Do Birds Bond with People? 

27 May

 A Few Thoughts

Patricia Franklin

 Our friend Patricia Franklin wrote me this week. Here’s what she had to say about the robin that nests in her back yard-DiVoran

robins

Sorry I have not answered your newsy letter…. and thanks so much for the interesting article on birds!  I guess they live and thrive by instinct, but I think they have a built in intelligence too, that we do not understand.  I think I mentioned that we have a robin’s nest in our back yard.  I have been waiting and watching for a couple of weeks for the 1st hatchling.  I usually sit out on the patio chair, I water my flowers, etc. and sometimes I talk to the robins if they are around.  They have found out that we do not bother them, in fact, I chased some intruders away the other day.  Do you think they bond with us in some way?   Here is what happened today.

We were sitting in the kitchen having a cup of tea after supper, with the patio door open, when I heard this scratching and tapping on the patio cement right outside.  I turned my head, and there right in front of the door was the mother robin tapping a little blue eggshell on the cement.  I got up and walked over to the door and said something like, ” Well, I have been wondering when you were going to hatch the first one.  I’m so happy for you.”  She actually strutted around, back and forth in front of me for a little while and then went flying off to her nest, leaving the eggshell for us.  Is that uncanny or what?  Am I reading too much into this?  I do feel a bond with them, and maybe they feel it too. It was the highlight of my weekend!  (Hey, I’m pretty simple and easy to please!)

Tags: , , , , ,

To Plant a Garden

24 May

A Life to Live

Melody Hendrix

 

garden

 

I am retired and enjoying life. My hobbies are my 5 grandchildren, son and daughter, and my loving husband. I am a photographer and extreme nature lover. I love spending time in my garden or in the wilderness connected to God my Creator.

Melody

Tags: , , , ,

The Shadow Knows

23 May

My Take

DiVoran Lites

1

When we’re young we think adults know everything. While we’re in that stage, we’ll follow almost anyone who is nice to us. It takes many years to begin to realize that people don’t know as much as we think they do.

Take for instance our relationship with God. You see and hear all kinds of things about how we should think and behave, and what we should believe. The more mature we grow, however, the less apt we are to believe just anything. We come to a place where we want to know God for ourselves. We want Him to teach us and answer our questions. Oh, I’m not talking about Christ being God’s Son and dying for our sins. That’s basic. No, it’s more like traditions and rites, and conjecture about what He actually wants from us and what he is like.

Who really does know everything? The Shadow Knows of course, but who is the shadow?

DiVoran and David Bowers

David and DiVoran Bowers

First of all, he was the alter-ego of a man named Lamont Cranston, and the hero in the radio program, “The Shadow.” In the 40s my little brother and I loved to listen to that program. To keep us out of their hair at the restaurant on Sunday afternoons our parents bought a radio and installed it in the living room of our duplex at the end of the street. We didn’t have a working kitchen because the kitchen held our bunk beds. So dad bought us a new- fangled pop-up toaster. Every week our parents gave us a loaf of Rainbow bread and sent us home to listen to the Sunday afternoon programs.

When we had polished off the toast, we found our toys and laid them out in preparation for moving them around. David took each tiny horse, each cow, and each section of rail fencing and placed it exactly where he wanted it.

I pulled out Mother’s little dolls and the clothes she and her Grandmother had made for them in the late twenties.

We listened happily and when, “The Shadow,” came on we paused to listen to his voice. One phrase I never forgot from “The Shadow” was: “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.”

The Shadow

“A figure never seen, only heard, the Shadow was an invincible crime fighter. He possessed many gifts which enabled him to overcome any enemy. Besides his tremendous strength, he could defy gravity, speak any language, unravel any code, and become invisible with his famous ability to “cloud men’s minds.” (Thanks to the website, Old Time Radio World.)

So now we knew someone who really did know everything, and somehow, we had a profile of God. We could trust the Shadow because he always did the right thing and he protected people and their children. In the end, though, we were open to being friends with someone who possessed all the Shadow’s abilities and much more. We chose to worship Jesus.

Now that we’re grown-ups, we think we might know a thing or two, but we still come against questions we can’t answer. That’s when we have to say, “The Shadow knows.” We mean God, or course. He is sufficient for any need we have.

