Friday Foto Friends-Signs of the Times

I can't believe it is Friday already! This week has truly flown right past us! But it's been a good kind of "flying"...  Thank you all for your many kind words and anniversary wishes and sweet comments. I treasure them all, and one of these days I am going to get better at responding. But it seems that my free time is getting gobbled up and I am having to catch up on the "fly".  Thank you for your patience!

You see, "Skippy" the Squirrel is demanding more and more attention.  Yes, that is  what the Dixie Cottage mascot has been named. When I asked my daughter in law Rose what she thought he should be called, she said the name "Skippy" just seemed to fit. And so "Skippy" it is.

And as we are spending more and more of our days at Dixie Cottage, you may be hearing more about "Skippy" and his friends.  I hope you don't mind that my photos this week are primarily from Dixie Cottage, because, as I said, we are spending more and more of our days there.  Our one day a week has now grown into several mornings a week as well, which really isn't a bad thing. We actually enjoy being there and even when we aren't necessarily supposed to be there we find ourselves gravitating toward there anyway.

So yesterday while there was a lull in the action I took some pictures of a few signs that were "speaking" to me.  Hey, if you are a dog lover, and I know many of you are, we have some cute signs and items you might like.  Now, don't think this is a sales pitch. It isn't.  It's just that when this is where I am, this is what I see, and so therefore this is what I have to share with you.

I thought these mugs and leashes were a cute gift item for the dog lovers around us:

Oh, and there's even a door mat to wipe your doggy's feet on when you come back from your walk!

Now, over here are a couple of Skippy the Squirrel's friends. One is a bunny rabbit and the other is a  squirrel, and they are each holding a rain gauge.  Speaking of rain, we had a humdinger of a thunderstorm yesterday afternoon! I wish I'd put one of these rain gauges out, but I bet they would have been overflowing! It was a gully-washer for sure. But we needed the rain and Still Waters Pond is a little happier today to have some more water.  We still need more rain to fill it up, but every drop counts!

Speaking of signs and water..."The Lake is Calling", and "Life is Better at the Lake"...but "The beach is my happy place", and you should just "RELAX and accept the CRAZY"...because my "FAMILY is a little bit LOUD, a little bit CRAZY, & a whole lot of LOVE".  Some "FAMILIES are like fudge...mostly sweet with a few nuts!"  LOL.

Meanwhile, you are "Welcome to our neck of the woods"... where you can "Eat, Sleep, and Fish", and you are also "Welcome to our firepit, where friends and marshmallows get toasted at the same time." LOL.  Just a little bit of fun to brighten someone's day.

And speaking of "fun" to brighten someone's day...a couple of mornings ago we did manage to take a little walk in the woods.  But we were startled to find an alien sitting there waiting for us:

Well, it looked like an alien to me...even has a little face!  Apparently someone has been getting their "marshmallows" a little too close to the fire out there. LOL.

And with that thought I will just have to close this crazy post down.

I do need to have some words of wisdom or more meaningful food for thought to share with you...

How about this...

Amen.

Have a blessed and beautiful Friday!

 

Anniversary Day Recap

Hello Friends!! I hope you've all had a wonderful day today! We certainly did, and I promised you, if you read my last post HERE on the Tuesday 4 post, that I would tell you all about today whenever I was able.  (and thank you to all of you who wrote such wonderful words of congratulations and best wishes in your comments! I appreciate every one of you!) As many of you know, today was our 53rd anniversary, but we spent the day working at Dixie Cottage so our "kids" could get some other projects done.

Well, here's one of their projects that needed to get done:

The original sign, although it was nice and "cottage-y", just wasn't big and bold enough to be seen from the road, and people had mentioned to us that we really needed to get a better sign that could be seen. And so it was done:

Benton and Rose sure make a good team!!

 Their landlady has been very busy in improving the looks of the building ever since she knew they were moving in.   Here's the "before" photo:

And here's how the front of Dixie Cottage looks now: 

I'd say that's a big improvement, wouldn't you?  God has truly blessed them with this sweet landlady. She's so excited to have their store here in our little town, and she has bent over backwards (almost literally), to improve the looks of this building. We are all very thankful for the wonderful ways that God has been blessing this venture from day one.

And so John and I spent the day at the store and had a very pleasant day. It was kind of slow, but Tuesdays generally are a little slower...that's why we wanted to work on this day.  However, we did have a fairly steady stream of customers in and out all day...just not a lot of big "spenders"...but some really good "talkers".  LOL.  That's okay. Most everyone says they will be back, especially as we get closer to the holidays as they can see there are lots of great gift items they would like to buy.  So that's good news.

When 4:00 finally rolled around, the kids came and picked us up and we headed up the road to Keystone Heights for supper.  They took us to this BBQ place called "Johnny's BBQ".  

