Cherish is my favorite word, and I cherish the ability of turning the routine into a beautiful moment.
Nature creates in me, a spiritual and meditative time to bring peace, harmony and balance, into an otherwise ordinary day~
Mary Howell Cromer







Monday, November 19, 2018

Happy Thanksgiving From Tingsgrove to Your Home~


Image taken last week at Cave Hill Cemetery~

~Happy Thanksgiving~

No matter if you celebrate with us in the United States of America, or not, I wish you a Thanksgiving day every day.  My heart is thankful for so much in my life, much of which I often times take for-granted.  One very important thing to me is my family and friendships.  You all are my friends, many of which I have never met in real life, but have learned to know you very well on here as well as many on Facebook.  I appreciate each of you and it is a pleasure to take a peek at what is happening in your part of the world and what you have been seeing and photographing.
We won't be with family this year for the holiday dinner, but we will get to spend time with them during the weekend.  My husby and I will have a wonderful meal at a restaurant that overlooks the Ohio River and then on Friday I will prepare our traditional Thanksgiving day meal because I love to do the cooking from scratch and enjoy the aromas as foods bake and roast, and the leftovers are such a wonderful thing after the big feast.
I have a request...
Even though we have never met one another, never spoken, I have known of this man since I was 16.  He was my father's son from a previous marriage.  I only learned information about him 5 years ago and he would now be 86 years old.  He lives in Paradise, California where the recent Camp Fire burned up nearly the entire city.  The devastation, the loss of lives, the fear they had to have gone through, those people who are listed as missing, pray that they will be found alive and well, for every day that goes by without word, makes it much more frightening for those searching for them.  The loss of homes, land, domestic animals, wildlife, it's truly something that I am struggling with in a very big way.  I cannot stop thinking about it.  Please pray if you pray, lift up your very finest thoughts if you don't pray for all concerns for these who have lost everything.  As for my half brother, we just don't know anything at all~

Remember to double click on the first image, to view a larger slideshow presentation after    you have read the narratives~
I am joining in the fun with Eileen at:
Saturday's Critter


Anni at:
http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com/ 
I'd Rather Be Birdin'
   
Angie at:  
Mosaic Monday
https://tentoesinthewater.blogspot.com/


 Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global 
   http://communalglobal.blogspot.ca/

Stewart for:





Blue-headed Vireo...a big first for me, and right here on our property too the end of October~



We had a few of the Golden Crowned Kinglets visit us too~




Yikes and another new one for my list, also on our land, a Bay-breasted Warbler ;)~




This may be the same one, but it was on the far side of the property...also Bay-breasted Warbler~


We had a whole lot of regulars with the Chickadees~


One of our favorite visitors the Yellow-rumped Warblers stopped by too~




 The American Robins are always near by, but when it is Autumn berry season, they are in large numbers~





The famous Budweiser Clydesdale Horses came to town last week.  Many were disappointed that the whole team had not come according to advertising images, but for me I was thrilled to just see the two that did come.  They are just gorgeous and gentle creatures.  Two of our grands Braden and Maci and I got to pet one of them and that was a nice treat.  We also had a surprise snow fall while en route and during the quick visit that we made into the city to see them.  It made for some lovely snaps to share~








And then ... we had an ice storm, and it was mean to us.  
We lost many hundreds of small branches which are miserable to try and gather on such a large patch of land. In some places they are knee deep and some still frozen together. Then there were a bunch of very large fallen limbs from huge trees.  We couldn't make it past losing another monster tree behind our home.  We are so very thankful that it fell away from the house, but it also took out two other smaller trees~











I did seek the beauty in the mess for the ice covered property took on lovely scenes as I trudged around checking on the damage done.  We don't hire out, we do the clean-up ourselves and I take on much of the task myself, other than using a chainsaw...oh no way.  It's going to take months and one tree that was attached at the base of the larger one now fallen is in a very precarious position and it's facing the land that I have been working so much the last 4 years. You cannot control nature, that's for sure~







