Happy First Day of Summer!!

Happy First Day of Summer!  I looked out the front door this morning and noticed these sweet little pink wildflowers blooming, and decided they needed a closer look! 

It is a Pale Meadowbeauty  "Pale meadowbeauty occurs naturally in wet flatwoods, open savannas, marshes, bogs and wet roadsides. It flowers spring through fall and attracts many pollinators, especially bees."   I love it when God provides special little beautiful gifts to brighten our days!  Of course, once we mow that part of the lawn again, they will be gone, but hopefully they will come back to visit again.  I do see them scattered about in various places.  Just a happy little harbinger of summer!

Remember the other day when  I showed you these blueberries that I picked from our own bush?

Well, when I went outside this morning to look at those pretty little pink flowers above, I noticed that many of the pink blueberries that I had left behind had now turned blue, so I picked another handful of berries this morning, 

and there were just enough to do this for breakfast:

Yes!  I made Blueberry Pancakes!!

And those little blueberries were just popping full of delicious blueberry goodness!!

Of course, we had to have some scrambled eggs with bits of ham to give us some added protein with our breakfast,  but I can tell you this was delightfully delicious!  And with our very own blueberries!   

Can you tell that I am just a little bit happy about this?  LOL.

I thought it was a great way to usher in the first day of summer!

After breakfast we got cleaned up and headed to town to Walmart to do some necessary grocery shopping.  Nothing too exciting about that.  We wanted to get there early to beat the heat and the Friday morning rush, and we were thankful that we did just that.  

So now we are settled in back home with nothing particular to do today except stay inside and keep cool! Summertime here in our part of the world has felt like it was already here for the past month already.  Right now it is 92 degrees and hopefully we will get a thunderstorm this evening around 7:00 p.m.   I doubt that it will cool us off by much, but at least it will add some more water to the pond and keep the grass, flowers and trees (and blueberries) growing!  And the birds and critters are all much happier when there is plenty of rain to keep their food sources growing too. 

I went outside to get the mail and then did a little "walkabout" the yard to see what things were growing along the woodsy edges of our yard...

There is a lot of this:

Inkberry/Gallberry, which is growing wild in our woodsy area. The berries will turn black in the fall. The birds will eat them, although I understand they are bitter and the birds will only eat them as a last resort! 

We have a lot of different kinds of Holly trees/bushes growing wild, especially along the shores of Still Waters Pond.  These berries will turn bright red, and the birds do love them! Especially the Cardinals, Blue Jays, Cedar Waxwings and Robins!(if they migrate through here in winter)

So I am happy to see that there's plenty of extra bird flood growing all around us for the winter time. I'm sure they find plenty of other kinds of seeds and bugs and things to eat in the summer, along with the birdseed we put in the bird feeders.

As I walked around to the back yard, I was wondering where Sunshine and Blackie were hiding to keep cool on this very warm summer afternoon.  All of a sudden, here came Sunshine from out under the back porch...

He came right up to me, sticking out his tongue to say hello I guess, and wanted me to pet him right away, which of course I did.   Who could resist that sweet face?

And then Blackie saw me loving on Sunshine, and he came out from under one of the chairs on the back porch and headed down the steps right away to get his share of lovin'.  Of course, Sunshine went to meet him and they had to bump heads and nibble on each other's ears and say hello...

And then  Blackie came down and found a nice sandy spot to roll in the dirt to say hello to me. LOL.

Silly Kitty. But yes, I did pet and love on him for a while too. He's a sweeetheart, and he didn't want to be left out of any special attention.  I think he thought it was snack time, but as you can tell, Blackie still has a bit of a tummy and really doesn't need any extra "snacks".  But at least we know that HE isn't expecting! LOL.  

Well, speaking of food, it's almost time to start thinking about supper.  I guess I didn't really make any plans today for what to cook! Oops!  But we've been doing the pizza thing on Friday nights most of the time lately anyway, so I think that's what's happening tonight as well. I just have to go to the Dollar General down the street and pick up one and cook it. Easy Peasy!

Here's an old song..."Summertime", from Porgy and Bess...

Summertime, And the livin' is easy Fish are jumpin' And the cotton is high Your daddy's rich And your mamma's good lookin' So hush little baby Don't you cry One of these mornings You're going to rise up singing Then you'll spread your wings And you'll take to the sky But till that morning There's a'nothing can harm you With daddy and mamma standing by

And here is a song that truly speaks to me, no matter what the season or time:

“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.

Chorus:

“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed Thy hand hath 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.

Chorus:

“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!

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, with ten thousand beside!

Chorus:

“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!

Amen!

I hope that your summertime is filled with new mercies and all that you have needed, and that you will know just how great is God's faithfulness unto you! Amen.

