Hope in the Storm

You are my refuge and my shield;
your word is my source of hope.
Psalm 119:114
NLT

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Remembering all the people affected by recent tornadoes and other storms.
Praying for safety and protection from storms still in the forecast!
♥
Click on the link below for a related post:
“Sometimes He calms the storm…
and other times He calms His child.”
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Sunday Evening Smiles

We got RAIN today, and that has brought smiles to everyone in our little part of the world!!!

Of course, we are still in a severe drought, but this is the first really soaking rain our community has had in months –
and we are very grateful.
We enjoyed watching the birds splashing in the water.
I’m sure the rest of our resident wildlife had a refreshing day, as well!

- – - – -

I found a news article online yesterday that was really special.
Our daughter shared it last night on her blog.
I’m going to be a copycat and post it here!

I don’t think she’ll mind –

This is a beautiful “Cinderella story”
that won’t take long to read,
but I’m pretty sure it will warm your heart.
There are some cute pictures, too, of a beautiful young lady.
Check out her story here at “Dreams Come True.”

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Thank y’all for stopping by to visit Little Things.
May your life be filled with little blessings, little chuckles,
and little deeds of kindness (both given and received)!
♥
I hope you have enjoyed your weekend…
and that you have had at least a few little reasons to smile.
Have a good Monday, everybody!
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Crepe Paper Petals

If you’ve seen my drought pictures recently,
you might have an idea why this is a beautiful little scene to us(!)

We woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of raindrops on the roof!
The thunderstorm didn’t last long,
but we got maybe half an inch of rain –
the most we’ve had in quite a while.

This morning the ground under the crepe myrtle trees was decorated
with what look like little crepe paper petals washed off the branches by the rain.
If you look closely, you’ll also notice that the driveway still looks damp
instead of dry and dusty, as usual!

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Thank you, God, for Your refreshing gift of rain.
Thank You that, in Your time, You will send us more!
♥
…and thank you all for stopping by to visit Little Things.
May your life be filled with little blessings, little chuckles,
and little deeds of kindness (both given and received)!
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Be Prepared!

♦

It really makes you stop and think, when you see this on your local news reports:

♦

TEXAS DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, 80 percent of wildfires occur within two miles of residential neighborhoods and suburbs.  State officials said that when weather conditions make wildfires more likely, people should prepare by taking the following precautions:

• Keep firefighting tools handy, such as a ladder long enough to reach the roof, a shovel, a rake and buckets.

• Place connected garden hoses on all sides of the house for emergency use.

• Know all emergency exits from your house.

• Learn all routes leading out of your neighborhood.

As fires actually approach, take the following actions:

• Park your car facing the direction of escape.

• Shut off gas at the meter. Only a qualified professional can safely turn the gas back on.

• Turn off propane tanks.

• Place combustible patio furniture inside.

• Seal vents with pre-cut plywood or commercial seals.

• Wet down or remove shrubs within 15 feet of your residence.

• Place lawn sprinklers on roof and near above-ground fuel tanks. Wet down the roof.

• Close windows, vents, doors, blinds and non combustible window coverings. Remove flammable drapes and curtains.

• Close interior doors and windows to prevent drafts.

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♦   ♦   ♦   ♦   ♦
“WORK as though everything depends on you; PRAY as though everything depends on God!”

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♦   ♦   ♦   ♦   ♦

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Thank y’all for stopping by to visit “Little Things.”
May your life be filled with little blessings, little chuckles,
and little deeds of kindness (both given and received)!
♥
Please keep in prayer the people of Texas and all other areas
who are struggling to survive and recover from disaster…
and all the brave firefighters, law enforcement personnel,
and other first responders who are in the fight.
“Thank You, God, for watching over all of us!”
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A Study in Contrast

Sorry, y’all! I really had not planned to publish another blog post about this drought!!
However, the longer I sit and watch our cypress trees turn brown,
the more I am compelled to take pictures of how they are changing!
This is how they looked three months ago, in May.

This is how our cypress trees looked today.
Sometimes, even late in the year, they remain green.
We’ve never before seen their leaves turn brown and fall off in June, July, and August!
(The 107.3 was the temp on our back porch this afternoon.)
Still no rain!!

Before I sign off,
I want to give credit to our beautiful crepe myrtle trees,
which continue to add color and ‘life’ to our landscape!
They are suffering and don’t have as large blooms as they would have with plentiful rainfall,
but they do ‘keep on giving’ — and we surely are enjoying their beauty!

If you’d like to see more photos of these showy trees,
here are a few links to posts from last summer:

CREPE MYRTLE

CREPE MYRTLE BARK

NATCHEZ CREPE MYRTLE

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Thank y’all for stopping by to visit.
May your life be filled with little blessings, little chuckles,
and little deeds of kindness (both given and received)…
and a little beauty, too!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Too Bloomin’ Hot…

 …but still bloomin’ !!!

In spite of the continued intense heat and drought in our area, there are a few specimens that just keep on keepin’ on.
One of the showiest and most prolific is the crepe myrtle.

These are all pictures from an early evening walk a few days ago. 
When it’s so hot like this and I’m carrying a water bottle,
I usually don’t fool with taking the camera along. 
We usually wait ’til almost time for the sun to go down,
so there’s really not enough light for much good photography. 
However, here are a few snapshots taken with my camera phone, to document our little outing. 
I will try to get clearer pictures of the flowers later with my camera.

This is a “little” shot of the moon, just to set the scene.

Now back down to earth and the reality of this persistent drought!

We’ve been watching this pear tree for a while. 
It seems to have held up pretty well with such a long period of upper 90 to 100+ temperatures.
You might say it’s growing ‘roasted pears’(!)

We were amused when we came across this tree, which seems to be pointing to the sky. 
The top is rotten, and there are a number of woodpecker holes around that upper part of the trunk. 
It looks like some of the holes were probably pecked after the tree began to deteriorate. 
I wonder what the woodpecker thought when he had drilled and drilled his beak into that tree –
only to come out on the other side and see blue sky!!

Back home now, and entering the gate by the side of the house.
We have two confederate jasmine vines that cover an extensive area of our side fence.
We don’t notice these seed pods every year, but here are a couple that have appeared recently.
I hope they will remain on the vine to dry and turn brown.
If so, there will be some very interesting-looking seeds inside,
and I hope to be able to show you pictures of them later.

It’s said that “good fences make good neighbors.”
That’s especially true if there’s something pretty blooming on both sides!
Our side of the fence has the confederate (or star) jasmine;
our neighbors have pink honeysuckle on their side.
(Just for the record, we are blessed to have good neighbors!!!)

I’m always happy when I see the first pink blooms peeking up over the fence. 

This is a close-up of my favorite color of honeysuckle!

One more picture from that evening — a bright yellow hibiscus that we purchased to plant along the back fence.
We have another hibiscus that seems to be thriving in the heat (as long as we keep it watered)…
so we decided to try this one, too.
We both really like the brilliant color!

By this time, the mosquitoes had gotten really hungry and obnoxious,
so it was time to call it a night and get back into the air-conditioning!!

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Thank y’all for stopping by to visit.
May your life be filled with lots of little blessings, little chuckles,
and little deeds of kindness (both given and received)!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~