Wednesday Treasures in the Great Outdoors!

 Oh what a delight to see these squash plants finally blooming in our little garden!  

The Yellow Squash, a.k.a. Summer Squash, seem to be perking up and looking healthier!

And the Zucchini is also blooming!  Woohoo!! We just might have squash one of these days!!!

I decided to get some Miracle Grow and start fertilizing my plants.  I no longer have one of those Miracle Grow sprayer bottles that you attach to a hose...guess it got lost along the way. But I have this wonderful sprinkler can, and I followed the directions on the box and watered all the vegetable plants and also my blueberry bush(es). One bush is growing beautifully, but I have others that I planted a few years ago that haven't done anything, so hopefully the fertilizer will help them too.

It will be such fun to see if we really do get to harvest a crop of veggies this year.  Oh, the tomato plants are starting to bloom too, but I didn't get a picture of them.

So this afternoon I went outside to sit on the garden bench, and Blackie came  to join me. At first he sat on the ground at my feet, but then he heard those "bad" neighborhood dogs barking in the distance, and he got really nervous, and jumped right up on the bench and snuggled up to me.  The good news is it appears that the "dog family" is actually moving today! They have been loading up a U-Haul truck and making trips somewhere throughout the day...so hopefully the "bad" dogs will be moving away. I do hope they have found a house with a good fenced yard so the dogs can run freely.  They really aren't "bad dogs", they just had a bad home situation. Once they are gone from the neighborhood I think Blackie will breathe a lot easier! 

Anway, we were enjoying sitting in the shade and listening to the birds...

And WATCHING the birds!  There's Daddy Bluebird on top of the birdhouse now, with a mouth full of food to feed the babies inside...

There he goes inside.  He and Mama Bluebird are staying quite busy these days as a tag team of keeping those hungry babies fed. I have a feeling they will be leaving the nest very soon.

But the Bluebirds weren't the only birds we were watching today...look up there in that pine tree on the island:

Do you see him?  That's a Wood Stork!!

I had to zoom in on him with my "real camera" so I could get a better look:

Here's more information about the Wood Stork

Yes, it's a Wood Stork all right!

And here is another one, way over on the other side of the still very dry 'Still Waters Pond'...

He's over there where there is a little bit of water, and the big birds like to congregate there to get some water and food...

In a little while he flew overhead...this is not my picture, but isn't he beautiful in flight?

Internet Photo, but this is  how he looked flying over us.

Meanwhile, the Sand Hill Cranes were also out there, and this one was walking across the "pond" letting the birds know whose territory this is.  I could hear his mate calling from the other side of the island. Yes, they still come here every day, even though they weren't able to maintain a nest and have any babies this year due to the lack of water in the pond.

One of our resident Sand Hill Cranes

Oh wait!  The show's not over yet! Up there in those same pine trees on the island is another big bird!

That's a Great Blue Heron sitting up there as pretty as he pleases!  No wonder the Cranes were making a lot of noise!  They don't like all these intruders to their territory!

Great Blue Heron up in the pine tree!

Isn't he amazing?

So even though our pond is basically a wasteland this spring, the birds still come and make use of whatever water and perching places they can find!  That is a blessing to me to see that life goes on here in spite of the drought!

Here are some words of hope and encouragement from God's Word about His care for us even during periods of drought or famine. This could also apply to periods of "spiritual drought"...when we are feeling drained and lost and our spirits are dry because of times of grief or sickness or disappointment.

Isaiah 58:11 NKJV

11 The Lord will guide you continually,

And satisfy your soul in drought,

And strengthen your bones;

You shall be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Jeremiah 17:7-9 NKJV

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

And whose hope is the Lord.

8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,

Which spreads out its roots by the river,

And will not fear when heat comes;

But its leaf will be green,

And will not be anxious in the year of drought,

Nor will cease from yielding fruit."

Psalm 33:18-19 NKJV

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,

On those who hope in His mercy,

19 To deliver their soul from death,

And to keep them alive in famine.

