Nature Calling: Birds, Butterflies and Blooms

 Happy Labor Day everyone!  How are you spending your day?  We decided to get outside and enjoy some nature on this last official holiday of summer.  We took a ride down to the Kenwood Boat Ramp  and Recreation Park,  and I was not disappointed in the variety of natural beauties awaiting to be photographed.  

September is known for being a busy butterfly month! It seems that all the summer cocoons have burst open and there are butterflies everywhere, tasting the last blooms of summer!  This Gulf Fritillary (actually there were several of them) were enjoying these pretty little yellow flowers along the shore of the boat ramp...

Along the other side of the boat ramp canal was this beautiful Little Blue Heron, searching for some breakfast:

Soon this American White Ibis flew in to join him.

I love seeing their mirror images in the water:

Hello!

Soon they both flew away to bigger places to do their fishing away from prying eyes and cameras.

So I wandered around for a minute through the trees and saw this huge white mushroom/toadstool...

It had to stand about 8" tall and the top was as least 5 inches across.

That was pretty amazing!

Nearby was this other very dark mushroom:

I looked it up online, and found out it is called Old Man of the Woods,  and that link will tell you more about it. They say it is edible, but I am not one to experiment with wild mushrooms found in the woods. I'll leave that to the experts!

Since it is September I am starting my watching for signs of Autumn/Fall...and here is the first sign...this leaf of the American Sweet Gum tree.  

Here in Florida we don't get a lot of pretty colored fall leaves, so we grab at any opportunity to see something that resembles and Autumn leaf! LOL.  

Back at home in my own yard my Bottlebrush Bush has been blooming profusely since we've been having some good rain.  And the butterflies LOVE IT!  

There's another Gulf Fritillary enjoying the blossoms:

Can you see him?

This bush has been quite attractive to the Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly, and there have been several on it at the same time, flitting from blossom to blossom...

I tried to get a video of them on the bush, but this one flew away as soon as I got too close, however, if you look closely you will see a bee or two on there as well.

Then I was happy to see that my new batch of zinnias are finally blooming, but there are really small blossoms. Probably because I didn't fertilize them.  

Sorry these may be a little blurry. I couldn't get them to stay still because it was kind of breezy out there...

Oh, there's a bonus picture of Big Foot  here: 

LOL.

And this pretty little Marigold wanted to smile for the picture as well:

So that's how I've spent today so far. How about you?  Tomorrow's Tuesday 4 will have more questions about that, so be sure to tune in.

Jesus reminds us to come to Him when we are tired and heavy laden with work and concerns, and He will give us rest.  It's good to take a day to just enjoy God's Creation all around us and rest in knowing that God is with us and He is always there to help us carry our burdens....

Matthew 11:28-30  NKJV

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, 

and I will give you rest. 

29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 

30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

I hope you've enjoyed this little respite from your labors!

Friday Foto Friends and Happy Thoughts

 I can't believe Friday is almost over and I haven't posted any new photos today!  I've been a bit behind in a lot of things this week, but I'm trying to get caught up.  Thankfully I do feel much better, and also hubby is feeling better too. He had a bit of a scare with his eye that just had cataract surgery two weeks ago. It was hurting a bit and he was having a lot of difficulty with bright lights, so had to wear dark glasses most of the time, even in the house. He did go see our local eye doctor to check it and make sure there wasn't anything really wrong with it, and he couldn't find anything, but assured him that sometimes it takes longer for some eyes to heal than others, and his symptoms seemed to be normal for some.  Thankfully as the week as progressed, his eye has gradually gotten better, and he's not having to wear the dark glasses in the house quite as much now. However we are keeping the blinds closed most of the day and using very minimal lighting, which tends to make me get a bit claustrophic, but thankfully this is only temporary. Whew!! And Praise God!

With that all being said, between the two of us, we haven't really ventured very far this week, except for a trip to Walmart yesterday because we were getting desperate for some things that we couldn't buy here locally. Thankfully we made it there and back (I drove) without incident.  

So what else is happening? Nothing much.  Here's what few photos I have managed to take...

The marigolds are still blooming...

And I took this picture looking out the back door at the pond, and there's Blackie in his favorite blue chair.  It's funny that this chair suddenly appeared in our front yard one day out of nowhere.  At first we left it there thinking it must've fallen off the back of someone's truck and that they'd come back looking for it, but after a couple of days no one came, so we decided it was a "gift" to us...in perfect condition, so we put it on the back porch, and immediately Blackie claimed it for his own personal chair. He doesn't like it when I sit in it either. LOL.  

Anyway, I noticed that the bottlebrush bush was really blooming again...

So I went outside this afternoon and tried to get a close up of the blossoms:

However, if you look closely, you will notice that the blossoms have a lot of honey bees on them...there were a lot more than what you see here.  I decided not to get too much closer and be happy with what I got before they decided to "get me". LOL.

By the way, I am still doing the "Happiness challenge" for August, and all these things make me happy. I'm happy I didn't get stung by the bees! LOL.  And I was happy to see this interesting cloud pattern when I put the flag out this morning.  I just love looking at clouds and sunrises and sunsets, don't you? No two are ever the same, because our Mastor Creator is always creating more and more beauties for us to enjoy. We are blessed by such an "Awesome God".  

Remember when I told you about this strange insect HERE in this post?

