Wednesday Treasures: Things I See!

Good Morning Friends! Today is Wednesday...oh it is also "Hump Day"

I told Mommie that even though I already showed you this picture last week, I wanted to show it to you again today, because this is "Hump Day", and we are not allowed to go more than 15 miles per hour to get over this big "Hump"! I thought that was a funny way to tell people there was a bump in the road.

Instead of any particular "treasures" in our house, I wanted to show you some things I've been seeing here and there this past week.  They are special "treasures" too.

This is a bouquet of beautiful Easter Lilies that are in the courtyard at our church.  My big sister, who I call "Auntie Rose", made this pretty arrangement of (silk) Easter Lilies  to decorate at our church for Easter.  When Mommie told me what they were, I said, "Easter Lilies? That's MY name!"   Oh how exciting! There are beautiful white flowers with my name on them to celebrate Easter!!! I didn't know that!! That makes me very happy to know that I can be a part of the flowers that help make Easter day so wonderful!

And speaking of beautiful flowers...

that lovely red rose bud in the Secret "Memorial" Garden finally bloomed.

Isn't it just gorgeous? And it smells so heavenly!

Mommie cut it and brought it inside so we can enjoy it every day. She said it smells "heavenly" because it is a gift from my big brother Matthew in heaven.  This is from the bush that was planted in the memorial garden after he went to heaven, and then when Mommie and Daddy moved here from that house they brought it with them, and Mommie finally got it planted in the ground and this was the first blossom after it got planted.

Just in time for Easter!!  Mommie says this rosebush always blooms for special occasions.

Speaking of special blossoms, I will have to wait until the sun come up to show you how our Amaryllis flowers are starting bloom.  So I can't finish posting this until after sunrise.  Don't let me forget!!

Meanwhile, when we went for a walk I saw this very unusual looking grasshopper!

I think he looks like a creature from outer space! What do YOU think?

I could certainly see him as an alien monster on one of those scary movies that I don't like to watch, couldn't you?

And then, if that wasn't scary enough, here was another strange looking creature:

This caterpillar had fuzzy looking brush like things sticking out all over his body.

Mommie said not to touch him because he might sting me and that would really hurt.

We aren't sure what kind of caterpillar he is...Mommie said he would turn into some kind of moth most likely, and maybe not a good one, but we let him go wherever he was going.

Now, I don't know if you can see what is going on in this picture or not, but if you look down under the chair on the ground on the left, you can see a cat crouching down, trying to hide under the chair.  He is watching that Canadian Goose who is standing under the bird feeder.  The goose is being very, very still, because he probably knows the cat is there and he doesn't want the cat to come after him. The goose was having a little snack of bird seed that is on the ground. And he is also watching over to the island across the pond there in front of him, where his mate is sitting up on the shore near the left tip of the island where you can see those posts sticking up out of the water.

She has been spending a lot of time there, and we think she has a nest! Oh! I hope so! I hope so! Wouldn't it be wonderful to see some baby gooses (goslings, Mommie said) some day? They are safe on the island so this cat can't get to them, because cats don't like to swim that far.

It is hard to see the goose, but she is in there, sitting on her nest! Oh! I do hope she will have babies, don't you?  That would be the bestest Easter present ever!

Oh! Guess What!  While we were writing this post and after the sun came up a whole big flock of geese landed on Still Waters Pond, and our resident goose couple chased them off...well, the male one did, and the female sat back in the water safely away from them while her mate chased them away:

There was a lot of honking and flapping of wings like they were under attack!

Mommie was excited to be able to take these pictures!

And off the intruders flew!

And once again everything is calm and peaceful on Still Waters Pond...for now...

Mommie said that Easter is all about new life, and that is what we are seeing a lot of these days. Flowers blooming, trees are getting their pretty new bright green leaves and little plums are growing,

And I've been helping Mommie water our plants that we planted so they will grow and be pretty:

And HERE are the Amaryllis blossoms that are open so far this morning!  I didn't forget!! As soon as the sun came up we went outside to see them. Aren't they amazing?

And lots more are going to open in the next few days, hopefully in time for Easter!!

These are all signs of new life at Easter time.

But the best of all is this: Jesus came back to life after those mean people killed Him on the cross.  He arose from the grave on Easter morning and didn't stay dead in the tomb.  

