August is Here! Happy Days!

 Happy August 1st!  Hooray for a new day, and a new month!  Of course, you know what that means! Yes, it is time for the August Calendar Roll Call!! So without further adieu, here we go:

Even though this appears to be a fall scene, it is one that I love, and this calendar is in my bathroom where I can see it every day (several times a day and night too! LOL).  That's pretty much my little dream cabin spot, with that beautiful lake and mountains in the background, and a row boat right there waiting to take me to places to explore all around the lake. Yes, I could easily climb right into this picture and be quite happy and content!

Wow! There seems to be a theme going on here for August!  Here's another beautiful cabin and lake and rowboat scene, with a mountain backdrop. It is also gorgeous, but I think I still prefer the more peaceful and private scene above.

This calendar has quotes from Billy Graham and also from the Bible..."Christ belongs to ALL people; He belongs to the whole world!".  Yes, He does...and it is up to us to share Him with everyone everywhere!

"Blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice." Luke 11:28.  Yes, a good reminder for each of us to not only read the Bible, but to actually believe and put it into practice in our daily lives.

I love this John Sloane Country Seasons calendar...and this picture for August is a true gem...

I wonder how many of us have ever done a lemonade stand before? I'm trying to remember if I ever did, but I know my kids did years ago...

Here's our three little musketeers now...I snuck up behind them and got this response:
Matthew on the far left, sticking his tongue out at me...Benton in the middle, and Scott wearing his swimming goggles...

Hey! Lemonade only 10 cents! What a deal that was!!

I don't know how much lemonade they sold that day, but I think they sure had fun. I'm so glad I could find these pictures, thanks to having my early photo albums of when our kids were little more organized. I must admit to having a bit of a tear in my eyes as I look at these sweet pictures of when all three of our boys were so little and sweet and innocent and healthy. Sadly, today I don't even develop pictures, and it would take forever to find a picture, unless I've posted it here in my blog or on Facebook. That really is a crime.

Scott, Benton, and Matthew, circa 1981, Willoughby Hills, Ohio.

Precious Memories.

Well, moving right along...Look at this very colorful teapot set from my TEAPOTS calendar:

Here's the description:

And there's always a quote from some famous tea lover, whom I don't know, but it's still interesting...

The Thomas Kinkade calendar always has something beautiful to see...and this picture is from along The Big Sur, which I assume is in California?   And I love the Bible verse: "O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who hast set thy glory above the heavens." Psalm 8:1  Amen!

And this verse is at the bottom of the calendar:

"Ah Lord God! Behold, Thou has made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretche out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee." Jeremiah 32:17

Oh, and here's a good thought to end the calendar roll-call...This Susan Branch calendar always has fun and good thoughts...

Yes!  "Oh for a book and a shady nook, either indoor or out."  Summertime is a great time for reading, but here in Florida, it best be a cozy nook indoors during August. It's still too hot to consider sitting outside for very long! If not for the heat, it's the mosquitoes!

And speaking of bugs:

I discovered this "Dog-Days Cicada" shedding it's exo-skeleton under our shed. 

Here's how the exo-skeleton looked after he disengaged himself from it:

And here's how he looked until he turned himself over and started pumping out his wings...

Here he is in the process of his wings filling out.

I assume he flew up into the trees after this as he wasn't anywhere to be seen this morning.

Not my picture, but this is how he should've looked later:

Internet photo.

I've never seen one of these creatures that close and alive before.  I know they sure can make a lot of noise!!  It is typical that they should appear now, in the hot "dog-days" of summer!!

And speaking of creatures...

Some furry black creature has invaded and taken over my chair!

Almost looks like a bat! But yes, it is none other than King Blackie, sleeping so peacefully in my chair. And yes, I have to cover my chair with this coverlet because I'm trying to preserve it from cat hair and possible fleas (although he is being well-treated for fleas these days and I think we have that pretty well under control).  