When we keep our eyes on the Lord and put our trust and hope in Him, He will carry us through those lean times and seasons of spiritual drought.  Those times come to all of us at one time or another in life...we all go through different kinds of seasons...times of prosperity and peace and fullness of joy, and times of deep sorrow or sickness or loss.  It's good to have a firm foundation in our relationship with Christ to carry us through those times.  Getting into His Word, the Bible, is the best way to find those words of hope when we need them most.  However, we shouldn't wait until we are groping in the darkness to try and find the light. Now is the time to store up His Word in our hearts while there is the light of day to see and learn...and then His Word will be there deep inside us when we need it most.

Psalm 119:105  KJV

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

Psalm 119:11 NKJV

11 Your word I have hidden in my heart,

That I might not sin against You.

Psalm 119:50 NKJV

50 This is my comfort in my affliction,

For Your word has given me life.

Honestly, I had not planned on going down this road tonight, but this is the way the Lord has led me to write. Perhaps there's someone out there who needs these words from God's Word tonight. I hope this is helpful to you.  Yesterday in the Tuesday 4 meme we were asked about different things that were "simply the best", and the question was asked about which book was the best book I've ever read...and my answer was "The Bible".  I know I wasn't the only one who felt the same way.  And this is why...because there is no other place where we can find such hope and help in time of need.

Prior to Christ's crucifixion there were some followers who decided to turn away from him because things that He taught them were just too hard for them to understand...and so here Jesus is talking to the twelve disciples...

John 6:67-69 NKJV

7 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

And that's what I believe...God's Word is where we will find "the words of eternal life".  There can be no greater words than this. Other philosophers and teachers and prophets may have wisdom and good thoughts to share that are helpful and encouraging, but none can compare to the Living Word of God found in The Bible.  

And so if you find yourself in a "drought"  or season of grief or sorrow or sickness, perhaps you may want to drink from the well of "living water" that Jesus was telling the Samaritan woman about in John chapter 4...

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 

14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Well, if you made it this far in reading, thank you. My prayer is that this will helpful and encouraging in some way for each and every one of us. You are all very precious in God's sight...

Tomorrow we are taking a little ride to go meet hubby's brother and family for lunch and to have an early celebration of their daughter Shannon's 23rd birthday. It's not until later in May, but they will be on vacation or just really busy in May, and so we try to get together whenever we all are free...and we celebrate  whenever we can! Life is precious!!   Thankfully Benton and Rose will be going with us too.  So I'll have more to share later on.  

Good Night my friends.  

Wednesday "Treasures"

Good Wednesday morning friends!  I am running behind schedule this week with a lot to do, still trying to get our house back in order and we have a busy week going on at Dixie Cottage as well.

And actually these pictures should be "Tuesday Treasures", because this was yesterday morning. If you are a Facebook friend you've probably already seen these "pink sky photos".

The sky was such a lovely shade of pinkish lavender, so of course I had to take pictures. The sunrises (above) in the east on the front side of our house, but there is usually some reflection of it on the west side over Still Waters Pond from our back side of the house.

Therefore, I went around to see what I could see, and there was this big white bird flying across the pond toward me:

At first I assumed it was one of our usual Great White Egrets, which are more common around here.

But the closer he came, the more I realized this was something different... (excuse the poor focus...it was still kind of dark and this was my cell phone)

He flew in for a landing right up on the shore in front of me, as if to say, "Good Morning!"

And that's when I realized that this was a Wood Stork!  We don't see them here often...maybe once or twice a year! Last year there was a pair of them, so I'm wondering where his/her mate is...

So he stayed a couple of minutes to get a drink and/or fish for his breakfast...

And after he had stayed long enough for me to get a few pictures and tell him how happy I was to see him right at that precise moment when I "just happened" to be there watching (another God-thing, I think!)

He flew away and was on about his day...and so was I.

But don't you just love those pinkish purplish skies? Another blessing and surprise from the Lord to start our day right.

While we are still admiring the morning sun, let's zoom past the day and take a look at another of God's masterpieces in the evening...same place...about 10 hours later:

I just stand in awe and marvel at the beauties of God's creation...never any two the same...

