Tag Archives: Eagles

Wait for the Lord…

While we were outside during our granddaughter’s birthday celebration this eagle graced us with it’s circling flight above us. It stayed for a while and we were thrilled.

Isaiah 40:28-31

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles;

They shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

 

Psalm 103:1-5

Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and all that is within me bless his holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed
like the eagle’s.

We celebrated Palm Sunday yesterday as we enter Easter Week culminating with celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ next Sunday. As Christians we celebrate Christ’s resurrection every Sunday and it’s because He lives that we can have peace and joy in our lives everyday with a special hope for our future with Him in heaven. I pray that those who read this post will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be born again. Jesus died in our place for our sins and because of His perfect sacrifice we can have all our sins forgiven and be at peace with God on earth as we grow in the grace and knowledge of the One who sacrificed His perfect life for us.

Entering the Season Five…

Looking back at the last 7 days and thanking God for all He is doing and allowing in our lives with Friday’s Fave Five. Here are my five.

1. Dear and I really enjoyed watching the eagles soaring and sitting in the trees right in our own backyard. This happened on Saturday.

2. The Right Hand of Fellowship: Many churchgoers are familiar with the term “the right hand of fellowship”. What was the purpose or significance of this act? By giving the right hands of fellowship, believers were agreeing to serve God together. On Sunday we became members of First Baptist Church of Colville. The photo above is of our new church.

3. Lana G! Looking back at her blog and stealing reviving some of my memories with her photos, collages and prayers. Lana used photos from our sister trip to Victoria on Vancouver Island back in 2011 for this collage. Lana is not blogging anymore. Insert sad face. 😦

4. Time spent with Miss Addy. Oh how I love to see what new things she is learning. Last night she showered me with hugs and kisses. Soon she will be 2 and we will be celebrating. On Tuesday she informed her mommy that she would be seeing Baba and Gramps in 2 days and even went to the calendar to count out the 2 days so mommy and daddy invited us over for dinner for Thursday. (Thanks Addy!) We chase each other and play “throw all the stuffed animals in the crib” and rock our babies. No new photos. When I pulled out my cellphone to try to catch a photo of her she let me know that I should put that phone in my pocket. Pocket…pocket…pointing…

5. Entering the season of Lent and preparation for the greatest celebration of the year, Easter. I shared this video yesterday and am reposting it here, too. Our sister in law Kelly, has spent hours developing these videos/art course of a visual walk through the season of Lent. I’ve already learned new things just by watching the first video which is available for free. I’ve signed up for the whole course, too, and am looking forward to completing it and being enriched by it this Easter season.

I’m linking up with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for Friday’s Fave Five.

Later this morning we might drive to the Chewelah Golf Course to do some snowshoeing. We found out this week they are offering the golf course for snowshoeing and cross country skiing for free. We think the snow is beginning to melt so we want to get there before that happens. I’ll take my camera and hopefully share some photos of what we see. What are your plans?

Eagles in Our Backyard

We spotted these visitors in our back acres on Saturday and had fun watching them and capturing them with the camera. I did a word search in my Bible and added verses that speak about Eagles and some of the verses reminded me of Tolkien’s writings, too, so I added some quotes from his works.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget none of His benefits;

…Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”

Psalm 103: 1, 2, 5

“As for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man; all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle.” Ezekiel 1:10

“You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself.” Exodus 19:4

“The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand., a nation of fierce countenance who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young.”

Deuteronomy 28: 49, 50.

“The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle.” Revelation 4:7

“Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their life, And in their death they were not parted; They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions.” 2 Samuel 1:23

“Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.”

Isaiah 40:31

“Farewell”, they cried, “Wherever you fare till your eyries receive you at the journeys end! That is the polite thing to say among eagles. “May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks, answered Gandalf, who knew the correct reply.”

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Annotated Hobbit: The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again

“The Eagles are coming! The Eagles are coming!” ~J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King (Pippin)

It was a thrill to see the eagles in our backyard on Saturday. I think I was exclaiming a lot like Pippin in The Return of the King. I jumped up off the couch saying, “eagles in our backyard, eagles in our backyard!” It would be fun if they decide to nest in our trees. We don’t have chickens or small pets so they wouldn’t be a problem to us.

Today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent which culminates on Thursday April 18th, the day before Good Friday. Easter is Sunday April 21st. It seems late this year. Don’t want to sound like a broken Winter record but they are talking more snow for us today and tomorrow. Hope you are enjoying the last weeks of Winter in your corner of the world.

