Wednesday Treasures in the Great Outdoors!

 Oh what a delight to see these squash plants finally blooming in our little garden!  

The Yellow Squash, a.k.a. Summer Squash, seem to be perking up and looking healthier!

And the Zucchini is also blooming!  Woohoo!! We just might have squash one of these days!!!

I decided to get some Miracle Grow and start fertilizing my plants.  I no longer have one of those Miracle Grow sprayer bottles that you attach to a hose...guess it got lost along the way. But I have this wonderful sprinkler can, and I followed the directions on the box and watered all the vegetable plants and also my blueberry bush(es). One bush is growing beautifully, but I have others that I planted a few years ago that haven't done anything, so hopefully the fertilizer will help them too.

It will be such fun to see if we really do get to harvest a crop of veggies this year.  Oh, the tomato plants are starting to bloom too, but I didn't get a picture of them.

So this afternoon I went outside to sit on the garden bench, and Blackie came  to join me. At first he sat on the ground at my feet, but then he heard those "bad" neighborhood dogs barking in the distance, and he got really nervous, and jumped right up on the bench and snuggled up to me.  The good news is it appears that the "dog family" is actually moving today! They have been loading up a U-Haul truck and making trips somewhere throughout the day...so hopefully the "bad" dogs will be moving away. I do hope they have found a house with a good fenced yard so the dogs can run freely.  They really aren't "bad dogs", they just had a bad home situation. Once they are gone from the neighborhood I think Blackie will breathe a lot easier! 

Anway, we were enjoying sitting in the shade and listening to the birds...

And WATCHING the birds!  There's Daddy Bluebird on top of the birdhouse now, with a mouth full of food to feed the babies inside...

There he goes inside.  He and Mama Bluebird are staying quite busy these days as a tag team of keeping those hungry babies fed. I have a feeling they will be leaving the nest very soon.

But the Bluebirds weren't the only birds we were watching today...look up there in that pine tree on the island:

Do you see him?  That's a Wood Stork!!

I had to zoom in on him with my "real camera" so I could get a better look:

Here's more information about the Wood Stork

Yes, it's a Wood Stork all right!

And here is another one, way over on the other side of the still very dry 'Still Waters Pond'...

He's over there where there is a little bit of water, and the big birds like to congregate there to get some water and food...

In a little while he flew overhead...this is not my picture, but isn't he beautiful in flight?

Internet Photo, but this is  how he looked flying over us.

Meanwhile, the Sand Hill Cranes were also out there, and this one was walking across the "pond" letting the birds know whose territory this is.  I could hear his mate calling from the other side of the island. Yes, they still come here every day, even though they weren't able to maintain a nest and have any babies this year due to the lack of water in the pond.

One of our resident Sand Hill Cranes

Oh wait!  The show's not over yet! Up there in those same pine trees on the island is another big bird!

That's a Great Blue Heron sitting up there as pretty as he pleases!  No wonder the Cranes were making a lot of noise!  They don't like all these intruders to their territory!

Great Blue Heron up in the pine tree!

Isn't he amazing?

So even though our pond is basically a wasteland this spring, the birds still come and make use of whatever water and perching places they can find!  That is a blessing to me to see that life goes on here in spite of the drought!

Here are some words of hope and encouragement from God's Word about His care for us even during periods of drought or famine. This could also apply to periods of "spiritual drought"...when we are feeling drained and lost and our spirits are dry because of times of grief or sickness or disappointment.

Isaiah 58:11 NKJV

11 The Lord will guide you continually,

And satisfy your soul in drought,

And strengthen your bones;

You shall be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Jeremiah 17:7-9 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."

Psalm 33:18-19 NKJV

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,

On those who hope in His mercy,

19 To deliver their soul from death,

And to keep them alive in famine.

