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!

Friday Foto Friends on Saturday

 This week seems to be one of running behind schedule and just not keeping up with everything, and so here I am, a day late and a dollar short...doing Friday Fotos on a Saturday! The Sand Hill Crane Family and the Bluebird "Family" have kept me close to the window with my camera the past couple of days, so I hope you are ready to enjoy some bird watching with me!  I think we will start with the Bluebirds, since I already posted the crane family pictures on Facebook and many of you may have already seen those, (but for those of you not on my Facebook page I will show them here after the bluebirds, who have center stage at the moment!)

I wish I could say that I have some exciting pictures of new babies to share, but not yet! However, I am encouraged that it appears that the Bluebirds are finally bringing food to the nest, so that gives me  hope that there may be some new babies finally inside the birdhouse.  It seems that lately we've had more false starts than success, so I am really hoping this time we will soon be seeing some sweet little faces coming to the window and viewing their new world for the first time.  Meanwhile, Mama and Daddy keep busy searching for just the right juicy bug or grasshopper to satisfy their hungry tummies:

Oh, there's Daddy Bluebird now...bringing something good for supper:

Mama is taking a 'breather' outside in the tree and  playing peek a boo with us while she patiently waits for Daddy to feed the babies inside the house:

With 90 degree temperatures these past few days I am sure that it gets pretty hot inside that birdhouse, and especially if it is filled with growing babies as well!

Daddy said, Ok, I've fed them so I will take off and go find some more food now!

Hey! Wait a minute!  Who is THIS on top of the birdhouse?  Mrs. Mourning Dove is very brave to sit there for even a second. Usually the bluebirds come and drive away any other birds who dare to come anywhere near their territory!  Daddy must've been off hunting and maybe Mama is tucked inside with the babies and doesn't want to come out and risk allowing an intruder come in...not that this big dove could get very far into that hole...and I don't see doves as being that kind of invader, but still...this is a rare moment! By the look on her face, with a raised eyebrow, I think she knows she's in a precarious position, but she's just taking a little break there until she plans her next move. 

Okay, that's more like it...There's Mr. Bluebird back again and all is well in bluebird land...

He's singing his song and telling all the other birds that they'd better stay away from his house!

Oh boy! Doesn't that look delicious?  LOL.  I'm sure to the babies inside it is welcome food... (glad I'm not a bluebird!)

I can imagine they will be happy to see Daddy show up with this tasty treat!

Again, Mama waits outside while Daddy goes in and feeds the babies...

And then, once he's gone, she's right there back again at the nest, checking on her babies to make sure they are all safe and eating their dinner!  After this she went inside and so did I. This is the last photo of the bluebirds for now, but stay tuned for further developments!

Meanwhile, back in the land of the Sand Hill Crane Family, which is actually right next to the Bluebird house... This was the scene early yesterday morning as they came ashore Still Waters Pond for breakfast.  These are the photos I shared on Facebook yesterday, so you have permission to skip over them if you've already seen them...

Young Abe and George are certainly  getting taller every time we see them up close!  

Mama apparently saw some kind of invader into their territory and started doing her hopping and flapping dance to drive whoever it was away...I never did see who was daring to come near...

The pictures are blurry because she was moving so fast...

I know I wouldn't venture forth any further if I saw her standing there like that:

Then she ran down into the pond, and soon the colts followed...

I love these photos of the Mother and her colt together:

We may have a male and female here, so it could be Abe and Georgette...One is definitely larger than the other, and I was told that probably means one is male and the smaller one is female. There really isn't any other way for me to tell. They look so much alike even when adults.

Thankfully after all the excitement, the family is happily enjoying their breakfast down along the shore of the pond.  After that they wandered off to the bigger world beyond for the day, and then back home again in the evening to sleep out on their little island nest in the middle of the pond, where they feel safe snuggled up under their mother's wings.

It's interesting to me to see the analogies given in the Bible as to how God protects His children under the shadow of His wings...beautiful pictures of God's love and protection for us can be seen even in how these birds care for their young...I don't think that's any coincidence, do you? It's just another way God demonstrates His love for us even as we see this in His creation in nature...

Psalm 36:5-9
5 Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the great mountains;
Your judgments are a great deep;
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
8 They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
9 For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.
Amen.

