Blessings in Abundance

 

morning rainbow outside my front door

Every morning before we ride our bicycles, it's my habit to step out onto the front porch to check the thermometer and determine if there's going to be a headwind. To see a huge rainbow was a delightful surprise. (It was a double rainbow, which you can see fading if you look closely.)

The rainbow reminder of God's Presence was welcome. This week became unsettling when I realized it was time to dispose of outdated  paperwork that had a lot of my late husband's handwriting. 

The paperwork was a "trigger," as the counselors refer to it -- a reminder of hurt. God's grace helps us to cope, how to adapt, when that happens. He has done that for me, many times. 

Moving on to more pleasant activities this week: we once again enjoyed a lunch at the historic Yearling restaurant with people who have not been there before. 

The first time we came here, the earthy, rustic outside put us off a little.

As a city girl who was raised living near international airports and sophisticated corporate office buildings, I've learned to appreciate simple, unrefined settings. The locals refer to it as "Old Florida."

We arrived about 30 minutes before the restaurant opened; but even with its simplicity, hospitality was provided with sheltered seating where patrons can wait.

Antiques stirred up memories. My maternal grandfather worked for, and retired from, Gulf Oil back when they had offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma, before they moved their operations to Houston.

John and Pam

Our lunch friends arrived shortly after we got there. Many of you will recognize Pam and her husband from her blog, Closed Doors, Open Windows. With that introduction, I encourage you to visit her blog by clicking on this title, Friday Foto Friends~A "Wild" Lunch.  I've described The Yearling in previous posts, but she has done a much better job than me.

John and Gary at our booth

After ordering our food, we girls got up to walk around and take pictures while the fellas (who have met previously several times before this visit) got caught up with guy-talk. 

my lunch

In keeping with the habit of many bloggers, I snapped a picture of my food. When eating out, I often order what I don't usually eat at home. This time it was a side of collard greens (something Gary's surgery prohibits him from enjoying).

dessert

Pam and I shared dessert, a creamy orange delight. Aside from one bite for Gary, the guys did not have any dessert. 

It was a great visit with good people that was enhanced with the realization by all of us that The Yearling restaurant is pretty much at the half-way point between their home and ours. Good to know!!

Later that afternoon, Gary decided he wanted dessert. Our truck needed no GPS to find one of our favorite haunts....

Another highlight for me this week was a FaceTime visit with one of my sons. He lives hundreds and hundreds of miles from us, so these visits are a good alternative to plane fare, gas prices, and hotel reservations. 

Last weekend he ran a half-marathon through the California Redwoods, so he and Gary had a lively conversation on FaceTime about their marathon experiences. "Blended families" are not always easy. This visit did my heart so much good.

Gary's birthday was a couple of weeks ago. I gave him two jigsaw puzzles of classic cars. The first one was completed this week.

food trucks

Autumn has finally arrived in North Central Florida. I'm still wearing my Bermuda shorts and Crocs sandals, but slightly cooler temps and traditional fall activities are filling our days. This weekend is the annual Fall Festival in our +55 retirement community. 

The festival is made up of vendor booths for arts, crafts, food, home improvement businesses, Medicare consultants, and so forth. There was also live band music, oldies (of course!).

apple pie for me

Our favorite vendor is the dentist who hands out slices of pie for free!

pecan pie for Gary

Admittedly, neither of us use this dentist, but we surely do enjoy his pies!! (not all providers accept all insurance)

Gary waits for me

While Gary agreed to take me to the festival because of the pie, he was good to wait for me on a bench at the bocce courts while I walked through all the craft vendors. This is what true love does! 

one of 2 packages of popcorn

Somewhere in all of that I picked on the hint that Gary wanted some popcorn, so I came back to his bench with two flavors.

dish towel purchase

As I've said many times before, I don't shop like I used to. But a kitchen probably never has enough dish towels, so I bought three (3 for $20 was not a bad price). Two have a Christmas theme; I'll probably include them in a post during the holidays.

the "Twirlers"

The last attraction at the festival was a performance by the newly-formed majorettes group. Only four now, they did a fine job of reminding us of our high school and college days featuring choreography with batons.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

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Honest Answers to Serious Questions

selfie created with Chatgpt
"Cautious Glance Into the Shadows"

This week's questions from Joyce at her blog, From This Side of the Pond, are somewhat serious and introspective. If you want to join in with your blog, click here.

1. Do you think you're driven more by curiosity or comfort? Explain. 

It really depends on what is confronting me. I'll go with "comfort." People who are TOO curious tend to be annoying and/or test the boundary lines set up by the needs of others.  

