Tuesday 4: "Bug Out!"

 Tuesday 4

Bug Out!

(The following was written by our friend Annie, who lives along the New Jersey shore, where they are currently enduring the effects of the remainder of Hurricane Ian, which hit the coasts of my state of Florida with a fury last week.  Thankfully, we here in north central Florida are now enjoying beautiful fall like weather, with low humidity, sunny skies, and this morning's wake up temperature is 56 degrees, with a high expected today of only 75! Near perfect weather I'd say.  But sadly so many to the south of us are still suffering from the devastating effects of Ian and it will be many months or even years before some places will be restored, if ever. It was truly a horrific storm in our southwest and coastal regions of the state, and our thoughts and prayers continue to be with them as they try to recover.)

Per Annie:

"High winds, tree splitting winds and buckets of rain since yesterday and more on the way. The wind has been howling here for 2 days straight. Ian is on the coastline and not playing nice.
We can play nicely though with Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 questions. Are you ready? Since the east coast is experiencing hurricanes and tropical storms let us explore the topic. Okay? Let's Go..."


1. Expert survivalists and weather experts say it is wise to have a bug out bag handy in case of evacuation, hurricane, earthquake or any emergency. You can see online how to create one. Do you have an emergency kit or bug out bag?  To be honest, no we don't have an actual "bug out bag". Fortunately where we live in this north-central section of the state, we have never had to evacuate because of a storm. However we do talk about what we would need to take with us if that were to happen and we know where our valuable papers are and it wouldn't take long to gather the essentials should we need to do so.

2. Do you have plans with your family on where to meet and what to do in case of emergency?

Again, I guess we really haven't discussed this that much with our family. It would have to be a decision made once we see which way a storm is headed because oftentimes the evacuation routes end up changing with the direction of the storm. As we saw with Hurricane Ian, it changed its course several times before it actually made landfall, and then it ended up crossing the state to the other side, so both coastal regions were seriously affected. Thankfully for us, it still stayed far enough south of us so that we were not seriously affected either way. 

3. Do you keep your phone well charged and your gas tank topped off ? Is your flashlight kept fresh with batteries? Do you have a list of what to go where to go?  

Yes, we do keep our gas tank topped off. As far as our phones well charged, that became an issue as our power did go off for six hours and we couldn't charge our phones. So once it was safe to take a ride, we rode around in our car so our phones could be charged.  We also ended up going to a restaurant here in our town that still had power and plugged in our phones to recharge while we enjoyed a good hot meal.  Regarding flashlights, yes, we made sure we had flashlights in every room with batteries, as well as candles and an oil lamp with oil.  We do have a generator, but we had some issues with it and it wasn't really ready for use. However, if the power had stayed off longer we would have figured it out to help with long term power for our refrigerator especially.  We now have a better plan for putting it into use should the need arise again.  Oh, and thankfully our temperatures during the storm stayed in the low 70's and even down into the 60's, so it wasn't so hot that we needed the air conditioner. That was a blessing! 
Although this picture of the tents is a nice thought, that wouldn't work here with the high winds and rain and trees crashing about.  Perhaps it would work after the storm has already passed by, but definitely not during the storm.  The only damage we sustained here at our house was to the plastic canvas carport that covered our son's car.  So you can see what would happen to a tent if you tried to stay in one: 

4. How about a little stash of emergency goods and foods to last a week or two? They say it pays to do this.. do you?  Yes, we have plenty of canned goods and other foods that don't need to be kept refrigerated so that we would not have starved. We also have a camp stove, a propane grill and our stove in the house is a gas stove, so I would have been able to cook if necessary. Thankfully this time we didn't need to do that, as the power was only off for six hours.  We bought extra bags of ice to put in the refrigerator and freezer to keep the food nice and cold as well.  

We are very thankful that this storm did not do serious damage to our area, but we know it could happen, so we do have a good idea for what to do next time.

I wanted to share these pictures of this little wren that was on our back porch yesterday morning:

If you know anything about Wrens, you will know that they are a very small bird with a very loud voice. You can usually hear them singing above all the other birds, and normally their song sounds a lot like they are saying "judy judy judy".    Well, yesterday morning I kept hearing what sounded more to me like, 

"Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!"  

