Saturday Photo A Day Challenge and More

Happy Saturday Everyone! I hope this day finds you relaxing and enjoying a beautiful day wherever you are.  It's already getting hot and steamy here, but it is July in Florida, so what can you expect? We are thankful not to have any severe weather or smoke here, like they are having up north from those horrific fires in Canada. We pray for our neighbors to the north, and pray that the fires will soon be quenched.

So, we are a little more than half way through the month of July, and also through this photo challenge. The challenge for today (18th) is animal or insect.  I took this photo at the boat ramp the other day...do you see the green dragonfly on the green leaves?  Yeah, he was hard to see for me too! I'm glad the camera had better eyes than I did!

Here's the July list if you want to join in...it's still not too late!  

I took a little walk about the yard this morning, and I also saw this little orange grasshopper on one of my dying zinnia plants.  I'm not sure what kind it is, but perhaps it is a Schistocerca rubinginosa Grasshopper.  All I know is the bluebirds love to catch grasshoppers to feed their babies, so I hope they find this one, because actually there were two of them, but I only got a picture of this one.  

Then I discovered this immature Argiope Aurantia Garden Spider on the Rose of Sharon bush.  Look at that zigzag web! Isn't that amazing? Spider webs are so interesting, aren't they? I just don't like to walk into them!  

Then when I walked around to the front yard, I saw these two immature White Ibis looking for food alongside the road.

It's unusual to see them here, so that was interesting!! Ater yesterday's rain, I am sure they are finding something good to eat in the grassy area there.

Sadly, a few minutes later I saw this fire truck and ambulance parked in front of the house across the street.  There is an elderly man living there who has some chronic health problems, and this is the 2nd time in a couple of months that he has had to go to the hospital via ambulance. We really don't know him very well as he keeps to himself and normally there is someone from the family who comes and checks on him every day.  We prayed for him as they took him away.  I'm wondering if he'll be able to continue living at home alone.   He's blessed that he does have family living nearby, but still it is difficult to stay home alone when you get to a certain stage in life.  We are praying for his family as well, that they will have wisdom to know what is best for him.

Sadly, we have another Celebration of Life to attend today. A former member of our church passed away recently after a battle with cancer.  She and her husband still lived in our area, but they started going to a different and smaller church in a nearby community a couple of years ago to help them out. But then she got cancer, and well, she fought hard, but it was time for her to be called home to heaven.  This is the seventh woman from our church community that has passed away in this year, and they weren't all that old. Only two of them were older than me.  It's really sad, but yet again, we know they are all with Jesus and they are not suffering anymore.  What's hard is that all but one of them left behind a husband, so our little church has a rather unusually large group of widowers who are struggling to find their way.   

I honestly think it's harder for men to get along on their own than it is for women.  You know, the Bible talks a lot about taking care of widows and orphans, but it really doesn't say anything about taking care of widowers.  But God promises to take care of those who mourn, and also we as Christians and friends and family should do our part to encourage and help those who are grieving as much as is practical and possible.

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,

And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Psalm 34:18

He heals the brokenhearted

and binds up their wounds.

Psalm 147:3

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 

4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

A little later...

Well, I am sorry to end on a sad note, but this is the reality of life...and it helps us to remember that our time on earth is very short...so we need to live our lives in such a way that is meaningful and that in some way we make a positive difference in the world around us.  A copy of this poem was included in the bulletin for the service today:

The Dash

by Linda Ellis

"I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on the tombstone
from the beginning…to the end.

He noted that first came the date of birth
and spoke the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that they spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved them
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,
the cars…the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

So, think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
to consider what’s true and real
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect
and more often wear a smile,
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read,
with your life’s actions to rehash…
would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent YOUR dash?"

