Friday Fotos : Things Are Looking Up!

 Hello Everyone!  I hope you have had a wonderful week! Here we are again...another Friday already!  (writing on Thursday night, however).  Some weeks just seem to drag by and we get to Friday and I have nothing to share with you...and have to go searching through the archives.
But this week seems to have been a good week for photos.   Or perhaps I've just been more observant than usual. That may be a good sign that things are looking up and I'm feeling more like participating!  Possibly because we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and there is a sense of optimism in the air that everything is going to be okay.

I wonder what Mrs. Cardinal is trying to say to Mr. Cardinal..."Hey Red, Do you think we ought to tell the children where we are getting these seeds from?"

 "It might be easier than us having to keep taking the seeds over to them and feeding them one by one...seeing's how there are three of them over there waiting in the tree for their food!"

And then "Red" secretly showed up on my new window feeder, right in front of me as I was sitting here working. I don't think he told Mrs. Cardinal about his secret stash of the good stuff!

There she was. left on her own to keep gathering food for her youngins.  But they all looked healthy and happy and that's what matters! Things are definitely looking up!

After watching the birds here at home, we headed to our woodsy place to take our morning walk.

I was happy to see this beautiful "Buckeye" butterfly flitting about. He landed long enough for me to take his picture, and then off he went.

Here's another sweet little yellow wildflower, which I will have to look up and find out the name.

 Okay, it is a Piriqueta Cistoides, subsp.caroliniana.  Click HERE for more information.  I know you want to know!

Someone had cut up a tree and left the logs sitting in an area where people like to dump stuff in the woods. At least this is biodegradable.

 I wanted to gather them up and take them home and make stools to sit on in the yard for whenever we get a firepit.  But it would be easier to cut down one of our own big dead trees and do it right there than to try to lift these heavy stumps and haul them home.  Anyway, I appreciated having a little place to sit down and rest for a spell.

And then I got up and started walking again, and this beautiful Gulf Fritillary landed right in front of me and waited for me to take it's picture! I guess everyone was being quite the little "ham" today!!

Then we took a little ride out to the other side of town and down a road that we used to travel a lot before we moved over here as it was one of the routes we would take to come over back and forth. I have taken pictures of this old Florida "Cracker Style" house before, but I was inspired to take a few more pictures today. Now they have it all roped off with "Posted, No Trespassing" signs across the property, so I couldn't get any closer. Probably too many curious lookers have been stopping by.

  Can't you just envision the old folks that used to live and loved here? I hate to see it being let go to ruin, but I suppose it would be too costly to restore it.

 It's the style of house that I would dearly love to have (as long as it had indoor plumbing and electricity).  Here is a link to more information about Florida Cracker Style homes.

Yesterday evening I took this picture of a new rosebud on my Memorial "Don Juan" rosebush. See the cute little green grasshopper on it?

Here is that same rose this morning, and that grasshopper is still munching away.

So I thumped him off and cut the rose and brought it inside where I can enjoy it. This is yet another rose from our son's Memorial Rosebush, and again, it is blooming at another special time. Monday will be  the 6th anniversary of our son Matthew's passing, and I know I've told you this before, but this rosebush always seems to bloom around special dates in our lives. I always consider each blossom a gift from our son in heaven.

Tonight we took another walk, and I thought these clouds were encouraging...they look like rain could possibly be coming...but so far nothing. Please pray for rain! Our area of the state is very dry and that can be very dangerous when it starts getting so hot. Plus our poor little Still Waters Pond is really getting dry, and literally the waters are very still!

Seeing these clouds also reminds me that today is traditionally remembered as Ascension Day,  the day that our Lord ascended back into heaven, 40 days after His resurrection from the dead.  In the book of Acts 1:1-11, we see Jesus giving His last instructions to His disciples, and then in verse 9-11 it says:

9.  "Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched,

He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

10.  And while they looked steadfastly 

toward heaven as He went up, 

behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,

11.  who also said,

"Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?  

This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven,

will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."

I don't know about you, but I am so looking forward to seeing Jesus come back "in like manner" as the Disciples saw Him go into heaven. I pray it will be soon.  Yes, then we will definitely be "looking up"!  I hope we are all ready for that grand and glorious day.

Have a blessed and wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. I will look forward to hearing all about it next week!