When we keep our eyes on the Lord and put our trust and hope in Him, He will carry us through those lean times and seasons of spiritual drought.  Those times come to all of us at one time or another in life...we all go through different kinds of seasons...times of prosperity and peace and fullness of joy, and times of deep sorrow or sickness or loss.  It's good to have a firm foundation in our relationship with Christ to carry us through those times.  Getting into His Word, the Bible, is the best way to find those words of hope when we need them most.  However, we shouldn't wait until we are groping in the darkness to try and find the light. Now is the time to store up His Word in our hearts while there is the light of day to see and learn...and then His Word will be there deep inside us when we need it most.

Psalm 119:105  KJV

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

Psalm 119:11 NKJV

11 Your word I have hidden in my heart,

That I might not sin against You.

Psalm 119:50 NKJV

50 This is my comfort in my affliction,

For Your word has given me life.

Honestly, I had not planned on going down this road tonight, but this is the way the Lord has led me to write. Perhaps there's someone out there who needs these words from God's Word tonight. I hope this is helpful to you.  Yesterday in the Tuesday 4 meme we were asked about different things that were "simply the best", and the question was asked about which book was the best book I've ever read...and my answer was "The Bible".  I know I wasn't the only one who felt the same way.  And this is why...because there is no other place where we can find such hope and help in time of need.

Prior to Christ's crucifixion there were some followers who decided to turn away from him because things that He taught them were just too hard for them to understand...and so here Jesus is talking to the twelve disciples...

John 6:67-69 NKJV

7 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

And that's what I believe...God's Word is where we will find "the words of eternal life".  There can be no greater words than this. Other philosophers and teachers and prophets may have wisdom and good thoughts to share that are helpful and encouraging, but none can compare to the Living Word of God found in The Bible.  

And so if you find yourself in a "drought"  or season of grief or sorrow or sickness, perhaps you may want to drink from the well of "living water" that Jesus was telling the Samaritan woman about in John chapter 4...

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 

14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Well, if you made it this far in reading, thank you. My prayer is that this will helpful and encouraging in some way for each and every one of us. You are all very precious in God's sight...

Tomorrow we are taking a little ride to go meet hubby's brother and family for lunch and to have an early celebration of their daughter Shannon's 23rd birthday. It's not until later in May, but they will be on vacation or just really busy in May, and so we try to get together whenever we all are free...and we celebrate  whenever we can! Life is precious!!   Thankfully Benton and Rose will be going with us too.  So I'll have more to share later on.  

Good Night my friends.  

A Little Bit of Nature to Start off the New Year

Happy 1st Saturday of the New Year!  It's a beautiful day here...breezy and sunny, with the hope of some rain tonight!! Keep Praying!  Speaking of rain and our "Still NO Waters Pond", this was the scene that greeted us early this morning:

It was quite unusual to see all these different species of water birds out on the dry pond together this morning! From left to right there were Canadian Geese, a Great White Egret, Sand Hill Crane, a Little Blue Heron that I almost didn't see because he's so small, another Canadian Goose  and a Great Blue Heron, and the other Sand Hill Crane! Normally they are rivals for any space on the pond, but today they are sharing what little bits of water rivulets they can find among the grasses and mud!

It really was quite a scene!!  We haven't seen any Canadian Geese all fall, which is unusual, but because the pond is so dry they haven't been landing here. So it was a surprise to see three of them out there today.  They didn't stay a long time, but it was a joy to see them at all!

You can see how pathetically dry the pond is.  It really is heart breaking.

But still they came and stayed a while and must've found something interesting out there to eat...and they weren't fighting over it either!

In this picture below, if you look way back in the back on that fallen tree, there are actually two of those pesky Muscovy Ducks sitting back there!  They didn't try to join the party of the other birds, however. Maybe they know they aren't welcome...

Hi Mr. Goose! I'm sorry there's no water for you to swim in right now.  

Still, I think these pictures are interesting as they foraged for whatever food they could find...

Looks like something must've gotten their attention! They are all facing the same way!

Except for Mr. Goose...something else has his attention:

I think these are his two lady friends...

