Friday Foto Friends

Good Morning Friday Foto Friends!

I hope you have been having a good week thus far...and now we are heading into a lovely weekend!

Believe it or not, we are experiencing some lovely fall-like weather even here in Florida!  Our current temperature at 6:49 a.m. is 64 degrees! The high is expected to be 84, and it looks like a perfect sunny early fall day for us!  I would love to spend the day outdoors, but we shall see what develops!

The Sand Hill Crane family came calling again the other evening. They seemed to be enjoying the late afternoon sunshine along the shores of Still Waters Pond, searching for grubs and whatever it is they love so much...

I am always amazed at how big these birds really are!  I told my hubby I could almost get on his back and ride, but I'd have to figure out how to lasso him first. That might be quite a wild ride!

I don't know if this is mother and child, or father and mother, or  father and child...but these two seem to stick together while the third member of the family is over on the other side of the yard pecking away at bird seed in the ground under the bird feeder...

These two are slowly working their way over to meet him, and if you look closely in the window of the birdhouse below, you will notice our resident lizard quietly watching the parade go by:

I don't think he wants them to know he is there, because it probably wouldn't be beneath a Sand Hill Crane to make a nosey lizard his dinner!

Hey! Which way did he go?

This is how lovely the pond looked in the glowing rays of the late afternoon sunshine:

Ah! The family has finally been reunited below...

I was trying to get a picture of the one bird scratching at his underbelly, and this young upstart decided to photo bomb the picture! Must be the youngster, don't you think?

After that they sauntered away out of sight. I did hear them making their usual loud raucous noises from somewhere on the other side of the house as they wandered around the rest of the neighborhood. I hope you enjoyed watching them as much as I did.

We did have a couple of really rainy days earlier this week...one afternoon I sat on the back porch and listened to the rain on the tin roof...and watched our lizard friend enjoying the rain as well.

It was quite a gully washer! I did make a video of the sounds and shared it on Facebook.You can listen to it HERE if you want.  (but you may have to have a Facebook account to access it.)

In my meanderings around our yard this past week I discovered this interesting cocoon on the Rose of Sharon bush in the Memorial Garden:

It's quite large, and I had no idea what it was, but I looked it up on Google, and it might be a Cecropia Moth.  Not sure yet. I am keeping an eye on it to see if I can see it emerge. Here is a video about these huge, beautiful moths. I hope it is one, and I really hope I get to see it!

"Complete Metamorphosis: A Cecropia Moth Life Cycle"

If you read my Tuesday 4 Post earlier this week HERE, you already know the story about the rose that blooms in the Secret Memorial Garden for special occasions...and that I picked this rose the other day and brought it inside to enjoy all week long for my special "heaven-sent birthday gift" from my son Matthew.  I thought perhaps you'd like to see how it looks now:

This was yesterday,

And this is today.  It's been blooming for 4 days now, and tomorrow is my actual birthday! It looks like it will still be beautiful for my special day! Oh, and it still smells just as sweet as it did on the first day!  Thank you for the many kind comments of understanding and agreement that indeed, God does love to bless us with special little gifts that seem to be "heaven-sent", just to let us know we are loved and we haven't been forgotten, even by those dear ones who have gone on before us.  

Yes, tomorrow is my actual birthday, but we will be celebrating with friends and family on Sunday afternoon after church at our local "Hog Wild Country Cafe'" restaurant. It is a fun place to go and we were able to reserve tables for a large group.  It will be fun to see loved ones all together again. It's been a long time. We will also celebrate our son's 50th birthday with the extended family since we weren't able to on  his birthday, as well as celebrate several others in the family who have had birthdays in the past few weeks. It should be a loud, happy and blessed celebration! I believe in celebrating life while we are alive to do so!  Life is just too short to ignore these special occasions.

So my dear friends, I hope that you have a blessed and wonderful weekend! Get outside and don't forget to smell the roses!

Here's some good "food for thought" from the little "Choose Grace" devotional book that was actually a gift to "Lily Grace", but I like it too!

Let us "overflow with love" for others each day!

Amen!

