WEDNESDAY'S WORDS ON THURSDAY

And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.  Luke  24:52

Who did?  The disciples.
When?  After they had just seen Jesus leave them and rise up into heaven.
But He was leaving them,  --their closest friend   He was leaving them.  How could they return with great joy?
Because all the time He had been on earth with them and especially during these past 40 days after He rose from the dead.  He had been teaching them and explaining to them how all the events of the Old Testament, -- all the things they couldn't understand -- were all meant to happen this way, and why.  Jesus taught them the Old Testament Scriptures in a way they had never understood before.

Now that He was truly gone, they knew why.  They knew why He had to die and why He rose from the dead.  It all made sense to them now. Not only that, they now knew what they had to do.  Jesus had left them with a promise and a task.  The promise was that the Holy Spirit would come upon them and they would be given the power to do the task that He had set for them.  They were to spread the good news that through Jesus we can have our sins forgiven and go to be with Him in Heaven.  They knew this as a certainty. No wonder they were rejoicing!

B is for ...

`...well BEES of course.  But this post is about Killer Bees or the Africanized Honey Bee (AHB) as opposed to the European Honey Bee (EHB).Many years a go when I was still teaching we had a book for Junior High readers called "Disasters".  Each chapter was a true story about some disaster or coming disaster in America.  The kids loved it!  One chapter was called "The Killer Bees are Coming", and that's when I first heard about them.  Well they have come and have been in Southern California since 1995. I took this map off the USDA web and it shows a pretty up to date view of the population of Killer Bees in the USA.

You will have to click twice on it to see it enlarged.

Why did I choose this scary topic for the letter B?  Because the AHB is moving into more populated areas -- or rather we are moving into the areas populated by AHB.  One authority I read says that all the bees in Southern California are to some extent Africanized. You cannot tell the difference by looking at them, but they are much more easily aggravated and much more aggressive and persistent when it comes to guarding their colonies.

Mostly I used to read about attacks in Texas and Arizona, but just this past week, we had a news article telling of the death of two horses, and one man (separate incidents) killed by the bees and two people stung 40 -60 times who had to be hospitalized. All this took place about a half hour down the road from where I live. I won't bore you with a lot of information about how they came to BE, because you can easily look it up on the web and there's plenty of information.  However, there was one page I read that pooh-poohs the whole idea, but don't be mistaken, they are real, and sensible precautions should be taken.  

However, I liken it somewhat to living with rattle snakes.  They're there, but the average person doesn't see much of them.  Just be wise when you are in their habitat.

I started putting out grape jelly to attract the orioles in our area, but now I'm thinking maybe that wasn't such a good idea.  There are always two or three bees on it or near it -- but then they also like our water fountain. The bees are mainly dangerous when they are swarming, so stay inside or in your car when you see bees swarming. 

A few weeks ago a BEE came down our chimney into the living room. It was probably a scout looking for a place to colonize.  Fortunately we were home and swiftly lit the gas log fire to send them away (and killed the one that had wandered down the chimney).  We have seen no signs of colonizing in our yard. 

BEES are a good and necessary  creature but let caution be the better part of valor.

There is So much more to read about these bees, so if you are affected, do look them up on GOOGLE.

PLEASE VISIT ABC WEDNESDAY FOR MORE ENTRIES

WANDA'S ART CHALLENGE #2

Blueberries

A beautiful photograph set for us by Wanda this week.  Not as easy as it may look.  Hard to get the bloom on the berries.  I used water color paper  this time and that was OK until I decided to add a couple of colored  pencil parts here and there and there the texture of the paper showed through.  Actually it doesn't show up as much on the original as it does on the scan of the picture.  

Again, this is an ATC sized card 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 ".

You can see that I tend to be a literalist when copying a photo.  That is, I don't deviate much from the picture and I don't use my imagination.  My visual memory is not too good, but would be much better if I had taken painting seriously from perhaps my teenage years!

Please visit Wanda's Art Blog to see the others that are still being entered.

HOORAY the SUN'S OUT ! -- and MORE ART

... at least it was!  It came out for about two minutes.  We haven't seen the sun for nearly two months!  Just cool gloomy weather.  They are beginning to call this the year of no summer, but as I said to Cherdecor, by August and September we will probably be sizzling.

