Nativity of the Theotokos

Your birth, O Theotokos,

 brought joy to the whole world, 

for from you dawned the sun of righteousness,

 Christ our God. 

Freeing us from the curse, He gave us His blessings. 

Abolishing death, He granted us eternal life.

This picture is from a trip we took to the

 Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery,

 in Saxonburg, PA.

We wish them Xronia Polla and remember them,

as they celebrate their Feastday today.

Beauty, simplicity, and peace, such a special place.

Share the Day.

End of Summer

It's been a little busy, no excuses, I have been ignoring my little blog, 

but clearly it hasn't been ignored by others. 

Thanking all of you for still checking in on me here, 

nothing has been wrong, just busy.  

Some of the fun we had these past few weeks with family.

It is such a blessing when we are able to be together. 

I love it so much.

We were treated to dinner, to celebrate many things together at once.
An eventful year.

Had the PVC pipe sprinkler out this summer, yes we made one!

Weather is starting to turn and it is time to put it away.

Source

Sports have started, water bottles and portable folding chairs prepared.

Mini-marshmallow battle.

The food fight that memories are made of.

Big smiles all around.

Still finding them.

Which of course go along with the indoor smores.

Avoid the bugs and the rain.

Greek festival season continues.

It's always a beautiful night, to visit with friends and support a local parish.

Not to mention, super yummy!

Get out there folks.

Have started putting the garden to bed.

And have started spring bulb prepping.

Have also been working on some projects which will be ready to share with you soon.

What have you been up to?

Prayers for Peace in the World

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Who's at the Feeder Fridays and Happenings

So summer is winding down, and we are heading into finishing our preparations for the start of school.

Some exciting events here, we have a baby red-tailed hawk in the backyard.  Mama and baby are too fast to catch via camera, but Mama Hawk is huge. We saw her land right in front of us and our kitchen window one day, after a terrified mourning dove was trying to get away from her and hit the window. So sad, would of felt better if she had taken it then, but it clearly died on impact, she wanted something more lively I suspect for her young.  We buried it, turning it into a good learning moment.  I had to scrub the window to get the mark off. I used a great mix of detergent, rinse aid and rubbing alcohol mixed with hot water. Scrub and rinse. Super easy.

In other news, the feeder has been busy, with the usual suspects.
Can you guess what this unidentified flying bird is?
I'm sure you can guess.

We have a pretty little woodpecker visit, thankfully back to the feeder and off the house. Have you ever been in the house when this bird starts on it? Very noisy.

Which brings us to the latest visitor in our house and the reason we have not slept in two days. An incessent thrill/buzzing sound so loud you want to pull out your hair. It's actually quieter outside. Yes, we fear somehow, at sometime in the past two days a cicada or something that makes a similar sound made it's way in. We have been searching, we have failed, we are tired. I now have a keener understanding and appreciation of those who suffer with tinnitus.
God help you all-It's not pretty. 

On a lighter note.

At least, Hijinx can still relax.

Look how I found him chillin on our patio. Looks like flat squirrel is back with the heat.

What's happening at your feeders and on your patios?

Share the Day!

Sharing with Chiconashoestringdecorating,  Jennifer Rizzo, Cozylittlehouse,