The truth of God's love, the Encouragement we all need and occasional humor
Author: anitashope
Retired Quality Manager but still have the "Why" curiosity drive so I am turning my love for Christ and nature into my new why chase and am trying to discover more of His word as it relates to His love for His creation.
She said: I told you this was the wrong way. You missed that turn back there.
He said: Last thing I need is a back seat driver, especially when you are still eating.
She said: No one said you had to leave the table earlier.
He said: You and your friends were crowding me.
She said: Do you want me to come drive?
He said: No, I’ll just turn around at the next corner.
Thank you for reading my silliness. He sat there for the longest time while she still ate. I had to write about it. It reminded me of many road trips. Granny Shot It has a Bird of the Day Challenge and while people are showing beautiful pictures of many different birds – I have my yard birds and firmly believe this pair of Goldfinches is a couple. They are always together.
I hope my quirky writing made you smile and if it did then share that smile and the warmth it brings to others. Not everyone is having a good day with smiles, so if you share yours, then maybe they will smile and create a contagious condition called smile-a-thon. So smile often and be kind and remember God loves you.
Since Cee has the wonderful lists for challenges, sometimes a single post could quality for multiple challenges. I am a major list person so I appreciate lists. So today my daylilies have really started blooming and this picture fits for two of her challenges, the FOTD and things of 5.
Five Yellow Daylilies
I do so enjoy my flowers. They bring me joy and happiness as they grow and bloom. Even the unexpected ones planted by my helpers, the birds. When life makes you smile, remember to share that smile to help brighten someone’s day.
These are some of my favorite friends. They actually get along and share…better than some people I know. Today we enjoy another BOTD from Granny Shot It. Come share your lovely birds with others.
Male Goldfinch, Male Downy Woodpecker, Female cardinal
And if birds can share and be kind to one another, we ought to be able to be kind with all of creation as well. However, I do get tired of this one type of ground bird that hogs all the seed unless Mimi is on guard. She will bark at them for being pigs and run them off.
A new challenge has been made from Granny Shot It about the Bird of the Day. Now the birds that come to my feeder are no way fancy as what I have seen posted so far but I do so enjoy them. They too have their own distinct personalities and watching them interact with each other is sometimes comical.
Black-capped Chikadee
It is fun watching these guys as they are small and walk around the edge of the stack eating from the sides. My camera is not fancy but I think it gets pretty good shots. Enjoy.
When you checkout each others pictures, think on the beauty of nature and how we all play a part in that, good or bad. And try to always be on the good side and be kind, even to wildlife.
The birds have been most helpful this year in making sure I had sunflowers growing in the yard since I did not plant any this year. And they showed some variety as some are taller, some flowers are larger some have different color centers.
The one above has the largest leaves and flowers. It’s bloom is a bright yellow like the petals. You can see it is taller than my mailbox and shepherd’s hook.
These two are taller than the one by the mail box, their leaves are smaller and they themselves have different color centers and petal structure. One is orangey yellow with short fat leaves and one is brown with long skinny leaves. I still have others that have not quite opened yet so we will see how they come out.
Sunflowers are like a large version of a daisy – they are a happy flower. I hope you seeing these happy flowers today will bring you a smile. And if it does, then share that smile and make someone else’s days brighter.
He said: Hey hon, there is a new place to eat in town. Let’s try it.
She said: Is this another one of your hole in the wall places.
He said: No, I promise, it’s the good stuff. And I hear its fresh.
She said: Hmmm. Well, the kids are gone and it would be nice for just you and I to get out together.
He said: Great. I hear they have two separate menus but they just hung a fresh bag.
She said: A fresh bag of what?? Gross.
He said: Trust me hon. You will love it. I promise.
She said: I have always been told when the phrase ‘Trust me’ is used to fly, fly, away.
He said: Just come try it.
She said: You are so right. These thistle seeds are the best and so fresh. He said: TOLD YOU!
Chuckle and smile along with me as I enjoy my goldfinches. I did just hang out a new bag as they devoured the last one – even with all the rain we have had. You can see to the side of the picture the sunflowers the birds planted. That one bloom should open this week. I will post pictures of the flowers my birds have planted sometime this week.
