Monday Monday

Happy Monday Morning in Mid January!  Welcome to a little bit of winter/spring? here in FLorida!  Two days ago it was in the 80's, and today it started out in the low 40's...and as the week progresses it will actually dip back down to below freezing again!  

The Robins have finally arrived on their migration from the north to the south for the rest of the winter!

They have been all over the place the last couple of days, looking for worms or bugs or berries or whatever they can find to help store up energy for the rest of their flight southward.

Matthew 6:26-27   

"26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 

27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

They actually got here a little bit later than usual. Normally we've seen them come through in late November, and in some times past this holly tree was loaded with berries just waiting for them. But sadly most of the berries have already been picked by other birds and/or squirrels, so there weren't a lot left for the Robins.

However, I know there are other holly trees all around the pond and I am sure they are finding enough to eat, because they are still out there, coming in swarms...and even covering the dry pond. So there must be something out there for them!

Anyway, it's always fun to see them as they pass through. We will look forward to seeing them again later in the spring on their way back north.

Even though it was a chilly start, the sun was coming up and brightening our day so it feels a little warmer.

It was a beautiful start to the day, and we are thankful for the sunshine, even though I'm still watching for that rain to come and refill our pond!

Speaking of our pond, someone posted these pages on Facebook from some old sales brochures from this community, from back in the late 1960's, when they first developed this area.  In the picture below, if you look at that half moon shaped pond at the bottom of this aerial view of our neighborhood,  that is our Still Waters Pond from back in the very beginning!  Do you see the two little islands that kind of look like eyebrows?  Those are the islands I can see from our yard as we look at the pond. That green strip of land on the east side of the pond is where our house is now. (it would be the top side as you are looking at the picture, with the street running at an angle, which is actually the street that runs in front of our house).  There were no trees around the pond then, or actually not many trees at all in the neighborhood.

I love that it says you will have "carefree outdoor living in an ideal climate"...LOL. They meant wintertime I am sure.  Anyone moving here in the summertime soon learned there was not such a great "ideal climate" in the summer, and you spent more time indoors with the AC, if you had it! Back then they didn't have central AC, so I believe a lot of these homes were built mainly for "snowbirds" who only spent the winter here.  "So Where the Sun Stays"..."You can escape from a teeming city atmosphere. Be free of winter's blizzards, smoke, smog, and pollution.  There's fun-in-the-sun living all year long".  LOL.   That's debateable for sure!

This picture below is another view of our pond, taken from the west side of it and looking across to where those two islands are with only a few palm trees on them. That chalet/A frame looking house would have been directly across the street from our house if our house was there,  but our house wasn't put here until about 2003. Just look at Still Waters Pond!!No lily pads, and lots of WATER!  But no real trees around it either.  It wasn't the lovely bird/wildlife sanctuary that we enjoy now.

Here's a more recent aerial view of the pond, taken from a different angle, our house is at the bottom of the picture, with the street running in front of it. Across that street is where that A Frame house used to be.  And yes, that is a 4 lane highway running on the south side of the pond. Back when this area was developed, it was just a two lane highway, and I'm sure it was much quieter.

This is a view of the pond from our back porch, as it looked when we still had water in Still Waters Pond:

Again, those A-frame houses would have been on the street across from where our house is now:

And this is the house that is in that location across the street from us now:  (Or rather the huge magnolia tree that is across the street! LOL)  I don't know what happened to those A-Frames, however. I think they were promotional homes back in the day, but for some reason they didn't survive the test of time!  

Yes,  it was a snowbird's paradise for the time, with inexpensive mobile homes, carefree living, lots of lakes and sunshine!  Sadly, now so many of those mobile homes are over 50 years old and they don't look quite as nice as they did then.   We are thankful for the house that we have that is much newer and more modern, but yes, it is an old time "trailer park" from the 60's-70's in most of the rest of the neighborhood.  There are quite a few newer manufactured homes throughout the neighborhood, but there are still a lot of the old, which I wish some could be removed...but it is what it is. We bought our house here because it was affordable and on the pond, and close to our kids who live in a different neighborhood about a mile away, and we love our community and church.  There are some things that I wish I could change about the neighborhood, but for the most part people are friendly and the community is quiet, except for a few loud trucks and cars now and then passing by, but we are thankful to have a place we can afford and enjoy our retirement. Oh, and we have some nice new neighbors next door to us in that new house I told you about many times before. They are sweet Christian people and we are thankful to have them as neighbors. 

