, on the Lord!"

Psalm 27:14

So there you go. That's what Advent is all about...waiting for the coming of the Lord into our homes, hearts, lives, world.  The Good News is, He's already here...Emmanuel means, "God with us".  Jesus is already here...so let us just be patient and wait on Him to strengthen our hearts, our bodies, and our lives...He will not fail us. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Have a blessed and wonderful Advent season...preparing for the Birthday of Jesus!