Have a great week and remember to always be kind. Even when you don’t feel like it or they don’t deserve it. It will make YOU feel better.
Today is July 5. The day after the celebration of Independence for the US, but for me it is a fun remembered day as it was my dad’s birthday.
My dad, a well known lawyer of our town
I remembered his favorite cake was a caramel cake – I think it was a white cake with a caramel type icing. And we also had a few left over fireworks along with the long standing hamburgers on the grill. He had this neat contraption that held all burgers in a wire grid and a handle and you could flip them all at the same time. I thought it was fabulous but have never seen another one.
The many fun trips we made on the rivers of Florida in our boat have wonderful memories as well. Was he perfect? No, far from it but at some time you just have to let the negative crap go and focus on the great memories. And although each child has a different remembrance of their time with their parents, you can generally hang on to a few of the great fun times and let that be the memory to hold fast to. For me there were a lot. I was the youngest so I actually got to spend more fun time with my dad that my siblings. So this day, his birthday, I honor him even though cancer took him from us over 20 years ago.
Dad and mom
This is the smile I remember in a place he loved the best, our house in Florida. Happy Birthday Daddy. You are still greatly loved.
Remember how much a smile can make you smile and smile often. It is contagious, so smile and be kind.
My daylilies are finally opening. Crazy spring weather delayed a lot of my hot weather bloomers. Cee’s FOTD post for today was a daylily so I had to play along as well as I have four different types. A miniature variety was already here when I moved in, I planted a one to help take over a small flower bed(its doing a nice job), one was a mother’s day gift and one the birds planted. My miniature lilies are not open yet so they will make a future post.
The yellow one I planted, the pink one the birds planted and the reddish one was a gift. I loved the ones with the ruffled edges. Interesting as all centers of these are yellow.
I also have sunflowers growing that the birds planted that I will post when they open. Birds, my little helpers.
If you enjoy challenges, check in with Cee’s List of challengesand their hosts on any of her challenge posts and have fun.
And as you enjoy the fun of challenges, let that fun develop into a smile across you face to share with others to radiate kindness.
The fun and joy of being a grandparent should never be taken lightly. Families who hold to the bonds of family love through the rough times are the families who survive the whimsical nonsense of the coming generations. It shows them the importance as they grow that those with strong values of family, memories and grandparents helps the entire family stand firm.
I never really knew my fathers parents as he was the youngest of a large family and I was the youngest of our four, so by the time I was old enough to understand grandparents, they were both gone. But I did enjoy many fun memories with my mother’s parents. My grandfather was a farmer & a gasoline truck driver. And my grandmother was a school teacher. She was well loved by many through her years of teaching and I wrote a post about her in December if anyone cares to read that one as well. I remember the funny stories she and Buckshot(my grandfather’s nickname) would tell us about our cousins that I had never met who had other interesting nicknames like “Catgal”. I would love to know the stories behind the many funny nicknames of my ancestors.
Below are the pictures of both of my grandmothers, maybe later I will do a post on my grandfathers.
Marie
The is Lottie with Brownie, per pride and joy.
Some families do not have the luxury of sharing the memories of their ancestors. Some families who do not have that loving relationship or members who can’t feel that love from their family members are families that tend to disintegrate and scatter away from each other. It is a very sad phenomenon that I saw happen in my own family with my siblings from strained relationships or actions that can shatter a family. I also have this same type of disconnect with my own children where their relationships were severely strained as children and then as as young adults, my work scattered us 1000 miles from each other not allowing for a reconnect. I have grandchildren I have never held while the older ones have no real clue who I am other than a vague memory. It is a terrible thing to happen to a family. As my youngest told me, we never felt like we were a family due to all the disconnects, anger and frustrations we had. It ever reminds me just how fragile this life can be. But I am trying to fix that and hope that by year end, all strained relationships can at least be on the road to being mended.
This week Nancy Merrill challenged us with a photo of the week as grandparents. It rang true with me as I am trying to get better reconnected with my boys.
So I challenge all who read this to understand the values of all members of the family and to make all efforts to maintain as much of that family bond as possible and to make a connection whenever possible. Even those who fight it, they really don’t want to be left out in the cold. So try to reach out.
And in closing as I remind my readers – try to always be kind. It reflects the very love of God.
For the Love of 