Switching gears a bit...since the weather IS getting so cold, our little friend Lily Grace was hoping to go sledding! She got this nifty sled for Christmas (it was a thrift store discovery that was just the right size for Lily, so of course it couldn't be passed up!)  So she's looking for a nice snowy spot to take a sled ride.  

Since most of the winter scenery has been put away with the Christmas stuff, we had to discover some clever backgrounds to find just the right place for her to go sledding.  This place looks like it will do just fine. I see lots of children over there sledding down that hill and having a great time, so Lily Grace is on her way to have some winter fun!

Whee!  What a ride!! 

That was fun!!!

After all of that excitement Lily Grace went back inside and had some hot cocoa with her friends! That was a fun adventure for a chilly day!!

Speaking of cozy adventures...yesterday the "kids" came over after church and we had lunch together, and then these guys all snuggled up on the couch together:

Yes, that's Benton holding Sugar, and Rose holding Spice. One big happy family!!

And yes, Scott was here for the afternoon too, and you can see he's nice and comfy in his flannels...LOL. He finally set up the display case that Benton built for him for Christmas, and put his collection of Camaro cars in there.

Looks pretty neat!  Also his Aunt and Uncle gave him that book for Christmas that is displayed below about Muscle Cars, so he added that to his collection.  Yes, he keeps these things here at home in his room even though he doesn't stay here all the time anymore. He works about an hour + away, so has a room that he rents from a friend who is close to his work, but this is still his permanent home where he keeps his "stuff".   That's fine with us. We enjoy having him come home whenever he can, even if to do laundry! It's always a joy to have your kids come home.  

One last thing...I've been enjoying these poinsettias that I bought back before Christmas. Thankfully they survived the freezing weather a couple of weeks ago because I put them under the back porch where the frost wouldn't be able to touch them. Looks like I'm going to have to do it again this week!

The spots on the petals are actually rain drops, as it was misting rain a bit yesterday with the cold front coming through. They were sparkling like diamonts, but these pictures don't do them justice.

So please just imagine that all those spots are like diamonds sparkling in the sunshine, okay?

Thinking of sparkling or looking radiant...I will close today with this portion of Psalm 34:1-8

I 

"1  I will bless the Lord at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;

The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

And let us exalt His name together.

4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me,

And delivered me from all my fears.

5 They looked to Him and were radiant,

And their faces were not ashamed.

6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,

And saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,

And delivers them.

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!"

Amen.

Have a blessed and beautiful week, my friends. And be radiant!!

It Was A Foggy Saturday Morning!

I started writing this post early this morning when it looked like this outside: 

We've had a lot of these foggy mornings lately, and my heart goes out to those who have to drive in it. It may not be as bad as a snow storm, but the visibility can be just as bad in some places. 

I much prefer to drive when it looks like this, which was yesterday morning:

And I also prefer to be home when the sun is setting in the west like it did last night:

It can be brutal heading west when the sun is going down, so it's much nicer to just stay here and enjoy watching it over "Still NO Waters Pond".  I do miss the beautiful reflections we used to get on the water during the sunsets.  Hopefully we will get some spring rains that will bring the pond back to its natural beauty.  We are supposed to get some rain tomorrow and again sometime during next week, along with a drop in the temperatures again...back into the 40's and high 30's in the mornings, and 50's and 60's for the high. Today it's 83 degrees right now. No wonder people keep getting sick!

I finally got all the Christmas decorations and the tree down and put away yesterday.  So instead of the tree in front of this window, here's the view now:

Oh, wait! Who's that???  Blackie? Where did YOU come from??? You're supposed to be on the outside looking in, not the inside looking out! LOL!

I wanted to thank you all for your input regarding flea treatments, etc. for Blackie.  I did zero in on one that sounds affordable and safe for an outside/inside cat. One of my very old friends from many years ago sent me a private message to tell me what she uses for their inside/outside cat. She reads my blog, but never comments on here, so it was a surprise to get an email from her with just the information I needed.  I ordered it from Amazon and it came today and we already applied it to Blackie's back of the neck...and he promptly went outside and rolled in the sand and now the spot has sand stuck on it, but hopefully that won't affect the effectiveness of the treatment. He does love to roll in the sand!!!!

I don't foresee Blackie becoming a full time indoor cat anytime soon, but we do enjoy letting him come inside for a few minutes and explore, and then I scoop him up and give him some snuggles and put him back outside (until the next time he manages to scoot in the door when we open it). For now he's happy and so are we with that arrangement.  Time will tell what will develop.

