Merry Christmas from Plum Cottage

Good morning Folks,

Here it is the 23rd of December already. We've had some lovely chilly weather down here in s.e. FL, lowest so far for me has been 51 with real feel temp of 42. Woke up to this look on scullery window that let me know it was cold outside. I don't see this often so it was a treat.

I've not done much decorating so far this year, dealing with cataract surgeries. Got a late start so will leave it Christmasy looking until the new year.

Here's my tiny tree in my little office/creative space. Lovely 'Angel Face' roses from my overgrown gardens are scenting the space with their wonderful scent.

Below picture is taken from my chair. A little tree filled with special ornaments. The angel hanging on the mirror was made by my late MIL.

 

 Now I'll share some of the 'ornies' with you.

 

My late MIL hand painted this little porcelain ballerina

 adding her tulle skirt and beads in her hair.

 

 

 

 

My husband's folks gave us ornaments each year, this lion couple was the last one.

 

My husband gave me the hand painted blown out egg. 

I crocheted the red heart and printed out the love birds.

 

Snow couple made by a friend in an ornie swap. 

The red and white heart was made by a sweet young friend 

the year God called my dear husband home.

 

 

My late MIL made the little mail box that has a moveable flag and the door also opens.

When she gave it to us, it had two chocolate kisses in it.

 

 

A widow friend gave me the ornament to the left in the photo. 

She had also received this ornament when she became a widow.

 

Today is Christmas Eve.

 

Below is the nativity set up. I got a late start this year in decorating, with the 2 cataract surgeries. 

I started this morning.

The first picture is of the creche that my husband made after we got home from Spain, where we had lived for three years while he did his tour of duty for the US Navy. He made it for the little 'mud' nativity figures we'd gotten in the little square in middle of the town that we lived in. I love setting this up every year.

The mud figures were bought in 1970 or 1971 I think. So they are over 50 years old now. We came home summer of 1973.

 

Here the creche is empty waiting to be filled with Light and Joy.

 

 

 

The little 'mud' figures are Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, a donkey, a cow, and three wisemen.

 

The hanging angel in blue was my husband's from when he was a boy.

 

The silver s&p shakers hold bits of myrrh in one and bits of frankincense in the other.

 

The Roman soldiers are hand painted lead miniature figures.

 

If you look close you can see a bible with a cross on it at the feet of baby Jesus.

 

The old angel at the back is ancient, I picked him up at a local flea mkt many years ago.

 

 

This tinier tree is also in my office/creative space.

 

That's it for this year's decorating. It is always a joy to decorate for Christmas.

I am thankful for Christmas and what it stands for.

🎄🎄🎄

We can read the following in the Bible:

In Isaiah 7:14

 "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, 

and shall bring forth a son, 

and they shall call his name Emmanuel, 

which being interpreted is, God with us."

Matthew 1:23
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; 

Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

 

 John 1:1-4
In the beginning was the Word, 

and the Word was with God, 

and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; 

and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; 

and the life was the light of men.

 

 John 1:14 

And the Word was made flesh, 

and dwelt among us, 

(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) 

full of grace and truth.

 

 You can read the whole account of the birth of Jesus in Luke 2:1-20

 

🎄🎄🎄

 

Below is a video that popped up on my you tube feed.

It is a beautiful & wonderful explanation of God becoming man, taking on flesh, as Jesus.

Jesus said in John 14:9

"He who has seen me has seen the Father.

In John 10:30 He said:

 ^"I and my Father are one."

 

Colossians 2:9 says: 

For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

 

God came in the flesh to save us from our sins and give us life eternal.

He loves us deeply. 

He has loved us since before we were born. 

I pray that anyone who visits here and reads the scripture verses on this wonderful event, 

and watches this video 

will be drawn into a relationship with Jesus.

 

Acts 17:28

For in Him we live and move and have our being

He has promised to never leave or forsake us.

He is always with us.

 

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

 

From my little Plum Cottage to your homes wherever you are, 

 

🎄 Merry Christmas 🎄

 

FlowerLady

 

 

Colors are bright and beautiful

Greetings friends ~ Here it is almost the middle of December. We are having cooler temps, with rain and continuing cool temps for the next week starting Saturday. Right now the sun is shining in a big blue sky, we have winds @ 15 mph with gusts @ 25. The temp at 1:12 pm is 72 but real feel is 68.

