Monday Monday! Praises and Gratefulness!

Jeremiah 32:17 

‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.

Last night I spent probably at least a half hour or more watching and waiting for the sun to set. After a very chilly start to our day (31 degrees F, with frost on the ground, which is very cold for us here in Florida!), and even though it was sunny and bright all day, it stayed quite chilly for most of the day. But by evening the wind had died down and it was actually quite pleasant outside.  I grabbed my cell phone (because it takes the best sunset pictures), and went outside to watch the beauty unfolding in the skies over Still Waters Pond. All the while as I was waiting, I paced back and forth along the shore of the pond, looking for the best angles to take the pictures, but also stopping to pause and praise the Lord for each and every beautiful change as it took place.  

I thought about so many things...the week we've just had...the fires in California with people that I know and love affected by them, but the praise that their home was spared was so amazing... 

and then there were things going on here in our own community of friends that had been challenging...one dear friend had a stroke on Tuesday night (she is our church pianist). and thanks to the Lord and the quick action of,  first, her husband calling 911 as soon as he noticed her face starting to droop, and the local ambulance drivers contacting the Stroke Center at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, who sent out a specially equipped ambulance for stroke victims to meet them half way (the hospital is almost an hour away from here), and the extremely quick action of the stroke trauma team examining and removing a blood clot from her brain within minutes of her arrival at the hospital! Yeah! That was a miracle!, And she was able to call me the next day from the hospital to tell me how good she felt and that she was ready to go home!  She did have to spend a couple of nights in the hospital, but now she is safely home and will only need some basic therapy for a while until she regains her strength. She is 81 years old, and has other pre-existing health concerns, but God definitely intervened on her behalf in this situation and I just want to praise the Lord for His mercy and grace and kindness.

I also thought about how wonderful our gathering of Blogging Sisters was on Saturday, and how great it was to be together with people that we normally just see here in cyber-space. But yes, we are all real flesh and blood people, all with unique talents and gifts and needs. Each one has her own special story to tell...and that's why we blog! For each one of us our "stories" have changed over the years as life events took place that none of us expected or wanted to happen...but life happens, and we grieved, adapted, and learned to move forward with whatever our "new normal" is after the unexpected happens. None of us has done that alone...we each one know that God has been with us all the way, or we probably wouldn't be here today to be able to talk about our life stories.  And we are each one thankful for this community of friends who have been so supportive and comforting throughout our personal ordeals.

I thought about my own sister,  who has been battling a very bad bout of bronchitis for the past almost two weeks, and she's still trying to get over it. Wonderfully, when I got back inside the house she called me to tell me how she was doing (as I had kept asking her on Facebook), and also to tell me that she finally received our Christmas gifts to her and her husband, thanks to my sister in law delivering them to her daughter and then her daughter delivered them to her! Whew! She was happy to have a little "Christmas party" at home to cheer her up, and I was so happy to hear from her and know that she's going to be fine...she just needs to get over this bug.  

There's other stuff...oh, our kids were all here after church and we had a delicious Pork Tenderloin dinner with baked potatoes and a salad. I didn't take any pictures, but you've seen us all before and you know what our food and table looks like, so just picture it! I am VERY thankful to have our kids and the grandpups here anytime. Scott came down after he got off work (he works very early in the morning to maintain a golf course, even when it was 31 degrees...probably colder where he was more than an hour north of us!) to do his laundry and visit and also had a few Christmas gifts waiting for him from his Aunt and Uncle, so we had a little "Christmas party" for him too.  Sometimes Christmas just goes on and on for a while, but that's quite okay with me...it's the Spirit of Christmas that continues even when the decorations are all put away and the calendar says it's practically the middle of January, but that joy and Spirit of God's love and love of family continues, Praise God!

So I'm writing all this as I am showing you pictures of the sunset that I was watching as it changed from moment to moment...each view getting better as the colors got richer and deeper and more glorious. I kept thinking I should go back inside the house, but it wasn't terribly cold, and I wanted to see it all the way to the end...plus in my mind I was thinking that the Sand Hill Cranes had not returned to their roosting place yet for the night, and so I was hoping they would show up before I had to go inside.

And my patience was rewarded by this amazing sight...here came the Sand Hill Cranes, flying over the treetops and preparing for their landing on Still Waters Pond:

AS they approached the water, their "landing gear dropped down"...

And they aimed for their landing site on the other side of the island...

And this was my last view of them as they landed on the water/marsh site...