Meanwhile, back on the home front, we were hoping to finally be able to go and celebrate my sister Doris' and her hubby Art's birthdays this weekend. Doris is finally feeling better, praise God, and we had plans to go meet them at a restaurant about an hour away from here yesterday.  However, on Thursday my hubby developed a bad migraine and just wasn't feeling up to par, so we had to postpone our plans to get together until maybe next weekend. We shall see how things go. It seems like there's always something as we get older to keep us from doing all the things we'd like to do. But thankfully, he is feeling better today and hopefully next week will be a better week for all of us. Praying it will be so! 

So, my friends, until next time, may you be "abundantly satisfied with the fullness of God's house"...and be safely tucked under the "shadow of (God's) wings".  Amen.

Wednesday Treasures

 Yesterday (Tuesday), was a great day! Why? Well because one of our fellow blogging friends, Barbara from My Journal Memories, and her hubby Gary, came to our little town to meet us for lunch at our local diner, Nanna's Country Cafe'.  Of course, this is always a joy and a blessing when two bloggers get to spend time together in person.  This is not our first in-person meeting.  We go back several years and have met in our respective homes in times past as well. It's nice when we only live about an hour apart, and we are all retired, so that makes for good opportunities for happy meetings.

However, this time we just met for lunch as they had other things of special importance on their agenda for the day,  but I will let Barbara tell you about that in her blog post!

Our hubbies also enjoyed visiting with one another, and had an interesting, pretty much non-stop conversation throughout our time of dining.  That was fine with Barbara and me, as we had our own conversation going, talking about things that two bloggers of similar interests would be able to talk about! Barbara and I both agreed that just about anything we do or see makes for good "blog fodder", (Barb's words) so we rarely run out of things to write about.

I thought this was a fun photo below...I am taking a picture of the guys over Barbara's head as she is taking their picture at the same time! LOL.

Barbara and Gary are a very handsome and happy couple, as you can tell by this photo below...

This photo is a little more sedate, but both pictures were so good, I just had to include each one...

And last, but not least, here is yours truly and my hubby...we were enjoying a beautiful breezy day with our friends.  

I am very thankful to know Barb both here in Blogland and in person. She is a very genuine, kind, and loving person, who has come through some difficult circumstances over the past several years, but God has brought her to a wonderfully blessed new place in life.  These verses come to mind when I think of Barbara...

Psalm 30:5 "...Weeping may endure for a night,

But joy comes in the morning."

Isaiah 61:3

"3...To give them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

That they may be called trees of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

Oh, and btw, Barb is so very thoughtful...she even brought us a little "hostess gift", even though we weren't even meeting at our house...and this little gift was kind of one of those "God-things" that happen when you least expect them.  

Those packets are mixtures to use to make dips. Well, just the other day at our church ladies' Bible Study we were talking about a special "May Fellowship" dinner that we have coming up, where our church ladies put on a luncheon and program and invite ladies from other churches to come as our guests. The lady in charge of the menu was saying that we needed some "dips" for chips and vegies, etc., because we do things like meat and cheese platters and fruit, veggies, desserts, etc.   I was thinking that I really wasn't all that good about making dips, so I would just do a dessert. And then I get this gift of three different kinds of dip mixes, and I told Barbara, "well now I guess I could do dips for our luncheon after all!"  They are unique mixtures and would be something different,  I just thought that was really amazing how God put that together! Thank you, Barb and Gary, for being so thoughtful.

Speaking of "blog fodder", today hubby and I went to our local Blueberry Farm so I could stock up on some fresh blueberries, both to eat now and to freeze for later...

No, I did not pick my own blueberries. They also have some already picked available, at a higher price per pound of course, but today was almost 90 degrees and I was not about to go pick my own, so here's what I got:

Don't they look delicious?  (they are! I ate quite a few before I put them away...just couldn't help myself! LOL)

They also have strawberries, but they are all "pick your own", none picked ahead for us, so I passed on that. I could have bought some strawberry plants, (see picture below of plants that are for sale),  but with my record of growing things (or killing plants), I figured I'd better pass on that idea too.

This climbing rose bush was gorgeous...wish I could've brought that home with me, but it wasn't for sale! LOL.  

And speaking of unexpected gifts.  One of the ladies in our church got quite ambitious and canned a lot of vegetables that she bought at the farmer's market.  She brought some jars of carrots with her to choir practice last night and told us to take some home, and so here is a beautiful jar of freshly canned carrots! Aren't they gorgeous?  She had her grandchildren help her peel and chop them so they could learn how to do this. I think that is wonderful! And I LOVE carrots!

One more Wednesday Treasure (which is what all of the above things are, btw).  Here is another of my Amaryllis flowers blooming! You can see a little hole in the flower where one of those nasty Lubber Grasshoppers was having his lunch the other day...but the flower persevered and continued to develop and blossom and is still beautiful just the same. 