Tags: , , , ,

The Cruise of a Lifetime~Part 14

22 May

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

Since we had sailed overnight to Budapest, and had an early shore excursion, we were up by 5:30 a.m. We had breakfast at 7:00 a.m. with Richard, Judy, Lucy, Roy and Jill, Joyce, Rick and Mary.

2

 

By 8:30 a.m. we left on the shore excursion for Budapest. Some “Fast Facts about Hungary” from the ship’s info sheet:

24

Home to over a million people, Budapest spans both sides of the Danube River – historic Buda on the east bank and cosmopolitan Pest (pronounced “Pesht”) on the west. Brimming with history, culture and attractions, Budapest is full of baroque, neoclassical and Art Nouveau architecture, and plenty to do. Museums, shopping and restaurants are the places to be.

3

 

The bus took us around the town, then stopped at the square where we went on to the castle.

Funicular

 

Back to the ship by bus, we had lunch, then to our new room on the Lif, for a nap.

At 2:15 p.m., we had a “Budapest by Boat” tour, with our Program Director, Carl West giving the commentary.

Carl West – Program Director

We went by the Parliament Building, which is the most famous picture shown in the Viking advertisements – red-topped building. Really beautiful.

18

We were back on the ship by 3:30 p.m., where we rested/napped and read some – quiet time for us.

We had our final/farewell dinner at 7:00 p.m. with Richard, Judy and Lucy. While it was a fun time, we had our last hugs and “wish we lived closer to you” from each of us. While I know it was a very concentrated two weeks with them, we all feel we forged a deep and lasting friendship, that will only continue when we all get to heaven.

19

 

Since tomorrow would be a REALLY early day (we asked for a 2:15 a.m. wake-up call, with a 3:30 a.m. bus departure time into Budapest), we showered that night, and were in bed by 8:30 p.m.

The Whale

The Whale

According to Google search: That’s the “Bálna / Whale” (formerly called CET building) a modern shopping, cultural, and entertainment centre, as well as a tourist attraction on par with Paris’s Eiffel Tower, or the Covent Garden in London – at least that’s what the city leaders want it to be.

According to Google search: The Shoes on the Danube is a memorial to the Budapest Jews who were shot by Arrow Cross militiamen between 1944 and 1945. The victims were lined up and shot into the Danube River. They had to take their shoes off, since shoes were valuable belongings at the time.

The memorial was created by Gyula Pauer, Hungarian sculptor, and his friend Can Togay in 2005. It contains 60 pairs of iron shoes, forming a row along the Danube. Each pair of shoes was modeled after an original 1940’s pair.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Tags: , , , ,

Faster Weeks, Slower Me

19 May

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I'm a winner

I mistakenly believed that once I retired life would slow down and weeks would not fly by faster than a comet. It seems the only slowing down that has occurred is me. Maybe since it takes me longer to accomplish tasks, that is why it feels that weeks are zooming along.

On Monday the husband and I went to work on the slide area in our yard. The  county Soil and Water department suggested we replant the area with tall Fescue grass. We decided to fertilize, amend with lime and re-seed the entire yard. My husband used the garden tiller to break up the grassed areas that had become particularly bare and hard. After that we put out lime, then fertilizer and seed. My job was to gently rake the tilled area to spread some soil over the seeds. We have no idea if that is what one does when seeding clay soil. Growing grass in Florida is totally different. Finally we spread wheat straw and watered everything. I am NOT a fan of yard work, but the day was beautiful with a gentle cool breeze and I enjoyed it.

Tuesday was an interesting day. The charging port on my husband’s phone stopped working and my do-it-yourself man decided he could change it out. He is pretty sharp at fixing things but this one almost defeated him. Ten tiny screws had to be removed to change the port. No problem, Spilling the screws and losing one, now that is a problem. After an hour of searching, he put the phone together without the screw. It powered up and he was able to place a call. Yea! Except he could not hear me talking to him. So, tear the phone apart again. The missing screw had not appeared but being a problem solving kind of guy, he remembered that his old phone was the same brand as his current one. He pirated the old one for a replacement screw, put the phone back together and now it charges and has sound. Problem solved.