This has become more important to me as I age and have learned a few things about relationships. 

However, if I need to know something of a serious, consequential nature, I have learned to stop worrying and go find out what I need to know so I can handle the matter with some competence. I am not curious just for the sake of curiosity. 

By the way, a wise friend told me years ago that we don't have to answer every question asked of us. In a court of law, yes; but beyond that, realize some people are either nosey about what they don't need to know and/or it's not in anyone's best interest to answer their question.

2. What non-food item is in your refrigerator or freezer? 

We store the Energizer Bunny our batteries in a refrigerator. We have ice packs in the freezer for injuries and sore muscles, etc.

from Wikipedia

3. Are you comfortable with silence? If you're home alone, do you like silence or do you need regular background noise? Do you seek out times and places to be silent? What's your favorite place to find silence/be silent? 

I am comfortable with silence. Depending on my mood and what I'm doing at the time, music in the background is sometimes my choice. 

Do I seek out times and places to be silent? With just the two of us in our home, and with both of us being comfortable with silence, I don't need to seek quiet places. Too much noise from people, the TV, and landscaping equipment wears on my nerves. 

I usually have silence in the room when I am composing a blog post (like right now), which really helps me to concentrate better. 

Here is an interesting graphic that popped up while I was responding to this question:

4. Carpentry, electrical, plumbing, landscaping...which skill would you most like to possess and how would you put that skill to use today?

I'm okay with not being especially skilled with any of these choices. I relate the most to landscaping since I pull weeds outside every week.

a rose clipped from one of our bushes yesterday

5. Do you lean more towards being too needy or too independent? Which do you find harder to deal with in others? 

If I need help, I'm needy. If I feel confident to do the thing myself, I can be very independent. My answer to this question relies heavily on what is confronting me, my level of experience, and how brave I am with the unknown. 

To be very honest, I'm not all that brave. When confronted with a huge loss a few years ago, I was reminded of God's instruction to Old Testament Joshua. He was designated to lead the Children of Israel (over 2 million people) out of the wilderness after Moses died. 

Have I not commanded you?

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be afraid;

do not be discouraged,

for the Lord your God will be with you

wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 NIV

The struggle has been real for me, but I am more brave than I used to be. In the midst of my scary stuff, I sincerely thank the Lord for the people He has given to help me: family, friends, marriage to my second husband, scripture, motivational books, articles and websites. 

Gary and me

To answer the second part of this question, I have to remind myself to be patient with anyone who is not in agreement with me. We are all "in process" and should give others our forbearance with their foibles, whatever that may be.

6.  Insert your own random thought here. 

Sharing here a familiar verse that has blessed me countless times. I hope it's an encouragement to any of my readers who may need a boost today:

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and 

saves those who are crushed in spirit.” 

Psalm 34:18

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

P.S. If you need to post anonymously, please leave your first name or initials. Thank you.

Summary of Whataweek

illustration by Chatgpt

It's been an eventful week here with both highs and lows. I'm processing some of it mentally and am not inclined to discuss it much. 

While musing over what to record in this post, I gave [free] Chatgpt the following instructions and the above illustration is the result..

watercolor back of 70 year old woman sitting at desk contemplating what to write, short salt-and-pepper gray hair, wearing dark pink long sleeved t-shirt, Trust the Lord

👉🏻 got good news that a family member's medical situation is better than anticipated -- a highlight, to be sure! Thank You, Lord!!!

👉🏻 one of my grandsons was recognized by his employer for his great work performance. 

👉🏻 we addressed a landscaping situation

👉🏻 Gary bought tickets for us to see 1950s teen idol Frankie Avalon in concert. (the real man, not an impersonator!)

👉🏻 tried to fix a computer problem on my own; had to visit my techie guy who gave me the solution at no charge.

👉🏻 completed one jiigsaw puzzle and started another

👉🏻 we both took care of banking business

👉🏻 attended a meeting for transition of our +55 community from the builder to the residents. 

👉🏻 served as one of several discussion leaders with my ladies' Bible study group; we're in Philippians chapter 3.

👉🏻 on our morning bike ride we observed how recent rains have caused one of our golf course lakes to overflow into the sand trap

👉🏻 the very next day a sink hole opened up in that same lake and the majority of the water had disappeared! Birds are enjoying a smorgasbord of fish!

* note: the sink hole is not connected to the hurricane. We live some 4-5 hours' drive from the destruction of the hurricane.

👉🏻 Hurricane Isaias slammed into the property of my family; no physical injuries but lots of downed trees and fences, etc. Some damage to the house but we don't know the extent of that yet because of the tree that fell against it. As of my last communication with them (and the TV news reports), many of the counties in the Panhandle are without power.

