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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

PICK UP STICKS

I'm late! It's still Wednesday though! I'm just running a little behind (like 8 hours!). I wasn't going to do an Outdoor Wednesday post, but it is a beautiful day here in Arkansas, and I've been stuck inside the office all day. So, when I came home, I hurried out into the yard to soak up some of that beauty. I found miracles right in my little yard, so I wanted to share them with you. I'm sure you've already seen all of the other Outdoor Wednesday posts, but if you haven't be sure to go to Susan's,
A Southern Daydreamer, and get links
to see all of the beauty.



If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you may remember when our street looked like this:





Because of this:




FEMA sent big trucks with big buckets to pick up big limbs:

The big trucks finally picked up the last of the limbs in our yard this week, and slowly the entire town is being cleared of limbs:



But before FEMA workers arrived, somebody else was making good use of those sticks from all of those piles.



The bird who made the nest above used a lot of mud to hold it together. The residents of this nest have already vacated.



The bird, who built this nest in the same Holly tree, piled up little sticks. These residents have also moved out.


Obviously, this nest in the same tree, is still sheltering its residents. These are the eggs of a mother dove.

And now you can see how I know who is nesting on these eggs.



So, trees that looked like this less than two months ago:

Are now looking like this:


Weeping Cherry



Dogwood

The miracles and beauty of God's work! SPRING IS COMING! YEA!
When I went over to Susan's to link to Outdoor Wednesday, she already had her Thursday post up!!! Yes, I'd say I am a little late for that party.
My husband always says "Better late than never" (but only when HE'S running late!), but I'm not so sure that counts in this case. Thanks so much for coming to see me. laurie

33 comments:

Susan @ A Southern Daydreamer said...

wow! what a difference! Loved seeing the bird nest! I am glad to see the sticks are gone!

Susan

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photos! You'd never know they're of the same trees! :)

Kim said...

Wow - that is so beautiful! That could have been a Met Monday post too! Not sure what is prettier, the ice or the blooms - yeah, gotta go with the blooms. Those sweet little birds!! How cute! Thanks for sharing!
Kim

Barb said...

Love seeing mommy bird on her nest....Barb

Dixie said...

Laurie... what a great post! The Lord does work in mysterious ways... Dixie

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Laurie, what a contrast to see all the frozen ice just weighing down the tree limbs and now all the gorgeous bud bursting forth. It looks gorgeous now and I know you are so happy to have all the mess gone. The dove on her next is so cute. Yes indeed, the Lord does show us some of his glory with all the beautiful flowers He give us. Great post. Hugs, Marty

Cindy (Applestone Cottage) said...

laurie,
Oh I want those beautiful, beautiful trees in your yard. How far is Arkansaw from Wisc? I need to take a road trip. Just lovely!! Cindy

Salmagundi said...

Great pictures illustrating the change in just two months. Have a great week. Sally

Anonymous said...

Mother nature sure has away doesn't she,but it takes a mighty God to change thing like this in a few months time.

KBeau said...

Love seeing the doves. We have a pair that have been hanging around our deck, so I'm sure they are nesting somewhere nearby. One year we had a pair build a nest in the vine that grows on our screened porch. We could watch their comings and goings and see the eggs, then babies. I think they raised three or four pair that year. Doves always lay two eggs, I found out.

CIELO said...

I enjoyed seeing all your pictures, and that long quiet street flanked by gorgeous old trees... and oh, I'm having a party to celebrate the arrival of spring... come see. Hope you can participate...

cielo

~CC Catherine said...

I agree., it's better late than never... and I for one am lovin those blooms on your tree! No wonder you were inspired! ;) ~CC Catherine (My favorites also were the birds nests., and the dove keeping her soon to be babes warm)

Kristens Creations said...

It was a beautiful day today! I worked on my spring door wreath. Flowers are starting to bloom!

Your weeping cherry tree is gorgeous, I want one of those! Glad the birds gathered some sticks before they got all the limbs cleaned up! Kristen

Ginger said...

That storm really left a mess, glad they finally got it cleaned up. We are having a little bit of warm weather too, but I heard it is supposed to rain this weekend.
Ginger

DESIGN BY CATHLEEN said...

So beautiful! It really is amazing, Thanks for sharing!

xoxo,
Cathleen

Connie said...

Laurie, I just love the picture of the Dogwood tree. How long do they stay in bloom ? Wow, do we have something to look forward to. Spring officially is March 21st, right ?
Today my youngest granddaugher turned 15.
She is in HS, and will be working as an aide in the Susan B. Anthony House here a few day's a month. We talked briefly, and I mentioned that this lady helped women so much ~~ women couldn't vote, can you believe that ? Yeah, Susan!

Chandy said...

Beautiful shot of those eggs! What a great share!

xinex said...

Your flowers and trees in your yard are beautiful, LAurie! Cute bird! Today, a bird got in the house when I opened the garage door but I could not find her. I went out shopping with Nit and the security people kept calling me because they were detecting a motion. It was the bird and our house kept alarming. LOL!...Christine

Anonymous said...

DEAR SWEET LAURIE,
I HAVE NOT POSTED YET BUT AMY'S CANCER IS BACK....THE PET SCAN SHOWED HER EAR LOBE AND THE LYMPH NODES OF HER NECK ON THE LEFT SIDE.
THEY DO A $5,000.00 PET SCAN TO DETERMINE IF IT IS CANCER BUT IT DOESN'T SHOW IF THE LYMPH NODES CAN BE TAKEN OUT OR ARE GROWING THROUGH THE JUGULAR VEIN......NOW ON THE 27TH THEY HAVE TO REPEAT THE CT SCAN THAT COSTS ABOUT $2,000.00 BUT CAN'T TELL IF IT IS CANCER BUT CAN TELL IF IT CAN BE REMOVED....I DON'T BUY THAT BUT THAT IS OUR HEALTH CARE.........
ALSO HER VERY BEST FRIEND, WHO IS LIKE A DAUGHTER TO ME HAD AN OUT PT. SURGERY TODAY REVEALED SHE PROBABLY HAS UTERINE CANCER......AMY IS SOOOOOO VERY SAD ABOUT THAT BUT WE SERVE A MIGHTY GOD AND I CHOSE TO CLING TO HIS WORDS NOT THE WORDS OF A DOCTOR.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING ABOUT HER.
YOU ARE A SPECIAL LADY.
HUGS
LOVE
debbie

Bo said...

Hi sweet Laurie...I love the way you see things in this world of ours...after the devastation of nature and the new beginnings spring brings... and I want you to know I brought Mr. Bo in here & showed him how to post on my blog "just in case" after reading your previous post. Hugs, ;-) Bo

Anonymous said...

I knew that had to be a Dove's nest, since they build near the ground. It is a miracle indeed. We have had the most glorious weather this week.

We were awakened by Molly a little before 5 AM, this morning. She was having a hissy fit. It was still very dark out, so we got up and went to the front room and turned on the deck light. There, in one corner of the deck, was a young raccoon. I guess he enjoys the deck as much as we do! Here's the thing....our deck is about 5 stories up. On the parking lot side we are nine steps up and on the lake side we're five stories up. It amazes me the raccoon climbed that far, to sit on our deck.;-)

Nancy Rosalina said...

My oh My, what a difference! I like the flowering trees better then the ice trees...lol :)

Sweet little nests! Happy Spring! Nancy

a quiet life said...

fun to watch the progression. all i could think is i want all that tree mulch too! the gardener in me always rules...

xashee's corner said...

oh my goodness i LOVE your trees! i have always LOVED dogwoods but now i know i LOVE weeping cherries too! :) Thank you so much for sharing such a GREAT post! LOVE the nests too and OH BOY i bet you are glad Spring is almost here! what a winter it was! Have a LOVELY day!!

SmilingSally said...

Bloggers do have a hard time reading the calendar. I think a bunch of folks turn to the next day at 8 PM the day before!

Denise said...

Love the bird's nests! I have never seen a nesting dove. We have several pair that come here each evening to feed, but have never seen them nesting. Thanks for the pictures.

Have a great day, Denise

Stacey said...

Your flowering trees are just breath taking. I'm amazed that you've spotted several nests. Sweet Spring Time!!

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

GM Laurie...girl I am finding out in blogland that Wednesday means Tuesday night, Thursday means Wednesday night and so forth...Hey girl we had Thanksgiving a week before Christmas same thing..blogland has a differ time zone that we do ...any time I post for one of those thingy I am always late to the party haha!! now I love the little birds nest you need to keep them and do a table scape with them...I means that really says Spring and new life...hope you have a great day dear friend..hugs and smiles Gloria

Anonymous said...

Hi Laurie, Doves are my favorites and I have two residents at my house. Not building nest just yet though. We are having clean up here too. The tree cutting guys are supposed to show up today. My back yard still looks like a war zone. xo
P.S. I forgot to say how much I love the doves in the holly bush.

Four Paws and Co said...

Great pictures Laurie! Love the little dove eggs & the parents ever so watchful. Did you bring any of the vacant nests inside??? ☺

Confessions of a Plate Addict said...

Hi Laurie...I'm running late on this one, too! I am happy to see things looking more normal for you! We had a similar storm several years ago and I was so happy to see those trucks come to get our brush pile! But that's how I wound up with one of my cats...Kitty came to live in my brush pile until we finally took her in....it was there for that long! Hope you have a good weekend...hugs...Debbie

Kat said...

Sorry so late to comment, I don't know where this week has gone! I love this post, what a great shot of the mamma bird. And that weeping cherry is just gorgeous, I don't think I've ever seen one. Happy Spring! Kathy

Sharing with Sherri said...

Hi Laurie! I'm a new blogger and came across your site and just love it!
The iced tree picture is incredible, I've never seen anything like it before, being that I'm from CA. But my mother lives in the eastern part of Oklahoma near the AR border, and told about an ice storm around 7 years ago, that did alot of damage.
I just spoke to her this morning, she said the dogwood trees were in bloom, and beautiful!
Yes indeed, I believe they are!