Could it be a ghost?

Could it be a ghost? I think that is what might have been going through Cats head this morning as she looked out the living room window. What she saw seem to scare her as she did not sit her normal amount of time but jumped down and ran to the bedroom. And just what are the ghoulish figures in the yard? They are bushes and plants that I hope and pray the frost does not kill. YES I said frost! When we got up this morning it was all over the ground and the temp was in the upper 20"s. Now I know that does not sound so bad to some of you that are experiencing sub zero but I live in FLORIDA, you know the Sunshine state. And that is not the end of the story... Saturday morning it might be in the teens,
Can you say Brrrr. Well not this old girl, I'm heading south in the morning to go to the Keys. We were just there at Thanksgiving but our daughter is having her BIG 4-0
and needs a little pep talk, you know things like "the 40's are the best years of your life", or "shucks wait till your my age" and of course, " you're just as old as you think", and best one, "it's just a number"!!!! She said it was going to be cold there to, in the 50's, I THINK I CAN HANDLE IT. I will be gone about a week, hope to have some good pictures when I get back. If you pack in a hurry you can go with me!

No New Year resolutions here.

I prefer to think of it as a challenge as I know I will try harder to do what I have purposed for we all know what they say about "resolutions", they are made to be broken.

What is the "challenge" ? To read the bible through and commit some of it to memory. Why would I want to do that you might ask. The bible is more than just a book....it is the Logos. In the first chapter of John it says, " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. There is a good reason for a capital W, as the word is one of many names for Jesus. A good study bible like the Full Life Study Bible (King James Version) will help you to understand the truth that can open up a whole new way of life.

The bible gives HOPE,PEACE,MERCY,GRACE, and so much more. It is full of promises from God, and as a born again believer and a child of God you can trust his word.

One of my favorite passages is found in Psalms 103, several years ago I committed the first five verses to memory and I can tell you there has been many times when those words comforted my soul and helped turn situations around. Verse seventeen of the same chapter says, " the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children." That is a promise for my grandchildren. Fear in this passage means extreme reverence, not fear as in afraid.

We are living in a time when men's hearts will fail them because of fear, but those that have put their trust in the Living God will have no fear. For this confidence read Psalms 27.

I pray in 2009 you will draw closer to God and if you do not have a relationship with Him I pray you will seek Him, Matthew 7:7 says, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: GOD DESIRES FOR YOU TO KNOW HIM.

I HOPE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SAY "2009 I HAVE MADE CHRIST MINE"

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Trusting everyone had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Ours was not traditional....For once we were the quests and not the host. None of our children could make it home for Christmas so we decided to head south and warm up. Instead of the gray colder weather we had been having we had lots of sunshine and about 80 degrees. We went to see some friends that had moved back down to St. James Island, we had never been there and they ask us to come so we packed the summer clothes and headed south. There was no snow, no ham or turkey, just plenty of sunshine and seafood....... it is good to break tradition once in awhile. Looking forward to a NEW YEAR and trusting God that it will be a good one.

We just received some great pictures from our daughter in Illinois, taken when we went up in Oct. for a visit. This is a four generation picture, myself, daughter, grand daughter, and her two beautiful children. She has been blessed with a girl and boy, nothing like having GREAT grandchildren to help you count your blessings.

Hope everyone has a safe and HAPPY NEW YEAR. We are staying home and will probably not stay up till the ball drops in New York, what about you, do you have New Year traditions to keep ?

Mean ole Mr. Cold caught me...

They say a picture is worth a thousand words....I sure hope that is true as I do not have that much to say. I have managed to catch a bad cold. My nose will not stop running, and I 'm coughing my head off......

Honey and I went to our church Christmas party Saturday, had a great time, lots of good food, singing, and then we played that gift exchange thing where you can take someone else's gift when it is your turn. It's not all about the "gift" as much as it is the fun of the game. We ended up with the country candle and the Hershey kiss candy dish which is really a fondue pot.

The camellia in the background is the first one of the year, we have two bushes and they are beautiful when they are all in bloom.

I felt very tired when we got home and thought I might be coming down with something and sure enough Sunday morning I knew but I teach a class of ten year olds and I did not want to miss so I made myself go and by the time I got home from church all I wanted to do was go to bed.

I spent some quiet time on the porch and could not resist taking this picture of the tree tops and the pink sky.

Don't forget to pray for our troops and for PEACE

We should never take for granted all of the blessings that we enjoy as Americans, the price that so many pay so we can live in a free country.

Can you believe only 10 days until Christmas ?

Turkey Thursday but FISH on Friday

You could not ask for a more perfect day ! WHERE ELSE BUT PARADISE----The Florida Keys.
After a long day in the kitchen, cooking and then cleaning up
turkey,turkey, turkey.....how about some FISH? We decided to go south for Thanksgiving, it has been COLD in north Fl. so we went south to warm up. Left home early Wednesday and was making great time, after seven hours on the road we were ten miles from our daughters house when we got held up behind a bad wreck, sat there for way over an hour.It was a beautiful sunny day and we had ocean on both sides of the road but it is hard to enjoy when you know someone is in a bad situation just ahead of you. We later found out a man died. One of the hazards of living in the Keys.
On a lighter note, the weather on Friday could not have been any better. Our son-in-law took us out in the bay fishing. We anchored up in three different spots and caught fish in every one. Yellow tails were everywhere---also snappers and some small groupers that we had to throw back, I cried as they were set free as I knew how good they would have tasted. Oh well maybe next time they will be big enough to keep. We were very happy with our catch, and yes we had fish for dinner last night. We had a wonderful time, it was good to get away, but after four nights our bed sure did feel good. Hope everyone had a BLESSED and HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I'm BEAD befuddled !!!

