Rose-breasted Grosbeak & White-crowned Sparrow

I'm so excited with the birds this week!
Yesterday we were sitting out back enjoying the nice warm day we were having. Dave & I spotted it at the same time...there on the ground was a bird we'd never seen (or at least noticed) before. Instantly he flew up in the tree, but I was still able to get a good shot of him with my camera. Then he came back out in the open & posed for me.
After doing some searching in the bird books we have decided that it was a White-crowned Sparrow. Here's the best one I have:

Cute little guy isn't he?

This morning when we got up the heron was in the river for his morning catch. And the woodpeckers don't disappoint us with their daily visits. There are Red-bellied, Hairys & Downys on a daily basis. Then there will be Northern Flicker with a lot of regularity though not daily. We've been hearing and seeing from time to time a Pileated and this spring for the first time we've had a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker around. But we haven't seen him for a couple of week now, so he must have been passing through. Soon we're hoping to have the Red-headed ones back again for the summer.

And speaking of birds returning for the summer, they are beginning to arrive! The robins have been around for months, but today we had two male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks on the feeders. Hope they decide to make their home near here again this summer. Until last year we would only see them passing through. They are so pretty! Here's a shot of one of them:

Okay, so this is where I was going to stop --- but the events since I started are making me keep going! There was a Red-bellied Woodpecker kept coming up to the window feeder and eating peanuts, so I decided to get my camera (which was right by the feeder) in case he came back. Well he did come back, but not before I got my camera in hand. That's when I noticed a big splash in the river. And then another. So I used my camera as binoculars & there was the strangest looking thing in the river. 

I still didn't know what it was. Then I saw a pair of wood ducks on the sand bar. Eventually the funny-looking one joined them. I guess it was a wood duck with it's head feathers standing up. I'm still not sure....what do you think?....He's in the back:

After taking about a dozen pictures & just as I was turning to go back & download the pictures onto my computer our friendly little woodchuck zipped by...

This was the first we had seen him this year. I was beginning to think he'd found a new home.

Now you thought I was done didn't you? I wasn't real happy with the duck pictures, so I thought I'd check & see if they were still there. No luck, but wait -- what's that on the sand bar? Was I seeing things? You take a look:

The female laid an egg! And just left it on the sandbar! I walked out to the river to take this & as I got down to the shore a Great Blue Heron flew down river -- didn't get a good shot at him though. Sigh.

What excitement -- off to make Jon's birthday lasagna. Have a great evening & happy bird-watching,



Quality - of True Friendship

It's back to my Journaling Prompts! And I'm right on schedule; at least this one says Monday.
So for true friendship: I've heard it said that a true friend is one who is still there when you have trouble, one who is excited when things are going well for you. A friend is someone who will laugh with you, cry with you and be still with you. And the best friend of all is Jesus Christ, His love is unconditional. Why don't you take a little walk with Jesus today?  Pour your heart out to Him and then listen for His still small voice, He is there for you. He will give you courage. He will give you hope. He will give you strength to carry on no matter what stage you are in your life.

Breathe; Just Breathe!

Well April is almost over. It's been quite a month for me. And the last week is always a bit hectic with getting our church newsletter put together, printed, folded, labeled & mailed. Thanks to my dear husband it's out & delivered!

Now for the rest of the month --

My first month at Faithfully Yours as a part of the Design Team. It has been fun & very inspiring.

Speaking of inspiring, I just finished up a class at godigitalscrapbooking.com that really made me work hard. It was a month-long class with an assignment every week day. Now I have a book about my faith ready to print out. One last message from Barbara this week. But her assignments really made me look long & hard at my faith -- a real affirmation!

I also tried another new thing & entered a Quick Page contest at coolscrapsdigital.com. There I made a page that you can just drop photos into & have a page ready to print!
Here's a preview of my page....

You can download it here: http://www.box.com/download/account/f_2135623307/0/AnnB_Designs%29CSDQuickPageApril2012.zip

And if you want to check out what's happening at CoolScrapsDigital just go here:

www.coolscrapsdigital.com



I'm almost ready for May to be here -- just need to get my DAR Pressbook finalized & off to the printers.

Hope your April was as exciting as mine.

Journaling Prompt - Quality

Quality of friendship that is...which makes me think of "loving someone warts and all" and then I automatically me think of our dog Nikki. She has developed some nasty looking warts the last year. And she's lost fur down the middle of her back, which makes her really strange looking now, but as faithful as ever. Her joints are stiff & it's hard for her to get into the car & impossible to get into the Jeep. One of her favorite things is to go for rides with us. Now she hardly responds to us when we ask if she wants to go with us. But we still love her and she still is our great protector.
But I digress. What makes for a good quality of friendship? In my mind it is someone you can share all your joys with and they are happy for you; someone you can share all your sorrows with and they are there to cry with you; someone you can hang out with and say nothing at all and they aren't uncomfortable with being there. That is the difference between a "friend" and an "acquaintance".
I have been blessed with many new acquaintances this year who are quickly becoming friends. For this I am grateful. We have poured our hearts out at the My Life; My Faith class. We're learning about each other on the Design Team at Faithfully Yours and becoming friends. And my Makeover Group is such a sharing, caring group of people who encourage one another through all the hills and valleys of our walk through life.
Some of the above mentioned people I have known for years; some of them I have only known for a few weeks; but our common bond is our trust in God as our Savior. And I truly thank God for all He's done for me in my life, but especially this last month. And I thank Him for the people He has put in my path on my journey through life. I'm praying that He will bless you all!
Thank you Lord, praise you Jesus!

