Sunday Eve ~ birds of the air

 

Cooler days,

colder nights,

amber leaves are scarce,

branches will soon be bare.

The birds of the air instinctively know this, but they don’t hurry or stress.  Why?

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” ~Matthew 6:26

That’s why. 

Oh, what lessons we could learn from the birds of the air.

Sharing with Spiritual Sunday.

Sunday Eve

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art...

It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.

C. S. Lewis

Sharing with Spiritual Sunday.

~mr. baby bird~

My usual walk was abruptly halted this morning. I hadn’t got any further than my front yard when I noticed two tiny baby birds lying face up, itsy bitsy claws pointing to the sky. That’s right - deceased, bless their tiny lil hearts. (I’ll spare you photos.) I sighed and walked another step when I saw their lil brother struggling beside the sidewalk in the grass.

OH NO, I thought!

What to do?

Do I leave him alone?

Do I rescue him?

Is his mommy near by?

Can he fly?

And then I did what any good blogger would do. I took pictures! J

To my surprise, as I was taking photos of this lil cutie, he wobbly staggers toward me!

HEY WAIT! I’m not your mother!

Go on back now! Really now!

I don’t know how to take care of baby birds!

But he just kept moving toward me!

Well, I couldn’t leave him there in the middle of the sidewalk, deserted, without his mommy.

So my mind starts racing. Okay, maybe he’s hungry or thirsty, so I sprinkle bird food down in front of him and some water. I know. You’re laughing aren’t you? Yea, I think mr. baby bird laughed at me too. He’s beginning to realize I have NO idea what I’m doing.

Next, I find a cardboard box and fill it with grass, leaves, and soft things that belong in a nest. I gently scoop him into the box. He does NOT like it. He sputters around, spreading his wings as if to say “Get me OUT of here!” I decide I’ve got to get some advice from an intelligent source, but the internet is all I have so I Google. I learn the best thing to do is put him back in the tree in a makeshift nest and hope that his mommy comes back to rescue him.

I find a plastic tray, punch holes in it and fill it with nesting materials.

And then gentle move Mr. Baby Bird once again from his box to his new home.

It’s hard to get a good shot of mr. baby bird with the leaves around and I don’t want to bother him any more than I have to just in case his mommy is near by waiting for me to get the heck out of here.

You can only see a little of his wing in this photo. I know it’s hard to tell, but he’s very comfortable here. He closes his little eyes and goes to sleep.

Ahh…I’m finally feeling pretty good about this situation.

Calming down after my valiant rescue of mr. baby bird, I start to look for a nest he and his brothers could have fallen from. Look closely and you can see it in the top center of this photo. But what’s interesting is the bird barely visible in the lower left of the photo. Do you see her?

Is this his mommy??

Has she been watching me through this whole ordeal?

or

Is this another brother or sister??

I guess we’ll never know.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a happy ending to my morning adventure.

Later, I go out to check on mr. baby bird. Sadly, he’s fallen out of his makeshift nest.

You know the rest of the story. L

I’m linking to Simple Pleasures at Dayle’s “A Collection of this and that”.

Sunday Eve

~Food for thought ~

So long as we judge ourselves by human comparisons, there is plenty of room for self-satisfaction, and self-satisfaction kills faith, for faith is born of the sense of need. But when we compare ourselves with Jesus Christ, and through Him, with God, we are humbled to the dust, and then faith is born, for there is nothing left to do but to trust to the mercy of God.  ~William Barclay

sharing with others at Spiritual Sundays.

Sunday Eve

  There was a man all alone;
       he had neither son nor brother.
       There was no end to his toil,
       yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
       "For whom am I toiling," he asked,
       "and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?"
       This too is meaningless—
       a miserable business!

  Two are better than one,
       because they have a good return for their work:

  If one falls down,
       his friend can help him up.
       But pity the man who falls
      and has no one to help him up!

Ecclesiastes 4:8-10 

I’m sharing with others at Spiritual Sunday.

Oh Happy Day!

I was on my way to

pick up the newspaper

just like any other morning

when it happened.

SPRING FEVER STRUCK!

Oh yes, I remember how this feels. You know, when Spring finally comes. The warmth of the sun wraps around us and all the while a cool breeze nips at our cheeks.

Birds chirp and sing their melodies while…

bunnies play their fair weather games.

The new colors of

GOLD

PINK,

and

LIME

excite our eyes,

too long accustomed

to russet and brown.

The smell of fresh mulch

tingles my nose

as I walk back inside

with my paper in hand

for my morning cup of Joe.

Oh Happy Day!

I’m sharing with Outdoor Wednesday.

the bluebird comes

The other day while walking, I noticed some bluebirds in a woodsy area close to my home. Of course, I wouldn't have my camera with me when I REALLY needed it so I made a mental note and a few days later I took another morning walk, but this time, I took my camera along.

And I'm so glad I did! The bluebirds were flourishing.

This little female bluebird was not bashful at all. She let me take photo after photo. Quite a camera ham, she is. How do I know she's a she? I don't really. It's hard to tell sometimes with bluebirds, but she's a little paler in color than the male below so I'm assuming.

