Wednesday Treasures...Or Photo Dump Day!

 Happy Wednesday!  Some people call Wednesday "Hump Day", but today I am calling it "Photo Dump Day!"  It seems like I've been accumulating a lot of miscellaneous photos that haven't found their time to "rise and shine", so today will be the day. So pour yourself a cup of tea or coffee and let's take a walk through the garden or the house or wherever this leads us, okay?

I don't always take pictures of my breakfast, but I thought this was pretty so I did.  I baked some banana nut bread the other day, and we enjoy a slice (or two) for breakfast while it lasts...I prefer to put some cream cheese on mine. Of course, one must have some protein, so I made a little "omelette" of eggs, spinach, ham and cheese.  This made a delightful breakfast! I may just have it again today if there is anymore Banana nut bread.  HERE is a link to a post with the recipe if you wish to make your own!

I just looked at this again, and thought that might qualify for a "Green Eggs and Ham" Day.  If you've ever had grandchildren or have worked with young children, you know all about this! LOL.

Well, what's this?  Oh, yes, we must have some Blackie pictures! The other day he saw that our bedroom door was open, and for him that is an opportunity to race me to and through the open door and go hide either under the bed or, if the closet door is open, he loves to go in there and jump in my clothes basket.  This time, since I couldn't entice him to get out of the basket, I just pulled the basket with him inside out into the living room!  He actually enjoyed the ride and stayed right there in it once it stopped! 

But lately he has been choosing to come sit in this rocking chair, which is right behind me as I sit at my computer in the "Room With a View".  

Please notice what is written on the little pillow behind him..."The Song of Bluebirds".  

After he gives himself his morning bath after eating his breakfast, he curls up on this chair and goes to sleep.  For some reason he has decided he likes this even better than sitting in Daddy's lap!  Although he will still do that at other times of the day if Daddy is sitting still long enough.

Speaking of the Bluebirds, some of you may have already seen some of these pictures on my Facebook page the other day.  I took these pictures a couple of mornings ago, when Mama Bluebird was trying to entice the babies out of the nest by offering them bites of this big juicy bug.

How would you like THIS for breakfast?  (would it be better than green eggs and ham??)

What she would do is stick her head in the house with this bug, and let the babies get a little taste of it, and then fly away with it trying to get them to follow her.  

Reminds me of this part of Psalm 34...

"8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!

There is no want to those who fear Him.

10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger;

But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing."

I used the illustration of the bluebirds enticing their babies out of the nest with little bites of food in our Ladie's Bible Study the other day.  One lady was asking about how do you encourage someone to go back to church after many years away. The person had recently lost her husband, and had not been to church in many years, and she was very despondent.  However she was resistant to those who were inviting her to go to church, and when she did finally go, she was very critical of everything and didn't want to go back.  I had just watched these bluebirds trying to get the babies to follow them out of the nest with little bits of food, and I shared with these ladies that sometimes you have to "spoon feed" a person with just little bits of "food" from God's Word, and let your own light shine before them so that they will see how God is working in your own life as you go through difficult times.  Perhaps eventually they will want to know how you've found peace in your own life, and you will be able to share Christ with them more fully.  We can't just try to shove a steak down their throats when they really need to be fed with little bits of "baby food" until they are ready for more.  I love how God gives us illustrations from His creation to get His point across, don't you?

Speaking of feeding birds...Our hummingbirds have been active too. This is a male Ruby Throated Hummingbird at the feeder...can you see how smoky it is?  This was a couple of days ago. The smoke has been really thick for the past few days, although this morning is a bit better.  The fires are mostly north of us about 20-25 miles, but the wind blows the smoke our way and it has been pretty bad.

But I was happy to get these photos of the hummingbird. He looks healthy enough.

Also, if you are a Facebook friend, you probably already saw this opossum drinking from the pan of water in the yard.  This was early in the morning the other day.  I know all the critters are very thirsty since the pond is so dry and even some of the lakes are getting quite low.

