Looking Back

 We are told to not look back too much lest we get into the weeds of painful memories that tend to morph into bitter regrets. But a little backward glance, especially over the very latest of our days, usually doesn't hurt.... 

We have dined at Crumps Landing along the Homosassa River several times over the last couple of years. When we had our floors replaced, the salesman told us it was a favorite with his family and now we heartily agree.  

I ❤️❤️❤️ eating on the water. It's absolutely one of my favorite things about living in Florida.

All of the dining is outdoors and most of the [many] tables are under umbrellas, awnings, or this very large tiki roof. There are fans in some areas. Beside the water there might be a breeze.

The stretch of river where the restaurant sits is a "no wake zone" for the boats, so aside from background music, there are no obnoxious noises to contend with as we dine. It's about an hour's drive from our home. We arrived at 11am, when they open, and before it could get crowded.

After placing our order, I took this selfie of the two of us, but then Gary said I should take one with the water behind us, so here's that:

Either way, we look like incognito movie stars!! (ha-ha!)

Gary ordered a burger, and I got the steak tacos.

Crumps' food does not disappoint!

As for other recent memories made, the annual rainy season has FINALLY moved into our part of town. We tend to get a really hard downpour about once a day (late afternoon or in the evening) with about one inch registering in our rain gauge. It is helping with the extreme draught conditions we've had for many months (hard as that is to believe for Florida).

In addition to the rain, nature has also provided us with some visitors. These are 2 baby Doves nested in one of our palm trees. 

A raccoon visited us one morning while we were sitting on our back patio. As interesting as that was, there is concern that it may have been diseased. Raccoons are nocturnal animals. When they're prowling around at 10am in broad daylight, they may be sick. We left it alone and it eventually wandered off.

Our current jigsaw puzzle is a doozie (i.e. very hard!). I broke my own promise to myself when I brought this one home from the library. It has 1,000 pieces (500 - 750 pieces is my personal preference). This puzzle has many colorful beach umbrellas that I thought would make this a quick-assemble, but NO! 

It may (or may not) help that we work our puzzles on a glass-topped table. 🤭 But that fact does make for an interesting snapshot, don't you think?!

In the kitchen, one day I got it into my head to try out a recipe for tomato pie. However, when I saw the effort and time that's necessary to chop and drain the juices out of the tomatoes, I opted instead to make my bacon quiche in a ready-made crust and serve sliced tomatoes on the side. There were no complaints from my dinner partner! 😋

To conclude this post that began with "Looking Back," it is no secret there are many things in our past that do not make for pleasant memories. I cannot overlook these two events:

But oddly enough, right in the midst of our unhappy memories, there are good things, too. One of my eleven grandchildren was born on 9/11.

An undeniable fact of life is that we face potholes and pop quizzes [nearly] every day. While I wish that were not true, for those of us who are true Christians, there is blessing in adversity. We tend to learn better through the challenges. In troubles God is trying to get our attention so we can learn, be strengthened, and benefit in helpful ways. 

And 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 NIV

Thanks for stopping by! Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

Seeking the Cool Places

 

Early Floridians were surely made of sturdy stock. That has to be true since they persisted in settling here in spite of nearly year 'round heat, insects, reptiles, and hurricanes. 

Of course we have central air conditioning now. Otherwise, I would not be a resident of the Sunshine State and the Lightening Capital of the United States.

Oh wait! I just now did a fact-check and learned (to my surprise) that Oklahoma (the land of my birth, by the way) has recently unseated Florida as the lightning capitol of the USA; this is according to recent annual environmental monitoring reports. 

Returning to my reasons for this post, we have not allowed the daily heat and humidity to stop us from getting out and about -- as long as our destinations have air conditioning, of course. But we are spending a little less time on the lanai because it has only windows and fans, no A/C. Time spent out there has been abbreviated in spite of the new furniture that we love.

In "Seeking the Cool Places" we drove across town to the Appleton Museum of Art. It is a part of the College of Central Florida, here in Ocala. Admission is free for the entire month of July. 

I have been to this museum several times in the past 7 years of living here, but Gary had not. These whimsical  elephant sculptures playing in the fountain were a fitting welcome on a hot summer morning.

In addition to the appeal of an air-conditioned venue, we wanted to see the advertised patriotic display for our nation's 250th Birthday. One long wall was devoted to a time line of Florida's history from [way back when] to present day. That was tricky to photograph, so I don't have that to share, but it was very informative.