And as I looked outside and saw this Wren sitting there on the porch railing, I noticed that every time he sang, he was looking up to heaven and saying

"Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!"

Do you see that above?  He was singing his praises to God and thanking Him for sparing us in that storm. 

At least that's what I think and believe...

Job 12:7-10  

7 “But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you;

And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

8 Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you;

And the fish of the sea will explain to you.

9 Who among all these does not know

That the hand of the Lord has done this,

10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing,

And the breath of all mankind?

Thank you Annie for these questions this week! If you want to join in, click HERE

Monday Monday

Oh my goodness! Here it is the third of October already and I haven't posted my October calendar pictures yet!  It's been a busy start to this month, which you already know from my last post on October 1st.  And thank you all for your lovely comments on the tea party event pictures. It truly was a lot of fun and a day that I know I will remember for a long time. Now what to do with that lovely hat? I doubt it will be worn ever again...but it was such fun for a day! I may hang it on the front door in springtime...that's a thought.  Anyway...moving right along...and in keeping with the "tea theme" for a moment or two, here is the picture from my Tea Pot Calendar for this month:

A sweet little German Woods scene... 

And some helpful hints from Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management, circa 1861: 

Sounds delightful, doesn't it?

Perhaps we could have our woodsy tea party in this rustic cabin in the woods along the shore of a rocky stream (or here on my Still Waters Pond would be nice too)

My Thomas Kindade calendar always has wonderful Bible verses for each month to ponder...

Perhaps that is what this young lady is doing here in my Country Seasons Calendar by John Sloane:

The title is "In the Moment"...and she is pondering some sweet thoughts...perhaps even thoughts of love.

Oh such a beautiful scene! Wouldn't you love to step back in time and sit there with her in that carriage? I know I would. I could even wear my hat! LOL.

Speaking of "sisters" (see the little tiny book in the picture above? My sister gave me that years ago and those pictures beside it are of me with my sister and my mother, many years ago)...I don't know if I showed you the other sweet little gifts I received on my birthday from my sister and my sister in law:

The two fall dish towels are from my sister, and the "Grateful" pumpkin is from my sister in law. They were both thinking about how much I love decorating for autumn and I appreciate these thoughtful gifts!

Also, I don't think I showed you the sweet gifts from my son and daughter in love Rose...

This sweet tea cup is actually made to sit on a little pole in my garden. It should be used as a little bird feeder, but after my experience with the squirrel on my other pretty bird feeder I have decided it will not hold any bird seeds, but just look pretty in the garden.  I will post a picture once I get it set up. We have taken everything extra out of the yard right now since the Hurricane, and I haven't had time to put everything back out yet.

Benton also found this cute tiny little teapot at an estate sale he attended and thought of me. It is really sweet, and on the bottom it says "Salada Tea".  Do you remember Salada tea? Apparently it was made my them and it a tea for one pot. I love it.

Oh, I almost forgot! Rose and Benton also gave me the Vintage Hummingbird puzzle, and my sister Doris gave me the pumpkin puzzle! So I guess I need to get busy and put some puzzles together!

Our sweet son Scott blesses us with his talents when he comes home for a day each weekend...this was before the hurricane...and we were so thankful he got the grass cut down to the pond before the storm. That really helped a lot:

I love to watch him work! LOL.

Okay, so we took a nice walk the day after Hurricane Ian passed through...we've had such beautiful weather ever since...low humidity and much cooler days.

But our thoughts and prayers continue for those who were not so fortunate in that storm, and although it is good they are having good weather now to begin the clean up and restoration of their homes, it will be a long time before things are back to normal for them. They are very much in our hearts.

These wild flowers are in the woods where we love to walk, and I love to see them each fall:

And this was our sunset the day (evening) after the storm had totally passed through...it was a gorgeous sky sent from heaven above to remind us that life goes on and that God is with us through every storm of our lives.  We have much for which to be thankful...

