What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?

What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!

Friday, March 16, 2018

Friday Foto Friends - A.K.A.The Things I've Seen This Week in My Neck of the Woods!

I've been saving up a few new pictures to show you...haven't even shared most of these on Facebook yet, so you are getting the very first look!

Let's just move right along here...our Sand Hill Crane babies, a.k.a. "Colts", are growing like weeds!  I captured this darling picture of the two of them Thursday afternoon as they hurried away from the crazy lady with the camera (a.k.a. ME), and rushed through the water and over to the other side of the pond to safety with the parents.

 Hurry kids...let's get moving...

And none too soon...This Red Shouldered Hawk has been keeping a "hawk-eye" on these babies all week long.  He has been flying from tree to tree all along the shore of the pond, watching their every move...and waiting for a moment when he thinks the parents aren't watching...but I wouldn't be too quick to jump on those babies if I were you, Mr. Hawk...Those parents are MUCH bigger than you...and the babies are growing pretty fast too...and adult Sand Hill Cranes can be a formidable foe when you get near their babies...


The Crane family scurried quickly to safety...Hey! If you want to get a front row seat to all of this activity, you could buy this empty lot that's for sale...(I'm not really recommending that you buy this lot...it has "issues" that I won't describe here, so please don't really consider it.)


Now, back to my neck of the woods...a.k.a. known as my backyard...This Pileated Woodpecker was at it again early this morning, pecking away on that dead holly tree in our back yard.  As you can see, he has pretty well poked holes all the way through that trunk...

And here he was working extra hard at the very base of the tree, which weakened the bottom considerably...every day it has been getting weaker and weaker, and we've been concerned that it was going to fall over onto our power lines that are attached to the house...

And so,  our son #3 just walked up to the tree and gave it a big push...and yep! It went right over...thankfully he was pushing it away from the power lines and the house. It came down with a thud and broke into pieces...and here he is, with my hubby's help (and my help too, when I wasn't taking pictures) hauling it away to our burn pile.

I've been watching for the Pileated Woodpecker to show up looking for his tree...he'll be in for a big surprise...

Well, let's look at something delicate and pretty now...these lovely little Louis Philippe roses have been outdoing themselves this past week...



Now, moving out of our yard and down the road a bit, our local electric cooperative is in the process of relocating their offices and equipment to a new building down the road from the old, and although they aren't going to move this tower, they are going to install some new cell phone dishes on it so that we will finally get good cell phone reception here in our neck of the woods! That is great news for everyone!!!  Anyway, we just happened to be passing by when these guys were climbing up on the tower, and I was happy to get a quick snapshot of them doing their work...
 I love that I also captured the American Flag in this photo!!   Anyway, Thank you, electric linemen of the Clay Electric Cooperative, for all the work you do for us...often putting your lives at risk so that we can have better services and for restoring power when we have storms as quickly as possible. We appreciate your dedicated service!



Now here's some exciting pictures...I just know you will be thrilled to see these:


I got some new dish towels at the Dollar General this week!  Aren't they pretty?  They are so colorful and bright...I couldn't resist them!  Besides, I needed them...all my old dish towels are getting very thin and frayed and just worn out. (We do a lot of dishes here...even though I do have a dishwasher...we still dry a lot of pots and pans and dishes!!

These bright colors made me smile!  (It really doesn't take much to make me happy!)
I may just go back and get a few more while they still have these in stock!!

Here's some happy thoughts to start your day right:

Psalm 63:3-8
3.  "Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.

4.  Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.

5.  My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips."

6.  When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.

7.  Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.


8.  My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me."


Have a blessed and glorious day, dear friends!

Now, let's follow on over to Deb's Place at Breathing in Grace, and see what our other Friday Foto Friends have seen this week!!

26 comments:

  1. Glad to see the babies are doing fine!

    Love the towels. Love the flowers. :)

    The verse here is so encouraging and reassuring. I have been watching the news (ugh...most of it is lies, I think) and it is good to be reassured today.

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    1. I try not to listen to the news any more often than absolutely necessary. It is too distressing and depressing. I mostly just pray for our leaders and try to stay out of the fray... Thank you for loving the towels and flowers and yes, the babies are growing like weeds every day!! Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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  2. Your photos are such a treat this morning. Love the baby cranes, and all your pics. And I love the verse, "Your lovingkindness is better than life". Have a blessed weekend.

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    1. Thank you, Karen...Yes...So thankful for God's "lovingkindness"...Without it, we wouldn't have much of a life! Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

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  3. Pam, those baby Sand Hill Cranes are adorable. I guess the hawk is just doing what he was meant to do, but I'm glad he hasn't gotten the babies yet. It made me dizzy looking at the picture of the men from the electric company up at the tower. I don't know that is possible to get dizzy looking at something that is not being played out before me plus I am sitting down, but it does. lol Your roses are so pretty and delicate...thank you for sharing them. And I LOVE your new dish towels. Yes, I think you should go back and get some more while they still have them. ~wink~

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    1. Sorry I made you dizzy...Yes, they made me dizzy watching them in person. I'm glad there are people who can do that kind of work for us dizzy dames! LOL!!! I do need to get back to the Dollar Store today and see if they still have any more dish towels...I'll tell them "Dianna sent me!" LOL. Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

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  4. I have enjoyed the journey of the cranes so much. Isn't it amazing now the little have grown, weren't they still in the egg a few days ago? lol You live is such a picture friendly environment, so much nature to enjoy. God gave us to much to enjoy.

