New Tree

Those of you who have read me over the last few years know that I go a little “Griswold” at Christmas. Because of a modification to my Christmas village this year, I had to move my train set and railroad station. So where…where do we put it??🤔 I know, I will go by to childhood years and put it under the tree. Okay, which tree?🤔 The living room tree and the dining room tree are too formal…

the ocean tree is not thematically correct…

and there is no room under the bedroom tree because of the large 4 foot stuffed Santa Claus…plus Daisy has issues with moving things.

That leaves me with only one option…buy a new tree…lol. And since it is going in the sunroom with the other outdoor themed decorations, lets make it an outdoor tree…so here we have the bird tree featuring many owls. And below we have the working train carrying its many imaginary visitors home for Christmas.

So as you enjoy the fun parts of Christmas, remember the heart of and why we do Christmas. God sent us a marvelous gift that came to give us life and to show us His power love that is to be shared with all of creation. Merry Christmas and remember to always be kind.

Always Be Kind

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.

CFFC: Reminds You of Natures Beauty

While I do agree with Cee on the beauty of nature, but it can also has a fun whimsical side. My case in point, I give you the story of the potato family members where mother potato refused to let any of her children go out on their own. This family was pulled this morning from the community garden of my church.

The balancing act mom had to do did not bode very well so she used my juice glass from this morning to help stabilize herself. Even her other children stuck close to protect the baby in the center…

All in all, they are a very loving family. They must have been watching how elephants come in close to always protect the younger ones in the herd. And I am sure they will be tasty with my string beans tonight. 😊. Always remember the beauty of nature even when it looks funny.

Thank you for stopping by for a moment of silliness. I hope it made you smile. Remember that smiles are contagious so share them often.

August Colors and Letters Challenge

Citysonnet gives us such a fun challenge for the month and when I saw the color challenge for today…my favorite color…well…

I had to show you the t-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday last year that shows…my favorite color(s).

If you follow my blog at all, then you know I am a little over the top at Christmas. My oldest tree(1 of 5) is really tired this year, so I will half to buy a new one…oh darn…lol.

And I remind you as always try hard to be kind…..color kindness wherever you are and in all that you do.

An Afternoon with the Birds

It took me a couple of years of trial and error to figure out what food works best for the majority of the birds in my area that also detracts from squirrels. I don’t mind squirrels that much except for two years they ate holes in my feeders. I tired Crisco on the feeder pole. I tried a baffle and I even put a slinky around the pole like in the picture below.

That seemed to work…somewhat, but mostly I changed their food. I now mostly have safflower seed which is a variety the birds enjoy and the squirrels don’t. YAY! The doves love the platform feeder and sometimes you will see the other birds wait on them to leave then they will eat.

So I added other types of feeders to help everybody get some. Here is a sparrow enjoying some basic wild bird food from a feeder that I got at Hobby Lobby and painted myself.

The most fun this afternoon came from the House Finches. The males are a beautiful red and I think who came by was a father and son. The larger of the two was showing the smaller bird the feeder. At one point he walked over and handed some seed to the smaller bird.

The fun part came after this feeding lesson. The younger bird went to the bath and had a good time. I don’t have a super good camera (or expert technique) and while the picture looks a bit fuzzy, that is actually water being slung everywhere. I thought this would bring a smile to someone, for that is the purpose of blogging, at least to me it is; to share the things that make me smile.

Well enough of my armature photos. I hope they made you smile. Remember the power of a smile. Even without words, a smile can show kindness and relieve someone’s hurt.

Smile and Be kind often

Silliness of the Things We Love

Life can be frustrating, confusing and down right hard. So today we are throwing in a little silliness to bring a smile and possibly a chuckle to the day. I give you Daisy…

Hello, My name is Daisy. Some have seen me before but today I give you my official duties. Its not all love and cuddles. I am the chief protector of the home. The sofa is my favorite perch to look out. The softness of the arm is comfy on my bottom and allows quick jumping to the window to warn anybody of my presence…if they didn’t know already.

I love going outside. The yard is fenced in so no one else is allowed in my yard and I protect it with a vengeance. But sometimes I wonder what’s going on inside , so I go look in the window to see what my mom is doing. She watches a lot of TV.

My most favorite place to snooze is also on the sofa…the whole sofa. I am long and stretch out to the fullest. Preferable on my back. I like hanging my head over too…it stretches out my neck.

I kind of shadow my mom…wherever she goes…you can never tell what may go on in the bathroom…the shower is in there. That’s a bad place.

So hello, my name is Daisy and it was nice talking to you.

And like we all need to remember, animals like kindness too. So be kind to everything.

Word of the Day Challenge, Clown

Cranny’s Cove word challenge for today is something I miss, the fun of clowning around.

The word clown brings to mind images of silliness to the extremes of horror. But to a few of us, we were Christian Clowns, and we had a specific purpose…prior to Covid.

Before we were no longer allowed to get close…we had hospital duties where we tried to bring a few smiles to those who sometimes forget to smile. We had nursing home duties where people needed the goofiness of clowns to help them forget where they were or help them remember to laugh. Then there were those of us who were face painters and even the adults would join in on that fun. Yes, clowning was a fun way to share in the goodness of laughter than now the fear of closeness seems to squelch that activity. But maybe one day…

These shoes may again get to share in some laughter. But even if they don’t, we can still share in the kindness of what they use to represent.

CBWC: Shoes, Boots, Slippers

While taking this rainy day to clean out closets, I ran across some shoes I have not worn in a couple of years…and they needed posting. Thank you Cee for allowing us to share fun memories. Today we have changed purple and white shoes to black and white…but the memories are still full of color.

Remember whether in black and white or full color, kindness is always beautiful color.

Tuesday Writing Prompt, Bitten

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.

Today’s prompt: Write a poem that starts with bitten

Bitten

Bitten as I was on the celebrated day of hearts

Smitten as I was, now gone before it starts

Written on the hearts of many a love song

Mittens would be better and not felt wrong

Kittens are much warmer with love that lasts

Sittin’ and smiling’ and remembering our past

Thanks Go Dog Go Café for giving us a fun chance to play with words. And in closing I remind all the comfort, power and value of kindness. It can bring light to any dark room.

First Snow Fun

Its always fun on the first snowfall to go out and play. Daisy thought it a great idea to run crazy fast circles in the 3-4 inch frozen white.

Snow hides the dead of fall making everything pure and white. I am okay with it until it lasts for days…..

The birds don’t seem to mind as long as food is readily available. Evidently its lunch time.

The bummer is that even with this small amount of snow, it has covered the receiver of the satellite dish, so no TV. Glad the cable is underground, at least I can play here. Welcome winter, don’t be mean and don’t stay too long. And please be kind to those of us who are not big winter fans.