Happy Thankful Thursday!!

Happy Thursday!

Lately it seems our days are drizzly, cloudy and cold.  It is not really my type of walking weather. I still try to get outside for a walk, check out the birds along the fire roads and at the lake. 

1.  Walking along the fire road there was a flock of Eastern Bluebirds in the trees and drinking out of a puddle on the ground.

 The Bluebird carries the sky on his back..Henry David Thoreau

2. We can walk to the lake and not see a single person. I saw a group of ducks flying away, we must have spooked them when we got closer to the lake.  I did find one Canada Goose sitting on the lakeshore. The sun looking like the moo.

 

3.  Our cloudy sky made the sun look more like the moon. 

Learn to find joy in your life, you'll attract happiness.

 

 

 

4.  A pretty sunset on Jan 2nd. 

Optimists find joy in the small things...

 5.  Random photos from our snow covered fire road walk on Dec 22nd.  Me and my shadow, a pretty sky, animal foot prints (opossum) in the snow and a sunburst with maybe a deer foot prints .  I am thankful to see a blue sky...

 

6.  Below are Jupiter and Saturn not quite the Christmas star, my view they looked pretty far apart.  Also seen in the night sky on Dec 22nd on the right Waxing Gibbous Moon.

 7. The moon on Dec 29th..I seem to love taking photos of the moon..I am always thankful for a clear sky, when there is a special night sky event happening.   These are just some random images, ones I have not previously shared on a post.  I am thankful for a good book, a nice day for a walk, calm and peaceful days.

 

 

 Jan 6th was a sad day for our country, our country's leader incited and led an angry mob of terrorists/extremists to attack our capitol building. Watching this happening I was shocked, afraid for our congress members and workers in this building and the police. There should be a peaceful transition between the two administrations, it doesn't happen when one side is refusing to step out. There can only be one winner and the people have chosen their new leader. 

 

I am thankful we live in a democracy, a government FOR all People.

 

I remain thankful that we continue to stay safe and healthy.  

I hope everyone stays healthy and safe. 

Go outside and breathe deeply.  Enjoy every moment. 

Take care and stay safe! 


Live simple and be happy!  😊 Keep smiling!

Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday.  

Thank you Yogi the host of   Skywatch Friday
 

Thank you for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!!  😊

Happy Thankful Thursday

 Happy Thursday everyone!

It's New Year's Eve, I think we are all looking forward to a happy and healthy New Year.  Hopefully we can say bye-bye to Covid and return to somewhat of our normal lives.  I am thankful that hubby and I remained virus-free. I am sorry and sad about all those who passed away due to the virus, I am sorry if you lost a family member or a friend. 

I am sharing some favorite photos of the past year, fun times with hubby and simple joys of skywatching and bird-watching. These are a few of my "favorite things".  I am thankful for the simple things that make me happy and bring me joy just looking at them.

1.  January 2020... Florida Brown Pelicans flying by, saying goodbye for now.  We were heading home from Florida on the first of January 2020.  We had no idea what was coming (the coronavirus) in March 2020.  At this time Maryland requested everyone wear a mask,. Keep safe, stay the social distance and keep washing your hands. 

2.  February 2020..full moon

 

 "May the sun bring you new energy by day, may the moon softly restore you by night, may the rain wash away your worries, may the breeze blow new strength into your being, may you walk gently through the world and know it's beauty all the days of your life."

 

3.  March 2020, a Great Blue Heron at our neighborhood heron rookery.  March 15th  was the last time hubby and I met our son and his wife and ate inside a restaurant. 

4.  April 2020...our Grand-dogs the shepherd mix is Nibbles and the Corgi is Winnie.  . Good news is we are looking forward to welcoming our grandson in Feb 2021.  

5. May 2020.. the pink lady slipper is a sight I enjoy seeing each year off of our local fire road.  I am thankful for these rare orchids. May 4th was our 30th Anniversary.

6. June 2020.. we managed a Shenandoah NP getaway staying safe mostly in our car and taking a hike on a park trail.  I am thankful for the beautiful sunsets. 

7.  July 2020, another getaway to the Blackwater NWR in Cambridge Maryland. I am thankful for the beautiful and peaceful nature scenes.

8. August 2020...I am always happy to see the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in my yard.  I have my feeders up early spring and we plant flowers that we know the hummingbirds love.

9. September 2020...  I was happy to see one of my favorite birds, the Red-breasted Nuthatch return to our area for the winter.  These birds return during an irruption year also called a finch year.

10. October 2020... we did a quick getaway to Chincoteague Island, walks on the beach and we saw lots of ponies and birds.

