X Marks the Spot

This unusual X was photographed from my back yard this morning.  There was a time when I got quite agitated when I saw these "chemtrails" but that was almost 20 years ago.  I will say that these distinguish themselves from condensation trails in that they do not disperse quickly like condensation trails do.   I used to despair seeing a blue sky turn white but we are having a heat wave where I live and so they do cut down the sun's glare somewhat by the time they spread out.

Garden of Gethsemane: Was Jesus Stressed?

Regarding the Lord Jesus when he was on this earth, something that bothers me is when I hear someone say that he was "stressed" in the Garden of Gethsemane and that caused him to sweat great drops of blood.    Could the Lord Jesus be stressed?  I do not believe so.  But what does the bible say? 

The Lord Jesus sweat great drops of blood as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before he was betrayed by Judas Iscariot and arrested. Jesus knew that his hour had come and that he would be soon crucified, shedding his precious blood as atonement for sin, and taking upon himself the penalty for sin, being the Saviour of all those who believe on Jesus and trust him as their own Saviour.  Nothing that would happen was a surprise to Jesus, rather it was foreordained.

After a Rain

Here a few photos of part of our perennial garden after a light rain.

First is an ornamental grass which is new this year.  It is a Feather Reed Grass and the plumes are beautiful.  Outlined in a dark Mauve color, they are lovely in the wind but seem to be quite strong.  They should mature nicely through the summer and into fall.

Next is textures in a Hosta.   The swirls of the veins, the blue color, the water droplets, all were lovely.

Last is a white peony that has bloomed the past couple of days.  It is a miracle that there is a bloom at all because earlier this year I dug up the plant without any care because it seemed there was no new growth this year.  After digging it up I noticed that in fact, there were 4 new shoots coming up but they were not ready to emerge through the dirt.  I threw the plant in a corner of the yard and forgot about it for a few hours, but later in the day it seemed like I should try it in a different spot.  Missing most of its roots, the shoots managed to grow but three of them died.  One made it to maturity though, and this is the flower.  It is in a sunnier location than it was before and might do better in future. 

The peony also has water droplets on it although they are hard to see on a white flower.

Thanks for dropping by my blog.

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vcg

Search For a Cat: The Final Closed Door

In my last couple of posts I wrote about how a lost cat came to our home and how I was able to find its owner and return the cat.  This lead to a search for a cat for me but now the door has been closed and locked, at least at the SPCA.

In my recent search at the local SPCA, I was shown a beautiful 8 year old female cat who greatly reminded me of my previous cat named Pokey, who died in her sleep 8 years ago.  It was love at first sight when I  saw this cat whose name is "Miss Kitty".   I went to the front desk and waited while an application was filled in, but they ask for your driver's license number and it was then that the door was mostly closed for me to adopt  her.  I was told that since I had surrendered my Sheltie named Belle in 2011, this was considered a "red flag" and it was very unlikely that I would be allowed to adopt Miss Kitty but that he would check with his manager and that I would  be contacted the following Monday.

On the drive home I thought about how sad it would be for me to be turned down.  I thought I had very little chance of adopting her considering what I had been told, so I made a decision, and that was to cancel my application to adopt  rather than be turned down.   

What bothers me about all this is that I was told that if a person adopts a pet from the SPCA and it doesn't turn out, they can bring it back.   Because of this I don't understand why a person who surrenders a pet (with a very good reason) is "red flagged" because of it. 

I can only hope that whoever does adopt Miss Kitty provides her a loving and safe home.

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vcg