This younger buck was at a nearby park that I drove through a couple of weeks ago~




Northern Flicker, also sometimes called Yellow-shafted Flickers~


Carolina Wren~


Chickadee~


Top left to right and then lower left to right...
Chickadee, Cedar Waxwing...I only saw them one day this season and took 5 pictures was all... Chipping Sparrow and Mr. and Mrs Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers~



20 comments:

  1. Hello Mary, Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. My prayers go out to the victims, families and firefighters in California! Such devastating fires, I can not imagine loosing everything you own. I enjoyed all your birds in this post, your photos are stunning. The ice storm looks bad, I am glad your home was OK. Enjoy your day and week ahead.

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  2. Lots of lovely shots.

    Happy Thanksgiving backacchoo ♥

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  3. Mary - Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. It must be difficult to even say that phrase when your half brother is missing - I will keep him and you in my prayers. Thanks for linking to Mosaic Monday this week, and I am glad you were able to add my blog button to your sidebar - well done! The pictures of the Clydesdales ARE majestic, and even more so with the snow! Sorry for all the ice damage - I remember an October ice storm in Cleveland a few years ago that was horrific to the trees around the house we had then - it took ages to clean up! I hope you enjoy your feast on Friday.

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  4. Happy Thanksgiving Mary, I hope you had a good time. Beautiful pictures of things nature.

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  5. Dear Mary,
    Wishing you and yours an extra special Thanksgiving. I love all of your photos but that little bird amongst the white leaves and red berries is sensational. Thank you for sharing your special talent of communicating with so many different animals.

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  6. Hi Mary. I'm reading your blog without a problem. Hope you can read my own. Have you tried via Smartphone and do you get the same message?

    In the meantime I loved seeing those warblers but not your ice-storm that left all that damage for you to redress. Your land seems so much hard work to keep on top of. Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

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  7. Hello Mary, I really enjoyed all your beautiful photos. The birds and deer are just lovely. Awesome sightings. Sorry about your tree damage, I am glad it was not worse. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your day and weekend!

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  8. I will certainly keep him in my prayers. I am still praying for all of the people in that area. So sad! Love your photos. I've finally found a trail that I see a few deer. That's be exciting! Happy Thanksgiving weekend! Hugs, Diane

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  9. Beautiful critters! I am sorry to hear that you don't know where your half-brother is. I am thankful to the firefighters and all the people who are helping each other.

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  10. Hello Mary. The first photo is so beautiful. Bird photos are so great. Have a good day.

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  11. Hello Mary,
    The fires in Paradise are so tragic. I pray that you will have word of your half-brother.
    What beautiful birds visit you. Each one is so perfectly made. That's too bad about the ice storm; it seems early in the season. I hope you had a most Happy Thanksgiving.

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  12. Beautiful message and images. Your photos are amazing! Thank you for sharing with all of us.

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  13. Beautiful birds as always. The horses have warming fur socks :) Happy MM.

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  14. All of our birds except for the resident raven pair have departed for their winter homes. I sure miss them. - Margy

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  15. What lovely creatures, large and small!!

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  16. Now it’s time for reading... MosaicMonday times! Each Monday a great pleasure.
    I enjoyed your post. The nature is fantastic - I admire your captures.

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  17. Mary, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. The horses are beautiful. As always your bird photos have lifted my spirit. Thanks for sharing. Have a great week. Sylvia D.

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  18. Sending good thoughts still for all those around Paradise and other towns so severely hurt. I hope you hear good news about your half brother. It is all so sad..... your birds are delightful ...the warbler with the beakful of Berry is delightful. I am sorry about your ice storm. It really was mean to you. ...when my mom used to talk about Louisville, I always pictured it being warm ...but when Bill and I visited that time (in October), we nearly froze...in strong winds! I hope it warms up some for you before winter sets in for the duration.

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  19. Thanks for being so patient with me while I was on a holiday break! I LOVE having you share your blog with us at I'd Rather B Birdin'!

    LOVE the Kingsley this week. Very special.

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