Monday, December 30, 2013

Keeping Busy Hiding On Winter

Nearly half of our "hide-on-winter" time has passed already!   It takes some time to get the house and porch and yard all tidied up from the long 7 month that we are away.  Then there are always all the fun things that get put first, and rightly so.  New faces and old friends to mingle with .. a few things to volunteer to help with and a couple of trips to visit friends and family.  All this as well as the daily stuff ... meals, housework, swim, play with Miss Lizzie, Skype with grandkids, etc. Not to mention going on a few little trips with the Kayak girls, and Thanksgiving and Christmas!!   Speaking of the outing with the girls, as I mentioned before, we have a thing about making a trip to Mt. Dora to shop before Christmas but mostly we window shop and have lunch at our favorite place, The Garden Gate. At the time of my last post we were about to have our day out.  It was once again a lot of fun and our lunch tasty.


Cream puff 'swan' for dessert is lovely to look at and delicious to eat!

So all these excuses as to why I haven't written something here lately!  The holidays were nice this year and the weather has been great most of the time.

Could it be that I am getting OLD ??  Not as fast as I used to be with the chores! Well, guess I have the option of feeling a bit aged since we had our 12th great grandchild, beautiful Selena the day after my birthday in October and on Christmas Eve we became Great Great grandparents to a new baby boy, Jordan Edward who weighed in at 9 lb.8 oz. !!  He is the firstborn of our oldest great granddaughter Harmonie and her Jason. He is a beautiful baby too.  We are so blessed with all the little ones!  Lots of cuddling to catch up on in the Spring!  Will make this # 1 of my New Year's Resolutions !

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and we look forward to seeing the new year in with our daughter Angel and hubby Paul.  They will arrive here just before midnight, Lord willing and the airports are not snowed in!  We've been seeing lots of folks here entertaining their families over the last few weeks.  SO excited to have our loved ones with us for nearly a week! Weatherman promises pretty nice weather for New Year's Day and only forecasting the possibility of a shower on Thursday, a good Friday in the low 70's and we'll hope for the rest of the days to be like that!

Here is a collage Lindsay and Patrick put together of our little Selena.  


And a picture of little Lauren, the soon- to -be famous chef!


So as another year closes we wish you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year.  May it be one filled with good things and great opportunities to be the best that we can be.

"With God's strength behind you and His arms beneath you, you can face whatever lies ahead of you. "
                                                                                                                    unknown

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

A Time-out and A Time Out !!




It is a lovely day here with a very blue sky and cooler breezes this morning and a promise of a couple days coming with temperatures only in the very pleasant 70's. Miss Lizzie Kitty and I are having a time-out here in the porch/Fl. room.  She is snoozing in a chair as we take a break from the hustle and bustle we allow life to be sometimes as things just get too busy.

As I sit and be still, I am joined by my sweet neighbor, Stacie who comes bearing gifts!  She is cleaning out and sorting and re-gifting things she knows she will never use.  As she finds them, she sets them aside for someone she knows who might like them...or as she says, " I thought of you" or " This looks like you". My gifts today are two lovely scarves. Thank you Stacie for your thoughtfulness but mostly, thank you for your friendship!

Today, the devotional I read each morning inspires me to tell the people I admire and love how much I appreciate how they have helped me, by themselves living good exemplary lives.  So many who I have looked up to have passed and how I wish I had spoken to them of how they inspired me to strive to be all that I could be.
The quote in the devotional today was from Joseph Chamberlin, "Some people are like mountains. You have to back away to see how big they are!"

But there are many younger than I who inspire me and who I hope I still have time to thank!

It does one's heart such good to hear from those we have inspired or made a difference to.  I treasure the notes from my long ago Sunday School students, Mary, Mitzy, Ella, Jenny and John. I get these notes out and read them now and again and remember them and those days fondly.

Our local newspaper did an article recently about a wonderful lady who has devoted a lot of her life to volunteering and serving those in need.  At the end of the article, which included an interview, she said, "Every time we hug someone who is lonely or different or kiss someone who won't be here tomorrow or provide a necessary item to one in need, it makes everything we do worthwhile."  Linda Watts 
This is the true Spirit of Christmas, this season and always.  Are we not here to love and serve one another?

Once again we have held our Sunshine Village Christmas For Our Kids Cake Auction !  It is a fundraiser for the party and gift giving to benefit local, less fortunate little children, this year there are 44 and our Elves went shopping yesterday for presents of clothing and toys.  Thursday is gift wrapping day and we the 'helpers of the shopping Elves' will help with that.  We will come armed with scissors, tape and wrapping paper to work away the morning making pretty packages.  The cake  eaters did their part and very generously too, as they bid the cakes right up and paid well for lovely and very yummy homemade creations.  The auction took in $782.00 !

My "Piggies in a mud tub" cake

More of the cakes 

Tomorrow its Time Out !    We are off for a day out. I will go with 4 friends on our annual little pre-Christmas outing to look at all the sights and lights of Mt. Dora and enjoy a nice lunch at our favorite "girly" restaurant",   The Garden Gate.   Then we'll browse around in a couple of really great Thrift Shops looking for a special bargain.  And best of all, enjoy the joy of friendship.   

Enjoy this magical season of peace and joy.