It's A "Stormy" Weekend in July

 Hello Everyone! Hey! It's the 2nd Saturday in July! What does that mean? Well...it means it's HOT. That's about the best way I can describe it!  LOL.  We have been under a "heat advisory" every day this week, with highs in the high 90's with a heat index around 110...and that's hot, even for Florida.   It's also prime weather for pop up thunderstorms, which have mostly passed us by until yesterday afternoon, and then we had a doozy!!

It's been a long time since we've had a real thunderstorm with extreme lightning, winds, and hail! But we sure did have it yesterday afternoon...and here's just a snippet of how it sounded:

 Here's how it looked on our front porch:

 

I was afraid our umbrellas on the porch were going to blow away, but it was too scary (and wet) for me to go out and try to put them down, so we just took our chances that they would stay put, and thank the Lord, they did.  I was actually more worried about our big old oak trees in the front yard, especially concerned about the possibility of them dropping some big branches or even falling on our house.  Again, thank the Lord they stayed upright and intact!  Thankfully our car was not parked under them, which we normally do on these hot days to keep it shaded, but hubby had already gone out and moved the car out from under the trees before the storm started.   But even still, no branches came down, not even tiny ones! That's pretty much a miracle in itself, because even in small rain storms little branches will blow down!

Those tiny white specks are hail stones. They were about dime size for the most part. Thankfully not big enough to do any damage, but they sure were loud on the windows and our metal roof!

This was the view on our covered back porch! The wind was blowing from the west, which is the side of this porch, and everything on the porch was soaked, and the sound of the hail under the metal roof was deafening. But again, no damage done, praise the Lord.

When the storm started, thankfully Blackie was safe inside the house. He had been sleeping on the couch, but with the first crack of thunder and lightning, he woke up and looked around rather startledly. Then when the hail and high winds started, he jumped down off the couch and stuck his head under the couch, and stayed there until the storm passed by.  Poor baby. He was so scared, but he was smarter than we were.  He knew he should cover his head in a bad storm like that in case of a tornado, while we were running back and forth from window to window to look outside and see what was going on. Sometimes I do believe that animals are smarter than humans.

After the storm was finally over, I went outside on the back porch to look around, and I heard this Muscovy duck making a low quacking sound and running back and forth in the yard, reminding me of a "chicken with her head cut off".   You could tell she was very nervous and shook up, and just kept running around and round making that noise. Usually they are rather quiet ducks and do not have a loud quack. 

Finally, she jumped into the little swimming pool that we keep out there to give water to the critters since the pond is still dry (yes! even after the rain storm it is still dry). 

She stayed in the pool and bathed herself for quite some time.  Finally I guess she felt safe and clean enough to fly away, and I haven't seen her since.

I am writing this on Saturday afternoon, and now as I am sitting here looking out my window in my "Room With A View", I can see the dark skies and hear the thunder rolling around once again. It is also starting to rain. Thankfully no hail so far. I'll let you know if that changes!

Meanwhile, I'm not doing a very good job of keeping up with this photo-a-day challenge. Today is the 11th, and I still haven't done one for the 10th, which was supposed to be "Busy".

This morning our son picked us up in his pick up truck and drove us down to that "Joe's Stuff n Such" place again.  (you can click on that link to see when we went there back in June).  The reason for this trip was to return/exchange a screen door for our sliding glass doors on the back porch.  We had purchased a used one from them a few weeks ago...they sell all kinds of doors, windows, etc., used, and some new, and the one we got didn't quite fit, so we took it back to today and found another one. It mostly fits, but still needs some tweaking, but it will do.  Now whenever it gets cooler again we can open up the backdoor and let some fresh air in the house. That will be nice!  

Of course, no trip to that place would be right if I didn't take some more pictures. I will call this my "Busy" photo for July 10th, because that place is very "busy", filled from top to bottom with so much "stuff and such" you just wouldn't believe it all.  So here you go:

This was the first thing we saw when we pulled up and parked...this very old blue car...

I rather like this shade of blue, but probably not for a car...

