Wednesday Treasures "All Things Bright and Beautiful"

 Here it is the last day of April already...I think we are all reeling over how quickly this month has passed! And for us, there were no "April Showers" to bring "May Flowers", so I am hoping there will be a change in our weather pattern here soon, or there won't be any May or June flowers! Even Still Waters Pond is feeling the effects of the lack of rain.  

These are some of my "April Treasures" for this Wednesday:

Say hello to a very tall "Trumpet", who is only one month + one week old!

He is walking on what should be water along the shore of the pond...but the waters have receded quite a bit away.  This is not that unusual...it normally does recede at least once a year, and then when the summer rains come it will fill back up with fresher water and not as many lily pads (for a while).

Since Sand Hill Cranes really do not swim much once they are past their early baby stages, they prefer to walk along the shore looking for goodies down in the mud.  Trumpet's wings are developing, but he will still not be able to fly for at least another month. They usually "fledge" (fly) around 70 days old.

Now, I would not exactly call this my "treasures"...Well, Blackie Sue is a treasure, but if you look under that table you will see a DUCK eating the cats' food.  We had not seen the ducks for several days and so I thought it was safe to let the kitties eat on the back porch again since it's getting too hot on the uncovered front porch, but within a few minutes of putting their food on the back porch this Muscovy Duck flew in out of nowhere to help herself!  Needless to say I was NOT happy!  And as you can see, Blackie Sue just laid there and let her eat.  I think Sunshine just left the porch and didn't even put up a fight.

So I went outside and chased the duck away and removed the food, but the duck came back a few minutes later to see if there was anything left. I was watching her through my window from my "Room with a View"...

Apparently these ducks have such a keen sense of hearing or sight or both, that she knew I was watching her and turned around to basically stick her tongue out at me! LOL.

That's when I noticed that there was not just one, but TWO ducks on the porch!  But I got the last laugh because there was NO food for them, so they decided to fly away back into the pond...

There goes the first duck on the left...see her feet and outspread wings?  Yes, they do have pretty coloring, but that is not enough to endear them to me! LOL.

If you look just to the right of the post in the middle, you can see her flying with her white wings up, and the duck on the right is just getting ready to take flight.  And no, I'm not being cruel. They have plenty of natural food to eat out there. They don't NEED to eat my cats' food!!!  The people who were going to try and catch them kind of gave up because these ducks fly so well. The ones they have on their pond have had their wings clipped so they can't fly away. They raise them for eggs and also to sell to others.  I do wish they could come get these two, but I've pretty well given up hope. Maybe with the receding pond waters they will go away on their own.  That's one good potential thing about the drought! LOL.

Speaking of treasures...Can you tell that I love to take pictures of these kitty-cats?  Sunshine seems to be the most photogenic and often gives such wonderful poses that are irresistable...This is one...

I was working on something in the shed this morning, and had the door open.  I turned around and there was Sunshine laying on the floor making himself right at home. Please notice the place he chose to lay is right in front of the "Old Rugged Cross" that we put outside for Easter, and also in front of the Christmas Nativity Scene that also goes out in our yard for the Christmas season.  That really touched my heart that Sunshine chose that very spot to lay down...

Once he had checked out every nook and cranny of the shed, including jumping up high and back down again, he was content to go lay down on the doorstep and watch me.  You can see Blackie Sue the background watching and wondering if she should be quite so adventuresome...

And in a few moments her curiosity got the best of her and she came in and explored all around as well, but didn't linger as long as Sunshine, and soon she was back out the door and on her way.  

Speaking of Blackie Sue, no, she still hasn't had any kittens. She doesn't seem to be getting any larger and I really am not convinced that she is pregnant.  But we are going to wait a couple of weeks longer, and if she hasn't had any kittens by then, I have made arrangements for her to go get spayed. They will check her out of course to make sure she isn't pregnant before doing the procedure. This is a link to info about a "false pregancy in cats", which is what I am really thinking is going on.  Having her spayed will keep this from happening again, as well as keep her from having kittens.

We took a little ride the other morning, and this tiny moth came along for the ride:

We stopped over at Benton and Rose's house for a few minutes, and Rose was outside tending to her...you guessed it...her Rose garden!  Here are some of her roses that are blooming:

I LOVE this Rosebush!!!

And this one is uniquely beautiful too...the petals turn more white as they die...really pretty!

All these special "treasures" reminded me of this little poem/song

All Things Bright and Beautiful

Refrain:

All things bright and beautiful,

all creatures great and small,

all things wise and wonderful,

the Lord God made them all.

1 Each little flow'r that opens,

each little bird that sings,

He made their glowing colors,

He made their tiny wings. [Refrain]

2 The purple-headed mountain,

the river running by,

the sunset and the morning

that brightens up the sky. [Refrain]

3 The cold wind in the winter,

the pleasant summer sun,

the ripe fruits in the garden:

He made them every one. [Refrain]

4 He gave us eyes to see them,

and lips that we might tell

how great is God Almighty,

who has made all things well. [Refrain]

Author: Cecil Frances Alexander

Oops! Maybe I need to alter my attitude about the Muscovy Ducks after listening to this song! Yes, they are beautiful, and the Lord God did create them, but I don't think God would be mad at me for wanting them to go swim  in someone else's pond...you know...we should share the beauty with everyone, right? LOL. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

LOL. Bye for now.  So long to April!  See you in May, folks!!