Copyright ©::

Linda Ellis

Something to think about!  Now, let's go fill in our "dash" with the very best life we can...and remember this...(another saying I heard a long time ago):

According to AI:
"That powerful quote is the refrain of the famous poem "Only One Life" written by British missionary C.T. Studd. After giving away his wealth and serving in China, India, and Africa, he penned these enduring words to encourage believers to live with an eternal perspective. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Here are a few stanzas from the original poem: [1]

"Only one life, yes only one,
Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in 'that day' my Lord to meet,
And stand before His Judgment seat;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last. [1, 2]

Only one life, a few brief years,
Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill,
Living for self or in His will;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last. "[1, 2]

Amen!!

 

Thursday Thankfulness

Thought I'd start this post off with something to get your attention!

While I've been writing this post this afternoon, I was smelling this "peach dump cake" baking in the oven. Hubby has a little bit of a sweet tooth and likes cakes and cookies. When we run out of something good, he reminds me it's time to bake something.  Since we've been sick the past couple of weeks, we haven't been eating much of anything too yummy.  But thankfully we seem to have our appetites back and I also have my sense of taste back, which I had not totally lost, but what sense of taste I had wasn't good...things all tasted extremely salty and/or metallic, which was not very pleasant.  

So I am very thankful that I was able to smell this baking...

And because it smelled so delicious, I decided it needed to be sampled while it was still warm, with a little bit of whipped cream on top:

And a cup of tea...a little tea party with the fairies... And YES! It was just as delightful and delicious as it smelled!  

In case your mouth is watering and you want some of this, here's how easy it was to make:

I used a Duncan Hines White Cake mix, and a large can (29oz.) of sliced peaches in syrup.

Here's what I did:

I melted 1 stick of butter and poured it into a 9"x13" baking pan.

I dumped the dry cake mix on top of the butter, and then added three whole eggs and stirred them all together. 

Oh, I forgot, I drained the peaches and saved the syrup, which came to about one cup of syrup. If not, you could add water to make it 1 cup.  I poured in the syrup and stirred that in with the batter mixture.  

Next I added the sliced peaches and stirred them around so they were evenly distributed in the mixture.

I sprinkled a little cinnamon on top and then baked it at 350 for 30 minutes.  

No frosting necessary. Just use a spritz of whipped cream or ice cream if you prefer.  It really is good, and actually is not overly sweet.  

I am very thankful that we seem to have finally turned the corner and may even be on the other side of this illness. Actually, I had a little setback yesterday. I woke up with my throat starting to feel sore again, and my glands were swelling in my throat.  And I just felt so fatigued, which is how I've felt for the past two weeks, but thought I was getting better.  So I decided not to mess around anymore and called the doctor and asked if I could come in to see him. They said yes, but please wear a mask, even though I am past the quarantine period for covid.  No problem.  After examining my throat, etc., he ordered some steroids (prednisone) for me to take for three days to help get me over the hump of this thing. That plus taking allergy medicine each day (claritin), and continue to drink lots of water, etc.  I do feel better today than I did yesterday, but still the fatigue is real.  We went to Walmart today to get caught up with stuff we needed, and that was challenging, but we made it and are so thankful we could do it.  Hubby is doing about the same as I am, but at least we are improving together, and we are extremely thankful to God for His healing!  Our goal is to be able to go to church Sunday and make it through both Sunday School and Church! I still can't sing, so will just have to listen while others do the singing. That will be "music to my ears"!  

Meanwhile, back on the home front, or rather the back porch, "Blackie" the neighborhood kitty seems to be right at home on our porch chairs.  He has been spending the better part of each day on the porch, sometimes switching from one chair to the others, trying them all out, much like "Goldilocks and the 3 Bears".  ("This one is just right!") LOL.

And then he gets bored with the chairs and moves to the table...

Oops, he saw me!

Seeing me looking at him becomes an invitation to come closer and watch us through the doors:

It's a stare down...He watches our every move...

Trying to send us a message I believe...

Well, it's not going to work, "Black Kitty"...or "Blackie", I'm not giving in...we don't need a house cat.  And the neighbor lady already feeds you every day, and you get to lounge around on our soft cushions all day in the lap of luxury...what more do you want???