A Week in Mosaics

Saturday November 3rd we spent some time at Dan, Jamie and Addy’s. The guys worked on getting firewood cut and stored for winter. Jamie was able to get some chores done while Addy and Baba walked and played.

We walked with her trike and also with her stroller.

On our way home going down the kids’ driveway we saw this majestic bird.

Fast forward to Friday November 9th. We got our first snow. As we understand it the Colville area got their first snow last year on November 9th, too. It’s probably time to put the patio furniture away.

The Quail were in our yard in the mornings finding whatever it is that they eat. They sure are plumping up!

My sister Lana and her husband Steve arrived at our place safe and sound from the airport in Spokane in their rental car avoiding two separate accidents on highway 395 caused by slick icy roads. We all enjoyed a BBQ meal out in Kettle Falls with our kids’ joining us. We came to our place after for dessert. Addy enjoyed having my and great aunt Lana’s attention. Saturday morning we took Steve and Lana to see the kids’ house and to have breakfast together. Addy decided Great Aunt Lana is her new best friend. Later on Saturday after some shopping and movie watching we drove to Chewelah to our favorite Mexican Restaurant for dinner.

On Sunday Steve and Lana were interested in a walk or a hike so we drove 3.2 miles from our home to Douglas Falls Grange Park and found a nature trail to try. It was a good walk in the forest.

When we got home I whipped up a chowder to warm us up. It was a good recipe from Taste of Home that I’ll try to share soon. Steve and Lana are headed back to Spokane to catch their flight to Seattle. It was very nice having our first overnight guests at our Country Bungalow. Lots of good food and laughter to wrap our memories in.

Linking up with Angie at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf for Mosaic Monday. Thank you Angie for hosting.

 

In the Midst of Fog…

…there are still favorites. Things to be thankful for that shine through no matter what. I’m joining Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for Friday’s Fave Five.

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1. January is a big birthday month at our house. Joshua’s birthday was on Sunday. We celebrated earlier in the month and the photo above was part of our celebration. Our Son Dan’s birthday was on the 16th and his girlfriend’s birthday was on the 15th. This year we celebrated Dan from afar while he celebrated in Eastern Washington. My brother Tim celebrated his birthday and our niece Hope will celebrate her birthday on Saturday. We love to celebrate our loved ones and that’s my first favorite this week.

icy 005Our son Dan and his girlfriend Jamie

2. My dear old pop has been having a hard time with a lot of shoulder pain and when he’s in so much pain he misses my mom even more. I was happy to see this photo of him with my niece Melissa enjoying a meal out and looking so alive and pain free. He has been feeling better and the pain with medication has been more manageable. I’m so thankful my father’s pain has been relieved.

Pop & Melissa

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3. We’ve been in quite a foggy overcast pattern here in the Puget Sound area. The afternoons where the sun finally broke through were another favorite of mine this week.

12th man 005 4. An early morning walk with Dear on Saturday was a blessing. It’s always good to get out and get some exercise in the Winter when we tend to want to stay inside and be couch potatoes. We were treated to some Eagle sightings.

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5. Another favorite is visiting my bloggy friends each week. This week one of my favorite posts was this one from Gumbo Lily. I love seeing how other people live in different environments than my own and thrive “Day by Day”.

What were your favorites this week?

Update: I posted this last night and this morning I woke up to beautiful clear skies and amazing sunshine! Woohoo!

Dark and Foggy

Dear was ready for a walk on Saturday. Dear is a morning person, a very early morning person. I was able to stall him a bit so our walk could at least end in the light. We walked the same trail as Katie and I walked but we headed in the opposite direction.

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P1040784Since it was foggy and dark for half our walk I decided to leave my larger camera at home and I only took my little pocket camera. Being out so early we were able to hear a lot of birds chirping and quacking.

P1040785When Katie and I walked last Wednesday these gopher mounds weren’t here. This cracked me up because it seemed like this particular varmint didn’t appreciate the work the city had gone to in designating this spot to sit and watch the river flow.

morning trail4

Rounding a bend we heard this rooster crow and announce the new day had begun. He was chasing some ducks around and trying to establish his kingship amongst the foul.

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P1040793We’ve never seen a beaver along the banks but we have seen lots of evidence of their presence.

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We always love to see eagles and we were treated to a couple eagle sightings on this morning.  I really had to zoom in with my little camera and was happy that you can tell it really was an eagle we saw.

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As we walked back to the car we heard this group of Comorants put up a fuss and fly off together. They had all been sitting in a tree together that the eagle we had spotted earlier decided to perch in.

P1040807He now had the whole tree to himself.

P1040803Beautiful reflections on the river surface always grab my attention.

