Weather

While some of you up north are anticipating a rather large winter snowstorm, we have been dealing with clouds and fog and some rain.  I must say, this hasn't been the best week for Florida, but I know it's so much better than back in Michigan.  Also, I haven't felt real good this week, so that has also put a damper on things.  Hoping for a better week all around next week because we have some guests coming; Kristen and finally it's Megan's turn to come!!  Donaldo heard about some good places to go and look for shells while they are here.  Meanwhile we keep watch on things from the Eagles Nest where we really have a birds eye on things. 

The Hibiscus are just stunning

This is one of the larger water crafts that pass by our window

And who couldn't love this creature!

This guy's favorite place to perch when someone is fishing 

Picture Blog

This bloggy word picture thingy is too much like work when I am on vacation.  Donaldo never likes me to say the word "hate" which was in yesterday's "photo a day-Something You Hate To Do."
So there are a lot of things I don't like to do; cook, dust, and grocery shop.  Down here when the cooler breezes blow sometimes, I don't like getting out of the heated pool into the cooler air.  The pool is actually warmer than the air. We had another cold front come through so today was in the 60's with that dern NORTH wind!!!  Swimming was out-only the bravest went in. We did go for a walk on the beach. 
Today's photo challenge was handwriting.  Oh boy, don't feel like taking pictures of that.  I have many kinds of handwriting and I am not consistent; although my printing is better than my cursive.  Sometimes I mix them up in the same writing and also mix up lower case and upper case.  I would be a school teacher's nightmare.  Lately I like to write big and loopy; so analyze that one ha!  So, no pictures on these...sorry the vacation wins over the pictures.  When the mood hits me; I'll add some Florida pictures and skip this Photo A Day Challenge.

Picture Word Prompt: Favorite Drink

                                    

Busy day; a walk through the botanical gardens (it was very pretty this year) a swim in the pool, out to eat and a concert at night. This word prompt kind of limits my pictures and blog subject so I am going to have to work them in some how. 
My favorite drink is an Arnold Palmer made just right; 3/4 ice tea and 1/4 lemondade.  This is my favorite cup to take outside or down by the pool.  It keeps the ice from melting too fast and it is says "Life Is Good."

Time

                                                                    

I saw this beautiful shell clock inside the municipal building yesterday.  It was in the perfect place to catch my eye.  I once made a mirror like this....but I love the clock.
The one thing I can say about time is......where does it go?  How does it go by fast and how did I get so old? 

"a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
 a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace."

"He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men...."


Ecclesiastes 3:2-8, 11

Word Picture: Something New

Aha, I'll bet you were looking to see if I was going to put on something that I bought, but no....even though I did buy two pairs of Capris, they are just average and what I was looking for.  Got them at the infamous Beall's Outlet for a very good price.  Wearing one pair tonight to go out and eat. 
What I want to show you is the new Municipal building that they were working on last year.  It is where the police station is, the mayors office and the little library on the top floor.  It is walking distance from our condo and the view from the third floor is spectacular.  Since I have a Kindle, why did I go there you ask?  Because I wanted to see it and.....I love to hold real books in my hand sometimes especially if they don't cost anything.  Picked up a new book by Elizabeth Berg and one from Debbie Macomber.  I was pleasantly surprised by the Debbie Macomber book I finished yesterday so I picked up another one today. 
 We have just been chillin' out and sitting in the sun and swimming in the pool and walking on the beach in the morning. The new Municipal building is having a pancake breakfast and book sale on Sunday morning; might have to check it out before church. 

                                   

Phone

When did this little black thing come into my life?  About two-and-a-half years ago.  Don came home from the store with it.  He NEVER does things like that. At first I wasn't too happy, but then I learned how to use it and then facebook came into my life and NOW I don't go anywhere without it. 

