CELEBRATING BIRTHDAYS IN NEW JERSEY

 Hello, friends!  I hope you are having a great Wednesday.  Thanks for stopping in to see me.

First of all, I am touched that so many of you were caring enough to give a comment about the broken tree branch laying in my yard.  A lot of you thought it was the responsibility of my neighbor to take care of it.  So much so, that I went investigating.  It is as I thought.  Here is what I found:

In most American states, if your tree or any part of it falls on your neighbors' property and causes damage to their property through no fault of your own (due to a snow storm, winds, hurricane, or other so-called "act of God"), you are not responsible.

And so it is here in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  (I know about Jersey from my sister.)  I'm glad if it is different where you are, but it is not here.  I will talk to my homeowners insurance about it, but it is way under my deductible.

Last Saturday Joe and I went to a cookout at my sister's home in New Jersey.  It usually takes me about 2 hours to drive there and 2 hours to drive home.  For some reason it took me 2 1/2 hours each way.  Traffic wasn't all that bad either.  I must admit I wasn't feeling all that well and wasn't driving that well either.  I certainly am thankful that God kept me safe on that trip.

We had such a good time while we were there, though.  And so much food.  I loved the barbecued chicken wings.  Joe had a burger and a hot dog.

Elaine is always a great hostess.  She made sure everyone had plenty to eat.

After lunch had settled a bit, we celebrated the birthdays of Joe, Marion and Frank.

Even after opening gifts we were still full, so we sat around and talked for awhile.  It has been years since I saw our friend, Patty, and it was great catching up with her.

  

Frank brought over his new dog Molly.  So we had two cocker spaniels to play with.  Molly is so sweet.  And of course Ace is always sweet.

Finally it was time for the cake.  We didn't have any candles.  No blowing on the cake these days.  Sorry this picture is on the side.  It says Happy Birthdays because the person at the bakery counter said there wasn't enough room to write all of the names.

It's seldom Joe and I get a picture together and this is a good one.

Here I am with my sweet sister.

We left around 5 p.m. because I wanted to drive home in the light.

It was a wonderful day.  I did a YouTube video which I will put up later this week.  I'll be sure to give you a link to it.

And now it's time to start the day.  Hope you all have a good one.  Stay cool.  It's still sweltering here.

Until later...

Kathy

SUNDAY PRAISE

 

Hello, friends!  Happy Sunday!  It is a beautiful morning here, sunny and not too hot or humid.  Yet.  It is supposed to be awful today.

I am getting ready for church and had an idea this morning that I would share my Sunday School lesson with you each week.  Yes, it's for kids but there is always (ALWAYS) something new to be learned and to think about.  So here is today's study.

ISRAELITES IN THE DESERT

God's people were joyful when God helped Moses lead them from slavery in Egypt.  They sang songs and danced, and they were thankful that they were safe.

God's people weren't sure which way to travel as they left Egypt.  But God had a plan for them.  He had a special place he wanted them to go.  So he gave them a cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night to follow.

After traveling for about three days, God's people were tired and thirsty.  They had been walking for three days without any water to drink.  Then some people in the front of the crowd saw springs of water ahead of them.  God's people were so excited!

But as they drew closer and actually tasted the water, they found it was bitter.  They could not drink this water after all.  Now God's people were disappointed.

"I'm so thirsty," said one.

"Moses, why did you bring us out into the desert to die of thirst?" another asked with anger.  "You should have left us in Egypt."

Soon all the people could think about was their thirst and hunger.  They grumbled about everything!  They had forgotten completely about God's miracle of helping them leave slavery in Egypt.  More importantly, they forgot God's promise that he would always care for them.

Moses prayed and asked God what he should do with all these grumbly people.  God was not pleased with his people's grumbling, but he helped them anyway.

"Throw a piece of wood into the water, Moses," said God.  "The water will turn sweet, and the people can drink it."  Moses obeyed God and the water became sweet.  God's people were happy as they drank it.

Moses told the people, "God does not like to hear grumbling.  He will always take care of us."

--based on Exodus 15:22-27

Think about it, friends.  What do you grumble about and what does God think of our grumbling?  Even in the worst of times we have so much to be thankful for.  Philippians 2:14 tells us "Do everything without complaining."  I am certainly not up to that standard and I don't know anyone who is.  But it is certainly something to strive for.

Have a wonderful Sunday!  I have so much to share with you this week so I will be back soon.

Kathy

MEMORIAL DAY

 

Hello, friends!  I hope you are having a wonderful week.  Monday we celebrated Memorial Day.  It seems strange to celebrate a day to remember the war dead, but I don't know what other word to use.  I did spend much of the day honoring them.

I began the day with our annual parade.  I remember last year when the parade could not be held.  We were promised a wonderful parade this year for our 75th year and this did not disappoint.  There seven Mummers string bands, one Mummers comic division, veterans groups, boy scouts and various others.  It took 2 hours and I loved every minute of it.

I had my camera out and all ready because not only was I photographing it for here, but I was recording it for my YouTube channel.  But the battery died.  So I put in another one.  And that was dead.  I found a third and put that it, but that too was dead.  *sigh*  So I took my phone and began filming.  But I didn't know that Google has a size limit and when I tried to mail them to myself, they were over the size limit.  I ended up filming them with my camera from my phone.  What a fiasco!  But at least I had something.  So these pictures are not as good as I hoped they would be.

This last picture is of an old city bus.  And I mean old.  The sad part is I remember riding a bus like this to go to high school.  *sigh*  I am officially old.

Speaking of my vlog, I spent two hours last night putting little bits and pieces together to make it one continuous story.  Fortunately I looked at it before posting it.  One part I had put in twice, and another one wasn't supposed to go in at all.  I tried to get my software to cut it and edit it, but I couldn't.  So I have to delete it and start from the beginning.  I at least wrote down the order they were in so I am a little ahead of the game.

After the parade I picked up my friend, Donna, and she came over here for dinner.  We got here just in time to see the memorial service for the fallen heroes of the neighborhood that they hold across the street from me.  Joe is part of the Honor Guard.  The Police and Firemen Pipes and Drums were also a part of it.

Dinner was mini hot dogs wrapped in bacon with brown sugar, barbecued chicken, potato salad and macaroni salad.  We had watermelon for dessert.  It was so sweet and good!

It was a perfect day on Monday.

But yesterday another branch from our neighbor's tree fell into our yard.  Joe called the landscaping guy we use and he will be here sometime this week.  This is getting expensive.

I was going to show you how I decorated for the holiday, but just realized I haven't taken all of the pictures yet, so I will post that next time.  I think things turned out so pretty.

And now I have to go and do some laundry.  Dishes, laundry and cleaning seem to go on and on.  I'll be back soon.

Kathy