I'm glad there was still some water in that pan for him. I've been trying to keep them filled.  (There's a lot of dead leaves in there, which I also try to keep out, but there's a lot of dead leaves still blowing around out there with the wind and the drought).

Thankfully our squash plants are doing quite well, since I water them every day...

Everyday there are new flowers on them, so that means there will hopefully be a good crop of zucchini and yellow squash this summer!

And the tomato plants are also getting lots of little flowers. They seem to like the new location.

We took a walk the other morning and I saw this Coral Bean plant blooming...They will attract hummingbirds, and there are some good uses of the plant, however, the beans are poisonous, so don't eat the beans! (or get them on your hands).

I also followed this Red-Bellied Woodpecker  around  trying to get a good picture of him:

He just kept flying further away and I couldn't keep up with him, but he was busy finding bugs to eat in the trees, so I left him alone.

Last night's sunset was pretty special, after a day will smoke filled skies...

However, if you look at the lower clouds on the horizon, you will see that there a lot of smoke there:

Still, we could see the Crescent Moon up in the sky:

Pretty cool!

It was a beautiful evening and I said a prayer of thankfulness that we were safe from the fires here...

But we continue to pray for those in harm's way who are fighting the fires as well as those who live in closer proximity to them.  There have been some evacuations, but thankfully no loss of life (that I've heard of).

However at sunrise this morning, the skies were still very smoky in the distance, and we could still definitely smell it:

Actually, that smoke isn't that far away...but thankfully the fires are...

The skies over the still very dry Still Waters Pond this morning:

I would like to close this post with a favorite passage of scripture from the Psalms, which I believe is appropriate in these turbulent times both here locally with the fires and drought, and around the world, with the wars and unrest and serious threats to so many...Praying this for our firefighters, law enforcement, political leaders and our soldiers, and any who are in harms' way.  

Psalm 91 NIV

1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you

from the fowler’s snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”

and you make the Most High your dwelling,

10 no harm will overtake you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him

and show him my salvation.”

Amen.

I hope you enjoyed my Wednesday "photo dump day".

Have a blessed and safe day, wherever you are.

Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends-God's Protection for All His Creation and You and Me

 Well, this week certainly has been one for the books when it comes to weather! Not so much here in our neighborhood, but in our upper parts of the state of Florida, specifically the Panhandle, where they got up to 8" of snow in some places!  We were definitely cold here where I live (and still are), and we were under a winter storm watch, but no snow was found in our yard...just a lot of rain the night before, leaving everything quite soaked.  Still Waters Pond was happy for the added water, and our winter visitors, the Ring Necked Ducks, took full advantage of the deeper pond and even ventured closer to our shore so we could see them better:

By the way, I took these pictures with my "old good camera". It decided to work again most of the time. It still has some issues, but as long as I keep the batteries charged really well, it does a lot better, so I did take back the other camera and got my money back!  I am very thankful that it is still working, because it really does take much better pictures than the new camera did, and is much easier for this amateur photographer to use!

The ring-necked duck is a diving duck from North America commonly found in freshwater ponds and lakes.  We have enjoyed having them come down every winter since we've been here on Still Waters Pond. Usually there are a lot more than just these two males. I'm not sure where the rest of the "family" is this winter.  But they seem to keep themselves entertained, bobbing up and down, diving down for whatever it is they like so well down under the water.  They are are a lot of fun to watch.

It's hard to get good pictures of them both above water at the same time. They seem to take turns diving, and they are quite quick about it, so if you aren't watching they will dive down before you can click the camera!

Even though it was about 33 degrees when I took these pictures, they didn't seem to mind the cold air. I expect the water was a lot warmer than the air. Maybe that's why they dive down under so much! LOL.

I hope you don't mind so many pictures...they just make me happy to see them this close. Usually they stay on the far side of the pond where I think the water is a little deeper, but the rainstorms we've had recently have not only added more water, but they have helped to knock the lily pads further under the water, which makes for smoother 'sailing' across the pond for them I guess.  Also I think the freezing temperatures we've had have killed off some of the lily pads, so they are dropping down to the bottom of the pond.  No worries, they will send up plenty of new ones in the spring and summer.