Of particular interest to me was this quilt (below) made entirely of Prairie Points (uniform squares of fabric folded to make points) and sewn together:

Those who do not quilt may be surprised to learn that a piece such as this is quite heavy. There is no way a person could comfortably sleep under this even on a cold Florida night!

There were references to wars of the past, which always catches Gary's interest.

The museum has many other exhibits but we saw what interested us the most and then exited through the gift shop. 

Keeping up with my usual habit, I bought a refrigerator magnet to remember the occasion and also a post card to send to my sister-in-law. She lived in this town for many years but now lives farther north. She has encouraged us to visit this museum, so I sent the post card as proof-positive that we had.

the boy, Jody Baxter, main character in
The Yearling

On another day we took a couple of neighbors to lunch at The Yearling, an "old Florida" restaurant that I included in a post this past April. Named in honor of the well-known book by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, The Yearling is quite rustic with a lot of dark wood, many antiques, taxidermied (is that a word?) animals, countless old books for sale, and several dining rooms of varying sizes. This place is an icon.

"Old Florida" has grown on me over the years since I moved from Colorado. It portrays this state before the Mouse bought up a lot of land, followed by Sea World, Universal, and others. Especially for those of us who have "been there, done that, bought the T-shirt" at the flashy theme parks, these quieter historical locations hold a lot of appeal.

When I moved to Florida in 2017 (and then to Ocala in 2019), I barely remembered the story from my younger years of The Yearling. 

I knew nothing at all about the book, Cross Creek, also written by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, until our late blogging friend and New England resident, Vee of "A Haven for Vee" assumed I was aware of all that. I checked the book out of the library, bringing myself up to speed. 

I also watched two movies that have been made, based on the book, Cross Creek. I enjoyed the second (newer) film more than the first, although it did depart from the book. Here is a link to that one, the 1983 movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC7ikRDWkwg

The menu at The Yearling serves venison, gator, cat fish, and other exotics as well as burgers and more traditional fare.

Gary and our friend Darryl had burgers and fries. Vickie and I chose salads. We joked about our choices. Gary and I have a personal rule that we "don't eat scavengers." 

When I say that some of the walls are lined with books, I am not exaggerating in the least. There is a sign that says the price of each book is inside the cover, so you can buy them if you want.

Those who read my blog post last April will remember the 13-foot gator on display. But for those of you who didn't see it, here he is:

And then, just to be a bit macabre, here's another view I took this week: 

This is the gator's gaping open  mouth -- truly the stuff of which nightmares are made!!

While I'm most definitely not a lover of reptiles of any kind (ok, maybe turtles are an acceptation ....), you may agree that they do make for interesting "blog fodder."

We all thoroughly enjoyed both the food and the atmosphere. I brought home about the last 1/3 of my salad to enjoy for supper that night. Among the choices of salad dressing was Mango Cream. I took a chance with that and was not disappointed. It was all so very good!

As I conclude this post on seeking the cool places, a verse from the Old Testament comes to mind:

The Lord watches over you,

the Lord is your shade at your right hand.

Psalm 121:5

A commentary I read explained it this way, "God is close by to protect you from the heat and heavy burdens of life." I like that. We all need the safety and comfort of His protection. I seek the Lord daily for those very benefits.

Until next time, stay cool in grace and peace.

Barbara

Something Old, Something New

. . . . . Nothing Borrowed But Plenty of Blue! 

We were sitting out on the lanai last week when I noticed a pensive expression on Gary's face. From time to time I will ask him, "What's going on between your ears?" 

Sometimes the reply is, "Nut n' Honey!" But this time, to my surprise, he said he thought it was time to replace our green wicker furniture. Oh, really?!

He's had this set a lot longer than he's had me and he felt it just wasn't comfortable any more. Hmm. Okay. What shall we do about that?

An advertising flyer from one of the local furniture stores had some appealing possibilities, so we stopped into their show room, and also checked out a couple of other places.

We found a set we liked but did not buy on that first trip. We took snapshots of the size/dimension information and went home to measure our available space.

Based on the measurements we decided what pieces we wanted and returned to the show room to complete the sale. 