As I was cleaning off the kitchen counter where  so much of the Christmas decorations were, I rediscovered this little knicknack...

Here's what it says:

Amen!!

The little saying above that says "Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings while the dawn is still dark" actually came from a Chinese Fortune Cookie, and I kept it because it spoke to me. 

It reminds me of this verse from Hebrews 11:1:

"1.  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

To me, that means that faith is having confidence that the things God has promised in His Word will indeed happen, even when I can't see them yet.   And so, like the bird who can "feel the light and sing while the dawn is still dark", I too can sing and smile with confidence that what God has promised to us, He will deliver.  

Even though the Christmas items have mostly been put away, there's still little reminders here and there...like that cup full of Christmas candy that no one seems to want to eat...

And I still haven't taken down the Christmas cards that were strung up on the room divider in the foyer...

We did enjoy receiving so many lovely cards. There were a few more that didn't make it on this arrangement because I just got lazy, but we enjoyed them just the same. LOL.

I know we didn't get as many as usual, but I didn't send out as many as usual either, because I was sick most of the month of December. I feel blessed that we somehow still managed to have Christmas at all! God is good, and we are very thankful. And as someone said recently in their blog (I'd have to go back and check to see who it was), we need to keep the Christmas spirit going on into the New Year and all year long, and continue in the spirit of love and kindness and generosity and hope and joy and peace and faith!

On another note, after the fog lifted we took a little ride this morning. Remember last week when we went to the Kenwood Boat Ramp and saw how little water was there?  Well, yesterday someone told me that if we took another little road right next to that location, we would be able to drive all the way to where the water is and where the boaters can still put in their boats and go out into what's left of the river/lake and go fishing or take a boat ride.  And so this morning we decided to ride down there and see it for ourselves, and here's what we discovered:

You can see a lot of trucks/boat trailers lined up along the shore...and there were a lot more than this, so they are out there somewhere in that water having a great day hopefully and catching whatever fish are there!

Normally there was water all the way to the tree lines, and when they release the water again in March all this bare ground will be covered in water again.

It was fascinating to see all the mussel shells all over the ground.  

There were a lot of water birds along the shore finding something good to eat.  Also, in the distance, if you notice all those tree stumps...those are cypress tree knees and or/trunks, from where they cut the trees years ago to create this reservoir.  The water in the middle is apparently the original river that flows through there naturally.

This place is fascinating to me...it's like being on a different planet! LOL.

That's an interesting cloud floating up in the sky (below).  Kind of looks like an angel!  You can also see there was still some fog lingering along the top of the water.  

I hope you enjoyed these photos. I really enjoyed being there. It was a unique experience.

After we left the river/lake/resesrvoir ?,  we stopped in at the Deep Creek Game Farm and Trading Post. Our son was there selling his garden planter/containers, so we visited with him a while, and then I went around to the different vendors and into the Trading Post store.  Out of everything there to look at, this is the main thing that caught my attention...can you guess why?

I was really tempted to buy it as it really wasn't very expensive, but to be honest, I wasn't too thrilled with the giant sea turtle flying into the window, so I decided to pass it up. I loved the church and the window and everything else about it, however.  It's still tempting because it goes along with my blog so perfectly, but I am proud of myself for not giving into temptation.  It's just kind of a strange painting I think.

Still, the theme makes one think, doesn't it?  "When God closes a door, He opens a window". That's the quote that got me started on this blog some 16 years ago.  HERE is a LINK to that very first blog post.

And the verse mentioned in that post goes along very well with the pictures above of the "rivers in the desert".    I know I've often quoted these verses, but they bear repeating as we are still beginning a new year, hopefully filled with many "new things",  and roads in the wilderness and rivers in the desert of wherever we may find ourselves from time to time.  

Isaiah 43:18-19 NKJV

18 “Do not remember the former things,

Nor consider the things of old.

19 Behold, I will do a new thing,

Now it shall spring forth;

Shall you not know it?

I will even make a road in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert."

May we be like that little bird, who "feels the light and sings while the dawn is still dark."  Amen? Amen.

And also, "Just as God gives the birds an abundance of seeds, He sends us His blessings and cares for our needs."   Amen,  and Praise the Lord!

It's almost dark now, and I've  finally finished this post. I hope you have a blessed and wonderful evening and "SONday" tomorrow.  

Just Not With the Program...

