Thankful Thursday/Friday Foto Friends

 
I know, I know, I haven't written a thing this week, and I haven't even been around to visit all of my blogging friends. Please forgive. It just seemed like a busy week, and I couldn't make my brain sit down and settle down and write or read. 

Sometimes you just have to give yourself a break...you know?  I know you all know because many of you have been taking some breaks here and there as well. We need to step away sometimes and give ourselves room to breathe and grow and view things from new perspectives

...or something like that.  Anyway, I am sorry to be so "distant" lately...I hope you are all still out there and haven't gone away...

So, tonight I want to start out by being thankful.  It has been a busy week, but in good ways. We've had some "things" going on, decisions being made about things, steps being taken to begin the process of "downsizing" and cleaning out extra "stuff". 

God has been very gracious...giving us wisdom when we asked for it...patience when we needed it, and hope and reassurance that He is still working on our future plans...His way, not ours.  (That's the BEST way).

(Deer pictures courtesy of my friendly neighborhood deer visiting my yard at noon today)

Let's see, what else has been happening?

Well, last weekend our son and his wife had a yard sale, and we went to help out a little bit...
(and thankfully, the sale was fairly successful...they reached the goal they hoped for and then some...and are going to have another sale THIS weekend as well!)

And one of my friends at church asked if they had a little desk for sale.  I told her no, they didn't, "but I have a little desk that I would be happy to give you".  She was so surprised that I would give it to her and offered to buy it, but I reassured her that I did not want anything for it...just that they would come pick it up.  She was more than happy to do so.  She was thrilled that this desk was exactly what she was hoping for and had actually been praying for.  God answers prayers in mysterious ways sometimes, doesn't He? 

 And then I asked her if they would mind also picking up this sewing machine in a cabinet and take it to the church, for the ladies'  "Sew and Sew" Quilting group.  I've been promising it to them for a while, but didn't have any way to get it there. She was very happy to do so.  Now, I am not telling you this to give myself a pat on the back or from you either...

But I did this for somewhat "selfish" reasons, and some not quite so selfish. 

1.  It felt good to give something away to someone else who truly needed it and appreciated it.
2. It helped me to begin the process of "downsizing" and cleaning out and getting ready for our hoped for and expected upcoming move (sometime in the future!)
3. These were items that I was not really using, and they needed to go where they would be used.
4. The "Sew and Sew" quilt group makes lap quilts for Hospice House, Ronald McDonald House, and the VA Hospital.   They can use this machine to help make the quilts. I have not been able to participate in the group since we still live too far away to make many trips back and forth during the week, but this is one way of doing my part and helping.
5. The lady who wanted the desk has the ministry of sending out get well cards, birthday cards, and sympathy cards, etc., from our church to people in the church and community. This little desk would be a way to help her with her ministry

My thoughts were as I donated these items that maybe this would be like planting a seed that will grow into opening the doors for us to finally be able to sell our house and move to the community where our church is and where we want to be able to help serve better in our church and make new friends in that community.  May God bless and honor this prayer and desire of our hearts...in His time.   

Oh, and actually...we did have an offer on our house this week...however it was an extremely LOW offer, one that we could not consider in good conscience,  so we gave a counter offer, but the person was not able to raise her offer...so we will be patient and wait for the Lord to bring someone else.

Now, after all of that excitement, I also got a little creative this week. (I started taking vitamins again, can you tell? I think it's helping...)  Anyway, in removing that sewing machine cabinet from our laundry/utility room area, it left an empty space where we had been storing our containers of soft drinks and bottled water on top of and under that cabinet.  Now I needed something to hold those items still rather than just stacking them on the floor.  I know, I got rid of something, and now I want to put something back, you are saying?!  Well, this is where I got creative.  I decided to create something out of items that we already had taking up space in our workshop/shed.

This is the iron base for an old sewing machine cabinet that I had for many years. The wooden part of the cabinet was falling apart and finally had to be removed/destroyed.  (No, this isn't the one that I have in my house that belonged to my husband's grandmother...this is another that I've had for years).

