Friday Foto Friends

 Oh My Goodness! It's Friday the 13th!  What does that mean to me? Absolutely Nothing! Except that it's Friday, and we'll probably have pizza for supper tonight! LOL.  We used to order Domino's pizza and go pick it up because it's not that far from us, but the last time we ordered it, let's just say it was not up to par, and we decided that we actually like baking our own "D'Giornos"  pizza here at home. I buy a supreme pizza at the Dollar General that is within a block or so of our home, and we doctor it up a little bit more and put it in the oven and eat it hot and fresh just the way we like it...and for a much lower price!  So that's our big Friday night splurge! LOL.  Sometimes, if Rose doesn't have to work late, they come over and bring their favorite pizza and join us. That's even more fun!  I enjoy working together with my sweet daughter in love in the kitchen. She's also a very good cook, and we work well together and have a good time.  

And that brings me to this, which is not in my kitchen, but thankfully it is currently in my sister Doris' kitchen.  This beautiful needlepoint picture used to hang in our mother's "kitchen" and dining room combination.  Our paternal Grandma Mursch did the needlework, and it is a sweet memory from my growing up years to see it again.  

The other day, Debby, a blogger friend  from My Shasta Home, made the comment on my Tuesday 4~A Cozy Home blog post that she used to have a plaque in her kitchen that said this same thing, and it reminded me of the one from my family home, so I asked my sister to send me a picture of it.  Thank you, Doris, for sending me this picture at my request.

This is actually a picture of my brother Clifford, which was taken right after he gave me my first digital camera. This was the first picture I took! You can blame him for me sharing so many photos all the time! He took pity on me for being the last person on earth who was still developing film...he worked for Kodak and happened to have an older digital camera sitting around that he thought I could use! I told him that he unleashed something crazy in me...I've been snapping pictures of everything I see ever since! LOL.  

Anyway, I wanted to share this picture because it is the only one I can find without having to do a lot of searching through old photo albums to show where this needlepoint picture used to hang in my parents' home.  This was the dining room wall, which was actually attached to the kitchen and close to the open living room.  This was the home my daddy built back in 1957, where I did most of my growing up until I got married and left home at age almost 19.  Sadly we had to sell the house after my parents left this earth for their heavenly home. So I'm glad I still have lots of pictures (just most of them are in albums or boxes since they were taken before the digital camera).  

And the saying on the needlepoint was very true concerning my mother's kitchen/dining room combination. That is where the memories were made...around that table, with loved ones and friends and so much good food that came out of my mother's kitchen!

The other counted cross stitch picture you can see on the wall was actually done by Clifford's wife Caryl, as a gift to my mother many years ago.  Cliff and Caryl live in Charlotte, NC., and that is where we often go for family reunions, although I haven't heard that there will be one this year.

This is the needlepoint picture that I have, which my grandmother also created, and it used to hang in her kitchen!  So my sister and I each have one of our Grandma Mursch's needlepoints to remember her by as well as giving us happy memories of home and family.

So I started writing this post early this morning, but as per usual we had things to get done this morning and now I am just getting back to writing at 2:00 in the afternoon!  I didn't write a Thursday Thankfulness post yesterday, not because I wasn't thankful, but because I just never got around to it! And I was kind of hoping for some news before I wrote. We finally got a phone call this morning from the specialist for my hubby to schedule an appointment for a consultation and evaluation of the results of his MRI on July 1st. Although that is still a few weeks away, at least now we have something scheduled and "progress" is being made.  Thankfully he is not in a situation where he is in a lot of pain or discomfort, but does have to be careful of what he does as he has issues with fatigue and balance, so we are just taking things slowly and trying to stay away from too much stress and activity.  It's good to know that help is on the way.

One thing I've been trying to do is order new Skechers shoes for hubby. Everytime I order them online and get them, for one reason or another they do not fit/work for him, so we have to send them back, which of course is a hassle.  Finally this morning we had to go to town to send back the last pair of shoes I ordered on Amazon. If you take them to Staples they will package them and ship them back for free, so we did that and I finally talked hubby into going into a real shoe store and trying some shoes on before we buy them! (what is it about men and shopping and trying things on?  At least my hubby just never wants to do that)  And I know he doesn't feel well and his energy level is limited, but we went early before any crowds, and discovered that they have a great supply of all kinds of shoes, including Skechers, and he was able to try some on and discovered that he needed a whole size longer than what he's always worn. I think they are making the shoes smaller since they are made in China, and the sizing isn't true to what we are used to. Anyway, thankfully he found a pair that he liked that fit, and they were even on sale! So we actually saved money in the long run! Win Win!

