Sunday, April 15, 2018

Ten Things of Thankful

It may have seemed like I was ducking out on writing my post for Josie Two Shoes' Ten Things of Thankful blog hop, and in a way I suppose I was, as can be seen below. Click the link to see who else decided to share their thoughts of gratitude this time around.  




1. I am thankful for trips to the park.
My husband and I went to the park this afternoon to see if we could see any ospreys doing their incredible plummeting dives into the lake to catch fish. While he was zooming in on the ospreys, I was snapping photos of ducks, including these two. They are called Indian Runner Ducks. I suspect they were unwanted pets that were dropped off at the park. They do not fly and are not native here, nor for that matter to this country. Today both of these ducks seemed to have a little bit of an attitude and bullied the other ducks in the area. As you can see they are very "upright" birds otherwise.

Indian Runner Ducks

2. I am thankful for signs like this.
I'm not sure if the owners have always grown daffodils strictly for u-pickers, or if at one time they had grown them for florists, but I love the idea of u-pick daffodils!

U-Pick daffodil patch with a bright yellow flag to catch the attention of drivers who are zipping by on the highway

3. Colors brighten our world, and fluorescent colors intensify the colors. I'm thankful for discovering this beautiful beetle one morning this week. Since he wasn't where he should have been, we took some photos before departing ways with him. We have no idea where he came from and neither one of us had ever seen a beetle like this. Thanks to the internet, we were able to identify him.


We placed this Golden Jewell Beetle (Buprestis aurulenta) on a spent Christmas Cactus blossom while we took some photos.

4. To see the first of something usually takes some planning, but in this case it was purely happenstance. While watering my plants this week I noticed a tiny blossom emerging on a coffee plant we have had for years. The plant has not really thrived under my care, maybe because I'm not a coffee drinker, but it should have known that there was at least one coffee drinker in our house. Anyway, I was very surprised to see the first ever bloom on the plant! I had assumed it just wasn't ever going to bloom for me. I am thankful for even a very brief appearance of this surprise blossom. (Two days later the blossom had shriveled and dropped off.)

Emerging white blossom on a coffee plant

5. It has taken a while for this little orchid to decide to grow a new leaf and hopefully the beginning of another spike.  I had cut off the old one after the blooms had dropped off, and then decided that was probably a mistake. I'm thankful for new growth on my orchid plant.

New orchid leaf coming forth from the center of the other leaves.

6. When I was given another orchid plant I decided not to cut the spike when the blossoms dropped. After a period of time more blossoms appeared on the spike. I so glad we can learn from our mistakes.

This beautiful fuchsia colored orchid blossom appears to be nodding to the Christmas cactus below. I love how the five petals appear to be a mass of tiny fuchsia dots on a background of pure white, with one small pompon-shaped dot in the center of the blossom.
Speaking of learning, this is what I should have watched when I received my first orchid.




7. I am thankful for radio stations which read books that the entire family can enjoy, and I am thankful for the influence Patrick McManus's books had on our family. We gathered together each week to sit and listen as a chapter from one of his books was read on the public radio station, and often laughed until we cried. Rip, Patrick McManus.

8. I'm thankful for those little promptings I receive, you know the kind you have and sometimes ignore only to think later, I wish I had done that, or I wished I hadn't done that, depending on the situation. We had turned in our tax papers to the accountant at the beginning of the last week in March. When at the beginning of this week we still hadn't received a call saying the return was ready for us to pick up, I thought I should give her a call. There had been a mistake in leaving a message, so someone else had received our message. I'm glad I decided to call her.

9. I'm thankful for prayer, because there have been so many times the past couple of weeks when people have asked for others to pray for them and for those in their families when the the future is unknown, or when the outcome is heartbreaking, or when bearing something alone is nearly impossible. Even when people can't gather together, they can be united with and through their prayers and feel His strength by doing so.

10. I'm thankful for things that were not our fault. (1)Just this week I noticed a discrepancy on our bank statement. The amount of one of the checks I'd written showed up as a different amount on the statement. When I followed up on it with the bank, I learned it was an error the bank had made. (2)A few days after the first item, we received an email stating our internet usage was unusually high and that we had used up almost our entire allowance for the month after just a few days into the next billing cycle. After checking into this, we learned that the internet service company had made a data entry error. They quickly correctly the mistake. I'm thankful that both of these errors were easy to correct.

Last of all, I am thankful for beautiful music which comforts and reaches the heart and the soul.


8 comments:

  1. I don't know which video to watch first. The music is inspirational and soul-filling. (I listened to that first). I have some orchids which occasionally offer a new leaf and once in awhile a bloom, but I don't feel very successful with them. I will next watch that video for some tips.

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    1. The film was very helpful to me. I'm glad I didn't cut off some things that I thought were roots. I couldn't understand why they weren't in the soil. Like I said, I really should have read up on growing orchids when I received them for gifts.

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  2. What a lovely list of thankfuls to enjoy this Sunday morning! I so enjoy your appreciation for the nature and creatures around you, and that you share them with us via photos. I am glad the two ducks have been able to adapt there and survive along with the native ducks. The beetle is absolutely gorgeous, and deserving of it's name!

    My plant nurturing skills aren't the best either, the ones that thrive on neglect do well. I am delighted that the Christmas cactus slip we put in a glass of water to root has finally produced a nice web of roots and can be transplanted to a pot. It comes from a 3-generation plant that has been grown in John's family! Orchids are so beautiful and I have always wanted to try them, but suspect my furkids might find them very tempting "toys"! Yours are truly beautiful! It is nice that the coffee plant at least showed you that it can bloom, maybe it wants a companion. :-)

    I am smiling at the wonderful homey thought of your family gathered listening to a book being read on the radio. More families need to turn off the tv and share such experiences... any experiences other than staring at a screen!

    I am thankful for inner promptings and prayers too. Over the years I have gotten much better and hearing and listening to those little nudges, I am glad you checked on those taxes, and that you were able to get your billing errors straightened out. That can be complicated sometimes. I absolutely depend on the prayers of others in times of struggle and gladly pray for others when requested. I believe that the connection of prayer is powerful, I've seen the results over and over!

    The song you've shared is truly beautiful, a perfect ending to this post! Thank you so much for faithfully joining us with a TToT post each week, coming here to read is always a blessing to me! XOXO





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    1. I hadn't even considered that our coffee plant might need a companion. After reading about that, I find that some plants have both the female and the male parts and are self-pollinating while others require cross pollination. I have no idea what kind we have.
      I'm glad you enjoyed the song at the end. It was a perfect ending for me too. :-)

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  3. Excellent camera work this weekend. Your mention of ospreys diving into a lake for fish triggered a memory of seeing gannets do the same thing (only in the salt water of the ocean) years ago. I could picture it. Very cool.
    Orchids have always been in the category of 'if I could grow plants indoors, they would be...'
    We have one plant indoors, a very ugly cactus that sits in the bay window and...well, nothing much. I water it once or twice a year, guess it's alive. It has fallen over so it must be.
    Taking note of the bad things that don't happen is a very astute and (I would submit) beneficial thing to do. To note and be grateful for the bullets dodged is surely one of the most under-rated good things in everyday life.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the photos. Watching birds hover high in the sky before diving straight into the water below
      is a fascinating sight.
      Your description of your cactus as being ugly made me laugh. One of my cacti certainly fits that description, but the last time it bloomed, it was load with beautiful blossoms. I had considered throwing it away a year ago. Glad I didn't.

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  4. First blossoms are a treat. I'm thanksful for music, too. This one is beautiful. Thanks to you.

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    1. I'm glad that you enjoyed the flowers and the music.

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