Thursday Thankfulness

It's Thursday afternoon and I want to give thanks to God for some blessings today...

This is the beautiful rose that Rose and Benton gave me for Mother's Day! This is the first blossom, and isn't it glorious?

There a several more buds getting ready to open...so delightfully unique and lovely!

It's name is "Double Delight", and yes, I am doubly delighted to have this wonderful gift that keeps on giving! Thank you, Rose and Benton, for this very thoughtful rosebush gift!

Well, today is the day that Blackie Sue is going to her appointment to be "fixed".  Actually she will stay with one of the volunteers in charge of this "operation catnip" tonight,  and they will take her to the clinic tomorrow and bring her back home here on Saturday.  

When the lady came to pick her up and put her in the carrier it was a bit of a struggle to get Blackie to go, and here's my memento to remember her by while she is gone. Thankfully it's not very deep and really doesn't hurt, but it will remind me to say little prayers for her throughout the next couple of days as she goes through this bit of "trauma". (and yes, I did wash it thoroughly).  And also to pray for those who will be taking care of her, that they will treat her with kindness. I am sure they will.

Sunshine is kind of moping around on the back porch since she left.  This picture was taken a few minutes ago, looking down through my window in my "room with a view"...He is laying down right outside this window where it is cool and shady, but also about as close as he can get to me without being inside the house.  I wonder if he realizes I am right through that wall? I think he does. 

I've been outside a couple of times to reassure him, and he had a LOT to say to me! 

"Meow, meow, meow! Where did they take my friend Blackie Sue? Is she going to come back? Why did you put her in that cage and send her away with a stranger? Meow, Meow, Meow!"   I gave him some extra little treats and petted him some more and talked extra sweetly to him.  He rubbed my legs and didn't want me to go back inside the house...and he really wanted to come inside.  But then he settled down there in this spot outside my window and he's taking a nice nap. He'll be fine, and Blackie Sue will be back before we know it.

I did have the lady look at him (which surprisingly he allowed her to get near him and lift his tail), and in her opinion he has already been fixed!  He's quite furry and it was hard for me to tell, but she is quite certain. So that made me happy that we don't need to go through this again with him!

These were some fun pictures I took of Blackie Sue and the Duck yesterday...

Yes, that duck thinks he's one of the family and isn't at all afraid of the cats. As you can see, Blackie Sue just turns her back on him, and then scoots out of his way:

Oh, do you see Trumpet in the background, and Mother Crane down there keeping an eye on Mr. Duck?

No one wanted to pay him any attention up here. So finally Mr. Duck decided to take off and fly away to the pond. 

There he goes!

I managed to get a picture of the full moon early in the morning yesterday. It's been too cloudy at night to get a picture.

I am thankful for so many things...my family, our home, our church and friends, our health...things we should never take for granted.  God has been very kind and gracious to us, and we are very thankful. 

This is a verse that we would be wise to remember when things might catch us off guard or take us by surprise...

So if you are facing uncertainties in your life, health concerns, family issues, financial matters...remember that there is NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING too difficult for God!!

Amen.

Have a blessed and beautiful rest of your week, my friends.

Thank you for being here!

 

Friday Foto Friends, Sunshine and Moon And Mockingbirds

 I've been seeing some beautiful things on Facebook the past couple of days that have spoken to me. I shared one of them yesterday HERE, and then I saw this picture (below) last night and had to share it because of what I was actually doing when I saw this picture...read on for more of this story...

"To stay positive amidst chaos, cultivate gratitude, surround yourself with positivity, and focus on what you can control.
Don’t forget, you can control how you view, process and react to events. Most people handle stress and unfortunate circumstances with a knee-jerk, panicked response. Sometimes simply switching off can make a huge difference to how we feel. This doesn’t mean that we’re sticking our head in the sand. It means that we’re limiting what we’re exposed to for our own well-being.
𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙡𝙙-𝙛𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙝 𝙖𝙞𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩. Laura Ingalls Wilder
Artist ~ Prernaverse"

So, what was I doing when I saw this picture?  Enjoying some fresh air and "Sunshine"!  I had just gotten this new magazine in the mail, and thought it would be so nice to sit in the garden and read it:

The azaleas are so pretty right now! I was really enjoying this beautiful spot.

