Friday Foto Friends-A little late!

I'm a little late to the party today.  Yesterday was a long day, as I was helping our daughter in love Rose at "Dixie Cottage" all day,  and I slept in about a half hour longer this morning until almost 6 a.m.! Which got me off to a late start for posting anything this morning as we are on a "strict schedule"... that first cup of tea (coffee for hubby), while checking emails/Facebook/blogger. If I want to post anything in the morning, I'd best have it ready to go before 7 a.m., because that's when we read our devotions together and then have breakfast while watching the news (IF I can stand to watch it, which oftentimes lately I cannot so off it goes...), and then we clean up breakfast dishes and go get dressed and ready for the day...walk, shop, laundry, whatever other important stuff we can dream up.

Doesn't that sound like an exhilarating, thrilling morning to you?

Such is the life of two retired folks who are in a "routine". (I won't call it a rut. But it could be misconstrued as such by those who don't appreciate how hard we work at it.)

And so, I didn't really have anything exciting or new to share with you today and my poor tired brain from so much "routine living" couldn't come up with anything too thrilling to share.  Although working all day at Dixie Cottage is anything but dull or routine...just tiring for this old gal. I will share a few pictures from yesterday later in this post. 

But for now to start the day off right (now it is after 2:00 pm....I've dilly dallied enough)

Here we go:

From our walk one evening this week...this gorgeous "Calico Pennant" dragonfly, sipping nectar or whatever she can get from what looks like dried up weeds. She very gracefully sat still long enough for me to get this great photo.

These wild persimmons are growing all along the trail of our daily walk. But I sure won't make the mistake of trying to eat one again!!

Now, if you've already read The Adventures of Lily Grace this week, you've already seen these next few pictures of the bluebirds in the last moments prior to leaving the nest:

Papa Bluebird has just told Junior that he's not going to be bringing him anymore free grasshoppers. He's going to have to get outside this birdhouse and start finding his own!

Junior begs Papa for just one more grasshopper, pleeeeeze?  But Papa Bluebird, practicing "tough love" flies away and leaves Junior and his siblings in the nest to figure it out for themselves...

Junior sticks his head out the hole and looks around and says, "Where did he go?" "He can't do this to me!"  "I'm not ready to fly on my own yet, am I?"

But after a few moments waiting for Papa or Mama to come back, he realizes that they meant what they said. It was time for him to leave the nest and learn how to support himself.

And so, after a great push off of the walls that were securely protecting him until he was ready to fly...he finally took a giant leap of faith and flew perfectly to the housetop nearby. 

Mama Bluebird and a neighborhood friend, Mr.  Tufted Titmouse, were there to cheer him on.

He looked around him in awe at the beauty and freedom that surrounded him on every side.

One by one all of the baby bluebirds left the nest, and soon they were joining all of the other Bluebird community in the trees and world beyond our little birdhouse on Still Waters Pond.

We haven't seen them since, but I know God is watching over them and they are happily on their way to exploring this great big world!

“Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!”

“You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest."
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!

And so now I am back to watching the lizards and dragonflies doing their tricks...

I hope it won't be long before God sends us another bird family or something else to watch and enjoy. You never know what excitement may be coming in the future...so keep your eyes open and ready for new adventures every day!

 And now for those pictures from Dixie Cottage that I promised from my visit there yesterday:

They have set up one room of furnishings and decor that they have labled the "Nautical Room"  (no,  not the "Naughty Room" as Lily Grace thought it was called), but a room for all things coastal and beachy.

I liked the stacking whales lamp...

Of course, most of the decor and furnishings in the whole store are considered more "coastal" in theme, but this room is more concentratedly so.

Lots of whales abound in these seas!

And fish shaped tables

They even have whale shaped salt and pepper shakers!

Back in the main showroom they have many beautiful items for sale. This was just one of the newer ones that my son refurbished:

Somehow I managed to take a "selfie" of my feet. No, those shoes aren't green, but they look it. Just gray, and tired feet at the end of the day.

And so I think I will end this post here as I need to get up on those feet get to work doing something around this house today!!!