Oh! It's a Mercedes Benz! I have no clue how old it is, but it's old, that's for sure!

Talking about old, How about this ancient "Fordson" tractor?  HERE is a link to some information about this old tractor.

Per Google AI: 

"The Fordson tractor was a pioneer of mechanized agriculture, mass-produced by Henry Ford & Son starting in 1917. Dubbed the “Model T of the Soil”, it became the first lightweight, affordable, and mass-produced tractor, revolutionizing farming and largely replacing horse-drawn labor. [1, 2, 3, 4]"  

I think I would have to disagree with the term "Lightweight".  It looks pretty heavy to me! LOL.

Next we came upon these old bathtubs...who wouldn't just love to have one of these? Oh, and I love that old sink too!  (The only problem with the tubs is getting in and out of them...)

Now here is a relic from the past!  Look at this old "Underwood" Typewriter!  How many of you learned to type on an old manual typewriter similar to this?  I did!  They wouldn't let us type on an electric typewriter until we mastered the manual one. Oh, those were the days my friend!  

And I didn't open this case this time, but I did the last time we were there, and there is a very nice OLD antique Singer Sewing machine in there, with an electric motor attached. I am still tempted to go back and get this. I don't know how much they want for it, but I bet it would work better than the new cheap plastic Singer sewing machine I bought at Walmart a few years ago, that jams and breaks needles and literally drives me crazy every time I try to sew anything, so that is why I don't sew anymore! I bet this old one, with some TLC and a good oil job, would probably hum right along like a Singer should! They sure don't make them like they used to!

Here's the last sight as we drove away...the other side of their sign out front...

This was the picture of the other side that I showed last time we were there. Can't read it either, but everyone seems to know what this place is!

If you're curious enough to want to go visit them, here's the information. They are only open on Saturdays from 9-3.  

Well, the storm has passed by...we had a nice little rainstorm without too much drama while I was writing...and now I need to get up and move around, so I will say goodnight, and I hope you enjoyed this visit as much as I did! 

In closing....Here's a song that goes along with these couple of  stormy days..."Til the Storm Passes By"...This can be applied to more than just the weather kind of storms, but also to the storms that we face in our lives from time to time..."Precious Lord, hear my cry...keep me safe 'til the storm passes by..."

‘Til the Storm Passes By

Song by Gaither Vocal Band ‧ 2014

Lyrics

"In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face

While the storm howls above me, and there's no hiding place

'Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more

Till the clouds roll forever from the sky

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

Many times Satan whispered

There is no use to try

For there's no end of sorrow, there's no hope by and by

But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I'll rise

Where the storms never darken the skies

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more

Till the clouds roll forever from the sky

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand

Keep me safe till the storm passes by"

Amen, and I hope you are safe in the "hollow" of God's hands every day.

Tuesday 4~ Weathering the Storm

 Weathering the Storm

It's time for Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4. After Toni passed into Paradise, I wanted to keep her memory and her meme alive.
When thunder and lightning happen, cats, dogs, squirrels like to be in a small, safe , enclosure. Inside animals will hide under beds, outside they are appreciative of a box or little house to hide in. People are no different it seems.


1. Do storms frighten you or make you cautious?
Certainly if there are big bad storms I am cautious and nervous about it. Especially if we know a hurricane is coming...we always have concerns and take a lot of precautions to get things ready so we will be safe and have everything we need on hand in case the power goes off.  Thankfully we have never had to evacuate because of any storms where we live. We are far enough inland that we don't get the worst of the storms, but we usually get a lot of wind and rain and the danger is always that trees could fall on the house or roads.

2. What is the worst weather you can remember?

I honestly don't remember the names of the storms, but we've been through some pretty scary hurricanes in our life time of living in Florida.  We've also been through some snowstorms and ice storms when we lived in the north, but we were never snowed in for any length of time, thankfully.


3.Are you in a personal storm right now and do you need our prayers to help you through it? I think many bloggers are prayer warriors indeed.

