FOTD, August 30 – Weed?

Again we are faced with the question from Cee…is it flower or weed…and what really is the difference. I figure its a person perspective whether the gardening gurus of the world recognize the beauty enough to place it in his garden. But to the Creator above, I think He loves them all.

This lovely four petaled beauty has deep purple veins against a lavender petal. A small flower but striking in my mind. And the leaf eating critters loves it leaves as they are filled with holes. So I give you little purple flower with yellow stamens.

As you go about you day, remember all things love kindness, even flowers. So be kind to all things.

Tuesday Writing Prompt Challenge

Devereaux Frazier and Beth Amanda are currently hosting the Tuesday Writing Prompt Challenge which was started by our star writer Christine Ray. We hope to offer all of you something that will spark your creativity and willingness to participate.

I thought I would accept this challenge as I needed something to do but as I finished it…it was an 8 page short story instead of a poem…so we are backing up and punting. Hope you enjoy.

Beauty Within

The beauty concealed that is within

A reflection of what has always been

It is not a hopeful of what could be

But a timeless picture of what we see

A yellow rose concealed in joy

Is a timeless flower for us to enjoy

And in closing, I remind us as always to be kind. Kindness shows a beauty beyond time.

Morning Encouragement

I have many devotions I read each morning. Some are here in WordPress, some are other online devotions and some are purchased books. I find them a good jump start to my day to help me focus on the Lord and not the circumstances I face that day. Today’s devotion in My Utmost for His Highest spoke exactly about that.

Oswald Chambers reminded us “If you keep your relationship right with Him, then regardless of your circumstances or whoever you encounter each day, He will continue to pour ‘rivers of living water’”.

That’s kind of an odd saying if you are not familiar with its meaning. For me it means that regardless of how desperate I may feel, the love of God is flowing in me, through me and out of me. Rivers of living water come from the attributes we receive when we follow God and are then filled by the Fruit of the Spirit.

Whatever your circumstances may be, you have been placed in them by God. And God uses the reaction of your life to your circumstances to fulfill His purpose, as long as you continue to “walk in the light as He is in the light”. Oswald Chambers

So I encourage you today, regardless of the difficulty you may be facing, let Christ’s living waters flow through you so that you can feel the peace of His love. Then let the fruit of the spirit attributes become part of you as now He is part of you. And remember in all that you do to always be kind.

FOTD, August 29 Begonia

Even though the yard is slowly changing seasons, it still has much to say about its beauty. The Flower of the Day challenge by Cee always brings smiles to all of us across the world as we share what we see.

Today my begonias are beginning to show some fall leaf color as the nights are cooling down but days are still warm.

As the season changes, let us not change in showing the beauty of kindness.

Interesting Bird, Encouragement

Since I have been bird watching, I see that all creatures have slight variations even in the same specie. We humans are short, tall, fat, skinny and various shades of skin tone but…we are created by the same creator, in His image…according to how I believe.

And variation concept is true for the animal kingdom and it is how those who work with wildlife can tell the different individual animals apart, like zebra’s stripe patterns are individual. Again, same creator.

I always thought the one exception to the rule was birds. Yes you can always recognize the bird type but if you look close, there are variations. Case in point, our beloved cardinals…

This is a beautiful red cardinal from early this spring. Rich red body, red top crest and black face and neck area, large triangle beak. We are all familiar with this bird in the US. However…

Today, this cardinal stopped at the feeder.

Same size bird, the beak seems slightly larger but his color is the most striking. He is not a bright red so I don’t know if that is a seasonal change but the biggest difference is his entire head is black. And there seems to be more black than usual mixed in his tail feathers. He is still beautiful. A difference in creation I guess. I think it is a reminder to us that in God’s eye we are perfectly beautiful, even though we may look different. Even identical twins are different in subtle ways.

So I send this out to all who may read it to remind each of us that we are all special in our own creation from God for a purpose only fully known by Him. So listen to His voice as he guides you for the purposes He has just for you, so that you can enrich His kingdom and those around you. Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us…

Have a safe and blessed weekend and remember to be kind in all that you do.

