First signs of Spring are slowly sprouting up out of the old dry branches of the hydrangea bush in front of the house. It’s odd to see old and new life together, but it’s also wonderful and beautiful. It reminds me that God has made me a new creation …
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
“And the one sitting on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making everything new!’And then he said to me, ‘Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.’”
God said it, and I believe it. He makes everything new, even the plants, flowers, … when He said everything, He meant absolutely everything is made new.
Location: Home Garden; Gastonia, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. May you be blessed with new adventures, new friendships, and an abundance of happiness. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
We spent the week before New Year’s down south at Myrtle Beach along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. We had so many activities going on each day that we didn’t spend all day every day on the beach, but the days Coleman and I spent on the beach were beautiful amazing memory making enjoyable times of the week. We saw an enormous amount of birds at the beach both in Murrells Inlet and by our resort in Myrtle Beach.
On the Friday before we left we saw a tremendous amount of Ring-Billed Gulls flying to and fro as well as walking on the sand by the seashore. Ring-Billed Gulls (aka Larus delawarensis) are medium-sized gulls native to Northern America. They breed in Canada and the northern Contiguous United States. They winter mainly in the United States of America and northern Mexico.
The Ring-Billed Gull’s breeding habitat is near lakes, rivers, or the coast across the majority of Canada and the northern United States. (We live in the Southeastern United States). These seagulls can also be seen in several North American parking lots.
Ring-Billed Gulls
The Ring-Billed Gulls are migratory with the majority of them moving southward towards the Gulf of America (formerly the Gulf of Mexico), and the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States and northern Mexico.
The Ring-Billed Gulls we saw were numerous and fascinating to watch. You could walk pretty close to them before they took flight. They tended to stay in groups, surprisingly (to us) in groups of three.
Even though they forage in flight or pick up objects while swimming, walking, or wading; they also steal food from other birds or even people’s unattended food. Some beachgoers consider the Ring-Billed Gulls pests due to their willingness to steal unguarded food on crowded beaches. (We didn’t notice them stealing any food while we were walking alongside the ocean waters or anyone annoyed with the beautiful gulls.) Most were merely enjoying the beautiful day, and time with family along the coastal beaches.
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T7 (2000D) with Canon EF-S55-250mm lens and Altura UV Filter attachment.
Location: Atlantic Ocean; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA
God Bless. Take care of yourselves. Get Outdoors and enjoy nature. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
As stated in my Monochrome Madness post, Coleman and I saw several horse owners at Anne Springs Close Greenway taking advantage of a beautiful afternoon to enjoy riding their horses on the trails.
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T7 (2000D) with Canon EF-S55-250mm lens and Altura UV Filter attachment.
Location: Dogwood Trail; Greenway Stables Entrance; Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA
God Bless. Enjoy your weekend. Spend time Outdoors and admire Nature’s beauty. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
My daughter (Trisha), my grandson (Coleman), and my future granddaughter (Sophia).
This was taken on Tuesday evening at the entrance to Goat Island Park and Greenway as we were preparing to head back home. This was a rare occasion for us. My daughter normally doesn’t care to go walking and I do not see well at night to attempt walking anywhere.
However, my daughter is so ready to be over being pregnant that she decided she needed to try to start walking some on her days off. She is trying Curb Walking to try to speed the process up of Sophia being ready to make her entrance into this world. [I’ll be discussing Curb Walking further in a future post soon.]
Coleman loves to go walking/hiking at any given opportunity. He loved having his mom come along on an evening walk with us.
I know I’m a day late, but still wanted to share these trios with y’all.
Autumn Leaves
Hydrangea paniculata
These Hydrangeas change colors from seasonally, They change from white to limelight to brown tones in late autumn through winter. They are beautiful regardless of the colours they are displaying.
Five days a week as I wait at the bus stop before (with Coleman) school and after school (waiting for Coleman), I watch the Norfolk Southern Trains chug chug chugging up and down the railroad tracks. Coleman loves to watch the trains (he would love to ride in one one day). Sometimes when I am waiting for him to arrive back at the bus stop in the afternoon I’ll capture the Norfolk Southern Trains chug chugging along with my smartphone. Then he’ll watch the train later in the afternoon.
Here is a trio gallery of the Norfolk Southern Trains as they zoom past me standing on the corner.
Location: Old Town; Riverside Community; Cramerton, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. Enjoy your week and always be observant of your surroundings. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
This night we were disturbed and confused by the loud sound of dogs barking continuously. The loud noise was disturbing during the time of evening we were trying to get Coleman to go to sleep. The extremely loud and constant barking was preventing him from getting to sleep. We were confused and did not understand where the excessively loud barking was coming from until our neighbours two doors down knocked on our door. It turned out our landlord brought them to the backyard of the house next door to us and chained them up. We were confused and disturbed by this knowledge and did not understand why he would do such a thing.