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morning trail3There is a different kind of beauty in the foggy overcast vistas.

morning trail

Because of our weather in the Pacific Northwest we have no shortage of moss, ferns, and very interesting bark here.

As we continued back to our car we had one more eagle spotting. I was wondering if this was a second eagle or if it was following us along the trail.

morning trail2

When we got back to our car we decided that a doughnut would be a nice treat on this cold foggy morning. Something to take back home to enjoy with our eggs. I’m happy to say that I didn’t feel guilty about that doughnut or the eggs!

Sun and Eagle Chasing…

Our trip on Sunday up highway 530 in Northwest Washington was one of trying to find the sunshine and spotting some eagles along the Skagit River.

We found both and enjoyed the sunshine and the eagles we spotted. Some of our Mennonite girls get eagles right on their own properties and others don’t have to travel far to enjoy viewing them. Maybe next year I’ll just go squat on their properties to see many eagles all together.

The Skagit River area between Concrete and Marblemount off of highway 20 in Washington is a good spot to see eagles in January. We were a little late to see a good number this year.

The Skagit river was flowing nicely with some interesting swirling that we enjoyed watching.

Tomorrow I’ll be picking up our daughter from the airport for her 1 month stay with us while our Son in law is doing some training off the base. We’re happy to have her here with us instead of on base by herself for the month. We are looking forward to some fun events together. She’ll bring a different kind of sunshine to our home.

Off the Beaten Track…

We had a choice or two on how we might reach our destination for our Sunday drive. We chose the back way. We decided we had enough of the interstate and wanted to see interesting scenes along a smaller highway. We were happy with our choice to take highway 530 to Rockport. We had some good views of Mt. Pilchuk.

How’s this for a tree lined road?

Here we have a little peek of snow covered Mt. Pilchuk. We enjoy roads that wind along rivers.

We arrived to our destination and spotted what we were hoping to see. Can you see it? I’ll have more photos in the days to come.

This week begins a very busy time around this old house. How’s your week shaping up?

A Sunday Drive…

Dear and I decided on a Sunday drive to the North of us on a small highway to see if we could spot some eagles. We were socked in with fog at our house and it was so nice to travel out of it and come into the nice bright sunshine. Funny that we had to go North instead of South to get to the sunshine. I’ll be sharing more photos tomorrow of our outing and the 3 eagles we did spot.

This is the Skagit river at Rockport, Washington, looking East. A different part of our beautiful state. Blessings on your week!

N is for Nests and Nature~

It’s time for the letter N with Jenny at Alphabe-Thursday! Thank you Jenny for hosting!

This past weekend I had a bloggy guest spend a few days and we were out and about in the Great Northwest. On the way and during a trip to the Sequim Lavender Farm Faire we were given the opportunity to photograph something neither of us had ever seen before, a baby Seagull. My daughter Katie spotted it off the car deck of the ferry. Later in the morning above the Dungeness Spit on Marine Drive Jill spotted an eagle. Eagle photographs have eluded me until now and then a local stopped while we were photographing the Eagle to tell us about a spot where we could see 2 young eagles still in their nest. Let’s just say that it was a glorious start to a glorious day of enjoying God’s creation and making note of that creation with our cameras.

Here’s the baby seagull that Katie spotted from the ferry dock. Mama seagull was standing over it keeping an eye on us while we clicked away.

The Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

© Alfred Tennyson

Nests – The shape of the eagle nest or aerie is determined mainly by the branch point where it’s built. Sticks placed in tree forks result in cylindrical or conical shaped nests. Disk Shaped nests are built on the ground or a tree branch which is nearly level. Bowl Shaped Nests occur where the tree trunk branches off into smaller upright branches.
   Bald eagles build their nests in large trees near rivers or coasts. A typical nest is around 5 feet in diameter. Eagles often use the same nest year after year.

We assumed this is one of the parents of the eaglets since it was perched just above the nest.

Beyond the Dungeness Spit is the Strait of Juan De Fuca which separates this part of the Olympic Peninsula from Vancouver Island, B.C.

The Dungeness Lighthouse. Built in 1857. Manned and maintained by US Lighthouse Society, New Dungeness Chapter. Six mile walk to the lighthouse. Open year round.

This is also the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge.

We saw other animals, too. Besides needing some serious orthodontia work, aren’t they cute? We stayed far enough away so they couldn’t spit on us.

Another first for me on this day was being able to photograph this peacock with it’s feathers fanned. Too bad he was behind the wired fence.

Hope you enjoyed my nature shots. I’ll be around soon to see what other N’s will be represented this week.