Thursday Thankfulness

Happy first Thursday of Lent, 2025.

Actually, these sunrise photos were from yesterday morning, and these clouds ushered in a very stormy, windy  Ash Wednesday.  The winds are definitely in keeping with the month of March's reputation!

Seems like I can see and angel flying into the midst of this sunrise, which gives us encouragement that even in the midst of storms, God sends His angels to watch over us and keep us in all our ways...

Psalm 91:9-12

9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

10 No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

12 In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

What a beautiful promise from God's Word for us in these chaotic times! So very thankful for God's protection and provision always!

As you saw in the preceding pictures, the Goldfinches have arrived on their spring trek back up north!  It is such fun to watch them feeding at the finch feeder, and even the Bluebirds don't seem to mind them being here. I think they know they are just here temporarily, and that they are not a threat to their home territory, so they seem to get along just fine for the short while the finches are here filling up on food for their journey. 

Other signs of Spring are these blooming trees on the corner of our property:

This is a Carolina Cherry Laurel tree blossom, which I never realized before now was it's name! We always called it a wild cherry.

And the yellow flowers are some that I've shown you many times before, the Carolina Jessamine, or Yellow Jessamine are growing like wildfire this spring! They are so beautiful, and I've been noticing them almost everywhere we go along fencerows and up in the trees. Funny that both of these plants today have the name "Carolina" in their name!  And yet we are in Florida, but really not all that far from the Carolinas!  I am really enjoying their beauty this year for certain!

And I am really happy that the red Hibiscus plant we planted in the garden on Sunday is still blooming beautifully, and still has a lot more buds on it!  This makes my heart happy indeed, since this is the bush we chose to plant in memory of our son Matthew for his birthday.  

Here is something else that makes my heart happy.  A very dear young woman in our church gifted me with this painting on Sunday.  She actually painted it based on one of my sunset photos on Still Waters Pond:

She is learning to paint with watercolors and said she struggled a bit in getting it just right to her liking, but I love it. This young woman is currently going through a lot of issues in her family...her father has terminal cancer, her mother is not well at all and has some deep emotional issues, and her own daughter is getting married next month and so she is planning a wedding while in the process of being a care-giver for her parents, (and praying that her father is well enough to be able to attend the wedding and watch his granddaughter get married) and balancing that with her own life with her husband.  The painting is good therapy for her, but I honestly don't know how she finds the time to do anything extra.  This young woman's name is Nicole, and if you have a moment to lift her and her family up in your thoughts and prayers, I know she would appreciate it.

Yes, the Sand Hill Crane couple are still nesting, and they still take turns sitting on the nest and then coming to our shore looking for a handful of seeds to eat for a snack to help sustain them.  It has become a regular daily event to have each one of them show up at our back door waiting for us to appear and throw out some seeds. So we do, but it is just a little supplement to what they are able to get from around the pond, which is actually much better for them. But we enjoy the little interaction we have with them, and they seem to appreciate it too.

I just hiked around to the other side of the pond to see if I could catch them changing the guard on the nest, but I just can't seem to hit the right time.  There's mother Crane resting peacefully on her nest as per usual:

I do hope that since we've developed such a "close relationship" with them, they will be sure to bring their young baby colts around to visit us as soon as they are able. I'm sure they will. That has always been their tradition!    Judging by the calendar I've kept, we will be watching for that happy event sometime around St. Patrick's Day or thereabouts.  That seems to be their favorite birthday time period!

Regarding Lent...this 40 day time period prior to Easter, I wonder if or how you are observing it? I haven't made any specific promises or set any goals, but I am using this time to prepare my heart for the remembrance of what Christ has done for us on the cross, and most especially in His resurrection from the dead.

Our choir is working on our Easter Cantata, "It Is Finished", and one of the songs we are singing is this one:

Sung here by the Florida Boys

"When He Was On The Cross, I Was On His Mind"

I'm not on an ego trip I'm nothing on my own

I make mistakes I often slip

Just common flesh and bones

But I'll prove someday just why I say

I'm of a special kind

When He was on the cross

I was on his mind

The look of love was on his face

Thorns were on his head

The blood was on his scarlet robe

Stained a crimson red

Though his eyes were on the crowd that day

He looked ahead in time

For when He was on the cross

I was on his mind

He knew me, yet He loved me

He whose glory makes the heavens shine

So unworthy of such mercy

Yet when He was on the cross

I was on his mind

Yet when He was on the cross

I was on his mind

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Ronald Payne / Ronny Hinson

When He Was On The Cross lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc

And this is what I am truly thankful for today.  I hope you are too.