On another more somber note, please remember our dear blogging friend Mildred, from her blog Laurel Wood.  She has been battling cancer and has now been placed in hospice care at her home.  I know she would appreciate your prayers for her and her husband John and their loved ones. Thank you dear friends.

 

Tuesday 4: Thinking about Thanksgiving!

 Good Morning Friends in Blogland! Today is Tuesday, and time again for Tuesday 4!  You may think it a bit early to be thinking about Thanksgiving already, but it's never too early to be thankful!

So, in memory of our friend Toni Taddeo, and in the spirit of thankfulness, let us  answer these questions today! Perhaps they will stir up some memories for you as well!

Thanksgiving Time

Welcome to Tuesday 4 begun by Toni Taddeo and kept up in her memory.

Here is an old one from Toni's blog from 2019 about Thanksgiving time:



About Thanksgiving

1. What is your favorite Thanksgiving show/animated show?:

My favorite Thanksgiving show is kind of a mixture of Thanksgiving and Christmas: "Miracle on 34th Street" with Natalie Wood. I love that movie and even have a story about our own "miracle on "34th street" house...not really on 34th Street, but a miracle story. Sometime I will have to tell it. But not today.  Our other favorite movie for Thanksgiving is "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" with Steve Martin and John Candy.  I love that movie, but I'm not sure if I want to watch it again this year. We'll see...

2. What is there about Thanksgiving you like the best:

Well, of course it is the gathering of family and friends and sharing that time together, with much thankfulness and love.  So many happy memories of Thanksgivings past when our whole family could be together, before our parents left this world for heaven.  But we still try to keep the traditions going and our home has been the gathering place for our Florida families to gather over the past quite a few years now.  

This was last year:

3. Favorite Thanksgiving/holiday song?:

As a child I remember singing "Over the River and Through the Woods to Grandmother's house we go..."  But my favorite hymns would be:

"We Gather Together to Ask the Lord's Blessing..." and "Come Ye Thankful People, Come".  If we don't sing those hymns on Thanksgiving either in church that Sunday before or together at our home, then I don't feel like Thanksgiving is complete!

4. If you have an all holiday music radio station when do you start listening to it?:

Please, no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving!  And no Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving. I prefer to keep the holidays separate and enjoy each one for its intended purpose.  Besides, our house would be too crowded to have Christmas decorations crowding out the Thanksgiving decorations. There is a time and a place for everything, and a season for each...

so there! LOL.

Thank you, Annie, for coming up with ideas for us each week. !

Now for some other news of the day... did you see the full moon last night?  I didn't actually see it until this morning. I knew it had to be full during the night, because the moonlight was so bright in our bedroom I could not get back to sleep! But I was too sleepy to go out and look at it until this morning, and this is the best I could do for pictures:

I am assuming this would be called the "Harvest Moon"?  

I remember my parents singing this song together.  Sweet Memories.  They met during the "Harvest Moon".  You can read more about that at the link just added...

And then one more thing that was VERY special happened yesterday.  I looked out the back door toward the Secret Memorial Garden and noticed there was something red blooming...and off I flew to see if it was what I thought it was:

Most of you who have known me for a while know that we have a Memorial Garden area in memory of our sweet #2 son, Matthew, who died in 2014 from cancer.  When we moved to this house two years ago, I brought with us the rose bush that was planted in the original memorial garden, along with a Rose of Sharon bush.  We re-planted them here...and the tradition seems to be that this rose bush blooms primarily on or around special events in our lives...birthdays, Mother's Day, Anniversaries, etc.  That seems to be about the only time it blooms. Well, this weekend will be my birthday, and when I saw that rose blooming yesterday I knew that it was my special birthday rose gift from Matthew, sent from heaven with love.  You may think what you want, but I can only tell you that it happens this way every special day...so whether or not you believe it...I choose to accept this as a sweet blessing and gift from God and from our son in heaven.  

You can see, it's not a very big bush, but it keeps growing and producing these special roses on special days.

Thank you. Matthew!

And Thank You, Jesus, for allowing this blessing to happen.

Here is how it looks this morning.  It will last all week and still be beautiful on my birthday, which is Saturday.  Just one of God's special mysteries and blessings.

Yes, I am very thankful, and Thanksgiving will again be a time of great thankfulness in our family.