I go back to the era of a rotary dial phone that sat on a desk with a cloth-type wire.  Phone numbers back then came with letters like WE (for Webster), GA (for Garfield),TR (Trinity), and KE (Kenwood). We also had a party line where you shared a line with another family.  I can't tell you how many quarrels that started.  You could actually listen in on the conversation.  Then came the WALL phone in colors.  It was almost always in the kitchen so you could match it with your kitchen, such as turquoise, or beige, or harvest gold. Then came the longer cords where you could stretch it out and go all over your kitchen.  Along about that time they introduced the Princess Phone which was sleeker, had more pastel colors and was for your bedroom.  And party lines ceased to exist thank goodness. People started putting phones in other rooms like a den or basement.  You had to pay for each "extension."

Finally came the cordless phone-oh what excitement.  Every time I watch a re-run of "Friends" or "Seinfeld,"  I laugh at the size of the old cordless phones; they were huge with long antenas.
  
Alas, now we have so many different phones that we don't know what to do with them.  I am not sure why they call some phones the "Smart Phones," they only make me feel dumb and dumber.  This is my second Blackberry and I am still having trouble figuring it out.  All I need to work is the camera, the texting, facebook, my emails, the weather and how to make or receive a call. Iknow it has more apps than that.  And who coined the word APP?   Who would have thought that phones could do all this and a hundred things more.  I feel like my blackberry is already "old fashioned."  But I like it and feel secure when it is in my pocket or near to me. 

 When did we feel the need to be so attached to something?  I was doing a Bible Study by Dee Brestin and the question was asked "What, if taken from you or denied you, would make you feel desperate?"  I was ashamed at my answer.  Dee went on to say "The truth is, if we are that desperate about something else, even a good thing, it is probably a false god in our lives, squeezing out any room for the presence of the true God."  Something to think about.

Heart

All day I thought the word for today was red and I thought, I don't own anything red. Then the only red thing I could find in our condo what a tea bag, apples and strawberries. I never liked the color red because I don't think it looks good on me.  But now I found the word is heart which in blogdom world can also mean love.  I love many thing and many people so I could get all sentimental but I'm on vacation and this is the best I could do.  Hey, I had the paper because I have some of my scrapbook stuff; I thought this was pretty creative.

You just gotta love this view from our sunroom window even if it is cloudy.  I agree the heart spoils it, but what can you do when you are desparate?!

                              
Also, Happy Birthday to my blog; I started blogging 7 years ago today. I heart blogging. It has had three name changes, but it basically remains the same with a few fun updates. 
                        
                              

Blue

See that beautiful blue pool and sky?  Don't let it fool you. Do you see anyone in the pool or sitting around it?  No?  Why?  Because it is COLD.  Yesterday was the coldest day I have had in all my visits to Florida.  It was 48 degrees for the high and gusty 30 mph winds that made a wind chill in the 30's.  It started out cold this morning but the sun warmed things up to almost 60 and the winds died down.  Tomorrow things start to look more normal.  I had to wash my flannel jammies and my sweats because I have worn them so much.  Now, I'm not complaining just stating the facts.  I have had such a hard time warming up this winter that I couldn't wait to get here and be WARM. I have been drinking hot chai tea to warm up.  I must say, as you will say, it certainly beats Michigan. And it is a nice view right?

From The Heart

            
Today's word prompt is "inside your closet."  And since I unpacked and hung up the clothes I brought I thought I would give you a little peak.  Notice most of them are for warm weather.  It is 46 here with a wind chill in the 30's.  Now I know that you people in Michigan consider that balmy, but here it is COLD.  I only brought 2 outfits for cold weather.  The promise is that there will be a warm-up starting on Tuesday. 
I was thinking about clothes in the Bible and came up with these verses that I thought were pretty cool:
*Clothe yourself with splendor Ps. 45:3
*Clothe yourself with strength Is. 52:1
*Clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Romans 13:14
*Clothe yourself with compassion Col. 3:12
*Clothe yourself with humility IPet. 5:5