And then all was calm and beautiful and the sun continued its descent and I went back inside, filled with awe and joy and thankfulness.  I praised God for His faithfulness to our family and friends...and rejoiced in the beauty of all that I had just been so privileged to witness. I truly am grateful for what God has provided, and don't take it for granted. Life can change so rapidly, as we have seen this past week for so many people. It has made me very, very grateful to God indeed.

Thank you for hanging in there with me to the end of this amazing sunset. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Jeremiah 32:17 

‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.

Happy Blogging Sisters Day!

 If you read my last post HERE, you will know that today was a special day in "blogland" for some of us very blessed bloggers!  Today I went to meet up with three other dear blogging friends for lunch, and discovered that we had a bonus blessing of one more precious blogger added to our group!  Many of you may not know Cheryl, from Sunlit Pathway, because she hasn't been doing quite as much blogging lately due to having had some major health concerns in the past year or so, but what a surprise to find her there at Bob Evans with Terri and the rest of the ladies when I arrived!  Cheryl had just recently arrived in Florida to visit family, who just happen to live not too far from Terri, and so Terri made arrangements for Cheryl to join us today! What a blessing indeed!  And so here we are:

Our waitress was very kind to take our picture!  We are l to r front row: Cheryl, Terri, (Your Friend From Florida), back row: Yours truly, Linda, (Just Simply Linda), and Barbara, (My Journal Memories).  While we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Bob Evans, we shared with each other why we ever decided to write a blog anyway.  We each had different reasons and beginnings. Some have been  blogging for over 20 years! I think I had the most recent beginning, in 2010!  I'd never even heard of a blog before then! 

I don't think any of us had any clue how far reaching our blogs would ever be, but God knew, and He had a plan for each of us in doing this...maybe not the same plan for each of us, but a plan that would bless us and teach us and make us a blessing to others in the process. I believe He has accomplished that for each one of us...

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV tells us:

11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

HERE is a link to my very first blog post, written in February of 2010.  My blog has gone through a lot of metamorphosis over these past 15 years...moving with the ebb and flow of my life experiences...the joys and sorrows, highs and lows, and even through three different home locations! Thankfully the blog is portable and goes with you wherever you go, as long as you have access to the internet and don't make any false moves that accidentally delete the blog. I know some have done that, and had to start all over. I pray that never happens to me...there are too many precious memories tucked inside these pages. I've tried to save them over the years, but that has become too cumbersome for me to keep up with, so I just pray nothing happens. Maybe someday I will get busy and try to back up more of them and print them off, but it takes a lot of work to do it. 

The best part about blogging to me is all the wonderful friends I've made along the way, like these lovely ladies. I wish I could meet each and everyone of my blogging friends in person. There are so many that we have shared so much of our lives with each other...and some I would just love to give a big hug to in person someday.  If you are ever passing through Florida please let me know and if there is any way possible to arrange it, it would be so wonderful to meet you. Not too many people pass through the little town where I live...we are kind of off the beaten path of where most people like to go in Florida...and I am limited in how far I can travel away from home, but if there's a way, we will try to make it happen.  Anyway, meeting up with these wonderful women today was truly a blessing for each of us! I thank each one for going the "extra mile" to be there! It was a lot of fun and good fellowship too!

When I got back home I noticed that the bird feeder favored by most of our birds was empty, so I refilled it, and soon the Cardinals and Titmice and Chickadees were having a feast and waving their wings to say thank you. I only managed to get pictures of the Cardinals, but here's what I saw:

Mrs. Cardinal was waiting her turn in the Holly Tree:

They are storing up food for another night with a freeze warning!

And thankfully, I also noticed when I got home that all of the Christmas boxes were finally put away, and the house is back to its normal self...

(hmmm, I should probably turn that blanket around so the bear and moose and elk aren't standing upside down! LOL. It is correct on the other side that we look at on the front of the couch, but not on the back where you walk in the door and see it! Oh well...this isn't a magazine photo shoot! Just my blog, tellin' it like it is! We aren't striving for perfection here...just comfy and cozy!

And the Christmas totes are all safely stacked away in the shed until next year! Yay! Thank you to our son Benton and Hubby for taking care of this today before they went out to lunch and had a good hamburger at our local "True Grits" restaurant.

And so I close this today with a thankful heart, full of joy and blessing...letting the memories of the day and the smiles on the faces flood my heart. It was a wonderful time, and I am so thankful that God made it possible for me to participate.