If I want to sit in MY chair, I have to roll him up in that coverlet and encourage him to "roll down" on the floor...otherwise, he will stick his sharp little claws into my behind and let me know who's boss around here! LOL. Now, I must say that quite often he jumps right back up into my lap once I've seated myself, but that lasts for a while until he decides he doesn't like me moving my arms about to use the tv remote or my phone, and then he grabs my arms and lets me know that if I'm going to sit in HIS chair, I have to be still! LOL.  What a little tyrant he can be!!!!

To follow up on my rooster story, no, these eggs didn't come from that location, but they did come from some chickens that are being raised by a woman in our church, and she brings dozens of eggs to church quite frequently to GIVE away...first come first served. Aren't they beautiful??? So colorful!

And below, this is a comparison...guess which egg is the fresh "real chicken egg" (as I call the eggs from the chicken lady) ?  And which egg(s) came from the grocery store?

Just look at that huge egg yolk! It came from the fresh "real chicken eggs", and the other two smaller yolks came from large eggs from Walmart. What a difference!  I wish I could have "real chicken eggs" all the time, but no, I am not willing to raise my own chickens in order to do that.  I will just keep looking for more reasonable alternatives!

I will close this out with this photo of this morning's sunrise, righ after a nice little early morning rain shower!

And here's a view of Still Waters Pond, still very dry, but we are supposed to get rain all this next week. I hope they are right this time. Still Waters Pond is very very thirsty!!!!

Isaiah 55:1-5

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you— The sure mercies of David. Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people, A leader and commander for the people. Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, And nations who do not know you shall run to you, Because of the Lord your God, And the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.”

Here is a video of a church singing this beloved old hymn, "Ho Everyone That is Thirsty". This is not our church, but I like their presentation...

1 Ho! ev'ryone that is thirsty in spirit,

Ho! ev'ryone who is weary and sad,

come to the fountain, there’s fullness in Jesus,

all that you’re longing for; come and be glad.

Refrain:

"I will pour water on him who is thirsty,

I will pour floods upon the dry ground;

open your heart for the gift I am bringing,

while ye are seeking me, I will be found."

2 Child of the world, are you tired of your bondage?

Weary of earth-joys, so false, so untrue?

Thirsting for God, and His fullness of blessing?

List to the promise— a message for you.

 [Refrain]

3 Child of the kingdom, be filled with the Spirit;

nothing but fullness thy longing can meet.

’Tis the enduement for life and for service;

thine is the promise, so certain, so sweet.

 

[Refrain]

Amen.

Go and be filled...and be blessed.  Happy August!!!

It's July!! God Bless America!!

Happy July! Yes, it is the first day of July, and you know what that means! It's time for the calendar roll-call! So let's begin with the one that expresses what we think of most when we think of the month of July:

Yes!!This year in particular, "The 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence!"

"America! America! God shed His grace on thee! And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea!" (America the Beautiful).   And I pray that God will continue to "shed His grace on thee!"  We are a nation that seems to be struggling with our identity as a "Christian nation"...but thankfully our nation's currency still states, "In God We Trust", and I pray that we never change that, or I fear that the freedoms and blessings we are enjoying now will cease to be.

Continuing on with our calendar, the Susan Branch calendar (see above and below) encourages us to read the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. I have not done that, and perhaps I should! Have you read it? Please tell us about it!

I also love this Thomas Kinkade picture for July...yes! 

We wave our flag proudly on the frong porch of our house every day!

(Those umbrellas are there to help shade the front window, as the sun is scorching hot all morning on the eastern side of the house. Someday I hope we can build a porch roof to help shade the windows and the door, but until then, this is the best we can do).

This is the freedom that is the BEST freedom of all...To be free from our sins because of the great sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross:

The Country Seasons Calendar by John Sloane shows this little boy on the farm doing his chores and day dreaming about life somewhere else someday...I wonder if he ever left the farm, or perhaps he realized how blessed he was to be living right there!

Love this picture and the quote by Billy Graham:

And this scripture verse on that calendar...yes, it is from God's abundance and grace that we can enjoy these blessings and freedoms that we hold so dear...

It would be nice to have a log (or stone?) cabin to escape to for the holidays, wouldn't it?