It was collecting dust in the shed, waiting to be used for something. The treadle and wheel have been gone for years, so it is basically just the "legs". So I cleaned off the dust and spray painted it with a flat black rustoleum paint.

Also, in the shed was this lovely panel of wood, already stained and varnished, which used to be the top to a bench that the bottom got broken off of, and it needed a new home...It just "happened" to fit perfectly on the top of this iron base:

 And so now here it is, the new "beverage bar" in our house...yes, that is "Fresca"...the original grapefruit flavor. My hubby loves that stuff. The coke is for those who don't love that stuff,  and the bottled water is for those who don't love our sulfur tasting well water here...

This little table will also make a great table to hold my portable sewing machine whenever I do get the urge to sew something again...

So, that was my creative project for this week!  I did this all by myself!!!  I am very thankful for the tools, miscellaneous pieces of odds and ends, and the basic skills to do these things.  I am blessed.


And this picture is of my breakfast this morning...yes, those are eggo waffles with syrup and fresh blueberries (cooked for 30 seconds in the microwave to heat them up), sausage and scrambled eggs.  It was delicious...and yes, I DO rejoice in each new day!!!

I especially enjoyed my breakfast, served on this beautiful tray, made on reclaimed wood by my son, at "Ben's Country Woodshop".  This was my one purchase from his yard sale last weekend, and I have been enjoying serving myself breakfast and lunch on this tray as I carry it into the living room where hubby and I often sit and enjoy watching the news (not really enjoying that) or some other interesting program together.  This tray was originally designed to be a laptop tray...but since I don't use a laptop (gasp! I sit at a desk and write on a desktop computer the old fashioned way! LOL), I enjoy it for my own personal dinner tray.  Doesn't take much to make this girl happy!!

Another thing to be thankful for...Ben's Country Woodshop, our son's home business with his wife Rose, along with their online Etsy shops, BRCoastalRusticDecor and Rustic Forest Studio, are really doing well.  They had some real encouragement this past week, as a result of meeting people at the yard sale, that has led to some new opportunities for sales in the local area as well as the online business!  This is a WONDERFUL blessing and answer to prayer...so I just want to give God the glory and praise for all that He is doing in our lives!!!

Friday Foto Friends- A Little This, A Little That

Psalm 111: 1-4
"I will praise the Lord with my whole heart,
In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.
The works of the Lord are great,
Studied by all who have pleasure in them.
His work is honorable and glorious,
And His righteousness endures forever.
He has made His wonderful works to be remembered;
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion."

What a great way to start out this Friday Foto Friends...praising the Lord "with my whole heart"...and being reminded that the Lord "has made His wonderful works to be remembered...", and that is one of the reasons I take so many pictures...to remember God's wonderful works!  There is so much to see, study and "have pleasure in them"...for His work is honorable and glorious...

So, some of my photographs this week are of a few of God's wonderful works to be remembered...and others are just a little this and that of what I've done or have seen this past week.  In everything, I give thanks and praise to God.

I will start with the clouds!  With all of the storms we've had this past week, there have been many opportunities to watch the clouds rolling in and out...so here are some that I found noteworthy:

These last two are actually of the sun breaking through the clouds after the rain this past evening (writing this on Thursday night)  The pictures never do them justice...but the sun was so brilliant as it broke through the clouds...again
"The works of the Lord are great!" 

And this is the rain falling down...the sun was actually shining during this little shower and the raindrops were sparkling on the trees, but it didn't show up quite that way. This looks more like snow! But it is definitely rain...I live in Florida, and it was about 90 degrees when I took this picture!

I thought this looked like icicles hanging from the trees!

I couldn't let a week go by without another rose blossom...every few days a new one opens, and I just love to watch them open their lovely faces to praise the Lord Who created them...

And our "bird of the week" is this tiny young ? warbler of some kind?.  He was feasting on the mimosa tree flowers after the rain. Can you find the lady bug?

Now we will change gears a bit.  

This looks like a bar of soap.

It is,...but it is handmade (Rosemary) soap, created by the daughter in law of one of my dear friends.