Have a blessed day today.  Be sure to keep a watch for special blessings that God sends your way. They are there, if you just watch and pay attention!

Saturday Roundup and Blessings

Here it is Saturday evening, and I really don't have much to say.  Thought I'd go through some random pictures from the week and see if we can put it together into some kind of post!

This was the morning sunrise one fine morning this week!  I love how the contrails criss-crossing across the sky glow in the morning sunlight.  It was a beautiful way to start the day...

And then on another morning this past week the skies looked like this... a foggy mist above the pond in the early morning before the sun began to rise.  The lights are from cars passing on the road on the other side of those trees, driving through the fog to get to work on time.  We've had several foggy mornings this week.  It's that in between season time when it can't make up its mind if it's going to be cool and cloudy  or warm and humid.  Usually once the sun comes up it's still pretty hot and humid.

Now this is a picture of progress.  We've had road construction going on in our little town for as long as we've lived here.  They are four-laning the main highway through town, and on this particular day they were putting up some new traffic lights to change lanes from one side to the new  completed side so they can finish working on the other side.  Confused? You should live here. At least it's progress. 

A week or so ago I showed you some little signs of autumn here, and today I check them out again and the little cut down maple trees are doing their best to keep growing.

I hope they will get big and tall again and let their colors glow!!

Speaking of glowing...a week or so ago I told my daughter in love that we had some good rib eye steaks in the freezer but our gas grill no longer worked so I wasn't sure when or how we were going to cook them.  Well, the very next day she and our son showed up in our driveway with this in the back of their truck.

No, it wasn't brand new, but it was as good as new, except it needed a few new parts.  My sweet DIL ordered the parts and they brought them over one day this past week too.

Today our son the grill chef put all the new parts in it and got it fired up...and it worked like a charm!

 So we decided to test it with some hamburgers tonight.

I said I didn't want to ruin those good steaks on it until we were sure it was going to work good enough for steaks! LOL.

Oh, BTW, did you notice his t-shirt?  LOL.  Anyway...

The burgers turned out perfect, and so as soon as we can get together with our other kids again, (and also have enough steaks to go around for the whole family), we will be having them over for a steak dinner!

I love how resourceful our family is.  We are very blessed indeed.

Here's some food for thought regarding our children, no matter what their age:

Good Night My Friends.

May you sleep in peace.

(This is our sunset right now.  Nothing spectacular, but still beautiful in its own way. 

We are blessed with God's perfect peace.)

 

Tuesday 4: Home Is Where the Heart Is

 

Tuesday 4...."Home Is Where The Heart Is"

Welcome to Tuesday 4, Toni Taddeo's once weekly questionnaire...

This week's topic is home!

1.What makes a house a home?

I have always liked this saying:  

2. How to you keep your house neat , tidy and clean? Do you find it difficult?

The older we get, it seems to be getting more difficult to keep our house as tidy and neat as I would like it to be.  I don't have the strength and stamina I used to have, which comes with the territory of issues with the neck, back, and arms.  Plus, the past year or so, since "Covid" came into our lives to separate us from kith and kin, I have not had the opportunity to do as much entertaining in our home as we used to do. So therefore I have gotten somewhat lazy and not as particular about housekeeping as before when I knew people would be coming.  I know I have let some things go, and the longer I let them go, the harder it is to get back to them.  I am hoping to have more energy in the fall months when the weather is not so hot and humid.  That usually helps me to get back into a better routine.  We do try to take care of the routine jobs of cleaning bathrooms, sweeping up the dust and sand that gets tracked in, and dusting the most obvious places on a regular basis.  But I must admit that "out of sight, out of mind" on major dusting jobs.  Until I know company's comin'...and then I power dust! LOL. And I am thankful that my hubby does help with the vacuuming and some other jobs as needed.  

3.Are plants important in your home.. or collections.. or wall art? Is there a theme you like to create?

"Cherish your family for they are your treasure; A storehouse of riches...wealth beyond measure."

I guess the theme is family and family memories and treasures.  We have inherited a lot of family "heirlooms" over the years, and they are all very special to us because of the memory of those loved ones who once enjoyed and cherished those items in their homes. Our home is filled with love and happy memories of times spent together with our loved ones and friends. What more can I say?