Time to close for today friends. 

Some words of wisdom from God's Word...

2 Samuel 22:29-31

“29 For You are my lamp, O Lord;

The Lord shall enlighten my darkness.

30 For by You I can run against a troop;

By my God I can leap over a wall.

31 As for God, His way is perfect;

The word of the Lord is proven;

He is a shield to all who trust in Him."

Amen.

Friday Foto Friends and Much Thankfulness

 First of all, thank you all for your prayers and kind comments regarding our cousin in California who had to evacuate due to the horrific fires in that area.  Praise God, yes! Their home was spared and apparently most of their neighborhood was also spared. They are back home now and they even have power, which was surprising. However, they cannot drink the water due to pollution.  They said that several streets over from them were not as fortunate as they were.  Not only is there devastation all around, the smoke is everywhere and they probably shouldn't be breathing that air, so please continue to pray for them and the many others who are dealing with much much worse.  Before this happened they had already planned on putting their home up for sale this month as her husband has just retired from many years of working for the Rose Bowl Parade.  They are hoping to move to the mountains of north Georgia to get totally away from California, but now I can imagine that selling their home is not going to be so easy as before, so their future is up in the air. So please pray for God to give them direction about what they are to do next.  Thank you.

Back on the home front, Thankfully the only fires we are seeing are the beautiful "fires" of sunrise and sunsets. Although there have been some "controlled burns" going on in the forests nearby and we can smell smoke and see it in the distance, but thankfully it is controlled, and doing controlled burns regularly actually helps prevent forest fires and wildfires from ever happening. I am thankful that here in Florida we have very careful management of our forests.  Yes, we've had our share of forest fires throughout the years and some have even been way too close for comfort, but when there is careful planning and management from the forestry service and our state government, it helps to protect us from the kind of devastation they are seeing in California. Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to those who are suffering loss, and also to the heroic first responders who are risking their own lives to save others. May God protect them and keep them as safe as possible under these circumstances.

This was our beautiful sunrise a couple of mornings ago:

It was 32 degrees, and there was frost on the ground, so I risked "frostbite" to go outside and put the flag out and take these pictures. I hope you appreciate my sacrifice! LOL.  I know many of you are enduring MUCH colder temperatures than this, and my thoughts and prayers are also with those who may be "snowed in" with all the heavy snowfalls that are happening up north, and some even in the deep south. Please stay safe and hopefully you don't have to go anywhere when the roads are still bad.

I thought these clouds were especially interesting...

So back inside I am finally in the process of taking down the Christmas tree and all other decor. It's a slow process. I have to work around other appointments and activities and also giving my back time to rest in between projects.  Right now I am still enjoying the tree with just the lights. But as soon as I finish this post and we have breakfast, etc., I will be back at it, removing the lights and getting things finally put away hopefully, barring unforeseen circumstances.

I like the way the lights are reflecting on the white board we put under the tree this year to set up the train and village on. Yes, putting away the village was somewhat of an ordeal, getting down on the floor and scooting around from one building to another and packing everything up, but it's done now, thankfully.  Hubby did help me as much as he could, but he's no better than I am about being able to get down on the floor and do these things.  We may have to figure out a different plan for next year...

Here's the scene right now as I write.  Hubby is having his morning coffee and patiently waiting on me to finish writing so we can get on with the "program".  It's still dark outside, so the blinds are closed...also to help keep the cold air from seeping in around the cracks.

Now, here's a lovely scene I wouldn't mind sitting in!  Yes, another calendar!  I finally got a calendar for my bathroom. I had to order it online because there were none that I liked left at Walmart and none at all at the Dollar General. Usually someone gives me one more calendar for Christmas, but not this year, and there were no freebies being handed out anywhere either, so I had points on Amazon that I could use up and this was virtually free! This one has quiet and peaceful scenes on it that I am sure I will enjoy sharing with you each month when I do the monthly "calendar roll call".

Yes, I like to hang a calendar in my bathroom, and it is placed where I can read it while I "rest upon my throne". LOL (TMI?)  It helps me to contemplate our schedule for the day/week/month and keep track of important dates. Before the month is over, I am certain there will be a lot more written on that calendar.  We also keep one in hubby's bathroom for the same reason, so he knows what's going on each day. Hey, it works for us!