FOTD, August 27

Cee’s Flower of the Day is always a favorite and I am being a bit of a broken record as its Sunflowers…again. This will probably be the last picture of them in my yard for this season because the seeds are forming and the blooms are getting HEAVY. When you have a single bloom that is easily 24 inches across, that is huge, especially when its a good 10-12 feet in the air.

***The bloom is so heavy, the stalk has arched over to keep from breaking.***

I have square “working” hands like my dad but you can still see I could not get the entire leaf in the photo. It measures 16 inches at its widest point.

I still have one stalk left of the multiple blooms variety. They too are dwindling, not only from the storm last week but their seeds make them heavy as well. These blooms are only 6-8 inches across but when you have well over 25 blooms on one stalk, that’s a lot of weight.

But the bees still love them. These multiple blooms brought in a lot of bees this year as well as goldfinches and sparrows.

I close as always with a reminder to be kind. If we as creation from the maker above could show the kindness to others as he has always shown us, what a different world this would be.

CFFC: Basically Two Colors

Flowers were the first thing I could think of that only had two colors. What an interesting challenge Cee has given us.

I am showing you what I am calling my Flame lilies. Some neighbors at the end of the street had them so the birds thought I needed them as well. They are quite striking.

Then we go to green and brown…concrete is not really a color right?

I know you can’t really tell his size but he is a tiny baby.

***same baby, too cute, had to share again***

Nature is such a fun medium. Most of my photos are somewhere in that category. And remember, being kind creates a smile so smile often.

Also remember to not be so hard on yourself. We sometimes had a tendency to do that. So be kind to you.

Not A Bird

There are many of us who enjoy watching our birds. We learn which foods bring which birds and how to keep squirrels out of your feeders…but when you have a platform feeder, that brings on other challenges. Below you can see that George is non too happy that Chippy is in his feeder.

***I am not sure a slinky works in this instance.***

The Slinkies work great on the pole feeders. I put one on the feeder at the church and have not seen a squirrel since. If you are having squirrel issues, try adding a slinky to the pole. A lot cheaper than those weighted feeders.

Wish I had seen how Chippy climbed up the concrete blocks but I didn’t. I let him eat for a few minutes and then let Daisy out.

Since I lost the majority of my sunflowers in the storm on Saturday, The flowers that had already gone to seed I laid out for the birds. They are messy little critters but I am glad they are enjoying them still.

My favorite visitor to those seeds are the Goldfinches. Their bright yellow color with the sunflowers is amazing.

I am not that great of a photographer but my phone does at least give me pictures to make me smile. So I encourage you to enjoy your birds…and non birds. They are all part of God’s creation and meant for us to enjoy.

And as always, remember to be kind. It blesses your heart as much as the receiver of kindness.

Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge: Mustard

Second Wind leisure Perspectives has given me a fun challenge as most of my flowers are some variation of mustard or yellow. I have posted many pictures of my wonderful sunflowers but there are a wide variety of others yellows shining their happy yellow faces.

Hope you enjoy the collection below and share in the happiness yellow brings to the garden.

***Over 50 bloom and buds left over from storm damage to my giants yesterday***.

***Yellow flower, yellow bee and yellow pollen***

Remember in all that you do, be happy like yellow flowers and be kind to all things.

Weekend Sky #71, Aug 20

Hammad Rais has a fun challenge for Weekend Sky and today was a good day for sky watching. When we started out in the morning, we only had a 15% chance of rain. So you can imagine our surprise when our outing at church got us “drowned rat” wet. It was not a great look but it did give us an event to always remember.

And I saw another line of storms coming around 2:00pm. After getting back home, and dry, I though that would be a great time for a nap…wrong thought. Aside from the lightening and thunder being on top of us, the wind and rain was so intense that it knocked down my sunflowers – remember my post about Sun and Mood 2 days ago. Yep, gone. They were wonderful though and I have picture to prove it. LOL.

So back to the sky. After the storm blew through I got these pictures of the amazing clouds as they cleared the area.

I hope these clouds can encourage you and help you know, regardless of the storm you may be going through, there is always a peace and beauty after the storm leaves. Hang on to that hope, you have got this and if you feel like you can’t hold on by yourself, God always has a hand stretched out to you for you to hold onto. Grab it and hold tight. He will never let you go.

And remember to always be kind, regardless of your storm.