Are You Listening to the Music?

The Great Blue Heron was enjoying the day here at Still Waters Pond...

Yesterday I put on this "Life is Good" T-Shirt for the first time this year. I'm just getting out all of my short-sleeved shirts to wear now that it seems the weather is going to be staying more on the warm side from here on out.  I first told you about this particular T-shirt HERE last year, when I received it unexpectedly as a gift from my cousin Becky.

Remember? It says "The earth has music for those who listen".  There is a picture of a Great Blue Heron on a pond...much like what you see here on our Still Waters Pond.

And when I put this shirt on yesterday I had to chuckle!  If you recall, my "One Word" for 2023 is "LISTEN".    How appropriate that this shirt is a reminder to me again of that word, "Listen".

Well, today I was definitely listening for the sound of raindrops on the rooftop.  We haven't had any significant rain in a very long time, and Still Waters Pond is starting to dry up more than it should. That heron is standing way out in the pond where it should be much deeper than that.

We've been praying for rain, and it was predicted for today.

Mrs. Sand Hill Crane is also waiting for the rain...or is that Mr. Sand Hill Crane? I recently learned that they actually take turns sitting on the nest, and because they look so much alike it is really difficult to tell which one is which unless they are standing next to each other, and then the female tends to be a little bit smaller than the male.

Uh-oh...there goes one of our neighborhood cats, out on the prowl for whatever it is that cats like to prey upon around the pond...tadpoles, lizards, small fish?  Just so they stay away from our birds!!!!

Finally! The Sound of the Abundance of Rain!

I Kings 18:41

 "Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.”

Mrs. Sand Hill Crane continues to sit on her nest, probably enjoying the wonderful fresh rain falling down around her and refreshing her weary body.

If you look below at the dark rim around the edge of the pond, that is where there is usually water, but the pond has receded that much because of the lack of rain.

Rejoice! The Rain has come!

Rejoice!  "Oh sing to the Lord and new song!  Sing to the Lord, all the earth."  

Psalm 96:1

I knew if I waited out there on the porch long enough the Bluebirds would come back to check on the babies in the nest.

However, when they saw me there on the porch, they pretended they couldn't see me.

They were waiting for me to leave, I guess, because they still consider me a threat to the babies.

But oh my goodness! When there was a lull in the rain, all the little birdies started flying back to the trees and singing their hearts out!

These yellow birds look like Goldfinches, but I believe they are really Pine Warblers.

Isn't this one so sweet?

Hello Mr. Sparrow!  God's eye may be on the Sparrow, but I think this one is watching me! LOL.

"Why should I feel discouraged

Why should the shadows come

Why should my heart feel lonely

And long for heaven and home

When Jesus is my portion

A constant friend is He

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches over me

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me"

(Refrain)

"I sing because I'm happy

I sing because I'm free

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me (He watches me)

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches

I know He watches

I know He watches me"

2 “Let not your heart be troubled,”

His tender word I hear,

And resting on his goodness,

I lose my doubts and fears;

Though by the path he leadeth,

But one step I may see;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know he watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know he watches me. 

[Refrain]

3 Whenever I am tempted,

Whenever clouds arise;

When songs give place to sighing,

When hope within me dies,

I draw the closer to him,

From care he sets me free;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know he watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know he watches me. 

[Refrain]

"I sing because I'm happy

I sing because I'm free

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me (He watches me)

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches

I know He watches

I know He watches me"

Are you listening to the music?  All of God's creation is singing to us, if we just tune our ears to hear. 

Finally I decided to go back inside and let the Bluebirds get back to their nest.  It rained off and on for a little while, but stopped after a while.

Just before sundown, my hubby called me to the window and said to look a little closer at the Sand Hill Crane nest through the binoculars.

We can't tell if those eggs are hatching and the young "colts" are being born, or if she is just turning the eggs.  She later sat back down on them. It seems a bit early for them to hatch. We first noticed the nest and the eggs on February 14th, and they normally incubate for about 30 days, so they still have about 10 days to go, unless the eggs had been laid earlier than we noticed...

Stay "tuned" for further developments!

Psalm 5:11 NIV

But let all who take refuge in you be glad;

let them ever sing for joy.

Spread your protection over them,

that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

Amen.

 

Wednesday Treasures or Thursday Thankfulness...

 Depends on when you read this. Most of you probably won't see it until Thursday, so therefore it shall be the "thankful Thursday" post.  But since it is still Wednesday, I'll throw in a treasure or two. LOL.  I've been enjoying reading everyone's posts and also the comments on my 4th of July post. I haven't had time to respond to everyone because it's been a couple of busy days and I feel like I am doing good just to read and try to keep up with you all. Some of you are so prolific in your writing I often wonder how you do it! But it is fun and I look forward to your stories.  

So what have I been so busy doing, you ask?  I don't really know...aftermath of Monday's activities...and then yesterday morning hubby had lab work to be done, followed by an actual Dr. appointment, and then of course we had to go have some breakfast before he fainted away! LOL.

Here's my breakfast:  You'd think I was the one in danger of fainting away...but not after attempting to eat all of this. I did end up bringing a good bit home with me:

We went to our favorite little home town Nana's Cafe'.  This isn't the real "Nana", but she is our favorite waitress. However I was trying to get a picture of the sign: "There will be a $5.00 charge for whining."

Ha ha!  Don't you wish you could charge people for whining?

Here's a couple of other signs up on the walls:  "I can at Nana's", and "Nana's Place, Memories Made Here, Where grandkids get spoiled with plenty of hugs and lots of cookies".  