Have a blessed and beautiful rest of your week.

 

Tuesday 4 ~ Home Sweet Home

(this isn't our house, but the pond certainly 
looks a lot like it)

Home Sweet Home

Hello! Welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 

where each week we ask you to consider 4 questions on various subjects. The goal is to get you thinking, considering, talking and getting to know yourself and other bloggers.
Be it ever so humble there is no place like home . Let's talk about homes okay?

1. In some places people name their homes or properties. What would you name your home and why?
If you would not name it, why wouldn't you?

I think most people know that I already call our home Still Waters Pond, or at least that is what I call our pond. It wasn't named that...I named it. I think of our house as "Beside Still Waters (Pond)".

    

I may have written about this sometime before (HERE!), but many years before we ever moved to this house I had purchased this book, "Beside Still Waters" , because I loved the pictures and the theme of the book...filled with verses and poems and paintings of cabins and woods and places beside ponds and lakes and beautiful scenery of the kinds of places I would love to live.

When the day came that we were able to purchase this house beside this pond, I realized that my dream had come true, and so the idea of calling the pond "Still Waters Pond" came to me because we live "Beside Still Waters".  It is also based on the first three verses in the 23rd Psalm,

Psalm 23 New King James Version

1 The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

3 He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

Welcome to our home...

A view from the back porch Monday evening...the wildflowers were picked on our morning walk. Unfortunately, the flowers have a strong scent that ended up being too strong to keep inside the house, thus they were moved to the back porch! LOL.

This is Trailing Lantana, found on a lot where an old home used to be 

Our Still Waters Pond at Sunset (not today, however)

2. Are you more of a romantic or a pragmatist when it comes to your home or apartment's decor and color?

I had to look this up to be sure I understood what it meant. Here's what I found online:

"What is a pragmatist personality type?
A pragmatist is someone who is pragmatic, that is to say, someone who is practical and focused on reaching a goal. Pragmatists usually have a straightforward, matter-of-fact approach and don't let their emotions distract them."

Based on that description, I would say that I am probably more a "romantic" than a pragmatist. Although I am very practical about many things and try not to go overboard on things/design/decor. I use what I have and make do rather than buy new. But I do enjoy decorating for holidays and seasons and using the things that I have to make things comfortable and interesting rather than boring and plain.  I am definitely NOT a minimalist type by any stretch of the imagination.  My emotions distract me when it comes to hanging on to things that have sentimental meaning, such as family "heirlooms" or gifts that have been given to us over the years.  Our home is more of a "museum of family artifacts" than just a practical or modern style of furnishings. But they are comfortable family artifacts that are definitely used.

3. Do you have enough room in your home? Storage space, kitchen cabinets? What would you add or subtract from your home?

I'm sure I could always use more storage space, but unfortunately then I would probably just find more stuff to fill it up.  I am at a stage in life where I am trying hard to make myself start weeding things out and eliminating rather than adding more stuff.


4. Is your place really home sweet home ? Would it be hard to leave it ? Are you firmly rooted in your abode or would you move if a better opportunity came your way?

The only thing that would make me move at this stage in life is if our kids moved far away. Then we would want to move closer to them because we don't want to be left totally "alone" in our old age and not have any immediate family nearby.  The other reason would be if our health made it such that we could no longer maintain our home on our own or climb the steps to get in and out. We have discussed that possibility and if the right home/location/price came available that was on ground level, we might be persuaded to consider it while we are still able to make such a move on our own. But I would hate to leave Still Waters Pond.

Home Sweet Home

Thanks for visiting! Y'all come again!

Hebrews 13:5  NIV

5 Keep your lives free from the love of money 

and be content with what you have, 

because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you.”

Now, let's go see what others are writing over at Tuesday 4 today.