Anisomorpha Buprestoides...Southern Two Striped Walking Stick

Well, yesterday poor Blackie had a scary experience with this creature that was not too pleasant. If you read the information about this insect, you will note that it is "particularly well known for its very potent chemical defense spray which it deploys from a pair of glands which open at the front of its thorax."

Apparently Blackie got too curious about this creature while it was under a chair on the back porch.  When I went out to call him in for his supper, he came running into the house and was acting rather strangely, and started drooling on the floor, and then went and hid under one of the bar stools in the kitchen. He didn't want me to pet him or touch him, and he kept drooling. That's when I went back outside to see what he might have encountered (praying it wasn't a snake) and I saw this critter on the porch.  That's when I figured Blackie must've been sprayed by it.  I looked it up and it said that it could cause excessive drooling, among other unpleasant and possibly dangerous problems for cats, especially if it got in his eyes.  Blackie didn't want me to mess with him, but he finally calmed down and stopped the drooling. He wasn't interested in his water, so I put out a little bowl of milk and he lapped that up.  Then he seemed fine and went on to eat his supper and didn't show any other symptoms of trouble. Thankfully I think the spray missed his eyes and he probably didn't get too much in the mouth or face or things might have been worse. He seemed fine for the rest of the evening.  Before we let him back outside I went and took a broom to that creature and knocked him off the porch. However, I did notice a very strong chemical odor when I did that. Thankfully it didn't hit me on my face or body. SO, now we know not to mess around with these "Devil Riders", as they are also called...and from now on when I see one I will make sure it is "removed" from the premises as safely as possible.  I am happy that this story had a happy ending and that Blackie is just fine today.

I am also thankful that yesterday we had an opportunity to do something special for someone else. I am not telling you about this to bring any kind of "glory" to myself, but to share how meaningful it is to help someone else.  We have a dear man in our church who has been battling cancer for several years, and he is now nearing the end of his battle and we expect he will soon be entering heaven's gates.  Although he is under hospice care, he is at home and his daughter and wife are caring for him. Actually, his wife is not in real good health herself, and the daughter is the one trying to manage everything along with having her own husband and other family concerns to take care of.  So our church has been trying to help out by bringing meals to them this past week. And yesterday was our turn. It was such a blessing to be able to bring some comfort and share some love with this dear family. It reminded me of when our son was in his last stages of his battle with cancer, and we went up to Maine to be with him, and their friends were bringing meals every night for our family...and it was such a blessing to not have to worry about stopping to think about what to cook or if we had enough food in the house to even make anything. We were just so thankful and blessed by the gifts of others during such a difficult time.  I was happy that we were able to give back to this dear family and show them some love in Jesus' Name. 

We never realize just how much such a simple thing as a meal can mean to someone who is going through such a difficult time until we experience it for ourselves.  We can never repay those who do something special for us, but we can pay it forward and help someone else along the way. 

And so with that I will say good night. Tomorrow we travel about an hour and a half away to meet up with our extended family to celebrate the August birthdays and anniversaries together at a restaurant. It will be a fun time just being together.  

Philippians 4:12-13 NIV

12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, 

whether living in plenty or in want. 

13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Wednesday Treasures and the Photo Challenge a day late

 

I am a day late, and most always always a dollar short! LOL.  I started writing this yesterday, and then we made a trip to Walmart, came home, had lunch, took a brief power nap, took hubby to the PCP for his pre-op appointment for the upcoming cataract surgery. We were blessed to be able to get in on such short notice, because the pre-op needs to be done no later than one week prior to the surgery, and his surgery is set for August 6th, which we only found out about on Tuesday! So, with a quick call to our PCP Tuesday afternoon, they had him in on Wednesday afternoon! One of the "perks" of small town living and having a doctor's office that always tries to take care of its patients in a timely manner.

So now it is Thursday morning, and I am in a bit of a rush this morning as well. We are having someone come over for lunch today, and I've been cleaning house and making preparations for that. I will share more about this special day in a later post, because it is something special that I hinted at last week.  So stay tuned!

Meanwhile, yesterday's Photo-a-day challenge was a "TREE".  So here is my favorite tree at the Kenwood Boat Ramp where we like to go take walks...

Psalm 1:1-3

"1 Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

3 He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper."

Jeremiah 17:7-8 NKJV

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

And whose hope is the Lord.

8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,

Which spreads out its roots by the river,

And will not fear when heat comes;

But its leaf will be green

And will not be anxious in the year of drought,

Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

These are the trees around our "Still Waters Pond".  Even though the pond is still very dry, the trees continue to grow and flourish.  They have not "been anxious in the year of drought", and their leaves are still green.

Matthew 7:17-18: "So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit." 

This is the bottlebrush bush/tree that I planted several years ago, and it has grown beautifully this year in spite of the drought. The birds and bees and hummingbirds all love to come and delight in the nectar of the beautiful red flowers that have bloomed better this year than ever!

Here's a picture of that bush during one of the few rainstorms we had this past week:

Well, duty calls. I have a lot to get done before noon today, so I will leave this for now. I don't have a picture to share, but Blackie either brought in or one came in with him this morning, a little salamander type lizard. He chased it around the house for a few minutes until finally the lizard had to give up.  I shooed both Blackie and the poor lifeless lizard out the door, and that's where Blackie is staying for now. LOL. 

So with that I will bid your adieu.  Perhaps that picture could be my "Ordinary Moment" for today's photo challenge.  Although Blackie is anything but "ordinary"! LOL.  Have a blessed day everyone.