This is my latest painting:

I just seem to have a thing about sheep and single trees in an open landscape.  I don't think this is necessarily my best work, but it is my favorite because of the scene.

Now you have a task to do.  A week or so ago I posted this watercolor painting of a farmhouse:

But many people have been telling me that they like my paintings done with pen and ink.  So I decided to do the same painting in pen and ink to compare the two.  Here is the 2nd painting:

I'm not sure it's a fair comparison, because the pen and ink does come out so much more clearly  when it is scanned.  But though I perhaps like the looks of the second one better, the first one gave me more satisfaction to do -- and incidentally took much longer.  But even in the second one you see my urge to put in more and more detail.  I had to stop myself.

I'd be interested to hear any comments or suggestions. I want to learn.

WANDA'S ART CHALLENGE AND WEDNESDAY'S WORDS

Wanda set us an Art Challenge this week.  It was a photograph taken by our good friend and very talented gentleman, Abe Lincoln.  The photograph is of a goldfinch between two sunflowers. This is my rendition:

I did this as an ATC (3and 1/2 x 2and 1/2 inches.)

I purchased a packet of these cards pre-cut.  They are bristol board.  Sadly I am finding that most of them have some kind of pressure marks on them as though someone wrote on a piece of paper on top of the card, leaving an imprint. So where I wanted to leave a soft purplish grey in the background, the imprint has shown through.  I used prisma colors, but I think if I had used water colors I could have smoothed out the background.

Visit Wanda's blog My Laundry Room Studio to see others' contributions

MORE ART TOMORROW

******

WEDNESDAY'S WORDS ON THURSDAY

Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against You   Psalm 119:11

This was one of the first verses I memorized when I was a teenager and hadn't been a Christian very long.  Now more than 50 years later I realize how important this verse is for a Christian.  We teach our children from a young age what is right and what is wrong.  How do we know what God thinks is right or wrong?  He is not standing there saying "No, No " all day long .  To know what are God's standards of right and wrong we have to read and study the Bible because it is there that we find the consistent truths of right and wrong that God wants us to learn.  This verse comes from Psalm 119 which is the longest Psalm in the Bible.  Interestingly enough it is written in couplets, that is every two lines hold a complete thought.  Yet even more interesting than that is the fact that every couplet tells us something about the Word of God.  The Psalmist may use the words law, commandments, statutes, precepts, judgments, or testimonies but they all refer to the Word of God.  

If we want to know how important God's Word is, we can try reading these couplets and see what David 's thoughts were -- all 176 of them!

ABC WEDNESDAY ROUND 7

Join us today in the NEW ROUND SEVEN of ABC WEDNESDAY

It's so easy even I can do it.  Learn something new every week about the world,  vocabulary, some obscure little known but interesting fact,  or your blogging friends.

CLICK ON THE LINK HERE

(new badge designed by Troy)

A is for .....

A IS FOR ABACO

Abaco is one of the outer islands of the Bahamas

My son and his girlfriend just returned from there after a two week vacation -- and no, he is not the Barefoot 

Bandit, who was caught there about a week after they had left!  If you look at the top center of the map you will 




see the small island of Abaco.  The main 'town' on the island, Marsh Harbor, has ONE stop light.

 But more interesting than the map are these photographs:

NOW THAT'S THE LIFE !!!




(Sorry don't know why Blogger is leaving large spaces between my lines of typing above.  In addition when I type in the copy  the lines are doubling up on top of one another.) 

HERE'S LUCY!

Of course it may be Luke! I honestly haven't looked and his tag sheet is not up on the condo door.  But she LOOKS like a female.

 She is generally at the back of her condo but will come forward when I coax her,  then she snuggles down in her comfy bed and waits to be scratched behind the ears.

I think she has the same expression as Lady Lavender or Violet as she should be known, who lives in Boise and whose portrait I drew a few weeks ago. (See below).

Lady Lavender of Boise.

Lucy

Not the same coloring but the same face and eyes.

These are Lucy's rowdy neighbors.

 

This tortie is beautiful and has green eyes.

And this is a very sweet and tiny ginger kitten who lives with the tortie and one other kitten.

