Monday, November 02, 2009

God's Wings...

God's Wings -A little something to put things in perspective...

After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park , forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage.

One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick.When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.

She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast ...because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live.

'He will cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you will find refuge.'(Psalm 91:4)

Being loved this much should make a difference in your life. Remember the One who loves you and then be different because of it.

Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have. You will treasure it even more when you can share it with someone special. To realize the value of a friend...lose one

(writer unknown)

Sunday, October 18, 2009

More pictures in today...

These are some pictures my son sent today. I am posting a few of the ones he sent from their trip to New York. I am trying to get back into blogging, a little at a time. Jerrell and I are quite busy with Mrs. B as her Alzheimers is progressing. We need a full time telephone operator. Three trips a day to check on her and then phone calls until bed time makes for long days. Please keep us in your prayers. I went through a procedure last week and had my throat stretched because I just could not swallow my pills without getting choked and the same with some foods. I also have several ulcers, one of which I have a picture the doctor gave me and it is quite large, so I have as expected, lost over 30 pounds. Please pray that my appetite will come back soon. Thanks for the inquires about where I have been Clara, Marci and Sandy.
God Bless!











Cynthia, our step granddaughter, and our son in front of United Nations. These were taken two weeks ago when Cynthia played in Carnegie Hall.

Cynthia in front of the Statue of Liberty...

Cynthia and our daughter in law Silvia in Times Square...

Cynthia in front of the United Nations...

Cynthia outside of Carnegie Hall...

Cynthia outside of Majestic Theatre (Phantom of the Opera)




















Saturday, October 17, 2009

Some Pictures...




Caroline in a wedding a week ago...



Caroline, Luke and Nick are really growing!!






Our oldest son giving his speech in China. I found the picture on Google images.



Our two sons...
















C 4 C

The POSITIVE results of "Cash for Clunkers":

It’s taken 95% of the Obama bumper
stickers off the road...

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

KOO, you were in my heart and prayers...








Koo spreads his wings and takes a break in the nest. (note his left leg goes backward)




Bye bye KOO...Death of the Bird by Alec Derwent Hope






For every bird there is this last migration;Once more the cooling year kindles her heart;With a warm passage to the summer stationLove pricks the course in lights across the chart.






Year after year a speck on the map, divided By a whole hemisphere, summons her to come;Season after season, sure and safely guided,Going away she is also coming home.






And being home, memory becomes a passionWith which she feeds her brood and straws her nest,Aware of ghosts that haunt the heart's possession And exiled love mourning within the breast.






The sands are green with a mirage of valleys;The palm tree casts a shadow not its own;Down the long architrave of temple or palaceBlows a cool air from moorland scarps of stone.






And day by day the whisper of love grows stronger;That delicate voice, more urgent with despair,Custom and fear constraining her no longer,Drives her at last on the waste leagues of air.






A vanishing speck in those inane dominions,Single and frail, uncertain of her place,Alone in the bright host of her companions,Lost in the blue unfriendliness of space.She feels it close now, the appointed season;The invisible thread is broken as she flies;Suddenly, without warning, without reason,The guiding spark of instinct winks and dies.






Try as she will, the trackless world delivers No way, the wilderness of light no sign;Immense,complex contours of hills and rivers Mock her small wisdom with their vast design.The darkness rises from the eastern valleys,And the winds buffet her with their hungry breath,And the great earth, with neither grief nor malice,Receives the tiny burden of her death.






Unedited text and picture was with text.






This crippled osprey in a nest in Finland amazed me with his disability of having his left leg being broken in the knee and was more of a hindrance than any benefit. He tried and showed his sisters that he too could learn to stand, eat and fly just like they did. Rules are so different in different countries. When Koo was banded, something should have been done then, possible surgery at that young age. I timed Koo many time when he flew off the nest and his average was 1 minute and the maxium time was 4 minutes. As it gets dark in Finland at 3 pm EST, I was watching one afternoon and Koo flew off which concerned me as I had never seen him fly at night. He did not return for 16 hours and I thought since he only stayed at the nest for 30 minutes he was going to be fine. Instead Koo flew off the nest and after 30 hours of not seeing Koo, I became concerned. He left the last time on a Tuesday and on Saturday according to newspaper article in Finland, Koo was found in a ditch by a hunter and was taken to the local Zoo hospital. For whatever reason, it was to be 09-09-09 before Koo could even be xrayed. Today Koo was driven two hours to the vets office and assisted by another vet. The very next news was that Koo was gone, they chose to euthanize Koo. Koo would have been fine in the zoo and used for educational purposes. I never imagined crying over Koo, but this literally tore my heart out since learning how wonderful many of the things in wildlife interested me. I am very upset that Koo could not have continued being a lovable bird even in captivity. I told Jerrell I cannot take this anymore, having to worry through Tiny falling from the nest, Bandit fledging early due to a huge limb breaking in his nest tree. Losing another bird that got tangled in her mother's feathers, the mother desperately trying to get her loose in human ways seeming very unconventional. Had she waited til Dad got back, his sharp beak could have cut the feathers and saved Echo. I never watched that nest again. During the time of watching the cams ( 4 months) I lost 30 pounds and began having hair loss, both of which my doctor attributed to stress and diet.



