Belated Christmas Greetings

Greetings from Plum Cottage this last week of 2023. 

The end of this year was a bit rough for me. I caught a cold/bug the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, so that I had to forego dinner plans with friends, Christmas caroling, three Sunday advent services, no ladies Bible study. That lasted about 3 weeks, totally draining me of all energy. Then as I was feeling better from that I got a bad toothache, cheek swelled. Had an infection, found a holistic dentist who fit me in at 5 pm on a Thursday evening. 2 1/2 hours in the chair. Did pretty good until the end when I was starting to 'feel' what he was doing. Not good. He had already pumped me with numbing agent, but the infection was keeping that from doing what it should be doing. So, he got one tooth out, had started on the second when he had to quit. He wrote me prescriptions for pain meds and an antibiotic. Made an appt for the following Monday morning.

A friend had taken me to the dentist, and when she saw me she suggested I go home with her so that she could take care of me. I was really loopy and emotional and agreed, thankful for her kindness. Miss Tork would just have to survive without me for one night. ;-) We both survived being separated. (We also had two days of winds from that tropical storm, gusts off and on all day of 38-40mph. I prayed that she and the house would be ok while I was away.)

The antibiotic took care of the swelling and infection. Pain med took care of the pain. Monday morning I was only in the chair for an hour, rest of bad tooth out and the infection taken out as well. Have had to eat soft foods ... I'm now doing much better, eating more solid foods. I have a follow up appt on the 4th.  This dentist was so kind and gentle, a real blessing for me.

After over 5 weeks of not being able to do any gardening, I finally was able to get out and mow and trim the front hedge. That felt so good. I had the window of opportunity yesterday as today was predicted to be rainy and it has been all day so far. It's been staying around 60-62.

 December is a hard month for me as that's when my dear Mark was called home to be with Jesus, on the 9th, 11 years ago now. His birthday was the 20th, and then there's Christmas. On the 9th I started decorating for Christmas and that was good for me. I've enjoyed the lights, color and joy of seeing it all, being thankful for the real gift of Christmas, which is the celebration of God coming into this world as a little baby. Since I was recuperating from teeth being extracted, I had Christmas here with Miss Tork, and since Jesus is always with me, I truly was not alone. I was able to go to the last advent service Christmas Eve morning and it was wonderful and great to be with church family again.

I hope you all had a time of remembrance of why we celebrate this particular holiday during all of the happy festivities. As a believer in Jesus, I believe that Jesus is God in the flesh. He is Immanuel. He came as a babe, born in a lowly stable, to humble parents. He came from the richness of heaven, to die for all of humanity, for our sins. One day we will be with Him in His richness, see Him in all of His glory, where we will be forever young, thanking and praising Him for His great love forever and ever. Something to look forward to.

A beautiful you tube video came up on my feed, and brought me to tears with its message for all of us. I want to share it here.

Then this came up a day or so later. Another beautiful piece seen from different perspectives.

May we all be drawn closer to our Savior, Jesus, God Almighty.

~~~~~~

In thinking of this past year, about things that have come my way, my word for 2024 is, 

Perseverance ~continued effort to do or achieve something,
even when this is difficult or takes a long time.

In Romans 5:1-5 we read:

 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand;
and we celebrate in hope of the glory of God.

And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations,
knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;
and perseverance, proven character;
and proven character, hope;
and hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts
 through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

~~~

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 we read:

Give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Is this an easy thing to do? No, but when I am thankful I am more at peace.

Philippians 4:6-8

Be anxious for nothing,
but in everything by prayer and supplication,(earnest or humble request)
with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God;
and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Finally, whatever things are true,
whatever things are noble,
whatever things are just,
whatever things are pure,
whatever things are lovely,
whatever things are of good report,
if there is any virtue
and if there is anything praiseworthy
meditate on these things.

As we move into 2024, may we go in faith. May we see beauty in each day. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, but we do know that God holds everything, past, present and future in His hands. He is working all things out. Evil will not win, it has already been defeated, it just doesn't know it yet, but it will.

Be well, find joy in each day that you are blessed with, be thankful and spread love and light wherever you go.

God bless all of you.