And the teapot calendar is a combination of things...there's a teapot, but you see ice cubes and lemons and iced tea, and a fan...That's the kind of tea we need to be drinking in July for sure! Sorry, I covered up the picture that was hanging on the wall in this one because it was a modern art depiction that was totally inappropriate in my opinion. So I placed the Bible verse over it, "Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey His commandments will grow in wisdom."  Psalm 111:10.  Much better!

Yes, the teapot probably has been the center of many confidant type conversations...as well as the focus of some lovely tea parties and happiness of people coming together...however in the summertime, it mostly likely would be the pitcher of iced tea or lemonade. LOL.

Now just some random photos from the past couple of days...I picked a bunch of my zinnias, ("Old Maids") because they were getting heat-stressed and also a lot of them were bent over and stems broken because of a certain cat laying on top of them, so I brought them inside and gave them a chance to enjoy a few days inside to brighten our kitchen:

The flowers are very small, probably because I had too many crowded into once place and it's been SO hot and dry, but they are still pretty... 

We took a ride to the Kenwood Boat ramp yesterday, and here's a few pictures I took...love this lonely mushroom under the cool shade of the palmettos...

It was a clear and sunny day, even if very hot...

And God's special gift to me was this Great Blue Heron standing on the shore and fishing for his breakfast...

This morning we were blessed with a full moon!

And with this I will close...

John 16:33 King James Version

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Amen and Praise the Lord!

Have a wonderfully blessed 4th of July!

Happy First Day of June!

 Wow! It's the first day of June, and you know what that means!  Yes, time for the "calendar roll call"! 

This "Beachside Gathering", by Thomas Kincade, helps set the scene for summer...

 So grab a cup of tea or coffee and  let's get right down to it:  (Or maybe some Iced tea or iced coffee?)

This "Miami Majolica" tea pot sets the table for summer with some sea creatures and a beachy theme. I wonder how many of you are planning a trip to the beach this summer?  We already had our one day at the beach a few weeks ago, and I doubt we'll go back anytime soon because it gets so crowded during the summer, not to mention HOT.

If I had my choice, I'd be headed to this mountain cabin where there's a cool bubbling stream running past our door to dip our toes in and look for some pretty smooth river rocks...

But most likely I'll be right here tending to my garden...since we've been getting some much needed rain and things are really starting to grow...

And I do agree with this statement by Christian Rossetti on this Susan Branch calendar:

Or this statement by Sir Walter Scott:

How about a trip to the farm country...John Sloane's "Gentle Giants" on this Country Seasons calendar look pretty sweet to me...and a ride on top of the hay wagon might be fun...

I just happen to have this photo from the past...(no, I am not in this picture. This was way before my time)

This is on my Grandpa Tedlie's farm, back in the early 1940's,  with my cousins on the hay wagon, and my Grandma Tedlie and Aunt Belle walking together to join them.

I love this calendar with quotes from Billy Graham...

And when we think about the summer time and gardening...it's a good time to remember that God wants to bring forth good fruit in our lives as well...as we glean words of hope and transformation from His Word...a reminder to continue to faithfully study the Bible throughout the summer even if  we aren't actively participating in a Bible Study (our Ladies' Bible Study) doesn't meet again until September)

Oops!  "King Blackie" strikes again!  He wanted to see what was so important in here where I am working...

He said, "Mom! Would you please stop sitting here and ignoring me?  I need some attention too!"

And after he sat there for a minute or two, totally disrupting my train of thought....off he went in search of the rest of his breakfast and then a visit to Daddy's lap... Bye King Blackie...I'll be done here in a minute...

So I will take a little break from this and come back later to finish...or maybe I just need to call it a day and write a new post tomorrow?  

Yeah, I think that's what I'll do.  I'll have to come back and do another post later.  So meanwhile, enjoy this lovely first day of June! I wonder what your plans are?  Mine are real exciting...doing laundry and maybe a trip to Walmart...we'll see...so I'd better a get a move on...

Praying for us all to have a safe and happy and healthy summer, whatever we do!!  Be blessed my friends.

TTYL