Tuesday 4~Things About You

 Things About You

Hi dear friends and welcome to Tuesday 4.. Toni Taddeo's invention and our pleasure to continue in her memory.

This week you are the topic.

1. What is something you are proud of that we don't know about?

I will have to think about this. I think you know just about everything there is to know about me, including what I ate for breakfast yesterday! LOL.  I'm not sure "proud" is the right word...how about thankful?  I am thankful that I have been married to my wonderful husband for going on 57 years, and that we were blessed with three amazing sons. I am thankful that our sons have turned out to be wonderful adults.  One of our sons is already in heaven, but I am thankful that I know that is where he is and that we will see him again someday.  I am thankful that he left us with one amazing grandson, and that our grandson called us recently to tell us about his current job and the things he's been doing.  He's 26 and lives in Maine, so we don't see him very often, and so it's always a blessing when he calls us.  I am also thankful that I have two wonderful daughter in laws. The one who was married to our son who passed away took such good care of him when he was dealing with cancer, plus she held down a very good job and raised their son to be a fine young man. She also trained to become a firefighter during that time and continues to volunteer in their local fire department. She is a hard worker and a wonderful person. We just don't see her often either because they live in Maine.  My other sweet daughter in law Rose is right here close by, and you all hear about her quite often. She is such a blessing to us, and I am so thankful God brought her into our son's life and ours at this time in our lives. She is also a hard worker and someone who is always looking for ways to help others.  So, yes, I am proud of my family, but mostly I am thankful to God for them.

2. What subject or things are over rated or talked about too much in your opinion.?

Politics for sure.  We have gotten to where we don't even want to listen to the news anymore. But we pray for our country and it's leaders every day.

3. What things and topics should be talked about more often or are under rated in your opinion?

Our faith in God is something that we should be free to share anytime, anyplace.  Not "religion", but faith, and what God has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. I am thankful for this blog forum where we can share our own personal beliefs freely. It is my hope and prayer that sharing my faith will be an encouragement to others and not something they wish I'd just be quiet about.

4. Are there any things you've changed your mind about in the last few years?

Cats.  I never had much interest in cats or having a cat in the past. If you had asked me if I were a cat or a dog person, I would've said dog, even though we didn't have one. We love our two grandpups and enjoy it when they come to visit.  But then God arranged for me to take over the feeding of two neighborhood kitties that our neighbor was feeding until she became too incapacitated to do so any longer (and is now in a nursing home most likely permanently).   You've all seen the stories about Blackie and Sunshine...and how much it grieved me when Sunshine suddenly passed away.  Now Blackie has captured our hearts and right now is sitting in my hubby's lap, which I never dreamed I would see happen a few months ago!

I believe it's one of those things that God arranged for a reason...He knows what we need deep inside...and sometimes having a small furry animal depend upon us for care and love is a good thing...and to see how he responds with love back to us is even better.  

So that's the Tuesday 4 for today. You can join in HERE if you wish.

One more thing, those fires I was telling you about in our town are still going on. Here is a picture of the smoke in the skies last night:

NO, that is NOT a sunset! That is the smoke in the west at the time of when we should be having a sunset.  At that point we could not smell it here at our house, but when darkness came the smoke surrounded us and became quite noticeable. When I stepped outside for just a minute to bring Blackie back inside for the night (he was sleeping in his chair on the porch and I had to wake him up because freezing temps were on the way. And yes, he spent most of the day outside because it was a bit warmer and that is where he wanted to be), immediately my hair and clothes smelled like smoke and I had to change clothes. I would've washed my hair too, but I had just taken my shower and didn't want to start over.  It is still smokey out there this morning, which means the firefighters are still at it. This is the 4th day.  May God protect them and give them reprieve from the fire soon.

Here's some thoughts and prayer for the day from Psalm 25...

Psalm 25:1-5

"1  To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

2 O my God, I trust in You;

Let me not be ashamed;

Let not my enemies triumph over me.

3 Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;

Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

4 Show me Your ways, O Lord;

Teach me Your paths.

5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,

For You are the God of my salvation;

On You I wait all the day."

Amen.

Saturday Review...Asking for Wisdom

 Y'all do remember that I said my "One Word" for 2025 would be "wisdom", right?  Yeah, I remember it too, but who knew it would be all about wisdom concerning what to do with a pregnant cat and her "friend/mate??", and some wild Muscovy Ducks that think they belong on my porch eating the cats' food? Who knew that dealing with such beautiful creatures could just about drive me crazy? LOL. (I'm not kidding!).  