I was in the process of getting ready to go to choir practice at church when I looked outside and saw these skies...

And I wanted to stand there and sing along with this song, which we are currently singing in our Sunday morning worship service as a call to worship:

"You are beautiful beyond description,

Too marvelous for words,

Too wonderful for comprehension,

Like nothing ever seen or heard.

Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom?

Who can fathom the depth of Your love?

You are beautiful beyond description,

Majesty, enthroned above!

Chorus

And I stand, I stand in awe of You!

I stand, I stand in awe of You!

Holy God, to whom all praise is due,

I stand in awe of You!"

Speaking of our church, I usually try to share our Sunday service with you, and I guess I'm running a little behind...so if you would like to listen to our choir sing "He Has Made Me Glad", and then stay for a great sermon from our pastor from 2 Corinthians 8 & 9, entitled "The Grace of Giving". 

And speaking further about our wonderful little church, as you know last week we had quite a storm blow through town, "Hurricane/Tropical Storm Nicole".  Thankfully she didn't do as much damage here as she did along the coasts, but we did get a LOT of Spanish moss blown down from our many Live Oak Trees around the church property. And so on Monday we had a clean up day for those who were willing and able to come and help out.  Hubby and I went and did our share of raking up the moss, but I also took a few pictures of others working so diligently to get the big job done in a record amount of time:

What I was pleased to see was that we had a good group of people, men and women, youngish (not really very young!) and old...

And this little doggy came along to bark out the orders!! He was quite the supervisor!

And here is our Pastor, who ought to have been working on his next Sunday's sermon, but he was out there raking away with everyone else...true leadership...

This man below is 92 years old...and he worked the whole time just as hard as the rest...

And this dear lady is one of our newest members...a recent newcomer to our church and community, and she also pitched right in to help...

These fellas had the truck and wagon ready to haul away to wherever you take a load of spanish moss...

This was truly an example of "many hands make light work"...teamwork and willing servants.

Very thankful to belong to a church who goes beyond the Sunday morning pew to help out in so many areas of our church and community.

Okay, I need to get a move on. Gotta get to Dixie Cottage on time. We are having a big event this Saturday called "Sip and Shop"...refreshments, door prizes, sales...getting everything ready for Christmas! So we are busily getting the store in order for hopefully a very big day!  

Meanwhile, my unpacking of stuff is somewhat on hold until I can get around to it.

Have a blessed and wonderful week dear friends!!!

Go out and make someone smile today...

or stand in awe at God's handiwork in the skies or nature or His beautiful creation of His people.

Love to all of you.

 

I've Been M.I.A. Lately!

 Here it is Wednesday already...how did THAT happen?  I think the last time I wrote anything was last Thursday night! Now I see I've missed the Tuesday 4 for this week and you all are already past that and on to the Wednesday Hodgepodge, which I don't usually participate in.  Where has the week gone?  Oh, I know! We had the time change on Sunday to daylight savings time...that explains everything! I'm still trying to find that hour we lost! LOL.

So let me back track and try to find out where I lost my way...

I believe it was last Friday morning, when we had this lovely "sunrise"..."red skies in morning, sailors take warning!"  Yes, that is old news now, but last Friday we had a lot of bad weather in our part of the state. Thankfully we did not experience any of the tornado activity that passed a bit south of us, but we did get rain, rain, and more rain.  At least 3.5 inches of rain in a 24 hour period! That's a lot of rain! 

 When I left off last week we were just starting to get that rain and we had these "lovely" visitors to Still Waters Pond... (Pardon me if you are a Facebook friend, as you may have already seen most of these pictures before)

Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Wood Stork flew in on Thursday evening and were having quite a feast.  Well, they did come back on Friday morning...and this is what they had to endure:

Yes, the storm blew in with high winds and lots and lots of rain...

There's Mr. Anhinga, still "holding on" to that little tiny branch out in the middle of the pond. He tenaciously held on throughout the whole storm! I was quite impressed by his fortitude and feats of endurance.