Monday Monday

Happy Monday Morning! (Well, at least it was morning when I started writing this post, but it is late afternoon now when I'm finally getting around to finishing it!) We welcomed the morning with a beautiful sunrise and a chilly 45 degrees! That's fine with me! I love these cooler mornings and beautiful days that warm up just enough to be very pleasant! I wish we could keep it that way!  

Yesterday was a very special day. Our kids all showed up after church for lunch, which was a simple meal of either barbeque pork loin sandwiches or hot dogs (or both), baked beans, cole slaw, and/or tossed salad.  I had cooked the pork loin roast the night before and sliced the meat very thin for delicious sandwiches.  It was all good.  

Then after lunch we headed outside to plant the new hibiscus bush that we had purchased on our son Matthew's birthday earlier in the week, to be planted in his memory. Benton and Scott got right to work digging the hole and planting and watering it thoroughly in the butterfly garden where it will get plenty of sunshine and also attract butterflies and hopefully some hummingbirds. It's about time for the hummingbirds to arrive here in our area for the summer, so we need to get some bright flowers out there to attract them. I also need to get my feeder ready as well.

Here's some pictures of the fun:

After that task was done, we shifted to another project we've been wanting to do for a while.

Since I forgot to take a picture of how it looked before we dug up these two little trees, I just took a picture of how it looks now out there beside the fence where we dug them up and out of the fence to transplant them:    (The blue circles are where they were growing, which obviously was too close to the fence!)

The first one we transplanted was this young Magnolia tree. Here Scott is digging the hole for it (after he dug it up from the fence)

Now it's Scott vs. tree to get it into the ground:

Next he tied a stake next to it to give it some stability until it takes root:

Looks pretty good to me!

The tree and Scott! Both look pretty good! LOL.  He's a sweetheart and a great tree-handler!  He does work in landscaping at a golf course for a living, so I guess he has some experience!

I do hope it will thrive and grow here!

Next came this little cedar tree that was literally growing through the chain link fence:

I should have taken pictures of Scott literally pulling it out of the dirt and through the fence! That was a job, but again, Scott won that battle too, and now we hope this little cedar tree will also grow and thrive!

Benton and Rose were also helping out with these projects, and also finding a few of their own. There were more small magnolia trees growing out there along the fence, so they dug them up and are taking them home to plant in their own yard! Yay!!

Oh, one more thing they fixed for us: this hose caddy was a birthday gift to hubby from the kids, and we had not been able to get it set up on our own because of a stubborn hose connection to the faucet that we couldn't get unstuck. So the strong young men tackled it and got it loose and were able to get the hose attached to the new caddy!  Now hopefully the hose won't keep getting all kinked up and also tripping us in the yard! 

To reward them all for their hard labors I had baked an Oatmeal  Cake  the night before, and it was ready and waiting to be consumed by a hungry group!  

If you've never had an Oatmeal Cake before, you've missed out! It is very moist and delicious and easy to make from scratch. This recipe is actually from my sister Doris, and has always been a family favorite for family gatherings and pot luck dinners:

*Note, I use real butter instead of margarine in this recipe, and I also use a 9"x13" pan, not an 11 x 13.

I know once you've had this cake you will add it to your favorite recipes!

So that was our day yesterday...oh, one more thing...

You might enjoy listening to our choir singing this song from yesterday's church service, and the Pastor's Sermon on the Transfiguation was really good too:

Down By the Riverside and It's Me, It's Me, Oh Lord, Standing in the Need of Prayer

And that will be all for today...I hope you enjoyed this special day with us!  

Hebrews 13:20-21 NKJV

20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, 

that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

 21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, 

working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, 

to whom be glory forever and ever. 

Amen.

Hooray for March!

Yes, Hooray for March! Surely Spring is just around the corner! Here in Florida, where we live, it is already feeling a lot like spring and we've been enjoying some pretty picture-perfect weather for a few days!  

Yes, it's time for the March calendar revue...

No, this isn't one of my pictures, although it is rather familiar, isn't it? LOL.  

Except for the rocky shoreline, (and lack of water lilies) that could easily be mistaken for my header picture with those Adirondack chairs on the shore of our own Still Waters Pond. No, our pond isn't quite that large or "clear", but still, it's pretty doggone close!

Oh wow, this Thomas Kinkade painting is certainly gorgeous! That is really beautiful...

