Category: Florida Weather

Here a Link, There a Link

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Florida Weather, Links to Share, What's Happening

Oh my goodness, y'all!  I really think Autumn is on its way to Florida.  As I put on Facebook last night, I was able to sit outside yesterday evening without sweating AND without getting mosquito bites!  THAT is wonderful, let me tell you!

My buddy Newton hung out with me for a while out there.  It was nice. 🙂

 

Newtonbw

Here are a few links I think you might find interesting.

I have been reading this book during my devotions, and it has been a real blessing to me!

 

 http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=akconklisxang-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B004QZ9RQI

 

This article – about whether or not Christians should adopt embryos – really surprised me.  I had never even considered the right or wrong of it.  In fact, I didn't even know people were adopting embryos!!!  Is Embryo Adoption Immoral?

 

We receive a magazine called "Israel My Glory".  I find it to be fascinating, relevant, pertinent and sometimes absolutely shocking.  If you would like to read things from a Christian pro-Israel position, this magazine is definitely worth the subscription price.  You can click the above link to check it out.

 

This book has gone on my wish list!  I've always wanted to learn to solder, but the torch and the tanks??? {shudder}  This lady uses the small hand-held torches for her work, which she explains in this book; AND it comes with a DVD!!!  Oh yeah! 🙂

 

 http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=akconklisxang-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1596685506

 

I like to work my way up to the glorious music of Christmas slowly, limit myself to just one or two cds, until the season gets in full swing, which to my mind begins on November 1!  With that in mind, I have been thoroughly enjoying this cd this week:

 

 http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=akconklisxang-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B005HWUC86

 

For my final link, I'm sharing my Etsy shop with you:  Alesha Kay Jewelry    If you use this coupon code  ITSFALLYALL  you will receive 25% off your entire purchase! 🙂

 

Aquaandorange

 

I pray you have a great day,

Alesha

Happy Fall, Y’all! (A Little Late)

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Florida Weather, Household, Isaac Update, Managing My Mondays, What's Happening

Shanda'sautumntrail

I love that it is finally autumn!!!  Of course, we won't be able to tell it here in Florida for another month or so.  Nevertheless, it is nice to know there are cooler days ahead!  This picture was taken by one of my bloggy friends, Shanda.  She lives up north, of course. 😉

Well, we are a-l-m-o-s-t fully recovered from our bout with the cold/flu thingy at our house.  My hubby is still sniffling quite a bit, but the allergens are still rampant here, too, so we think it is more allergies than cold.  We hope so, anyway.

Isaac is continuing to get his days and night mixed up.  Saturday night, he never did go to sleep.  He stayed awake until 5 a.m. Sunday morning!  Sigh…that's not very conducive to getting to church on time, is it???  In fact, he and I didn't make it at all to the morning services.  (I've been dealing with a lot of pain this weekend, so I stayed home with the Sleeping Handsome One.) 🙂

Doug begins another tutoring session today, and we are quite grateful for this bit of extra income.  I do, of course, still have my shop on Etsy, but it seems like nothing is selling there lately.  I'm hoping that things will pick up nearer the holidays.

I was able to make it to church last night, and to choir practice.  We have started work on our Christmas cantata!  Yay!!!  I love Christmas music and I love to sing with the choir – it's like 2 of my favorite things all rolled up together.  So fun!

My goal this year is to actually sing IN the Christmas cantata.  Usually I end up sick during December and have to watch the cantata from the audience or on the internet.  It is very discouraging, I can tell you, after doing all that work, practicing all those songs, and to end up not being able to perform it together with my choir friends!  I am going to be working very hard to get myself healthy and well and STAY THAT WAY for the next 3 months!

I guess that's it for today's update.  I leave you with a picture of Kepler in her favorite new hiding place:

Keppiehiding

;o)

Blessings,

Alesha

 

 

Resting the Body, Working the Mind

by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Door of Hope, Florida Weather, Just My Thoughts, Prayer Request, What's Happening

Oh my goodness.  We are such a sleepy bunch here at our house!

Isaac slept until after 10 a.m. yesterday, then – mercifully – slept all night too. Yay!

Doug came home from work and slept for several hours, as well.  Thankfully, Isaac was his angelic self and played quietly while Daddy slept.  Of course, the fact that we turned on his favorite radio station had a lot to do with his contentment! 🙂

I didn't actually sleep, but I was very happy to quietly watch videos on the computer all afternoon and evening too.  I was pretty convinced that, at some point in time, my head was going to explode due to the sinus pressure and barometric pressure combo, but it never did.  Secretly, I would have welcomed the relief! :o(

Doug and Ike are not going to try to go to therapy today.  We are all still dragging, and there is no need to push it.  Continuing to rest seems to be the best option.

I have been loading up on every supplement that I think will help me fight this cold: oregano, echinacea and vitamin C especially.  I am taking quadruple the usually dose of C and I really feel like it is helping.  It is not upsetting my stomach at all, so I just keep increasing the dose.  If my stomach can take it, I know it is certainly helping the rest of my system!

 

 

Newtonthemagnificent

Newton the Magnificent

 

On a sad note, we are pretty certain that Newton (our 8-year-old Labradoodle) has some sort of growth on his spine.  We have been giving him supplements and he is moving around much better than he was, but he has developed a knot right on his backbone.  Since his movement is good, and he doesn't seem to be in pain, we are not pursuing a diagnosis at this time.  We'd appreciate your prayers for wisdom and peace, as quite honestly, we are having a hard time with this.

My devotions this morning were about "mortifying the deeds of the body" and "mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth" (Romans 8:13 and Colossians 3:5).  Not a popular subject on any day, but especially when I am sick and don't feel well!

