Sunday Night Revue

'Tis the season...

I bought a can of pumpkin the other day, rather than buying a whole real pumpkin, which would probably rot on the porch since it's still so warm here...and I asked hubby if he would prefer some Pumpkin Bread, or a Pumpkin Pie...and so you see what he requested above.

I usually try to hold off baking pumpkin pies until closer to Thanksgiving so we don't burn out on them, but since he asked so sweetly, how could I refuse?

My can of whipped cream was getting a bit empty, so it looks rather puny on top of these pieces of pie, but it was still good.

Lucy Goosey approves.  Yes, she's flying around the house these days. No telling where she'll end up next. I just listen for her special "Honk".  (That's Goose Talk for Hello, Here I am!)

We've been promised a lot of rain this week, and so these clouds that were rolling in this afternoon looked pretty promising...

I could hear the thunder rolling in the distance, so we brought Blackie in the house and waited for the storm to arrive.

It finally got here and came down pretty good for a few minutes, and then it went on its merry way.

Meanwhile, as I was trying to take pictures at the back door, this is what I was contending with...

Someone absolutely LOVES my shoes...

He makes it impossible for me to go anywhere!

So I just let him enjoy snuggling up to my shoes for a few minutes, as long as he doesn't nip at my ankle bones, which does occasionally happen when he gets carried away with the excitement of chewing on my shoes!  The things we put up with for the love of a kitty cat!  Gotta love him....

He looks like he's in kitty heaven. You should hear him purring! What a sweetheart!

Speaking of hearts...this was on the back porch a while ago when I went back outside to try and take some more pictures...

I call it a little God Wink...a message of Love sent from heaven to earth to bless my day.

"The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:

“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;"

Jeremiah 31:3

It was supposed to rain again at 6:00, but it's now 6:30, and this is how it looks:

Time will tell if we get any more rain tonight...almost an inch was forecasted for today, and we barely got a teacup full.  But the night's not over yet...it still says more rain is on the way in the next couple of hours, so we shall see.

And no, I didn't get that garden bed weeded yet. Scott didn't come down today because we had a meeting after church and so he said he'd come next week. It doesn't look too bad from up here on the porch! LOL.  

Here are some good things to remember from God's Word for today...

Psalm 18:30-32

"As for God, His way is perfect;

The word of the Lord is proven;

He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

31 For who is God, except the Lord?

And who is a rock, except our God?

32 It is God who arms me with strength,

And makes my way perfect."

I pray that God will arm you with the strength that you need for this week...and that you will know that He is making your way perfect.  God's Word is true and is "proven"...and "He is a shield for all who trust in Him."  When we place our trust in the LORD, He will provide all the protection and strength that we need.  Those are some good promises to us as we keep our eyes on Him.  Amen.

Have a blessed and beautiful week.

Friday Foto Friends~Friday Blessings

Whew! Thank Goodness it's Friday! LOL. Not that it makes much difference when you're retired, but I still love Fridays because they are the beginning of the weekend, and who doesn't love the weekend?

Here's a few pictures from a ride we took the other morning...some fall wildflowers alongside the road...always makes me smile and say "Stop the car! I want to take a picture!" LOL.

I love all the purple and golden wildflowers that show up in late September and October...

I call these God's bouquets!

I won't even attempt to identify them...just enjoy the natural beauty of God's Creation all around us while it lasts!

And I always enjoy seeing some cows grazing in the pastures...

Mooooooo!

 Hubby loves to watch college football on Saturday afternoons and I just like to piddle around doing little things. We may take a ride in the morning and see if there's any interesting flea markets or yard sales going on. Tomorrow morning our church Thrift Store is having a yard sale, so we may stop by there and see what fun stuff they are trying to sell. I may see something I donated (and hope someone else will buy it!) LOL.

Our Church Thrift Store

And for the Blackie fans, here's a few pictures of this character. This is what he loves to do while I am trying to write on the computer. Most of the time he is batting at my hand and not allowing me to type, or he lays his head on the keyboard and causes all kinds of chaos.  Quite often I get a page open up from Google Help asking "how may we assist you?"   And I want to say, "Someone please come get this cat off of my computer desk so I can get something done around here!" LOL.

I guess he thinks he's helping me. LOL.

Someone asked me what Blackie thought about Lily Grace's new "cat costume".  Well, here's his first reaction. He refused to look at her...literally turned his back on her when I put her down on the floor and asked him to come say hello to Lily...

But Lily Grace was not going to be ignored by Mr. Blackie, so she marched right over to where he was sitting and asked him to please notice her cute little cat costume...

At first he wanted to bolt...

I'm not sure what he's looking at...he refused to look at me or Lily Grace..Maybe he's saying, "The things I have to put up with to be the King around here..." LOL.

But at least he didn't make her a chew toy...There's still hope they will become good friends. LOL.

Praise God!  We have had a wonderful rainy afternoon today! And I couldn't help but notice this Red Shouldered Hawk way out on the pond,  standing next to a PUDDLE on top of the dry pond bed! I think he was fishing for worms or tadpoles. LOL.

Yes, that is water along the edge of those bushes...everytime it rains, that puddle gets bigger!

One day at a time!

