Do you see the bee in that sunflower pictured above? It's almost impossible to take any beautiful flower pictures lately, without bees practically attacking and ripping my camera out of my hands! But aren't sunflowers SO incredible!? This blossom is not growing in MY yard ... I am not that handy yet with overseeing the growth of God's creation; but there is a yard just a street or two over where the people definitely understand plants, grass, flowers ~ their property is just breathtaking ~ they have sunflowers growing in THEIR yard as tall as their house!
If you look real hard, you can see ANOTHER bee in this bunch of flowers ... and this IS in our yard. I saw a bee so large the other day that I almost mistook it for a small bird! I haven't been doing as much digging around in the dirt these last few weeks because the insects are just a bit too aggressive for me! Also, we haven't had any significant rain in so long ... it's certainly not lush and green like it was at the beginning of this month ... many folk's yards are completely dead and brown ... how sad! 
This is one of Mr. Jones's zinnias that he planted from seed. They grow without much moisture at all! I hope I never ever get tired of contemplating God's creation. If what He has made is this amazing, what must it be like to actually see the One who made it all and spoke it into being?
Is there anything more precious that God has breathed life into than a newborn baby? My niece, Shari, who lives far away in North Carolina, gave birth last week to a perfectly formed, tiny (under 6 pounds) baby girl ~ look at her! Isn't she sweet?
Esme' Arabella is my sister's very first granddaughter ... she is MY great-niece! I don't know when I will ever get to meet her face to face, but I sure am thankful for these pictures of her. (I just checked my sister's blog and she has returned from her visit to N. Carolina and has posted many more pictures).
These snaps were taken the day she was born (I think)! Look how alert she is! Isn't she adorable?! I am a great-aunt now to four great-nephews and four great-nieces and I have met only one of them (Matthew Owen ~ but he is very special).
Doesn't GREAT-aunt SOUND like I am really really old?! And I guess I am now because I officially entered the ranks of senior citizen last week! Definitely old! Turning 55 is a significant landmark. There is nothing YOUNG about it! I certainly can't say I am in my early 50's anymore, now can I?! And 5 is my most unfavorite number, and I'm stuck with two of them all year! That's okay, though, because there are definitely worse alternatives ...
I had a very nice birthday this year, celebrated over a several-day period! I spent the afternoon of my birthday with Karen. We ate a yummy lunch at Rose's over by Reed's Lake and then spent hours just talking and talking. Karen gave me a beautiful photo book she had made for me (I love it!) of pictures she took of us when Di and the children were here, plus probably the nicest lighthouse book I have ever seen in my life ~ the best photographs and narrative! Every single picture in this book is just superb ... like you want to go there and see it ... NOW!Mr. Jones had pity on me about my pathetically SLOW computer (it was SO overloaded!) and for my birthday bought me an external hard drive (500 GB)! We have transferred a lot of stuff over, and now my computer is running much more smoothly! I received many nice cards from friends and family and got phone calls and e-mails from many loved ones. Thanks everybody! :)
Sabrina had been calling all weekend without being able to reach us ~ and her package finally arrived yesterday! She was worried about it being late, but I told her it makes celebrating a birthday that much more fun to stretch it out over several days! She sent a "RELAX" sign for my lighthouse/boat room and a great little pillow that looks wonderful on the bed as well (and a beautiful card).I even received a phone call from Jesse, all the way from Iraq! WOW. We had a nice, long conversation. It was so good to hear his voice. He is busy counting down his return to the states hopefully in November.
One of Mr. Jones's railroad groups was getting together for a picnic late Sunday, so we went up to Newaygo to a property where I met lots of his train buddies and their wives. The folk who own the place live in a great little cottage/bungelow/house in the middle of the woods with a lovely creek that flows through their property.
The owners, Al and Dee, have a pretty nice train layout that covers the entire upstairs of their house which was especially built to accommodate it (these train people are always a bit fanatic!).
Having never seen the Croton Hardy Dam, I was delighted to get the chance! We drove right by it on our way to the picnic, so we stopped for some pictures.On Tuesday, Mr. Jones and I were invited out to lunch (to further celebrate my birthday) by mom and Cookie. How nice of them! We ate at Red Lobster and then visited for a few hours over at their house. My mom is contemplating purchasing a computer so that she can better keep in touch with all of us who blog, etc. So Mr. Jones was giving her some information regarding computers. I bet you can all imagine how much of that conversation my mother actually understood!
I was out in the back yard yesterday, examining my very pathetic wild flowers, and found this rogue sunflower! It's not huge like our neighbors are, but its pretty tall and sturdy! I just love the colors, don't you?
And I don't know about YOUR neighborhoods, but the Rose of Sharons that are blooming everywhere around here (except in OUR yard) are displaying every color practically under the sun! I love the artistry, the design, the intricacies of this blossom SO much!
Aren't these berries beautiful? I took this picture out in Ada last Saturday afternoon. And isn't God so gracious to give me eyes to see and hears to hear? I know this is a pretty disconnected rambling sort of post, but I just have so much to be thankful for and wanted to share it with you! "Teach me your ways, O LORD, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, that I may honor you. With all my heart I will praise you, O LORD my God. I will give glory to your name forever, for your love for me is very great." Psalm 86:11-12 NLT
3 comments:
No rambling at all Mom I always love to read your posts. I am so glad that I finally got a chance to connect with you again today- I put the date on Olivia's calender for your tenative arrival and she was so excited! Love all those pictures. Your flower pictures always bring a smile to my face. I love them all! One of these years I want to plant a garden- I think I'll have to buy a ton of soil first though otherwise I'd just be planting it on the grass covered rock I have for a yard! Oh well. So glad that you had so much fun with your birthday- can't believe Grandma is thinking about a computer but that is so cool too! I'll call again soon okay.
Pretty flowers! Ruth and a new cpu? Hmmm...well, she's getting hip. Glad you had a nice birthday. Hope to see you in October!
Glad you had a nice stretched out birthday. When we get older we have to stretch them out because they aren't quite as fun as when we were kids - it takes a while to add up the fun so that it is equal to when we were younger. (Just a theory!)
I liked that train set up! I love miniature trains. I wish Terry had been into that. (somewhat) Matthew would have enjoyed it.
Mom might get a computer? With internet access?
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