FlowerLady

 

Thankful greetings from Plum Cottage

 Hello friends, sorry for the long absence, I hope to be blogging on a more regular basis. I just got a larger monitor which is a great help for aging eyes. I have many photos to edit, lots of flowers, etc. Fencing is still coming along. ;-) House projects are ongoing.

It is hard to believe that our celebration of Thanksgiving here in the US is this Thursday. This year has zipped along so fast. I will be celebrating with a sweet family from my church and am looking forward to a day of laughter, love, good food and thanksgiving.

 I have so much to be thankful for. This little cottage, lots of flowers, butterflies, bees, birds, including several fast flying hummingbirds, two outdoor feline visitors, food to eat, a comfy bed to sleep in, hot and cold running water, friends, family, a Bible believing church, and much more.

I am learning to be thankful in all circumstances. To be found in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, (NASB) is the following:

Rejoice always,
pray without ceasing,
in everything give thanks;
for this is the will of God
for you in Christ Jesus.

Last night I watched a you tube video about being thankful and part of the msg was about how when we praise and our hearts are filled with gratitude to God, we are energized. 

When we dwell on negative things in our life, we become filled with 'dis-ease' in body, spirit and mind. The more we are thankful, the better we feel even though our circumstances may still be the same. Our hearts grow lighter, our faith stronger in The One who loves us deeply.

Below are some other scripture verses about being thankful.

Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God. 

Psalm 136:1
Give thanks to the Lord,
for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever. 

Colossians 3:15
Let the peace of Christ
rule in your hearts,
since as members of one body
you were called to peace.
and be thankful. 

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do,
whether in word or deed,
do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Psalms 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him,
and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.

Psalms 95:2-3
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.

2 Corinthians 4:14-18
We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead
will also raise us with Jesus
and present us with you to himself.

All this is for your benefit,
so that the grace that is reaching more and more people
may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

Therefore we do not lose heart.
Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
For our light and momentary troubles
are achieving for us an eternal glory
that far outweighs them all.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,
but on what is unseen,
since what is seen is temporary,
but what is unseen is eternal. 

******

What we see can weigh us down, or draw us closer to Jesus our Great God, as we thank Him in all things. We as believers in Him are not promised a life with no problems. We are promised that He will be with us always. We are to take heart.

 Psalms 27:14
Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD.

 Joshua 1:9
Be strong and courageous!
Do not be terrified nor dismayed,
for the LORD your God is with you
wherever you go.

Psalm 31:24
Be strong
let your heart take courage,
All you who hope in the LORD.

 ******

Here is a new song we have been singing in church the past few weeks. This is a you-tube version. The other night is was going through my mind all night, but, what a great song to be being repeated in my mind.

 My pastor shared an interesting tidbit yesterday. He was talking about being happy and a list of the most thankful people in the world. The Jewish people, in spite of all that they have gone through and are going through, are at the top of the list.

Americans celebrate thanksgiving once a year.

Jewish people celebrate thanksgiving once a week, on Friday, with their shabbat.

As Christians we have the privilege and the choice to celebrate thanksgiving each and every day for all that God has done and is doing in our lives.

It is our choice.  Do we choose to be thankful?

Because of God's great love for His creation, He took on flesh, came as a babe into this world, His name is Jesus. He gave His life to pay for our sins, past, present and future. He rose from the grave, defeating death, so that we may live with Him forever, made perfect and pure by his great sacrifice.  Each day we are blessed with is a gift. God loves each of us and wants a close relationship. He is lovingly waiting for you to call out to Him if you haven't done so already. 

******

Enjoy all of the prep work for celebrating this Thanksgiving. Enjoy the day whether you are by yourself or with others.

May you be inspired to be thankful every day.

Count your blessings. 

Happy Thanksgiving ~ every day.

FlowerLady

 

 

I'm fine. house projects, heat advisories, hibernating

Greetings Folks ~ the past few months have been full. We've had heat advisory warnings for over a month as the weather has been horribly hot and humid. Two more sections of fencing were put up just as this hot weather started so we took a break on doing more. Then my friend Sean who has been doing my fencing work, with my help, has a pulled tendon in his lumbar region from years of sports and heavy lifting with the job he has. So fencing is on hold for the time being until he can heal up. It's still too hot really, so hopefully it will be much cooler when he's ready to put up the next couple of sections of fencing. I am grateful for what has been accomplished. The last time he was here we just cleared stuff away from the old fencing. Stuff is growing back though with all of the rain we've been having. ;-)

Hurricane Idalia went up the west coast of Florida, I'm on the east. What a lot of damage has been done in FL, GA and the Carolinas. I just saw today that three typhoons converged on an area in China and there is great devastation there. The fire in Maui, just horrible. So much tragedy the world over.