A Trio of Barking Dogs
Our neighbour, Chris, called the landlord and asked him to come get the dogs. He let him know he did not want to hear the dogs barking all night long. He was called around 8pm after the dogs had already been barking for over three hours. When we found out where the barking was coming from we discovered that no food or water was in sight for the dogs. Randy, the landlord, told Chris he’d be there to take care of the situation at 9:30 (another hour and a half of continuous barking). He didn’t actually show up until almost eleven (11) pm. So a total of a minimum of six (6) hours of continuous barking with the trio of dogs chained and left with no food or water. Very Disturbing indeed.
Location: Old Town; Riverside Community; Cramerton, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. Have a peaceful, relaxing day/week/weekend. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Location: Goat Island Entrance; Downtown Cramerton; Cramerton, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. Enjoy the rest of your week and have a marvelous weekend. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) are very common sight here in the Carolinas. With the warmer temperatures and spring weather approaching, the Canada Geese are flocking to the lakes and rivers.
The Canada Goose is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. They are herbivorous and normally migratory in nature. They are often found on or close proximity to fresh water. They are also common in brackish marshes, estuaries, and lagoons. In our area they are oftentimes on and near the Catawba River or its tributaries, such as the South Fork (Catawba) River.
It was a tremendous pleasure to watch the Canada Geese sunning on the river’s shoreline, diving into the water, taking flight and landing in the water.
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i with Canon EF-S55-250mm lens and Altura UV Filter attachment.
Location: South Fork Catawba River; Goat Island Park and Greenway; Cramerton, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. Time to Get Outdoors. Relax and enjoy Nature. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Cameras: 1) Minolta XG-7 35 mm; 2) Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max; 3) Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
Locations: 1) San Diego Wild Animal Park (Aka San Diego Safari Park); Escondido, California; 2-3) Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA
God Bless. Have a fantastic week and upcoming weekend. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Coleman and I spotted these flowers while hiking along the trail in Central Park the other week. There’s not much in this Wildlife Habitat that we could see, but maybe it’ll seem more appealing in the Spring.
Location: Wildlife Habitat; Hiking Trail; Central Park; Cramerton, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. As we approach 2025, may God watch over you, keep you safe, fill you with hope, joy, peace, and love. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Coleman and I visited a “new to us” park this past week. The name of the park is Central Park located here in Cramerton. According to the Cramerton website, Central Park prides itself natural surface mountain biking trails, walking trails and a natural stream running the length of the park.
While we were hiking along the trails, we had a difficult time distinguishing between the walking trails and the mountain biking trails. Some of the trails had water running across them from the creek (stream).
Alongside one of the trails we came across this unique seating arrangement with tall mushrooms which provide shade for hikers taking a bit of a rest.
Central Park Trail Map
Remember for larger enhanced viewing you may click on each image.
Cameras: 1-3) Canon EOS Rebel T3i with Canon EF75-300mm lens and Altura CPL filter attachment; 4-5) Apple iPhone Pro Max
Location: Central Park; Cramerton, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. Enjoy Nature. Walk amongst the Trees and/or alongside a creek, river, or lake. Happy Holidays. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us.
The morning glory plants entwine themselves around structures, growing to a height of 2-3 m (6 ft 7 in – 9 ft 10 in) tall. Their leaves are heart-shaped and the stems are covered with brown hairs. The flowers are trumpet-shaped, predominantly blue to purple or white.
These Purple Morning Glories are located on the side of a small hill below railroad tracks up the street from our home. I found it interesting how they are entwined with the gravel as they climb the hill and how they rise up towards the sky in the mornings.
God Bless. Enjoy Nature. Smell the Flowers. See the Beauty in Simplicity. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.
God Bless. Enjoy Nature. Smell the Flowers. See the Beauty in Simplicity. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.
These Rustic Wooden Horses were in a fenced off area near the Children’s Schroering Forest Playground at the Lake Haigler Entrance of the Anne Springs Close Greenway.
These three Alpacas can be visited at the Crandall Bowles Children’s Farm at the Horse Road Entrance to the Anne Springs Close Greenway. The Crandall Bowles Children’s Farm offers a unique blend of education and exploration for visitors of all ages.
Integrating the former petting zoo and adding a pastoral habitat, observation areas for various animals, a half-mile loop trail, gathering lawn, educational garden, and open-air learning center, the Children’s Farm aims to provide daily interpretation and demonstrations on a variety of topics in an immersive learning environment.
Tours of the Children’s Farm are self-guided. On Saturdays and Sundays Animal Care Volunteers may possibly be on site during specified times. If interested, please check the Greenway’s website prior to visiting for further details.
Gfpacificbee’s Insights & photography 