"I sure would like to move inside with you..."      Well, it's just not going to happen.  We are not really "cat people", and we don't want to be tied down to having to take care of an animal and then when we want to go places who will take care of it?  Cats aren't like dogs...they don't travel well...so Blackie, please stop trying to make me feel sorry for you!  You are perfectly happy out there watching the birds and catching lizards and moles and frogs, and getting good food every day at the neighbor's house, and lazing around all day on the porch...It's not going to work, so please stop it!  You wouldn't like being cooped up all day in the house, I promise!  To be continued...LOL.

I know if my sister Doris were here she'd be telling me to let the poor kitty in...but she's the cat person in the family, not me!  And besides, what would our Grand-puppies think if they came home from their vacation in Minnesota and discovered that Grandma and Grandpa had a CAT living the house?  They'd be really put out with us! LOL.

Moving right along...I think Blackie is bored now because the Bluebirds seem to have left the nest...

I took this picture today...no one is home! all the babies must have flown the coop, and I never even got to see them! But hopefully they have flown up high to safety with their parents and are enjoying the wild blue yonder!

We do still see the Sand Hill Crane family passing through, and I've noticed them out on the marsh island of the pond at night again, so that's good news.  Still sad that they lost one of the colts, but this one is growing bigger every day and flying high with the parents, so that is good.

And I am so thankful for the rain we've been having pretty consistently lately.  It is helping Still Waters Pond to be refreshed and revived little by little.

Isaiah 43:18-20  NKJV

18 “Do not remember the former things,

Nor consider the things of old.

This is a very dry area in the little canal between our land and the Goose Island.  That used to be filled with water and I could kayak through there.  Won't be able to get around there for a while yet, but it will come back...

See? here is where the waters are starting fill it back up:

It's looking better every day:

19 Behold, I will do a new thing,

Now it shall spring forth;

Shall you not know it?

I will even make a road in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert.

And now even the water birds are starting to come back... This Great Blue Heron spent a long time in the pond today, which is the first I've seen of him in quite a while, and there's a little white Egret tagging along beside him, hoping to get the fish the heron doesn't find...

20 The beast of the field will honor Me,

The jackals and the ostriches,

Because I give waters in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert,

To give drink to My people, My chosen.

Not sure if you can see this or not, but there is a dragon fly doing a hand stand for us on that stick in the pond:

See him better now?  There were dragonflies everywhere, eating mosquitoes and bugs as they hovered over the water. They are happy for the pond being restored as well!

There, that's a better view! Isn't he amazing?  One of God's special creatures, showing his thankfulness for a place to live and eat and enjoy the life God has created him for! He even likes to show off for the bystanders!  

John 7:37-38

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

Yes, I am very thankful to God for all He has done for us...our healing and restoration of strength day by day...and the rains that are coming to restore the pond and the earth and springing up with new life everywhere, and even a little friend, "Blackie", who helps us to see that he feels safe here on our porch and being close to us.  Maybe we can work out a mutual arrangement that will make everyone happy...time will tell.

Well, it's time to go try to take a little walk this evening. We try to get out every day and increase our distance of walking...we haven't quite made it as far as we normally would go yet, but we do get a little farther each time, so that is progress, and we are very thankful indeed.

I hope you are doing well where you are...and oh, one more thing. Those of you who are blogging friends with Debbi over at Debbi's Front Porch, I am sure she would appreciate your thoughts and prayers right now for her and her hubby. He is experiencing some serious health issues right now, and needs our prayers.  Thank you on their behalf.

Okay, good night everyone! "

1 I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;

I will tell of all Your marvelous works.

2 I will be glad and rejoice in You;

I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

Psalm 9:1-2

 

Friday Foto Friends-A little late!

I'm a little late to the party today.  Yesterday was a long day, as I was helping our daughter in love Rose at "Dixie Cottage" all day,  and I slept in about a half hour longer this morning until almost 6 a.m.! Which got me off to a late start for posting anything this morning as we are on a "strict schedule"... that first cup of tea (coffee for hubby), while checking emails/Facebook/blogger. If I want to post anything in the morning, I'd best have it ready to go before 7 a.m., because that's when we read our devotions together and then have breakfast while watching the news (IF I can stand to watch it, which oftentimes lately I cannot so off it goes...), and then we clean up breakfast dishes and go get dressed and ready for the day...walk, shop, laundry, whatever other important stuff we can dream up.

