3 ~ 9 ~ 2/29/2020

 

After Thanksgiving we rest ~ part 2

They say it's the turkey that causes you to be sleepy.

At my age, it doesn't take a turkey to make me want to rest in the afternoon.

On Thanksgiving Day,

when the guests have left for home and the leftovers have been placed in the fridge,

everyone heads to their little corner of my home to recline.

We used to always go down to the beach,

but by the time we did all of the above the sun was heading down.

Isle of Hope is close by and beautiful,

 so we went there again this year.

I must admit I am jealous of those antebellum houses sitting on the bluff

and the people sitting on the porches getting to have their Thanksgiving there,

overlooking the site you see above.

Pure, peaceful, idyllic!

It's such a blessing to watch my grandchildren grow up.

They are funny and actually quite interesting to talk to.

I am very fond of these two.

I also really like the beautiful house behind us in the picture.

All of the houses have docks that jut out into the river.

Also, lots of oak trees with low-hanging branches and Spanish moss.

The Hollingsworth family.

Many of the houses and lawns and hedges were already lit up for Christmas.

Just me playing with the filters on my camera.

I was looking straight up into the branches of an oak tree,

Amazing beauty!

Amanda and I relaxing in some Adirondack chairs looking at the lovely view.

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful,

filled with love, joy, and peace which are fruits of God's Spirit in our hearts.

Thank you, God!

You are so generous to "daily load us up with benefits."

I never feel like I have good enough words to express my thanks for all You do.

🦃🧡

 

Thanksgiving Day ~ part 1

My tablescape 

The first thing I did early on Thanksgiving morning was make myself a cup of coffee.

The second thing I did was knock it over on the rug in my great room.

Not how you want to start out your favorite holiday of the year.

Mark set about scrubbing with Resolve and a brush.

Most of it came out.

After the initial shock, I made myself another cup of coffee and tried to calm down.

It took a minute.

The second thing that caused me to panic was...

The power went off in the house about halfway through the cooking cycle.

Everything came to a standstill.

We looked at each other with shocked faces asking,

"What shall we do?"

Thankfully,

 that situation resolved itself quickly and the food cooked beautifully.

Even though the other Clelands celebrated Thanksgiving in North Carolina,

Lucy made sure I had Fall flowers to grace my island.

These flowers were very unique.

Eli in all of his glory.

Jake being Jake.

Amanda and Mark

Amanda and me.

It was a glorious day filled with laughter and fun,

good food,

lots of "catching up," and a few tense moments

(the coffee spill and the power outage panic).

the bad things made the good times even better.

God's blessings abounded.

House full of love.

🧡

 

Yesterday, after thanksgiving dinner

It was one of the best!

The food was delicious,

the fellowship was outstanding,

the weather was refreshingly cool and sunny.

My grandboys are young men now, 

my niece Anna is expecting her first baby in February,

I managed with a lot of help to pull off another Thanksgiving extravaganza.

I have always loved Thanksgiving.

It is a lovely time to just love on your family.

Anna and Robert smoked our turkey.

It was super moist and had lots of flavor.

When I saw it I gasped with surprise.

It was in the shape of a heart.

Always seeing hearts, everywhere.

🧡🤎

 

we gather to give thanks

Love,

Cathy

🧡

 

the day before Thanksgiving

There is lots of cooking going on at my house on Hope Lane today.

This is traditionally the day to prepare the feast.

I was up early washing and cooking sweet potatoes.

Amanda cut up the green beans.

I made the cranberry congealed salad.

She made the Asparagus Casserole.

Robert and Anna are smoking the turkey and preparing the cornbread dressing.

There is still lots left to do,

Mark will be making his traditional pumpkin pie tonight 

that makes the house smell wonderful.

I need to figure out the tablescape for this year and get that done.

Also some last-minute cleaning.

So thankful today for family, fun, and fellowship.

We'll go get seafood tonight and just relish being together,

laughing at all of the old stories,

sharing the memories of the one we lost too soon.

Thank You, God, for everything!

