Everyday Images ~December Prompts

December Prompts – Everyday Images #77

I’ll be linking up with Kym at A Fresh Cup of Coffee.

(at home, collection, love, white, traditional, pine)

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at home (monthly)

collection

love

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

white

traditional

Christmas cards are a tradition that I enjoy and cherish. Hope it doesn’t completely die out!

pine

Pine bough garland around our front door of our former home.

Currently at our home we are surrounded by evergreens but they are more of the fir variety and not pine.

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Hope all is well in your corner of the world as you anticipate Christmas and all that it means to humanity.

We’ve had this little tin for years and the scenes go well with the Bible verses from Luke.

“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.’

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

(Luke 2:8–14, ESV)

This last scene comes later in the Christmas events before Joseph, Mary and Jesus flee to Egypt to escape King Herod’s evil plans. The Wise men and Joseph are warned by God about Herod.

My little tin also has a scene with a Little Drummer Boy which comes from a popular Christmas song but isn’t in the Bible.

The Fawn

We were surprised and excited to see this little fawn visit our yard with mama deer.

We watched through the windows not wanting to spook them.

They found the water we leave out for them and had a good drink before they headed off.

Refreshing

In the last week we have had a couple of refreshing rainfalls that our yard soaked up. There was lightning and thunder which always brings the threat of starting more fires so everyone is on edge with these events.

The cool down of the weather made it so enjoyable to walk about and to take these photos. Taking advantage of the under 90 degree day we tackled some weeds.

The bunny trio are unaffected by changes in the weather.

We’ve enjoyed cooler temps the last 4 days with Sunday being the coolest into the 70’s! Woohoo. Today we are heading up again to the 90’s and later this week we will be over 100 degrees. Time for me to start watering again.

This past week we’ve had a doe and fawn visit. That’s always a treat. I’ll be sharing some photos soon.

Our Pastor has been preaching out of the Psalms this summer. Sunday was Psalm 46. God is our refuge, river, and ruler. He covered the whole Psalm and here are just the two beginning verses.

Psalm 46:1,2

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

Enjoy the 10th day of August friends!

Big Bucks

These guys came to scrounge around our yard for some good eats. When they were done in the back yard they moved to the front yard for their second course.

Hope you all have a good weekend with lots of good eats.

An Oasis

The birds have found the watered section of our yard to be an oasis in the midst of our dry and parched land here in our corner of the world. They enjoy tucking away in the variegated willow on the cool wet leaves. The smoke has been oppressive the last couple days as the weather is changing and it seems to be stuck in place because of atmospheric pressure.

This command center has been set up in the junior high parking lot across the street from our church. Tents for the firefighters to rest in and there are food trucks and portable showers, etc.

Summer projects have come to a halt as it is unhealthy to work hard outdoors. We are looking forward to relief soon.

Hope all is well in the area you call home.

You May Not Enter

This mama deer stepped up onto our deck and was resting on our patio rug. This is the first time something like that has happened. We didn’t want to frighten her and have her kick at the glass slider.

Thankfully she turned around and went on her way.

We were told that this is probably a doe with a nursing fawn and that is why her ribs are exposed. I didn’t research that so not sure if that’s true.

Seeking Relief…

We’ve had bucks and does visit regularly during our heat and lack of rain. The bucks rest in the shade under the shed roof on the back of the garage. The doe rests under the variegated willow.

We’re happy to leave the water in the pool so the does and bucks can get their fill. A couple days ago we spotted two does drinking from the pool. That reminded me of these verses in Psalm 42.

Wednesday Hodgepodge is taking a week off and will be back next Wednesday.

Lavender

This weekend the annual lavender festival begins in Sequim Washington. It was so wonderful to go to the festival in years past. In honor of the festival and other lavender festivals around the area here are the lavender plants on our acreage at our country bungalow.

Today is my second cataract surgery on my left eye. We left home at O-dark-thirty again to get to Spokane in time for the surgery. We will be in Spokane all day as my follow-up appointment is on Friday afternoon. Back to drops and more drops 4 times a day for a while.

We are under severe fire warnings right now and there are several wildfires that are making our skies cloudy with smoke not pretty fluffy clouds. The air quality is not good so we stay inside as much as possible. Hoping for the containment of all the fires in the Northwest! Hope the skies are clear where you are.

Bon Appétit Hodgepodge

Merci to Joyce From This Side of the Pond for coming up with the questions for us to answer.

1. Tell us about one small blessing you have counted in the past week?

Not so small but we got to hug our second born after not seeing him for 7 weeks!

2. Bastille Day is celebrated on July 14th…have you ever been to France?

No, I’ve never been to France.

Any desire to visit there, and if so what would site or city would you most want to see? (pretend for a minute international travel isn’t an issue)

France is not on my top ten places to visit list. If I traveled there I’d be interested in Mont Saint Michel and Normandy.

3. A food associated with France that you love?

A croissant and cassoulet

4. Something you recently purchased where a coupon was involved? Do you regularly shop with coupons?

I’ve only used online coupons these days. I do not regularly shop with coupons anymore.

5. You have to give something away this week…what will it be?

I’ll give away some of my garlic.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of France, our lavender is in it’s glory right now. It is always a treat to weed around the lavender and enjoy that fragrance.

Sun Shade

We decided to take down these umbrellas that didn’t work well with our windy afternoons and replaced them with a shade cloth. I say we in the royal sense, Dear did it all!