Seems like I haven't shared much from Pamela's Wild Kingdom on Still Waters Pond lately...so let's see what's been going on out there...

I've mentioned that it's been very hot and dry lately, even with a few thunderstorms here and there, they have not brought enough rain to refill Still Waters Pond yet. It will take a LOT more rain (and possibly a hurricane!) to bring it back to where it needs to be.  All that green grass you see in the picture below behind the bird house should be under water, and those "lily pads" you see are sitting in muck right now...no water!  So it is no wonder that "Trumpet", our young Sand Hill Crane, might be thirsty for some fresh water in the little swimming pool.

And he's not the only one enjoying the pool these days...Yes, that's our resident Muscovy Duck taking a swim in the pool.  Again...there's just not much water left anywhere in the pond for swimming even for a duck!

And since she is putting on quite a lovely show for us while she bathes, I decided to quit fighting it and let her stay around...as long as she doesn't eat our cats' food before they get a chance to finish it!

I think she's thankful for a good clean place to bathe and cool off!

Although the Sand Hill Cranes aren't always so welcoming of Miss Duck.  They had just chased her away by flapping their huge wings at her, and she flew back across the pond to get out of harms' way.

We had a nother surprise visitor!  Remember here when I shared pictures of a Florida Soft Shelled Turtle supposedly laying her eggs in our yard?  Well, actually, I never could find any real evidence of her laying any eggs at that time. It looked like she was trying to, but there wasn't any dirt dug up or anything that resembled a turtle "nest" after she left, so I am thinking that attempt wasn't really successfull.  However, we came home from town the other morning just in time to see this turtle covered in sand and heading back to the pond from our yard...

Yes, that is what the pond looks like right now in most places...very very dry...

The turtle had a long ways to go to finally get back to some water.

But this is the mess he left on our yard...you can see where she apparently had been wallowing in the sand and making a hollowed out area where hopefully she was successful in laying her egss this time:

(those are my big feet, not turtle eggs! LOL!)

Here's another view of the area and how far it is is from the pond... hopefully eventually the pond will fill back up to almost that same area and the baby turtles won't have so far to go to find water when they hatch.  

Hey! It just started raining right this minute while I was writing this!

According to my phone, it is only going to last about 10 minutes, but at least it's something! I won't complain! Every drop counts!! Praise God!

Actually, just to show you how dry it is, I took these pictures around the pond over next door at the new house that is still for sale (and the price has been reduced again recently!)  Most all of that green grassy area should be under water...so that gives you a good idea of how far the pond has receded.

This is looking from their yard back toward our yard:

And this was taken from the yard of the neighbor's house, looking into the pond, which is mostly dry there too...

It's still such a beautiful location, and I continue to pray for whomever our new neighbors will be. They must be someone really special, because God has been holding this house for them and reducing the price so that whoever it is will be able to afford it when the time is right!

These sweet little yellow flowers are still blooming alongside the pond. They don't seem to mind that the pond is almost dry. They know the rains will come and the pond will fill back up, so they keep blooming where they are planted.

Well friends, it's almost pizza time, and I haven't bought it yet from the store, so I'd better get a move on and go get it while the rain has stopped for a while. 

Here are some words of hope and encouragement from 2 Corinthians 4:15-18

"15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, 

may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 

17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 

18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

Amen.

Have a lovely weekend, my friends!!

Wednesday Treasures in Pamela's Wild Kingdom

 Here it is Wednesday already! This week is just a flying on by! I guess because we had a holiday on Monday, and that always throws me off as to what day it is. It also means our garbage will be picked up a day later than normal as well.  We always have to keep track of those days since it is only once a week, and if you miss it, well, then you're stuck with stinky garbage for another week!   

Oh gee, I guess I didn't really intend to start this post off by talking about stinky garbage! LOL.  Let's see, what can I share that would be more appropriate and pleasant? How about this:

The Bluebirds continue to come visit the birdhouse every day, but so far I cannot tell that they have built any nest inside. They often stick their heads inside and look around, and sometimes even go inside, but then they come back out and think about it, but never really do anything.

And even more strange, this male decided to go check out the other birdhouse too, but then he just flew away and his mate soon joined him.  However, in a few minutes they will be back again, and go through this same routine, but without ever actually building a nest. This has been going on all spring, and for some reason they just haven't decided to settle down to nesting.   Now with these 95 degree days it is really too hot.  So I guess they're bypassing raising any new babies this year.

Speaking of nesting...this very large Florida Soft-Shelled Turtle waddled up onto the shore of Still Waters Pond and decided to lay her eggs in the middle of my butterfly garden last night! 