While I was putting up the calendar and taking a picture of it, I accidentally took a picture of my cane that sits right there below it!  Our friend Sandra over at "MadSnapper" had recently posted a picture of a cane, and so I guess my cane wanted some recognition as well.  I've written about the history of this very special cane before HERE, so you may have already seen it, but apparently it needed to be seen again.  I keep it handy in that particular spot in case I need help getting up off of the throne, and also it serves as a way to reach the door knob in case I was in too big of a hurry to shut the door behind me! LOL.  Okay, that's enough TMI for this morning! 

Okay, breakfast is over and done. We had some poppin' fresh cinnamon buns with orange icing on them and an omelet with bits of bacon, cheese and chopped fresh spinach inside. It was good, and now I am ready to face the day and get that job of "undecorating" finished. I want to get it all done today so that Benton can help John put it all back in the shed tomorrow when he comes over to take him to lunch! 

Now, you may ask why is he coming to take him to lunch? What about you?   Well, that's another story...tomorrow, and I keep saying, "Lord willing and the creek don't rise!", I will be traveling to a city a little over an hour's drive away to meet up with some of our wonderful blogging sisters!  We've had this planned for a little while, and of course we never know from one day to the next what might be going on by the time a day comes, but it looks like it's really going to happen!  Terri, from Your Friend From Florida, Linda, from Just Simply Linda, and Barbara, from My Journal Memories, and me from you know where, will all be converging upon a Bob Evans restaurant for lunch and wonderful conversation and laughter and hopefully some good pictures to share with you when it's over with!  I am very excited to be able to go and meet up with them, and just pray that we all have a good day for doing just that. Terri has to travel the farthest, and then me, and then Barbara and Linda both live in the city where we are meeting, so just pray for traveling mercies and good health for all of us!

Meanwhile, good son Benton said he would take his Dad out to lunch since Rose has to work and he'll be on his own anyway! So that will be nice for both of them too.

With all of this frigid weather we've been having this week, (low 30's to high in the 50's...that's cold for us Floridians), I haven't been doing much outside. But one day we saw some different kind of ducks swimming around pretty fast in Still Waters Pond, and so I tried to get some pictures, but they were too fast for me.  Here's what I got:

Now, if you can figure out what kind of ducks these are, you're a better woman/man than me! LOL.

Actually, in this picture, I can barely make out the color and markings of a Wood Duck, but I'm really not sure.

But in my pursuit of following the ducks around the bend (where they immediately flew away from so I couldn't see them anymore!), I discovered the Canada Geese hiding out in the little cove/canal by the island:

Yes, they are both there. This is the same area where they built their nest last year, so I am hoping they will try again this year, and pray for better results. Last year something happened and their eggs did not produce any baby geese.  

When they saw me watching them, they immediately swam to meet each other...

All the while making some soft sounds to reassure one another that they are safe...

  

Aren't they a beautiful couple?   And so I left them there before they got too nervous and flew away.

Yesterday the Sand Hill Crane Family flew in for a treat, and after we gave them a little bit of bird seed to keep them going in this cold weather, they moved on in search of better things...

As I close this post today, I want to share this prayer from portions of Psalm 10 on behalf of those who are suffering in California and also we should not forget the folks in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, who are still homeless and in need of so much help, as well as the families of those who were struck down so mercilessly in New Orleans on New Year's Eve...and so many others dealing with wars and all kinds of terror in this world today...

Psalm 10:12-14

12 

12 Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.

Do not forget the helpless.

14 But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;

you consider their grief and take it in hand.

The victims commit themselves to you;

you are the helper of the fatherless."

"16 The Lord is King for ever and ever;

the nations will perish from his land.

17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;

you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,

18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,

so that mere earthly mortals

will never again strike terror."

Amen.

California Fire Emergency~UPDATE! PRAISE GOD!

 UPDATE, AND THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!  I heard from our cousin Linda this afternoon, and she said, "We got our miracle! Our house was spared!"  She wants everyone to know that God answered our prayers, and she thanks you for praying. They HOPE to be able to get back home tomorrow, if the way is clear for them to pass. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.  I'm not sure that they will have any power when they get there, and I'm sure the devastation in their area will be vast.  Prayers for those who didn't get their "miracle".  

https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/fires-rage-across-los-angeles-county-forcing-thousands-to-evacuate-their-homes

Please pray for those in the path of these horrific wildires in southern California.  We just talked to my husband's cousin, who lives in Pasadena, CA, and they were forced to evacuate their home last night. They are currently in a hotel about an hour away because that is all they could find. Power is out everywhere and the hotels are full and they are price gouging because so many have had to evacuate.  The fire is VERY close to our cousin's home, so they do not know if they will even have a home to return to.  They know they cannot stay in the hotel because of the expense, so please pray for them to find a reasonable alternative that they can get to today.   Thank you for your prayers on their behalf.  