Thankfully, nothing major right now. We've been there before, and were so very thankful for all the prayers we could get during those times. Prayer really does help, even from people we may not know personally...but just to know that people are out there praying on our behalf is always a great comfort. And yes, I am very thankful for our blogger prayer warriors. You are all a beautiful and wonderful family. Thank you for the times you prayed for me and my family. And I consider it a privlege to be able to pray for you as well.  


4. What is the best advice you can give to others about weathering storms of any kind.

Click HERE for a link to a list of scripture verses from the Bible about weathering the storms of life.   It is printable if you wish to print a copy and keep it in your Bible or in a place where you can see it when life is getting "stormy".   Here's a few of the verses that are listed that I find helpful...

Psalm 91:1-16

English Standard Version

My Refuge and My Fortress

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler

and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his pinions,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

5 You will not fear the terror of the night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

8 You will only look with your eyes

and see the recompense of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—

the Most High, who is my refuge—

10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,

no plague come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways.

12 On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;

the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;

I will protect him, because he knows my name.

15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will rescue him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him

and show him my salvation.”

Psalm 34:17-20  English Standard Version

"17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears

and delivers them out of all their troubles.

18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted

and saves the crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

20 He keeps all his bones;

not one of them is broken."

Isaiah 43:1-2  English Standard Version

"1 But now thus says the Lord,

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you."

The best advice I can give is to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, because He has already led the way for us. He knows our sorrows and trials, because He also suffered for our sakes. He will not fail us nor forsake us. Cling to Him, and He will carry you through whatever trials come your way.

Hebrews 12:2

Good News Translation

"2 Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God's throne."

Here's a few pictures of our skies before and after some "storms", although we did not actually get much of a storm here, just a little bit of rain that didn't amount to much. Some places about an hour south of us received about 20 inches of rain in about 5 hours time and experienced a lot of flooding and severely damaged roads and washouts. And right now the people of Jamaica are experiencing a horrific hurricane. My heart goes out to them as I know there will be serious casualties and destruction there.

God's beautiful rainbow, sent to us to remind us of His promise to never destroy the earth by flood again, and to remind us also that He is always with us, even until the end of the age.  (Genesis 5-9)

Lovely sunset over our still very dry Still Waters Pond last evening...but every drop of rain that falls is a blessing, and we will praise the Lord for His refreshing rains and be thankful for no terrible storms here.

Have a blessed day my friends, and may God be with you in whatever kind of storm you may be enduring right now.  

Click HERE to join in the fun. Thank you Annie, for being our hostess each week!

Wednesday Treasures

Might as well start this post with something "interesting"... what is that, you say?  Looks like an upside down umbrella! Yes, that is exactly what that is!  And why is it upside down on the ground?  Well, because a couple of days ago a very big wind blew through here and literally picked it up out of the table on the FRONT PORCH, and carried it UP AND OVER THE TOP OF THE HOUSE and dropped it in the back yard beside the BACK PORCH!! I kid you not!  The wind came up so suddenly that we didn't have time to go close the umbrellas on the front porch.  I heard a loud bumping noise and knew it had probably gotten blown out again, because that happened a few weeks ago in a storm.  So I went out front to look for it and couldn't find it anywhere! I thought to myself, "Wow, that was some kind of wind! It must've blown it down the street somewhere!"  Then my hubby said "Look out in the back yard...there it is beside the back porch!"   The only way it could've gotten there was to be lifted up and over the roof of the house!  That's pretty amazing!!   Yes, we had quite the thunderstorm with a lot of wind, but thankfully no other damage was done here.

A little while after the storm was over we decided to take a little ride into town. I told hubby that I'd like to drive by our church and see if they ever put the new sign up, because it was supposed to have been done over the weekend and for some reason it never happened.  So as we turned onto the street where our church is, we could see that there were people there actually installing the sign right then! That was a surprise, and I was so happy because I was suppposed to try and get pictures of it being installed for our church Facebook page, but I had been sick over the weekend and didn't get out of the house, and they didn't do it then anyway.  So God's timing was perfect! He gave me that little nudge to go see if it was done yet and there it was being completed right before my eyes! I love it when God brings a plan together like that, don't you?

