Ranch Rounds ~ So Long, Farewell

Out at the pond:  

This youngin showed up a few days ago just floating around in my pond like he owned the joint.  Big, big, BIG thank you to USFW (USDA, I'm not exactly sure which one)for giving him a lift back to the river.  He was 5 feet long, and the guys thought maybe he got kicked out of his congregation by older males.  Very territorial, I assume. 

            

Bye bye, little dude. :)

Out in the yard: 

Sorry so blurry!  I got to see my Purple Martin babies lined up before they all took off for South America.  They left a little early this year for some reason. I miss their chirping at dusk and their singing during the day.

front porch: 

Speaking of territorial ~

Sometimes you just have to call a truce...if only for a second or two.

 

sharing with   Michelle for Thankful Thursday &  Eileen @ Saturday's Critters

Ranch Rounds & Storm Clouds

 

Mark's garden is doing well, 

considering the amount of rain we have gotten. I'm thankful for that rain. 

  That's a Sonic billboard tarp under his gro-bags. 

:) 

Purple hulls are about to turn

Bitter melon

(Someone at the farmer's market gave it to him)

This little girl was watching me mow. 

She appeared to be a statue, just frozen. 

One of our baby martins that just wasn't quite ready to fly. 

I'm imagining it's hiding from it's family because 

they will dive-bomb the heck out of it to make it fly

(He finally took off)

I didn't get any photos, but we have a couple of hawks that are very interested in our babies.

I've listened to them screech out front and the other day they tried to cruise over the houses but thankfully  the martins came out in force and chased them away.  

Just a few more weeks and the birds will all take off for their winter vacation.  I will breathe a big sigh of relief that the predators here didn't kill any.  

I'll finish my rounds with these storm photos from the other day. 

Nothing came out of them for us, but others got a ton of rain. 

I'm thankful for small blessings- here, there and yonder. 

Have a great weekend, y'all! 

sharing with   Michelle for Thankful Thursday ,Eileen @ Saturday's Critters,Yogi for Skywatch Friday, and NixPixMix for Sunday Best

Thankful Thursday

I finally got a mum to survive over the winter.  

(recognize her? Pumpkin pie mum from November!)

and my Limelight Hydrangea is still struggling, but slowly coming back to life. 

I'm thankful today for small victories, and maybe I have earned
one green stripe on my brown thumb? 

HA HA 

sharing with   Michelle for Thankful Thursday 

Time Travel Tuesday ~ 1900's

 

This bible belonged to my great-great grandfather, James Nichols 

He was born in Tennessee in 1837 and lived the majority of his life in  Hot Spring County Arkansas, passing on in 1903.  

The cool thing about this bible is all of the notes and family lineage that over the years was added to pages in the front and back, but also stuck in here and there between the pages.  

I found this yesterday: 

 I wish I could read whatever 

letter the person cut up to make this.  I also wish I knew who made it.  

I think that is a Celtic knot pattern, and maybe it was a super 

easy project, and I just think it looks intricate and time consuming. 

I sometimes wonder (and wander) backwards in time a little too much!