Friday Foto Friends and Blessings!

Good Friday morning from Still Waters Pond!  Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird greet you today!

To me, it appears they are sharing love messages with each other as they enjoy a cool bath in the late afternoon sunshine (yesterday afternoon).

God speaks to us with love messages every day, if we just pay attention...

Jeremiah 31:3

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;

I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird came back to check things out at their house and take a bath...

Ah, so refreshing!

Then she flew up into the tree to fluff her feathers and dry off...

Apparently their baby (ies?) flew the nest when I wasn't looking, as it appears the nest is empty. There's no sign of any eggs left in the nest, so I am assuming however many babies were in there flew away to the designated place in the treetops.  I am sorry to have missed it!  But sometimes they prefer to do it when no one is looking for the safety of the baby birds.

Maybe they will come back for a visit too in a day or two, but for now I will just believe they are enjoying their new freedoms and learning to fly "high" with the rest of the birdies.

Meanwhile this was happening next door to us:

This is a lovely large lot on Still Waters Pond that has been recently purchased, and the new owner is actually a developer who is planning to put a brand new manufactured home on the lot and then sell it.  

Thankfully this fellow was just clearing out the underbrush and not really cutting down any big trees.

He was also cleaning out an area to give visual access to the pond...

I went and checked on our Canada Goose father, who is still patiently guarding and waiting for his mate, who is sitting on the nest on the island. I have dubbed the big island "Goose Island" because that is where they have built their nest each time they needed it over the past several years. This is only the 2nd time that we are aware of in the almost five years we have lived here.  If they did it every year, we weren't aware of it. Maybe this isn't the same couple as before? No way to tell. 

Here is the view of the island from the perspective of the newly cleared out area on the lot.

I still can't figure out exactly where the nest is, but I know it is somewhere on the right end of the island above.

Here is a view looking from the middle of the new lot towards the pond:

This is where the bushes were cleared out along the shore...it is kind of mucky down there because the pond has a mucky bottom, due to the decomposition of all those water lilies over the years.  The water levels are getting kind of low right now due to lack of rain.

But this is what you can see if you stand down there and look to the left:

And this is what you can see looking to the right...see the goose to the far right?

This is a wider view looking toward the right...

And this is looking straight ahead:

Back up on the lot, there are some beautiful live oak trees in addition to many other kinds of trees, pines, maple and other kinds of oaks.

Whoever gets this lot will have a beautiful woodsy place to enjoy!

Another view looking toward the pond:

After the clearing was done we found this Yellow Bellied Slider turtle up on the land, laying her eggs and burying them in the dirt.  She apparently found the new trail out of the pond up onto the land and decided the newly cleared lot would be a good place to hide her eggs. She will leave them there and when they are ready, they will hatch and come out of the ground and go back to the pond to live.  I was thinking I should put a marker where she laid her eggs so I can tell the builder not to put the house on top of it!   

Later in the evening we walked over to the lot again, and it seemed as though the birds were making a lot of calls back and forth...this beautiful male Cardinal was calling and calling his mate from the big oak tree in the front yard of our house. I think some birds may have become displaced with all the clearing on that lot and they are trying to find new places to roost...

This was taken just before sunset. It was getting "buggy" out, and I didn't want to stay and get eaten alive by mosquitoes while waiting for the sunset, but it does look like it will be a lovely vantage point to watch the sunsets.

Just after sunrise this morning hubby and I ventured over to the lot again to go and check on our goose family. There's Daddy Goose, sitting on the pond, continuing his vigil of watch-care over his mate on her nest. But where is that nest? I wish I could figure it out!

This is the view of the island and pond around it in the early morning...

I asked Mr. Goose where his lady love was, and he pointed in that direction:

I said, I know she's over there on the island, but I can see her!  She's well camouflaged!

Meanwhile we heard a knock knock knocking sound in the treetops overhead, and I looked up and saw this Pileated Woodpecker up there pecking away at the bugs in that tree:

Then I looked back at the island, and zoomed in on something on the hillside at the end of the island, and what did I see?

That looks like the goose on the side of the hill!!! I NEVER would have thought to look on the side of the hill for her nest!  But she is definitely sitting there, pretty as you please, well camouflaged behind the tall grasses, in a little flattened out area on the side of the hill!!

She was right there before my eyes all that time, and I never noticed!  However, of course, until the land was cleared where I could move over to that different vantage point, I couldn't really see around to that side of the island very well!  So there she is, safe and sound!  I wonder how much longer until the eggs will hatch?  I'm thinking it could be very soon, so please stay tuned!  I hope all the noise on the lot being cleared, etc., doesn't upset her.  So far, she seems pretty oblivious to it all...she's just concentrating on keeping those eggs warm and safe!  Such a good Mother Goose!

Now, in case you are wondering, here is a view looking from the middle of the new lot toward the left (as I stand in the middle of the lot facing the pond), and there is our house!  If you were to come and buy this lot and the new home that is going to be placed there, we could be neighbors!!!!!

This is where I was standing when I took that picture above. This could be your view as you look out the back of your house, maybe from your kitchen window, or from your back porch, and look toward the pond!  Yes, you could probably clear out a bit more of the brush that's blocking the view from there, but just think, you could have your own spot right here on Still Waters Pond!

