Flea Markets and God Appointments

 

Had an experience like this today at our local flea market. It was one of those "God appointments"...the lady really needed someone to just be kind to her, and I am SO thankful God nudged me to keep talking to her. She said that she thought God must have sent me right then. I'm not saying this to pat myself on the back...but as a reminder to myself and to others...be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is nudging you to do or say...don't just walk away and say I wish I'd said something. If God is speaking to you, then say what He puts in your mouth to say. We never know when it might be just the lifeline that person needed at that. very. moment.

And then I proceeded to buy a couple of things from her, whether or not I needed them is not really the question...again...I was supposed to be there for that appointment. So here is what I bought:

This vintage aluminum colander...why? Because it is just like the one my mother had, and I've looked for one like it ever since we let hers get away. I love this style of colander, because the spaghetti noodles won't slip through the holes like they do with my plastic one.

And it makes a great helmet when you need one. I tried it on like this at the flea market, and had several people offer to buy it from me after I had already bought it.  I guess they liked my "style".  One person said he wanted to make a lampshade out of it. Another said he'd been looking everywhere for one of these. Sorry guys! I got there first! And for a $1.00 you just can't beat the deal I got!

How do you like it?

Ain't life good?

This was my other great deal for $5.00...a  vintage Franciscan Ware Apple  teapot, made in California, USA.  In pretty much mint condition.  It reminded me of my grandmother's everyday china, but I think she had the Desert Rose pattern instead of the apple...or did she have this one? Can any of my relatives remember? Cousin Becky? Sister Doris?

I looked it up to see the value, and discovered that these were handpainted, which makes them more valuable, BUT, apparently they have a high lead content...so...I don't know...my grandparents used this brand of dishes everyday and they lived way up into their 80's.  So I don't know that  that really is a problem. I will probably just keep this for my teapot collection anyway.

While at the flea market I saw some other interesting stuff:

I've seen this tinker's truck around other flea markets before, but this was the first time I was able to walk all around it and take some pictures. Kind of unique and interesting, wouldn't you agree?

Can you see a cute little face looking out the window? He was patiently waiting for his master to return.

It's not every day you see something like this, is it? I thought you'd enjoy it.

Now for those of you who read Lily Grace's adventure early this morning, you will note that she said we would be making some chicken pot pie this afternoon to take to a friend who just got home from the hospital this week.   Lily promised to help me, so I thought I should share her picture with the finished product:

There you have it! Yes there are two casseroles of chicken pot pie. One for our friends, and one for us for supper. 

Lily also helped me cut up some watermelon.

She said it sure was delicious! No she didn't eat all of that...but we did sample quite a bit while cutting it up.  (Oh, that is something else we bought at the flea market today).

And guess what! When we took the food over to our friend's house, her little granddaughter was there helping her.  So Lily was so happy to make a new little friend. Her name is Milee. Isn't she sweet? She loved Lily too. I think they could be very good friends. They kind of look like each other, don't they?

Then we came back home and ate our own chicken pot pie. Lily wanted to taste it since she helped make it.  If she keeps eating all this good food, she's going to bust her britches and we'll have to find  her some new ones!

Well, I think I will close this post with a verse found in the little devotional book given to Lily Grace by our friend "Auntie Opal".

Yes, Amen.

Have a blessed weekend my friends.

and remember to 
"Love each other" just as Jesus loves us!

And if you think to, please say a little prayer for my flea market "friend" that I met today. 

I know she would appreciate it.

Thank you.

Okay, Here's a Happier Ending to the Goose Saga

After this morning's sad tale of woe about our goose family, I knew I couldn't rest until we had some kind of "closure" to this saga.  I appreciate all of the kind comments on both Lily's and my posts regarding the baby goslings and all the drama surrounding them.

So this morning, as I posted earlier today, Mother and Father Goose visited us again briefly. Not only did they come up into our yard and eat some birdseed, but they swam around the pond again and then they both went up onshore of the island and explored the remains of their nest. This is how I know for certain it was our resident goose couple. No other couple would have known exactly where to to go up on the island and look at the nest, and then they came back down and into the water. I wonder if they were still looking for their lost baby? It really made me wonder.  And then, shortly after leaving the nest, they both started their honking to signal everyone that they were getting ready for takeoff. And sure enough they got their wings flapping and off they went, up and right over the top of our house, close enough that we could see their feet and and wings and faces as they flew over. It was as if they were saying a final farewell to their nest and to us.

Well, after that I told hubby that "You know, we could take a little ride over to the other lake and look around..."   At first he was reluctant, wanting to put this whole sad episode behind us. But I think he was just as curious as I was and he finally gave in.  So we drove the few blocks over to where the big lake is, and the first thing we saw was two adult geese in one of the neighboring front yards, eating bread that had been thrown out for them. They were gobbling it up with a voracious appetite....   Dummy me, I didn't take any pictures of that. I couldn't decide if they were our geese or not, and there was no sign of any goslings around them. And then we decided to take a ride down a side street that goes around the other side of the lake.

And guess what I saw?  I yelled, "Stop the car! There they are!!!"

There was Mother and Father goose, and at least two goslings, walking around on the grass beside the lake.  They were quite far from me and there was fence that I could not enter to get any closer, so these pictures are the best I could do from a distance.

Now, I was only able to count two goslings in these pictures for certain, but they were moving around so fast and I really wasn't sure if there was another one or not.

There could have been three, but I can't guarantee it.

But, even if there were only two, we were so happy and relieved to see them there that we rejoiced and gave thanks for a much happier ending to this story than we first believed.

And as for my questions regarding the parents leaving their babies this morning to come back to  our pond for a little while, here is what I found out when I googled that question:

"Canada geese parents bring their goslings together in flocks known as "creches" and the goslings are communally looked after by all the adults. It's like a big kindergarten with the adults sharing the babysitting duties."  http://www.about.lovecanadageese.com/gang.html#:~:text=Canada%20geese%20parents%20bring%20their,adults%20sharing%20the%20babysitting%20duties.

So, were there other adult geese available to "babysit" the goslings this morning?  Yes, indeed there were:

There were at least two other couples swimming in this lake, and they swam over to the shore where our family was while I was watching...

Looks like this could be a "commune" of geese, and perhaps they do share babysitting duties. No wonder our family was so anxious to get over there yesterday! This is their extended family!

And so, I leave you today with these happier thoughts and a nicer ending to our goose family saga.

I just couldn't wait until tomorrow to share this with you, because so many of you were saddened at the previous news just like I was.

These pictures do look more like just two goslings, but there is a little yellow ball of something to the right of Father's tail feathers below peeping up over the hill. What do you think? It could be #3. But either way, this family looks much happier than what I feared, and I must say,

"God is good! All the time, God is good!"

If there are any more happy updates, I will let you know. But for now we will end this little Goose Saga and go sit on my swing with Lily Grace and have a cup of tea.

Lily Grace says hi and sends her love to all of you!

And we both say hi and thank you for visiting with us today.

Our little words of encouragement today come from my tea mug and from Hans Christian Anderson:

"The whole world is a series of miracles, but we're so used to them we call them ordinary things"

Perhaps we've all witnessed some miracles today that we called an ordinary thing?

Be sure to give God the glory and thanks for these "ordinary things."

Have a blessed and wonderful day my friends.

 In case you missed the first original post about the Special Delivery of the goslings, click HERE

An Update to the Goose Story

Good Morning Friends. I didn't do a post here yesterday because I was helping Lily Grace write her post about the Baby Goslings.  If you missed it, you can read it HERE NOW before I go on. You may want to read it first so you will understand  the rest of what I am going to show you.

After you read Lily's story yesterday, you will know that the Goose Family had already tried once to cross the road and leave Still Waters Pond. Because we were afraid for them to cross our busy street we kind of stood in their way and they went back to the pond.  But perhaps we learned the hard way not to interfere with "Mother Nature".

Perhaps if we had not interfered with their earlier attempts to leave, they might have been able to keep their whole family intact.  I don't know.  We think perhaps the fourth little one was just too weak to keep up with the family.  Perhaps Jesus saw him struggling and lifted him up from this earth so that he would not have to struggle anymore.

We know that is what happens sometimes with us.  Jesus sees our weak bodies and knows that this life is just too hard for us to keep going. And so He mercifully and lovingly sends His angels to carry us home to heaven where we will never have to struggle anymore.

And so, later in the evening, our little Goose Family with the three remaining goslings headed once again across the busy road to join the other geese in the big pond on the other side of our neighborhood. This time we did not interfere. But we watched from the sidelines and cheered them on in their journey.

Yes, I did stand in the road again, but this time to keep cars from speeding through here and causing a worse tragedy.

I stood and watched and said a little prayer that they would all make it safely to wherever it was that they seemed so anxious to get to.

I knew they were going to be facing some difficult challenges and detours along the route to the big lake, but if that is where their inner instincts was telling them they must go, then they must go...and no man (or woman) was going to be able to deter them any longer.  

And so this was my last view of our little family as they waddled away across the ground to seek their new adventure and destiny in the bigger world beyond Still Waters Pond.  You may think us silly, but my hubby and I both said a prayer for our little goose family before we fell asleep last night.

Well, now, as if this story couldn't get any stranger, just as I was typing all of the above right now this morning at 7:00 a.m., look who flies into Still Waters Pond by themselves? Yes, you are right, our resident geese, Father and Mother Goose, without their three goslings.

They swam around the island and then headed straight for our yard.

And they came right up on our shore, just like they always did before the goslings were born.

They were looking for food and found it...and they let me take their pictures, while I am asking them, "Where are your babies?"   They are standing out there now, eating and acting like nothing is any different than it was three days ago before we met the goslings. Could they have left them over at the big lake alone and flew over here to eat?  I don't want to think the other possibility.  We'll see how long they stay...maybe they were just needing a morning out and some sustenance before they go back and get the kids and start the next part of their journey homeward, wherever that is.

I don't know. If any of you are experts in Canada Goose behavior, please let me know. For now, I am a bit confused over this whole story and don't know now how to end it. They just swam back out into the pond and are swimming around as if nothing different ever happened. 

And so, I will end this saga here for today. 

We sure enjoyed seeing the little goslings while it lasted, and we appreciated the parents showing them off to us. Perhaps they took them over to the big lake where the rest of the "clan" is, and maybe they are babysitting the goslings while Mother and Father take a little break. Your guess is as good as mine.

I want to think happy and positive thoughts today.

Colossians 4:2 says:

"Continue earnestly in prayer, 

being vigilant in it with thanksgiving"

And so today I will continue in prayer for people in difficult situations, who may be struggling with their load of care...and I will be thankful for the little blessings that come my way to brighten my day. Perhaps today there will be something new and special happen to make us smile.  Either way, I will be thankful to God.  And I hope you will be thankful today too, for whatever little blessings come your way.

 P.S., while I was finishing this and posting it, the two geese just flew up above our house and headed back to the big lake on the other side!! So, maybe they are headed back to their babies. Let's hope so!! Have a happy day!