Moon Before the Blue Moon?

I read a comment on either my or someone else's blog that mentioned we are going to have a blue moon soon. I wasn't sure what that meant, but last night, there was a lovely blue around the moon, that didn't show up well in photos. I enjoyed getting shots of the moon, though. Today, I did a search to find out what a blue moon is, and came away a tad confused, because different places say different things about it. It used to mean the 3rd full moon when there were 4 in a season, or something like that. Then, someone wrote in a Farmers' Almanac many years ago, that a blue moon is when there are 2 full moons in the same month. I just did another search and found an article on the NASA website where it is explained in a better way than I did.

So, tonight, look up and see the full moon, and no, it will not be blue, but it will be a blue moon! To see skies from all over the world, or to find out how to link yours, click on the SkyWatch link in my sidebar.

God bless your New Year, and have a fun, safe, and healthy celebration to welcome in 2010!

Grandson's First Doll video

Snowed in for Skywatch Friday

Since the forecast for a blizzard kept getting pushed back, and we were able to drive last night, I got up this morning, and after looking out the door, figured it would be OK to drive today. I got my exercise shoes and music on, and did aerobic cooking and kitchen cleaning. I assumed my husband was listening to the radio for driving conditions. After I got my gluten free pumpkin pies out of the oven, and the fruit cobbler in, Larry came in from shoveling and told me the neighbor said the main streets are OK, but the side streets and intersections are so bad, only 4 wheel drive cars could make it around. I spent an hour on the phone talking to my family, and we postponed our Christmas lunch. Larry and I enjoyed the chili, and I had made enough pie, that we were able to have some today.

I took some photos from inside the house, some out windows, and some out of doors. I had fun watching the poor birds come and go. There was a squirrel on a branch under its home. I wondered why it was there, and not inside.

Well, it's Friday in parts of the world, and SkyWatch Friday has begun. Click on the link in my sidebar to see skies from all over the world or find out how to include yours.

Again, Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I love the saying that is currently on our sign at church that says,

"Jesus is the gift; we are the reason."

God bless you and yours this Christmas, and may you be filled with the joy of the Lord.

Late for the Sky...

It's Friday morning where I am, but Friday started other places about 17 hours ago. The title of my post is from an old Jackson Browne album that I loved when I was in my 20s. Even though my memory is bad, I can recall some of the lyrics of the songs on it. Most of them were sad and depressing. That was a time in my life where I had fallen away from God and was not a happy time of my life. One of the songs was about taking a photo of someone. When the picture taker saw the person, they were laughing, but the moment the camera happened to find them, there was a look of sorrow in their eyes. I think it was called Fountain of Sorrow.

Well, I'm thankful those days are behind me, and I have the joy of faith in Jesus, even when I'm feeling sad. God's love for us isn't changed by how we feel at any moment.

I am laughing at myself, because I need to get to work, and just planned on putting up a quick sky photo from the other day. I had missed photographing a gorgeous sunrise, then was tickled when the sunset was almost as pretty. Happy SWF, and check out the link in my sidebar to see more skies from all over the world.

Snow, and a Blue Sky

This is what the sky looked like December 8:

This is what it looked like today:

Don't be fooled by the lovely blue sky. I don't remember how warm it got today, but our low was -13 F. They said it was the coldest since a day in January of 2007, when it got down to -15.

To see more skies from all over the world, click on the SkyWatch Friday picture in my sidebar.

Photos Taken 11/28/09 for SkyWatch Friday

The tree in front of our house reaches quite tall into the sky. It was planted by my husband when he was a young boy, and his dad after they dug it from a neighbor's yard.

I love white fluffy clouds against a blue sky.

Whenever I hear or see something in the sky, I want to take a photo of it. I was tickled when I put these photos into my iphoto, and saw the star on this helicopter.

I took lots of photos of squirrels eating seed pods high in this tree across the street. I even took a video that I plan to post on my other blog Saturday for Camera Critters. This squirrel is high in the sky, so I wanted to include it in my SkyWatch Friday post.

To see skies from all over the world, or find out how to link yours, click on the SkyWatch Friday button in the sidebar.

Happy Thanksgiving SkyWatch

I went out Wednesday after work to take photos of the big clouds in the sky, and flowers for my garden blog. It was in the 40s, and I had a good time being outside, as I haven't been able to be out much lately. I was out long enough to get some photos of the sunset. I saw the Schwann's man at my next door neighbor's door, and asked him if he'd noticed how pretty the sky was. He looked up, and told me, yes it is. When my husband got home from work and a couple errands, I asked him if he'd noticed, and he said he hadn't. I tell you, SkyWatch Friday helps one be more aware of what's going on in the sky, and I sure enjoy that! Click on the SWF button in the sidebar to see skies from all over the world, or find out how to include your post.

The moon is in the upper right of this photo.

Here's a closer view of the moon.

Photos don't do what I viewed today justice.

I walked to the busy street we live a block from, and tried to get a clearer view of the sky, but the street lights and lines insisted on being in the photos. The trees on the left are in the cemetery on that side of the street.

I am thankful most for the gift of faith in Jesus. I am thankful for God's work in my life, and the beauty of creation.

One of the gifts God has given me is the ability to forgive people. Sometimes it has taken longer than others though. As I get older, I find it easier, besides, it's what God has told us to do. I'm glad, but it has caused me to be impatient with others who hold grudges. Our church just served a meal at a local outreach center, which my group does 4 times a year. When I lead the prayer before the meal, I pray for God to help people to forgive those who need it in their lives.