But you better hurry, because once this place starts being constructed, I expect it will be sold quickly! And it is the very last vacant lot on Still Waters Pond! And just think! We could be neighbors and enjoy watching all the wildlife/and birds together while we sip our cup of tea or coffee or iced tea and take pictures and enjoy all that God has blessed us with!  To quote Mr. Rogers, "Won't you be, won't you be, please won't you be my neighbor?"  

Matthew 22:37-40

37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 

38 This is the first and great commandment. 

39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

I am praying for whoever our new neighbors will be. Perhaps God is preparing them for this move right now as we speak...God already knows who they are.  Whoever it is, it is my prayer that they will be blessed here in this location and that we will be able to be good neighbors to them.

Okay, one more thing...You may remember that I told you about my hubby not feeling well last week? Well, he ended up having a CT scan of the brain and a chest X-Ray, per doctor's orders.  We got the results yesterday...the doctor said his brain scan and x-ray were both normal, and that his brain looks exceptionally GOOD for a man his age! No signs of any kind of deterioration or former strokes or anything adversely affecting it! Wow!  We both said "Praise the Lord" right out loud!  That was pretty amazing! And he does feel much better. Not sure what was going on last week, but he's fine now, and we are very very thankful to the Lord for this good news. 

Well,  that's all for now my friends.  But seriously, if you are thinking about moving to Florida...or to relocate to a small country town and live on Still Waters Pond where you will have some good neighbors waiting for you...let me know!  I can put you in touch with the right people!  

Have a blessed and wonderful weekend!!

 

Tuesday 4: "What Do You Think?"

Writing Happy Things

 

What Do You Think?

Annie came up with some provocative and interesting questions for us to answer this week. I will attempt to do my best to give appropriate answers from my own personal perspective. If you wish to join in and share your thoughts, you can link up over at the Tuesday 4 link up HERE

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4. It's so nice to have you here.

Let's talk about you this week. Let others know your feelings and convictions. Give some advice and some wisdom. And remember to visit the other contributors to get to know them and find out their opinions too!

1. What do you believe the purpose of life is?

HERE (click on link) is a list of Scripture verses that give us an idea of what God's purpose for our existence is.  There are so many that I can't list or quote them all for you here, but I will share a couple that stand out to me:

Micah 6:8 NKJV

"He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?"

Psalm 145:1-3

I will extol You, my God, O King;

And I will bless Your name forever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless You,

And I will praise Your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

And His greatness is unsearchable.

Matthew 22:36-40 NKJV

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Romans 12:1 NKJV

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."

2. How do you handle stress ? What do you recommend to others who are stressed out?

"If you long for a mind at rest, and a heart that cannot harden...

go find a gate that opens wide into a secret garden."

Yes, to relieve stress, go find a quiet place to sit and rest and watch God's beautiful creation around you. Talk to the animals...listen to the birds singing, sing hymns of praise and glorify God...and soon the stress will go away...

The Sand Hill Crane Family came to visit while I was sitting in the Memorial/Secret Garden...

Also, this sweet little Dove of Peace came and followed me around while I was watering the plants and filling the birdbath.

I guarantee this to be a stress reliever...

3. What enjoyable things do you wish you could do more often? How would it improve your life?

Spending time with my family is one of the greatest things I love to do. I am blessed with these special people in my life, and more...this was on Sunday afternoon...and it truly blessed my heart to be with these guys...our two sons and our grandson, who is the son of our other son who is in heaven.  Also our daughter in law and granddaughter in law to be were here and we had a belated "Cinco de Mayo" taco dinner! 

Being with good friends, family, and maybe doing some traveling to beautiful places in our country...that is something I truly love and would love to do more of...

How would it improve my life? Well,  I believe having happy times with loved ones and visiting beautiful places releases the tension in our bodies and helps us to feel much better about life in general. I am a people person and enjoy interaction with like minded and interesting and funny people.

4. Do you believe in God? Why or why not?

Yes, I believe in God... The Apostle's Creed sums it up pretty well:

"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth;

and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead;

He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting."

Psalm 19 NKJV

1The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament shows His handiwork.

2 Day unto day utters speech,

And night unto night reveals knowledge.

3 There is no speech nor language

Where their voice is not heard.

4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,

And their words to the end of the world.

In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,

5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.

6 Its rising is from one end of heaven,

And its circuit to the other end;

And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;

9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold,

Yea, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,

And in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can understand his errors?

Cleanse me from secret faults.

13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;

Let them not have dominion over me.

Then I shall be blameless,

And I shall be innocent of great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

Psalm 8

1 "O Lord, our Lord,

How excellent is Your name in all the earth,

Who have set Your glory above the heavens!

2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants

You have ordained strength,

Because of Your enemies,

That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

4 What is man that You are mindful of him,

And the son of man that You visit him?

5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,

And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;

You have put all things under his feet,

7 All sheep and oxen—

Even the beasts of the field,

8 The birds of the air,

And the fish of the sea

That pass through the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord,

How excellent is Your name in all the earth!"

Ephesians 5:1-3 NKJV

5 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

I hope these verses help to sum up how and what I believe about God and also about our purpose in life.  I believe that I am here on this earth to serve God and to let my life be a testimony of His marvelous grace and love.  There can be no greater purpose.  I may not always succeed at this, but hopefully even when I fail, Christ shines forth in the midst of my failures.

1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV

"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."