🦃 🧡

 

memories and good friends

Bubba was a really good turkey fryer.

He prepared for weeks gathering supplies and getting ready for the big day.

I found this picture last week.

It makes me miss him so much.

I still can't get over,

even though I know it is inevitable,

that someone can just be suddenly gone.

Here one moment, gone the next.

Death is definitely our enemy,

but death has been swallowed up in victory 

by the death. burial, and resurrection

of our Saviour,

 Jesus Christ.

Thank You, Lord!

I got word early Sunday morning that my lifelong childhood friend passed away.

She and I lived on the same street on the same block growing up.

We were playhouse friends.

We spent our time planning our future weddings and acting them out,

costumes and all.

Our grandmothers made us bridal gowns with hoop skirts.

We raised our baby dolls in the playhouse.

I am so sad.

Amanda has been here since Saturday and that has helped.

I will miss her funeral.

She didn't live in Savannah.

I'm grieving her loss quietly, in my heart.

She was a great encourager and an avid reader of my blog.

I will miss her so much!

Amanda and I will be cooking all day tomorrow for our Thanksgiving feast on Thursday.

What comfort cooking with my daughter brings.

I am so thankful for the truth of God's word that promises

a big reunion with our loved ones in heaven.

😢

 

oh the places I can go

Just now my doorbell rang.

Intrigued,

I went to see who or what had arrived.

Lo and behold it was my passport.

I am giddy with excitement.

😎

 

looking for something to be thankful for?

I found these verses today.

If you are a believer they will send your spirit soaring.

God's word is like that.

Words of life that give hope and encouragement to your weary soul.

1. You have a PURPOSE

'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord,

plans for welfare and not for calamity

 to give you a future and hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

2. You are LOVED

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, 

in that while we were yet sinners, 

Christ died for us.

Romans5:8

3. You are CHOSEN

But you are a chosen race,

 a royal priesthood, 

a holy nation, 

a people for God's own possession,

 that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him 

who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

 I Peter 2:9

4. You are FORGIVEN

In Him we have redemption through His blood, 

the forgiveness of our trespasses, 

according to the riches of His grace.

Ephesians 1:7

5. You are Favored

For it is You who bless the righteous man, O Lord.

You surround Him with favor as with a shield.

Psalm 5:12

6. You are BLESSED

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord

 and whose trust is the Lord.

Jeremiah 17:7

7. You are under God's PROTECTION

But the Lord is faithful, 

and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

2 Thessalonians 3:3

💖

Knowing in our hearts the truth in these seven verses

 should fill us with joy and cause us to thank God constantly for His grace and mercy to us.

*Verses compiled at Biblescapes...

seven things that God says in His Word about you.

 

fall in love with the life you have

I am so glad that the Bible admonishes us to be thankful in all things.

Without the new heart that Jesus gives us at the moment of salvation,

we would never know the joy that constantly giving thanks brings.

The Bible tells us also that giving thanks is God's will for us.

He wants us to be thankful all of the time,

In all circumstances.

If being thankful is God's will for us

 and we instead choose to murmur and complain,

 pout and fret when the hard things come upon us,

Then we are rebelling against Him.

We are essentially saying,

 "I am not thankful that You are implementing Your will in my life."

I am working on being thankful in all things.

It is a matter of obedience.

It is a way to honor God.

It is the right thing to do, always.

My life now doesn't look anything like I thought it would look like when I started out.

But I am thankful for what He has given me.

I love my life the way it is because I know it is what God had for me all along.

Don't live your life wanting things you do not have.

Love what God has given you and offer Thanksgiving constantly!

Gratitude

 helps you fall in love

 with the life you already have!

🧡

 

Walter's letter to me

Walter wrote this letter

 He shared it yesterday in front of his class and all of us grandparents.

This is so special to me.

He is eight and a third grader.

He ended with a tribute to his Granddaddy. 💙

I teared up. 

Couldn't help it.

PS...most of the time we have eaten breakfast before we do our Bible study.

 

flowers from lucy

On Monday I had to have a medical procedure done that took me down for a while.