Morning Light

Hi Friends...here it is Wednesday afternoon, and to be honest, I haven't been able to do much writing this week primarily because we've had appointments and other things going on, and also because I just can't seem to 'get with the program'.  I was going to try to do the Tuesday 4 yesterday about "reading", but I haven't been reading anything lately because of the holidays and also when I was sick for two weeks I didn't feel like reading.  Hopefully I will get back into the groove now that the holidays are over...well, I still haven't put away our Christmas decorations or tree...it's been that busy and I just don't seem to have any extra energy for tackling that issue yet...hopefully tomorrow will be the day...

Meanwhile, Blackie the Porch Kitty keeps trying his best to become a House Kitty.  We can barely get in the door without him scooting past us and getting inside before we can stop him.  I'm about ready to say okay, but we need to do something about his fleas first. Since he is an outdoor cat, he definitely has some fleas, and I don't want them in the house or on me. So I am looking for recommendations for the best treatment. I'm not crazy about flea collars and have heard mixed reviews.  I tried a "spray" that was recommended at a PetSense store, but cats don't like things sprayed on them.  The pills are expensive, but I guess we will have to bite the bullet and use them before the fleas bite us!!

Fleas or not, I can't help but pick him up and snuggle him, and he sure does love it!  But then out the door he goes before he has a chance to leave too many little friends behind. We're working on it...but still, I have reservations about him becoming a full time house cat. He really loves climbing the tree and watching the birds and being "free" to do what he likes to do.

This story will be continued.

Meanwhile, why have we been so busy? Let's see...Monday morning we had to go to Walmart to do some grocery shopping and also return a Christmas gift...No, not Lily Grace...but you can barely see that I am sitting on a back/body heated massager.  Remember when I bought a new chair that had heat/massage in it and we ended up returning the chair and got a new one that didn't have it?  Well, I still wanted a heated massager, and we saw this one in Walmart that looked like it would do the trick.  It did feel pretty good, but it had some issues that I didn't like and after trying it for a week or so I decided it wasn't what I really wanted so we decided to return it.

Me on Christmas day, relaxing with a nice heated massage at least for a few minutes.

The man at the return/customer service counter in Walmart said it was the 50th one that had been returned! So I guess I'm not the only one who didn't like it!  Too bad. It had potential, but needed some "refining".

After we got back home from that trip we had lunch and then I went to the Ladies' Bible Study, which I had missed for a few weeks while I was sick. It was good to be back.  And then that evening we went out to supper at Chili's with the kids. Rose got a gift card for her birthday and wanted to use it before she had to go back to work after being off for a week, so we decided we would all go. It was good to go let someone else do the cooking!

Tuesday morning I had a much overdue dental appointment. Before Christmas I lost a filling in a tooth, and even though it didn't hurt, it was a problem keeping food cleaned out of that tooth, and also because I was sick I couldn't go to the dentist until I was better. So finally Tuesday morning I went, and of course they couldn't just replace the filling! Oh no! That would be too simple and not cost much! How silly of me to think they could just do that. Oh no!  Lots of x-rays and examination and the determination that I needed a deep cleaning of my teeth and gums because that had not been done back when another dentist first said I needed that but I just never got around to it, and then the dentist also decided that most likely he will need to do a root canal of that tooth and put a crown on it...Of course!  $$$$ Cha ching!  Anyway, they convinced me that all needed to be done, and today I went back for the first half of the deep cleaning, and then I will go again next week for the 2nd half and also for the root canal/crown.  Oh what fun!! (NOT!).  

Internet photo. Definitely not my teeth!

So between all of those things going on (plus the normal daily routines of living) I just haven't had time to write a post or do anything really interesting to tell you about.  And tonight I'm supposed to go to a church Administrative Board meeting (I'm the secretary of the board), but I am not sure if I will make it. The numbness is wearing off in my mouth from that procedure this morning, and I am feeling a bit woozy and headachy and I don't really feel like going out tonight.  We'll see how I feel after supper. Hubby will go as he is the chairman of the board,  and I know there's someone else there who can take minutes. 

Later: hubby just left for the meeting without me. I'm just going to relax tonight and hopefully have the energy to tackle the Christmas tree and decor tomorrow and get the house cleaned out.

Here's a last look at the tree and its reflection in the window before we take it down tomorrow. I will miss these lights!

But we still have the beautiful evening skies to enjoy (while they last). (by the time I added this photo to the post it was totally dark outside!)

Regardless of what the lights in the house and outside the house may be doing...here are some good words of hope and promise regarding the "Light shining in the darkness".

John 1:1-5, 14  NIV

"1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

And that is what Christmas truly is all about.

Happy New Year my friends.

Good Night.