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.

Weekend Encouragement

It’s Friday, the end of the work week for most. Has it been a rough week? Rest assure you were not forgotten as the week flew past you. Even though we don’t see it, God always has a plan for us.

If chaos is surrounding you, don’t let it over take you. Stop, draw in His peace and let it flow over you. You will see God’s great plan come to pass. His complete purpose can not be determined by human reasoning or understanding. We just have to trust in Him to make it all come to fruition.

Cling To God’s promises, His assurance of hope and you can be joyful and patient while the chaos swirls around you. He is holding you in His loving hand.

As you head for a hopefully restful weekend, store up some calming love and peace so the you will be strong but gentle, firm but loving and always kind. The power of the kindness you share with others will lift you as well and bring you peace.

FOTD – Sun & Moon

Well technically we are stretching the title a bit – Sun(flower) and moon. I was out very early this morning. The dew was still heavy on the grass and I saw the giants were blooming.

I started not to take the photo as the flower was still in the dark but then I saw the moon and had to take the picture. For some of us its the little things that make us smile.

Once the sun got over the hill and trees behind us, I took another picture. It really is the bigger of my sunflowers this year. I have two single bloom giants, and the blooms are huge.

This picture gives you a good idea of their height. My fence is four feet high. So these are over ten feet high. The sunflowers on the other side of the yard all had multiple blooms. The blooms are not as huge but the plants still top out over ten feet.

This shot was taken early morning with the sun just breaking through the trees behind the hill. The second one is the same shot but with good sunshine.

There are only four stalks here with well over fifty blooms. Nature is an amazing way to see all of its variations of life. The birds and the bees have really enjoyed them and due to the seeds they have already dropped, I will probably have sunflowers again next year.

I close as normal with a reminder to always be kind. It can lighten someone’s day.

Show the love and beauty of His kindness.

FOTD, August 18 – Violets

My violets are making a comeback from near disaster where they were knocked to the floor and nearly trampled to death by Daisy due to the workman outside her window…not allowed in her book.

Since she was so small after the accident, I placed her in the pot with my spider plant and the spider plant is making sure the violet is cared for by her long protective leaves. Orange bird is watching as well and we must not forget Oscar the elephant – a trio of protectors.

Kindness is also a protection we can enjoy. It can wrap warmly around you helping you feel safe. Share kindness when ever you can. It will help someone smile.

Office Window

I am mostly retired but I do work 3 days a week answering the phone at church. Its enough to keep me from being bored. Today I was very entertained with the wildlife out the window. If you remember, I was having issues with squirrels due to food change. I can assure you that safflower seeds work in keeping squirrels from your feeder. I still get chickadees, house finches, cardinal, titmouse, and occasional sparrows.

But today, something was very scary about the feeder. It looked to be a monster that could devourer…

I guess the slinky did look kind of odd, but it is effective – no squirrels today. I know they are resilient and may come back, so we will see. There were at least ten of them sitting on the outer branches waiting on someone to get brave enough to go first. And finally it did.

Then they all tried to come at once…

But the cutest thing was a parent and a fledgling or maybe it was just a demanding bird begging to be fed…

It was very entertaining. It was a good example of kindness in the animal kingdom. We should all strive to be kind to all things at all times. Kindness matters.