And with that I will say May God's peace reign in your hearts and minds throughout this week and may He hold you safely within His hands always.

Have a blessed week.

 

High Tea Time Finally Came

Finally the day for the "High Tea with the three wives of Henry Flagler" has happened!  Hurricane Ian threatened to keep this from happening, but thankfully the wonderful ladies of the Historical Society persevered and kept moving forward with their plans as promised.  It was a sold out event...And what a lovely event it was!  I believe all of the ladies were ready for something lovely and fun after a week of anxiety and storm preparation and endurance and clean up from the storm. Our little community was spared any major damages, and we are very thankful.

As you know, if you've been following me for the past few weeks, I was very excited to sign up to go to this event and to prepare my special outfit for the day.  Here is what I finally created:

It was such fun to see how others also got into the spirit of the day...oh...here are some special friends:

above: my friend Linda, (on the left) who grew up in my home town and attended the same school as I...and now lives in a little town not far from here wanted to come. She almost didn't make it as they had been away on vacation when Ian came calling, and they weren't sure if they could drive back into the state in time for this event today. But they persevered and made it home just in time for her to attend! In the middle is one of my special church friends, Vivian A., who wasn't sure if she would be able to attend and then decided to come at the last minute and made her reservation just in the nick of time before they declared it "sold out"!  And then on the right is my friend Betty, who I've mentioned to you before. She loves to read our blogs and sometimes comments, but doesn't have her own blog so you may not know her. But Betty and her husband just recently moved into a little town not far from here and she has been down to see me at Dixie Cottage a couple of times and we forgot to take pictures, so I told her today we would be sure to get our pictures taken together (which you will see later).

And I was also surprised to discover that these three of my dear friends from church also decided to come today and were fortunate to get their reservations in just under the wire as well!  L to R: Brenda, who is our church office administrator, Dottie who is our official church hugger...you can't get through church without a hug from sweet Dottie, and our lovely pastor's wife and worship/choir leader Carol.  Three very special ladies!

In this picture I think my hat was too heavy for my head. LOL.

Now, for the majority of the rest of these photos, these are just some of the lovely ladies who attended the tea. I do not know these ladies but they are from our town and some are a part of the Historical Society who sponsored the event.  This will just give you an idea of how much fun we were having:

This dear lady was actually one of our servers as well as one of the organizers of the event:

Another happy lady:

Each table was set with such lovely dishes and the food was wonderful.

It was so lovely to see this young mother with her two daughters enjoying the tea party.

Our guest speaker had arrived and I took her picture before I realized who she was!

This is the teapot used to serve our tea. Isn't it gorgeous?

Here is the "first Mrs. Henry Flagler", Mary Harkness Flagler.  She ended up dying of consumption.

The second Mrs. Flagler had actually been the first Mrs. Flagler's nurse and a nanny for the children. After Mary Harkness Flagler died, Henry married Ida Audrey. She later was committed to a sanitorium for the mentally ill.  He later divorced her and married the next Mrs. Flagler, below:

Mary Lily Kenan Flagler:   Her story ended very sadly as after Henry Flagler died she remarried and it appears that her new husband was giving her drugs which led to her untimely death.  It was never proven as such, but it appears he was after her large fortune...

You can read more about this story here: https://flaglermuseum.us/history/flagler-biography

After this amazing portrayal we were invited to come up on stage and have our pictures taken with "Mrs. Flagler"

It was so much fun.

And once more, here I am with my dear church friends...

And also with the rest of my friends. We had such a lovely time. I wish more could have attended.

So now I put the hat back on the shelf and hung up the fancy outfit and put away the gloves and old jewelry and come back to the present.

After hearing the sad stories of Henry Flagler's wives, who were, by the way, the richest women in the world at that time...my thought was that they each needed to know Jesus and perhaps their lives would have been happier.   Money does not buy happiness or good health...There is only One that I know who gives our hearts everlasting peace...Jesus Christ, the Son of God:

Psalm 73:25-26

"Whom have I in heaven but You?

And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.

26 My flesh and my heart fail;

But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

And with that I will bid you good night!