And here we are, for our annual anniversary photo:

And here's Rose and Benton, our sweet kids. Our son Scott was unable to come since he now works and lives out of town a ways, but he did call and wish us a Happy Anniversary and that was like the icing on the cake for us!

Of course, no meal would be complete without some pictures.  With all of the great and wonderful choices on the menu, wouldn't you know my hubby would choose his old favorite, beans and wienies! Some things just never change...LOL.

Here's Rose taking a picture of her plate, smoked 1/2 chicken, curly fries and coleslaw. (I think Benton ate some of her chicken too).

And here's Benton digging into his dinner, BBQ brisket, green beans and coleslaw:

And last but not least, my plate of BBQ brisket, baked sweet potato and coleslaw and cornbread.

It was all very very good, and a very nice gift from our sweet kids.

When we got back home we had some special visitors...The Sand Hill Crane Family dropped in to say hello. This is "Colt", the "Baby"...remember him?  Well, he finally has developed his red topknot on his head! And he is definitely as big as his parents now.

Here they are in the pond...(what's left of it). If we don't start getting more rain, Still Waters Pond is going to just be "still no more waters".

It has become so shallow the cranes were able to walk across to the island:

It was fun to see them again, and I do hope they will come back soon. I've missed watching them.

And now the sun is setting in the west on this lovely anniversary day...

Not really anything super spectacular, but lovely all the same.  No two sunsets are ever alike.

God is our Master Designer and sustainer of all that exists...

On this, the closing of our special day...53 years of marriage...we are still amazed at all the ways God has blessed us and cared for us all these years.  It is difficult for us to realize that so many years could have passed already...and when we look ahead into the future, if it weren't for the knowledge that our God is in control, it could be a bit daunting.

But here's a few verses that came to mind as I was writing this, and even though they were written thousands of years ago to the children of Israel, I can see a personal message here for us and for our country as well:

Portions from Isaiah 46:

3“Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob,

all the remnant of the people of Israel,

you whom I have upheld since your birth,

and have carried since you were born.

4 Even to your old age and gray hairs

I am he, I am he who will sustain you.

I have made you and I will carry you;

I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

8“Remember this, keep it in mind,

take it to heart, you rebels.

9 Remember the former things, those of long ago;

I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is none like me.

10 I make known the end from the beginning,

from ancient times, what is still to come.

I say, ‘My purpose will stand,

and I will do all that I please.’

11 From the east I summon a bird of prey;

from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.

What I have said, that I will bring about;

what I have planned, that I will do.

12 Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted,

you who are now far from my righteousness.

13 I am bringing my righteousness near,

it is not far away;

and my salvation will not be delayed.

I will grant salvation to Zion,

my splendor to Israel."

I find comfort in these words...especially knowing that God will continue to sustain us and even carry us even when we are old and gray-haired! (Oh, that's quite close!)  We do not need to fear the future...our lives are in God's hands, no matter what may befall this old earth.  And with that I will say good-night. Tomorrow begins a new adventure into a new year for us. We face the future with confidence...God is with us...and He will carry us  and sustain us no matter what.  Praise God!
 

Tuesday 4 ~ Dinner Out and Happy Memories

Guess what's happening tomorrow, August 16th, 2022?

 Hello! I am writing this on Monday night because tomorrow is going to be a very busy day for us. We will be working all day at Dixie Cottage...and then, because it is also our 53rd anniversary, the kids are going to take us out to dinner!  I know, you may be asking why we would choose to work all day on our anniversary? Well, because we promised we would work on Tuesdays to give the kids an extra day to work on projects to restock the store. All of the painted furniture in the store is something they have to do themselves, and when items get sold, they have to replenish the supply as quickly as possible! So, rather than mess up their schedule, we said we would be happy to stick with the plan, and they said they would take us out for supper afterwards. We don't know exactly where we are going yet, so that may be something to share on the next post.  And besides, we are retired. We can take off and go someplace anytime we want...just have to plan ahead a little bit and have the money for traveling, etc., etc..  I'd prefer to do something in the fall when it is a little cooler too.

This was our first "dinner out" together as man and wife:  

So all that being said, back to the subject at hand for Tuesday 4:

Dinner Out


Welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4...


Let's talk about restaurants and eating out, okay?


1 Do you like eating out with friends or would you rather have them over for a meal?
Well, I used to prefer having people in our home for meals and fellowship. Not that I am a great cook, because I am not. We often have done pot-luck dinners where everyone brings a dish to share and I provide the main course, beverages, etc.  But in the past couple of years I have realized that I am just not really up to doing so much in-house entertaining. First, there's the cleaning of the house for company, and then the planning of the meal and cooking the meal, and then the cleaning up AFTER the meal...and to be honest, I just don't have the energy I used to have and along with some other health issues, I just can't do what I used to do. So now we do a lot of eating out with friends, usually "dutch treat" as we are all on a fixed income...but sometimes in special situations we want to have the honor of treating our guests. I wish I could do that all the time, but then I'd have to go back to work. LOL.  