How about we conclude with a cup of tea and some thoughts from this lovely little Devotional Book, "Choose Grace", that my friend "Auntie Opal" (as Lily Grace calls her) gave me:

Whatever we do, whether it be routine, mundane, or a new adventure, let us frame all of it in the beautiful portrait of living a life in love with our Lord and Savior, filled with all of our "passion, prayer, intelligence and energy."

So, with love to you through Christ our Lord,

Have a blessed and wonderful rest of your day and weekend.

It's never too late to give glory to God!

Friday Fotos, Puckery Persimmons, New Vistas, Sunset

Well hello everyone, and welcome to "Friday Foto Friends".  Time to show off our Fotos of the week...something that caught our eye and made us grab our cameras. You just never know what you will discover here on Fridays!

So, nature lesson of the week: 

Do you know what kind of fruit/tree this is?

I immediately used my Google Lens on my phone to check it out to be sure of what it was. 

If you said Persimmon, you are correct.  This is known as the Common Persimmon, or Possumwood, Possum Apples, Sugar Plums.  We discovered these trees growing wild in our usual walking area today.

Now, I have noticed the trees before today, and thought when they first started getting their leaves back  in the spring that they looked like some kind of fruit tree, similar to a peach tree. But I never realized that they actually had fruit on them until today! And they are loaded!

Well, hubby noticed one fruit that was pretty yellowish red and said it looked like a ripe persimmon, so he took it and took a little bite out of it. And then he handed it to me  and said it was good to eat. (We sound like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but he must have been the one listening to the serpent, since he talked me into tasting the fruit.)

And this is what we both quickly learned:  Be sure the persimmon is completely RIPE before eating! 

As soon as we bit into the persimmon, our mouths became extremely dry and "fuzzy" feeling, and puckery, with no saliva  to wet our lips or our mouth. We immediately spit them out and couldn't wait to get back to the car to get some water. No, they aren't poisonous, but we found out why you are not supposed to eat (or try to eat) a persimmon that is not almost dead ripe and ready to fall on the ground! Read the highlighted link above for more information.  So that is our nature lesson of the week! Never listen to that serpent in the garden either! That's our theological lesson of the week too! LOL.

Okay, next up, it's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas!

We have been needing to do some tree trimming and cutting, especially before this tropical storm (hurricane?) that is coming up the coast this weekend.  We found a young man literally up in the top of our neighbor's palm tree trimming the palms off the top, and we asked him to come over to our house when he could shinny back down the tree.  And so he did.  After some discussion we decided to remove a couple of pine trees from in front of our pond that are growing rapidly and actually too close to our deck/house and need to be removed before they get too big. We also are having some other trees trimmed and cleaned up .

These fresh cut pine branches sure smelled a lot like a Christmas tree! 

This tree was young and full of sap! Can you count the rings?

And here is our tree man preparing to pull this dead oak tree down...

I did have a video of this operation, but it is easier just to show you the pictures. 

Down she goes!  He will be back on Saturday to finish up and do some more work on a taller tree, so I hope to get some good pictures then. Especially if he actually climbs up the tree!!  Oh, by the way, he calls himself "George of the Jungle".  

By removing the two young pines we now have a better view of Still Waters Pond.

And tonight I was rewarded with a wonderful view of the magnificent sunset.

These pictures do NOT do it justice.

Every minute it just got prettier and prettier.

And it was wrapping around to the other end of the house and moment by moment got even better...

It was quite the show, and a beautiful ending to an interesting day! 

Psalm 19 is a good place to end:

1.  "The heavens declare the glory of God, 

and the firmament shows His handiwork.

2.  Day unto day utters speech,

and night unto night reveals knowledge.

3.  There is no speech nor language 

Where their voice is not heard.

4.  Their line has gone out through all the earth,

and their words to the end of the world.

In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,

5.  Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

and rejoices like a strong man to run its race.

6.   Its rising is from one end of heaven,

and its circuit to the other end;

and there is nothing hidden from its heat."

Hope that you and your house are safe and sound and have a blessed and wonderful weekend. And remember, Don't eat any unripe persimmons! LOL>