I wish I didn't have to take the photos through the bars but trying to deal with three squirming kittens, not letting them out of the cage and trying to maneuver the camera at the same time is next to impossible.  Lucy is the only one in her condo and she doesn't fight to get out. Very obliging and very lady-like.

'NUFF OF KITTENS FOR NOW

KITTENS

Everyone loves kittens -- well almost everyone, but they are hard to photograph when they are awake, they move around to much too fast. I took these shots while they were awake the other day but didn't get as many shots as I would like to have done.

I think there were only two in this tangled up bunch.  Only eight weeks old but usually a bundle of energy.

I think this time it was was me moving, not the kitten. We have several with this kind of coloring.  The pink collar means it is a girl.  We have to check the the collars frequently because the kittens grow and the collars don't!

These two were having a good old tussle but when I went up to them they both looked up at me at the same time.  Lucky shot.

I will be going in again tomorrow and want to try to get a couple of shots of my favorite one.  She is a little shy at first but then ends up snuggled in a soft bed purring loudly while I scratch her ears. Then when I close the door and move away she puts her paws through the bars to bring me back.  She doesn't have a name yet.  Most of the kittens don't.  The new owners name them.  I think I'm going to call her Lucy -- not that I'm going to be her new owner, sadly.

  

WEDNESDAY'S WORDS ON THURSDAY

"...Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.."


These words are from the Lord's prayer.  Jesus is telling the disciples that they should pray for God's kingdom to come on earth. This is Christ's kingdom He is talking about.  Christ became man in order to bring in His Kingdom.  He told Pilate He was a king, but His kingdom was not of this world.  So what is His Kingdom? This world in its present state is not God's kingdom. Such evil, malice, wickedness and cruelty can never be a part of God's kingdom. Jesus also said that the Kingdom of God is within you.

In a nutshell, it is God's plan to bring about His kingdom on earth through his subjects who have the Kingdom of God dwelling in them.  We have the Kingdom of God dwelling in us when we have the King dwelling in us.  If we let Him, He will live His life through us and we as obedient servants will do His work in this world. We are to be His ambassadors and representatives of the Kingdom. Those who dwell in this world  will know what the Kingdom is like and who the King is when we His subjects are faithfully living like the King wants us to live. This is the way that the Kingdom will come on earth.We who have chosen Christ as King of our life are to be a part of bringing in the Kingdom by living Kingdom-like lives.  No easy task -- and what a responsibility!

Z is FOR

Z is for Zephyr

 which is a poetic word for a light cooling gentle breeze, usually from the west.  

But since you can't see a zephyr...

...Remember this poem?... 

"Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I,

 but when the trees bow down their heads,

 the wind is passing by."

So I have reworked these words  so that you can see a ZEPHYR:

"Who has seen the wind?  Neither you nor I,

But when the clouds have wispy curls

the wind is passing by."  

And then there is ...Z is for ZINNIAS

 Sorry they are not real, but are pretty enough to decorate a corner on the bathroom counter of my house.

***

And this one is not Z is for anything, but just a quick shot I took today.

 

This is only the second day of sunshine we've had for nearly two months, so the dogs at the local kennels all took advantage of the shade.  Of course as soon as I got out of the car and went to to the fence to take the picture, they all got up and ran to the fence barking at me and I had to wait until the kennel man got them settled.  Even so a couple of them didn't go back to sit in the shade.  I thought it was so funny because everyone has been complaining about the dull, dull weather we have been having and the first sunny day we get everyone has to sit in the shade.  Temps were about eighty today, -- high sixties last week and weeks before that!

***

Went to see my cats at the shelter today, the first time for two weeks because of my vertigo.  Did quite well.  We had about fifteen kittens in there today and I know at least one of them was adopted today.

Felt good about that because I had spent about 20 minutes with him playing and cleaning up his condo just before the family came in to choose their kitten.

Kittens are so messy!!  Kitti-litter and kibble scattered all over, and if their dish is near the front, the kibble is all over the floor of the room.  Which it was today.

Photos of kittens another day. 

TWO MORE PAINTINGS

First is my submission for VIRTUAL PAINTOUT

It is a street scene from Hong Kong

I have attempted to do just pen and ink and color washes in this one.  I don't think this style is for me, although my husband says he likes the clean lines.  They don't look very clean to me.

