Gifts

Gifts are a wonderful thing. I love gifts. I love to give gifts. I love to wrap gifts. Even a small item beautifully wrapped brings joy. My thought is that everyone deserves a well wrapped gift.Tonight I will be wrapping for a friend. Friends themselves are a wonderful gift. A good and trusted friend is worth more than any possession or thing. I have been blessed with several of these good friends. These precious "gifts" are always willing to go above and beyond for me. They are always ready to lend a hand when needed and to share a tear or a good belly laugh. This season of love reminds me what is most important in my life. Above all Christ is on the top of my list. He is the reason for the season. With out Him there would be no hope. I have hope.

This wonderful season also brings me gifts. The best gift I could receive is in the form of family. My niece, her husband and their sweet 21 month old baby girl are on their way to spent Christmas at my home. To say I'm excited would be putting it mildly. They have a ways to come so I am wishing them traveling mercies. The path from Kansas to New York is a long one and I pray their trip is an uneventful one.
Well friends after a quick check of the time I see it is time to get a move on. Till next time. Merry Christmas

A New Season

The summer flowers are gone as are the fall leaves . What remains is hope. Hope that the winter will be an easy one. Hope that the coming year will be an easier year. Hope that the hurts of the past will lessen as the days pass. As it is well into December my thoughts turn to Christmas. I love Christmas! I love the lights, the trees, the gatherings and most of all I love the reason for the season. This is a season of celebrating the birth that changed the world. Time is set by His existence. I will celebrate the birth of Christ. Gifts come and are soon forgotten. Gatherings are wonderful but are also soon forgotten. But the Son of God is never forgotten. He is with me every waking moment and every moment of my long dark nights. My life has meaning and is better for having a Savior.That being said, I decorate. My sweet niece once told me that Christmas threw up in my house. She later explained she meant it in the nicest way. I have to admit she may be right. I do decorate everything. I even help friends decorate. I love the gold, silver, blues, reds and greens that you see at this time of year. Did I say, I love flowers? Poinsettias are a personal holiday favorite. Therefore I use several to dress up the old place. I have baskets of them. They are placed any where I can put one.
Did I also mention my tree? I love my tree! There are about 1200 lights, 1000 ornaments and 200-300 hard plastic and glass icicles hung one at a time. Yes, it takes a lot of time to do everything but it is worth it. There is a wonderful young friend who helps me put my tree up. He has grown up helping me. At 16 he still comes and says he will continue to help as long as he is able. Timothy is very affordable too. He works for peanut brittle. We work for a bit then take a break to make a batch. Then we go back to work for a while and it's time for a tea break. His father is English so he has a great appreciation for good tea. Even as young as he is I count him among my dearest friends.
Well friends, I am getting tired so I'll sign off for now. Until next time.

???????

This morning, along with the flooded yard, brought another duck. What kind of duck? It will take a smarter person than me to guess. Take note of the top knot, the white throat and white wing tips. I do believe he came from the same place Lucy (last summers goose) came from. He didn't seem at all bothered when I walked up to take the photos so I think I can safely assume he is a domestic duck. My husband and I had great fun watching him this morning as he swam around stopping only to eat. I do wish the pond was already in.


That's it for now. Click on the photos to see them bigger. Till next time.

Hope!

This photo is the site of my pond. (I hope) The low spot behind the tree collects water every time it rains. Of course the tree will have to go but my son wants it for fire wood so that will be an easy and cheap way to get rid of it. I have called the person who will be doing the digging and am waiting, not so patiently, for his visit. Now that it seems it might be a certainty, I am getting nervous. Will it hold water? What will be the bottom line? Can I really afford this? The one question I do NOT have is will the birds come. This is where the next photo comes in. As I already stated, the area gets flooded when it rains. This is what happens then.
DUCKS!!!!
I wish the pond was already in so they would stay and nest but in a few days the water is gone and so are the ducks. Next year! The ducks will come and hopefully stay the summer. Have I mentioned, that I love ducks? Ducks, geese, birds in general. They are great fun. If anyone wonders, I will not be getting domestic birds. Last year with Lucy was a roller coaster. She spent more time in the road than the yard so she went back to her original home. I am very happy to say she is alive and well with her new mate.
That's it for today. Spring has sprung and I have things to do. Till next time.

Spring

The last year has been a very difficult time. I lost my Mom, an uncle, a couple of friends, my beloved cat and a very special aunt. Needless to say, I haven't been myself. Am I fully back? No, but I am better. There is something about spring that gives you a renewed hope. Here in The Hollow, spring has come early. There is a new joy every time I look at my gardens. Many of my plants came from my Mom so as I see them push their way above the ground I see a bit of what she loved. She also loved the birds. As do I. This cardinal was sitting in the very top of a tree singing his heart out. I am happy to report that there were several answers to his call. The wood peckers are almost living on the suet cake and the chipmunks and squirrels are finding their way into my feeder. Yes, they know how to dump half a feeder at a time. Do I mind? Not at all. It is great fun to watch them jump and hang off it or try to balance on it. I have yet to be quick enough to snap a picture of their antics, but do have a hope that sooner or later I'll get one.
There are many beautiful crocuses blooming. Yellow happens to be one of my favorite colors so it was a happy moment when this little pretty bloomed. Of course the purple ones are also lovely. The honey bees seem to think so too. There were dozens of them on my flowers. Today is a good day and the hope is, that there will be many more to come. I will be posting again soon. Until then enjoy.