Plants? No...they do not survive in our house for long. I did have some lovely African Violets at our last house because I had a perfect window for them. But I gave them to my sweet daughter in love when we moved, and she is now enjoying them in her home, where she has the perfect window for them!

(This picture below was from my former home, when the African Violets lived with me! LOL

I think they are healthier looking at my DIL's house, but no picture to share)

4.What is a typical day/evening like in your home?

Since we are retired, a typical day could be most anything, but it is normally something like this:

We get up around 6 a.m., have our morning cup of coffee (hubby), and tea (me) while we check our emails, facebook, and blogs. Then we sit down together and have our morning devotions and Bible reading. Next comes breakfast.  After breakfast we get dressed and usually head over to the place where we like to walk, weather permitting. Or, we may head to town and do some shopping. Or we may take a ride someplace different and walk there. Or we may do some yard work, when it isn't too hot. We are normally home before lunchtime, unless for some strange reason we decide to go out to lunch, but we don't do that very often during the week because we usually go out to lunch on Sunday after church with our church friends. When you are retired and on a very fixed income you have to balance things out and stick to the budget or you get into trouble.  So we tend to be pretty disciplined about what we do and where we go.  

After lunch you will most likely wake us up if you call between  12:30 and 1:30 or thereabouts, as we do like to lay down and take a nap. However, if you called, I would be so delighted to talk to you and never mind the nap. People are more important.  But the nap is very beneficial and I actually look forward to it. Then when I wake up I feel refreshed and ready to tackle whatever...folding laundry, a little housekeeping here and there, or watching something good on TV with hubby. Or reading a book or checking in on our bloggy friends/facebook, etc.

  

Around 3:30 or 4:00 I start working on supper.  Our son who lives here at home usually gets home from work around 4:30 or 5:00.   He has had a long, hot day, working at a golf course in the hot sun all day, so he is ready for a shower and supper and often times heads to bed pretty early as he gets up about 4 a.m.  But he is always willing to wash the supper dishes and help with anything else we need help with  (things we can't lift or reach in the shed, like my bins of holiday decorations, etc....)  We enjoy visiting with him while we sit at the table together for supper, hearing about his day at work or other interesting topics he likes to talk about. I enjoy drying the dishes while he washes, as he is most talkative at that time and usually full of funny stuff he thinks about on his long drive home. He can be very entertaining and would make a good stand up comedian. LOL.

After supper hubby and I usually go take another walk before it gets dark.  Then we settle in for the evening to read, watch TV, or do whatever else we can think of to do.  Bedtime is normally by 9:30 p.m. We are "early to bed, early to rise, makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise" kind of people...but we are still waiting for that "wealthy" part of the equation. LOL.  But we are wealthy in love and happiness...and that is what really matters.

Of course, these are just our normal days. Other days we may have Dr. appointments, church activities, or something out of the ordinary pop up.  And Sunday is always reserved for Sunday School and Church and out to lunch and home to nap. LOL.  

Most of all, God is the Head of our home.

I love this Bible verse:

And I've always loved this saying:

"Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."

Thank you, Annie, for making this weekly meme possible for us to do. It's always fun to see what everyone comes up with for answers!! Have a blessed week everyone!!

    "There's no place like home....there's no place like home"

(Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz)

Friday Foto Friends ~ Humbled and Blessed

Happy Friday, Friends!  Time for some "fotos" from the week, and yes, I actually have a few this week!

Can you guess where we were yesterday?  Maybe these lovely ladies serenading us on the mandolin by the light of the moon with a basket of beautiful flowers (lilacs, maybe?) will give you a clue!

Or perhaps this cute Flapper Girl, enjoying a delicious Sundae with a cherry on top will help you to figure it out...

Perhaps this handsome fella sitting on the rocking chairs on the "front porch" will give you a better clue...

Give up? Well, maybe seeing these two smiling faces from their rocking chairs on the front porch will certainly give it away! Of course! We were at Cracker Barrel! Now if you live in an area of the country where they don't have a Cracker Barrel, I am truly sorry for you! 

