It Was A Foggy Saturday Morning!

I started writing this post early this morning when it looked like this outside: 

We've had a lot of these foggy mornings lately, and my heart goes out to those who have to drive in it. It may not be as bad as a snow storm, but the visibility can be just as bad in some places. 

I much prefer to drive when it looks like this, which was yesterday morning:

And I also prefer to be home when the sun is setting in the west like it did last night:

It can be brutal heading west when the sun is going down, so it's much nicer to just stay here and enjoy watching it over "Still NO Waters Pond".  I do miss the beautiful reflections we used to get on the water during the sunsets.  Hopefully we will get some spring rains that will bring the pond back to its natural beauty.  We are supposed to get some rain tomorrow and again sometime during next week, along with a drop in the temperatures again...back into the 40's and high 30's in the mornings, and 50's and 60's for the high. Today it's 83 degrees right now. No wonder people keep getting sick!

I finally got all the Christmas decorations and the tree down and put away yesterday.  So instead of the tree in front of this window, here's the view now:

Oh, wait! Who's that???  Blackie? Where did YOU come from??? You're supposed to be on the outside looking in, not the inside looking out! LOL!

I wanted to thank you all for your input regarding flea treatments, etc. for Blackie.  I did zero in on one that sounds affordable and safe for an outside/inside cat. One of my very old friends from many years ago sent me a private message to tell me what she uses for their inside/outside cat. She reads my blog, but never comments on here, so it was a surprise to get an email from her with just the information I needed.  I ordered it from Amazon and it came today and we already applied it to Blackie's back of the neck...and he promptly went outside and rolled in the sand and now the spot has sand stuck on it, but hopefully that won't affect the effectiveness of the treatment. He does love to roll in the sand!!!!

I don't foresee Blackie becoming a full time indoor cat anytime soon, but we do enjoy letting him come inside for a few minutes and explore, and then I scoop him up and give him some snuggles and put him back outside (until the next time he manages to scoot in the door when we open it). For now he's happy and so are we with that arrangement.  Time will tell what will develop.

As I was cleaning off the kitchen counter where  so much of the Christmas decorations were, I rediscovered this little knicknack...

Here's what it says:

Amen!!

The little saying above that says "Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings while the dawn is still dark" actually came from a Chinese Fortune Cookie, and I kept it because it spoke to me. 

It reminds me of this verse from Hebrews 11:1:

"1.  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

To me, that means that faith is having confidence that the things God has promised in His Word will indeed happen, even when I can't see them yet.   And so, like the bird who can "feel the light and sing while the dawn is still dark", I too can sing and smile with confidence that what God has promised to us, He will deliver.  

Even though the Christmas items have mostly been put away, there's still little reminders here and there...like that cup full of Christmas candy that no one seems to want to eat...

And I still haven't taken down the Christmas cards that were strung up on the room divider in the foyer...

We did enjoy receiving so many lovely cards. There were a few more that didn't make it on this arrangement because I just got lazy, but we enjoyed them just the same. LOL.

I know we didn't get as many as usual, but I didn't send out as many as usual either, because I was sick most of the month of December. I feel blessed that we somehow still managed to have Christmas at all! God is good, and we are very thankful. And as someone said recently in their blog (I'd have to go back and check to see who it was), we need to keep the Christmas spirit going on into the New Year and all year long, and continue in the spirit of love and kindness and generosity and hope and joy and peace and faith!

On another note, after the fog lifted we took a little ride this morning. Remember last week when we went to the Kenwood Boat Ramp and saw how little water was there?  Well, yesterday someone told me that if we took another little road right next to that location, we would be able to drive all the way to where the water is and where the boaters can still put in their boats and go out into what's left of the river/lake and go fishing or take a boat ride.  And so this morning we decided to ride down there and see it for ourselves, and here's what we discovered:

You can see a lot of trucks/boat trailers lined up along the shore...and there were a lot more than this, so they are out there somewhere in that water having a great day hopefully and catching whatever fish are there!

Normally there was water all the way to the tree lines, and when they release the water again in March all this bare ground will be covered in water again.

It was fascinating to see all the mussel shells all over the ground.  

There were a lot of water birds along the shore finding something good to eat.  Also, in the distance, if you notice all those tree stumps...those are cypress tree knees and or/trunks, from where they cut the trees years ago to create this reservoir.  The water in the middle is apparently the original river that flows through there naturally.

This place is fascinating to me...it's like being on a different planet! LOL.

That's an interesting cloud floating up in the sky (below).  Kind of looks like an angel!  You can also see there was still some fog lingering along the top of the water.  