Yeah, that's me sitting out there in the Secret Memorial Garden, with my kitties nearby. You can't see Sunshine in this picture, but she is laying down in front of the bird bath, and Blackie is sitting right there in plain view.  

Hubby took this picture of us from a distance, but here are some that I took during this beautiful time of relaxation and pure peace and joy:

I had just fed the kitties up on the back porch, and then I went down to sit in the garden, and immediately Sunshine followed me!

It was so beautiful, sitting there beside Still Waters Pond, feeling a delightful breeze and the warmth of the afternoon sun.  It was a picture perfect kind of day!

So Sunshine laid down in the shade and was very content to relax there with me.

And soon, Blackie saw that we were having such a good time, so he came down off the porch to join us:

They both just laid there, enjoying the peace and calm and beauty of the afternoon with me.  I never knew having two "wild" (LOL) kitties could be so blissful... (I know, they don't look very "wild", do they?)

After a while they decided to go lay in the grass in the sunshine and watch the birds, who of course, would not come near their birdhouses or feeders while the kitties were laying there!

Just two lazy kitties, laying in the green grass on an almost spring day! It definitely feels like spring here in Florida!

Meanwhile, back over where I was, as soon as the kitties moved away, this Mockingbird came and sat in the Holly Trees right in front of me:

Isn't he handsome?  

It made me think of this song, which I haven't heard probably since I was a child!

Here's the song "Listen to the Mockingbird" sung by Dolly Parton and Stuart Duncan.

Here is the history of the song:  Listen To The Mockingbird

And although this Mockingbird did not sing for me while he sat there in the tree, he certainly gave me plenty of time to enjoy his beauty and give thanks for such a perfect day!

Did you know that the Mockingbird is the Florida State bird? You can read about that HERE

Here's a link to 10 fun facts about the Northern Mockingbird from the Audubon Society, if you wish to read them.

Until I did this little bit of research on this song, I never really knew the lyrics or what they were about. I only remembered the part that said "Listen to the Mockingbird, listen to the Mockingbird".   Little did I know it was written prior to the Civil War.  Here is part of what it says in Wikipedia about this song:

"Listen to the Mocking Bird" (1855) is an American popular song of the mid-19th century. Its lyrics were composed by Septimus Winner under the pseudonym "Alice Hawthorne", and its music was by Richard Milburn.[1][2][3]

It relates the story of a singer dreaming of his sweetheart, now dead and buried, and a mockingbird, whose song the couple once enjoyed, now singing over her grave. However, the melody is moderately lively.

"Listen to the Mocking Bird" was one of the most popular ballads of the era and sold more than twenty million copies of sheet music.[4] It was popular during the American Civil War and was used as marching music. Abraham Lincoln was especially fond of it, saying, "It is as sincere as the laughter of a little girl at play."[5]

Lyrics

I’m dreaming now of Hally, sweet Hally, sweet Hally,

I’m dreaming now of Hally,

For the thought of her is one that never dies;

She’s sleeping in the valley, the valley, the valley,

She’s sleeping in the valley,

And the mocking bird is singing where she lies

CHORUS

Listen to the mocking bird,

Listen to the mocking bird,

The mocking bird still singing o’er her grave;

Listen to the Mocking bird,

Listen to the mocking bird,

Still singing where the weeping willows wave.

Ah! Well I yet remember, remember, remember,

Ah! Well I yet remember

When we gather’d in the cotton side by side;

‘Twas in the mild September, September, September,

‘Twas in the mild September,

And the mocking bird was singing far and wide.

When the charms of spring awaken, awaken, awaken,

When the charms of spring awaken,

And the mocking bird is singing on the bough,

I feel like one forsaken, forsaken, forsaken,

I feel like one forsaken,

Since my Hally is no longer with me now.

QUARTETTE

Listen to the mocking bird,

Listen to the mocking bird,

The mocking bird still singing o’er her grave;

Listen to the mocking bird,

Listen to the mocking bird,

Still singing where the weeping willows wave.