And this is one of my favorite verses, which is also the inspiration for the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness"... 

Ah, it's tea time again...that's a lovely tea setting and interesting snacks to go along with the tea...

I like these thoughts...although I rarely share tea with a total stranger, but you never know when you might meet someone at a gathering of some sort and end up sitting at a table and sharing "tea" with a stranger, and you end up being wonderful friends and/or "family".  Yes, I can see how that can happen...

And I always love what Susan Branch puts on her little calendar each month...always something fun and uniquely interesting thoughts to ponder:

Yes, it is "lovely to be lovely us"...

And now we come to the John Sloane Country Seasons calendar...and this looks like someplace that a lot of you ladies out there in blogland would enjoy being!  I personally am not much of a seamstress or quilter, but I still love to look at fabrics and notions and dream about things I would love to do if I had the time, energy, skill, and patience...and a good sewing machine... all things I am rather short on. LOL.

Those were fun, weren't they?  Great way to start off the new month!

Now back to real life...as most of you know, our oldest son Benton is a bit of a woodworker. He and his wife Rose have a business known as "Ben & Rose's Country Woodshop", in addition to their Etsy site, BRCoastalRusticDecor.  Lately Benton has started building wood planter boxes of all sizes and shapes, and he sells them at local Farm markets. Today he was at a garden market up near Keystone Heights, FL.  We went up to see how he was doing, and he had already sold a truck load of stuff to one customer, and before the morning was over he had sold quite a bit more and had some orders to make more! Wow!  

 

Last week he was also at a local Farmer's Market and did quite well.  These are just some pictures of items he makes and sells, among others...

That swing is actually small, and is for little plants like succulents.  I told him that Lily Grace would fit in it just fine too, and I'm sure she'd love one, but he only laughed at me...why??? LOL.

Spring is a great time to sell these planter boxes, apparently, judging by his sales today! So hooray for some encouraging news!

I told him I need one of these trellises for a plant in my garden...hopefully he will find time to make one for me.  Of course I'll pay him for it, but he has to make time to build some extra, and they they get sold before he can give me one...but that's a good problem to have!  So we are happy that this new venture is taking off quite well already!!

This morning I noticed this unusual bird in a tree over across the pond. I wasn't sure what it was until I enlarged the pictures and then looked it up online...

And it is an Anhinga, whick I've seen before, but never realized they had those white feathers on their backs and on the tips of the tail!  

You can click on this link for more information if you wish:  Anhinga.  They are also sometimes called a "snake bird" because of the way they move their long skinny neck.

Always something new at Still Waters Pond to enjoy!

No new pictures, but the Sand Hill Cranes continue to trade spaces on the nest and come visit our yard foraging for food. We've been a bit more lenient than during normal times about throwing out some extra bird seeds for them especially for the mother because she has to spend so much time on the nest and doesn't have much time for foraging around looking for food.  It was funny yesterday I saw her out in the yard kind of just wandering around near the bird feeder, and as soon as I stepped out on the back porch she literally ran right toward me so fast because she expected me to have some bird seed for her. Thankfully she was right.  I wish I'd had a video of that, because it was really funny to see her take off running directly toward me.  I think we've already spoiled them a bit, but it's only for this nesting period.

Also, it must be mating time for cats in the neighborhood. Our neighborhood Blackie kitty was taking a nap on our back porch this morning, and we suddenly heard a loud "cat fight" going on. It was another male black & white tuxedo style cat up on the porch picking a fight with Blackie, who is also a male.  Must be a some kind of territorial dispute, but I was kind of like that mother Sand Hill Crane and went running out the back door and chased off that black and white cat so fast he never had a chance to look back. However Blackie took off in the opposite direction, and I haven't seen him since. I'm sure he'll show up at dinner time over at the neighbor's house, at least I hope he will. We shall see.

Never a dull moment here, that's for sure!  

Carrie Underwood and CeCe Wynan singing 

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father

There is no shadow of turning with Thee

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not

As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be

Great is Thy faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness

Morning by morning new mercies I see

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest

Sun, moon and stars in their courses above

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love

Great is Thy faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness

Morning by morning new mercies I see

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

Blessings all mine with 10, 000 beside

Great is Thy faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness

Morning by morning new mercies I see

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me