We are excited to have this new sign because since the highway out in front of the church was four-laned, it is difficult for people to see where our church is and where to turn.

This sign has an electronic billboard so we can put messages about services and special programs, or even a Scripture verse on the sign.  I can't wait to see it all connected and working...but the weather has been bad the past couple of days and they haven't been able to finish setting it up yet.

I didn't get a picture of this, but something else happened at this same time. When we turned on the street beside the church, we noticed power trucks down on one side of the street, and a police car next to a little house on the corner that belongs to one of our church members. Then I noticed that a large tree had fallen on top of her house, and had pulled down the power lines, so that is why the power was off on the street.  Thankfully, the 99 year old woman who owns that house is now in a nursing home and she wasn't at home when this happened.  However, her daughter lives here in town, and so I called her to see if she'd been notified about the tree on her mother's house, and no, she had not! It had just happened during the storm, and most likely the police wouldn't have known to call her since she's not the owner of the house. Of course she was very upset about it happening, but so thankful I had called so they could get someone over there to check it right away. Again, this was God's perfect timing! If I had not been "nudged" to go check on the church sign, I wouldn't have seen the tree on the lady's house, and with the rainstorms that we have had the past couple of days, there would've been a lot more damage done to the inside of her house. Thankfully her family was able to get over there and put tarps on the roof and boarded up a broken window. They said that it was a blessing that their mother wasn't still living there because where the tree hit the window and broke it was right beside the chair where she would normally be sitting! 

Wow!  I tell you all of this because it is an example to me of the ways that God works.  We may never know all the ways that God uses His little "nudges" to get us out of harms way in time, or put us in a place to help someone else.  

Here are some words of wisdom and treasures from God's Word for today that goes along with what I am trying to say!

Proverbs 2:1-9

"1 My son, if you receive my words,

And treasure my commands within you,

2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom,

And apply your heart to understanding;

3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment,

And lift up your voice for understanding,

4 If you seek her as silver,

And search for her as for hidden treasures;

5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,

And find the knowledge of God.

6 For the Lord gives wisdom;

From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;

8 He guards the paths of justice,

And preserves the way of His saints.

9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice,

Equity and every good path."

Yes, yesterday was a total washout day weatherwise.  It rained and stormed pretty much the whole day. And I woke up with a bad case of vertigo, and so I ended up pretty miserable and "out of it" for the day. I was actually thankful for the rain and clouds so the house stayed dark and quiet and I could rest.

But I woke up this morning feeling much better, and when I went outside at 7:00 a.m. to feed the kitties, I did a little walkabout the yard to look at Still Waters Pond and to see how nice it looked after so much rain had fallen to help fill it up.

Eventually all of that green grassy area you see along the shore will be under water. That's the true shoreline for the pond, so we still have a ways to go, but every raindrop counts!

Oh, and look at this great big "bird" that was drinking in the bird bath! I believe that is what they call a "cat bird". LOL.  

Sunshine was reminding me that I had neglected to refill their swimming pool after the guy came and mowed the grass the other day.  He prefers to drink from the pool rather than the bowl of water that I keep refilled for the cats on the porch.  He would rather drink the dirty pond water or kitty pool water than the clean water I give him.  Probably because our water has chlorine in it. I don't blame him. I don't like it either! I always drink filtered water, so maybe that's what I need to give the cats too. They're pretty smart.

His little pink tongue was just a lapping up that bird bath water. Thankfully it was clean from all the fresh rainwater.

Yes, I see you, Sunshine! You are definitely a character!

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine 

 You make me happy when skies are gray

You’ll never know dear how much I love you

Please don’t take my sunshine away!"

Well, I guess that's it for today.  The storms have pretty much gone further away,  although as I look out my window right now I see some storm clouds gathering in the west, so maybe it's not quite over after all. That's fine. Still Waters Pond says "Thank You, Lord!".

And I say "Thank You, Lord," as well.  Thank You for the rain, thank you for the sunshine, and thank you for giving me strength and healing today.  And thank You for giving me little nudges to do things in Your perfect timing. These are truly my special treasures today. 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.