Listen to the mocking bird,

Listen to the mocking bird, the mocking bird still sing o’er her grave;

Listen to the mocking bird,

Listen to the mocking bird,

Still singing where the weeping willows wave.

Hawthorne, Alice, "Listen to the Mocking Bird" (1850). Historic Sheet Music Collection.

I guess we all learned something about the Mockingbird today!

Now, before the day was completely over, this happened...a full moon was rising:

And then there was the Lunar Eclipse!

NO, those aren't MY pictures (above),

But here are my pictures below, and yes, I did get up at 2:30 in the morning to take them!

Oh, How I wished I had a good camera that could take better pictures of the moon and the stars! It was a perfectly clear sky, and I could see all the constellations of the stars, and the moon was just amazing! I stayed up for about 20 minutes, just watching and enjoying every minute of it.

I wish I could show you what I really saw.  It was amazing!  I just stood in awe of God's beautiful creation in the heavenlies, and gave Him glory!

And then I woke up again this morning around 5:30, (actually, I hardly slept at all last night...that lovely dinner we had yesterday at the Mexican place was talking to me! LOL) and here is how the moon looked as it descended over Still Waters Pond:

Jeremiah 32:17 NKJV

 17 ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You."

I hope you enjoyed this beautiful time with me.  And remember, there is NOTHING too hard for our Lord God, no matter what you may be facing today.  You can always rely on Him to take care of everything you need. Amen.

Last Day of March? No Fooling?

 Here it is the last day of March already! What happened to this month? Although this particular week has seemed rather slow. I kept trying to make it go faster. I thought Tuesday was Wednesday, and Wednesday was Thursday, but now here it is really Thursday and tomorrow is April Fool's Day! I feel like I've been fooled already! LOL.  

Like this squirrel is trying to make like a statue and fool the Bluebirds into thinking he's not really there. They weren't fooled, however, and were keeping a watchful eye on him, dive bombing him if he got too close to their nest.

And these Canada Geese are standing at attention on the little marshy island in Still Waters Pond. They are standing like statues too...

Until someone gave the honking alert sound and they all started honking and here they go into flight mode.  Of course I couldn't get the in flight picture. They were too fast for my camera.

Last evening I was walking around the yard and came across this ugly sight:

Those are baby Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers, just freshly hatched apparently and eating the flowers on a weed in the yard. HOWEVER, they will soon move to other plants, like my amaryllis plants, and totally destroy them if I don't destroy them first. So, sorry, folks, but they are history! These fellows are not to be fooled with!

Speaking of Amaryllis Plants:

They are just getting ready to open up and bloom, and if those grasshoppers got on them and destroyed them, I would NOT be a happy camper!

My little blueberry bushes are developing blueberries. Sadly, there aren't very many. I accidentally knocked off some when we thought we were going to have a late freeze and I was trying to cover the plants.  We were fooled by the weather report and ended up not getting the freeze after all. Oh well, maybe they will get better as the season progresses. Time will tell.

The wild blackberries are certainly producing...but the birds usually get the berries before I do. Besides, there are too many thorns to get through to pick them to make it worth my while.

The birds will be happy.

Last evening's sunset on Still Waters Pond was lovely again:

I just stand in awe and watch it as it progresses.  I've been known to stand there and clap my hands and sing praises to God as well...

Psalm 113:1-6

1  Praise the Lord!

Praise, O servants of the Lord,

Praise the name of the Lord!

2 Blessed be the name of the Lord

From this time forth and forevermore!

3 From the rising of the sun to its going down

The Lord’s name is to be praised.

4 The Lord is high above all nations,

His glory above the heavens.

5 Who is like the Lord our God,

Who dwells on high,

(Sunrise this morning)

6 Who humbles Himself to behold

The things that are in the heavens and in the earth?

(this picture was taken a couple of weeks ago when we had a full moon. It was reflecting on the water and Mr. Blue Heron was out there fishing for his breakfast)

And here is some encouragement and hope for us today:

17 ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. 

There is nothing too hard for You.

Jeremiah 32:17

No Fooling!!!

Have a blessed last day of March!