This is the art challenge where the painter is given a location on Google Maps, and using street view we have to pick a scene and paint it. This month's location is Hong Kong.

A Farmstead near Keld

in Yorkshire.

This is taken from a photo which George McHenry of Transit Notes took.  He led a team of hikers across England on a Coast to Coast trail and has some wonderful photographs of the Northern England countryside.  If you go on a bus tour this is what you miss in Northern England.  Do go visit his site and see what you might have missed. This is more my normal style of painting and if you think it is too green go and take a look at the photo.  England is really green.

OUR BIRD SHOP

We are very fortunate in Carlsbad to have a fine bird shop.  It is called WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED. It's not very large but it has masses of things in it of interest to bird watchers. In addition to all kinds of bird seed, suet and meal worms, it has many different kinds of feeders, squirrel baffles and an assortment of attachments for your feeder. It also has books on birds, videos and bird song CD's.There are fountains, waterfalls, garden sculptures for you yard and metal wall sculptures for indoors, all kinds of bird, flower and garden pictures, note cards and even beautiful jewelry.  If this sounds like an ad for the store it really is not, it's just one of my favorite stores.

You can see the many colorful flags of birds, and and butterflies in the doorway.

This is part of the inside of the shop:

Please click on this photo to enlarge this shot to see more details, too numerous to mention, that are available.

At the side of the shop, (it is on a corner) there is a patio and one or two picnic tables.  They hold barbecues here on special sales event days.

Behind the patio is a bird feeding area which is usually filled with birds.  I think a hawk must have been around the day I took this photo.  But you can sit and eat and watch the birds at the same time.

This is the kind of seed we usually buy -- the "No mess Blend"  along with Nyjer Thistle seed for gold finchesand suet blocks for the scrub jays.

Unfortunately the tree rats and ground squirrels are also partial to bird seed.  But it's still fun to see all this wild life around our house.

More on Vertgo

 

Please feel free to skip this if you have no interest, but I have had several people ask about my vertigo to compare it with theirs.  

This is a follow up on my blog of a couple of days ago.  I do have vertigo (well I knew that!).  My doctor thinks it has been brought on by allergies, probably because of my work with the cats. BUT  he does not want me to quit the Animal Shelter.  He thinks if I take one Claritan on the days I go to the shelter it may get me through.  Apparently it all has to do with the ear, nose and throat tubes.  The allergies cause inflammation and swelling hence the vertigo. There is an exercise I have to do.  You sit on the bed with your head dangling over the edge.  First you turn your head to one way and keeping the body flat, lie down  with your head still turned to one side, drooping over the edge.  I have to have Barry there to catch me and make sure I don't fall off the bed. I then have to wait until the swirling stops , maybe a minute or two.  Then sit up straight keeping your head turned until you are sitting upright and then turn your head to the center again.  Then you do that again only this time turning your head to the other side, lie down and wait and then sit up.  I don't recommend you do this unless you have someone with you, because when I lie on my left side the vertigo returns with such a swoosh that I have to grab Barry, even though I am not falling.  It really feels like you have been picked up and thrown across the room!.  After the worst of this I have great difficulty sitting up again.  I am also usually highly nauseous.  I have to do this once a day until the vertigo goes away which could be one - three weeks.  The upside to this is that as the day goes on the vertigo decreases and the second day I didn't throw up.  There are other similar exercises which you can find on Google called the Brandt Dorf method.  I have not found them quite so effective, but the vertigo experienced during them is not as extreme.

Below is what I wrote on my blog last year explaining what actually causes the vertigo........

"Went to the physical therapist yesterday. She explained very carefully and clearly how little 'rocks' surrounding the nerve hairs in the vestibular canal (inner and middle ear) can get dislodged causing the nerve hairs which control balance from doing their job properly. In addition, there is fluid in this canal and if you are dehydrated the fluid thickens and the hairs cannot work properly. They are supposed to sway like reeds in a stream as you turn or bend down, and then return to their normal upright position. Thickened fluid or the 'rocks' can prevent them from returning upright. Hence dizziness ensues. She did a couple of movements with my head and then I had to refrain from bending down at all for 24 hours and I had to sleep sitting up for one night."

