It's About Time I Wrote Something!

I know, it's been a long time since I wrote anything...and I apologize for not being more attentive to everyone else's posts as well.  All I can say is, if you've ever moved, you will understand...and if you've ever moved at this stage in life...(late 60's early 70's, 50 years of marriage) then you should understand even better.  It's slow moving...literally...our bodies just can't do what they used to do, and the struggle to figure out where to put things, how to move them, what to do with many things, waiting for others much younger and stronger to help...the struggle is real...moving is NOT for old folks or sissies!

All that being said, I guess it's about time I give my dear blogging friends a sneak preview of what's been going on here...this is an exclusive just for my blogging friends.  Most of these pictures have never been seen before on Facebook or elsewhere...they are brand new, hot off the "press" so to speak. So where should I begin? Let's see:

Well, I do spend a lot of time looking at the pond, and that is probably another reason why this settling into the house is taking so long...I'd rather sit outside and look at the beauty surrounding us...the reason we bought this particular house...So here's a lovely look at the lilies on the pond as they opened up their blossoms to the sun...

And this is a lovely female wood duck seen paddling around on the pond early in the mornings and in the evenings...

This is the silhouette of our resident hawk who keeps a "hawk eye" on everything that goes on around here...

Today this Downy Woodpecker was pecking its way around the pines...

They are so small and quick, I was fortunate to get these photos...

These are "phragmites" on the island in the pond.  If you don't know what that is, here is a link to some information: https://www.fws.gov/gomcp/pdfs/phragmitesqa_factsheet.pdf

I think they are pretty waving in the sunshine, but I guess they are a bit invasive and apparently not a desirable thing to have. Oh well...I still think they are pretty.

My view from the "Secret Garden" bench...no I haven't exactly established the "secret garden" yet, but this is the closest thing to it for now, and I love to sit here in the evening looking at the pond.

This evening while I was sitting there I noticed something large fly in across the pond:

It was this giant blue heron...

See how tall he is when he stretches out his neck?  I guess he was looking for his supper...

The following pictures have already been shown on Facebook, but many of you haven't seen them...this rose is a blossom from the Memorial Garden rosebush that I dug up and brought with me when we moved.  I have been nursing it along all summer in its pot of dirt, and this week it rewarded me with this lovely blossom.  For those who may not be familiar, the "memorial garden" was established in memory of our son Matthew, who left this world for his eternal home five years ago.  We built a special Memorial Garden at our old house and planted special plants there in memory of him.  I brought this one with us and also the Rose of Sharon bush that we planted. It is also doing well, but no flowers right now. They usually only bloom in June and July.  I hope to plant these in a new "memorial garden" here at our new home, once I figure out where is the best spot to put it.

The wonderful blessing of this particular blossom is that my birthday is next week, and it always seems that this rose bush has bloomed on or around special days of our lives. I consider it a gift from heaven from our son...and I feel extremely blessed and thankful. God knows exactly what we need...

Switching gears a bit, many have been asking and waiting to see what the inside of our new house looks like.

I should have warned you that this post would be photo overload! But this makes up for the last few weeks that I haven't posted anything! Thank you for hanging in there with me. I don't know when I will be posting again, so might as well enjoy it while we can!

These pictures are of our kitchen cupboards.  I know many will say it's too cluttered. Others wonder why I didn't get rid of all this stuff.  I've been trying...I actually have gotten rid of quite a bit...but, well, what can I say?  I asked my hubby if it was just "too much" and he said "No".  "It's our home and these are things that make it special".  So there...he actually made me feel so much better. But I am still trying to eliminate quite a few things...it's just not as easy as one would think...

Having all glass door upper cabinets does make it look a bit busy, but actually I am enjoying them now that they are filled.

Since I had to leave behind my big white china cabinet where I was able to store and display so many special dishes, these cabinets have helped to provide a place for the special dishes and tea pots, tea cups, etc. (Even a place for the Pink Flamingo cookie jar..that was supposed to be a "joke", but it's still hanging around...it may become a gift to someone else one of these days...)

The Tea and Coffee station

I forgot that my blogging friends haven't seen this new pantry cupboard that my son built for me.
I really needed a place to put canned goods and some large items that wouldn't fit in these smaller cabinets. Plus, I am too old to get down on the floor to look for canned goods anymore. This has been a life saver.

Here's my sweet son and his wonderful wife. They do have a furniture building business in their home, so this was a natural thing to do...(after I presented the idea with a big "please, please please?")