11. November 2020.. It's Bald Eagle time at the Susquehanna River just below the Conowingo Dam. 

 

 11a... Our Grand-dog Chewy crossed over the rainbow bridge November 4th.  He was a sweetie and is missed..

 

 

12. December 2020.. Pretty sky and geese on the field at our favorite local restaurant.. We are thankful for their great carry-out dinners. December was our birthday month, Dec 2nd was mine, the 7th was my son's 28th birthday and the 10th was hubby's.  "Mine for evermore. Will you still need me, will you still feed me. When I'm sixty-four..by the Beatles.

Hubby and I are thankful we were able to go on a few getaways during this past year. The first of Jan 2020 we were driving home from a trip to Florida, Shenandoah NP, Chincoteague Island, Blackwater NWR are all favorite places to visit.  We were able to social distance and wear our mask keeping safe. Most of these trips were spent in our car..

I am thankful for all my blog followers, for all your past comments and  visits during this past year..

I wish everyone all the best in 2021, a very happy and healthy New year! May the New Year bring you Peace, Love and Happiness! 

I am thankful for the healthcare workers and all the essential workers who have put their lives at risk during this past year.  I remain thankful that we continue to stay healthy.  I hope everyone stays healthy and safe. 

Go outside and breathe deeply.  Enjoy every moment. 

Take care and stay safe! 


Live simple and be happy!  😊 Keep smiling!

Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday.  

Thank you Yogi the host of   Skywatch Friday
 

Thank you for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!!  😊

Happy Thankful Thursday!

 Happy Thursday!

It is another day to experience the beauty of nature. Life is beautiful, soak it in and be grateful.  

1. I am always thankful for pretty sunny days! These days, hubby and I can get outdoors for a walk.  On this day we drove to the Loch Raven Reservoir, it is a reservoir that provides drinking water for Baltimore City, Md. For the past week,  two rare Grebes ( Western Grebe and possible  Clark's Grebe) were being seen at this reservoir. Of course I missed seeing the Grebes, but we enjoyed our outing.

 

2. We saw  a group of Hooded Mergansers and some Canada Geese just sitting at the top of the smaller dam.

The best things in life are the people we love, the places we've been and the memories we made along the way.

3. Hooded Mergansers, second smallest of the Merganser species. The male has the black bordered fan like crest, a white head patch. Below the crest is seen raised and lowered. The female has the brown crest and somewhat of a brownish body. They have a narrow bill.

4. It was a pretty blue sky day, the dam below somewhat hidden by the bushes along the road.

 

 

5. At times these birds disappeared diving underwater, I never could count them.

 

 

6.  This is a view of the water below the dam and a sunburst, not the best photo. But, I am always attracted to the sunburst images. 

I will share some more views of Loch Raven and more birds on my Saturday's Critter post. 

 I wish all ... peace, love and happiness this holiday season!

As long as Covid numbers are still going up, I remain thankful that we continue to stay safe and healthy.  I hope everyone stays healthy and safe. 

Go outside and breathe deeply.  Enjoy every moment. 

Take care and stay safe! 


Live simple and be happy!  😊 Keep smiling!

Thank you to Jutta for hosting Nature Thursday

Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday.  

Thank you Yogi the host of   Skywatch Friday
 

Thank you for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!!  😊

 

 

Happy Thankful Thursday!!

Happy Thursday! 

How is everyone, hanging in there I hope.  The vaccine is coming soon, be safe and stay safe. 

 Happy Birthday to my dear hubby!

I am continuing with some of my archived photos from a trip to Costa Rica in 2010.  I am so thankful I have a lot of my old trip photos archived on my external hard drive, they are easy to find. 

1.  I am sharing more images from  Tortuguero, Fortuna, Guanacaste, the Arenal Volcano, the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

 Tortuguero, Caribbean sunrise

 

2. Views of the Lake Arenal, Arenal Volcano and wind turbines.

 

3. Various Costa Rica Birds:

 First row on a utility pole at our Tortuguero resort the Collared Aracari Toucan, Black-cheeked woodpeckers on the same pole later, unknown hummingbird possibly a female Lucifer Hummingbird, Great Kiskadee, Anhinga, Blue-Gray Tanager, two Crested Caracara in flight, Snowy Egret and Crimson fronted Parakeet.

 

4. Guanacaste, Pacific Ocean and a Brown Pelican. I love watching the Pelicans, they look so peaceful when they fly by. 

 

 

5. Guanacaste sunset on the Pacific Ocean.

 

 

6.   I am thankful for beach time,  a walk on the beach in the warm sunshine.  Give thanks for a little, you will find a lot.