So today I was determined to try to keep those ducks off of our back porch so our cats could live and eat in peace  (and so could I).  I had a hair-brained idea that if I blocked the porch deck, the ducks wouldn't be able to get up there and bother the cats and their food.  So here's what I did, since we don't have time or money or energy to screen in the porch, which would solve a lot of problems, but not something we can manage to get done right now...

I moved the wicker chairs over to the railing, and then went and got the folding chairs out of the shed and brought them up to the porch (no easy feat, by the way)...

Looks like we are setting up for a nice porch party, huh?  Yeah, Right, I wish!

So here come the ducks. This will be a test to see what they do...

No problemo!  Just fly right up there and waddle right around all those chairs as if they weren't even there.  No obstacle for them at all!

Thankfully I had removed all traces of cat food on the porch, so there was nothing for them to eat, and so they just waddled on down the line and back off the porch...but they didn't give up...they kept hanging around hoping for something to fall their way until the Geese and the Cranes shooed them away.

Meanwhile, I had stealthily managed to talk the kitties into following me around to the front porch of the house, and there they ate their food in peace.  Although Blackie Sue is not eating as much right now I think because of her impending delivery...and Sunshine doesn't seem to have as much appetite either, whether or not from the stress of all this activity with the ducks, or because it's so hot, or because he's old and not that hungry, I don't know.   I know I sure need wisdom to stay ahead of these animals, that's for sure!

So now what to do...those people still have not shown up to take the ducks or Blackie Sue. They have not responded to my last night's texts, and I've decided to just leave them alone. If they come, they come, but I'm still not convinced that Blackie Sue should go with them. I have had some other words of "wisdom" from some of our blogging friends who seem to have some reservations about letting her go with strangers.  It's given me some things to think about,  and I am really praying about it. I truly do need wisdom on this subject!

James 1:5 NKJV

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, 

who gives to all liberally and without reproach, 

and it will be given to him."

Even about cats and ducks?  Yes, even about cats and ducks and anything at all that is concerning us. God knows the intents of our hearts, and He wants to help us with things that matter to us. So I am praying and asking Him for wisdom in this situation, and I know He will guide me.

Meanwhile, the Sand Hill Crane Colts, "Trumpet" and "Spring", are growing like weeds! Here's the latest pictures of them today:

Yes, they are cute! In a gangly sort of way! LOL.

Speaking of "cute", well, maybe not cute, but unique and interesting...We were visited by a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers!

They were working their way up this pine tree down by Still Waters Pond...you can barely see the head of the one on the bottom of this picture:

The Teapot took center stage on this photo, but you can see the woodpecker in the background:

There! That's more like it!! Isn't that red cockade amazing?

This one is calling to her mate after he flew away and left her there! "Hey! Wait up for me!!!"

Don't they remind you of "Woody Woodpecker"?  Here's one to remind us...LOL.

I can just hear Woody Woodpecker now...eh eh eh eh, eh eh eh eh, eh eh eh eh eh eh. !!! LOL. (Not sure how else to make the sound.)

Well, that's all folks!  

I will keep you posted on this saga. 

Psalm 25:1-5

A Psalm of David.

"1 To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

2 O my God, I trust in You;

Let me not be ashamed;

Let not my enemies triumph over me.

3 Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;

Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

4 Show me Your ways, O Lord;

Teach me Your paths.

5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,

For You are the God of my salvation;

On You I wait all the day."

Sunday Evening Meditation

Psalm 25:1-5

1 To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

2 O my God, I trust in You;

Let me not be ashamed;

Let not my enemies triumph over me.

3 Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;

Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

4 "Show me Your ways, O Lord;

Teach me Your paths.

5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,

For You are the God of my salvation;

On You I wait all the day."

I thought you'd enjoy seeing that we not only have Bluebirds here on Still Waters Pond, but we also have "red-birds", a.k.a. the Northern Cardinal, and in this case, the male Cardinal. His mate is around there somewhere, but she didn't make it into the pictures.  This male just seemed to be waiting and watching and perhaps listening for God's instructions. "On You I wait all the day."  A good lesson for us today from God's Word.  Be patient and wait on the Lord for instruction...follow God's leading and teachings and you will not go astray!

Last evening I thought I would outsmart the Sand Hill Crane couple and go way around the shore of Still Waters Pond to where I could see their nesting place and wait for them to land for the evening.  They usually fly in around sunset and land on this little scrap of marshy floating island, (see below) where they will spend the night and also where they are building their nest for this spring.  

