Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

The Autumn season always brings out such feelings of gratefulness... 

Grateful to God for His abundance of harvest and gifts of grace...

This little daily devotional calendar has a good thought for today:

"I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God."  Abraham Lincoln.

"When you pray, I will listen. You will find Me when you seek Me."  Jeremiah 29:12-13 TLB

Although, technically, to me, even looking "down upon the earth", I could never see how anyone could be an atheist. Maybe if they look at the evil in the world, perhaps, but not when you look upon the world that God created. There is so much beauty all around us if we just stop and take the time to look and appreciate it. Especially during the fall season...so much color on display for us to enjoy! Only a creative God could design such perfection in all of the seasons...

And we are indeed thankful to have been where we could enjoy such beauty in the mountains last week, but we are equally thankful to be back home again..."Home Sweet Home", and yes, I hope to "Stay Awhile"...

How do you like my fall pillow? It was actually a cloth shopping bag, but I wasn't using it as such, and I thought it would be prettier as a pillow. So I stuffed a pillow inside and stitched the top closed so it can be enjoyed  every day as a place to be comfy and cozy during this season. When the fall days are over and it's time to start decorating for Christmas (after Thanksgiving!), then I will just snip the stitches off the top and pull out the pillow to be used elsewhere...maybe I'll find a Christmas bag to put it in!

Meanwhile, back to nature and God's beautiful creation all around us...

I saw this beautiful Red Shouldered Hawk yesterday afternoon here on the shore of our very dry Still Waters Pond.

Even though the pond is indeed very dry...

the Hawk continues to hunt and find food out on the marshy areas and along the shore.  These hawks nest here every year, and so they are a pretty common sight in our neighborhood.

I was happy to get these close up views of him in the pine tree just outside our back porch.

You can see why he's called a "red-shouldered hawk", by the rusty reddish area on the shoulder of his wing.

Isn't he beautiful?

Thankfully our kitties are too big for him to try to pick up. However, if we had smaller kittens around, I would be concerned for their well-being.

Mostly he likes to get mice and moles and lizards and probably frogs on the pond if he can find any these days.  We sure do still need a LOT of rain to bring the pond back to where it should be for this time of year. I am missing our Canadian Geese and Wood Ducks and others. We aren't even seeing much of the Sand Hill Cranes anymore, and when we do it is only the two adults. I think the youngster, "Trumpet", has moved out on his own already. I hope the adults will still be able to build their nest out there on the pond...usually in January. Time will tell. Praying for rain in the meantime.

This is a picture/painting that was in our bedroom at the cabin we stayed at in Georgia. I think God knew I'd love seeing that! I've missed our Bluebirds here at home.  They never did nest here this year, although they kept coming to the birdhouses and looking inside them, they never really moved in. I've missed them.

This was another painting that was in our bedroom. It's a Thomas Kinkade painting, appropriately of a little log cabin in the mountains, and I love the verse below it,  John 4:13-14.

John 4:13-14 NKJV

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Back at home again, we were concerned that Blackie had not showed up yet since our return. Sunshine came in time for supper the day after we got home, but Blackie apparently was still off visiting somewhere else until last evening when I was outside visiting with our neighbor and thanking him for taking care of the kitties while we were gone. I looked across the street just in time to see Blackie running along in front of our other neighbor's house, and so I called to him and when he heard my voice and saw me he came running right over!

Again, Sunshine was a little standoffish with Blackie, but one Blackie ate his supper and started cozying up to Sunshine again, he relented and allowed him to lick his head and show his affection once again.

Yes, Blackie, you are a scamp! But we all still love you!

I am indeed thankful for our home and family, even our little wild kingdom here. There's never a dull moment, that's for sure!

I am also thankful that hubby is feeling better and that the shingles never did completely develop since we were able to catch it in time! That's a real blessing.

We are thankful that we were able to take that little vacation, but we are also thankful that we are back home safely and that life is getting back to normal once again.  (whatever "normal" is...it's all good!)

Psalm 145:1-3

"1 I will extol You, my God, O King;

And I will bless Your name forever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless You,

And I will praise Your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

And His greatness is unsearchable."

Amen.