Here it is filled up:

Welcome to the foyer...please be sure to sign the guestbook when you arrive...

And the buffet has to be in the living room/great room. This house does not have a formal dining room, so we are innovating...

Here's the dining room table, trying to look like fall...

Around the corner in my little den...yes, the doll house made it without too many bumps or issues!

 These cabinets are all in my little "den"/office/tea room...it's a bit crowded, but there was no other place to put them...and I can't get rid of "Nanny's Hoosier Cupboard" or the lovely hutch cabinet that my son built for me at our old house...

Remember, "the room with a view"? 

(my view on a sunny day:)

But all this stuff had to go somewhere...so as I twirl around in my rolling office chair, these are the things I see around me..."Nanny's China Cabinet" (remember the one I broke the curved glass in when we moved into our other house?  Thankfully the remaining glass survived this move).

Now, on to my bathroom...yes, "my bathroom"...I've never had my very own bathroom before that I didn't have to share with my hubby...but this house actually has two bathrooms in our master bedroom...one with a shower, sink/vanity and toilet, and the other with a large soaking bathtub, sink/vanity, toilet (remember the three toilet story HERE?) and then an additional bathroom for our guests on the other side of the house.  But here in my bathroom (the one with the tub) I hung the picture of the "Angel of the Woods" that I took back at our old home...I thought she would enjoy living here and watching over these "woods" too....

 Our living room is still a work in progress. We haven't been able to hang too many pictures, etc., yet, as I am still trying to make sure the furniture is where we want it before we start hanging things. But I think we are about ready to get pictures hung...it's just so time consuming and you have to be so careful to find the studs and line things up straight before you poke a hole in the wall.  So I am taking my time with this...

The other side of the living room, looking back toward the foyer and front door.

I probably should have cleaned up a little before taking pictures.  But if you have to wait for me to clean up you will never see any pictures...

So, let's go back outside before we close for the night...Last evening our kids came over and helped us set up the new patio tables and umbrellas.  We got an extremely good deal  at Home Depot on their end of the season patio furniture sale. We were able to purchase two round tables and umbrellas basically for the price of one...and now we are ready to start entertaining on the back deck...

as soon as these pesky "lovebugs" go away.  (You have to live in the south to understand just how nasty these things are...we are definitely ready for them to leave...usually here for the month of September and May...)

And the front deck is decked out for fall and ready to welcome guests...

So here we come to the end of this day and time to say good night...

But like Motel 6, "We'll keep a light on for you"...if you want to come and stay a spell...

(Just let me know in advance...the guest room is one room that is NOT ready...but I am working on it a little at a time...it's just a kind of catch all room right now for things that we don't know what to do with...and there's still a lot of that...but if we know you are coming we will get it ready asap!)

So thankful that the Lord always keeps a light on for us too...His guest room is always ready and He will never turn anyone away empty...

Here are some thoughts from the Psalms as we close for this evening...(actually this is what we read in our morning devotions this morning)

Psalm 111

"Praise the Lord!

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.

He has given food to those who fear Him;

He will ever be mindful of His covenant.

He has declared to His people the power of His works,

in giving them the heritage of the nations.

The works of His hands are verity and justice;

All His precepts are sure.

They stand fast forever and ever,

and are done in truth and uprightness.

He has sent redemption to His people;

He has commanded His covenant forever;

Holy and awesome is His Name.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.

His praise endures forever."

Amen.

Here is a little worship song we have been singing as our "call to worship" at church lately, and I find myself singing it over and over again as I enjoy the beauty of each morning out on the deck overlooking the pond...

All that we have is a gift from God to give back to Him in honor and glory.  Our home is to be a place to honor Him as we open our home and hearts to encourage others.  We are just the caretakers of God's house here on earth.  Our real home is in heaven, where neither dust or moth can corrupt or destroy. (Matthew 6:19-20). 

I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of our new home on the pond.  We are loving our new community and church and being so close to our kids...who are such a blessing to us. We are thankful and blessed beyond measure.  Now may we give back to the Lord all that He has invested in us for His glory and kingdom.

Have a blessed and wonderful weekend my friends. I hope to get caught up with you all very soon.

Yes, I Am Still Here...