2. Let's go out to eat. You pick. Where are we going ?

Well, probably our most favorite spot nearby is Corky Bells, on the St. John's River.  Here's a link to a previous anniversary celebration there a couple of years ago.

These are a few recent pictures from there when hubby and I stopped in for lunch one day:

However, our kids want to take us someplace different for dinner tomorrow night for our anniversary (Tuesday, Aug. 16).  It's someplace we've never been before...so I will have to be sure and take a lot of pictures to share with you later. It will be fun to try someplace new.  Our area doesn't have a lot of options within a 25 mile radius.  


3. What are you going to order tonight?

If I am correct in my assumption, the place we are going tomorrow night is a BBQ place...so we shall see what delicious things they have on the menu...maybe ribs? Although they are messy, I do love them if they are meaty and tender. We shall see what they have to offer.


4. Are you going to have dessert? What will it be?

I don't usually order dessert when we go out to eat because I am usually too full.  However a couple of weeks ago I ordered a blackberry cobbler alamode at Nanna's Country Cafe' after our usual Sunday lunch. It was served warm and the ice cream was nice and creamy and just the right touch. It was very good. It was made from fresh blackberries...so it was really good.  Again, since this will be a new place, I don't know what they have for dessert, and I will probably be too full to order anything.

Lately, however, I already told you that hubby and I have been enjoying some Klondike Bars for a snack.  I told about the slogan on the wrapper that said "Making Squares Cool since 1922".  Well, what I didn't notice until last night was that each wrapper also has something fun to do.  The question is asked, "What would you do for a Klondike?"

And if you look above and below, you will see the fun suggestions such as:

"Perform Carpool Karaoke on a Public Bus" and "Attend your high school reunion wearing your old prom outfit."

Well, between the two, I guess I'd have to try the karaoke, because I KNOW I couldn't fit into a prom dress even if I still had one, which I don't. How about my wedding dress?  Well, I couldn't fit into that either!

This was me 53 years ago

And here I am a few years ago, holding it up because I knew I couldn't get into it without ripping it!

And so, with a few more glimpses into the past...

I will bid you adieu!

So very thankful to the Lord for giving us 53 years together! We are most grateful to God, because without Him we would never have gotten this far! 

Now, let's all go visit the others to see where they will be dining this week! LOL. 

Saturday Blessings!

By now many of our blogging friends on Facebook have already seen these pictures. But for those of you who haven't...here we are!  We were so excited to have Linda and her hubby Dave come up for a visit today.  Linda is also known as "Just Simply Linda" on her blog.  

Of course we met at Dixie Cottage, our son and daughter in love's new store, because that just seems to be the place to meet these days!  You can see our son Ben above in the mirror, taking our picture.

It's always great when we can get the hubbies together too for these happy meeting times. Blogging husbands are a special breed. They often get dragged into meeting people that they may not really know much about except for what we've told them from our blogs.  But what I've discovered so far from the dear husbands we've been privileged to meet, they are indeed a special "breed"...wonderful guys who love their wives and are happy to make it possible for them to meet these special friends face to face.

Yes, this was the first face-to-face meeting for Linda and me.  But we felt like we knew each other for a long time, because as fellow bloggers we have shared our hearts with each other over a period of several years.  And in the case of Linda and I, we have a common heartache in that we have each lost a beloved son.  I've been holding a lot of hugs in my heart for Linda and Dave ever since we learned of the passing of their dear Liam about 8 months ago.  But they had to pack up their home and belongings in New York state and move themselves down here to Florida about an hour's drive away from us so that we could finally meet and give each other those hugs that have been waiting. I'm so glad it finally came together.

We had a beautiful time of visiting over lunch at our local "Nanna's Country Cafe'" and then again here at our house for a while. I think Linda will have more photos to share on her blog when she gets home and has time to put it together.  But for now, this is it...and it was was great indeed.

Thank you, Linda and Dave, for traveling up that country road to meet us today! I hope this is just the first of many such visits in the future.

God bless you both...and also to our other friends out there in blogland...

"Y'all Come!"

 

Wednesday "Treasures"

Hello friends! Here it is Wednesday already. I missed the Tuesday 4 this week...sorry about that. I haven't even been around to say hello to all my friends out there in Blogland.  I am still adjusting to this new routine/schedule we are on and I don't have as much "free time" as I used to have.

I can't say that I've been just laying around like this lovely mermaid either...isn't she beautiful?

But today I did do something special...it was our church ladies' monthly "United Women in Faith" gathering.  The name of our organization has been recently changed to this new name. I like it a lot.