Sounds like a nice place to visit, "Nana's Place".  Not just the restaurant...but the real place.

Now, this is a treasure and a thankfulness item...Not the picture of me, but what I am wearing:

I have been admiring this "Life is Good" t-shirt online for a while. It keeps popping up on my Facebook page because apparently I must have looked at their website one day and so now I keep getting ads on FB.  Anyway, I loved this particular shirt because of the design and what it says:

"The earth has music for those who listen", and there is a picture of a Great Blue Heron on a pond...wonder why I liked it?   Well anyway, I love the Life is Good shirts, but I don't spend money on myself very often...not that much, anyway. So I just kept admiring the shirt but ignoring the temptation to buy it.  So you can imagine my surprise one day recently to receive a package in the mail from Life is Good, and out pops this t-shirt!!! The very one I wanted, but I had never told anyone about it. 

Well, I couldn't figure out how they knew I wanted that shirt, and certainly the company wouldn't be sending out free samples, would they?  Hardly!  Then I noticed a packing slip in the package with a note on it from my cousin Becky saying, "I saw this shirt and thought of you."  What??? Gosh! I was flabbergasted!  Becky and I rarely get to see each other, maybe once a year if  they come to Florida to visit from their home in Ohio. But she's the cousin I grew up with who is just 9 months younger than I am, and believe it or not, this weekend was her birthday, and she sent me a gift! So I called her to thank her and also to wish her a Happy Birthday, and she reminded me that she is now the same age as I am for the next few of months! LOL.  

Here we are together a few years ago, with our hubbies.

And here we are below, at my 10th birthday party, quite a few years ago:

You can see my Barbie doll in this picture. That is the year we both got Barbies from our grandparents, and we played with them every chance we could together. I would spend weekends and summer days/nights at her house, and we built our own Barbie dollhouses and made furniture for them and made clothes for the dolls, and had so much fun, probably until we were about 13, and then I guess we decided we were too old to play with dolls. These are precious memories for both of us. We were blessed to have each other growing up. I was the youngest of 4 kids, and she was an only child, so we enjoyed doing many things together...even got into some mischief occasionally...but I won't bore you with those details. Maybe another time. LOL.

Here's that same Barbie doll today. She has retired and lives among the crystal dishes in my china cabinet.  Now, that's a treasure! She will be 62 years old in September! Looks pretty good for being so old, doesn't she?

I still do play with dolls...Here's Lily Grace amongst the 4th of July decorations. Someone asked me why she wasn't participating in the activities on the 4th, and I honestly felt really sad that I had not included her in all the fun. She would have loved to help us make the homemade ice-cream! In all the action and busy-ness of the day I forgot to let her join us.

I'm so sorry, Lily Grace and Bailey! Please forgive me! 

"It's okay, Mommie!  I still had fun watching everyone having fun!"

Anyway, let's see, what else is going on? I didn't take any pictures of this, but we had a busy morning today as well.  Hubby said the car needed two new tires, so we headed to Walmart to have them put on. While we waited we did some shopping for non-perishable items, and then we walked all the way across the parking lot to the Chili's Restaurant and had lunch.  Someone had very thoughtfully given us a gift card for Chili's for Christmas, and so I guess it was about time we made use of it! Everything was timed perfectly, and when we got finished eating and walking all the way back across the parking lot in the noon-day heat, our car was ready for pick up.  We also had a new battery installed, as it was getting weak, and we certainly don't want to get stranded somewhere with a dead battery in this heat! Thankfully our car air conditioner works really well, and by the time we drove home we were cool again. (and ready for a nap!). LOL.

I will finish this up with a few pictures from our calendars for July.  

I love this Country Seasons calendar with paintings by John Sloane. This is the picture for July. 

Of course, I LOVE the picture of the train in the background. Reminds me of our toy Lionel train that we set up for Christmas, with the little red caboose!

We don't live in farm country like this anymore, but when we lived in Ohio many years ago we lived in the heart of Amish country, and we often saw the Amish farmers working in their fields with the big draft horses like this. They also made their haystacks just like these:

My mother once told me they called these haystacks "hay-doodles".

Oh, hey! (pun intended) "hay"...that reminds me of this picture that is a real treasure for sure!

This was taken on my grandparents' farm in Ohio many years ago, probably in the late 1940's.  Those are my cousins on the hay wagon and my cousin Elinor on the horses, and my Grandma Tedlie and my Aunt Belle walking across the field to see them.

Amazing how similar this picture is to the one on the calendar, except of course for the train! LOL.

I love this picture from my Teapots calendar for July also:

Here's the story about that particular teapot:

Do you see the birds have the necklace? 

Here's another interesting quote from on this calendar:

Yes, Iced tea in the garden or on a "cool corner of the porch" would indeed be "as grateful a beverage as a July day can produce."   This is definitely the season for iced tea rather than hot! 

Well, friends, I think I'll find a "cool corner" of the indoor porch  and enjoy a glass of iced tea. There is no such thing as a cool corner of our outdoor porches or yard right now. It was very nearly 100 degrees again today. 

But now it is evening and time to think about retiring for the night.

So I will bid you adieu, and hopefully will catch up with each of you in the next few days.

Thank you for being dear friends. I always look forward to visiting with you and appreciate your comments so much!

Here's a final thought for today:

"Let all that you do be done in love."

I Corinthians 16:14

Amen.

Oh my goodness, I was just getting ready to hit publish and looked out the window and saw this sunset:

I thought you might enjoy seeing the sun setting over Still Waters Pond.

Okay, that's all folks!  Now I can hit "publish"!

Good Night!