As I stood on the shore...this close to the water's edge! Yes, if I lost my balance I would be in that water!...

I looked around and across to where our house is and our shoreline, and what do I see?  Mr. and Mrs. Sand Hill Crane had landed on our shoreline, and they were enjoying taking their time and finding things to eat in the weeds along the shore!

So I stood there on the other side (I zoomed in for these pictures) and waited patiently for them to get tired of eating there and fly on over to their nest...

They seemed to be enjoying a leisurely stroll along the shore, and they were in no hurry at all to get back to their nest!

Meanwhile, I'm standing over there waiting and it's getting kind of chilly...I had run out of the house without a sweater thinking it was still warm out since it had been quite warm during the afternoon...

But no, they were in no hurry.  I took these next pictures with my cell phone, so I couldn't zoom in as well, but I liked the way the sunlight was changing the colors as it was setting in the west beside me.

I almost think they knew I was over there watching them, and therefore they weren't going to fly over that way as long as a strange human with a camera was there waiting for them!

Finally I gave up and decided to head back to the house before it got dark.

I didn't take another picture, but when I got back around to the house to go in the back door, they saw me and came right up on the shore into our yard and waited for me to go inside and get them some birdseed! Yes! That's what they were waiting for, the stinkers! LOL.  So I threw them out some seed and they were very grateful and stayed there and ate it until it was too dark for me to even think about going back outside to see where they would go next. Besides, it wouldn't have shown up in a photo anyway!  But perhaps I did what I was supposed to do.

Psalm 145:14-19

14 "The Lord upholds all who fall,

And raises up all who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all look expectantly to You,

And You give them their food in due season.

16 You open Your hand

And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways,

Gracious in all His works.

18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,

To all who call upon Him in truth.

19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;

He also will hear their cry and save them."

No, I am not trying to say that I am taking the place of God for these birds. But perhaps I am doing what God wants me to do for them.  Perhaps I am His ambassador here for these creatures of His creation. Or maybe it is simply an example to us of how God cares for us.  When we fall down or are feeling sad or blue or in a difficult situation, we can rely on God to provide for us.  "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him...and He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them."    If God provides food for the creatures of the earth, how much more will He provide for us, His beloved children who are calling upon Him in truth, and who are looking expectantly to Him for help in time of need?  Yes, as surely as we take care of our own, even sometimes in exasperation because our own don't always perform the way we want them to...yet because of love we take care of them...God also cares for us, even when we don't always perform the way He wants us to...because He loves us.   He will "hear their cry and save them."   Amen!

Now just for laughs as I close this out for the night, this afternoon I looked out the window here in my "Room with a View", and saw "Blackie" the neighborhood cat sitting on a little container on the back porch that has an old rug on top of it...just sitting there giving himself a bath and then relaxing and looking around like he owned the place.

I had to chuckle, because everytime I look out on the porch, Blackie has chosen a different place to sit! We have three wicker chairs, and he goes from one to the next and back again, depending upon his mood I guess. I told my hubby he reminds me of Goldilocks, trying out each chair and then the "bed" to find the one that is "just right".  

And speaking of beds that are just right...I guess it's time to say good night!

Isaiah 26:3  NKJV

3 You will keep him in perfect peace,

Whose mind is stayed on You,

Because he trusts in You.

Friday Foto Friends-Worth Waiting For! -Updated!!

Happy Friday Friends!!  If you visited with me HERE yesterday, you will know that our Bluebirds are back, checking out the birdhouses and trying to determine which one they will set up housekeeping in for this 2nd round of raising a new little family.  I said yesterday that I didn't know if I would have any new pictures for today or not, but that we would just have to wait and see what develops. 

Well, here's what developed later that afternoon...

I noticed that there was a flurry of activity out there around the birdhouses and trees late in the afternoon. It appeared to be several more bluebirds flying around, and I thought there was going to be a bidding war over the two different birdhouses again to see who gets which one.  But then I looked and saw this one bird just sitting on top of the birdhouse watching all the excitement:

On closer look, I discovered that this little bird is actually one of the fledgling bluebirds from their previous clutch of babies that flew the nest!  Well, maybe this one hasn't really and truly "left the nest" for good just yet...maybe he's still a little a unsure of himself and wants to hang around with Mom and Dad a little longer...

Isn't h e beautiful?  But my question is...when Mom and Dad Bluebird set up housekeeping and nesting for a new brood of babies, where does this little fella go?  Maybe he's a little awkward and shy and not quite ready to be out on his own...I don't know, but there really isn't room in the birdhouse for an extra big baby bird. I hope they have a "Plan B" for Junior here...It will be interesting to see if he continues to hang around once the serious nesting begins.  Stay tuned...

