Summer & Early Fall Pictures, 2016

Our part of the country has suffered from a pretty rough drought since July of this year. Thankfully, despite the dry conditions, we had many glimpses of summertime green at our house and even some bursts of color from wildflowers & perennials. To help keep our plants alive into the fall, we faithfully watered as the sun was shining bright & hot. Using rainwater collected from the barn roof, all the flower beds and veggie patches were soaked each day. My heart goes out to all the farmers who have lost entire crops for the season...

A woodpecker after a rare rain-filled morning in late July.

Do you recognize this one? It's one of the flowers from a hosta.

A bumble bee on a Purple Cone Flower / Echinacea

Front porch foliage...

Zinnias growing nearby what we call a "Butterly Bush"

More Zinnias...

A sweet pair of Morning Glories

"English garden" as we like to say... 

Fall leaves starting to turn a burnt orange color. The trees have held on to their green extra-long this year.

Sunrises and sunsets...

"This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him." 

Lamentations 3:21-25

I'm thinking of seeking as kind of like looking through a pair of binoculars... Eagerly looking for, hoping for the return of Jesus.

God bless! Danielle

Summer beauty

All of the beautiful signs and colors of summer are here, all over our piece of land... It's warm enough for geraniums to be outside in pots and some of the beautiful perrennials and wildflowers are in bloom. It's almost overwhelming to my senses once it arrives, but I will always love summertime...

Here are some pictures from the past week in our flower beds and around our barn

A bunch of blue cornflowers, so wild and prolific...

One of our wildflower beds out back against a backdrop of dark green shadows in a hedgerow of trees. The poppies made their way into their spots from seeds we planted across the yard...

Wildflowers to the left and a hosta at the bottom... To the right is a "weed," but I love how it looks and how happily it grows in our soil and dry weather. I only keep a few around the yard so they won't overtake the more delicate plants...

Aren't these flowers so sweet looking? They are so tiny, from the tops of cilantro plants we bought from our Amish neighbors.

A light pink geranium...

One of my favorite spots, a container full of verbena (a dry weather kind of flower) and morning glories. And a squirrel!

I've been thinking about this verse today, you may have heard it many times over the years. Our pastor mentioned it in his sermon today about mercy, peace and love - three things God gives us. I'm so thankful God's love for me isn't dependent on my perfect love for Him or perfection in this life. He reaches out His saving hand to anybody, whosoever, hears the truth of Jesus and believes. Just because He loves us. I'm so thankful that is true. And once we believe and receive this truth, He helps us become more like Him each day through His Spirit He sends to comfort and guide us.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

I John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 

I John 4:13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

God bless! Danielle

More Spring Snapshots

On Sunday - hostas beginning to unroll their large green leaves in the sunshine

A two toned tulip... Isn't it sweet?

Our garden shed at a distance

Beautiful pastel petals of Phlox from Wednesday

One of the flowers carefully unfolding...

Forget-me-nots, so intricate in design

Forsythia showing it's beautiful green leaves. Not too many yellow flowers appeared on their branches this year. Maybe due to several nights of hard frosts?

Although we've (thankfully) had rather mild New York winter... It is always a very long, plant-less season. What a blessing to breath the scents and see the colors of nature all around our landscape.

A beautifully landscaped spot at our neighbor's... Can you see the flowering tree in the background? So lovely! :)

A blue jay watching a starling nearby... 

Yesterday evening's moon behind a hickory tree just starting to green up.

Sun setting in the west...

Beautiful sunset from Wednesday night. The soft blue sky with gentle whisps of white clouds and yellow sunlight are so peaceful to look at. And so reassuring too.

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hast bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God...

I'm so thankful God planned a way for us to be adopted as His children, since before we were born. He provided a way for us to be saved from our sins and reconciled to Him through Christ. He always knew we (who believe) would accept His truth by faith, believe His truth. We are so richly blessed in Christ, beyond what we could ever imagine. 

Ephesians 1:3, 5, 6, 12 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ... Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved... That we should be to the praise of the glory of his grace, who first trusted in Christ.

God bless! Danielle

Wildflowers and more

These flowers are my favorite so far this week... Low growing wildflowers in the woods. So pretty!

A tiny creek running in our woods after a day or two of rain...

A close up of a dandelion

Trees in the hedgerow behind the field. They're trying to show a little green!

More violets... Against a backdrop of a large clay pot.

Our tulips opened up this week! This one is pictured against a backdrop of snow flowers, although their little white snow flowers haven't appeared yet.

A shaggy bark hickory tree. I love it's tiered, peeling bark...

This robin turned it's little beak toward me just long enough to snap one clear picture.

Sometimes I wonder if squirrels fall asleep upside down like this... They rest so still on the side of a tree.

A little woodpecker was hopping around the tree with our neighbor's land in the backdrop.

This is the last picture I was able to take of the little fox pups. They have since left their den... I wonder if they are now out living in the surrounding hedgerows and creeks?

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you are having a great week! God bless, Danielle