Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

 Hello Friends!  This first picture should have gone with the Tuesday 4 post about Books!  But I didn't think about it until later, after reading everyone else's posts and comments on my blog.  That is how I felt after hearing how much so many of our friends love their books!   I've seen this picture many times before on Facebook, and I've always loved it because of the joy of these two dear old ladies sitting under the table having a cup of tea together with all of their books stacked up around them and just laughing and having such a great time! Oh, and eating bonbons  and candy and it looks like they have found the secret to happiness!  Yep! I could see myself and a good friend in this picture in a few years...(or maybe not so many years away...LOL). How about you? It just makes me smile...

So how has your week been going?  Ours has been busy, even without so many appointments...it just seems like the days get filled up.  Hubby got his new glasses the other day, and so when he went to pick his up I had the optician in our eye doctor's office take another look at my new glasses, just to be sure they are lined up right. She made a couple of little adjustments and I tried them again, and I do think they are better. My eyes seem to be adjusting finally, so that's good news.

On Sunday I had a little bit of sadness when I thought I had lost one of my earrings for good.

This is the remaining mate.  I knew I must've dropped it somewhere at church, and so we went back and retraced my steps everywhere, hoping to find it in some obvious place. I even sent this picture to the lady who does the cleaning on Monday morning to let her know to be on the lookout for it.  You may ask why be so upset over losing an earring? Well, this particular set had belonged to my hubby's grandmother, "Nanny Martin".  My Mother in law had given it to me with some other of Nanny Martin's jewelry years ago.  It has to be quite old, because if Nanny Martin were still living she would be around 128 years old. And even though I somehow can't envision the sweet, humble country woman that I knew, who was already in her 70's when I first met her, ever wearing these pretty dangly earrings, at some point in her younger life she must have because they were hers, and I sure didn't want to lose one of them.

This is how I remember her...

But this is how she looked as a young woman...

So anyway, back to the story...On Monday afternoon I went to the church to drop off my hubby for the Men's Bible Study, and also to pick up our church Secretary at the office to go with me over to the Parsonage for the Ladies' Bible Study. I showed her the picture of my earring, and she said, "Oh! It's been found!"  The Pastor was also there at that moment, and he said that his wife had it with her and will give it to me at the Bible study!  It seems that as I was leaving church on Sunday, one of our sweet younger women came up to me and gave me a hug.  She has very long beautiful hair, and apparently as I embraced her with a hug, my earring caught in her hair! I did not notice it at the time and neither did she, but when she was walking to her car she realized it was caught in her hair. At that point she wasn't sure where it had come from so took it back to our Pastor's wife and gave it to her to find out who it belonged to. I had already left the church, and I didn't realize the earring was missing until I got home. So you can imagine my joy to have this lovely earring returned to me.

(Nanny Martin's earrings, sitting on a quilt that she made)

Here is the matched set, along with another little black earring that also has a story.  It also belonged to Nanny Martin.  And I loved wearing that sweet little antique set of  black earrings. However, again, because these earrings are the old fashioned screw on type of  clasp, they often came loose, and sadly I lost the mate to this one at my parents' church many years ago. I searched and searched there at the parking lot and all around, but it never showed up.  So I've been sad about that one all these years, and then when I thought I'd lost the mate to the dangly pair, I thought that I would just wear the one dangly and the one little earring at the same time and call it a set  with a story!  Now I won't have to do that, but I am wishing I could turn the little earring into a pin or a necklace or something special. Not sure how to do that...but it's a thought anyway.    I am thankful that that which was lost has been found. Is it really that valuable? Probably not in monetary value, but to me the links to dearly departed loved ones have a special value that goes beyond worldly treasures. It's a way to honor the memory of someone who meant a lot to my husband and also to me.

Reminds me of this story in the Bible...

Luke 15:8-10 NKJV

The Parable of the Lost Coin

8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ 10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Now, here's another story...

The last few days that we've gone walking I could hear the Eastern Towhee singing in the treetops, but I could not see him.   So I got the bright idea to play his "song" on my cell phone to see what would happen.  You can listen to it here:

Well, let's just say that I almost found myself being sought out by this Towhee almost immediately:

He flew to the nearest tree and kept looking around, and then he flew across the road right over top of me and went to another tree:

And you could tell he was rather excited and maybe even distressed because he could hear that other bird singing, but he couldn't find it.  This was in the morning...and he flew back and forth several times over and around me until I turned off the recording and we decided to move on before I was possibly attacked by this excited bird.

However, the next evening we came back, and I thought I might try it again to see what would happen, and sure enough, as soon as the recording started playing, the bird flew to a nearby tree and started watching and singing back...

Then he flew to another tree and kept returning the calls from the bird on the recording:

He was really quite excited about hearing this other bird.  After a little while I decided that maybe we should go because I could hear other birds calling as well, and it seemed like they were getting excited.

So I learned one thing, if you want to attract a bird to come closer, just play a recording of his call on your cell phone and you may find yourself the center of some bird attention. I don't know if it is a good thing to do or not, but I did enjoy seeing the bird up close and have these pictures to share with you.

But maybe that was just cheating a little bit...not sure...but maybe I won't do that again because as they say, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature". LOL. (Remember that commercial for Chiffon Margarine? Now I'm dating myself...I see that was back in the 1970's! Some of you may be too young to remember!)