That's why the bottom of our pond is so mucky. It is many many years worth of layers of dead lily pad decomposition. You definitely do NOT want to try to walk on the bottom of this pond! You will sink up to your knees in muck immediately. Trust me, I know!! Yuck!!

But it provides a rich feeding ground for the birds and turtles and fish, which is why we have a pond in the first place...to enjoy what creatures God provides for us to enjoy!

Today has also been quite cold, again, low temperatures hovering around the freezing mark, with highs only in the 40's. It looks like it will be much the same for the next couple of days.  We are enjoying staying inside and keeping warm and cozy.  I made a pot of beef vegetable soup the other day in the crock pot, but I only added potatoes, carrots, onions and celery and a can of diced tomatoes with peppers, celery, and onion to the chuck roast. Also I added a couple of cans of beef broth, and let it cook  all day. It was really good...but hubby prefers more of a stew rather than a soup, so last night I divided the leftovers into two different pots and I thickened his to make it a stew, and I added some canned green beans and corn to my pot and made it more of a vegetable soup:

soup

I forgot to take pictures of it in our bowls, so these pictures were taken when I was putting the leftovers away after supper.

Stew

And here is my bowl of soup for lunch today:    

There's still some left, but I may have to put it in the freezer for another day. Eating something 3 days in a row is my limit! LOL. But it really was good, and so perfect for these wintry days.  Besides, the "kids" are coming over for supper tonight, and we are making tacos! Yummy!!  We are very thankful for our warm house, hot food, and God's protection from all of the storms of life. And we are thankful for our family being close by so we can enjoy their company often!

Today the action outside has been with the other birds in the trees and at the bird feeders. I try to make sure the feeders are full especially during these cold spells, because the birds really need to keep refueling to keep warm!

I was enjoying watching these Sparrows today:  Aren't they cute all lined up in the tree together?

Oh, I think one of them sees me:

And the next thing I know, they are all converging upon the bird feeder at once:

And then there were more on the ground, finding the seeds that spilled over when I was refilling the bird feeder yesterday afternoon:  Can you see them? They are quite well camouflaged on the ground:

I copied this information from the internet when I asked it "what does the Bible say about Sparrows":

 "In the Bible, sparrows are mentioned in Matthew 10:29-31 and Luke 12:6. These passages describe how God cares for sparrows and how people should not be afraid.

Matthew 10:29-31
"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care"

"And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered"

"So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows"

Luke 12:6
"And not one of them is forgotten before God"

What do these passages mean?

God cares for every sparrow, even the smallest creatures

God knows everything about people, including how many hairs are on their head

People should not be afraid because they are worth more than sparrows

Sparrows can serve as a reminder of God's faithfulness

Sparrows symbolize God's care and provision, the importance of humility, and the idea that God loves even the smallest creatures."

I thought that answer was pretty complete, so I really can't improve on that, except to say that these little creatures are a good example to us of God's love and care.  How wonderful that Jesus used these tiniest little bits of His Creation to teach us about how much God loves and cares for us.

The sparrows weren't the only visitors to the yard today, however this Red Bellied Woodpecker doesn't really need the seeds from the birdfeeders to survive. Just give him a bug-filled pine tree, and he's got a feast fit for a king:

Hey! Who are you looking at???

And last, but not least by any means, this beautiful male cardinal came by several times for his dinner.  His mate was with him, but somehow I missed getting her picture:

Well, folks, that about does it for today.  I've got to go start cooking that taco meat before the kids come over.  I'm just very very thankful for how God has protected our family, and even our "wild family" during this cold weather. I know there are many who have it much harder and colder than we do, and we are praying for them as well.

How many of you remember Ethel Waters singing "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" at the Billy Graham crusades?  I remember watching those crusades on TV so many years ago, and hearing Ethel Waters sing was always a highlight to me.  Well, praise God, they recorded this way back then so we can still see and hear her today....here she is for us to enjoy and sing along with us today!  What a blessing!!!