Yes, I am still here... I know it's a been a while since I last posted anything. If you are a Facebook friend, you know that I've been a bit "under the weather", and not just Hurricane Dorian weather, which, praise God, did not do us any harm at all...but now we must focus our prayers on those living in its track up the Ga., S.C., N.C. coasts, and especially pray for the folks in the Bahamas. What a horrible tragedy for them.  Here in Florida we were protected by what I would consider a true miracle of God, holding that storm just enough off shore to keep it from doing any serious damage to our state. We want to thank the Lord and give Him praise for sparing us.

I am still in the throes of unpacking, and at the current rate I'm going, I'm hoping to be unpacked in time for Christmas...but even that is questionable.  I look around and when I consider all of the things that are still waiting to be opened and put into proper places, I just want to go outside and sit on the deck and forget about it...

This was our view last evening after the hurricane had passed by, leaving us with a gorgeous sunset and balmy breeze.

Our "kids" came over and joined us for pizza on the deck...a no stress way to end the day.

Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote about "An Interesting Coincidence?" HERE...

Well, here is my real front door after being painted...and actually we hired some guys to paint our door and shutters... They gave us such a good deal that we couldn't refuse. If it had been left up to us to get it painted, again it would probably be Christmas before we got it done, if then...

They did a great job and I didn't have to sweat a drop...

We are also happy to get our flag put out in time for Labor Day, but then the hurricane came and we had to take it back inside...

But hopefully we won't be getting anymore storms for a while, and we can wave our flag proudly and begin to settle in and enjoy our home.

Some of you have wondered if I will have a place for The Secret Garden here at our new home.  Well, the special bench made it,

and this is the view from its current vantage point:

I may still move it to a little more secluded spot but am waiting for cooler weather to clear that area out a little more to make it more appealing for sitting and praying, reading, meditating on God's Word. So for now this is better and not as "buggy".  When you live in Florida that is always a consideration when sitting outside, especially in summer.

We have already "christened" our house with the first birthday party for our oldest son. 

His sweet wife helped make our dinner of lasagna and also made the delicious cupcakes for his cake.  We are enjoying having them live about a mile away from us...such a blessing to have family near.

We are still using paper and plastic products, but we did dress up the table with candles for dinner! Took a few minutes to find them and the candleholders, but it was worth the search.

As you can see in this picture below, there are still many boxes stacked up in the kitchen waiting to be unpacked. That was last week, and it still doesn't look much better. As I said earlier, I've been a bit under the weather, and had to be put on benadryl 4x a day to counteract an allergic reaction I had to a strong antibiotic.  So I'm taking lots of naps in between opening boxes...and I am basically just very tired. God apparently wants me to rest, and so I am doing just that.

Today is the first day I didn't have to take the benadryl, and so little by little I hope to regain my energy.  Maybe we'll get unpacked before Christmas after all.

Meanwhile, hubby has been busy trying to get his shed/workshop in order. That is another big project, and when it is so hot outside it is hard to spend much time in there.

But our son helped him build a workbench, and that will be a good start. Next we need some good strong shelves to hold a lot of storage items,  but that will come. One thing at a time.

I haven't really taken any pictures of the inside of the house yet because I am still unpacking and rearranging things a little at a time. That will have to be a post for the future.

This is where I am sitting right now, writing to you. I love my little desk area, 

And especially love this little lamp with a bear roasting his marshmallows over a campfire, while the owls watch from the tree and a squirrel begs for a marshmallow down on the ground...

I also love that the scene on the lampshade is of a pond...

I also love that my little office/den is a room with a view...

I am hoping this will become an inspirational place to write and pray and connect with you dear friends.

See? I haven't forgotten you. I've just been a bit busy. I've tried to catch up with you on your blogs and/or Facebook, but I know I am way behind.  Please don't think I've gone away...I will be back...just having to take my time and prioritize what I do each day...

Praying that you are all safe and healthy and doing well. I know many have been through some difficult times, and others are rejoicing over good news in their lives.  We are all  connected to one another as sisters in the Lord (many of us)...and if you don't feel that you truly understand what that means, please feel free to ask...we'd love to introduce you to the "family".  

This is where I am at this point:

"Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God."  

Job 37:14

The Lord has done so many wondrous works in our lives here lately, that I just have to praise Him and give Him the glory for the great things He has done. I hope that is your testimony as well...when we stop to count our blessings and look around in awe at what God has done...how can we not praise Him?

Okay, I'm feeling the effects of the benadryl still in my system, and it is time for beddie-bye.

So good night dear friends.  Sleep Tight...and don't let the bed bugs bite.  :)