Well, everyone is back to doing their own thing again...but wasn't it nice to see them all being cooperative with each other for a while? Gives us hope for our world in 2026...

Now, switching gears for a minute to a new location... Remember when I showed you these pictures HERE at the Kenwood Boat Ramp in October?

Well, we took a little ride down there this morning, and THIS is what it looks like now!

I don't think they need to worry about hitting any manatees in that water now...

However, don't be alarmed. This is NOT because of the drought!  This waterway is connected to a large dam and reservoir, and they do a "drawdown" of the water every few years to help restore the waters. Here is a link to more information: Rodman Reservoir Drawdown 2025

Even though we knew this was happening, it was still quite a shock to us to see it like this...

This is a close up of the area at the end of that canal above, which was a big lake before and a great place for fishing before the drawdown:

If you really want to know more about the controversy surrounding this place, here is an interesting article that gives you more information than you probably really want to know, but for some you may find it interesting: https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/11/rodman-drawdown-exposes-the-beauty-of-floridas-lost-springs/   That particular article doesn't paint our Governor in a very favorable light, and I must say on this subject I tend to agree with them, but in everything else he's been a remarkable Governor. Of course, I don't know all the ins and outs of this whole subject, but I would like to see the Ocklawaha River restored to its original beauty and place.  When man starts messing with nature, a lot of natural beauty is destroyed.  But that's all I will say on that subject. It will be interesting to see what develops on this subject in the future. 

I will close this post with this Psalm...I was going to just quote a few verses, but they are all so good I decided to include the whole thing. It just seems appropriate for all we are facing in this day and time.

Psalm 33

"1 Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;

it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

2 Praise the Lord with the harp;

make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

3 Sing to him a new song;

play skillfully, and shout for joy.

4 For the word of the Lord is right and true;

he is faithful in all he does.

5 The Lord loves righteousness and justice;

the earth is full of his unfailing love.

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;

he puts the deep into storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;

let all the people of the world revere him.

9 For he spoke, and it came to be;

he commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The Lord foils the plans of the nations;

he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.

11 But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,

the purposes of his heart through all generations.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people he chose for his inheritance.

13 From heaven the Lord looks down

and sees all mankind;

14 from his dwelling place he watches

all who live on earth—

15 he who forms the hearts of all,

who considers everything they do.

16 No king is saved by the size of his army;

no warrior escapes by his great strength.

17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;

despite all its great strength it cannot save.

18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,

on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

19 to deliver them from death

and keep them alive in famine.

20 We wait in hope for the Lord;

he is our help and our shield.

21 In him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in his holy name.

22 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,

even as we put our hope in you."

Amen!

Oh, one more thing...thank you to all who commented on my previous post HERE. Some wondered about the Black Eyed Peas that we ate, and I should've said that what I made was called "Hoppin' John", which is a recipe that adds a few things to the black eyed peas to make them more tasty.  Here is a recipe I found online that is pretty similar to how I made mine, except I cheated and used canned Blackeyed Peas, so I didn't have to soak them and cook them all day.  Other than that, I did add the onions, green peppers and celery and some smoked ham, plus some seasonings to give it a little more flavor. We don't eat a lot of hot spicy foods, so my seasonings were pretty mild (not cajun, like this recipe).  Just a little garlic and a slight bit of cayenne pepper along with salt and black pepper. Everyone's tastes are different, so some make like it with a bit more "heat" than we do.  And we served it over white rice, but any other rice is fine too. It was very good!

Hoppin' John Recipe for New Year's

Happy New Year's again dear friends!!  

Saturday Bits and Pieces

Here it is the first Saturday afternoon of May! The current temperature at 1:44 p.m. is 86 degrees F., and it is partly cloudy and breezy.  Still no rain, but I see there is a 65% chance of rain tomorrow! I hope they are right! Everything is getting much too dry, including Still Waters Pond. I will soon have to rename it "No Waters Pond" if we don't get some serious rain to refill it soon. But even though  it is getting dry and very shallow in most places, it doesn't seem to stop the activity on the pond...here's a few pictures from yesterday afternoon and today...