There is another possible hurricane headed this way, hopefully NOT. We should know more this weekend.

House projects: laminate flooring was buckling in the kitchen, my dear BIL came to check things out. He took up flooring where we had cut a hole in the floor about 9 years ago when he repaired leaking water pipe under the house. Well, what he found had me in tears. A broken floor joist, but the worst thing he found was the caved in OLD cast iron sewer pipe. This house was built around 1950 - 1951 and cast iron is what they used back then. So, I asked at church is there happened to be a plumber in our church family. There is. He came to Plum Cottage, assessed the work, had two young plumbers from his company come out to do the work. They were here around 5 hours, one young man was doing the work under the house, cutting out the old pipe, grinding off connecting ends for the new PVC pipe, chipping/grinding out concrete. The other one handed down tools, etc. on his belly on the floor most of the time. They did a fantastic job. The owner of the business who came out to assess the job, did not charge me at all.  What a blessing that is for me!!

God sent a young man who does lawn work at a great price, for those who need help. He had seen me one morning as he drove by and wondered 'does she take care of that herself'. I had been out front working on my hedge. Later I found a note and his business card in a baggie tucked by my mailbox flag. For years, since my dear husband has been gone, I have prayed when I am out there working, that some lawn maintenance people would stop and see if they could help and give me prices.  No one ever did until now. This young man works for his dad, and they just live one street over. He has wondered who lived here for years, now he knows. He has spent 15 hours so far and done a great job. There is still more work to do, but I can only afford a little of his work at a time. I am so thankful to God for working this out for me. What a difference in how it looks around here with  the overgrowth being taken care. I felt like crying looking at before and after pictures as to how bad it had gotten around here, since covid happened. I lost my umph,  but with the work that Luis has done, I am feeling motivated to get back out into my gardens and keep on top of things as much as possible. Although, right now, I'm basically just keeping up with mowing until all of this horrible hot weather is over. It's been in the 90's and the real feel temps have been around 100-103.

I will post pictures later. This post is just to let you know I'm still alive, just hibernating.

I thought I had a horrible car problem, thinking it was the transmission, but what it was was that I had accidentally knocked the shifter over into manual.  I didn't even know you could do that. Anyway, that gave me quite the scare. Another nice young man from church helps out the elderly with all kinds of things and he works on cars and he changed my oil, put in a new oil filter, put on new wiper blades, air in tires, at No cost to me.

God is certainly taking care of this widow. I've now got to see about ripping up the floor and replacing the broken floor joist. Right now I'm basically tiptoeing around the area. Replacing the old sewer pipe was the most important thing that needed fixing.

I have termites also, so am going to look into the 'non-tenting' solution. Have heard it is good and you don't have to leave your house, take out all of your food, etc.

I have been stressed to say the least. Have been reading my Bible about not being anxious, listening to or watching devotionals about trusting God to work things out. Learning to 'cast all of my cares on Jesus, because He cares for me'. It is a 'daily' casting of cares. I am learning patience, learning that He is in control, that He knows what is best for me. I'm learning to be thankful in all circumstances. He's not done with me yet and still has plans for this widowed FlowerLady.

Ok, I think I've caught you up on all of what's going on down here at Plum Cottage. Thanks for checking up on me.

I am so looking forward to fall. This coming Friday will be the 54th anniversary of when my dear husband and I said 'I do'. I sure do miss him, the missing never ends, the grief is less, but can be  triggered at times. I watched a Hallmark movie the other night and when it ended I sat in my chair sobbing. Sigh! I miss the laughter, conversations, working/playing together, fixing our meals and making special ones for special times. I miss the twinkle in his deep brown eyes, his deep bass voice,  I miss his ways of showing me he loved me.