Tuesday 4~ Hello January

 Hello January

Welcome to the New Year friends and to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.
Toni liked to talk about each new month and it's meanings.
January was named for Janus the two faced god who looked behind and ahead. Its the warmest month in the southern hemisphere and the coldest in the north.
Garnet is it's gem stone. Garnets come in all colors but the rarest is the Tzavorite.
January 7 is Eastern Orthodox Christmas because some eastern churches use the original Julian calendar which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar.
January become the first month of the year in 450BC for the Roman world .
Let's talk about two faced January.


1. Looking back, what do you hope continues or does not change in your life?
I do hope we continue to have good health and strength as the days go by. The older we get, the harder it is to keep up with things, and so I pray for renewed strength, wisdom and health for the New Year and beyond.  


2. What good came to you from the previous year?

I am so thankful for so many things...our home, family, strength, health, and God's continued provision for all our needs.  What more could we ask for?

I sat down this afternoon with a cup of tea and a "York Peppermint Patty", a very rare treat for me as I normally do NOT eat chocolate, but it just sounded so good I couldn't resist...and I picked up the new issue of Country Living Magazine that came in the mail today to look at it.  

And I turned to this page and the little caption down at the bottom of the page caught my attention. I almost missed it because it was written in white and rather small...

But the words "Country Wisdom" caught my eye since "wisdom" is my "One Word" for 2025.  I like what this says:

So to answer question #2, "What good came to you from the previous year?"...Well, maybe a few more "nicks and scratches...the architectural equivalent of hard-earned wrinkles and laugh lines..."  I don't mind that at all...especially those laugh lines...and I do hope to earn a few more in the up coming years.

3. Are there things you hope to accomplish in the new year?

To be honest, I haven't really thought that much about it. Just keeping up with our daily lives, maintaining our home and property as best we are able, and spending more time with friends and family as we are able.  Seeking what God wants for us..."Where He Leads Me I will follow..."...a favorite old hymn that sometimes finds me doing new things I never expected...but because I trust God to lead me, I know whatever it is it will be good.

4. January's flowers are the carnation and the snow drop. Do you sometimes buy flowers for your home? What kinds of flowers to you like best?

Carnations & Snow Drops
I must admit I've never seen "snow drops" before! Those are very pretty!

I rarely ever buy fresh cut flowers.  I prefer those that are grown in the garden or in the woods or along the road...i.e.; "Wildflowers" from "God's Garden".   If I do buy flowers, they are in pots to be planted in the garden...mums in the fall, and other plants for the butterfly garden in the spring/summer. Oh, I have a couple of pots of Poinsettias right now on the back porch  that I bought for Christmas, and now I hope they don't freeze in our plunging temperatures this week.  They are hiding under the table on the covered porch, so hopefully they will be okay.

There's something else hiding on the back porch to stay warm for the night...

"Blackie" the neighborhood cat!

Oops! He saw me!  However, that didn't change a thing...he's too lazy to get up and come say hello!

Actually, yesterday afternoon I sat out on the porch for a while and sipped a cup of tea before it turned too cold to sit out there...

And Blackie suddenly appeared out of nowhere and saw me sitting in his chair, and turned around and went right back down off the porch! He didn't even stop to say hello! LOL. There are two other chairs on the porch that he could've sat in, but I guess he likes mine best!  

A little later I watched the sun setting over Still Waters Pond, and then I saw the the Sand Hill Crane family fly in and go around and land on the other side of the island somewhere out of my sight.

So I hurried up and ran over to the next door new house property and went around to where I could see them on the little marshy strip of land behind the island:

I guess this is where they will probably build their next this year, once "Abe" leaves the nest for good!

I won't be able to watch them quite as closely since this spot is out of my view from my house, and once someone buys the house next door I won't be able to go over there anymore.  Unless the neighbors are really friendly!  I hope they will be, but still, they probably won't want me to come running around on their property everytime I want to watch the birds! LOL.

Well, friends, this is all for this Tuesday 4. I 've got to run to choir practice, so I'd better get a move on. (No worries, I will drive, not run. It's getting too dark to run 3 miles! LOL. As if I could or would! LOL)

Happy January everyone!!