 Brown Pelican on the rocks, Magnificent Frigatebird, shells and beach, Whimbrel and Black-bellied Plover. 

 

7. Another look at the sunset. 

 

Hubby and I are looking forward to traveling again, maybe a trip in early May.  we are undecided it could be a fly-drive or a road trip.  Part of the fun of traveling for me is researching the place we are visiting. I look for the places to stay, parks, scenic views and drives.  

 

I am thankful we continue to stay safe and healthy. 

I hope everyone is careful, healthy and safe. 

Go outside and breathe deeply.  Enjoy every moment. 

Live simple and be happy!  😊 Keep smiling!

Thank you to Jutta for hosting Nature Thursday

Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday. 
 

Thank you to Yogi the host of   Skywatch Friday
 

Thank you for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!!  😊

Happy Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday!

 I am thankful for each day,  days and months are just flying by. It is December already, what happened to November? 

 1.   On this morning, while filling up my bird feeders I watched the sky. The sky started out mostly cloudy with just a hint of blue skies in the distance to pretty blue skies and puffy white clouds within an hour.

 

2.  One of my squirrel friends was waiting patiently for the bird food to arrive. 

 

 

3.  It warmed up some for hubby and I to take a morning walk on the local fire road.  This loop trail is covered with pine needles and pine cones. There are different berry bushes and I am guessing  Vibernum and some native Holly bushes.

 

 

4. I could hear various birds in the tree tops and around us, the most common birds here were the Nuthatches.

 

 

 

5.  I am happy to see the Red-breasted Nuthatch return to my feeders every day now.  I am not sure how long they will be here, I will be thankful if they stay all winter. 

 

6.  Skywatching from my back yard.

 

 7.  I am thankful for the beautiful blue skies and pretty clouds,   skywatching is one of my simple pleasures. 

 

 8.  The view out of my dining room window, I have good view of the feeders..The Blue Jays love the peanuts and the little suet balls, on the distant feeder is a Goldfinch and a Carolina Chickadee.

9.  A Tufted Titmouse on the deck railing and there is another one sitting just above the suet feeder on the right side.

My simple pleasure is bird watching, I enjoy feeding the birds. I am thankful for my regular yard birds and for the winter birds that keep me entertained. The White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, the Red-breasted Nuthatch and even the Pine Siskins were seen.

I am thankful we continue to stay safe and healthy. 

I hope everyone stays healthy and safe. 

Go outside and breathe deeply.  Enjoy every moment. 

Take care and stay safe! 


Live simple and be happy!  😊 Keep smiling!


Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday. 
 

Thank you to Yogi the host of   Skywatch Friday
 

Thank you for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!!  😊

 

Happy Thankful Thursday!

Happy Thursday!  

 I  know many people are feeling the Covid stress. Hubby and I get that antsy feeling, we had to get away.  Take advantage of the great weather.  I am continuing to share some photos from our getaway to Maryland Shore and Ocean City Maryland.  I have to say we were in the car most of the time, a few hikes and walks on the beaches.  So I have a few sky photos to share and some bird sightings. 

 

1. the first evening and Sunset at the Ocean City Inlet.  I am thankful for 2 days of beautiful weather for our getaway.

 

2. Everyone was out enjoying this great November weather, we watched the surfers and there were also some Black Ducks or Cormorants nearby.

 

3.  A scene from the Ocean City Inlet, an early morning fishing boat heading out, a Brown Pelican flying by and some color just before the sunrise.

 

 

4.  I never noticed all these locks on the fishing pier at Ocean City. I am guessing the gull is the Ring-billed Gull.

 

5.  The sunrise next to the fishing pier in Ocean City Maryland.

6. Banded Terns on the Ocean City Inlet beach. These are the Royal Terns, thanks to Sondra for the id.

7.  Two Brown Pelicans flying by us at the Ocean City Inlet. 

8. We watched 6 dolphins in the inlet at Ocean City, Md. They would take turns moving in and out of the water.  I am thankful for all my wildlife sightings.

9. A mural on a utility box and a Red Fox crossed the street near us at the Ocean City Inlet. 

 I am thankful for another great getaway. I am thankful we continue to stay safe and healthy. 

I hope everyone stays healthy and safe. 

Go outside and breathe deeply.  Enjoy every moment. 

Take care and stay safe! 


Live simple and be happy!  😊 Keep smiling!


Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday. 
 

Thank you to Yogi the host of   Skywatch Friday
 

Thank you for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!!  😊