If you look closely below, he's a tiny little speck about the middle of the picture:

Mr. and Mrs. Wood Stork were also  quite strong and still.  They stood together like this throughout the high winds and pounding rain and basically did not move for over an hour or longer, except when the lightning was so powerful I noticed one of them move a little bit closer to the other:

Still Mr. Anhinga held on:

And so did the Wood Stork couple:

Even when the rain was so heavy I could barely see them, they just stood perfectly still:

But finally there was a break in the storm and first one stork flew up to a tree on the island,

And then the other flew to another tree:

This is what I was looking at to try and find them:

Yes, they are both in this picture! Thank goodness for a good zoom lens on my real camera.

Here, I'll make it easier for you. Notice where I wrote the words: Look Up", and you will find them. You may need a magnifying glass. Sorry!

And so they stayed in the trees for a little while, until the storm passed by and we just had a little drizzle left, and they they lifted their beautiful big black and white wings and flew away and we haven't seen them since.

Reminds me of the song

"Til The Storm Passes By"

"In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face

While the storm howls above me, and there's no hiding place

'Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more

Till the clouds roll forever from the sky

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

Many times Satan whispered

There is no use to try

For there's no end of sorrow, there's no hope by and by

But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I'll rise

Where the storms never darken the skies

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more

Till the clouds roll forever from the sky

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand

Keep me safe till the storm passes by"

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Thomas Mosie Lister

I hope you enjoyed that song and the encouragement it brings...often times we find ourselves in "storms" that are not weather related...and it is so wonderful to know that we have a God who is big enough to hold us and carry us through any kind of storm we may face in life.  We need not fear the storm nor the effects of it when we know that we anchored to the Rock...

Which leads me to another song...This is a little different than the way we are used to singing it in church, but I think it will speak the same message beautifully:  Sing along with the old song, "We Have an Anchor"

Refrain:

"We have an anchor that keeps the soul

steadfast and sure while the billows roll;

fastened to the Rock which cannot move,

grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love!"

1 Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,

when the clouds unfold their wings of strife?

When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain,

will your anchor drift, or firm remain?

Refrain:

We have an anchor that keeps the soul

steadfast and sure while the billows roll;

fastened to the Rock which cannot move,

grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love!

2 Will your anchor hold in the straits of fear,

when the breakers roar and the reef is near?

While the surges rage, and the wild winds blow,

shall the angry waves then your bark o'erflow?

 [Refrain]

3 Will your anchor hold in the floods of death,

when the waters cold chill your latest breath?

On the rising tide you can never fail,

while your anchor holds within the veil.

 [Refrain]

4 Will your eyes behold through the morning light

the city of gold and the harbour bright?

Will you anchor safe by the heavenly shore,

when life's storms are past for evermore?

 [Refrain]

Well, I guess I hadn't planned on going this direction today, but this is where God led me.  I hope you found some comfort and peace in these songs.

Just so you know, everything else is fine. I just haven't been "mentally" into writing or reading much the past few days. No problems...just mind boggled I guess...time change usually slows me down for about a week until my body clock catches up. At least that's my story and I'm sticking with it!    I hope to get caught up with everyone later and get back in the loop. 

 

Oh, here's a couple of pictures my hubby took of me doing my "chores"  LOL:

I baked a ham on that stormy day so the house smelled good like something wonderful cooking and warming up the kitchen.  But then we had all that ham leftover since there are just the three of us here to eat it. So, another family tradition (from my Grandma Mursch) is to make a hamloaf.  I've shared the recipe and similar pictures here before: Link to Hamloaf story

And so I got out the old meat grinder that my mother gave me and set it up on the Hoosier Cupboard (that belonged to my husband's grandmother) and ground up the remaining ham to make a hamloaf.

And then we had the "kids" over for supper on Sunday night to eat it. But I didn't take any pictures of that!  We all enjoyed it and are still eating leftover hamloaf sandwiches, which are very good grilled with some swiss cheese on pumpernickel bread.

Okay, it's time to get this day rolling. I hope to be better about reading and writing in the next few days.

I've missed you!

Have a blessed week everyone, what's left of it!

And remember to be sure you are fastened to the "Rock that cannot move!"