I feel sure this is more than you want to know about vertigo!

I will post a more interesting blog tomorrow I promise.  

WEDNESDAY'S WORDS ON THURSDAY

...and there will be earthquakes in various places...Mark 13:8

I have taken this phrase a bit out of context where Jesus is speaking about things that will happen at the end of the world.  Of course there have been earthquakes for millenia, but for we who live in Southern California, there have been a lot more of them lately.  I'm not going to be so bold as to say that this is the beginning of the end, God will bring it all to an end in His own good way and in His own time.  But there certainly will be an end, whether in my lifetime or years from now.  We have had five or six earthquakes since Easter, all big enough to feel and remind us that God will make an end of things one day.  


My husband likes to say that we know we live in God's country (Southern California) because when He walks around the earth shakes!  


We had a 5.4 today mostly giving rise to a lot of talk and thankfully next to no damage. The main thing for me is that it reminds me that just because I am a Christian, I am not exempt from "acts of God", but I have One who will go with me through whatever happens and if the 'worst' happens I will go to be with Him.  So though the earth may shake, my faith does not.

Y is for....

Y is for Yellowthroat

One of my favorite birds who visits my back yard only occasionally.  He hides in the bushes and very secretly flutters down a branch or two at a time until he reaches the waterfall, where he takes a drink.

This picture would have done for next week too since I call him Zorro because of his bandit-like markings. So now I will have to think harder for next week's 'Z'.
I'm a little early for this week's ABC Wednesday but I had to do it while I could. Doctor's appointment tomorrow and I didn't want to miss ABC Wednesday, so I will have to LINK tomorrow.

OH-oh, VERTIGO

It's back again.  Had this vertigo last year about this same time.  This year it's worse -- more intense and to the point of throwing up.  After many tests last year they said I had neuropathy and couldn't find any specific reason for the vertigo.  I am praying this will clear up soon.  Got lots of things I want to be doing. I have to find a post for ABC Wednesday yet. Can't even go to see the cats at the shelter!! THAT'S A CATastrophe!   Anyway I may not be blogging so much this week.  Sometimes it's just hard to sit or stand.  But I am still visiting. as much as I can. As soon as this clears up, I'll be back.  Go to see the DR. tomorrow. Of course he has been out all weekend.

Don't forget me.!

Wednesday's Words on....Friday???

Probably ought to do something on procrastination -- although it really wasn't procrastination that has made me so late with this blog.  We've had friends visiting all week, from Australia. Alan and Kerian left our conference in Brazil and decided to 'do' the United States while they were up this end of the world.  We've had a wonderful time but blogging has not been #1 on my list of things to do.  So here's my words, finally.

"... all that Jesus began both to do and teach..."  ACTS1:1
My new summer Bible Study begins next week and we will be studying the book of the Acts of the Apostles.  This short phrase from verse one is quite significant because of the word 'began'.  When Jesus left this earth and rose up into heaven, His work wasn't over.  He began to 'do and teach'  up until that point in time but that was only the beginning.  It was the disciples or apostles who were to continue His work and this is what the Book of Acts is all about -- what Jesus continued to do through the lives of His apostles. Even after the Acts of the Apostles was written that wasn't the end of Jesus' acts.  He continued, and continues today, to 'teach' and 'do' through the Holy Spirit controlling Christians' lives and actions.  God is expecting us as Christians to take up the reins of His work here on earth and do good in His Name.  Jesus "went about doing good".  If we call ourselves Christians, isn't that the least we can do in His Name?

Meet Tootsie

Went to visit some friends last night. They have a new 9 month old puppy -- a cockapoo. I was with the cats all day. So it's equal time for dogs on today's  blog.

Meet Tootsie

"I love it when we have company."

"But it wouldn't hurt to have a little game of ball would it?"

"Would it? Huh, Dad?  Huh?  Please?"

"I'll get it!  I'll get it! I can run fast!"

"Oh no! Not in the pool!"

"C'mon Dad, get that scoop thingy.  I want the ball!  I want the ball!"

"Don't let it get away.  I'm goin' to get it!"

"Hah!  Bet you thought I couldn't get it."

"I love it when we play ball!"

"Can we go in now? I'm getting a bit tired.  I'll let you throw it some more tomorrow."