I was in and home again in a short time. 

Everything turned out fine.

Coupled with time change though, I was rendered uncomfortable for a day or two.

By Tuesday midday,

Lucy appeared at my front door with this beautiful bouquet of my favorite flowers,

Pink rustic roses and rose lilies,

and a Vanilla Chik fil A milkshake with no toppings.

She knows me so well!

She is my ray of sunlight 🌞 on a cloudy day!

I found another picture of Walter helping with my lighted houses on Saturday.

He was so careful with each one.

All of my grandchildren love the scenes.

They have grown up seeing them in our home every Christmas.

Tomorrow is grandparent's day at Veritas Academy.

Walter wouldn't tell me anything about what is planned for our enjoyment,

but I will get to visit his third-grade classroom and meet his teacher.

Can't wait to see what is in store.

Thanksgiving is two weeks from today. 🦃

I will be hosting Amanda and Mark, Jake and Eli.

Also gracing my home will be Robert and Anna Stewart and baby Stewart.

Baby girl Stewart is scheduled to be born in February of 2024.

We are all ecstatic as we wait for her arrival.

 

the season of long nights is upon us

But, thankfully, Jesus said,

"I am the light of the world; 

He who follows me shall not walk in the darkness,

 But shall have the light of life."

John 8:12

💗

Tybee Island lighthouse in picture.

 

and it begins

First, you take your helper to Chick-fil-A for lunch.

Make sure to include a kid's cup of ice cream.

Get one for yourself as well.

One has to have a full stomach for the task at hand.

Then you go to Michaels for supplies.

We needed Buffalo Snow and some tiny hooks for the white fairy lights.

In case you didn't know, 

it is dangerous to go through the checkout line with an 8-year-old.

There are always temptations lurking.

Walt immediately spotted a display of his favorite die-cast metal cars.

He had been looking for this Mini Cooper 5 forever.

In the buggy it went.

At home after a short rest,

We got started on our project for the afternoon.

Walt helped me get all of my lighted houses out of their storage places and into the cabinets.

I have had these for years.

It is my joy each year to place and design the scenes all around my home for Christmas.

He is such a good helper.

He is eager to do anything I ask of him.

In this picture, we have placed them in their right places with working lights.

I use styrofoam to raise them up to various heights.

We got that done yesterday too.

Then we stopped for Walt to get some serious bike riding in.

We are having great weather for bike riding and other outdoor activities.

In the days ahead I will add Buffalo Snow, trees, and accessories which is what I look forward to.

Thanks to Walt, the hard part is done.

This is a blurry picture but...

The rest of the kids came over for dinner,

Lucy brought a bag full of Jersey Mike's subs.

I bought bar b que potato chips and some strawberry lemonade.

For dessert I served Mickey Mouse chocolate-covered ice cream bars.

After we ate they changed all of my clocks for the time change.

We finished the last night of long days with timed races out front.

Honestly,

I don't know what I would do without these kids,

They make my life so full!

💖

 

give thanks in all things

"Rejoice always,

Pray without ceasing,

Give thanks in all things, 

for this is the will of God 

In Christ Jesus 

for you."

I Thessalonians 5: 16-18

🧡

 

Halloween in Ardsley Park

Walter dressed up as a Ninjago named Lloyd.

Supper was delicious.

Erika made tortellini soup and homemade sourdough bread.

We gathered at 5:00 to eat so that we could get right to our main attraction...

Trick or Treating.

So many beautiful homes in their neighborhood.

So many candy options.

The weather was beautiful.

Not warm and humid like it usually is.

Just a delightful evening walking up and down the streets until...

It started pouring down rain.

Out of the blue it came...

drizzling at first and then pouring.

We got soaked.

That's okay.

Fun!

Lucy stayed home to give out candy.

She had gotten a cold and wasn't feeling up to the trek.

She had made a sign for the front door.

The Cleland Jack O Lantern.

🎃

I wonder if I'll need to turn the heat on in the morning for the first time?

40 degrees