Friday Foto Friends and Blessings!

Good Friday morning from Still Waters Pond!  Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird greet you today!

To me, it appears they are sharing love messages with each other as they enjoy a cool bath in the late afternoon sunshine (yesterday afternoon).

God speaks to us with love messages every day, if we just pay attention...

Jeremiah 31:3

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;

I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird came back to check things out at their house and take a bath...

Ah, so refreshing!

Then she flew up into the tree to fluff her feathers and dry off...

Apparently their baby (ies?) flew the nest when I wasn't looking, as it appears the nest is empty. There's no sign of any eggs left in the nest, so I am assuming however many babies were in there flew away to the designated place in the treetops.  I am sorry to have missed it!  But sometimes they prefer to do it when no one is looking for the safety of the baby birds.

Maybe they will come back for a visit too in a day or two, but for now I will just believe they are enjoying their new freedoms and learning to fly "high" with the rest of the birdies.

Meanwhile this was happening next door to us:

This is a lovely large lot on Still Waters Pond that has been recently purchased, and the new owner is actually a developer who is planning to put a brand new manufactured home on the lot and then sell it.  

Thankfully this fellow was just clearing out the underbrush and not really cutting down any big trees.

He was also cleaning out an area to give visual access to the pond...

I went and checked on our Canada Goose father, who is still patiently guarding and waiting for his mate, who is sitting on the nest on the island. I have dubbed the big island "Goose Island" because that is where they have built their nest each time they needed it over the past several years. This is only the 2nd time that we are aware of in the almost five years we have lived here.  If they did it every year, we weren't aware of it. Maybe this isn't the same couple as before? No way to tell. 

Here is the view of the island from the perspective of the newly cleared out area on the lot.

I still can't figure out exactly where the nest is, but I know it is somewhere on the right end of the island above.

Here is a view looking from the middle of the new lot towards the pond:

This is where the bushes were cleared out along the shore...it is kind of mucky down there because the pond has a mucky bottom, due to the decomposition of all those water lilies over the years.  The water levels are getting kind of low right now due to lack of rain.

But this is what you can see if you stand down there and look to the left:

And this is what you can see looking to the right...see the goose to the far right?

This is a wider view looking toward the right...

And this is looking straight ahead:

Back up on the lot, there are some beautiful live oak trees in addition to many other kinds of trees, pines, maple and other kinds of oaks.

Whoever gets this lot will have a beautiful woodsy place to enjoy!

Another view looking toward the pond:

After the clearing was done we found this Yellow Bellied Slider turtle up on the land, laying her eggs and burying them in the dirt.  She apparently found the new trail out of the pond up onto the land and decided the newly cleared lot would be a good place to hide her eggs. She will leave them there and when they are ready, they will hatch and come out of the ground and go back to the pond to live.  I was thinking I should put a marker where she laid her eggs so I can tell the builder not to put the house on top of it!   

Later in the evening we walked over to the lot again, and it seemed as though the birds were making a lot of calls back and forth...this beautiful male Cardinal was calling and calling his mate from the big oak tree in the front yard of our house. I think some birds may have become displaced with all the clearing on that lot and they are trying to find new places to roost...

This was taken just before sunset. It was getting "buggy" out, and I didn't want to stay and get eaten alive by mosquitoes while waiting for the sunset, but it does look like it will be a lovely vantage point to watch the sunsets.

Just after sunrise this morning hubby and I ventured over to the lot again to go and check on our goose family. There's Daddy Goose, sitting on the pond, continuing his vigil of watch-care over his mate on her nest. But where is that nest? I wish I could figure it out!

This is the view of the island and pond around it in the early morning...

I asked Mr. Goose where his lady love was, and he pointed in that direction:

I said, I know she's over there on the island, but I can see her!  She's well camouflaged!

Meanwhile we heard a knock knock knocking sound in the treetops overhead, and I looked up and saw this Pileated Woodpecker up there pecking away at the bugs in that tree:

Then I looked back at the island, and zoomed in on something on the hillside at the end of the island, and what did I see?

That looks like the goose on the side of the hill!!! I NEVER would have thought to look on the side of the hill for her nest!  But she is definitely sitting there, pretty as you please, well camouflaged behind the tall grasses, in a little flattened out area on the side of the hill!!

She was right there before my eyes all that time, and I never noticed!  However, of course, until the land was cleared where I could move over to that different vantage point, I couldn't really see around to that side of the island very well!  So there she is, safe and sound!  I wonder how much longer until the eggs will hatch?  I'm thinking it could be very soon, so please stay tuned!  I hope all the noise on the lot being cleared, etc., doesn't upset her.  So far, she seems pretty oblivious to it all...she's just concentrating on keeping those eggs warm and safe!  Such a good Mother Goose!

Now, in case you are wondering, here is a view looking from the middle of the new lot toward the left (as I stand in the middle of the lot facing the pond), and there is our house!  If you were to come and buy this lot and the new home that is going to be placed there, we could be neighbors!!!!!

This is where I was standing when I took that picture above. This could be your view as you look out the back of your house, maybe from your kitchen window, or from your back porch, and look toward the pond!  Yes, you could probably clear out a bit more of the brush that's blocking the view from there, but just think, you could have your own spot right here on Still Waters Pond!

But you better hurry, because once this place starts being constructed, I expect it will be sold quickly! And it is the very last vacant lot on Still Waters Pond! And just think! We could be neighbors and enjoy watching all the wildlife/and birds together while we sip our cup of tea or coffee or iced tea and take pictures and enjoy all that God has blessed us with!  To quote Mr. Rogers, "Won't you be, won't you be, please won't you be my neighbor?"  

Matthew 22:37-40

37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 

38 This is the first and great commandment. 

39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

I am praying for whoever our new neighbors will be. Perhaps God is preparing them for this move right now as we speak...God already knows who they are.  Whoever it is, it is my prayer that they will be blessed here in this location and that we will be able to be good neighbors to them.

Okay, one more thing...You may remember that I told you about my hubby not feeling well last week? Well, he ended up having a CT scan of the brain and a chest X-Ray, per doctor's orders.  We got the results yesterday...the doctor said his brain scan and x-ray were both normal, and that his brain looks exceptionally GOOD for a man his age! No signs of any kind of deterioration or former strokes or anything adversely affecting it! Wow!  We both said "Praise the Lord" right out loud!  That was pretty amazing! And he does feel much better. Not sure what was going on last week, but he's fine now, and we are very very thankful to the Lord for this good news. 

Well,  that's all for now my friends.  But seriously, if you are thinking about moving to Florida...or to relocate to a small country town and live on Still Waters Pond where you will have some good neighbors waiting for you...let me know!  I can put you in touch with the right people!  

Have a blessed and wonderful weekend!!