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: Missing screw found! We are cleaning house for company and removed rug and furniture from the room of the lost screw. Handy husband pushed all the debris into a pile and used his flashlight to illuminate the screw. Now to save it or not to save it.

Wednesday started off well. We had breakfast with friends then spent the rest of the morning running errands. Somewhere along the way, my energy drained away and my mood slipped lower than the thermometer on a Ontario winter day. I decided to hibernate.

After a good night’s sleep and some motivational musing, today is looking up. I am not the center of the universe. That job belongs to someone far above me. My job is to keep looking up.

Cherry Blossoms on tree.

 

Tags: , , ,

We Have a New Blogger!

17 May

I am excited to introduce our readers to photographer, Melody Hendrix! Melody will be joining the Old Things R New family of bloggers with a weekly feature, A Time to Live. She will be sharing her wonderful nature photography accompanied by inspiring text. I thought you might enjoy learning a bit about her-Onisha

 

 

MelodyI am retired and enjoying life. My hobbies are my 5 grandchildren, son and daughter, and my loving husband. I am a photographer and extreme nature lover. I love spending time in my garden or in the wilderness connected to God my Creator.

What a beautiful world we live in. We all have that in common. Natural beauty is everywhere, but sometimes we are not connected until we see a picture, taken just right, that makes it really come into focus and be admired. My passion is to make a connection between the lens and your soul. Photography is my passion.
My photography passion began when my Father handed me his old Ricohflex box camera when I was 12.  It was love at first sight. I still have it. My hand was never empty of a camera since.
Rocoflex
I am a native Floridian. I am so lucky to call it home. I was born in Orlando BF (before Disney). My family moved to the Winter Park area when I was very young. Central Florida was so simple and quaint at that time. I wandered the streets barefoot with my friends, never worrying that something bad could ever happen. My Mom used to pick the sand-spurs out of my feet. I still go barefoot. It grounds me to earth and connects me to nature.
I have extensively explored Florida and its diverse beauty. So much to see and so little time. I would love for you to join me in my travels through the images I have taken. I wish you could hear the sounds, smell the fragrance and feel the breath of it. But for now we must be content with exploring with our eyes and only imagine the rest.
Now for Melody’s first post.
A Time to Live
Melody Hendrix
seeds of today

Tags: , ,

A Dream of Orchids

16 May

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Photo by Melody Hendrix

Photo by Melody Hendrix

The first real orchid I ever saw came in the mail from Hawaii. Bill the sailor sent it to my parents’ home where I was living in Albuquerque waiting for him to get out of the service. I unpacked it slowly, carefully, and admired it in the box packed for its trip to the mainland. It looked like ones in this photo and the accompanying note called it a Vanda Orchid.

Before I lifted it out, I brought the package up to my sniffer to see if it had a fragrance and it did. What a joy! I learned later that not all orchids do. If it was close to Sunday, Mother may have pinned it to the dress I wore to church. The flower didn’t last long, but the memory did. Bill and I have been married for fifty-nine years. I must remember to thank him again. Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Bill, for the orchid and for the bouquets from the florist and the flowers you’ve grown for me. I think you like them as much as I do and that’s an extra bonus.

One Friday, my friend, Melody and I went to Kiwanis Island off Merritt Island to visit an orchid show called, I Dream of Orchids.

I Dream of Orchids

 

We couldn’t stop snapping pictures, Melody from one of her two cameras and I from my iPhone. She wanted to purchase an orchid for her husband’s mother who raises them in Georgia, so she talked to the growers about the details of shipping. I had no idea it was such a big deal, and in my mind thanked Bill again for the special one he had sent in 1958.

The first person Melody talked with told us he was a lecturer on the subject. He is an engineer, he was born in Viet-Nam, but has lived in Melbourne all his life. His name is Thanh Nguyen and he will send orchids by mail. His phone number is 321-223-6173 if you want to talk to him about it. He doesn’t have a website because he spends every spare moment on his beloved orchids. He says it takes a lot of effort to pack a plant for shipping, but if you want the materials you can buy them from him. Among other materials, he listed cotton-packing and heat-wraps. Mr. Nguyen says orchids survive the trip, but if they were shipped with blooms, the blooms will die. Never fear, says he, they will come back exactly the same in the next blooming.