Not wanting to fool around with selling the green wicker set on Marketplace, etc, we called Gary's favorite donation charity, The Humane Society. To our delight they were able to schedule their truck to pick up our stuff in just a few days.

We moved the old furniture into the living room to await pick-up, which for an overnight took on the appearance of a second-hand store. (But the classic Ethan Allen pieces are still with us!)

G'bye, old friends!

Then the very next morning, the new furniture arrived, and early, too! They had notified us the day before to expect the truck between 7am and 11am. No sleeping in for us!! (Ha! we rise before dawn anyway, so it was good to have them come sooner rather than later.)

Even with our prior measurements, it was a little eye-opening to realize these pieces are larger than the previous furniture. We arranged things differently and are pleased with the result.

I told Gary that the new coffee table, which is significantly bigger than the wicker one, was big enough that we could sit on cushions on the floor to eat off of it, like the Asians. But then there would be the matter of getting our aged bodies up off of the floor (as in, "Help! I can't get up!!"), so I think we won't be doing that.

We are happy with the new look and spent the rest of the morning putting everything in place. With that entire wall of glass sliders between the lanai and the living room/kitchen nook, we can easily see it all.

Recently Debbie, at Millie's Cozy Life, posted her picture of some scones she had made. I made a mental note to bake some, too. I always enjoy baking with my cast iron wedge pan. Cornbread, scones, brownies. 

I did goof up this time. I guess I misread labels with my trifocals. I mixed up baking soda with baking powder and used too much buttermilk. I could do nothing about the dry mistakes, but I did my best to amend the excess of liquid by adding a lot more flour. 

Aside from not tasting as sweet as usual, it all came out just fine. Whew! We sliced them in half horizontally to slather on margarine and strawberry jam. Sooo good (if I do say so myself!).

One more fun thing to share: on yesterday's bike ride this Sand Hill Crane* was on alert for his breakfast from atop a neighbor's roof. 

This house backs up to a lake that is a block away from our house. I had left Gary at home that day to do some yard work, so on this particular route I rode just under 4 miles, which had me pedaling by this house several times. The crane was there every time I passed. On my last pass he lifted up his wings and made a dive down toward the water. Houses obstructed my view, so I could not see if he was able to grab a bite or not. 

* This is most likely a Great Blue Heron, not a Sand Hill Crane. Diane at Lavender Dreams, who is my personal bird expert, kindly mentioned in her comments (at the end of this post) that a Sand Hill Crane has a longer neck. I looked it up for myself and saw that she is exactly right. Thanks, Diane, for your help! ❤️

Florida is such an interesting place in which to live! I've quoted Jeremiah 33:3 many times on this blog:

Call unto me

and I will answer thee

and show you great and mighty things

which thou knowest not.

(That's me quoting the King James version from memory, so I may have messed up with the "thees" and "thous", but you get it.)

My family had a pastor when I was a little girl who quoted this verse a lot, so it made a deep impression on me. I include it in this post because once again, I am in awe of how God answers prayers with responses we may never have even remotely considered. At least, that's true in my life. 

The beauty of creation He has allowed me to enjoy through the many places where I've lived are just amazing. That Sand Hill Crane is one of many examples. 

Okay. I'm done for today. Thanks for stopping by! Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

Commencing With Summer 2026

 

Although summer's heat has been in my area for close to 2 months (!!), this is the first Hodgepodge of "official" summer. If you want to link up your blog with others to answer these summer-related writing prompts, click on the link below.

http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2026/06/hodgepodge-questions-volume-659.html

1. Summer's here!  In the northern hemisphere anyway. If you're in the southern hemisphere, substitute winter for the word summer. What do you love most about summer? What's your biggest summer pet peeve? 

Me, hamming it up the summer of 2018
on the boat dock of friends
in Lake Weedowee, Alabama

I enjoy the 4th of July parades, fireworks, and grilled menus.  If I have a pet peeve about summer, it's that I don't like the feeling of sweat running down my back. 

Our patience is tried in crowds of people and traffic, so In recent years Gary and I have been absolutely content to watch the 4th of July celebrations unfold on TV while we enjoy air conditioning, our automated recliners, and the convenience of food and bathrooms just steps away.

The current trend of drone "fireworks" shows are interesting but I hope the old-fashioned kind are not abandoned.

2. What song always reminds you of summer? 

Summer Place by Percy Faith's orchestra (one of my husband's favorite songs).