Friends, love your spouse, let them know how appreciative you are and how much they mean to you. Each day is a gift with many opportunities to show love and our loved ones need to know they are loved. We will be loved in return. We don't know if, how or when our lives could be changed in a minute. Be kind, show all of the love you can. Be thankful. 

It can be so easy to get discouraged, but faith in God, can lift us out of gloom. We have not been promised a care-free life, but we have been promised that He will never leave or forsake us. We are precious to Him.

Flowers are still blooming and giving me great joy. I am thankful to our awesome Creator for these gifts. I will close this post with the picture below of a lovely hibiscus and a bit of decorative rusty iron.

 

 Love, hugs and prayers, 

FlowerLady

 

50 years and new fencing

Greetings Folks ~ here it is the first day of summer. This year sure is zipping right along. It is 50 years ago this month that my dear husband and I moved into this little 50's cottage. Hubby had served his 4 years in the US Navy, we traveled to 9 countries by Eurail, with our backpacks, cameras, canteens and guide books for almost 60 days, before coming home to this little place.

The road out front used to be two lanes, then imminent domain came along taking another 15 ft into the front of our property. They already had a 10 ft easement. We did have 1/3 of an acre, now we have 1/4.  This is basically how it looked when we moved in here. Hubby's grandparents bought this place in the mid 60's, they bought it with him in mind. We came here in 1973 and bought the little place from their estate. They had both passed on before we came home.

 I just went out and took measurements. From the front of little porch overhang out to the sidewalk is roughly 21'. Then there's the 3' sidewalk and the 5 lane busy road. Very noisy especially at certain times of the day. Traffic is lighter during the summer as the 'snowbirds' have gone back up north.

We are all hedged in across the front now, have been for years, plus there is privacy fencing on the other sides. When we moved in, all of the neighbors were using our property like it was theirs.

A lot has changed in 50 years. When I say that I've lived here that amount of time, I am amazed. I was just 24, now I'm 74. There have been ups and downs here, joys and sorrows, laughter, we enjoyed working together as we were self-employed and did different things. We worked together building a workshop, a polebarn and a storage building, all with permits. I grow flowers, hubby did a lot of hardscaping. We've gone through hurricanes. The saddest and hardest thing I've dealt with is that my dear husband/best friend went to be with his Creator, our Savior and God, Jesus, 10 1/2 years ago now. Oh how I miss him every single day. God is seeing me through this widowhood journey though and I am so thankful for His many blessings big and small.  Every day is a gift.

Last year I received a totally unexpected monetary gift which has allowed me to get a new washing machine, a new ac, and a few other things, plus pay taxes. I've been able to get started on replacing privacy fencing, the first part is along the driveway. Over the past few years that fencing has been falling down more and more. It is probably at least 30 years old. (Fencing on three other sides was paid for mostly by those three neighbors, Sean and Stan did labor on two sides, and the third side was replaced and done by someone that neighbor hired.  There is still the fencing along the back of the property to replace, but not at this time.)

 I have a Christian brother/friend, Sean, who has helped me quite a bit the past 3-4 years, with other fencing, cutting back trees, etc. Well, he is now helping with putting up this new fencing.  I ordered the fencing, the three young pastors from my church, picked it up and stacked it here at the back of the driveway.  That way when Sean is able to work here he can just come and we can get started. We've worked two mornings a week or two apart, for roughly 7 1/2 hours, getting up 4 6'x8' sections.  What a job, cutting roots, tree limbs, vines, digging holes, hauling fencing.leveling, etc. What a difference in how it looks and feels here. Another answered prayer, a burden lifted. I am so grateful to Sean for his help. He is 61 to my 74. I'm thankful I'm still able to work at helping even though it is getting harder and I move slower. This weekend we are hoping another friend will be able to come, then I won't have to work so hard. ;-)

Views of old fencing. Neighbor's trees that I keep having to keep cut back. It grows very fast, hangs over driveway and grows up into the power lines. Every now and then then power company comes along and cuts them back.

 

 

 

View from scullery window. The purple flowering tree on this side of the driveway is a Queen Crepe myrtle. A real beauty.

