Thankful Thursday - Small Town Life

I am so very,. very thankful that we live in a small town.  When I moved here from a large north Florida city, I thought I'd arrived in Green Acres*.  But, this area has become dear to my heart.

One thing we have here are lots of  lizards (that jump -- hence the name "leaping lizards"), mosquitos, gators, and . . . FROGS. The one in the photo above nearly scared me to death.  In his position there, he's as long as my hand. . . maybe longer.  He was outside the screen, but I still called dear hubby and told him to come home asap and fill any holes on the patio so it couldn't get inside.  I was SO scared, Gail-Friends.

One of the things I love are our local parades.  There were lots of Trump supporters out today, and they were loud and proud!  Elvis even showed up (see below).

#MAGA - MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

There was lots of excitement when the Trump float came by because they gave out free popsicles.  That was great because it was 100 degrees.  (When the Democrats came by, there was only very quiet, polite applause.)

When the Betsy Ross flags came by, everybody cheered, "USA! USA!" Oh, and about the controversy over that flag this week -- Jem threw away his Nike shoes and went out to buy a Betsy Ross flag.  They were SOLD OUT, but have lots on order.  I don't think Nike understands how OFFENDED people are over their bowing down to that football player (we don't say his name).  If he's so offended and hates this country so much, why doesn't he just leave it?

Daughters of the American Revolution.

And they even had (gasp) military vehicles!! This is a snarky remark due to the mockingbird media's angst over tanks being at the Trump speech tonight.  Well, there have been tanks at other events in D.C.  We're proud of our military!!!  God bless President Trump for his support of them.  I'm thankful for him as our president and I'm thankful for our men and women who serve.  I'm also thankful for his pride in America!  He has encouraged and developed a great revival of patriotism and I'm thankful for that.

And lots and lots of our beloved Old Glory!  The blue striped flag means we back the BLUE (policemen).

And our fabulous Sheriff Wayne Ivey walked the entire parade route.  God bless this man.  He has videos on YouTube that everybody should watch. I'm thankful for his service to our county.

Oh, and (I almost forgot) . . . Elvis was there!  I thought he was dead didn't you??????  LOL! I think he's one of the sheriff's officers.

We were planning on having the kids over for a cookout, but our grandson was sick, so they had to cancel.  So, Jem and I've spent the day watching the parades in D.C. and other towns.  We are looking forward to hearing President Trump's speech tonight at 6:30.  He's gonna have tanks!  Yessir, buddy.  And we like that!  He believes a strong military is a safe America and we do, too.

Jem did a great job of putting out the flags this year!  We usually put them out for Flag Day, but it was raining.

Here's Jem with his masterpiece:

We're proud of his hard work - 101 flags to celebrate Independence Day.

Jem's mortified by his lawn.  It's a long story . . . suffice to say he'll never put that spray-on grass stuff you see advertised on tv.  He's working on bringing it back to life.  I'm so thankful for my gardener.

 Our two rescued kitties were nearby while we were having fun with flags:

Freckles aka Scaredey Cat - he's very loving, but everything scares him.

And Toonie decided to make the trash pile by the road his temporary throne.  He's such a sweet boy.  He has a rash on his nose.  The vet says it's a reaction to mosquito bites and put him on antibiotics.  It hasn't helped.  If anybody knows of a treatment for this, please tell me.

We put him in ICU (the screened room) for ten days to administer the meds.  He enjoyed being pampered.

Anyway, then Freckles got ear mites so the vet gave us meds for that.  We put him in ICU (the screened room) when Toonie got out, but he didn't like it.  That night, he busted through the screen and is avoiding us like the plague.   We rescued them when our neighbor moved and left them behind.  They have always been outside cats and don't like being inside.  Not good, right?  Anyway, please pray for our boys.

We've had lots of baby birds lately.  I've seen tit-mice, cardinals, wrens, and blue jays being fed by parents.This young one has learned to use the feeder.

My peace lilies have twenty-seven blooms right now.  Aren't they gorgeous!

Speaking of peace, I pray for you to have the peace that passes understanding.  It comes from knowing Yeshua as Messiah and Lord, and obeying His Word.  His ways are LIFE!

I hope you and yours have a blessed Independence Day.


*Green Acres was a television show about a couple from New York who move to the country.