Waiting

Hi Folks ~ It is early Friday afternoon. I did my little job with my elderly friend this morning. When I got there, I got the laundry going, then she told me to sit down. So, I did, and she asked me what my plans were with the hurricane. I said I didn't really know. Guys from the church are coming over in the morning to put up plywood. She said, well, you can stay here in my house. (She will be staying across the street with other elderly friends from church.) So, that is what Miss Tork and I are going to do. She lives in a concrete house, new roof, hurricane proof windows. It will be better than staying in my little wooden Plum Cottage where I can hear every single thing that hits the house and hear the winds roar. 

Dear Husband and I went through Francis, Jean and Wilma, 2004 & 2005. Those were horrible, Wilma was the worst!  I've been through Michael and Irma, Michael I stayed here with Miss Tork, scary, for Irma we went to stay with my dear BIL and SIL, an hour's drive away for me. My friend just lives 2 1/2 miles from PC. 

I will be alone as far as people goes, but God will be with me. (Miss Tork will be with me and have to do a bit of adjusting in somewhere strange). Yesterday I watched a few you tube messages on 'not being anxious',  this one was really good.

Hurricane Dorian was 'supposed' to be here Sun night/Mon morning, now it may not be until Wed. They really don't know what it is going to do, it has slowed down out over the ocean. Praying some wind shear will happen and send the thing out into the ocean where it will dissipate. We just keep watching and waiting. Before modern technology, you found about storms when they happened. Now all the media platforms hype it all up as soon as they have a hint of a storm and freak everyone out for days on end, with scary predictions, that may or may not come true.

I have been a worrier for most of my life. I 'hate' it. My mother was the same and my two sisters have the 'dis-ease' also. Reading the Bible and prayer helps me a lot. As a believer in Jesus, the wicked one, does all he can to plague me with fear, wanting me to doubt, instead of keeping my focus on Jesus. It's an ongoing process of trusting in God's tender care. When the attack of fear happens, I call out to Jesus, and pray for His peace to fill my heart and mind.  I thank you all for your prayers and encouraging words. They help.

After I got home this morning, I grabbed a pair of huge rubber boots from the workshop, and headed out back to stomp down a path to the back of barn where the plywood has been stacked. I think I'm going to have to have new sheets cut soon, as these are pretty bad. After all, they are 15 years old, and were made from recycled wood.

Here's my path. The plant growth is mainly the Wandering Jew plant, it was pretty high, but stomped down easily enough. It was hot and I sweat buckets as I began carrying the window coverings. I left three back there as they were too much for me to handle. The guys can handle them with ease tomorrow morning.

Here are the coverings I put up. DH made heart cutouts in several of them, to let light in and they are a nice romantic touch and make me love him all the more. I miss him, but know he's in heaven cheering me on.

This is the back door and bathroom window. I couldn't do the bathroom window, too heavy for me.

Below are the two bedroom windows.

 Living room window.

Living room and bedroom windows showing the hearts from inside.

 

Here is the driveway to the back. Wed. morning after work, I came home and sensed I had the opportunity to mow. It had been a couple of weeks and we kept having rain and more rain.

 

This is where I park. You can barely see the 'caravan'. to the left, these days, as a spinach tree has really taken off.

 

This rain lily was along the driveway, heralding more rain in the forecast.

 

 

Here's the mid-day blue sky, you wouldn't know that people are racing to and fro getting supplies, etc. as they prepare for the storm. The traffic is unbelievable.

 

The cap, spring and the pre-strung spools, came for the weed wacker, and I got it all back together and was able to do a bit of 'wacking'. It works fine.

Ok, that's it for now. It's time for a bit of lunch and maybe a short nap. I am worn out from this morning.

Thanks again for prayers, keep praying, and for your encouraging words.

I'll keep you posted.

FlowerLady 

Hi Folks ~ Well, it's hurricane season again, and I ask for prayers for Dorian to go north. I'll keep you posted. Guys from the church are going to come and put up plywood panels on windows, panels are stacked behind the barn. Hope they are still usable. They are 14 years old and the last time they were used was for Hurricane Irma 2 years ago. Pray for me to keep my focus on God's tender care and to turn all of my care over to Him, because He cares. 

Thank you ~ FlowerLady

A beautiful Swedish cottage garden

Hi Folks ~ I came across this beautiful garden on you tube and thought you might enjoy the stroll. 

Have a great weekend ~ FlowerLady

Projects, life, etc.

Good morning Friends ~ I can't thank you enough for your kind words of encouragement on my latest post. We all go through up and down times. And it's through God's love and the kindness of others that we make it through our days. As a lot of you know, I'm a widow now, it's been 6 years and 8 months since God called my dear husband home to be with Him. While the grieving isn't as hard and raw as it was in the beginning, I still grieve at times, and trust in God to be my strength when I'm having a down time.

I am a procrastinator living on a budget. There are projects that hubby and I had been working on together that are still undone. I was his helper, and now I do what I can to take care of home and property myself. It is easier when the weather is nicer, but the heat and humidity of summer and being the age that I am now, I get drained of energy easier than I used to. I do what I can, when I can. When people come over here, they don't see the 'mess' I see, they see a bit of early Florida, they see all the neat tools, my kitch on the inside and the flowers, etc., they love it, they get excited and they give compliments, which make my heart sing.

I took the pics below on the 20th of the front patio and path. The patio and path need pressure washing, weeds need to be taken care of,  paths need clearing, etc.