Today's Word Prompt: Makes You Happy

                         
Well, this is another easy one for me today; as we crossed over the state line into Florida, I was happy.  We stopped at the Welcome Center and had our fresh squeezed orange juice and took our yearly picture in front of the sign.  Only thing....it is COLD and WINDY today and even colder tomorrow.  I know, I know Uncle Buck told me things were really cold and snowy in the mitten.  Tomorrow's high here will be 54 and low of 36, but it looks like there will be a nice warm-up on Tuesday.  Meanwhile, I keep wearing my sweats and only walk south because if you walk northward, you will get blown over. 
Happy Birthday to our daughter Kristen who will be coming to visit us with her youngest, Megan, the end of February.  That makes me happy. 

Picture For Today: Self Portrait

Is this an official self-portrait?

I thought there were several ways I could do this one; draw myself, have Donaldo take one (but I thought that would be bending the rules), or take a picture of myself.  I did two out of three just for the fun of it.  I am unable to keep my blogs to one picture some reason. 
Today we traveled through the state of Georgia and stopped at THE PLANTATION to buy peach jam (my favorite) and a bag of pecans.  I thought this was the perfect place to take my picture, but alas, I couldn't get the sign to show up so I had to take an extra picture of the sign.

"Smile myself" for my camera

There's Donaldo waiting for me; putting up with this current blog project.  Bless his patient soul!

                           

Picture Prompt: Front Door

This is the perfect word for today as we drove south all day and and stopped at this fine Hampton Inn in Careyville Tennessee; just south of the Jellico Mountains.  This is the third year we have stayed here.  It is full of history and antiques that are shown mostly in pictures throughout the hotel.  Today we met the owner; he helped his mother when he was seven years old with the hotel after his father was shot. It has been in the family ever since.  
The entrance to the hotel is so unique I had to take several pictures.

I am choosing this one to be the "official" door picture.  I am inside looking out.  There is a river right out front and our room overlooks it. 

One of the many antiques the owner Hack has

It's a little nippy here in the south as a cold front is moving through

                                    

Sun: Today's Photo Prompt

Well I wasn't sure this morning about the very weak sunlight barely shining through the bare tree branches.  There was nothing colorful that caught my eye.  But then the sun came out in full force and things looked brighter.  I'm pack and ready for the sunshine state although they are getting a cold front until Tuesday.  But I can console myself in that it will be much colder here.  For today, I am enjoying the sun.

Looking right around the wind chimes this morning at the "not so promising" sun

No this is more like it!  Except that deer thing HAS to go!

                                                                     

Button

Today's photo prompt is button

I'm not sure if button meant one or more than one.  So I have nothing interesting about ONE button, so I am showing you my jar of buttons.  They come in handy when I need a button to replace a lost button; however most of them are shirt buttons and there is a story behind that..... 
Many years ago (makes me sound ancient) I made nightshirts for women and girls. This is a craft I thought up and I gave it a fair run as I gave them for gifts and even sold a few. 
I would buy gently used men or boys short sleeve shirts and "fix" them up.  I took all the buttons off (thus my jar of buttons) and then I would sew on cute or pretty buttons that I purchased.  I would sew wide eyelet lace around the bottom of the shirt and around the sleeves and pocket and then stencil something on the pocket.  I know I have some pictures of these somewhere, but cannot find them. I can't believe I did all that work, but they did turn out cute and they were fun to wear in the summer.  Alas I ran out of patience and/or customers and that was the end of the night shirt business.

What's For Dinner?

                                                                            
Anything could be in this red pot that the chef got for Christmas.  Since tonight is BSF night we have a quick meal so Donaldo took some frozen home-made soup out of the freezer.  This wasn't any homemade soup; it is Karen's Chicken Salsa Soup.  She made it up, so I don't know the recipe, but it is delicious and the perfect meal for tonight.

From the Heart

It's a good thing I ran into Capri K today at church. 
she told me about this blog idea she got from a friend
who got it from a friend.  I thought it would be fun to try
 since I am having writer's block right now.   I am not going
 to try and go back to the ones I missed
 and the picture for today was not taken at 10:00 a.m.
 because I was on my way to church then.
 But this is the view I saw from my hot tub at 3:00 p.m. today.
 I will play  by the rules tomorrow. 

This sign reminded me of the verse I read today:  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. "  Philippians 4:6-7

Feel free to play along with the picture a day challenge.  The directions for and words are below: 

February photo a day kicks off tomorrow

A little reminder: February photo a day starts tomorrow! I do hope you'll play along.

Here's how to play:

1. Use the list above as inspiration and take a photo everyday. For example for number one on the list, 'your view today' you'd take a shot of whatever it is that you can see today. This would be a wider shot of your office space, where you went for a walk, or whatever it is that you can see!

2. Share on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, your blog or where ever it is you want to share. If you're sharing on Instagram or Twitter use the hashtag #FEBphotoaday so everyone can find them. There's a great community around the photo sharing, so do share!

3. Check out everyone else's pictures. I do it before I go to bed each night and it's so fun to see how different everyone's photos are. There are people from every corner of the world playing.

Them Bones......

.....them bones, them dry bones.  Capri K and I are commiserating about not having any exciting, uplifting, funny, or interesting blog material.  She said she is dry as a bone.  And there you have it; the reason I haven't blogged much.  Maybe it's the time of year, but every once in awhile the inkwell runs dry.  But it always comes back at least in my almost seven years of writing it has.  So if you have any blog ideas, please respond; there has to be some good ideas beyond "what I did today."  Because I know if it isn't interesting to me, it won't be interesting to you.  So I need my dry funny bone tickled so I can be amusing or perhaps inspiring. 

In Memory

Missing my mom who went to heaven 7 years ago today.  How has the time gone by so fast? 

My mom and dad in front of Norwoods restaurant in New Symrna Beach Florida.  We had some happy times here with them. 

My mom loved Florida.  She considered herself fortunate to go every year for a month.  I guess Donaldo and I are following in their footsteps. 

                           

My Friend Who Draws and Paints

                       

I have a friend who has taken water-color classes and she took a water color sketch book class and draws her entries into her journal.  Her blog is listed to the right of mine.  She has an entry being considered for publication in a cookbook called "They Draw And Cook."  Her granddaughter who is also an artist helped her submit it.
I am not saying I could do this...but it would be on my wish list of things to do before I die.  I would like to take one water color class and see how it goes.  The problem is Donaldo is not with me on this page.  He thinks of the materials I would need and the idea of doing something completely new.  Since he knows me best, I have to go with him, but he did say "let's sleep on it for awhile."  That's as good as it gets.
Of course I still have my sewing machine to learn, and I plan to do that as soon as I come back from Florida.  I have several options-one being my sister-in-law who sews.  I think I will contact her before I leave and set up a time and then I can rest easy. 
Time is limited here on earth and my wish list has gotten shorter as I age and realize how precious time is.  My greatest love right now is studying the Bible and journaling and there can be nothing greater than that. I also like leading women in the study of the Bible; something God has called me to in this season of my life.  
Saturday Riley said to us "When I have kids you will probably be very old or not alive anymore."  She could be right and the thought made me very sad, but it is true.  But I decided to take one day at a time and enjoy what I do have.
Meanwhile I have a short list of things to do and see. On the top of my list of things to see is visit all the presidential libraries.  Donaldo said 'we just bought new luggage" what's to stop us?  There seems to be a little urgency or push to get some of these things done.
We just made reservations to go to The Cove in October which is the Billy Graham Retreat Center; one thing I can cross of my bucket list.  It is in Asheville, N.C. and what a beautiful time to go. We then plan to visit the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C.  That's better than a presidential library. 
And yet....still...I have my eyes fixed on Heaven and the return of Jesus Christ; something I believe could happen any time.  What a great trip that would be!!