Meanwhile, if you've paid attention, you will remember that I mentioned HERE the other day that Lily Grace and I were going to establish a butterfly garden. I've been putting it off for one reason or another every day, but she just kept pleading with me to please let her help me plant this garden. I know, we haven't written any special "Adventures of Lily Grace" lately. I've been rather lax in that department, trying to keep up with my own posts, but Lily is a rather persistent little gal.  However, I told her that this was going to be a joint venture and that she would have to be willing to let me share it with my readers at this time.  She's fine with that, just so we get it done once and for all!! 

Ha Ha! Sometimes it helps to have a little extra prodding to get things done...

So today we went to the local flea market, and lately this lady has been bringing lots of lovely potted plants for butterfly gardens, and so I decided to spend a little of my private stash of "fun money"...(trust me, there isn't much of it, but it's my own little hidey hole of cash squirreled away for things that I want to do. Like buy flowers and fun stuff like that)

Somehow I managed to get hubby involved in this project...

Lily Grace supervised from the sidelines while we did the digging and raking...

(another update: I just noticed that Lily has a little friend over there by her right leg/boot.  (left side as we are looking at it) Do you see him? Lily didn't even notice I guess! That's pretty funny!)

And then once we got the flowers in place, she came and helped make sure they were straight and that they were in the right places...

Then she reminded me that we had to put the little stones in the garden:

You remember, the ones that say, Peace, Hope, Believe...and also the big one that says

"Sunshine, Friends, and Laughter...are always welcome"

I know the flowers look a little wilted right now. They need to adjust after being transplanted from the pots.  And yes, we need to clean the birdbath and Bobby the Squirrel could use a good scrubbing.

One thing at a time! At least the flowers are planted and now they can start to grow and attract butterflies!

I think Mr. Bluebird approves...

Oh, meanwhile, back in the Secret Memorial Garden, the Easter Lilies are finally starting to bloom!

And so are the Rose of Sharon flowers!

Don't worry, we won't be ignoring this garden for the other garden...it will always be a very very special place, where we can sit and pray and meditate on God's Word, and just enjoy the beauty of God's lovely creation all around us. A place of peace and comfort.

And so, that's the photos that were worth waiting for today!

I hope you enjoyed this visit to our gardens and life here at Still Waters Pond.

Here are some thoughts on waiting for today from 

Psalm 25:1-5, 20-21

1 "To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

2 O my God, I trust in You;

Let me not be ashamed;

Let not my enemies triumph over me.

3 Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;

Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

4 Show me Your ways, O Lord;

Teach me Your paths.

5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,

For You are the God of my salvation;

On You I wait all the day."

20 "Keep my soul, and deliver me;

Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.

21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,

For I wait for You."

I know I have a difficult time waiting for things to happen.  I'm sure I'm not alone in this. We tend to want things done now, in our time, our way, without delay!  But the older I get the more I realize that God's timing is always always perfect.   If there is a delay, there is always a good reason for it. If things don't happen exactly the way I planned or thought they should go, there's usually a very good reason for that as well.   God reminds us in Isaiah 55:8-9 the following:

“8 For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts".

I know I am a lot happier when I put my trust in God and allow Him to take control of my plans. They always turn out much better than I could ever have dreamed when I leave the details up to Him.  That doesn't mean that we shouldn't ever plan anything or try to stay on a schedule...it just means that when our will is yielded to God's will, life usually runs much smoother and things turn out even better than our own plans could have imagined. It's all about learning to TRUST in the ONE who loves us more than anyone ever could on this earth. It's not always easy to do this...but the more we "let go and let God", the easier it becomes to trust Him in all things.  Not sure who I'm speaking to here, but this is what I felt led to say today.  

Yes, some things are definitely worth waiting for!

Have a blessed weekend my friends!

HOLD THE PRESS!

UPDATE!!

No sooner did I hit publish on this post and I looked outside and saw THIS in my newly planted butterfly garden!!!!!  Those are the biggest butterflies I've ever seen!!! They were pecking away at the loose wildflower seeds that we added to the garden just to see if they would grow...hmmm...they can't grow if the cranes eat them all!!!

I think they heard me yell, "Oh NO!!" and off they went...

We shall see what develops...

What was I saying about my plans and God's plans and trust, and all that?

Yeah, well, that's all still true...and I am sure this garden will still be just fine.

Maybe not exactly what I planned,, but it will be just fine.

LOL.