And here are the lovely ladies of our group:

We also celebrated the birthdays of two of our ladies...one was 93 years young and the other is a new "Medicare Mama", as her hubby lovingly calls her. She's our Pastor's wife and our worship leader as well. We were a lively and happy group today. It was a pleasant change for me after the past couple of weeks of working so hard helping get Dixie Cottage ready for action and then becoming a part of the action, which by the way, continues to be a wonderful new adventure for our family and our community. God is faithful, and we are so thankful!

This evening it was still 95 degrees around 6:00 p.m., so hubby suggested we go to the store and pick up some "Eskimo Pies".  I know, they don't call them that anymore, and I didn't see any anyway, but they did have these delicious Klondike Bars, which suited me just fine:

I never noticed the slogan "Making Squares Cool Since 1922" before. I guess I am now a "cool square". LOL.  

Now I know you want to be a "cool square" too, don't you? LOL.

I hope you enjoyed this refreshing little break. I have a feeling that is is probably hot wherever you are as well.  It is still summertime for sure, even if our kids in this area did start back to school today!

I know this isn't the greatest picture, but this Anhinga bird usually just sits out there in the middle of Still Waters Pond very still, letting his wings dry after he dives down in the water for his supper. But it's so hot he's been actually fanning himself by constantly flapping his wings as he sits there.  At least that's what I think he's doing.  Maybe I should offer him a Klondike Bar so he can "be cool". LOL.

Oh, yesterday, while working at Dixie Cottage, I was there alone for a little while when my hubby went home to get some lunch and take a little break. Wouldn't you know that would be the exact time that a rather unkempt man with a very long scruffy beard, pushing a blue grocery cart from our grocery store down the road a ways, would decide to come inside the store to "look around"?  I was immediately on guard, but I greeted him with my usual friendly "Welcome to Dixie Cottage" and he seemed pleasant enough as he kind of aimlessly wandered around the store looking at this or that and asking some questions about different things.  Thankfully I noticed a car pull up in the parking lot and a friend of mine from our church came into the store. I greeted her very warmly with a prayer of thanks to God for sending her just at that time so that I wouldn't be alone.  Then the man came over to me at the check out desk and asked if we bought used furniture from people, and I told him yes, if it was in good condition, and then he asked me if I would give him $20.00 for a "leatherman tool" that he had with him, as he needed some money to get home.  Well, I told him I was not the owner of the store and would not be authorized to make any purchases, (and of course that wasn't furniture anyway, but I didn't say that).  He still remained respectful but seemed to be a little more persistent in trying to make his case.  About this time I noticed my son and his wife and then my husband all pulling up into the parking lot and coming inside, and I gave my son a quick look that I know he understood meant "help me out here!".  Long story short, my son went outside with the man and talked to him and ended up actually giving the man some money for the tool, and the man thanked him very kindly and took his blue grocery buggy and went on his way across the highway to the McDonald's to get something to eat.  Wow...I was so thankful for God's intervention by sending His helpers at just the right time. Although I did not feel like the man was dangerous, it was still a very uncomfortable situation...but God had it all under control. However, it also made us all aware that we need to be on our toes and have a plan in place for handling such situations, especially if we are alone at the store.

This morning our devotions "just happened" to touch on this very subject. The scripture verses that we read  came from Psalm 112, in particular verses 5-9

1 "Praise the Lord!

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,

Who delights greatly in His commandments.

2 His descendants will be mighty on earth;

The generation of the upright will be blessed.

3 Wealth and riches will be in his house,

And his righteousness endures forever.

4 Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness;

He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

5 A good man deals graciously and lends;

He will guide his affairs with discretion.

6 Surely he will never be shaken;

The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.

7 He will not be afraid of evil tidings;

His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

8 His heart is established;

He will not be afraid,

Until he sees his desire upon his enemies.

9 He has dispersed abroad,

He has given to the poor;

His righteousness endures forever;

His horn will be exalted with honor.

10 The wicked will see it and be grieved;

He will gnash his teeth and melt away;

The desire of the wicked shall perish."

This Psalm helped me to look at yesterday's situation a little differently, and I am thankful for how God brought it all together in a positive way...and also especially thankful for His protection.  For all I know, the man could have been "Jesus in disguise" to give us that opportunity to serve Him in that way. 

It also reminded me of the passage in Matthew 25:31-46, about the sheep and the goats.  I won't quote the whole passage here, but this part in particular stands out:

37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 

38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 

39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 

40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

This was definitely some "food for thought".  

Well, friends, I need to get to bed. Tomorrow we don't have to spend the day at the store, although my hubby is going to help our son make a delivery of some furniture that was sold, but other than that I think we have a free day...so maybe I can get caught up with you all. Thank you for your patience. 

I pray you are having a blessed and wonderful week. Please take care and keep watching for those "treasures" that are out there where you may least expect them to be.