Friday Fotos -While the World is Going Crazy

While the world seems to be going crazy, I have withdrawn to a safe place here beside "Still Waters Pond",  retreating away from the constant hubbub on the television about the pandemic. Thankfully I am able to do that. I know that is not the case for everyone, and my prayers go out to those who are truly being affected either medically, physically, emotionally or economically by this current world crisis. Even if we are affected one way or another, I believe it is important to come away from the fray and rest awhile. Turn off the television, take a walk, go for a ride...redirect your focus to more positive and pleasant venues for a while.

Hence, I spent as much time as possible sitting on the deck overlooking the pond this morning, until it has gotten too warm this afternoon.  Here's a few pictures of those who joined me:

 Mr. Canadian Goose was way on the other side of the pond early this morning. I could not see his mate anywhere, but I feel sure she wasn't far off. We've never seen them come here alone before.

 I am happy that the Goldfinch is back, enjoying the thistle seed in the sock feeder.

 He brought his mate along to enjoy the banquet!!

Giant Blue Heron was having a nice lunch on the other side of the pond...

And guess who is taking up residence in the new birdhouse?

No, it's not a bluebird as I had hoped.

It is a Carolina Chickadee, and he/she has been busy all day bringing nesting materials to the house to prepare it for his/her new family...

 Although I would have preferred an Eastern Bluebird family to move in, I know I must not practice discrimination with our tenants, so if the Chickadee wants it first, he will get it! You snooze, you lose!

Hopefully we will get to watch this new little family come and go as we have a front row seat from the deck.

Over in the shadows there was a male cardinal getting a little drink from the bird bath.

That particular bird bath has a couple of small cracks in it, and it doesn't seem to be holding water very well.  I guess I need to replace it.  Sorry, Mr. Cardinal.  I do have a better birdbath up closer to the deck, but I noticed a neighborhood cat standing up and getting a drink out of it this morning, so that is probably why Mr. Cardinal decided to use this birdbath instead.

I promised you a picture of the finished product of our newly sealed front deck here yesterday.  It is finally done and dry and it turned out pretty nice. It is just a clear coat, but it did actually add a little bit of color to it.  We are pleased and will get our back deck done the same way in a couple of weeks.

Our local Christian radio station, 91.3 Hope FM, posted this picture below on their Facebook page this morning, along with a link to the CDC Checklist, for our information.

It is important for us to remember that our Lord is always with us, no matter how turbulent the storms of our lives..  He is there to help us and will give us peace.   Let us always keep our focus on Him no matter what the circumstances.

Have a blessed and peaceful day and weekend. I hope you will take the opportunity to get away from the noise as often as you can.

Friday Foto Friends-"For Lo, The Winter is Past"

Well Friends, Here it is Friday again! And the last day of March to boot!!! Wow! Where did this month go?  It's been a busy month here in our neck of the woods.  Since it is early in the morning (6:54 a.m.), and I haven't drunk my cup of tea yet,

I'm still a little bit groggy. I'm so un-awake that I'm actually letting you see a picture of my messy desk top, with my cup of tea sitting on top of my Secret Garden Journal.  Yes, that is still a winter Thomas Kinkade mug...I have three of those with different winter scenes on them, and they are my current favorite mug for the morning, as they are tall enough to hold a good long cup of tea...enough to wake me up! I will probably exchange these for something more summery one of these days when I wake up enough in the morning to think about it.  So there!

Now, on to the pictures for Friday Foto Friends! And when you are finished here with me, you can hop on over to visit Deb and our other friends at Breathing In Grace -Friday Foto Friends and see what they've been up to lately!

Since I am still so sleepy, I won't bore you with a lot of talk...(! Ha ), and just get on with the picture show:  This first batch is from our lovely boat ride that we took earlier in the week with our neighbors.  Our ride started at the Salt Springs Run, which led into Lake George, which then led into the St. John's River, and then back again. I have many more pictures than these, but if you are one of my Facebook friends you have already seen them.  So here are a few of my favorites of some of the many beautiful water birds we saw along the way:

The first three pictures are pretty amazing.  These two Giant Blue Herons were building their nest in the tip top of a very tall tree.  The male heron was flying back and forth between two trees, gathering twigs and branches to build the nest. The female patiently waited in the nest for him to bring the supplies so that she could arrange them into a cozy nest for her upcoming family:

This next one is a pelican, sitting up on a post, watching and waiting for a fish to catch...Notice that he has a band on his foot...so apparently someone is watching him!!!

Here is another Giant Blue Heron, with his feathers blowing in the breeze, blending in with the Spanish Moss in the trees that is also blowing in the breeze:

This is a Muscovy Duck ( Click HERE For more info on this)  I thought he was very pretty, but I didn't know they were considered a "nuisance"....He seemed pretty calm and peaceful sitting here on the bank of the river, minding his own business...

This is a Bald Eagle, which kept flying around above us, and finally landed in a tree so that I could get this picture! Thank you, Mr. Eagle!  You are lovely!!!

Here are more pelicans and gulls, lined up on a dock, enjoying a sunny afternoon. Must be break time from fishing!

So now, back to my back yard:

This huge Pileated Woodpecker was having his breakfast in our courtyard one early morning:

This tree is a dead holly tree, and all that is left of it is this trunk that the woodpeckers truly delight in pecking. Must be some really good bugs in there.  We should cut it down before he pecks all the way through it, but I love seeing him come and enjoy himself.

Isn't he magnificent?

And last, but certainly not least, although they certainly are the least in size compared to all the other birds, the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds are back!!!!

This first one is the female...she doesn't have a beautiful ruby red throat like her mate:

And here is the proud male Ruby Throat:   (I'm sorry these are bit fuzzy, as it was dusk, and not good light...plus they are still a little shy around me and won't sit still for long)

I love watching these little beauties.  I have two different feeders, each up close to my windows so I can observe them from inside the house.  Once they get a little more settled in I will be able to get better pictures of them.

This feeder is in the Secret Garden, so I can watch them while sitting in the garden as well as from inside the house!  So lovely!!!!

And this last picture doesn't have anything to do with birds, but I know many of you were disappointed with me that the little freeze we had a couple of weeks ago killed my wisteria blossoms....Well, here's a picture to show you that all was certainly not lost! Every day new luscious blooms appear! It's almost as if the freeze was good for them!!!

So this concludes the tour of the week...I guess you could say this was a week "for the birds"!

Song of Solomon 2:10-12

"My beloved spoke, and said to me:

"Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

For lo, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth;

The time of singing has come.

and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land."

Have a blessed and glorious day my friends!!!