Yesterday I had cataract surgery done on the left eye, on Nov. 20th I had the right eye surgery. This morning I had a follow up on the left eye and all is doing well. Eye pressure normal. It is a little blurry, to be expected, but getting better as the day marches on. The brightness of colors is truly amazing. I didn't really realize just how bad my eyes were. It was a weird three weeks having one eye cloudy and one clear. It really made me appreciate being able to see clearly.

I can hardly wait to get back to needleworking with tiny and bigger beads, threads and ribbon. I looked at photos in my computer of projects done a few years ago and got inspired and excited. I also can hardly wait to start working in gardens again. They are so overgrown it is embarrassing.

I've been blessed in this eye experience! With a great, kind surgeon, nurses and staff, with my friend Kathryn's help taking me to every appt. And just recently I was blessed a friend paying for the laser end of my surgery bill. God is so awesome in how He cares about our lives and He has been with me through this whole thing. I've been blessed with love, prayers and encouragement. Now I'm on the other side of surgeries. Thank you Jesus.

It is the Christmas season and I look forward to decorating my little cottage, with my heart full of gratitude and my eyes being able to see true, wonderful colors again.

I pray that you all have a lovely Christmas season. It's all about love, real joy and peace, not just about gifts.

Love, hugs and prayers,

FlowerLady

 

 

 

Much to be thankful for!

Greetings Friends,

Sorry I've been missing in action, I've thought about posting but just haven't felt like going through the motions of editing photos, getting thoughts together to write and post. Here it is almost two months since my last post and finally I feel like posting.

After Helene, we had Milton pass us by, but giving us strong winds. I spent the night with young friends from church and their two tiny ones. We didn't lose power there until the next morning. Water for coffee and breakfast were made on their grill. I left for home around 10, a short distance from their place and before I could drive through my gates to park in back, I had to deal with two huge limbs that had come down and were in the way.

I had a headache, (too much tension in the past two weeks because of two Hurricanes, getting window coverings out and up before Milton came,) but got out a saw and cut away smaller limbs so that I could get inside property. When I got inside my little cottage, I saw that I hadn't lost power here at all.  That was a blessing. It was good to be home, thankful the storms were no longer a threat here.

The next afternoon a sore throat started, turning into lots of coughing, congestion, fatigue, bed rest, you tube watching, crocheting for almost three weeks. I was a home body not going anywhere.

During that time I had to cancel and reschedule an appt for eye exam and consultation with an eye surgeon for cataract surgery.  I had the exam, pre-op appts, and then the first surgery on the right eye on the 20th. I was nervous to say the least, but many were praying for me, giving me love and encouragement and I made it through, knowing God was with me.

 The next morning I had a follow-up appt and the dr was pleased with how my eye looked. My eye pressure had gone down from 27-30, to 14. I was thrilled. I've had a couple more follow-up appts and my eye is healing nicely. Although I am having to use eye drops for left eye which has a slight eyelid infection. That makes 4 different drops, 3 of them 4 times a day and one twice a day. The surgery for left eye is in a week. I will be glad when this is all over.

The surgeon, the optometrist, all technicians, the office staff are all kind. I googled to find them and feel that God led me right to them. A couple other drs I'd been told about weren't available.

Before I made the first appt., a friend and I were talking before Bible class one Sunday morning about my looking for a surgeon to do this and she told me about hers &  volunteered to take me to all appts. She has been a God-send. We've grown closer through this experience, have laughed, talked about spiritual things and I've shed a few tears. Having her with me has been a balm to my anxiety. Going to drs. is not something I'm used to doing at all, so bloodwork, chest xray,  & a physical was daunting to say the least. But I made it through.

I have medicare A & B, no supplemental plans. A& B would pay 80% of my bill, I would have to come up with the rest. NO insurance company will pay for laser cataract surgery, for some reason they consider it 'cosmetic'. How can going from super hazy vision to clear vision be considered 'cosmetic', & not a health issue is a mystery to me. I was going to have the traditional method done, but the cataract in right eye was too hard and would be very risky so laser was the way. The traditional method is much cheaper, but seeing clearly takes longer and the risk factors are greater. I had no choice.

