Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

I know, I know, it's Friday already, so what's with the "Thursday Thankfulness" title?  Well, believe it or not I tried to get this started last night, but didn't get very far, so now here it is Friday evening at 7:15 and I'm just getting back to it! I started out without many pictures, but seem to have accumulated a few more as the day has progressed, so just bear with me while I take you along for the "ride", or walk, or conversation...

Hope your week has been wonderful...Ours has been busy, hence why I am so late in posting.  Here's where I started out last night...

Perhaps YOU should be thankful that I am not your florist! LOL. I picked this bouquet of wildflowers one day this week when we went for a walk.  

It is a mixture of Coral Vine, wild Lantana, Wild Poinsettia and some other little yellow daisy type of flower.  

They were growing wild and free and I wanted to bring some home with me to enjoy for a few days, until the flowers started dropping and the water started getting smelly...you know how that is...LOL.  Those little pink coral vine flowers basically dropped all over the place, but they were still beautiful and a pleasure to watch on my kitchen counter above the sink.  

I could have picked some more tonight when we went for a walk in the same place, 

but decided to just leave them for the bees and butterflies to enjoy...

I had to "wade" through some pretty tall, thick grasses/weeds to get this close, and didn't have my good camera with me, so these pictures aren't as great as I'd like them to be, but you get "the picture" anyway I hope.  

As I rounded the house to the back yard to do some watering because it has been so dry again the past few days, I noticed the Sand Hill Crane Family out on "Crane Island", enjoying their evening supper.

They did stop to watch me from a distance, I'm sure they were hopeful that I'd throw out some birdseed for them.

But I mostly was enjoying the way the sun was setting behind the trees and lighting up the surroundings in a beautiful golden light.

I watered the plants...

I've been enjoying this geranium that is blooming on the porch!  

And I love the way the sun was filtering through the trees to the "Secret Memorial Garden".

I was VERY excited to see a bud on the Don Juan Memorial Rose bush...the first one in well over a year! I thought it had died away for sure, but kept watering and pruning (and even fertilized it once), and praying it would bloom again.  A few weeks ago we had a friend doing some weed-whacking and trimming for us, and unbeknownst to me, he whacked this plant back down to the roots! I was really upset when I saw it, but didn't say anything.  But guess what? That must be what it needed, because it started growing new leaves and stems, and now there is a bud!  I am hopeful that it will bloom in time for my birthday next Wednesday! That would be a real blessing if it did, since this is the rosebush that was planted in memory of our son Matthew in 2014. We brought it here with us when we moved to this house in 2019, and at first it did fine, but like I said about a year and a half ago it just quit blooming.  I guess it just needed to take a break and rest for a while and regain its strength.  I think I understand that, don't you?  Perhaps there's a lesson there for us! 

 

Psalm 27:14

"Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord!"

I will keep you posted on further developments.

Speaking of waiting on the Lord and being strong again...one thing we did this week was mow the lawn. Although we don't have a huge yard, what we have is very bumpy, hilly, and sandy, and not a lot of good grass, but what is there has to be kept mowed or it will become overwhelming. This section of the yard it what I've chosen to do with the push mower.  A year ago I could not do this at all because of my shoulder, neck, and back issues.  But little by little I have regained some strength, and now I am very thankful to be able to do this again.  It is truly an answer to prayer.  (Strength is my "One Word" for 2024)

Hubby does all of the front yard with the riding mower, which is fine with me. We can't use the riding mower on the back yard because it is so sloped and uneven.  So he does all the other areas that are on flatter ground. This below is the driveway and front area of the house. We don't really have a lot of grass there because of the oak trees.  There are more acorns and leaves than grass, but what is there has to be cut. We do not have a paved driveway or sidewalks...just a lot of sand, which gets tracked into the house, but that's another story for another time! LOL.

He also mows this lot, which is where our septic/drain field is.  However, because the drain field is above ground, it is a mound with some sloping sides that he cannot do with the riding mower, so I also do those sides with the push mower. It is a self-propelled mower, but that really doesn't mean much if you ask me. I still have to push it, and it isn't easy, but I am determined to do it to help strengthen my arms and back.  However, I will admit that it takes me a couple of days to recover!

I am truly thankful to be able to do this again! It really is an answer to prayer.

What else did we do this week? Well, let's see, on Wednesday hubby had a doctor's appointment in Gainesville for some routine tests,  which is about an hour's drive away. So we made it there actually a few minutes early, and thankfully they took him right in. We were back out of there within about a half hour, and back on the road home around 10:00 a.m.  We got into our hometown around 10:50 (there wasn't as much traffic as in the early ride over), and decided to go to True Grits, a local restaurant,  for an early lunch.

We used to go there all the time after church, but they started getting too busy and couldn't handle our larger groups of people from church, so we quit going there.  However, on a week day, before noon, it wasn't very busy, and we enjoyed a good "senior discount" lunch of Country Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes with white gravy, and fried okra, and a biscuit. It was only $6.99 (plus beverage)  What else would you expect at a place called "True Grits"?  Well, yes, they do serve grits with breakfast, but we didn't want breakfast.  And they call it "True Grits" actually after the John Wayne movie of the same name, and there are many pictures of John Wayne in the restaurant.  It's a nice place...I just wish they weren't so crowded on Sundays! LOL.

And speaking of restaurants and going out to eat after church, we are planning to go out this Sunday to my favorite place here in our little town, "Hog Wild Country Cafe'".  We plan to go with our kids, including Scott, to celebrate my birthday a few days early since Scott can't be here during the week.