This is after we had a friend help us by mowing the area down along the shore of the pond. It's best to do that now while the pond has receded so much so we can help keep the weeds from growing up too tall right along the edge. Once the rains start back up we won't be able to clear that area again.

This isn't real clear because I zoomed way across the pond to see this Great White Egret. I didn't know until I looked at the photo on the computer that he had something in his mouth...

It kind of looks like a snake? If so, he is welcome to eat all the snakes he can find! LOL.

At about the same time, Mr. Great Blue Heron flew in and chased the egret away.  He is standing on the other side of the pond, where there appears to be a deeper little cove of water without lily pads.  I believe this is the area where water drains into the pond from the drainage pipes under the highway on the other side of the trees. That helps keep more water flowing into the pond...but again, only when it rains!

Where the Heron is standing normally is under water also.

Here's the Sand Hill Crane family coming up on our yard in the afternoon looking for a snack of bird seed or whatever they can find out there...I actually threw a few overripe blueberries out in the yard and they were enjoying that juicy little snack...  You can see how big "Trumpet" is getting next to his parents:

What a cute pose:

While I was outside taking these photos he was getting a little nervous and I could barely hear him making a kind of wheezy faint trumpet sound, probably asking his parents if it was okay for that big funny looking bird to be watching them from the porch...

They probably said, "it's okay as long as she keeps giving us these yummy snacks!".  

And yes...the Muscovy Duck keeps coming back to see if there's any cat food left for him.  I've been feeding the cats on the back porch again because it is much cooler there, but I'm trying to outsmart the duck and feed them at different times than what he is expecting.  He came early this morning and I hadn't fed them yet...

And you can see in these photos that Sunshine and Blackie were just totally ignoring him and giving him the cold shoulder:

You will also see that someone knocked over our birdbath during the night.  Apparently there was a thirsty raccoon out there trying to get water out of the birdbath...or maybe a cat or who knows what?  This has happened before, and usually when the pond is receding too much for the land animals to go get a drink.   Hubby suggested that we might want to put a little kiddy pool of water out there for the critters and turn the wildlife camera on it to see who is coming through at night. Might be a good idea...we'll think about that...

On other notes...let's see, this morning we took a ride up to see where Benton was selling his flower pots at a garden/farm market:

Here's something new that he made and Rose painted this past week to sell in time for the Memorial Day and July Fourth holidays coming up:

They are strictly for decoration and not really candles to be burned!

And he still has these cute different flower containers:

I really like this one!

One thing I have discovered since going to this market is this product:

It is a balm made of beef tallow and essential oils, etc., totally natural.  It is great for putting on cracked heels, calouses, abrasions, and itchy bumps or bites. Also good as a moisturizer on dry skin patches. I prefer the lavender scented one or the lavender + Frankincense combination, but today all she had was the big one with the Frankincense.  It is okay, and actually Rose is finding this is helpful on her psoriasis places to stop the itching, so I am going to share some of this bigger jar with her until we can get some more.  It is a wonderful home-made balm...but it is definitely not vegan, if someone is concerned about that.  The lady who makes this raises beef cattle (well, her husband and son do that), and she makes this from the beef tallow. She calls her business "Fat Mama's Tallow", but she is definitely not fat herself. LOL.  HERE is a link to more information about the benefits of using beef tallow on the skin.  One note, it is not recommended for oily skin, and you should test it on a small area first to be sure you don't have any kind of reaction to it. But I have found it to be very healing and soothing.

So that's my public service announcement for today.

