Wednesday Treasures!

Happy Wednesday..."Hump Day"!  I think I will start out this post with a mystery photo.  If you can figure out what is going on in this picture, then you are smarter than the average bear... LOL.

Any guesses?  I'm sure your guess was as good as mine!  I thought that splashy looking area in the middle was probably some kind of fish enjoying the fact that there was water in Still Waters Pond again after the rain!  Or maybe a goose taking a bath.  Any other guesses?  Well, much to my surprise it was actually four Wood Ducks going around and round in a circle chasing each other. They did this for several minutes and then all of a sudden took off flying up into the air and across to the other side of the pond.  We don't get to see them very often as they are very "shy" of humans.  I don't know if this was a mating ritual or just a fun water party.  But I sure never thought it was four ducks chasing each other in a circle!

This isn't a very clear picture, but this is a male wood duck. I took this picture several weeks ago when he wasn't looking. LOL.

Now, if you look at THIS picture below you will have a difficult time figuring out who's who! The young Sand Hill Crane colts Pat and Val are getting almost as big as their parents and from a distance it is getting harder to tell them apart:

Thankfully they are continuing to grow bigger and stronger every day. I love that they still come "home to roost" every evening.

I hope you can see the male bluebird in the photo below. There's a story to tell here...

Early this morning at daybreak I looked out the window and noticed that the male Bluebird was flying around in front of the birdhouse very rapidly, flapping his wings but not landing. Then I realized that the door was hanging wide open!  Without stopping to consider the consequences of me running out there early in the morning to repair the birdhouse with both parents close by in a frantic state,

I grabbed my roll of duct tape and ran out around to the back of the birdhouse, all the while speaking softly to the birds in the tree to reassure them that I was there to help them and meant no harm to their nest of babies (who have recently hatched, by the way).  This has happened before in the past...some critter (maybe a cat or a raccoon) manages to climb up that skinny pvc pipe to the birdhouse and pull open the door when there are new babies inside.  Thankfully this time I noticed that the nest appeared to still be intact, and there was no sign of any debris or other evidence on the ground, so I assumed all was well inside the nest. So I quickly pulled up the door from behind and wound a length of duct tape around it to secure it.  The old duct tape that had been on there had actually been cut at the seams of the door some time ago when I cleaned out the birdhouse last year, and I guess I never put a fresh strip of tape back around it. So technically it was my fault.

You can tell I did this in a hurry in semi-dawn light. It needs to be tidied up a bit, but I was in a hurry to get it done so Mother and Daddy Bluebird could come back and check on the babies.  Shortly after I left they each came and took their turns looking inside and chattering back and forth about the near tragedy.  But after a little while they started bringing fresh bugs to the nest to feed the babies, so I am hopeful that all is well inside.

All's well that ends well!  

Now for another blessing and happy "ending" to a story:

Yes, that is our grandson Noah, all dressed up for an interview!  The clothing is another part of the blessing even beyond the fact that he had an interview to go to.  When they came down here they really didn't pack any appropriate clothing such as this for an interview.  He went to an "open interview" yesterday at a big car dealership in another city about an hour away, dressed in his clean everyday clothes, but no tie or dress shirt.  The interviewer told him that if he could come back today dressed more suitably for an interview he would be happy to talk to him more seriously. And so miraculously I still happened to have these dress pants hanging in a closet that I had purchased for Noah almost six years ago when he came down here for Benton and Rose's wedding. Even after getting measurements from his mother, the pants did not fit him then as he had gained a little weight between the time she had told me the size and when he came down. So I just hung them up in the closet because at that time it was more trouble than it was worth to return them (via online order), and he had to go find another pair of pants that fit in a hurry for the wedding.    Well, believe it or not, he has actually lost a little weight in the past six years and now those pants fit him perfectly!  But still he needed a long sleeved dress shirt. The problem is, Noah is VERY tall and has extra long arms. You can't just walk into any store and find a tall man shirt with extra long sleeves. (especially not around here where we live). Well...back to six years ago...I had actually purchased some extra shirts for that wedding when our local JC Penney's was closing and they had these very good dress shirts on sale for a very good price. Back to that closet again and I found this brand new white long sleeved shirt hiding amongst some other shirts and jackets.  I looked at the still attached price tag/label and it said the sleeves were 37" long, which is what he needs! He tried it on and it fit him like it was made for him!  Next came the tie.  Thankfully his Grandpa (my hubby) is also a tall man, and I've always had to buy extra long ties for him. We had a very large selection of ties for Noah to choose from! 

Noah also has a very extra large shoe size. Bigger than anyone here.  He only had some tennis shoes and some black boots with him, and they were definitely not in proper shape for an interview. So he and Dawn got busy cleaning the boots (there was some paint spray across the toes from working with Uncle Ben painting furniture)...and after scrubbing and polishing for about an hour, they had the boots looking good enough to pass any inspection! 

He does have some better dress shoes on order, but these had to suffice for today's interview.

And the good news is:

He got the job!  He will actually start a special training course tomorrow and if he passes the "test", he will start to work next week.  

So this was a great answer to prayer!  

While I was writing this Dawn brought me another sweet little "gift".  I had actually given her these cute little beads in a bag of beads I had from broken necklaces and bracelets that had been given to me in the past, so she made me a new one using a variety of those beads. She knew I would love this one, and she was right:

These are just a few of the blessings that are going on around us here lately. God has been so very kind and gracious and we are so very very thankful for all that He has done.

This little picture sits on the bookshelves next to my desk.  This is a picture of Noah with me, many many years ago. We were planting a pineapple plant together...you know, you cut off the top of a pineapple and plant it in the dirt and it will grow? Well, that's what we were doing.  We were planting something together for the future.  I have shared this photo with Noah before, along with the little verse that I have attached to it:

Psalm 37:4

"Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." (KJV)

Even though we moved away from that house where that pineapple was planted, the seeds that were planted there for Noah were not limited by time or place. This is a promise from the Lord that lasts forever.

I continue to pray this prayer for him and now for his beloved Dawn.

I believe God is working on their behalf.

Thank You, Lord!

Amen.

Good Night Everyone!!

I hope you enjoyed these special "Wednesday Treasures".