And  please don't judge me for the weeds in the flower bed! I know what I have to do. But the kids gave me these pots of mums for my birthday, and I needed to put them someplace  where I could water them (before the rains came back) and this was the closest to the garden hose. Maybe tomorrow if it's not too hot I will pull some weeds and plant the mums appropriately. (Or maybe I'll get Scott to do it for me when he comes to visit...that's a thought! He's a pro! And so much younger and stronger than I am! LOL)

Oh, one more thing, thanks for saying a little prayer for hubby today when he went to the dentist. They x-rayed and examined the broken  tooth, and said he had 3 options. Pull it and be done with it, Do a root canal and put a crown on it, or do an implant/crown.   Option one wouldn't cost us anything because our insurance would cover it, but he'd have a big gap on the top left side of his mouth where it could be seen and may cause the surrounding teeth to weaken over time. Option two would cost a bit of money, but it could be done next week with a temporary crown, and then the permanent crown a week or so later. Option three was the most expensive and would take 3-4 months for the gum to heal before they could put the actual crown on top of the implant/screw.  After much discussion we decided on option #2, the root canal and crown. Our medicare advantage plan will cover a part of it, and we can put the rest on a Care Credit plan with no interest for a year.  (of course, I am still paying for MY root canal and crown that I got earlier this year...but I guess that's the high cost of getting old). Nothing comes cheap or easy these days,  that's for sure.  I told hubby that we will tie a red bow around his new crown for Christmas as that will be his Christmas gift. I guess I'll have to do the same for mine. LOL.  

I am just so thankful that God has provided a way for us to take care of these things. No, we don't like to use credit unnecessarily, but there are times when that is the only option and we are thankful that it is available. We will trust God to help us pay it off as soon as possible, but we are thankful to not have to put things off that could cause further issues and make matters worse and possibly bigger expenses in the future.

Well friends, I will close this post for tonight. It's always wonderful to hear from you, and I  look forward to visiting more with you as the days go by. Take care, and may God open the doors for you that you are asking, seeking, and knocking about.  Amen.

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.

Tuesday 4~ Hello January

 Hello January

Welcome to the New Year friends and to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.
Toni liked to talk about each new month and it's meanings.
January was named for Janus the two faced god who looked behind and ahead. Its the warmest month in the southern hemisphere and the coldest in the north.
Garnet is it's gem stone. Garnets come in all colors but the rarest is the Tzavorite.
January 7 is Eastern Orthodox Christmas because some eastern churches use the original Julian calendar which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar.
January become the first month of the year in 450BC for the Roman world .
Let's talk about two faced January.


1. Looking back, what do you hope continues or does not change in your life?
I do hope we continue to have good health and strength as the days go by. The older we get, the harder it is to keep up with things, and so I pray for renewed strength, wisdom and health for the New Year and beyond.  


2. What good came to you from the previous year?

I am so thankful for so many things...our home, family, strength, health, and God's continued provision for all our needs.  What more could we ask for?

I sat down this afternoon with a cup of tea and a "York Peppermint Patty", a very rare treat for me as I normally do NOT eat chocolate, but it just sounded so good I couldn't resist...and I picked up the new issue of Country Living Magazine that came in the mail today to look at it.  

And I turned to this page and the little caption down at the bottom of the page caught my attention. I almost missed it because it was written in white and rather small...

But the words "Country Wisdom" caught my eye since "wisdom" is my "One Word" for 2025.  I like what this says:

So to answer question #2, "What good came to you from the previous year?"...Well, maybe a few more "nicks and scratches...the architectural equivalent of hard-earned wrinkles and laugh lines..."  I don't mind that at all...especially those laugh lines...and I do hope to earn a few more in the up coming years.

3. Are there things you hope to accomplish in the new year?

To be honest, I haven't really thought that much about it. Just keeping up with our daily lives, maintaining our home and property as best we are able, and spending more time with friends and family as we are able.  Seeking what God wants for us..."Where He Leads Me I will follow..."...a favorite old hymn that sometimes finds me doing new things I never expected...but because I trust God to lead me, I know whatever it is it will be good.

4. January's flowers are the carnation and the snow drop. Do you sometimes buy flowers for your home? What kinds of flowers to you like best?

Carnations & Snow Drops
I must admit I've never seen "snow drops" before! Those are very pretty!

I rarely ever buy fresh cut flowers.  I prefer those that are grown in the garden or in the woods or along the road...i.e.; "Wildflowers" from "God's Garden".   If I do buy flowers, they are in pots to be planted in the garden...mums in the fall, and other plants for the butterfly garden in the spring/summer. Oh, I have a couple of pots of Poinsettias right now on the back porch  that I bought for Christmas, and now I hope they don't freeze in our plunging temperatures this week.  They are hiding under the table on the covered porch, so hopefully they will be okay.

There's something else hiding on the back porch to stay warm for the night...

"Blackie" the neighborhood cat!

Oops! He saw me!  However, that didn't change a thing...he's too lazy to get up and come say hello!

Actually, yesterday afternoon I sat out on the porch for a while and sipped a cup of tea before it turned too cold to sit out there...

And Blackie suddenly appeared out of nowhere and saw me sitting in his chair, and turned around and went right back down off the porch! He didn't even stop to say hello! LOL. There are two other chairs on the porch that he could've sat in, but I guess he likes mine best!  

A little later I watched the sun setting over Still Waters Pond, and then I saw the the Sand Hill Crane family fly in and go around and land on the other side of the island somewhere out of my sight.

So I hurried up and ran over to the next door new house property and went around to where I could see them on the little marshy strip of land behind the island:

I guess this is where they will probably build their next this year, once "Abe" leaves the nest for good!

I won't be able to watch them quite as closely since this spot is out of my view from my house, and once someone buys the house next door I won't be able to go over there anymore.  Unless the neighbors are really friendly!  I hope they will be, but still, they probably won't want me to come running around on their property everytime I want to watch the birds! LOL.

Well, friends, this is all for this Tuesday 4. I 've got to run to choir practice, so I'd better get a move on. (No worries, I will drive, not run. It's getting too dark to run 3 miles! LOL. As if I could or would! LOL)

Happy January everyone!!