April 19, 2015

Indecisive Afternoon

April 19, 2015

Green Heron

Today has been a very nice day.  We had to get up at 6:00 so I could do my allergy shots before church and wait the three hours at home during the most likely time that there could be a reaction.  I had started Ron's coffee before I woke him up.  I did some things on the computer and read while I waited, and then got my shower and got ready for church.

 
Attendance in our Sunday school class was down this morning.  The last our the Winter Texans who attend our class left this past week.  Two couples I know of were out of town.  Two couples have some illness and I don't know about the others.  We did have a good lesson and I left a little early as usual to go get my mom for church. 

 There seem to be several names for this plant, from Redbird Cactus 

to Devil's Claw, Devil's Backbone and a few more.

The worship service filled nicely after a slow start.  I am amazed how many people come in late to church.  We had a good sermon as the pastor continues through the basics of what we believe and why those things are important.  There was a church business meeting following the service and then we visited a bit with some friends.

 Ron and I picked up some lunch on our way home and enjoyed eating without me spending a lot of time in the kitchen.  After our lunch, Ron went to take a nap and slept the rest of the day.  I spent the afternoon reading, taking bird and flower pictures in the back yard, and trying to figure out how to do the backing on a couple of quilt tops I have finished.  I could have pieced another quilt top in the time it has taken to make this decision and I am still not sure what I am going to do.

 Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Someone at church this morning said they had heard that there were migratory birds at South Padre Island.  I will have to check on that this week.  I had a backyard full of birds all afternoon, but only a few may have been migrating - most were regulars. 

 Not sure, but I think the one of the left is a female Mallard and 

on the right and below is a Blue-Wing Teal. 

 As always, I am open to correction. 

 The main difference is the black bill on the teal.  

 The Green Heron at the top of the page, lives in a tree in the backyard and has been here for years.  We had lots of sparrows, grackles, red-winged blackbirds, black-bellied whistling ducks, muscovy ducks, and mallards.  There were white-winged doves and ground doves.   Also, the female Golden-fronted Woodpecker was out for a bit, but I didn't have my camera handy.

It has been a good weekend.  I know that for many of our Texas friends, it has been a weekend of rough weather and there may still be more to come.  As I keep repeating, everything here is very green.  All over town there are piles of tree branches and cuttings as people try to keep the plants from taking over.

We had a great testimony this morning at church from a lady in our class who had lost her purse and how God handled the situation for her.  She is a bold witness for the Lord and it is good for us to hear not only of God's provision but how she used the situation to tell others of what God can do.

Sparrow and White-winged Dove both waiting to find a place at the bird feeders.