I hope you enjoyed these photos. I really enjoyed being there. It was a unique experience.

After we left the river/lake/resesrvoir ?,  we stopped in at the Deep Creek Game Farm and Trading Post. Our son was there selling his garden planter/containers, so we visited with him a while, and then I went around to the different vendors and into the Trading Post store.  Out of everything there to look at, this is the main thing that caught my attention...can you guess why?

I was really tempted to buy it as it really wasn't very expensive, but to be honest, I wasn't too thrilled with the giant sea turtle flying into the window, so I decided to pass it up. I loved the church and the window and everything else about it, however.  It's still tempting because it goes along with my blog so perfectly, but I am proud of myself for not giving into temptation.  It's just kind of a strange painting I think.

Still, the theme makes one think, doesn't it?  "When God closes a door, He opens a window". That's the quote that got me started on this blog some 16 years ago.  HERE is a LINK to that very first blog post.

And the verse mentioned in that post goes along very well with the pictures above of the "rivers in the desert".    I know I've often quoted these verses, but they bear repeating as we are still beginning a new year, hopefully filled with many "new things",  and roads in the wilderness and rivers in the desert of wherever we may find ourselves from time to time.  

Isaiah 43:18-19 NKJV

18 “Do not remember the former things,

Nor consider the things of old.

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."

May we be like that little bird, who "feels the light and sings while the dawn is still dark."  Amen? Amen.

And also, "Just as God gives the birds an abundance of seeds, He sends us His blessings and cares for our needs."   Amen,  and Praise the Lord!

It's almost dark now, and I've  finally finished this post. I hope you have a blessed and wonderful evening and "SONday" tomorrow.  

Happy September/Labor Day!Updated

UPDATE at 3:45 p.m.: Blackie is HOME!!

He didn't give us any explanation as to where he'd been all day, but he came home for supper and he's hungry! He looks fine...so I guess he just needed a day out on the "town" or something...who knows? But we are very happy he's home, and as you can see, Sunshine is happy too.  So thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for our wayward kitty!    

I love a happy ending, don't you?   

Happy September 1st, 2025! Happy Labor Day!  Hooray for the "ber" months to finally arrive! My favorite time of year!  And in keeping with celebrating the beginning of the "ber" months (SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER, DecemBER), let's start out with the calendar roll call!

I kind of love this one...do you see the rainbow across the lake? This is the kind of scene that I love...and even though our Still Waters Pond has never had quite this much water in it, this picture reminds me of our beautiful pond and the lovely sunsets we have enjoyed here.

Some of you have already seen these photos on Facebook last week, but this is how our Still Waters Pond looked a few mornings ago...pretty much encased in fog, and you can see how desperately dry the pond is right now...we definitely need those rainstorms to come our way instead of circumventing our area every day and giving us false hope!

Okay, let's get back on track...back to the September Calendars!  Oh, I DO love this John Sloane Country Seasons calendar...and this picture is picture perfect!  Entitled "Ladies in Waiting"...the young lady is waiting for some customers at her vegetable wagon, and the hens are waiting for ??? A Rooster??? LOL.   And I'm waiting for the apples to ripen...nothing like fresh apples in the fall. I am excited that next month we plan to go to the North Georgia Mountains for a few days with our kids, and the highlight is always to go get some fresh apples at the apple orchards!   So I guess I am a "lady in waiting" too!

I'm still waiting to do our fall decorating when hubby and I can get out to the shed and bring in all the containers of decor. (Or until a strong son comes and does it for us...we'll see which comes first!)  But meanwhile I changed out a few things here and there with items that I already have in the house, and we went to the Dollar General this morning and saw these two new fall mugs and decided they needed to come home with us. 

Guess which one is going to be hubby's, and which one is going to be mine?

Believe it or not, hubby picked the Pumpkin Patch one, but only after I said I would buy two of the same "grateful, thankful, blessed" mugs so we could each have the same thing...he said "No, I want the Pumpkin Patch mug and you can have the other one." I asked if he was sure, and he said yes, he was sure, so there you go! Did you guess that?