And so because Jesus lives, we will also live if we believe in Him.

Mommie said that is the most important thing to remember about Easter.

I am glad that Jesus is living today.  Even though He had to go through some very bad and sad things before He died, which Mommie said we will talk more about in the next few days, we want to always remember the good news that Jesus is alive today!

That's very good news!

 

A Very Late Friday Foto Friends on Saturday

Hello Friends! We are very late with our "Friday Foto Friends"...here it is late Saturday and we still haven't posted anything.  Mommie's been a little busy and also she said she just didn't have any really good pictures to share, but I said, "But Mommie, our friends will think something is wrong with us if we don't post something!"  And so she agreed and said we will just share what we have. Mommie also wants to apologize for not getting around to visit everyone else the last couple of days. She said sometimes we just need a little break away from the computer, but she wishes we could really visit in person!

So, all that being said, here we go!  We have been having some very foggy mornings here lately. This was our sunrise one morning...you can see the sun is trying to shine through the fog...

And this is how it looked over Still Waters Pond in the fog...

Today we saw these two Red Shouldered Hawks sitting way up in the top of that big old pine tree.  Mommie said she can't decide if it is a "couple", or a parent and a younger hawk. The one on the left still looks kind of young in the face, don't you think?

And then that "young looking one" flew away, and the other one was hollering at it like as if to say, "Junior! You get right back over here right this minute! Do you hear me??"

And then she took off after the other one to scold it for flying away while she was still speaking to him! 

That's how it looked to us. What do YOU think?

Meanwhile, Mommie and Daddy were busy digging holes in the ground and planting some things.

This is a BLUEBERRY BUSH!  All those little flowery berry looking things are going to be Blueberries!!!! Oh, I hope they do grow and ripen so we can have our very own blueberries! Mommie said we have to watch out for the deer and hope they don't find them before we get to eat them.  We planted this bush inside the fenced yard hoping that might keep them away for a while.  But Mommie said once a deer knows it is there, the fence won't keep it away...they can jump right over a fence!

So we will just have to wait and see what happens. We haven't seen any deer here in a long time.

Then we planted some little azalea bushes in the Secret Garden area.  Mommie said when they get bigger they will bloom some really pretty big dark pink flowers, but probably not until next spring now since they are done blooming for this spring already.

Oh looky here! The beautiful red "Don Juan" rose is just about ready to open up!! Isn't it beautiful?

I can't wait to see it open. This will be my first time seeing this rose bloom...this is the one in the Secret Memorial Garden that Mommie brought with her when they moved here.

I'm sitting on "Mom's Secret Garden" Bench.  Mommie said this picture shows us that we need to wash the bench as it has lots of stuff growing on it...Oh dear! I hope it doesn't grow on me! 

When we went on our walk the other day we saw these interesting flowers blooming. Mommie said they are "Paw-Paw" blossoms, and that this little bush will grow "Paw-Paws".  I don't know what a "Paw-Paw" is, do you?  She said it is a wild fruit that the critters will eat when they ripen...but they are edible for people too, only these are kind of small and wild, not like the ones that can be bought in some stores.

And I checked on the wild plums, and we found a few more of them, but Mommie said they are a lot smaller than they were this time last year, and not nearly as many.  So she thinks they are taking a year off from their "production".  

I love to see these cute little wild daisies growing.   Isn't it sweet? I have another identical "cousin" named Daisy living in S.C.  This made me think about her and my other cousin Tracie. I hope they are okay. I miss them, but sometimes we write letters back and forth and send pictures, so that helps me not to feel so lonesome for them.

I just had to take a picture of this! Isn't it funny?  Have you ever heard of a speed "hump"???  Mommie said in most places they are called a speed "bump", but maybe this one is related to a speedy camel or something.  Maybe we should show this picture on "Hump Day"! Ha Ha!!!

OH, I got to visit the Post Office one day! Mommie said the people at the Post Office were the nice people who "delivered" me to Mommie's house when I came here in my special package all the way from Aunt Debbi's house in S.C.   I think the people at the Post Office are very nice and they took good care of me and got me to the right place on time! Mommie said that her daddy used to work for the Post Office many years ago, and so it is a very special place to her.