As I dreamed of orchids I recalled another one a different gentleman arranged for me to have. It was this way: Bill and I more or less eloped. We invited our families to the wedding in California, though. Both of our dads were traveling men. Bill’s mother flew to California where Bill was stationed. I had gone with a family she’d known a long time in their VW fan and stayed at their house. My Aunt Jenny drove my mother and cousin. I had ordered a gardenia bridal bouquet, but when we picked it up, it had a wonderful white orchid at its center. My dad had called and changed my order. He wanted me to have the best. My wedding orchid looked like this one.

Wedding Orchid

After we moved to Florida, orchids began to collect themselves on our porch. Every time we saw a good buy we bought. They took a minimum of care, here in Florida, and lasted for many years. But then they came to a place where they were going to need transplanting and I, being a casual plant owner, decided to find good homes for them instead. I gave them to three friends at church, each of whom cared well for hers and gave me thanks and reports for many years after. One friend put hers on a tree in her yard where it thrived. I think orchids make people happy, no matter what.

Green leaf orchid

 

Tags: , , ,

The Cruise of a Lifetime~Part 13

15 May

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

Since we had to change ships today, Fred and I were up at 5:30 a.m. to shower and dress and finished packing. At 7:00 a.m. we had breakfast with Richard, Judy and Lucy. At 7:45 we completed our packing and put our bags out in the hallway as instructed.

At 8:15 a.m. we reported to our assigned bus to leave the ship and go to Bratislava, Slovakia.

According to the ship’s info on Bratislava:   The emergence of Slovak national consciousness dates to about the 1700s. The written language appeared before the 18th century, and near the end of that century a national movement began to encourage a Slovak identity and the development of Slovak Romanticism with a focus on popular folk traditions. At the end of World War 1,Slovak identity was fully formed, and in 1919 Slovakia joined with Czechia to form a union of two western Slavic nations: Czecho-Slovakia. But its independence was greatly limited by its strong economic, military and political dependence on Germany.

It was then conquered by the Soviets, who wanted to create a pro-Soviet and Communist Czechoslovakia. This lasted until the fall of Communism during the Velvet Revolution of 1989. In 1993, the Slovaks and the Czechs agreed to separate peacefully in what is called the Velvet Divorce. The Czech Republic became a democratic state. Slovakia became an independent nation.

 

We arrived at the Bratislava Castle by 10:00.

 

It was quite windy day but not too cold. While we didn’t go inside the castle, the outside was interesting. Because I knew the history of SPQR, I found this interesting.

According to Google and Ancient Rome for Kids:

The letters SPQR stood for Senatus Populus Que Romanusa – the Senate and the People of Rome. After defeating Tarquin, the last Roman king, the people started a new type of government, a republic. A republic is a type of government whereby people elect officials to represent them in government.

As a publicity campaign, and as propaganda, the new senate had the letters SPQR chiseled, branded or stamped on everything that they controlled. Public buildings, new coins, and even park benches got the letters SPQR added to them.

 The people of Rome were proud of their new government, and were reminded every time that they saw SPQR that they were a part of the Roman Republic, and no longer ruled by a king.

At 10:30 we left for Old Town with a walking tour. We saw many fascinating sights. Here are some:

This little guy is called Cumil (pronounced as Chumil).   As the story goes, Cumil was a mischievous person who while working, used to emerge from under the manhole to look beneath the ladies’ skirts! (Tripadvisor)

11

 

Statue of Bratislava Cavalier Schoner Naci

Napolean – one of the few places to sit

We were given two hours of free time, to look around Bratislava on our own, which is really too long. We found no place to sit – no public benches. We finally went into a bakery and had a hot chocolate and a chestnut pastry. We met and shared a table with Iris and April, sisters from Calgary, Canada (Richard called them “the sisters”), who were also on our cruise. We complained to Carl West (who is from Bratislava, as is Billie, our concierge), that there were no public benches where we could sit and rest our feet. He just laughed. We think it is the city’s plan so visitors have to go into a shop to eat or drink in order to sit and rest.