I was happy that our "kids" were over last night and the grandpuppies were busily watching the kitties through the sliding glass doors and therefore we saw the turtle come up on shore at the same time. 

The incubation period is 60-90 days, so I hope nothing digs up the eggs or destroys them before then. I noticed that the Sand Hill Cranes went right over there after the turtle went back in the water, and they were poking around in that area, so I hope they didn't poke the eggs.

We've had turtles come and lay eggs in our yard before, but I've never yet been able to see when the baby turles hatch and head back to the water.  

I wish I could see it happen sometime. I'll have to keep watching from about the end of July through August I guess.

There's never a dull moment here at Still Waters Pond, that's for sure!

One reason the kids came over last night was to install this RING doorbell for us.  We didn't have a regular doorbell, and it's often difficult to hear when someone comes to our door, and it's also hard to see who's out there without being obvious about it.  So we decided to try this RING doorbell so we can see who is here even if we aren't home.  It's an added security measure that I think is wise in this day and age.  How many of you already have one of these?

And here's a video of me this morning, testing it out and then trying to figure out how to download it onto my computer so I could share it with you! Hey! It works!!

The other nice thing last night was that Rose had been off from work for a couple of days, and she had cooked a delicious beef stew in the crock pot and they wanted to share it with us. I made the cornbread, and we had a wonderful evening. It even decided to thunderstorm while they were here, which was an added bonus. I didn't take any pictures, however, because I was too busy with trying to get this RING APP installed on my cell phone. Actually, Rose did it for me, but I had to watch and see what she was doing so I would know how to operate it.  They already have this at their house, and they really like it.

Speaking of rain and the fomer lack thereof,  I had mentioned once that we were thinking about putting a small swimming pool in the back yard so the wild critters could get a drink of water while it has been so dry that even the pond was drying up.  Our intention was to set our wildlife/night cam on it so we could get pictures of whatever animal showed up in the night to drink from it.  Well, so far we haven't had any night visitors, but I didn't happen to see this sweet fluffy kitty, a.k.a. "Sunshine", getting a drink.

Yes, our cats have a bowl of fresh water up on the porch that is kept refilled and fresh all day long, but for some reason Sunshine prefers to drink out of the swimming pool and before that I often saw him going down to the edge of the pond and drinking, (before it was getting so dry that he would have to walk out on the mud to get to the water).  

Isn't he sweet?  Something got his attention here for a minute...maybe he was trying to tell Blackie to come and join him.  I have seen Blackie drink from it a few times, but never when I had my camera handy.

I think I need to fill it up a little higher so he doesn't have to lean so far over to drink.  Heaven forbid if he should actually fall into the pool and get all wet! LOL.  

Speaking of things in the water...we've been taking more rides lately as it is too hot to get out and do much walking and hubby hasn't felt up to doing much anyway, and I am doing most of the driving right now, so anyway, we took a little ride down to the Kenwood Boat Ramp, where we've been many times before. 

As I was walking along the shore looking at the reflections on the water and studying the lily pads, etc., I suddenly heard a loud plunk into the water off shore just beyond where I was standing...

Thankfully I had my good camera with the zoom lens, and I was able to see what had made that fast move into the water...

Yes, a "small" alligator apparently had been resting on the shore where I was headed, and he jumped into the water just before I got too close. Shew! That was a close one for me too!!

Some of these pictures are a bit blurred, but I liked the way the reflections on the water turned out, so just enjoy the abstractedness of them with me, if you don't mind...

And be thankful along with me that this guy was probably only about 4' long and not his Mama or his Papa alligator!  Believe me, I was being very watchful just in case they were still sunning themselves along the shore where I couldn't see them among the weeds...

His reflection of his eyes in the water looks rather strange...but we won't go there...

So , all is calm, all is well out there on the canal...

Just don't go swimming in there, okay?

Okay, back to this beautiful patriotic cross that our son made, which is a lovely way to express your faith in God and support of our country, especially for the 4th of July and other patriotic holidays...

Some of you expressed interest in it.  He doesn't have it on his Etsy site yet, but if anyone is interested in buying one, you can contact him on their Ben & Rose's Country Woodshop Facebook page and send him a message, and he will be happy to talk to you about this and any other items you are interested in, like the Easter Empty Tomb that he made. If you aren't on Facebook, contact me via  my email (link attached HERE), and I will forward your information to him.  I'm not trying to sell things here, but I am sharing this only because some have expressed interest in it.   Thank you!

2 Chronicles 7:14  KJV

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Well, I guess that's it for today's Wednesday Treasures.  I hope you enjoyed visiting here today in "Pamela's Wild Kingdom". LOL..you just never know what you will see!    Have a blessed and happy week my friends.