Monday Monday~Father's Day and Storms

 Happy Monday evening!  I'm just getting around to sitting down here at the computer and trying to think of what to say!  Hope you have been having a good Monday, and that your weekend was special in every way.  We had a wonderful Father's Day get together with the kids yesterday.  Our son Scott came and grilled boneless/skinless chicken thighs for us. I made potato salad and corn on the cob, a tossed salad, and a blueberry pie at hubby's request.  Rose brought the deviled eggs.  I forgot to take a picture of our meal, but here's the blueberry pie right after it came out of the oven. You can see it was bubbling over with blueberry juice!

Hubby declared it was the best blueberry pie he'd ever eaten!

I was happy to hear that, because these were blueberries that I'd gotten fresh (already picked) from the blueberry farm last month and froze them. Unfortunately, they have a picking machine that tends to leave a bit of the stem on the berries, and I had to hand pick the stems off of almost every single berry! Imagine that when the blueberries were thawing and becoming a bit soft...yeah, it was a tedious job, but no one found a stem in their piece of pie! LOL.  Next year I guess I will have to go and pick my own blueberries so I can be sure there are no stems left on them!

Who knows, maybe next year I'll be able to pick enough blueberries off of my own bush to bake a pie! This is a bush I planted a few years ago, and this is really the first year it has had so many berries.

I just went and picked this little handful of ripe ones. Maybe not enough for a pie, but they will taste good in my yogurt or on some cereal. There's just something very satisfying about picking your own fruit and eating it!  I consider it a gift from God! I know I sure didn't do anything to make these grow, except water them when it was so dry. But God did everything else.

Anyway, I digress.  Back to yesterday...here's the "kids" with "Daddy"...

And here's the whole bunch of us.

This is one of my most favorite pictures of my hubby, reading Bible stories to our little boys in bed at bedtime. As you can see, Scott is just a baby, then Benton was about 5 &1/2, and Matthew was 4. These are very precious memories.

And here's a picture of "Daddy" and his boys and our one grandson Noah, taken back in  February of 2014 at the last time our whole family was together before Matthew passed away from cancer in May of 2014.    It's sad to me that we will never be able to have a "complete" family portrait again...but we will all be together again in heaven some day, and that celebration will never end!

And speaking of other great fathers...Here's hubby's father and my hubby John and his little brother Billy. This was taken at Daytona Beach back in the late1950's.  Notice the Studebaker car behind them. That was their car.  Our family had one of those too back in the day! They were built like a tank! LOL.

And here I am with my Daddy. This was taken on a Sunday afternoon. I think he had been reading the funny papers to me and we fell asleep.  I was pretty young. LOL.

So after our kids left we took a nap too.  Then when we woke up, there was quite a thunderstorm brewing.

The rain was so heavy at times it was like a "white out" on Still Waters Pond!

And yes, it did help to start refilling the pond! WooHoo! We are very thankful for that!

At one point, I could actually see and hear very small bits of hail hitting against the front picture window!

And although you can't see it here, we had two umbrellas open on the front porch, one on each table, which helps to shade our front window/porch on these very hot and sunny days. I usually try to put the umbrellas down when a storm is coming, but this one blew up so quickly I didn't have time, and the umbrella from the table on the left literally was lifted up by the wind and blown over the top of the other umbrella...

And landed on the other side of the deck outside of the porch railing on the ground!  That was quite a blow!!

Thankfully no harm was done to the umbrella or the tables, but it just shows how quickly things can change in a bad storm!!

But thankfully, when we know we have Jesus with us in this "boat of life"...we do not need to fear what the winds and waves and storms of life can do to us...He rebukes the wind and the "sea", and says, "Peace be still!", and the storms will cease...

Mark 4:35-41 NKJV
35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 

37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 

38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace,be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 

40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” 

41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

Even though there are still times in life when I may feel fearful and anxious about things that are happening around me or in my family, (or in the world at large), I am reminded of this story where Jesus rebuked the disciples and asked them why they were so fearful..."How is it that you have no faith?"  He wanted them and us to know that when you have Jesus in the boat with you, there is nothing to fear.  The important question to ask ourselves is if we have Jesus in our boat with us.  If not, there's no time like the present to invite Him to join us in our life's journey. When Jesus is with us, we can sleep in peace while the storms are raging. God is in control. 

Like these porch kitties...Blackie and Sunshine...sleeping in perfect peace...

And just for fun...these were taken last night after the storm...Sunshine sometimes likes to jump up onto the porch railing and watch the world go by...

"Hey! I see you looking at me!"

"Am I yawning because I'm bored with looking at you? Or am I laughing at a good private joke?  I'll never tell."

"There's nothing too exciting in there to see, so I'll just lay down here on the this railing ignore you!"

And with that, I think I will close this for tonight.

Psalm 4:8 NKJV

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

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

Amen.

Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

It's Thursday of Holy Week...many will be observing this day as "Maundy Thursday", "Maundy Thursday, also referred to as Holy Thursday, or Thursday of the Lord's Supper, among other names,[note 1] is a Christian feast during Holy Week that marks the beginning of the Paschal Triduum, and commemorates the Washing of the Feet (Maundy) and Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles, as described in the canonical gospels.[1]" (Wikipedia).  Our church does not have a special Maundy Thursday service, but we will be having a Good Friday service tomorrow night.