Where have I been and WHAT IN THE WORLD have I been doing....I can sum it up in one word BEADS! Be careful what you ask for. I had made several sets of polymer clay and glass beads and I thought it would be nice if I could sell some of them. I thought about an etsy account but I do not know the first thing about how to start one, I thought about consignment but felt like after I gave them a cut I would not be making enough to make it worth while. Then a friend at my church said, "get some together and I will take them to work with me, I work in an office full of women"
So I got busy and made display cards, and business cards, and sent her off with five sets.....they all sold and people want more and they are asking for special colors and can I make bracelets ????
This was suppose to be a (fun thing) to relax with..,mmmmmm not so much anymore. Maybe I'm selling them to cheap? $20.00 a set what do you think? CLICK ON PICTURES FOR A CLOSER LOOK.

What I've Done

Got this from Janet's blog, Lavendar Loft

What I've Done.....
I HAVE….1. Started my own blog YES
2. Slept under the stars YES
3. Played in a band NO
4. Visited Hawaii NO
5. Watched a meteor shower NO
6. Given more than I can afford to charity YES
7. Been to Disneyland/world YES
8. Climbed a mountain YES
9. Held a praying mantis NO
10. Sung a solo YES
11. Bungee jumped NO
12. Visited Paris NO
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea YES
14. Taught myself an art from scratch YES
15. Adopted a child NO
16. Had food poisoning YES
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty NO
18. Grown my own vegetables YES
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France NO
20. Slept on an overnight train NO
21. Had a pillow fight YES
22. Hitchhiked YES
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill YES
24. Built a snow fort NO
25. Held a lamb YES
26. Gone skinny dipping YES
27. Run a Marathon NO
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice NO
29. Seen a total eclipse YES
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset YES
31. Hit a home run NO
32. Been on a cruise YES
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person NO
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors NO
35. Seen an Amish community YES
36. Taught myself a new language NO
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied YES
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person NO
39. Gone rock climbing YES
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David NO
41. Sung karaoke YES
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt NO
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant NO
44. Visited Africa NO
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight YES
46. Been transported in an ambulance YES
47. Had my portrait painted NO
48. Gone deep sea fishing YES
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person NO
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris NO
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling YES
52. Kissed in the rain YES
53. Played in the mud YES
54. Gone to a drive-in theater YES
55. Been in a movie NO
56. Visited the Great Wall of China NO
57. Started a business YES
58. Taken a martial arts class NO
59. Visited Russia NO
60. Served at a soup kitchen YES
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies YES
62. Gone whale watching NO
63. Got flowers for no reason YES
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma NO
65. Gone sky diving NO
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp NO
67. Bounced a check YES
68. Flown in a helicopter NO
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy YES
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial YES
71. Eaten Caviar NO
72. Pieced a quilt YES
73. Stood in Times Square NO
74. Toured the Everglades YES
75. Been fired from a job NO
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London NO
77. Broken a bone YES
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle YES
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person NO
80. Published a book NO
81. Visited the Vatican NO
82. Bought a brand new car YES
83. Walked in Jerusalem NO
84. Had my picture in the newspaper YES
85. Read the entire Bible YES
86. Visited the White House NO
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating NO
88. Had chickenpox YES
89. Saved someone’s life NO
90. Sat on a jury NO
91. Met someone famous NO
92. Joined a book club YES
93. Lost a loved one YES
94. Had a baby YES
95. Seen the Alamo in person NO
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake NO
97. Been involved in a law suit YES
98. Owned a cell phone YES
99. Been stung by a bee YES
And…100. Ridden an elephant NO

Looks like a hurricane !

Of course these pictures loaded backwards? We had a lot of trees toooo close to our house, so we had a man come and take out a BUNCH of them and top the rest. Now that's all good but the bad part was he said he would cut us a deal if he did not have to remove what he cut.....well what you see on the ground here is just a small portion of what we have to deal with. We will be cutting and burning for a long time.

As you can see here, these were way to close to the house. If they had been a nice hard wood with good roots it might not have been a concern, but these trees are water oaks. They are known for limb breakage and they have no root system so they can pretty much fall over whenever they decide to.

Three of these came down, and the rest got topped. This is just the front. We had seven removed on the side and three topped. And in the back, we had some really BIG trees with limbs that hung over the well, and some that were going towards the house, so they had to come down. We are giving away firewood---- we have had two people come get some and there is still a lot left. If you live close to me and need wood come on over, we'll load you up! All chain saws welcome. I will try to get out there today to take a few "clean up" shots. All of this FUN COST US ABOUT $900. I would hate to think what it would have been if we would have let him clean it up!