Well, that's all for tonight.  I hope you are having a wonderful week! 

Psalm 96:1-6

1 Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!

Sing to the Lord, all the earth.

2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;

Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

3 Declare His glory among the nations,

His wonders among all peoples.

4 For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;

He is to be feared above all gods.

5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

But the Lord made the heavens.

6 Honor and majesty are before Him;

Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

Friday Foto Friends Birds, Bees, Blooms, and Reflections

Spring is definitely busting out all over here in Florida! Even though the official arrival of the Vernal Equinox is not until next Wednesday, March 20th, someone forgot to tell the flowers, birds, and bees that they needed to wait!

This fat bumblebee was making his rounds around the wild blackberry bushes blooming along the road.  I had to be careful while taking his picture to make sure he wasn't coming in my face to give me a "buzz"...

I love the natural beauty of these blossoms...

And then we have apple blossoms on the little tree in our yard...even though we never get apples, it is nice to see the blossoms...

The azaleas have been putting on quite a show this year! This particular mass of blossoms is better than I've ever seen it in all the years we've lived here!  What is amazing, I don't have to do anything to these hardy old bushes...they just keep coming back year after year.  I wonder what would have happened if I had taken care of them???

Talk about perfection! This Pink Perfection Camellia is doubly perfect!!!

And here's some more getting ready to bloom...

Now, on to the birds:  This is the Female Eastern Towhee coming by for a quick drink of water...

Isn't she pretty?

I love how she is showing off her colors for me.

Here is her mate...this picture was from a few weeks ago. I've never managed to see them both together, but aren't their colors interesting?

Now back to the flowers again...the purple wisteria is opening up and showing off all over our back fence around the Memorial Garden...

Aren't they beautiful?

Here again, I really don't have to do much for these flowering vines to come back every year...we've cut them back a few times, but they grow right back...so lovely...

I paid a little visit to the neighborhood pond to check on the Sand Hill Crane Family.  Here they are on the island where they have their nest.  The two babies are apparently sleeping under the wing of the mama bird, and the father is standing guard over his family...

I wouldn't have known the babies (colts) had already hatched if I hadn't seen them out walking around last week.  I love how they come back to the island every night to sleep, tucked safely under their mother's wings...

Psalm 91:4 (NKJV)

"He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler"

.

Reminds me of this old hymn:

"Under His Wings"

As I sat there looking around the pond, my heart was a bit heavy for one of our neighbors who lives over on that side of the pond:

My friend has lived here on this little cove for quite a few years, and dearly loves this place. She has been a protector of the wildlife as well as all the neighborhood pets and animals, flora and fauna.

A wonderful neighbor and friend.

She has been battling cancer for quite a while, and has now been

taken to a Hospice House.  We know that once a person reaches this stage, they most

likely don't return home to their earthly house again, unless there is an unexpected rally and change of condition.  

So my heart was a bit heavy, thinking about how she loves this place, and I sat there on the little dock and lifted her up in prayer...praying that her remaining days will be sweet and comfortable, and that when the angels are dispatched to carry her home, she will truly be ready and waiting.

 Such an interesting reflection of the clouds on the water...

reminds me of the circle of life..

heaven really isn't that far away,

and we should all be sure that we are ready to go to our heavenly home.

We may not have the opportunity to prepare for our last days...the Lord could come at any moment...or He could send His angels to call us homeward when we least expect it.

So during this time of Lent, it is a good time to reflect on the condition of our own hearts and be sure that we are ready to "go home" when the Lord calls.

Personally, I am eagerly looking forward to that day. I just pray that all my family and friends are ready as well.

Okay...moving on...I do pray that you will have a wonderful day and weekend. Thank you for visiting here today.  We don't currently have a "Friday Foto Friends" linkup, but I imagine that many of our friends are still posting some lovely pictures about their week today...so why not go visiting around and see?

I know I promised that I will be posting updates on "Pamela's Victorian Cottage"...and I intend to do  that soon....believe me, it is still quite a work in progress, and you will be surprised to see all the "home improvements" that have been made this week...but I wanted to get a few more things done before I posted any more pictures. So stay tuned for the next episode. I know you don't want to miss it!  :)   Bye Bye for now folks!!

Sunday Morning Prayer and Praise

Psalm 61:1- 5, 8

1.  "Hear my cry, O God;

Attend to my prayer.

2.  From the end of the earth I will cry to You,

When my heart is overwhelmed;

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Red Shouldered Hawks

 3.  For You have been a shelter for me,

A strong tower from the enemy.

4.  I will abide in Your tabernacle forever;

 I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.

Sand Hill Cranes in flight

 5.  For You, O God, have heard my vows;

You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

8.  So I will sing praise to Your name forever,

that I may daily perform my vows."

Eastern Towhee

Psalm 62:1-2

"Truly my soul silently waits for God;

From Him comes my salvation.

2.  He only is my rock and my salvation;

He is my defense;

I shall not be greatly moved."

This is the reflection of a TV-Antenna/Tower,  reflected on the water with the bright sun shining on it.
It was very brilliantly lit up. Really caught my attention, and made me think about these verses.

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower;

The righteous run to it and are safe."

Proverbs 18:10