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    1. Yes, these babies seem to grow by leaps and bounds, and legs and necks every day!! Such fun to watch. I am thankful to have such beauty to enjoy, and I love to share it with you all every chance I get. I love seeing the beauty around you as well...everyone has something special to offer here, and it is wonderful to have these friends!!! Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

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  5. Enjoyed all your photos, love the snaps of the crane babies

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    1. Thank you Carol. It has been so much fun watching the babies grow!! Every day it seems they grow another inch or two!! Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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  6. Simply amazing photos, Pamela, and I was so tickled to see how quickly those little fuzz balls are growing. Just out of curiosity, what kind of camera do you have? Mine is a Canon Power Shot SX540 with a zoom lens. I don't think I'll ever get the shots Danny does, but I so enjoy using it. He recently purchased one of those "monster" lenses and is already getting some unreal shots of the wildlife in our yard. Hoping to feature them in a future blog.
    Blessings, and have a great weekend!

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    1. Good Morning Martha! Thank you for your comments on my photos. My camera is an oldie...a Kodak EasyShare Z650. Don't think they make them anymore since Kodak went out of business. It has a zoom lens 10X optical zoom built in. It is simple to use, which is important for me. If I had to figure out one of those "monster" lenses, I would never be able to capture the pictures I get, because it would just take me too long and the "birds would fly"...I will look forward to your pictures taken with Danny's "monster lens".... He must have a lot of patience and technical skill. I say KISS...Keep it simple "stupid" (I know, that's not nice, but it's true for me! LOL) Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

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  7. Pam, your photos are simply stunning and amazing. I love how you capture life! The photo of the baby Sand Hill Cranes is simply adorable. Your dishtowels are great--I love those bright, cheery colors. At this point, I have more than enough dishtowels, in fact, I need to thin out some of the thin ones that really aren't doing what they were designed to do.

    Have a blessed weekend!

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    1. Good Morning Kim, and Happy St. Patrick's Day! Thank you for your visit. I'm glad you enjoyed the baby cranes. They are pretty sweet. I'm glad you like the dish towels...you are welcome to come dry my dishes anytime! :)

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  8. Great Photos.
    I see Mr & Mrs. Sandhill and family have the property up for sale(wink). I guess with the growing family they need a larger pond and I suppose too they don't like the alligator family who are bringing down the property values. Very sad but the alligators need to learn to get along in society better than they do.
    The towels are so bright. Like them a lot. Now you have to show more of your kitchen :)

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    1. Yes, I agree they should sell that property...that is actually the same lot where the bait was set up for the gators...only one little one was caught and removed from the pond. The bigger ones seem to have gotten the message and have moved out to bigger "pastures"/ponds... As far as my kitchen goes, perhaps I will "clean" it up and take a few pictures soon. I have done that in the past...but some things may have changed, so I'll have to see about that. Have a Happy St. Patrick's day!

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    2. Annie, I was thinking about your comment about showing more of my kitchen. I've written a LOT about my kitchen, it seems. If you go to the search bar on my blog, and type in Kitchen, you will be able to pull up a lot of different posts. But I may do a special one soon to bring it up to date.

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    3. I love home photos. I like to see how other people do things in their homes. I will search Kitchen and look around. Thanks. :).
      I don't clean up for photos.. what you see is what you get LOL

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  9. I am just smitten with those baby cranes, Pamela. I think they are some of the cutest baby birds I have ever seen. We have a pair of sandhill cranes that come into our little cove ever year..and then know that Spring has finally arrived. xo Diana

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    1. They are such fun to watch! It has been quite the saga around our neighborhood...I started it, and now everyone is watching and reporting to each other when they arrive on their lawn...it has unified the neighborhood and actually got people talking to each other!

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  10. Pam, I do love those colors in your new dish towels! Great way to brighten your kitchen! The little colts are growing up fast and it is fun seeing them thrive in your great photos! Beautiful flowers in your garden! Have a blessed weekend!

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    1. Thank you, Terri! You may come dry my dishes any time!! LOL. Yes, the colts are growing rapidly...I need to get out today and check on them...I didn't go yesterday...they probably grew another foot! (or leg, or neck)...LOL

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  11. Making several brief comments here as I hastily go through my list of emails:

    1) the baby Sand Hill Cranes are so cute! (go away, far away, you Red-shouldered Hawks! Become vegetarian!)

    2) I have nothing nice to say about woodpeckers. Nothing at all. They were a serious problem years ago when we lived in Colorado Springs. I worried we'd never be able to sell that house because of them, but the Lord in His great mercy, sold the house and it's just a 20-something year memory now.

    3) Yes, so thankful for those brave souls who have the gift of climbing high to take care of the necessary.

    I could add more but I must move on. Have a wonderful weekend!

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  12. Ha Ha about the Hawks becoming vegetarians!! That would be an amazing event! Sorry the woodpeckers caused you such problems before. I can see where that could happen. This fellow has been 'interested" in the carpenter bees around our front porch, and I pray that between the two of them, we can manage to keep our porch intact. Nature is wonderful at its best, but there are issues when they start interfering with our homes and lives! This is one time I agree with the idea of "coexist" ...wildlife and humans living in peace and harmony...but that won't happen until the "millennium"... Have a happy and peaceful weekend and fun Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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  13. Those crane babies are so cute... can't believe how fast they're growing. Pretty dish towels... I'm the same way... doesn't take much to make me 😊.

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  14. Lots of wonderful things to look at in your photos today. The weather is looking spectacular too. The baby cranes made my heart swoon. They are so cute. I like brightly coloured accessories in the kitchen too.

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