I am going to be seeing a Humana agent in January, vision, dental, etc.

I could not believe the difference in my vision, and the worst eye was done first. So right now I'm seeing through haze in my left eye and clear in right eye. A bit unsettling. What really blew me away were the 'colors'!!! Blues, purples, whites totally AMAZING!!! With cataracts it's a gradual, greying out of colors and you don't realize how bad it is until it's no longer bad but wonderful to have clear vision again.

I've been doing research on cataracts & glaucoma, praying, taking herbal supplements and vitamins. I wondered before surgery if the surgery might lower the eye pressure. I googled and 'Yes' it can and did. The eye appt I had with a so-called holistic dr 2 years ago, put me through some testing for glaucoma, she gave me the name of a glaucoma specialist dr in an expensive area of the county and gave me a prescription for drops that I would have to use daily for the rest of my life. When I took the prescription to the pharmacy I was floored at the price of $700 a month and I didn't fill it, I left. That started a saga of prayer, more Bible reading, researching herbs and vitamins that are good for eyes, taking things one day at a time.

The optometrist I saw here before surgery, gave me eye drops for eye pressure because mine was on the high end of normal and when you have the surgery, eye pressure goes up more. The eye drops he prescribed were around $25, and like I wrote above, my eye pressure the morning after surgery was 14, which is normal. I will see him again in January and we will talk about the herbs, etc. I am taking and drops I may or may not need. He will work with me. He is a Christian.

After surgery I googled, does having cataracts cause depression? "Multiple studies have shown a strong association between cataract diagnosis & higher rates of depression". "Cataract surgery can often significantly improve vision and alleviate depressive symptoms." 

I've always been a positive person, but the news of having cataracts and glaucoma after having gone through the covid pandemic, sent me on a downward spiral. Then last year finding out I had an ancient cast iron broken sewer pipe (no smell) under the house, a broken floor joist in the kitchen, from termite damage and my needing to have the house tented, and losing Miss Tork earlier this year, didn't help to bring my spirits back up. All of this has me leaning on Jesus all the more. There is so much encouragement from reading the Bible, especially the Psalms. Spiritually uplifting msgs on you tube have been a big help.

I also googled, does having cataracts cause loss of balance and it does. Having surgery improves balance issues.

I've been hibernating inside more and more because of the bright light and glare, not wanting to fall over trip hazards, so that my gardens took a back seat to what has been going on, they are a mess. I had lost my umph!! But through it all Jesus, our Great God, has been with me. Drawing me closer to Him. He is my strength when I am weak, He is my provider, He gives me peace when all seems chaotic. Once I made the decision to have the surgery, I felt more relaxed, although nervous about the surgery. Many told me it was a piece of cake and that I would be so glad when I had it done. (They also told me I'd see a lot of dust and cobwebs after surgery, and I have.)   ;-)

Surgery was quick. I had an IV for relaxing, oxygen, numbing eye drops in eye, I felt nothing. My legs and arms and head were strapped down so that I wouldn't move during surgery. I just heard the surgeons gentle, soothing voice quietly saying in my right ear, looks good, beautiful, great and before I knew it, surgery was over. They had said 7-10 minutes, it seemed quicker. 

Now I know what to expect and I shouldn't be as nervous as the first time.

My Thanksgiving was quiet and I had a delicious dinner with Jesus by my side. I felt like cooking and to me it was the best meal I've made in a long, long time. I just felt energized and thankful.  Cooking for myself is not the same as cooking for two of us. It will be 12 years on the 9th since God called my dear Mark home. It seems like yesterday, and at the same time forever ago.

I've watched a lot of Hallmark and other brands of Christmas romance movies during this last month or so. One movie I watched the other morning was 'A Cinderella Christmas Ball Movie'. A good movie. I will close this post with the line that popped out at me.

"Each day is a gift from God, wrapped in new paper." 

****

I have much to be thankful for.

FlowerLady