Your display is amazing! And inspiring, too. And your gardens? My, my, my… as beautiful as Tony’s artwork!
How good is our God?!? He has put you in such a busy place and then given you the gift of growing attention-demanding, luscious plants. People have surely admired your yard as they passed for a long while; now they will notice the added beauty of Tony’s flags that our Father is using to call out to them! And then you’ll have Pastor JD’s ABCs waiting for any who want to know more. With tears in my eyes and a most grateful heart, I say, It’s always exciting to see His plans manifest. Thank you so much for sharing! God bless you and keep you!
On the plants…
I have a special assistant gardener this year. She is a second year doe that comes by about 4 am to “prune” my day lilies, hostas, and rose blooms. She had freshly pruned the day of this assembly. Two days prior, she must have picked up on a chat that I wanted to have with her because the next morning I find her in my camera holding up her right leg and slowly limping to this flower bed.
OK, fine.
The next morning she was clicking her hoofs against the driveway juusst fine.
LOL, I regularly have conversations with our destructive visitors. Try to tell ‘em, “I have my side of the fence and they have theirs.” But they don’t listen. They laugh… but they don’t listen.
We feed corn, year-round, twice a day. They live in a land with both forrest and farms. “We” regularly discuss boundaries. And yet I catch them mid-step coming through the barbed wire, watching to see if I’ll come out of the house to keep them away from the good stuff— they love my flowers! Very shaded back yard… stopped trying to grow hostas and elephant ears years ago. They moved on to the colorful stuff, lol. And we still don’t hunt… go figure.
These are great pictures! I was wondering if the trees in your backyard were corkscrew oaks. I don’t think that’s an official name.
I’ve seen those in Florida, too. Tony’s keen eyes spotted Texas.
There is a lot of work involved with those odd looking black “deer”.
You’ve made your home look very inviting. I can imagine you and your hubbydude sitting on the rocking bench at the close of a day, sipping on a cold drink, as you two watch the sun set. Peaceful.
The last picture is pretty cool and VERY Texan.
Most people don’t think about how important it can be to know trees and plants. A twig, Wow!
My Dad once asked me to pick out which tree was a white oak and which was the red oak while on a walk in the Smokey mountains. I had the whole tree and a 50/50 chance and still blew it.
It’s all a matter of awns and lobes. Yep, awns and lobes my friend
We’ll have to see if they’ll allow us to have a botany class thread in the future. I’ll be happy to teach and I’ll bring snacks every day to pass out to the students.
Oh my goodness, Kathryn, what a fantastic picture! It’s sooo… me! Hat included. Thank you! Will have to share with Hubbydude. Might print a small one to tuck in a shelf somewhere.
We do enjoy sitting on the back porch of an evening. No neighbors for a few miles. Just pastures and fields and all the critters they support. We’re rescued at least one of most everything— from gators to iguanas to emus. Every year we get to watch a new generation of Great Horned owls learn to fly— sitting on our back porch. The peacefulness is the first thing people comment on when they visit. God has blessed our boots and socks off!
Dang Tony! I’d brag too! My favorite tree? Mesquite. Cuz I’m that Texan, lol. BTW, we be in the SE, near the Gulf. But it’s all Texas!
Know lobes. Are awns like seed packaging? Sign me up for class!!!
There’s a famous pie company (in Houston, I think). This is the box their pecan pies come in:
I have three of these on display in our house. Had four (mightabeena bitof overkill) IDK. Parted with one when my sister came to visit at Christmas. The hearts? Married on Valentine’s Day. And we sailed for years. Hubbydude has water in his veins, lol. That little corner of that bookshelf pretty much sums us up, lol.
Thanks for the compliment @Myrrh. We have been blessed beyond belief! I was never wanted anywhere I lived when I was young, and was actually homeless three days after graduating high school at 16.
Every home God has provided since Hubbydude and I married has been a peaceful blessing that has more than made up for never belonging in my family. The particulars of our house weren’t always fabulous, and there were never any tiny footsteps in them— BUT GOD! Our home has always been filled with His peace and His love. Who could ask for more?
The message at church this morning was about Exodus. My wife and I kept grinning at each other whenever the burning bush was mentioned, thinking about your illuminated flag.
Sermon notes:
Exodus 3
Moses was alone with God
Moses was honest with God
Moses was hungry for God
Moses was broken by God
Brokenness:
Remove self reliance
Build God reliance
To create trust God has
to address:
Fears concerning:
Yourself
God
(Read your Bible so you will remember that God has made
And I don’t sports talk on here much but Vols did win! It’s just that I love baseball and East Tennessee has just in recent years come to the table with a serious team. I mean we have the Smokies and they’re fun to see but now we are bonafide the best in college baseball. I’m also a UT alumni so am very proud today!
The colors are off; faded reds, green tinted white stars….it’s a nation that needs healing (repentance) because Jesus is coming SOON. The flag is a little fuzzy when I uploaded it to this post but it’s 2nd Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
gr
Blessings
It’s just that I love baseball and East Tennessee has just in recent years come to the table with a serious team. I mean we have the Smokies and they’re fun to see but now we are bonafide the best in college baseball. I’m also a UT alumni so am very proud today! 