 

 

In the picture below, the huge tree base to the left of post in the middle was a real pain. Sean had to cut roots it in order to dig a hole for new post. We couldn't cut away the base of tree, way too much work, so at that point in the fencing it bumps out a bit. Hardly noticeable in the overall scheme of things, but it was frustrating to say the least as we/I wanted it to look 'perfect'. Sometimes we just have to work around things.

 

This work was started on the 10th of June. He took down the old fencing, cutting it into manageable sections and I carried it out front to be picked up.  Look at these tangled woods.

 

 

This is Sean. 

What you don't see here, is us having to get sections of fencing from behind Sean's truck down to this area. No pictures of that. Below, getting first section in place.

First two sections up. Yay!!! Forward progress.

The next day, I put these two wrought iron hearts that had been cut from two antique ice cream chairs no longer usable as chairs. That space on fencing needed something to go between those two darker fence slats. From these two sections of fencing you can see that they were made with whatever slats could be used. The pandemic caused so many shortages, and prices to go up and up. You take what you get and it will end up weathered in the end anyway.

New look through the scullery window, what a difference!

Now on to the next two sections on the 19th, giving a total of 4 new sections of fencing. We are moving right along.

You can see that I had more foliage to be cut away before the next two sections can go up.

 View now from the scullery window. The round piece leaning on the fencing is another iron piece with hearts. ;-)

 

 

I made a start the next day on digging up plants. There is another section of roots from a different tree from the neighbor's side that we are going to have to deal with as the roots are up and showing on my side.

 

 

 

Below you can see an upright piece of wood to the left and one beside the green barrier (to keep critters from coming through), these mark where the next two sections will go more or less. This work should happen tomorrow, depending on the weather.

We worked 3 hrs and 40 minutes roughly each of the two mornings we worked on this,. 9-12:40. In the shade for the most part. We were pooped and hot and sweaty. Drank electrolytes and plenty of water. The heat and humidity have been awful, although not as bad as some people in TX are having it. This morning, Friday, it is cloudy, it is 90 and the real feel is at 100, humidity at 68%, wind 5 mph from the se.

I didn't feel like working outside this morning. I started this post yesterday, but with getting bogged down from working with this photo editing program I stopped. This morning I'm better at it and glad to be able to wrap this post up.

 I am thankful for this new day, a gift from my heavenly Father. I have much to be thankful for. This cottage is small, 675 sq ft, quirky, not modern, but it is paid for. I have running hot and cold water, a comfortable bed, food to eat, a stove/oven to cook with, gardens with flowers, butterflies, bees, birds. I've seen a few you-tube videos lately of people living in their houses of corrugated tin and other materials, not just for a single person, but families. The women hauling water, feeding farm animals, cooking over fires, raising children, running little businesses, whatever they to live their lives. They dress in their colorful clothing, there are smiles and laughter and they keep on living, one day at a time.

Jesus gives me the strength needed for each new day. My hope is in Him. He is my Savior, He is  Almighty God, Creator of all things, He is the Prince of Peace, He is my Provider, Healer, my Defense. One day He will make all things new, evil will be no more, and there will be no more sickness or death, all tears will be wiped away. Amen.

He desires a relationship with each and every person. He is the only One who can satisfy our longings. If you don't yet know Him, seek Him, He will come to you.

~~~~~~~

That's it for now from Plum Cottage.

Have a great weekend. Be kind, be thankful.

FlowerLady

 

Musings in May

Greetings Friends ~ Here it is almost the middle of May. I do believe the last of our cool weather is gone. We were blessed with some lovely late cool temps, such a blessing. Summer's heat and humidity is starting to settle in now. I am thankful for my new room ac which is working just fine. If you want to check it out you can find it here. at Home Depot and I am not receiving anything for this little ditty about how great I think it is. ;-)

Easter has come and gone. Our church's Resurrection service was wonderful, the adult and children's choir did a fantastic job. I had a nice piece of lamb about 1 1/2 inches thick by 8 inches around, fixed in the crockpot with herbs, garlic, mustard and wine. It came out delicious and tender, fixed it the day before. Had mashed potatoes, LeSeur Peas, asparagus vinaigrette and a glass of merlot in remembrance of Jesus and His great gift to us. He gave His life so that we'd be set free from sin and death. He paid all of our debt. For dessert I had a slice of Key Lime pie.

A week or so after Easter,  ladies of the church were invited to a sunrise service at the beach. It was wonderful!! It was the first time I've been to the beach in years and years, (I only live 3 miles away from it), since before my dear husband left this planet to be with God. It was so nice to sit with my feet in the sand, to feel the breezes, to view the ocean, look at the clouds in the sky and see the sunrise finally, the seagulls flying around and walking the beach were a nice beachy note, and then I enjoyed our devotional and singing time. All just what FlowerLady needed. Someone in our church owns a limousine business so we ladies were treated to a ride to and from the beach in a huge black limo bus. It was really neat!

Above is our music minister and his wife. (They've been a big help to me these past two years, with love, prayers, help and encouragement. They have an adorable baby girl.)

 We kept waiting for the sunrise to happen but there were too many clouds for us to see the actual happening. We had to wait awhile for the beauty of the sun peeking out from the clouds.

 My feet enjoying the cool, damp sand. As I walked down the beach looking for shells I remembered how hard it is to walk in beach sand. My legs got quite the work out.

Shells below, as I found them from left to right. My little treasures for the day. No hearts to be found, but my heart was happy none the less with these gifts from God. The second photo shows the two end shells turned over to see the other side.

 

 

 

Flyer folded to fit into my fanny pack hence the creases.

Ok, I think I'll end this post now. I was rejuvenated after our beach sunrise service. A blessing.

May you all have a wonderful weekend.

FlowerLady 

Overgrown, cleared out, rediscovered

Good morning Folks ~ Here it is nearly a month since my last post. Time seems to be passing so quickly. I've been able to tackle the back of my main garden. The jasmine vine that is back there took over. What a mess!! About 6 feet out from the fence, encroaching on paths. I can usually work out there a couple of hours in the mornings. 

We've been having some nice cooler weather, we've gotten some much needed rain. The rain in Ft. Lauderdale, south of me, caused flooding of homes and businesses. 2 feet of water. This was a couple of weeks ago. Since gasoline comes into the area via ships, and trucks take the gas from the port to gas stations, because of the flooding it wasn't possible and gas at stations became unavailable. What a shock!!! I was finally able to get gas Sunday. What a relief that was! We don't realize how much things mean in our lives until we can't get them or don't have them anymore.

Sunday a week ago we had horrific thunderstorm activity here with heavy rains, we got almost 3 inches in 24 hours. There had even been tornado warnings that thankfully I hadn't seen. Was glad when the storm vacated the area. I was able to mow Saturday and it's a good thing I did as we've had more rain each day since then, more on the way. We were really dry here so this rain has been a blessing for watering my gardens and refilling the water table down here.

Below are some pictures of the jasmine before and after.

Starting to unearth pots, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Beveled mirror is a section from a wall hanging made up of several of these in various sizes. We found the mirror many years ago. I've been separating the individual pieces from the backing. This one I had attached to the fencing. It slid down some time during the last few years but didn't break.

When I changed my position a little I noticed the lady's reflection in the beveled mirror. This touched my heart for some reason. i think it is the look on her face.

 

What a surprise to see her face reflected three times in the mirror, because of the beveled edges.

 

Part of the old, old dead portion of vine stem.

Finding this lady again after years of neglect, hidden under the overgrown vine made me think of myself, burdened down by life. First by God's calling my dear husband home in 2012, losing the job I'd had for 17 years, 2 1/2 years later, (because of boss closing business and  moving across the state), then covid happened 3 years ago. The whole world found out what it's like to be sequestered, on lock down, no physical contact with others.