3. What's something you remember about your childhood summers? Do you think kids today get to enjoy summer the way you did as a child? Elaborate. 

my family lived in the greater Los Angeles area
1958-1961

My mother was the secretary at the church of which my family was a member the summer between my 4th and 5th grades in school. Since Sister and I were too young to spend day after day at home by ourselves, Mama brought us to work with her. We would bring our dolls and each take over a Sunday School classroom and play "school." The church had a good gymnasium, so we could run and play there in a safe place while Mama was in the nearby office. There was also a Coke machine, so we got to drink pop with our sack lunches. 

As for kids' summers these days, social media and greatly increased crime have darkly colored the activity options. It's just not the same. We would go outside and play with our friends for hours on end, coming inside just to use the bathroom and to get a drink of water. 

4. We celebrate Fathers Day on June 21st. Do you favor your dad in looks or temperament? Tell us something about your dad. Or your husband as a dad. Or a son/son-in-law as a dad. Or your grandpa. 

Of my two parents, my face and personality are more like my dad; my body and health are more like my mother. My father enjoyed people and made friends easily. He died of cancer when I was 36 years old. His work as a corporate pilot took him all over the USA.  After his death many people sent letters to my mother expressing how much they liked my dad. 

5. Let's wrap up with a summer this or that-

• flip flops or sandals: sandals, although I wear both daily
• beach or pool: beach but I don't swim any more 
• watermelon or peaches: both
• shorts or sundress: BERMUDA shorts (no short-shorts)
• iced coffee or ice cold lemonade: lemonade
• amusement park or water park: amusement park, but really just for walking around and sitting in the shade to watch people. And ice cream. Eating ice cream in the summer is fun. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Recently Joyce did a "day in the life" type of blog post. Here is my version that I'm titling: 

How 2 Retired Seniors Spend Most Days

Our general routine: we get up early (5:30am) to take advantage of the cooler temps for our daily bike ride of 5 miles, chores and appointments.  

Our bikes, are a year 'round habit,
even on Christmas morning --- note:
this is the only time we did not wear helmets

After lunch we are usually relaxing on the cheerful lanai with the windows open wide and fans blowing. If or when the air gets too hot, we move inside to the air conditioning, but the lanai is so bright and close to nature that we stay out there as long as we can bear it.

The palm on the very far right and the very far left
are the ones that got trimmed.

For all the visions of romance that palm trees convey, they make for a lot of upkeep to look their best. Yesterday Gary cut down about 20 very long, thorny branches from our 2 tallest palms. 

Then I helped drag them to the driveway where Gary cut them into short lengths for disposal. Years ago, I never imagined my Colorado Waste Management bins would hold Florida tree trimmings!

After lunch (our biggest meal of the day) and a short nap in front of the noon TV news, more progress is made on our current puzzle. As much as we both enjoy puzzles, we are finding one of the challenges is how the humidity causes puzzle pieces to stick to our finger tips, sometimes pulling apart what has already been fitted together!! (To Gary's credit, he's done more on this puzzle than I have.)

On Monday I finished reading this book while cooling off in front of a fan. Now that I no longer spend hours every day with needle-in-hand, the number of books in my personal library has greatly increased.

Most of the time, I can't just read. Highlighting meaningful sentences and margin notes are my reading and study style. I have a code or system with pencil colors:

red = general information, statements

green = instructions, things I should do

blue = sin, things to be avoided

purple = actions of God

And occasionally a scribbled star filled in with gold (or tan) pencil indicates something that really spoke to me, answering a question I've had or really highlighting an important truth I want to remember.

This system enables me to flip through the pages at some later date to re-live the impact the book has made on me without reading every single page all over again.

the lanai faces east and looks out
on a lot of tall trees

After an afternoon of puzzles, reading (and sometimes a small ice cream cone), we head for the kitchen to decide on a light supper (soup, a sandwich, or sometimes just peanut butter on crackers). 

After that, even though it may hardly be past 6pm, I floss and brush my teeth, turn down the covers on our bed, and find my jammies. We catch up on the day's news and our shows or movies. At 9pm the TV is turned off, and by 9:15pm both of us are usually fast asleep like two worn out old dogs. #much4which2Bthankful!

Sister's two Basset Hounds

"For I know the plans I have for you,"

declares the Lord,

"plans to prosper you

and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope 

and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara