Nature's Calling...

We had a special visitor while out walking the other morning...actually there are two of them...

I always am thrilled to have a close encounter with nature...especially when they are graceful creatures like these deer.

We haven't seen them too often lately, so this was a rare treat, and I was most grateful to God for allowing us the privilege of seeing them, even if for a moment or two before they took off back into the woods to get away from us.

Habakkuk 3:18-19

"18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

19 The Lord God is my strength;

He will make my feet like deer’s feet,

And He will make me walk on my high hills."

(I almost thought that said, "and He will make me walk on my high heels"!  I'm glad it didn't say that...I haven't walked on "high heels" in a long time, and I sure don't want to try it again now! Whew! That was a close one!) 

Thank You, Lord, for giving me strength...and for giving me much joy in my salvation as well as in just being Your child.  AND for giving me this beautiful scene in which to delight!! Amen!

Speaking of delight...(my One Word for 2022, remember?)...Well, I truly have been seeing so many beautiful things that delight me this past week.  The Bluebirds have been very entertaining to say the least...there have been two couples fighting over the two birdhouses...or maybe they are fighting over their mates...I'm not sure, but they have been very active. I tried to get a video of them one day when they were literally "air-boxing" with each other in the trees and all around the birdhouses...I guess the "turf wars" have truly begun...but anyway...here are a few pictures that I hope you will enjoy:

It seems as though they are staking out their claims on the two birdhouses, and I don't know which couple is which and who's taking which house...but I do hope we end up with two couples to watch this spring.

This is the male (on the birdbath) and the female on the birdhouse, staking out their claim on the house on the left.

But here we have a couple, not sure if it is the same couple or the other...she is on the birdhouse that is on the right and he is on the birdfeeder angel who is blowing her trumpet...

And this male is looking inside birdhouse #2 (the one on the right)  He did go inside too.

And this male is on birdhouse #1 (the one on the left)

And the female is sitting on the bird feeder hook, just watching and waiting on the male to tell her which way to go:

Now, this was fun. The two couples were flying back and forth in the trees, and to the birdhouses and all around, like I said above, "air-boxing" at each other and fighting for their territory:

You can only see three here, but there were all four of them having this "conversation"":

I don't know if they've settled anything...time will tell:

Ah, one good picture of the male caught in flight...and female just landed:

This female has staked out her claim on house #2:

And Mr. Bluebird is keeping watch:

Then he goes back to house #2 and looks inside again:

I think they are making up their minds:

He turned to me and said, "You'll just have to wait and see what develops, so stay tuned!"

Meanwhile, while all of this was going on with the Bluebird colony, there was a lot of other action taking place on and around Still Waters Pond:

Mr. Bull Goose stake out his territory by standing on the tree stump and daring anyone else to come near:

And the Bluebirds weren't the only "blue birds"  in the trees.  There was a flock of Blue Jays fly in...there were four of them  too, but I only see three here. They were chasing each other around in the trees too:

And this Male Cardinal flew in to get some birdseed, but didn't stay long. There was just too much commotion going on. And the picture is a bit fuzzy, sorry. It's the best I could do. I was having to snap pictures left and right.

There's the rest of the goose flock down in the water;

and Mr. Anhinga was standing out on his perch in the water, drying his wings and enjoying the morning sunshine:

He didn't seem at all bothered by all the commotion on the shore.  I think he was looking down at a fish or something in this picture. He had his mind on his own business:

Or maybe he was looking at this little group of Ring-necked Ducks swimming and diving around the pond. There were two males (black and white) and two females (brown and tan). They spend most of their time diving under water and having a good old time bobbing up and down. They were out there all day playing Marco Polo! LOL

It's hard to get a picture of all four at once because they keep bobbing up and down faster than I can snap the picture!

Ah, there they are:

I love watching them. A couple of years ago there were a lot more of them, and then they didn't come back last year (must've been because of Covid).  But this year there's only 4. But I'm so happy to see them again, no matter how many!

Now, I know y'all think I'm just a terrible "Mommie" that I haven't taken Lily Grace on any adventures lately. Well...I've been busy. But she did pick some sweet little "fairy flowers" and also some Carolina Jessamine the other day, so we put it in her pretty little "Lily of the Valley" tea pot that Aunt Doris gave her for a vase. She and her dog Bailey have lots of fun every day.

I guess this is a good place to stop.  I know it isn't Friday yet, but I may be busy the next couple of days and not have time to post anything, so I wanted to share these photos before they get "stale". 

I've mentioned this little devotional book before.  I love its quick and to the point devotions that point us to a "grace-filled life".

Well,  I was thumbing through it and came upon this one below...and I think this is a good place to close this post for today:

Sometimes we just need to be reminded that God is still working on our behalf behind the scenes, even while we are sleeping.  We can "sleep in peace" and "relax in His grace", knowing that God is in control and He knows exactly what is best for each of us.

So good night my friends. 

Sleep in peace.