Internet photo of Hurricane Isaias 
a few days ago

👉🏻 continuing my reading of Pastor Robert Jeffress' book, Final Conquest (a Verse-by-Verse Study of the Book of Revelation).

👉🏻 began reading a biography of Abraham Lincoln (purchased at his museum on our recent road trip).

👉🏻 Watched our weekly church sermon on the subject of miracles.

ptv.org

👉🏻 a family member is running a half-marathon through California's Redwoods today.

driving through a California Redwood
(internet photo)

👉🏻 did my laundry, baked more Mini Taco Cups in Wonton Wrappers, and indulged with Gary in one of our favorite treats: Boston-Creme-filled donuts

As you can see, it was an eventful week here. As I've been typing out this post, I'm processing the harder aspects of it and definitely praying for the family and friends who are personally affected. We know the Lord is in control. We  know He allows adversity. For His children any/all trouble is ultimately for a good purpose even if that's not readily apparent at the time. He is good. 

I think of going to the dentist. Sometimes an extraction or a filling, etc is needed. It's not necessarily due to anything wrong or bad that we have done; it's just life and we deal with it appropriately. The same applies to hurricanes and sinkholes. 

A verse from the Old Testament Book of Job comes to mind:

Though He slay me,

yet I will trust in Him.

Job 13:15

And then there is this:

We know that in all things 

God works for the good

of those who love Him,

who have been called 

according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

P.S. If you leave a comment as anonymous, please give your first name in the comment. Comments without a name will be deleted. 

Thoughtful Memories on a Rainy Day

our roses enjoying the rain

On this rainy afternoon, Joyce's weekly questions have me thinking about mental recollection, memories, strategies to remember, and embracing the pleasant things of life.   If you want to link up to her blog with your answers to these questions, click here.

On the subject of memories, recently I came across this very special family snapshot:

my maternal grandparents; 
photo probably taken about 1924

1. What's something you recently forgot to do? Is your memory these days more like a sieve or an elephant? 

My memory is pretty good but I have to work harder to concentrate when there is noise nearby. As for what have I recently forgot to do? I don't remember! 🥴

2. Share a trick/strategy you have to help you remember things you need to remember. 

I have all sorts of things I do to help me remember things I need to do:

- my calendars (hanging on the pantry door, on my desk, on my phone and computer)

- sticky notes to myself

- plastic vitamin containers with a compartment for every day of the week

- when I want/need to do some chore but am not ready to do it yet, I pull out an item I'll need to carry out the chore. Example: once a month I run distilled white vinegar through our coffee maker. The other day I pulled the jug of vinegar out of the pantry and set it on the kitchen counter. That reminded me to take care of the task later in the day when I had the time to do it.

3. What's your favorite fall vegetable to cook with? Do you prefer your fall veggies roasted, blended into a warm soup, or fresh in a crisp autumn salad? 

I love vegetables, all of them. I like them in a warm soups and in salads, but my favorite is roasted.

4. October 5th is/was National Do Something Nice Day. Did you? If so tell us about it. Or maybe someone did something nice for you, and if that's the case please share. 

Of course I did something nice for someone else on National Do Something Nice Day -- because I try to be nice every day! Ha-Ha! But lest I come across as bragging I'll say that Gary did several nice things for me when he turned on my bicycle blinker lights before I joined him outside, and he keeps the tires pumped up. (going back to question #1, I do tend to forget to turn my bike blinker lights OFF but Gary notices if that happens.)

5.  Nathaniel Hawthorne is credited with the quote "I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."  

Do you tend to spend more time outside this time of year? 

Do you actively pause to soak in fleeting moments of beauty in your daily routine? Elaborate. 

Yes, oh my yes! When the heat and humidity here in Florida ease up, I definitely enjoy being outdoors more. We ride our bicycles about 5 1/2 miles nearly every morning after breakfast year 'round, so no matter what the temperature, we're out there getting our exercise, fresh air, and sunshine. Often after we get back from that, we do whatever yard work is needed. My big thing is to keep up with the weeds and pruning back our 3 rose bushes while Gary cuts the grass, does the edging, and trims the bushes.

Do I actively pause to soak in fleeting moments of beauty in my daily routine? Sure. Since we're retired now, pausing to appreciate [whatever] is easier to do.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Per my usual habit of closing out with a Bible verse, here is one that has recently been an encouragement to me:

If any of you lacks wisdom,

let [her] ask of God,

who gives to all liberally and

without reproach,

and it will be given to [her].

James 1:5

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

P.S. Comments left without a first name will be deleted.