I watched a lot of uplifting msgs, and music on you tube, read my Bible and other uplifting books. All of this kept me growing in faith. I googled churches in this area, after the one I had been going to closed down and was not opening back up any time soon. I found the one I've been going to for the last two years, and have found my 'church family'.  I have a wonderful group of ladies that meet on Wednesday mornings for prayer and a Bible study. That has been a huge blessing also.

Will share an uplifting song that came my way in the past couple of days. Jesus has been my strength. Life without Him would be desperate and bleak. Thank you Jesus for Your promise to never leave or forsake us.

 
Thank you for visiting, for your encouraging words, for love and prayers. They/you mean more than words can say.

Love, hugs and prayers,

FlowerLady

Work in progress

Good morning Folks, here we have the gift of another day.  Right now it is 81 but with the humidity the real feel temp is 98. I was out earlier working in my main garden. I have a jasmine vine that was like Jack's beanstalk, growing, twisting and taking over everything. I work outside 1-2 hours in the mornings when I feel like it and the weather permits. Every little bit done makes a difference even though I feel like I'm hardly getting anywhere. There is still so much to do for clean up, deweeding, etc in this main garden, all in good time. I want to move potted plants to the area, maybe get some planted into the ground.

I made a short little video, nothing fancy, just raw footage. It is amazing what 'real' you tubers can do with their videos with all of the editing and adding music, etc. That is a lot of work and some of it is absolutely beautiful!! I don't have a video editing program. I just did a quick google search and saw that there is a free 'Open Shot' program that I'm going to look into. It would be fun to make 'nice' little videos. 

Here is the video. I'll do another post with still pictures of this project. I just downloaded them and have to edit them before making a post. That will take some time.

 That's it for now. Enjoy your day and be thankful.

FlowerLady

 P.S. I ordered  from Amazon a sunhat dark gray UPF 50+. Foldable and washable. Has a nice mesh section to let breezes in. I read that the dark colors were found to be better for UPF according to a study done in Spain, I think is what I remember reading. The hat fits nicely. There is a cord to tighten it around your head, then there is the chin strap to keep hat on during wind.

Sunglasses are also from Amazon. A friend had these on one day and I tried them They go over your prescription glasses or you can wear them normally as you would any sunglasses. These are GREAT!!  UV protected and polarized.

I've been using now for a couple of years a good electrolyte powder to mix with water. Gatoraid has nothing beneficial in it so I googled and found this one from Key Nutrients. I drink this on days that I work outside. It tastes great and I feel good using it.

I'm not sponsored by any of these companies. This is just my personal little review. Summer is coming and these will be a great help for FlowerLady. ;-)

Bye.

 

Plum Cottage Flowers

Happy Spring ~The first day of spring was my 74th bday. Time is zipping right along. I've been enjoying lots of flowers in bloom down here in tropical south Florida. We've also had some days that felt like summer, then a couple of chilly times when 'cold' fronts have moved down this far. The past few nights it's been in the high 50's. Day time temps have been beautiful, mid 70's to 80. This is probably the last of chilly weather though. Summer will be here shortly with it's humidity and hot temps.

I'll share some pics from Valentine's day up to now for your enjoyment.  Too bad you can't smell the wonderful scents that fill the air. Lots of bees, butterflies and also some hummingbirds have been visiting the hamelia patens flowers and the coral honeysuckle.  The hummers are too fast for me to get a picture.

 "Angel Face" her lovely scent fills the air for several feet around her.

Blue Butterfly bush

Pink Hibiscus

Art glass solar flamingo with cats whiskers flowers

Tiffany 

'Diva' hibiscus

Amaryllis

Orchid from Mary

Thunbergia erecta or Bush clock vine or King's Mantle

Florida native Coral honey suckle - hummingbirds love this

Black and blue Salvia

Begonias

Miss Joaquim vanda orchids ~ These grow wild all over the property and bloom several times a year.

St. Francis with Louis Philippe or Florida Cracker Rose

Spiderwort

I don't know what this next little flower is, it self seeds and is a pretty thing. It's about the size of a quarter, maybe.

Pink hibiscus after some rain

Here we have Double Delight rose. I've noticed that she closes up at night, reopens in the morning looking different. She's a beauty with a lovely rose scent.

Shown with periwinkles

Here the roses are two days later.

I am so thankful to my Creator God who gave me so much beauty to enjoy right here at Plum Cottage. Each day is a new gift. May I always be thankful and give Him all honor and glory for what He has done, what He is doing and what He will do in the future.

Easter is coming and I celebrate Jesus who died on the cross for my sins as well as the sins of everyone else. and rose up from the grave after three days, so that I and any who believe in Him will have life eternal and be with Him forever. All we need to do is believe He is who He says He is,. Jesus, God Almighty.

 Have a wonderful spring and a glorious Easter.

FlowerLady