Doesn't that sound like an exhilarating, thrilling morning to you?

Such is the life of two retired folks who are in a "routine". (I won't call it a rut. But it could be misconstrued as such by those who don't appreciate how hard we work at it.)

And so, I didn't really have anything exciting or new to share with you today and my poor tired brain from so much "routine living" couldn't come up with anything too thrilling to share.  Although working all day at Dixie Cottage is anything but dull or routine...just tiring for this old gal. I will share a few pictures from yesterday later in this post. 

But for now to start the day off right (now it is after 2:00 pm....I've dilly dallied enough)

Here we go:

From our walk one evening this week...this gorgeous "Calico Pennant" dragonfly, sipping nectar or whatever she can get from what looks like dried up weeds. She very gracefully sat still long enough for me to get this great photo.

These wild persimmons are growing all along the trail of our daily walk. But I sure won't make the mistake of trying to eat one again!!

Now, if you've already read The Adventures of Lily Grace this week, you've already seen these next few pictures of the bluebirds in the last moments prior to leaving the nest:

Papa Bluebird has just told Junior that he's not going to be bringing him anymore free grasshoppers. He's going to have to get outside this birdhouse and start finding his own!

Junior begs Papa for just one more grasshopper, pleeeeeze?  But Papa Bluebird, practicing "tough love" flies away and leaves Junior and his siblings in the nest to figure it out for themselves...

Junior sticks his head out the hole and looks around and says, "Where did he go?" "He can't do this to me!"  "I'm not ready to fly on my own yet, am I?"

But after a few moments waiting for Papa or Mama to come back, he realizes that they meant what they said. It was time for him to leave the nest and learn how to support himself.

And so, after a great push off of the walls that were securely protecting him until he was ready to fly...he finally took a giant leap of faith and flew perfectly to the housetop nearby. 

Mama Bluebird and a neighborhood friend, Mr.  Tufted Titmouse, were there to cheer him on.

He looked around him in awe at the beauty and freedom that surrounded him on every side.

One by one all of the baby bluebirds left the nest, and soon they were joining all of the other Bluebird community in the trees and world beyond our little birdhouse on Still Waters Pond.

We haven't seen them since, but I know God is watching over them and they are happily on their way to exploring this great big world!

“Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!”

“You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest."
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!

And so now I am back to watching the lizards and dragonflies doing their tricks...

I hope it won't be long before God sends us another bird family or something else to watch and enjoy. You never know what excitement may be coming in the future...so keep your eyes open and ready for new adventures every day!

 And now for those pictures from Dixie Cottage that I promised from my visit there yesterday:

They have set up one room of furnishings and decor that they have labled the "Nautical Room"  (no,  not the "Naughty Room" as Lily Grace thought it was called), but a room for all things coastal and beachy.

I liked the stacking whales lamp...

Of course, most of the decor and furnishings in the whole store are considered more "coastal" in theme, but this room is more concentratedly so.

Lots of whales abound in these seas!

And fish shaped tables

They even have whale shaped salt and pepper shakers!

Back in the main showroom they have many beautiful items for sale. This was just one of the newer ones that my son refurbished:

Somehow I managed to take a "selfie" of my feet. No, those shoes aren't green, but they look it. Just gray, and tired feet at the end of the day.

And so I think I will end this post here as I need to get up on those feet get to work doing something around this house today!!!

How about we conclude with a cup of tea and some thoughts from this lovely little Devotional Book, "Choose Grace", that my friend "Auntie Opal" (as Lily Grace calls her) gave me:

Whatever we do, whether it be routine, mundane, or a new adventure, let us frame all of it in the beautiful portrait of living a life in love with our Lord and Savior, filled with all of our "passion, prayer, intelligence and energy."

So, with love to you through Christ our Lord,

Have a blessed and wonderful rest of your day and weekend.

It's never too late to give glory to God!