Contest at Faithfully Yours

Stewardship contest over at Faithfully Yours
Check it out for your a to win $50 gift certificate to their store:  http://faithfullyyours.net/Blog/contest-share-your-favorite-stewardship-tip/

Journal Prompt - Enlarging

I'm up-to-date with my prompts! Well, not really, but this one is for Friday -- two weeks ago. LOL
The whole prompt reads: Enlarging my world will bring more opportunities for service.
That has certainly been my world for 2012. When I look back on the first quarter of 2012 I stand in awe of how much enlarging has occurred in my world. And some shrinkage as well.
The Bible study group that I have been leading for a number of years has ceased for most of the year. We did do one on Romans, but have since been going to one at the church that our new pastor has been leading. It was a very thought-provoking book on Why? (More on that later) Then we took a break for Easter. What a glorious event in the life of the church to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ!
The study at church was so well attended that Pastor Jean is going to do another session about discovering our spiritual gifts. Not enough time to squeeze in a study for our group, so we'll wait until after it is over. I do miss Dee & Barb joining Dave & I for our little group sessions. Planning on doing Ephesians next, whenever that might be.
Then there is the enlarging of my world to include being on the Design Team at Faithfully Yours. This has been a fun adventure & has really made me think lots about my faithbooking practices. And has expanded the way I scrapbook altogether. I found the website that gives these journaling prompts (www.inspiredtojournal.net) and have been using them here at my blog.
Another added activity is taking a month-long My Life; My Faith class this month at godigitalscrapbooking.com. Another very thought-provoking walk for me. We do a page every week day from the assignments given by Barb. So far it has covered where & when our faith started and how it has grown. Yesterday was even about where we faltered. It is covering everything! Next week we will have a time to chat with other class members and Barb hinted that we will start working on where we are going in our walk with God.
And there's my being active on FaceBook. Not something that I really cared about before. But I've added a timeline on my FB page, joined two groups through FaithfullyYours and one through a friend at church. The one from church was first started by a couple of ladies who wanted to have someone to be accountable for in their weight-loss attempts. It has since enlarged to include others who want to be accountable for other things -- get busy & don't procrastinate is the theme and we're there to encourage one another. Very helpful! And it's all God-centered! In the word's of my friend Beverly (who has been gone from this world for several years now) "Thank you Lord! Praise you Jesus!" I'll always remember Beverly for saying that ALL the time!!!
Next week I'm going to do something that I haven't done in a while. I signed up to take a painting class with Carl Moser. It's been a couple of years since I've done this. But now that he's holding some classes right in town here I decided to try it again. Excited to get my hand on a paintbrush again. It's a fun way to get creative.
And now here's my page for today's assignment in My Life; My Faith:

I thank God for our son Andrew and all that he was able to do while he was with us in this world! God gives us many wonderful opportunities here on earth & my prayer is that I am able to recognize His will for my life & follow His plan for my life.

Thank you Lord! Praise you Jesus!

Journal Prompt - Dismal

I've been avoiding doing this prompt! Who wants to think of dismal things? In fact I'm not quite sure what the people who wrote the prompts were thinking of -- "How dismal is this?"
The only thing that is dismal around here would be the weather. And actually it's not all that dismal; it was a beautiful sunny day today. But it has been cold; so cold in fact that we've been covering a couple of our plants during the night this week. The Nanny Berry bush/tree & the Mountain Laurel, both were newly planted last summer and both are getting ready to blossom for the first time. My poppies are a little wilty looking, hoping that some warm weather the next few days. Also worried about the tree lilies.
Here's Jillian standing by the Nanny Berry tree last week . . .

Still trying to figure out why in the world I would want to dwell on dismal things! So, I'm going to remain positive and not do it! Tomorrows prompt is so much better! :)

Journaling Prompt - Frustrated

That would be very fitting for me today. The prompt actually says something about harboring frustration. I think the most frustrating thing for me this month has been trying to figure out what to journal about being frustrated.
Is this blog really worth it to post to on a daily basis? I don't hide it from anyone, but I don't really share it with anyone either.
Today as we wait for Easter morning I can't help but think how frustrated & frightened the disciples & friends of Jesus must have felt. They must have been ready to give up. And that's where I think that frustration truly leads one. So I will turn my burdens over to the Lord, including this frustration I'm feeling & lean on Him for my strength.