Yesterday our church Women in Faith group sponsored our annual May Fellowship, where we invite ladies from all the other churches in our community to come and have lunch with us, along with a special program/speaker.  We were blessed to have over 60 ladies come from at least 5 different churches of all different denominations.  We do this every May, and the ladies all love being together as "sisters in Christ".  Here's a few pictures:

There was wonderful food...we keep it simple with delicious meat sandwiches on croissants and vegie, fruit platters from our Publix supermarket ("Where Shopping is a Pleasure"), 

And then our ladies bring desserts, which were all wonderful. I took a lemon/blueberry cake. It was good!

The theme was "Prayer Time in the Garden with God".

Oh, there's me!  I'm the official photographer for these events, so I had to ask someone else to take a picture of me. LOL.

These tables of so many lovely women represent women from not only our church, Interlachen (Global) Methodist Church, but other churches from around our community.  There were ladies from the Catholic church, The Baptist Church,  The Episcopal church, The Assembly of God, and a couple of other Global Methodist Churches from surrounding communities.

Theresa is our women's ministry president, in addition to many other jobs in the church. She's in charge of our kitchen and runs a tight ship! LOL.

Can you see our youngest member above?  She's a sweetheart.  I remember seeing her Mama here last May still awaiting this little one's arrival, who is her 4th little girl, by the way.  

Our guest speaker, the Director of a group called "Sisterhood of Servants", a ministry to young women and girls in the United States and Zambia, Africa.

This sweet friend just recently retired and this is her first time to attend a women's event at church since retirement! 

And this dear lady was our pianist until she had a stroke this past winter. She has been recovering ever since, and just finally was able to come back to church on Easter Sunday (and sang a beautiful solo!), and now is back singing in the choir, but she will not be able to play the piano anymore. She is a miracle of God's amazing grace and healing!

Our Church Secretary...without whom not much would get done for sure!

This dear lady has been battling cancer for a couple of years, but we believe she's finally on the "home stretch" to remission, by the grace of God.

Our sweet Pastor's Wife and worship/choir leader

Our "Blessed" friend Norma, who is also a nurse and takes care of so many!

Another retired nurse, who also helps with so many people, and recently herself had hip replacement surgery.

Another dear friend fellow choir member.

Can you feel the love?

There was definitely a lot of "love" going round, the Love of the Lord for one another...truly a "sisterhood of servants". 

Galatians 3:26-29 tell us this: 

"26 For you are all sons (and daughters!!) of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."

How many remember this old song by the Gaithers?   "The Family of God".  Sing along with us...

"You will notice we say brother

And sister 'round here

It′s because we're a family

And these folks are so near

When one has a heartache

We all share the tears

And rejoice in each victory

In this family so dear

I'm so glad I′m a part

Of the family of God

I′ve been washed in the fountain

Cleansed by His blood

Joint heirs with Jesus

As we travel this sod

For I'm part of the family

The family of God

From the door of an orphanage

To the house of the King

No longer an outcast

A new song I sing

From rags unto riches

From the weak to the strong

I′m not worthy to be here

But, praise God, I belong

Sing the song I'm so glad I′m a part

Of the family of God

I've been washed in the fountain

Cleansed by His blood

Joint heirs with Jesus

As we travel this sod

For I′m part of the family

The family of God

Yes I'm part of the family

The family of God"

Writer(s): Gloria Gaither, William J. Gaither

So these are my "bits and pieces" on this Saturday afternoon (now evening...I've had a few interruptions to feed the kitties on the front porch again because the duck kept coming back, and Sunshine is kind of stubborn and doesn't want to keep moving his dinner table back and forth, so I have to go through lots of antics to get him to follow me back around the house to the front porch from the back. It's quite comical to see)  and then I had to cook our own supper and wash the dishes. There's been other interruptions, but finally at 5:49 p.m. I am going to hit "publish" and call it done!!

I hope you've enjoyed coming along for the journey today. I feel like we are all sisters and family round here...Thank you for being here day after day.  You are a blessing to me!

Have a blessed Sunday tomorrow!

Sunshine and Blackie Sue say goodnight too!

Good Night!