Aren't we all a little bit like that flower?  We have all been through things in life that have punched holes in our dreams and maybe even our external beauty,  But sometimes it is those very trials and difficulties in life that help to create a woman of strength and true inner beauty. That is the real beauty that lasts forever.

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,

But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

Proverbs 31:30

And with those thoughts I will close for tonight.  I hope you enjoyed these special "treasures" today.  Good Night my friends.

Saturday Wanderings and Bright Ideas

 Good Saturday Evening from Still Waters Pond!  

I was outside this morning doing some yard work, and the Crane family came ashore, not realizing I was in the yard.  It was a great photo op for me, although I only had my cell phone with me and the quality isn't as good because I had to do the zoom lens and they just aren't quite as clear as I'd like, but you get the idea!  Look how much "Little Abe and George" have grown in three weeks!! 

They still stay close to Mama and Daddy, and one of the colts started to go in one direction and the others went the other way, and he turned around and found himself all alone. I literally heard him say "Mama!"  And Mama came running back to him and made sure he stayed with the group from then on.

I had to stay pretty still until they moved on. I didn't want to get Mama or Daddy riled up at me for being too close.

I finally decided to go around to the front of the house in the other direction and go in the front door, since they were pretty much blocking my passage to the back door. LOL. Glad we have two ways to go!

This evening hubby and I went for our walk in the woods, and I came across these bushes that were blooming profusely! I had never seen them there before!

I used my "Google Lens" feature on my cell phone is find out what it was, and it is a Sparkleberry bush (or tree)

It will get berries on it that resemble a kind of blueberry, but they are seedy and even though they are edible, they are probably better left for the birds to enjoy! I love these little white flowers and would love to have this growing in my yard! I may have to go back to the woods and see if I can dig up a small one to transplant.

Of course, I had to bring some home with me to just enjoy! Who doesn't need a little "sparkleberry" to brighten up their day?

Speaking of brightening up my day...

LOL...When I sit in my recliner next to hubby to read, I turn on the lamp that is between us. However, the bright light shines in his eyes and bothers him, so today he tried this remedy:

He said it helped a lot, so I guess it will have to be okay for him to wear a hat in the house if I want to keep reading! LOL.

And more things to brighten my day:

Actually, this was last night...Yes, these are the "kids",  kidding around in my bathroom!  They just finished installing something extra special that they created for me, but Benton is being silly acting like an old man...that's my cane in his hand that I use occasionally as needed, mostly nowadays to close the bathroom door when I forget...it's the perfect reach and hook to push the door closed from the throne! LOL.  TMI.   

Here is what they had just installed for me:

I bet no one else in the world has a super duper toilet paper holder like this one!  Here's the scoop:

The original toilet paper holder would not stay attached to these very thin manufactured home walls, even with the mollies in the wall to hold the screws in place. Every time I'd pull on the TP, the roller thingy would fall out and the paper would go rolling across the floor...you can visualize how much fun that was. Because the studs in these walls are 24 inches apart, in order to fasten something to a stud board, it would have to be at least 24" wide.  Hence, you see the creation above!  That board is a little over 24" wide, and they fastened it to the studs on each end, and then fastened the toilet paper holder to the board so it won't keep coming loose! Benton did the carpentry, and sweet Rose did the painting...even the sweet little Chickadees and flowers! That part was a real surprise! I love it!

Here's another couple of items in my bathroom that they created for me over the past few years:

They know I love bears...we used to see them regularly at our last house, so this is to remind me of them.

And this nice little shelf/towel rack. No, I didn't take that photo. It was a gift. But I have seen a Little Blue Heron like that here on Still Waters Pond and do have a picture of it. Some day I think I will start framing some of my own photos...but I do love this one.

I am certainly blessed to have such talented and thoughtful "kids".  

Now, you can blame this part on fellow blogger the Mad Snapper  (a.k.a. Sandra), who recently posted a post on her blog about toilet paper roll art, (Part 1 is HERE) and she blamed it on Myra, of Respice, Prospice.  So, since they were talking about toilet paper rolls, I thought I might as well keep it going...so these pictures were taken through the "lens" of a toilet paper roll...blame it on the eclipse, Mad Snapper said.

It's good to be silly and have some fun, don't you agree???

I like the Old King James version of this verse:

Proverbs 17:22

22 "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."

I hope you have a "merry heart" today...we don't need those old dried up bones!

Good night!