"In the very spring,
Nay, in the bluster of March, or haply before

The bluebird comes, and a-wing,
or alight, seems evermore

For a song that is sweet and soft,

His footprints oft

Make fretwork along the snow

When the weather is bleak ablow,

When his hardihood by cold is pinched full sore."

~Richard Burton

Looks like Mrs. Bluebird is over my photo shoot and ready to fly away so I'll say bye now too and ask you to take a look at other interesting outdoor posts over at

Susan's Outdoor Wednesday.

Snow down South!

We don't get snow down South too often. So when it does, it's a big deal. Like today, we got 3 inches in some parts and it's still snowing. No worry though since schools closed yesterday just on the prediction. That's right! I know you northerners can't believe it, but it's true.


And everyone goes to the store for bread and milk at least. Yes. I did too. I left early this morning before the first snowflake fell. I know some of you seasoned snow birds don't think twice about driving in the slippery stuff, but this southern gal doesn't drive in it. I did try it once when I was sixteen and stupid. Ended up sliding sideways down a hill. Dad had to rescue me and haven't tried it since.


Back to the groceries, I have a long list and I'm taking my time since the snow storm is not predicted to come through until noon. That's when cigar man called from work and said the roads were covered there. I panicked and headed for the check-out line. So I left a few items on my list. We're not going to starve!
The birds know when a snow storm's coming. I watched them out my window skirmishing about the bird feeder, bristling their feathers in the cold brisk air, preparing for the storm to come.

And it did come! And is still coming!

The birds were right. The weatherman was right. The schools were right to close.

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Cigar Man came home early from work before the roads got any worse. But the roads weren't TOO bad to head out looking for a sled. Do you know, there were none to be found!

So what to do, but make your own, out of a trash can lid.

So it was pretty boy's first time to play in the snow.
He wasn't worried about preparing for the snow, just playing in it.

and playing some more.

All the while pretty boy #2 stayed inside where it was warm and cozy.

wings of a dove

I hope this will suffice as my contribution to Mosaic Monday.

I love the tall willowy grasses this time of year. We have several groupings in our back yard and I'm finding them lovely photo material. As you can see, the doves love them too. When I caught a flock of ashen doves beside the silvery grasses, I had to take time to get a few shots.

We can learn from the gentle doves. Don't they look calm and peaceful, enjoying what's left of the day? Enjoy your week. November is passing by.

birds of a feather

Why is this goose so sad?

He just looks like he's going to cry any second.

I think he's lonely.

When we're alone too much we get cranky like this fellow!

Remember Barbra Streisand's song, People?

It goes something like:

"People who need people are the luckiest people in the world."
Or in this case, should we say?
"Geese who need geese are the luckiest geese in the world."

Well, I'm as excited as this goose below because I'm not alone. If I want good company to share my day, I just turn on my computer and all you lovely people are just a click away. I was reminded of this the other day when the most gracious Elaine at Home n About awarded me with the Lovely Blog award.

How surprised and pleased I was! Of course, I want to pass this jewel on to others, but I realized that many of you don't accept awards. I understand the time constraints and burdens some feel around awards so I'm taking the liberty to change the rules a little. I'm just going to throw a few of the blogs that I enjoy out there and you can feel free to accept and pass it on if you would like. I wouldn't want to put any unwanted obligations on any of you. I have to say, it is so hard to choose only a few out of so many creative, interesting, welcoming and lovely blogs. The following are just a few of those that have crossed my mind tonight.

I enjoy each one of these for various reasons and I'm sure you will too!

Home Haven Ministry
Once upon a Plate
Food with Style
Marsha-garden
Rather be Blogging
The Project Table
Six in one hand
Frugal Fine Living
Aiken House and Gardens
My Desert Cottage
Twice Remembered

Birds of a feather flock together!

Blessings, Marsha

Broken Wings

This cherub stands watch in my flower garden. You'll notice she has a broken wing, but I couldn't get rid of her. That just makes her extra special. She's a reminder, that we all are broken, but we persevere and learn from our mistakes, our shortcomings and are better people for them.
All day, she sees the birds cooling in the bath and hears their sweet songs.

She watches the flowers grow...
and wane...

and the willow branches blow.

Follow the breeze over to Outdoor Wednesday today for many more wonderful posts.

My Hummers

Alas! The day I have been waiting for! My hummer's back!!

OH NO! Not that kind of hummer!

My hummers....What I mean...you know...my hummingbirds are back!

That's right! Every year I put my feeders out on one of the very first days of spring when the purple Iris are in bloom and patiently wait...

and wait...and wait...

until one day in late summer along with the black-eyed susans, they finally arrive.

And today just like every other year, they arrived.

So I was right there to welcome them with my Nikon at hand.

They are very camera shy, you know,
but I've been able to get a few "almost" decent shots of them
between their sudden darts and dances.
We are still in the "checking each other out" stage,
but in time we will get to know each other very well.


Now don't you hover too long; dash on over to Susan's at Outdoor Wednesday's to savor all the sweet posts she has waiting for you. :=)

And thanks to Melissa at The Inspired Room for letting me share the beauty in life.