My friend brought several of these bars for me to try...actually, she had given me some quite some time ago, and it just sort of sat there and I just sort of forgot about it because I've always been  a "Dove" girl.  But lately I've noticed that my skin was getting very dry, tight, and wrinkled! Yikes!

I'm too young for wrinkles! (Ha!) But honestly, as soon as I'd wash my face, I'd have to put a ton of lotion on to smooth it out and relieve the tightness.

So, I thought, why not try this lovely bar of homemade soap? And so I did.

And I have to tell you (this is not a commercial), but I could not believe how smooth and soft and fresh my face felt! It didn't tighten up like usual, and the "wrinkles" seemed to smooth right out...I couldn't even see them in my mirror! Even when I turned the lights on bright and put on my glasses!

So I had to know what was in this soap...and it is Emu Oil and Goats Milk, along with other essential oils.  Now I am trying to contact this lady and find out about other products she makes...and I will keep you informed.  

Have any of you ever used soap with Emu Oil before?

This is a real nice little gift from one of God's amazing creatures...actually two...don't forget the goats!

I was so excited about this I had to tell you!  You probably already knew it and never bothered to tell me...but now the secret is out!

Now, what else happened this week?

Oh yes! I had my four week check up with the doctor today (Thursday) following my surgery. She said I am doing just fine and she will see me again in two months. I am still in the healing mode and not totally back to normal yet...but I am doing as well as can be expected for this time period.  So I give thanks to the Lord for His goodness to me. 

I do not take healing for granted. It is a gift from God.

"The Lord is gracious and full of compassion."

One more thing I did this week. Some of you real seamstresses out there will probably laugh at this.

I am not a seamstress.  Oh, I can sew...but I find it mostly a lesson in frustration...something I don't have much patience for anymore.  But I guess I am getting a little stir crazy being cooped up so much.  One day, as I was taking one of my afternoon naps, I laid there thinking about a nightgown that I've never worn that was hidden away in the bottom drawer of the dresser  

Why? Well, because it had long sleeves and came down below my knees, and here in Florida I just never have needed long sleeved, long tailed nightgowns. I still get hot flashes during the night and just the thought of being trapped in attached long sleeves and tangled up in a long gown is enough to make me break out in a sweat.

So, I got this brilliant idea to make it into a usable short nightgown! I'm sorry I didn't take a before picture, but my husband surreptitiously took a few "during reconstruction" pictures ...I'll show you the ones I approved of.

Here I am in my "sewing room", which is actually in our master bathroom, which is sort of an expanded utility room where our extra fridge resides along with other stuff. (hence the cartons of soft drinks on the floor...they were sitting on top of the sewing machine cabinet) (this picture is looking in from our bedroom....yes, I have dolls everywhere).  

I was diligently trying to figure out how to wind thread on a bobbin on this machine.

 See how hard I was concentrating on this? Actually, I finally decided that on this sewing machine, which is new to me...a "gift" from a friend who has several newer models and didn't need this one anymore, anyway, the bobbin winding mechanism no longer works.  No matter what I tried, it would not do it. I finally found a filled bobbin that was close enough in color to use. I will have to deal with that problem another day when I feel better.

Me, deep in concentration...

 It also took me a while to figure out how to thread this machine...it is a Montgomery Ward machine (that should tell you how old it is), and loads differently than my old Singer.

But I must say I am thankful for this gift from my friend. Once I got all the bugs figured out, it actually did a nice job of sewing!!

So, here is the final product, after I cut off the sleeves to a short cap sleeve, and cut off the bottom to create a shorter gown.

I love it!  I've worn it every night since. Probably need to wash it again...

Okay, that's all for now folks!  We just had a huge thunder crack here...and I think I'll stop typing before the storm gets worse...

"The works of the Lord are great!

Praise the Lord"

Now, let's pop over to Deb's place at Breathing in Grace, and see what all our other Friday Foto Friends have been up to!  Have a blessed weekend my friends!  Don't forget to Praise the Lord for all His wondrous works!  Bye now!