Honestly, though, I could come up with that excuse all the time, because due to fibro, I always have "something" that hurts!  I know it is a work of the Holy Spirit when I can set aside my physical pain to do whatever task is before me.  That is something that I can almost never do on my own.  It is just too hard. 

Even though I often ignore my physical body and do what needs to be done, there are always other areas that still need work.  My mind is usually the most rebellious "member" that I have to work on!

  • Am I indulging in self-righteous thoughts? 
  • Am I harboring hatred toward anyone? 
  • Am I letting coveteousness to control my mind? 
  • Do I allow lustful thoughts to linger? 
  • Am I catering to self-pity?

So, even while I am taking it easy, due to illness, I can still work on strengthening my inner man through the obedience of my mind to the Word of God.

Today's word for me:  "Mortify".

(I've got a feeling it might be a l-o-o-o-n-g day!)

;o)

Alesha

 

Lessons from the Storm

by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Door of Hope, Florida Weather, Food and Drink, Obtaining Mercy Croft

(Here in Florida we are enjoying the absence of Tropical Storm Debby today.  She dumped massive amounts of rain on us, and sent through some big, gusty winds for several days.  I wondered how our little garden would survive.  You can see my last update here.  After inspecting my plants today, I have come to three conclusions that are quite powerful, I think.)

 

1.)  The storm can destroy you.

 

Destroyed

(Our lovely cucumber that had been producing so well, stripped and broken by the high winds.)

 

2.)  The storm can cause you to grow.

 

Stronger

(Our yellow pear tomato had dropped all of its tiny green tomatoes just before the storm came.  We just knew it was completely dead, and we had no idea what had killed it.  It is now literally drooping with the weight of dozens of new tomatoes that appeared during the storm.)

 

3.) Even if you've never produced anything, the storm can teach you to try something new.

 

Newgrowth

(Our yellow heirloom tomato plant had experienced wonderful growth and dozens of blossoms, but had never produced one fruit.  Here, the day after the storm was over, is our first tomato, growing beautifully, all by itself.)

 

Are you in a storm?

Do you feel your storm is destroying you? 

I ecourage you to wrap your drooping tendrils more tightly around the strong Support that is anchored in the Word.  Drink in the waters of sorrow and allow them to feed and nourish your soul.  Brace your branches in the Lord as the winds of turmoil bend you almost to breaking, and allow God's storm to sink your roots even deeper into Him.

Then watch in amazement as HE produces fruit from the very life that you thought must certainly be dead.

There are so many lessons we can learn from God's nature. 

Let's be encouraged by the miracles that we see there…knowing that the very same God can work those miracles in our lives too!

Foto Friday

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Florida Weather, Foto Friday

 

We had such a nice day…

Happyday5

Shared many laughs…

Happyday2

And I got a haircut!

Happyday6

Good, good day.

Happy Weekend, everybody!

If you live in Florida, try to stay dry.

HopeFULLy,

Alesha

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings, Florida Weather, Just My Thoughts, What's Happening

 

It's been quite a rainy day today, here in central Florida.  In between the rain showers, I was admiring the blooming magnolia tree across the street.


tree

 

After lunch, my hubby came in with this:

Magnolia

Pretty impressive, huh?

Um, I mean my hubby's thoughtfulness, not the blossom.  (Although, that is quite impressive as well, isn't it?)

I am so thankful for that man!

;o)

HopeFULLy,

Alesha

 

A Garden Photo Update

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings, Florida Weather, Food and Drink, Hallelujah Diet, How Great is Our God, Obtaining Mercy Croft, What's Happening

 

I've been listening to an audio version of The Secret Garden; and every time I go outside to check on my plants, I hear the following refrain (by the mean children who teased little Mary):

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells and cockle shells

And marigolds all in a row"


I love the way good literature seeps into your psyche, and colors your thoughts with lovely rhymes and prose and wonderful little quotes to fit some of life's more interesting moments!

So, in case you've been wondering how my garden is growning, I thought I'd let you see!!!

We moved all the plants out of doors, and that is working really well for us.  Doug was so innovative to find another "trellis" for the cucumbers when they grew taller than the one we had provided for them.

He sunk a discarded chain link gate into the ground near the house and the cucumbers had twined around by the next morning!


It was pouring when I took this picture, so sorry for the "fuzziness".

Lattice2

 

And here's how every little thing is growing:

Tiny, tiny baby yellow heirloom tomato plant

Yellowheirloomtomato

 

So big now, and still growing…new blossoms every day, but no tomato yet.

Bigkid

 

Yellow Pear Tomato

Yellowpeartomato

 

Pretty little tomatoes, growing nicely!

Peartomatoes2

 

Pickling Cucumber

Picklingcucumber

 

This will be cucumber #3 for this plant, and it has many more growing.

Onthevine

 

Here's the first one we picked.  It was delicious!

First fruit2

 

Crazy 8 Cucumber (because the cukes are supposed to reach 8 inches long.)

Straight8cucumber

 

This guy is about 6.5 inches.  It is killing us to leave him out there!

Straight8cuke

 

As you can see, everything is growing very well; and we are so thankful for that! 

Other than our garden, we are all doing well.  Doug and Isaac have been to therapy twice in the new vehicle and we are so thankful for it.  Every time we drive it, we find something new to love! 

On Friday, I went for my first solo drive.  It was so easy, all the buttons, knobs and gizmos are in convenient places.  I usually hate to drive in the rain, but Tranny even made that a fun adventure. 🙂


Trannydrive
 

Praying you all have a blessed weekend,

HopeFULLy,

Alesha