If you read this, consider this prayer for you, too. Remember, forgiveness never means that we're saying the hurt someone has caused is OK. It may not even mean reconciliation in an unhealthy relationship. It frees the hurt one to move on and not dwell on the past or person who hurt them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Late Afternoon Sky from 11/14 /09

My husband and I have our almost 2 year old grandson on Saturdays. My parents want to see him every week, too, and lately they have had some lifting restrictions, so I've been taking Grandson there, and going into the computer room and blogging. On our way back to my house, I noticed how lovely the sky was. I was glad for the stop lights, so I could take a few photos with my iphone.

To see skies from all over the world, or to find out how to include yours, click on the SkyWatch Friday button in the sidebar.

Suppertime Sunset taken Wednesday for SkyWatch Friday

To see skies from all over the world, or find out how to participate, click on the link in the sidebar.

Blue Skies, Fluffy Clouds

The first several photos start looking up, then go a bit lower each time, showing the bare branches and split trunk of the walnut tree in front of the area where I garden at the neighbors' yard across the street. To see more skies from all over the world, click on the SkyWatch button in the sidebar.

I think this one is looking south and east from the intersection in the street.

The sunset was a nice one, too.

Looking south from our front porch:

God bless your weekend!

Some Thoughts on God's Will

I was sleeping well, but in the night, started thinking about which church service I wanted to go to in the morning. Somehow my thoughts went to wondering if God really wanted me going back to the church I had left in January, and have now been going back to since August. I'm having trouble now remembering exactly what I was thinking, but it was not worry.

The reason I got up to write is so I would remember the chain of thoughts, and then go back to sleep not trying to remember. I'm not remembering now, though, but the one of the main things I got out of this is that in my experience, even when I pray for God to reveal his will to me for my life, I'm not always given clear direction. I think that whatever I do, mistakes, sins, and all, God uses it for good. (Hey, there's a Bible verse for that!)

The other thing, is that God's will for me is to love him first, and then love others. In my daily interactions with people, He wants me to love others with his love. That means turning off the crabbiness and turning on care and respect. Sometimes it also means setting boundaries. I can enjoy my gardening, spending time with family, and blogging. God provides other areas of service, such as cooking meals 4 times a year at our local outreach center for low income people. These last few sentences were added by me as I was writing, and were not part of the thinking. The thought was that whatever I do, God blesses it as I go. He doesn't direct me like I'm a puppet. I have choices, and God uses those choices to work in my life.

I don't think God cares so much which church I go to as long as it is one that believes in grace alone, through faith alone for salvation. I am so thankful I don't have to earn salvation! Figuring out how to love God first is sometimes hard, but it's such a blessing to experience his love for me.

Well, I better get back to sleep so I can go to the early service. ,o) I hope you are having peaceful rest. (The photo of my grandson and me was taken Saturday.)

A Rainy SkyWatch

I looked through my photos, and didn't find any I wanted to post, so I went out in the rain and took some photos. I thought the leaves in the sky were pretty.

I included this one because there was a bird flying through the rain. The light that my father-in-law put in the back yard doesn't work anymore. When we first moved here, the neighbors were hoping we'd keep in on at night because the street can be dark. The morning glories love climbing up the pole each summer. These are dead, and need to be pulled down.

To see skies from all over the world, click on the SkyWatch button in the sidebar. God bless your weekend!

SkyWatch Friday

Since SkyWatch Friday starts where it first turns Friday in the world, this post is late, because it is now Saturday afternoon in some places. To see more of the world's skies, click on the SkyWatch link in the sidebar.

This photo was taken after work today. We got about 3 inches of rain the last few days, and today the sun came out. There were lots of birds out and about today, and I enjoyed all the noise they were making. There's no mistaking it's fall.

Have a blessed weekend!

Late for SkyWatch Friday

I had lots going on the last few days, and today, when I got some photos off my iphone, into my iphoto, I saw I had some photos from the last week of September that I'd like to post. God's artistry is so evident in the sky. I am in awe of the beauty of creation. These photos were taken from the parking lot when I got to work in that morning.

To see more skies from all over the world, click on the SkyWatch button on my sidebar.

A Cloudy Day SkyWatch

When I went out to take bloom and sky photos this afternoon, Thursday here, Friday some places, I heard lots of birds. I got a few of them in this photo. I plan on using the other photos in my Saturday Camera Critters post on my other blog. The trees will shortly be losing their leaves with colder temperatures expected. Freezing temperatures are forecasted for this weekend, with the possibility of snow.

To see skies from all over the world, click on the SkyWatch button in my sidebar. Speaking of which, I took my computer to a family gathering, and our niece, who is in kindergarten and I enjoyed clicking on blogs from the list, and seeing the skies and other things that were in those countries. We left some comments, too. What fun that was!

Have a blessed weekend!

Cosmos Finally Blooming, SkyWatch Friday

To see more skies from all over the world, click on the SkyWatch Friday picture in the sidebar.

Tree Planting for SkyWatch Friday

I got my phone camera out to catch the skies and tree planting at the high school I work at a couple days ago. A lot of trees were cut down the end of February, 2008, when I was home with the flu. Most students and a lot of the staff didn't realize how many trees they were taking out, and why most of them needed to come out. We were told some of them would be replaced by other trees. I'm glad they planted fairly good sized ones. Now, we need some grass so we won't go home and track mud in the house like I did this day.

To see skies from all over the world or find out how to include yours, please click on the SkyWatch button in the sidebar.