Jesus is Risen!

Couldn't have happened soon enough.
I was so wiped after Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday. I'm still not totally sure how I made it to bed on Sunday night.

Anyways, here's a few bits that I caught between Thursday and Sunday with my phone. Nothing life altering, just little things.

Filling communion cups for prayer stations

Good Friday black and crown of thorns

We had prayer stations set up on Thursday and Friday, and then had a "Tenebrae" service on Friday evening.
Saturday was actually my "free" day, although I still ended up having to take mom to the Lion's Club Easter Egg Hunt down at Lake Apopka. She had fun organizing the Special Needs egg hunt which took place in the parking lot.

Resurrection Sunday started at O Dark Thirty, meaning I got up at 5:00a to walk Toby and get ready for the Sunrise Service.  I dress the cross during Holy Week, so it gets changed from purple, to black, to white.

Sunrise was followed by the 9:00a service, Sunday School, and the 11:15a service.  Then I WAS FREE.
Oh PRAISEALLEUIA!!!!

I was so tired by this point, my whole body ached.

Went home for Easter lunch with mom and dad.  Then it was off to Lake Hickory Nut to hang out with the Branom family.

Toby goes just about everywhere with me. Therein, he got to come out to the lake with me. His current favorite thing to do is "chase lizards". So he was in pure heaven hanging out on Terril and Louise's back porch.

As long as I kept an eye on him I was able to let him have fun and spend time talking with Steve, Julie, Louise, and Jesse. Julie and I stood out on the dock and watched the shell crackers and brim get chased around by huge bass. I could just hear summer coming as the cicadas began to sing in the trees.

Oh, and I thoroughly enjoyed both Julie's grape salad and Louise's REALLY GOOD banana pudding. YUM!

A few more shots, just so you can fully understand how much I'm enjoying being free of the cold of winter and the stress of Holy Week.

I can smell spring in these shots.

Any clue what kind of spider this is?

Mom's flowers are GORGEOUS right now!

Walking Toby in SHORTS!!

Green Anoles peeking out EVERYWHERE!!

Toby, lizard hunting, AGAIN!

I've got dirt under my finger nails most days now.
Happy and Warm days to you all!!

Rainy Day Blogging

It was raining a little bit ago.
Soaking, light rain that made all of my thirsty plants shake off their dusty leaves and sigh in contentment.

Mom gave me this Amaryllis a few years ago. If you have never experienced the opening of one of these flowers, then you're truly missing out. I put hardly any effort into this plant. It gets watered just as much as anything else in my yard (which is very rarely by me. . .plants in my yard have to be able to mainly live just on rainwater). 
As you can see in this pic, the flower is coming close to opening up fully. I've shown pics of that before on my blog. It's always breathtaking. Simply beautiful. The kind of beauty that makes me stop and stare at it.

It'll probably open up fully while I'm at work. Oh well.

Other tidbits. 

Got a new bromeliad. My mother called it a housewarming present. Her logic was directed at the rental property that I just purchased. No matter, this pretty little plant will be gracing my front flower bed.  I love the gradient quality of the yellow center, green leaves, and blue pot.

 
Of even greater note, I bought myself a Lazy Boy recliner. For $150. It's brand new. With the tags.
Be jealous. . . :)

Went to another birding festival this past weekend.
Didn't see a whole lot of birds.
This osprey with his fresh fish dinner was a little ways off the trail that mom and I took.

The trail is relatively new, and wraps around the shore of Lake Apopka (which I learned on Saturday is Florida's 3rd largest lake. . .I had always been under the impression it was ranked 4th. . .hmm).

Noteables by Nancy and Jamie 
These are things that mom and I notice which most ignore.

Green Anole (in brown coloring) sunning atop a strange cocoon
of leaves. Mom spotted this one. Not sure what the cocoon was spun by. 

Branch that has partially broken off the tree on the left hand side of the pic. It is somehow supported by the Sable Palm in the middle. The tree at the far right of the picture has grown around the branch. The crazy thing is, the branch is still alive.

 The north shore of Lake Apopka used to be a prime spot for growing vegetables on what are called Muck Farms. The state purchased these farms a while back and reflooded them, with the idea being to restore the lake to its once pristine condition. I tell you all of this because the above pic is of volunteer mustard greens growing on the side of the trail.

If it hasn't been evident yet, I love nature. I love knowing about and experiencing nature. I love sharing that knowledge. I want to help others love nature just as much as I do.

 I'll end with this pic up the hill from my house.

Oakland Nature Preserve

Yesterday was one of those "it's so beautiful you can't stay inside" kind of days. So. . .mom and I got ourselves a lunch from Subway and made our way to Oakland Nature Preserve. 

 Here's some pics I took along our trip down the boardwalk through the wetlands. 

 

There's a bird feeder area before you get to the boardwalk, and this is where the Painted Buntings and Cardinals like to hang out. It's almost a guarantee during the winter months to be able to spot something interesting here.

 

Mom taught me a long time ago how to make the "psh psh shhh" noise that always seems to intrigue birds. Little guys like this warbler/vireo fly in closer to get a look to see what type of bird is making the noise.

 

The Maple Trees have been all confused this winter, so in the midst of dropping their fall leaves they're now blooming and dropping their seed winglets as well.

Little Carolina Anoles could be seen along the boardwalk peeping over the rails or hanging out on the fencing.

 

Mom's wheelchair includes the "tilt" feature which allows her to lean back and relieve pressure. We've sort of started a new tradition of taking "tilting" pictures in different locations. 

 These shots come from down at the lake pavilion. 

The park is located on the wetland and shore area 

of Lake Apopka. 

We were on our way back to the van when I heard this Red Tail Hawk screaming in annoyance. 

Watching as he took off from his perch I realized that he/she was annoyed by the Bald Eagle that was sitting in a nearby tree. As I began taking pictures of said Eagle, some people walked down the boardwalk. 

I pointed out the Eagle and the fact that the hawk was trying to scare off the larger bird. That was when they informed me that the Eagle was very likely the same bird that they had just released in the parking lot. And. . .the guy I was actually talking to turned out to be the director of the Florida Audubon Society. Pretty cool. 

Especially since neither him nor the lady who was with him managed to capture a photo of the bird. So, I emailed them mine. Anyways, here's the article on the Eagle. She was injured back in October, and became the 439th bird to be rehabilitated and released by the 

Audubon Birds of Prey Center.