Here's a picture of hubby and me there a couple of years ago,  obviously when it was a bit cooler outside, hence the fire inside! I don't expect there to be a fire this weekend! Even though our mornings have been in the low 70's this week (even down to 69 one morning!), it still warms up to the high 80's in the afternoon, so I'm sure there won't be any fire in the wood stove yet! But there will be warmth in our hearts to be together with our family (and maybe some friends from church, we will see if any want to go there on Sunday) We always have a good time there.

Oh, back to the back yard this evening...The Sand Hill Crane family DID finally come across the pond to visit, hoping for some treats, and they did happen to find some bird seed on the ground...

This is "Abe" below, the very grown up "colt".  He is finally getting his red topknot on his head, and it's getting harder and harder to tell him apart from his parents.  He will probably still be hanging around with them for a couple more months, but I expect he will have to go out on his own most likely around Christmas, if not sooner.  Then it will be interesting to see if Mom and Dad Crane decide to build another nest this winter out on "Crane Island".  Time will tell, and we'll be watching for sure.

Well, with that I think I will close for the night. It is now 8:19 p.m. So that only took an hour to write! LOL.

Here's some good thoughts from my devotional reading tonight:

Psalm 121:7-8

New International Version

"7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—

He will watch over your life;

8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore."

And with those comforting thoughts, I will say good night and may God be with you always.

Amen.

 

Sunday Thoughts from Still Waters Pond

Psalm 121:7-8

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm— 

 he will watch over your life;

8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

Comforting words from God's Word today...and how does that have anything to do with that goose?

Well...that male Canada Goose is performing his duty in the care and protection of his mate much like Psalm 121:7-8 says that God watches over His precious children...although of course God's care is perfect in every way, and He never slumbers nor leaves His post, whereas the goose may occasionally wander off or take a little nap...

Remember when I told you about a lot of goose activity HERE a couple of months ago?   Well, since then, things kind of calmed down and the larger group of geese sort of went on their way once the Sand Hill Cranes were actively nesting and then having their babies out in the middle of Still Waters Pond.   Although the geese continued to stop by and harass the cranes and honk at them until the cranes would flap their wings at them and send them away...it's been quite a circus out there.  

Then it seemed that just two geese were hanging around most of the time, and spending more and more time near the island and also standing out beside our street greeting people along the road like they were our mascots or something.

However, we have been noticing this lone Canada Goose coming and going by himself lately, oftentimes just standing in the yard along the shore of Still Waters Pond for a while, and then swimming off around in the little canal that goes around the island in the pond.  Today I got to thinking about that and wondering why he was suddenly alone so much, when mostly we would see him with another goose swimming around or standing in the yard together.  

Then a little light bulb popped on over my head...could it be that his lady love is sitting on a nest, and that is why he is out there alone?  So I grabbed my camera and took a little walk down through the woodsy path that leads to the area where I can observe the other end of the island, and sure enough, there was our goose, standing guard all alone in the water out beside that part of the island.  Although I could not see the other goose or her nest, I feel quite certain that she is over there sitting on a nest and this is her mate, standing guard. He reminded me of the guards at Buckingham Palace (although I've never been there in person).  They never look to the left or the right, but just stare straight ahead. They do not acknowledge your presence, but stand perfectly still and ready to protect the palace no matter what.  

That is exactly what this goose was doing. I know he had to have heard me crunching on the dry leaves and tromping through the bushes that lead down to the shore.  There's no doubt he could see me in his peripheral vision, but he stood there perfectly straight, never wavering in his position.  (However, if I came much closer or he thought me to be a threat...he would definitely have charged after me to scare me away. I wasn't about to put him to the test!)

I couldn't remember exactly what year/month it was that our last little batch of baby goslings made their appearance here on Still Waters Pond, so I looked up the post I wrote about it HERE, and sure enough it was around April 26, 2021 that they made their first appearance!  That leads me to believe that if this couple is on that same kind of schedule, we could be seeing new baby geese any time now! I'm also wondering if this is that same couple...it could well be, as they do tend to go back to the same nesting site or general area as before!

So we could be in for another exciting event here on Still Waters Pond any time now!  I thought you'd want to know this great news...so stay tuned for further developments!

Here's some further links to information about the gestation period of Canada Geese and their life habits.

"Typically, females incubate the eggs for 25-28 days while males patrol and defend the territory around the nest"  

Link to Florida Fish and Wildlife info on Canada Geese

Hope you have had a wonderful SONday!  Just in case you want to sing along with our choir as we sing "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms", here it is for you. And if you wish, you can stay for the sermon, from I Corinthians 1:26-31, "Celebrating Celebrities versus Being Useful to God".  

1 What a fellowship, what a joy divine,

leaning on the everlasting arms;

what a blessedness, what a peace is mine,

leaning on the everlasting arms.

Refrain:

Leaning, leaning,

safe and secure from all alarms;

leaning, leaning,

leaning on the everlasting arms.

2 O how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,

leaning on the everlasting arms;

O how bright the path grows from day to day,

leaning on the everlasting arms. [Refrain]

3 What have I to dread, what have I to fear,

leaning on the everlasting arms?

I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,

leaning on the everlasting arms. [Refrain]

Deuteronomy 33:12 says:

“The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him,

Who shelters him all the day long;

And he shall dwell between His shoulders.”

Amen! and Good night Friends!