Sorry for the long post, but this is my tribute to my Koo, who gave me so much joy and never let his handicap stop him, but when in the wild, he just could not catch his food and no way to eat on a branch with only one leg. Bless all wildlife, pets, etc. How can people think there is no God????




God Bless

Friday, June 19, 2009

Watching this should make us all proud...



I have for a good while been watching Eagle cams. I have caught a couple as the parents were brooding and waiting for the eggs to hatch. I have seen many hatch and there is a baby eagle of which I immediately become attached to. One nest had 3 eggs and I am especially attached to the runt. It is nature at its best. It also has it tragedies, one was lost by falling out of a not very well built nest built by new parents. The other somehow got wrapped around the mother's leg and after trying to get the chick loose, the panicky mother flew from the nest and the baby came loose. I have followed some to fledging and the cams do well to keep up with them once they leave the nest. Currently I am watching Sutton, Sidney, Norfolk Botanical Gardens and Delta.

You can see in the video how beautiful they are and why I have become, along with thousands all over the world, interested in these precious birds and the struggles they have to survive. Thanks for letting me share this with you.

God Bless!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Checking in...

I do not feel like correcting this, nor do I know why the pictures are not side by side as I had placed them so please overlook me. I will try to do better next time.
I am soooo late in putting anything on here, I am ashamed. I have had a couple comments asking about the twins. These are the most recent pictures, I got them yesterday. One smiles in one picture and the other smiles in the other. Caroline is still thrilled with her "little" brothers. Nick is on the left and Luke is on the right. She helps her mom a lot with the boys.
Nick is fighting a nasty cold and has right much congestion so hoping that will begin to clear soon. Stephanie is quite busy as you can imagine, but handles it with laughter and happiness and grabs her a nap when she can.:) She always says how blessed she is to have these three.
Mrs. Bunting is getting to a point that Jerrell is beginning to think of what is best for his mother at this time. She only does two things a week, get her hair done and go to church "if" she is not draggy and most of the time she is! She is still excellent at working a telephone. Some evenings up to 10:00 we get calls to see what day it is and if she gets her hair done tomorrow and it is only Monday or Tuesday and her appointment is on Thursday. I just tell her to look on her clock on the mantle and it will tell her what the day is. I do help by taking turns with the phone calls.
Some things are comical, but over all, it is stressing Jerrell to the hilt.
I talked with Paulette today and she has bought a house at the beach and will be moving sometime in June when she closes on the house. She is my best friend and I will miss her, but she is happy with her decision and she has good doctors down there as she had her last heart failure while she was down there and found they had as good or better facilities and machines than did the hospital at home. She can also get her defibulator checked down there and not have to drive back to Concord. Remember her in your prayers that she won't overdo it with the packing and all involved with moving. I assure you, she will still read her regular blogs, she so much enjoys them.
Didn't sleep much last night and we went looking at cemetery lots and
mausoleums today and I am literally worn out. I will try to put something up here more often than I have recently. Love you all.
God Bless!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Love, love and love...

"See, I am number 1"...
"So I am number 2"...

"I am so happy to help Mommie feed Nick and Luke"...



At this point, I do not know which one is which. Steph says when she is feeding one, she has to think "which one am I feeding"? More later.
God Bless!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Luke and Nick

I am slow. So sorry I have not gotten some pictures up sooner. The first three pictures are made in the hospital. They were born on January 5th and came home on the 7th and both are doing well, as is Steph. The last two pictures were made at home on week 2.

I will make this short. I have an appointment soon. Hope you all are doing well and I will be back soon. Love you all.


God Bless!













































































































































Monday, January 05, 2009

January 5, 2009 - Luke & Nick

The boys, Luke and Nick are here! Stephanie and the boys are all doing fine! Steph called me this morning and she was looking so forward to going to the hospital and waiting for 2:30 for the boys to arrive. She was so excited because today was the day since she has had such a painful and tiring 9 months.

David called about 30 minutes ago and told me that all went well with the surgery and Steph and both the boys are doing wonderful. He had come home to get Caroline and take her to the hospital to see her little brothers. I know the 5 of them will have some bonding time tonight. I am so happy and wanted to let you folks know that they are finally here.
Baby #1 weighed in at 7lbs. 3oz. and 20 inches long.
Baby #2 weighed in at 7lbs. 2oz. and 19 1/4 inches long

We all are thankful that things went well and both the boys are healthy and Stephanie hopefully will get some broth soon, as she was starving this morning when she called. I will of course post any pictures as I get them. Right now I am just thrilled and thankful that everything went so well. Take care all and I will be back and post when I can.

God Bless!