In the overgrowth near the driveway gate, is the key lime tree, with 5 limes on it. I plan on using one to make a margarita to celebrate our 50th anniversary. ;-)

A couple of posts back, I shared about my weed whacker flipping it's lid and spool. I've looked in the hedgerow out front where I was working at the time, but did not find the spool or the spring. There are thorns in that hedgerow also so I didn't spend a whole lot of time out there digging around. One of my followers, a friend who became a widow after I did, suggested I look for parts online so I did. After reviewing both the generic parts and the B&D parts, I decided to go with the B&D. Their spools are made for my machine, they are wound and ready to go so I won't have to hassle with trying to restring a spool myself. I'm not one who has an immaculate property, only using the whacker when I feel it really needs it, so these three spools should last me a good while. Complaints about the generic spools not matching up feed holes in the machine is what decided me against them. My husband always restrung the spool for me, but after the last fiasco of trying it myself, I'm not going to try again. Two out of four worked, and two didn't, the last one being the worst. My new lid with spring and the 3 spools should be here next week. 

I enjoy working outside in nice weather, right now I have to be out as early as possible, and even then the humidity drags me down. I am so ready for cooler weather, but we still have September to get through yet. We've had some wicked thunderstorms, LOTS of rain so things are really growing like crazy.

Inside I've been working on straightening up, decluttering and cleaning. Working with/for my friend Bea has helped encourage me to keep working on this place. Since I've been on my own, I've lost, at times, the initiative to do anything. It hardly seems worth it, but that's not how hubby would want me to be living. He would want me to be my happy self, enjoying what God blesses me with each day, and know and trust that God is with me through everything, good and bad.

So, here are before and after pictures. This first photo is from March of this year. 

 This photo was taken this morning.

  

This is from June this year.

 This is from this morning. I'm standing on the other side of the bed, Miss Tork is contemplating jumping up on the bed for a snooze.

 

Here is the other side of this space.

 This is the bedroom side of this space. whole space is 8'10" wide by 24'long.

Still lots to do to finish off this cottage, and little by little things are getting accomplished. 

That's it for now. I need to get up and do some things. 

Home is where your heart is, big or small, finished or unfinished. It is a haven, one to be thankful for.

Enjoy your days ~ FlowerLady

Good, good Father

Hello Folks ~ Just had to share a song that came to mind today, after one of my barn kitties was sick yesterday, and I prayed for her, and asked Jesus to take care of her. A verse of scripture came to mind also: 

2 Corinthians 10:5 (KJV) ~ Casting down imaginations, (worrisome thoughts and worse case scenarios) and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 

Another verse of scripture came to mind a few minutes ago, 1 Peter 5:7 ~ "Cast all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you." When my dear husband was bedridden, near the end of his time here on this planet, he called out to me this verse,  as I came in the door from work one afternoon, and it comes to mind often. Words of love from God and the love of my life, my dear husband. Words of encouragement, as he knew I needed them, knowing what a worrier I've been my whole life.

 

Back to the story, this morning when I went out to feed the barn girls again, Miss Rinkie was FINE. I couldn't quit thanking my heavenly Father enough, a huge weight had been lifted. In the over all scheme of things it's not a big deal, but it was a big deal to FlowerLady and the Bible says: 

Matthew 10:29 "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows". He cares for every bit of His creation, beside us humans.

In Philippians 4:6-7 it says: 

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, 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."

With that, here is the song that came to mind: Good, good Father.

To close this post, here are two pictures of the same hibiscus flower, the first one in the a.m. and the second late afternoon. This hibiscus is called 'Hugs-n-kisses'.

 

Thank you God for your beautiful creation that brings joy to our hearts. Amen.

FlowerLady

Hot, humid August

Hello Folks ~ It's been almost a month since my last post. Our summer heat and humidity totally drains me of all energy. I went out this morning to mow and weed wack. I restrung my weed wacker, but evidently didn't do it right as a few minutes into doing it's job, the spool head and spool blew off. I found the orange top, but didn't find the spool yet, it's black and somewhere in the hedge. I looked some, but was bummed and frustrated, so decided to start mowing while I felt like it. I did the little front lawn, up along the driveway and started into the back area, but just couldn't do anymore. I was soaked and needed to stop. I had taken small water breaks and was out there for around 2 hours. It was 81 when I started with real feel being 94, when I stopped the temp was 88 but real feel was 106. YIKES! I will look out in the hedge again when I can for the black spool as I don't really want to spend the $ on a new tool. This has worked just fine for years and years. 

We have had lots of stormy weather down here, wind, black rain heavy clouds, thunder and lightening, scary stuff. The sky is darkening as I'm typing now.

Early on the morning of the first, I looked out the window here beside my chair and the clouds in the sky, drew me outside. The coloring of the sky, sort of golden.

I went outside and this is how it looked from standing in the driveway.

I went on up the driveway and when I got to the turning point, this is what I saw, and gasped in delight. I thanked God right then and there for nudging me with the view out my window to go outside with camera to see this gift He had for me.

 

Working with dear Bea is going along nicely. She's a character. We both are thankful for each other. 

This is just a short post to let you all know I'm still here. I have up and down days. Our 50th wedding anniversary is coming up on the 8th, so there are a lot of memories rumbling around in my head and heart. I have much to be thankful for.

I've been reading posts and you all are busy with summer activities and I pray for continued blessings for you. I pray for our country and world, times are rough all over. In spite of all the bad that is going on, there are good things to be thankful for. There is still much beauty and love in this world.

Ok, that's it. Love, hugs & prayers from FlowerLady