HERE is a link to a post I have shared several times in the past regarding Maundy Thursday, or the observance of The Lord's Supper.  You may want to read it again for a special blessing today. (I actually reposted this earlier today, so may have already seen it.  I just couldn't let the day go by without acknowledging how special this day was in the life of Christ and for Christians today).

I am so excited that my Amaryllis flowers have finally blossomed!  I was afraid they weren't going to make it this year, and now they are open and beautiful for Easter! To me, this is significant, that they are blooming in time for Good Friday...the crimson red of this flower reminds us of the blood that Jesus shed on the cross for our sins.  The white Easter lilies on Easter Sunday will remind us of His resurrection from the dead and that He, the perfect and spotless Lamb of God has overcome sin and death on our behalf.  Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Hallelujah! What A Savior! 

by Philip B. Bliss

“Man of Sorrows!” what a name

For the Son of God, who came

Ruined sinners to reclaim.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,

In my place condemned He stood;

Sealed my pardon with His blood.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;

Spotless Lamb of God was He;

“Full atonement!” can it be?

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die;

“It is finished!” was His cry;

Now in Heav’n exalted high.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King,

All His ransomed home to bring,

Then anew His song we’ll sing:

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Back to the present...This morning we took a ride to the Blueberry Farm! The blueberries are finally ready to be picked...and thankfully they pick some for us for a little higher price...

You could also purchase your own blueberry bushes, already loaded with berries!  I did that a few years ago, but most of them have never really produced anything since...

Except for this this one..it looks like it will have some berries for us this year in a little while...

So until then I will purchase the already picked variety and enjoy them! They are so plump and juicy I may have eaten a few before we even got home.  Hubby said "They haven't been washed yet!"  I said, "If they kill me I'll die happy!" LOL.   I didn't eat that many...and if that little bit could kill me then they shouldn't be allowed to sell them! LOL.  Besides, I know the people who pick their own berries eat them while picking and I haven't heard of anyone getting sick or dying from it yet.  I'll trust these berries more than the ones I buy in the grocery store, which can't even compare in flavor and quality.

The plan is to bake a blueberry pie for Easter Sunday...hopefully I'll still have enough left by then. LOL.

I know you are probably wondering about the kitty-cat situation here...

Well, here's Blackie Sue, still just relaxing in her favorite blue chair on the back porch...no kittens yet...and the full moon is over...so she's on her own schedule, and the kittens will appear when they are good and ready!

And this picture is hilarious to me...this is how Sunshine was posed this morning as we were leaving to go get blueberries...He'd just had his breakfast, and because it had been a chilly night (or maybe he's just all tuckered out from whatever he was doing last night!??) I think he wanted to soak up some "sunshine" for himself!  I've never seen him able to get up on the porch railing before...and his face was resting on the little light fixture there. He seems to be a bit more frisky lately...oh...and there's been a pretty little black and white female cat coming over to visit from down the street...I hope she's been appropriately "fixed"...and so I am thinking something is going to need to be done about Sunshine. Here I thought he was just a tired old cat...but I think he still has some tricks up his paws.  I am anxious to see what color Blackie Sue's kittens are...that will tell us the true state of their "friendship".  

Good caption "It's been a hard day's night..."

Oh My Goodness!  I just heard via Facebook that our family's former store, "Dixie Cottage", is moving out of Interlachen to Keystone Heights (a town about 20 miles northwest of here)!  The person who bought the business from Benton and Rose a couple of years ago lives in that area, and apparently she has found a place there that is more reasonable rent and it will be closer to home for her, so we wish her well.  There will be a big sale here at the store before she leaves at the end of the month. 

 

This is how the store looked on our Grand Opening Day

This is a link to when our kids first opened the store here in Interlachen, after moving it here from St.Augustine.

Our kids enjoyed owning the business while they did, but they were also happy when God provided a buyer so they could sell it! Owning your own business takes a LOT of work, time, and money.  They are much happier now working from home (Benton), building things and selling them online and in local farmer's markets.  Rose has continued to work at Home Depot all these years, so for her trying to run a business and work outside of that was pretty exhausting.  

Although we are sorry to see the store leaving our town, we wish the owner much success and blessings in starting over in a new location.  And so closes another door...but a new window of opportunity for her and for that community.

Here's some thoughts to carry us through tomorrow on Good Friday...

This weekend will be pretty busy for us, with Good Friday service tomorrow night, and a wedding at our church Saturday afternoon. (There will also be a community breakfast at the church Saturday morning and an Easter Egg Hunt for the children, but we most likely won't be participating in those). Then Sunday morning we have Sunday School and Church, and our choir will be presenting the Easter Cantata "It Is Finished".  The kids will be coming over after church for dinner.  Rose will be baking a ham and I will hopefully get some potato salad and deviled eggs made on Saturday sometime to have ready for Sunday, as well as bake that blueberry pie. So, if you don't see much of me over the next few days, you will know why!  Praying you and yours will have a blessed and joyful Easter weekend.