At 1:00 p.m. we had lunch in the Austrian Trend hotel – it was a very good meal and the entire upper level was set up as a restaurant for our entire ship’s compliment.

At 2:30 p.m. we were back on the bus for our trip Budapest, Hungary. All the buses stopped for a restroom break at 3:45. The bus trip to Budapest normally takes only three hours, but took us four hours instead. We were finally on board the Lif at 6:15 p.m.

At 7:00 p.m. we had dinner with Richard, Judy and Lucy. Richard told us their tour guide, while going through Transylvania, told a story about “wampires… and the bus erupted with laughter.

We were in bed by 10:00 p.m. It had been a long day.

 

 

Tags: , , ,

Three secrets to live triumphantly.

14 May

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

05-13-16 3It might be strange to say, but this time in history is probably the best time to be blind. Technology has advanced so much so that those us who cannot see can perform just about any task as the sighted. And soon, even driving a car might be on the list.

But for now, the gadget I enjoy as much as the computer that reads me the screen is my cell phone. The feature of “voice over” is fascinating. Hard to believe it recognizes my voice and obeys the spoken commands. Never realized the effective way my spoken words could be.

In the same way, when adversity strikes, our words, our spoken words out loud are effective to bring triumph into our lives.

The apostle Paul, Peter and also David spoke words, powerful words…unleashing God’s force. We can do the same in any situation, any challenge, any stronghold, any disappointment, any struggle. We speak triumph in our lives in three ways.

  1. We speak words with authority as Paul did with the slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. “Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!’ At that moment the spirit left her.” (Acts 16:18)
  2. We speak words in faith as Peter did with the crippled man, and God’s healing power is released. “Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’ Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk.” (Acts 3:6-8)
  3. We speak words in truth, and the giants we face are defeated. “David said to the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty…’” (1 Samuel 17:45)

It takes boldness, it takes faith, and it takes audacity to say, “In the name of the Lord Jesus……”

And when we do, triumph comes as we speak out loud, when we declare in faith, and when we utter words to bring about God’s power to anything we face.

What words will you use to triumph over the situation you’re facing today?

 

Source: Three secrets to live triumphantly. | Janet Perez Eckles

Tags: , , , , , ,

#ThankfulThursday

12 May

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I'm a winner

#ThankfulThursday was trending on Twitter this week. Yes, it is a hash tag, but it is exactly what I feel. My husband has been feeling poorly for a while and today he is building a form to pour a concrete walkway, Three weeks ago, he could not do that. I am REALLY thankful. I am also thankful to be back in the North Carolina hills where summer hasn’t even begun. Florida was becoming unbearably hot and this week will have many ninety degree days.

When we left Florida, Rebekah was able to come up with us  for a long weekend. The hills were experiencing a weak cold front and we all welcomed the cooler temperatures. One of the reasons she chose to come to the hills is that Franklin was holding their annual “Airing of the Quilts.” It was a cool and breezy morning.

Quilts lined street.
Gorgeous
Love my girl
Garden Club was selling plants
Ome of my favorites

Check out this quilted car and the “Granny Clampet” truck.

We also came across a “Little Library.” I knew there was one in downtown Franklin but I had not seen it yet.

IMG_3117

We were sad when Rebekah’s visit came to an end but we had a fun moment when we were driving her to the airport. Sylva, North Carolina is the setting for a movie shoot!

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE

EBBING, MISSOURI

We took  some photos as we were driving.  Yes, I had my head and arms outside the car trying to get the shots. My friends know I am NOT a movie fan, I did if for movie buffs Jen and Pam. Those shots were awful so I went with windshield view.

I like the blue on the red brick. I think they should keep the colors. There was also a newspaper office but I wasn’t fast enough to get it.

Another thing I am thankful for is that I am back in the hills in time to enjoy the gorgeous blooms on my peonies. The first time I saw peonies was at the cabin of our friends Karen and Bill. I fell in love with them and they were a must-have on my list of flowers when we built our North Carolina home. The white ones are particularly dear to my heart as they came from Karen and Bill’s cabin. I think of them with a smiling heart as I enjoy the blooms.  They both passed away within a year of each other and I miss them.

I would love to hear what you are thankful for!

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →