With my partners in the hunt for all things old and rusty and distressed, Shirl and Tina and I headed north to Franklin, Tennessee for a few days of fun, shopping, catching up, good food and …shopping.  This was the weekend of the City Farmhouse Pop-Up Show in Leiper’s Fork, TN, close to Franklin….close to Nashville.

First of all, Franklin is such a neat town…with lots to do.  Cute little shops and terrific places to eat.  We spent two days exploring the shops and discovering little antique stores…finding little treasures all along the way!  We all did some Christmas shopping…both for giving and decorating!  Here…a few pictures from around town.

Look…It’s MY store…

Great lunch here…

The bottles say…FAMILY and FRIENDS…perfect!

Acting silly in a Christmas store…we all bought a hat for our grands…but we had to make sure they were cute first!

Oh, what fun this was!  Over 150 vendors from all over the U.S.  It was everything we love!  The grounds were beautiful and it was just delightful being out in God’s beautiful world!

All too soon, Sunday rolled around…

…another fun adventure in the books…sweet memories made…and friendship bonds stronger than ever!  Till next time, friends!

*********Picture credits…..#1,9,14,17,18,19,20,21….The City Farmhouse…..all others…Tonja Owens.**********

This morning I was in my studio working on a project.  Don was gone and Alex was in his room…and there was no television or radio on.  Just me and the quiet…and God.  We were doing some visiting and discussing, He and I.  I need some guidance this morning. All of a sudden, I heard what sounded like a bird convention outside the big window.  All this tweeting and squawking!  It was so unusual, I got up and went over to the window to see what was taking place. *********Last year Pop gave me the neatest bird feeder.  It is made so if the squirrels jump on the ledge around the seed, it collapses and they fall off.  It was funny to watch for a while…but they don’t even bother anymore!  Levi and I have enjoyed seeing the birds come and go.  He and Pa have the job of seeing that it is kept filled. Our favorite visitor is Daddy Redbird!  We know he’s the daddy because he is bright red!  There are finches and sparrows that come, too.  But, they are rarely there all at the same time.  Usually one group will come and then leave and another will drop in for a snack!  We have even begun to be able to identify the sound of the Daddy Redbird.  Many times we will hear him before we see him.  Just recently Levi was able to detect Mama Redbird.  She’s harder to see, she just blends in.  But, I can see they are almost always together!  *********** Well.   Back to today.  In the trees were about 8 birds…all kinds!  And, they were flitting and fluttering and obviously very riled up! All of them.  It was something I had never seen!  And, such noise….they were all telling the news!  But…what was the news?  Why were they acting like this?  I am in my studio every day and I have never seen this before. Then I got closer to the window and looked down.  There is a bare spot where the seed falls to the ground.  I thought maybe there was a hurt bird there.  But NO!  Not that!  There was something else there!  Bet you guessed it…a sneaky, slithery snake going right under the feeder and disappearing into the jasmine. I have had all the snake business I want…but there he was.  And, he begged to be dealt with.  So, I went and got a shovel.  Then I went and got Alex.  Then I went and stood on the doorstep and watched…and watched…and watched.  Alex helped me watch!  I ventured into the front path, but not too far.  I didn’t want him to come at me if I wasn’t prepared.  I asked him kindly to come out into the path so that I could kill him…but, he declined.  And, you can be sure I was not going in there to look for him. Alex decided we should let the snake go on with his life and that we should not put ourselves in danger.  And, so, that’s what we did. But, perhaps you can answer this for me?  Do birds warn each other of danger?  Do you think that’s what they were doing…warning all the other birds and squirrel friends that a snake was nearby.  Because, for all the world, that’s exactly what it sounded and looked like to me!  I know that dogs can sense danger and are attuned to nature’s goings on, but never thought about birds having that sense.  I know God designed majestic creatures throughout the earth.  I suppose we will only learn in Heaven just how amazing they can be! So, I don’t know if they were trying to get the attention of other critters or not, but they sure got mine!  And, then Mr. Snake got it even more! God tells us that everything in His creation is cared for by Him.  He says that even a little sparrow doesn’t hop on the ground without Him knowing it.

“I know all the birds of the air; and all that moves in the fields is mine.” Psalm 50:11

And, I suppose He has a purpose in those awful snakes being around, too.  But, I sure don’t like them! I went on about my business and prayed that God would send that snake on to a new home…in the deep woods…away from people.  The tree stayed quiet for a while…didn’t hear anything!  But after an hour or so, I heard that familiar chirp…Sounded like Daddy Redbird.  And, so it was.  Now this may sound silly to you…but, I prayed right then and asked God to keep that bird right there so I could get a picture of him to share with you. And, do you know I got about 10?  Daddy Redbird even played peek-a-boo with me! Sorry, they’re not too clear…made through the window.  You surely didn’t think I was going back out in that jasmine to get a pic, now did ya?