Well, I guess that's all for now. Mommie said this next week is going to be very special as it is called "Holy Week". Tomorrow starts "Holy Week" with Palm Sunday, the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and the colt of a donkey:

The Triumphal Entry

John 12:12-19

12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

“Hosanna!

‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

The King of Israel!”

14 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion;

Behold, your King is coming,

Sitting on a donkey’s colt.”

I didn't understand what palm branches were, so Mommie showed me these palms in our yard. She said many people, including children, ran and waved these palm branches and shouted "Hosanna" when they saw Jesus coming on the donkey.  She said "Hosanna" was a way to praise Him and show Jesus that they recognized Him as the One Who was coming to save them.

But as the week passed by, a lot of people changed their minds and they became very angry about Jesus, and well, Mommie said we will tell more about that next week, but for now we just want to welcome Jesus into our hearts and homes and give Him praise!

Hosanna!!

Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!

Until next time,

Love,

Lily Grace

A Little This and That

Hello my friends! Happy Tuesday!  We don't have anything in particular to tell you today, so Mommie said this will be a post about "A Little This and That".

We took a ride early this morning. It was still pretty cloudy and not any sunshine yet.

I love to take rides in the car. Mommie said I am a lot like a little doggy who likes to go for a ride, so she let me wear my little doggy shirt today!

We went on that highway where there is a lot of construction going on and I saw this big crane again. I like that it has an American Flag way up on the tip top of the crane!!

We ended up in that little town of Hawthorne again...

I've told you about this little town of Hawthorne here before,  and also HERE

Well, today we took a little ride over there again so Mommie could help her friend do some measuring in this building because her friend is going to put a store there in the near future:

It's going to be a kind of "Emporium", which Mommie says is a fancy word for a store carrying "many different kinds of merchandise."   Our friend is going to have lots of different people selling things there. Mommie said it is not like a "flea market", because these will be nice things that people either make or create and not second hand stuff like at a flea market, unless they are antiques or special vintage items of interest. She is looking for "vendors" to rent space there, so if you live in this area and are interested, or if you know anyone who might be, please let us know and we will let our friend know.

She hopes to get it open sometime next month. Mommie doesn't have anything to sell there but she almost wishes she did, just for the fun of it. But it is still a lot of work and once you start something like that you have to keep it going...kind of like writing a blog...

After we came back home we walked around the yard a little and saw that this rosebud in the Secret Memorial Garden is getting closer and closer to opening up.  It's going to be really pretty. I can't wait to see it!

And in the front yard we have four of these Amaryllis plants that are getting ready to open pretty soon! 

Mommie says they are going to be really pretty.

One day we saw this Red Bellied Woodpecker here at Still Waters Pond. Isn't he pretty?  

He must have been pecking for bugs and stuff in those pine trees beside the pond.

Oh, isn't this cat interesting?  She showed up in our yard yesterday. We've never seen her before, but it looks like she has a collar on. And guess what?  She has a bobbed-tail! Mommie said either something happened to her tail, or she was born that way. Some cats are like that. Mommie wants to know if this is what you call a Tortoiseshell Cat cat?  If so, it is most likely a female.  It is very pretty, but we don't want it around our birds...

It soon ran away when Mommie stuck her head outside to take its picture. It was a very big and fluffy cat.

And actually, she was looking at our Canada Geese in the pond:

They saw her and pushed out further in the pond until she left.

Speaking of the pine trees, have you ever noticed the little crosses on the tops of pine trees just before Easter?

This seems to happen not long before Easter, which makes us think about the cross on which Jesus died on Easter.  Some people think it is just a coincidence, but Mommie says just maybe God does it on purpose to get our attention and to help us prepare our hearts for Easter.

Which reminds me. Mommie put set up our cross for Easter this week.

I am starting to learn more and more about Easter and what it means to us.

It is very sad that Jesus had to die on the cross because of our sins, but Mommie said if He didn't do that, we would still be lost in our sins and not have any way to get to heaven. 

I am happy Jesus died for our sins, but Mommie said the best part about Easter is that He didn't stay dead! He Arose from the dead and is still living today! She said that is why we celebrate Easter.

I still have a lot to learn, but little by little I am starting to understand.

I hope you understand this and believe too.

Okay, I guess I have to go for now. But we will talk about this some more later, Mommie said.

Have a happy Tuesday!!

Bye bye for now,

Lily Grace

xoxoxoxo