And speaking still about waiting...Here is Sunshine, up on top of the grill on the back porch and looking inside my window while I sit here and work. This was actually a little earlier this morning. Normally the grill is Blackie's favorite spot, but for some reason Blackie has not shown up yet this morning, which is VERY strange.   When I went out to feed them at 7:00 Sunshine was the only one here. I called and called for Blackie, but he never showed up to eat.  A little while later is when Sunshine decided to jump up on Blackie's favorite perch and he sat there for a long time, watching me through the window and also watching for Blackie to arrive.  It is now after 10:30 a.m., and still no sign of Blackie.  We drove around the neighborhood a while ago to make sure he wasn't laying on the road somewhere, and praying that he wasn't...and no sign of him.  I go out and call every so often and even rattled the treat container so he could hear it, but still no response.  This is unusual for Blackie, so I am praying that he's not hurt somewhere.  If he doesn't show up soon I will put a notice on our community "word of mouth" on Facebook to see if anyone has seen him. Of course, there are many black cats around and they all pretty much look alike, but Blackie has that clipped ear which should distinguish him.  So, if you don't mind, please say a little prayer for his safe return. Thank you. I will keep you posted.

Meanwhile, I'm  keeping busy.  Here's the Susan Branch calendar for September. I love the little poem by Louisa May Alcott:

I used to be like that child, always doodling on my pages. I once was very artistic, but not so much anymore. It's one of those talents that if you don't use it, you lose it. Maybe if I really tried it would come back...but I just don't seem to have the drive for it anymore.

Oh, and this is on that calendar too: "Be Your Own Best Friend".  Well, yes, we need to take care of ourselves and be kind to ourselves, but we need good friends too. I appreciate having YOU as dear friends! Thank you.

This is a little sign of fall...that huge sycamore tree that we pass by on our walk is starting to turn golden. They are one of the first trees to lose their leaves here, and the leaves are HUGE!  We had four of these huge trees at our last house, and raking up those leaves was a bit of a pain!  I enjoyed the shade in the summer, but wasn't crazy about them in the fall! 

Back to the calendars:  Here's the Thomas  Kinkade one for September:

I love that scene, don't you?

And this is one of my favorite verses, which was on this particular calendar as well:

I love the little Chinese looking teapot on the Teapot Calendar for September.  Very colorful!

Below is a little teapot that I have that I like to set out in the fall because of it's colors. Although it says it was made in Austria, to me it has the look of a Chinese design. What do you think?

This is the back side of the design:

Here's a fun little quote from Rudyard Kipling:

Yes, if I didn't have any tea for a week it would feel like the "bottom is out of the Universe" to me as well! LOL.

Yesterday our church had a 5th Sunday Potluck dinner after church. Hubby took this picture of me with my mouth full!  Hello!

I took his picture and at least I had the decency to make sure his mouth wasn't full! LOL.  I was just so happy that he actually wanted to stay for the dinner. It's been a while since he felt like doing things at church, especially after church, when he'd like to be home taking a nap! So this is a good sign that he is truly getting better.  We still don't know for sure what was wrong, but we are very thankful that whatever it was seems to be going away. Praise God! Thank you for your prayers over the past few months!  I believe they have been answered.  And I am feeling much better too, so that is also a big answer to prayer.

As a matter of fact, I felt well enough last night to make myself a chocolate soda! I probably shouldn't have, but I just wanted one. Besides, the ice-cream we used had no sugar added and only 1/2 the fat, and it still tasted good!  The club soda used to make the soda has no sugar or calories at all, so the only real sugar was in the tablespoon of Hershey's chocolate syrup, which couldn't have been too much, right?  Oh, and one squirt of whipped cream! It was good, and sometimes we just need to treat ourselves.

Well, it is now 2:16 p.m.  I've been working on this post throughout the day as I have had time. I just went back outside a little while ago and walked around calling Blackie. I did also put a post on our community "Word of Mouth" Facebook page to see if anyone has seen him. I called my neighbor who used to feed the kitties before she got sick to see if she has heard or seen him over there. By the way, she is feeling much better now and is at home, but is not able to take care of the cats due to very decreased mobility. Anyway, no, she hasn't heard any strange noises under her house (where the cats used to go).  I went over and walked around there and called him and looked under there, but no sight or sound of him.  So we will wait and see if he shows up for supper around 4:00, and if not, maybe we'll take a ride a little further out in our neighborhood.   Sunshine has stayed close to the house all day and seems rather clingy.  I've asked him if he knows where Blackie could be, but he's not like the dog Lassie and hasn't tried to get me to follow him anywhere.  So we will just have to wait and pray.  Y'all knew I'd get attached to these cats, didn't you?  Yeah...I am. I am praying for the best outcome, but preparing myself for the possibility that Blackie may not come home.  Time will tell. Cats can be strange and they like to wander sometimes. We'll see...

Blackie and Sunshine last week. They sure love each other.

On that note, I will close this, but I will update it later if there is any good news. Meanwhile, this was on the Susan Branch calendar, and I love it:

Amen!

Happy Labor Day. (picture taken on that foggy morning.)