Anyway, yes, we were enjoying a late breakfast yesterday morning at Cracker Barrel in between my appointments at the Univ. of Florida Neuromedicine Hospital in Gainesville, FL.  We had a lot of time to kill in between appointments.  My first appt. with the neurosurgeon was at 9:30 a.m., and then he sent me for more x-rays, and after that I was blessed to actually get an appointment at 2:30 p.m. for a Nerve Conduction Velocity test, followed by and Electromyography Test (EMG). I say "blessed" because this appointment only became available due to a cancellation that morning. Otherwise, the next available appointment would not be until December!  So, even though it meant a long wait, we knew we could not pass up on that opportunity.  

Therefore, hubby and I spent the intervening time enjoying a late breakfast because they did not serve lunch until 11:00 and we got there at 10:30. After that we shopped a little in the store of the Cracker Barrel, and then went on to do a little more shopping at a couple of other stores in a nearby shopping center.  After that we went back to the hospital to just wait it out...and it turned out my 2:30 appointment did not actually happen until about 3:30, so it really was a long wait.

While we waited for my appointment we had time to just sit and observe people around us. I can tell you it was a humbling experience. My problems seem so small when I see what others have to live  and deal with in their lives. One young woman in a wheelchair, totally incapacitated and who could only make low guttural sounds to make her needs known, was being lovingly cared for by, I assume her mother, who had to be at least my age.  After watching this dear soul for a while from a distance, we both concluded that she was actually an intelligent young woman, trapped in a physical body that she had no control over. It was very heart breaking, and as I said, humbling.  Her image has not left my mind even yet this morning, and so I lift up a prayer for her and her mother, that God would somehow brighten their day and give them a sense of His presence and peace in their lives.

Regarding my own situation, I will have to wait on the neurosurgeon to get back to me with the results of the tests to determine what is next. His first thought before seeing the test results was that he does NOT think I am a candidate for surgery yet.  However, from what I was able to ascertain from the neurologist conducting the nerve tests, there is nerve damage in my arm, and so something will have to be addressed. I will wait and see just what that "something" will be.  Meanwhile, I guess I keep going to physical therapy...

So now for some more happy photos from my back yard on Still Waters Pond:

The Sand Hill Crane Family flew in again for some dessert. It was fun to watch them poking around in the grass, digging up whatever it is they like so much.

There actually were three of them, the mother, father, and grown baby, but it was hard to get all three of them together in one photo.

I always feel honored when they come to visit.

We do enjoy what God provides to bring some beauty and joy to our days.

And that would include this Rose of Sharon, that continues to blossom in the "Secret Memorial Garden".

The leaves are starting to turn yellow from the heat and sun and also because it is "fall" approaching. But even that variegated color is lovely, don't you think?

And these little red maple leaves are growing up from the stump of the tree that was cut down recently when we had some tree work done. I was not thrilled that they cut down this tree, but they were trying to open up more light into that area so the trees in the "secret garden" could get more sunshine and actually be healthier.  However, I intend to let this maple tree just grow right back up if it so pleases.  It looks like it wants to, don't you agree???

Oh look! We have a new inhabitant in the birdhouse!!! Actually, there are two interesting creatures on this picture!! I wonder who would win that battle...the lizard or the wasp?

Yes, this lizard has taken up residence in the Bluebird house. He pokes his head out throughout the day to catch some bugs and say hello!

He has claimed it as his own, but when the bluebirds come back to roost in the spring I hope he knows he will have to move out!!! This is their house, and he is just a squatter who has no proper lease!

But I guess it's okay for him to stay and take care of the place until they return. 

Even little lizards need a warm, dry place to live.

Here's some thoughts for today:

Romans 12:9-16

9.  "Let love be without hypocrisy. 

Abhor what is evil, 

cling to what is good.

10.  Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love,

in honor giving preference to one another;

11.  not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

12.  Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;

13.  distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

14.  Bless those who persecute you;

bless and do not curse.

15.  Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

16.  Be of the same mind toward one another.

Do not set your mind on high things, 

but associate with the humble. 

Do not be wise in your own opinion."

Thank You, Lord, for these thoughts and lessons today.

I am humbled and blessed.