Tilly’s Pumpkin House – by Emma Foster

November 23, 2019 by GuestWriter

Tilly’s Pumpkin House

by Emma Foster

Tilly the raven normally lived in a tree, but as winter came closer, the weather felt colder, and Tilly knew she needed to find a warmer place to live.

Her tree was near a small pumpkin farm, and several pumpkins had been left behind, going unused for Halloween. Tilly observed the different kinds of pumpkins that were still in the field. Many of them looked old, with green and yellow splotches on them. One of the pumpkins, however, looked perfect.

The pumpkin was large and perfectly round. When Tilly pecked at it with her beak, she noticed that it was soft enough for her to make a little door in it. She pecked her way into the pumpkin and surveyed the inside.

For a while, Tilly pulled out the seeds and guts from the inside of the pumpkin, until she had enough room to sit comfortably. Tilly felt protected from the wind and cold. Eventually, she fell asleep.

Gathering Pumpkins ©casienserio.blogspot.com

The next morning, Tilly woke up to her pumpkin house shaking. Someone had picked up her house and was taking it somewhere. Tilly peeked her head out of the door of her house. She noticed groups of people taking the old pumpkins and placing them to a pickup truck.

Pickup Truck With Pumpkins

Someone placed Tilly’s house in a pile beside other pumpkins. A second later, she rolled around and around and around as her house fell down a hill.

Splash! Tilly landed in the river. Fortunately, her house floated to the top, and the door she had made pointed up to the sky. Tilly carefully climbed out and flew back to land, sad that her house was floating away.

Northern Raven (Corvus corax) by Ray

Snow started to fall to the ground. Tilly needed to come up with another plan. She decided to leave the pumpkin field and find somewhere else to live. Flying through the air as the snow fell, Tilly searched and found another pumpkin field. She searched for the next perfect pumpkin she could use. One of the pumpkins was soft and round just like the other one, and by the time she settled down inside, night had fallen and Tilly fell asleep instantly.

The next morning, Tilly woke up to something knocking against her new house. A deer she didn’t recognize was sniffing at her pumpkin and then took a giant chunk out of the top. Tilly looked up at the deer and the deer stared back at her. She flew out of her house, forced to watch the deer eat the rest of her pumpkin.

Deer Looking at Tilly ©CC

The snow made everything colder until Tilly could barely fly. She flew into some woods, hoping to find a tree in which to get warm. Eventually, she found a tree with a small hole in it. Tilly flew inside only to discover a small owl in the hole in the tree.

The owl introduced herself as Milly the long-eared owl. Tilly offered to leave since this was Milly’s home, but Milly explained that she was only stopping there for a minute. She said that she had found a nest in a tree a few miles away that had belonged to a raven. She also explained that long-eared owls liked to live in nests that belonged to ravens.

“Milly” – Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) ©Flickr Slgurossom

Tilly grew excited, believing that the nest Milly was talking about was hers, which meant she had to explain the pumpkin houses she had had, and how she had ended up there. Milly offered to let Tilly keep the tree to stay warm. Tilly also said that it was perfectly all right if Milly kept her nest.

All throughout the winter, Tilly stayed in the tree where she had met Milly, while Milly lived in Tilly’s nest next to the pumpkin field. When spring came around, Tilly and Milly remained friends, and Tilly even showed Milly how to make her own pumpkin house, though she didn’t recommend living there.

Linda Marcille carved the Raven in pumpkin.

“Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.” (Luke 10:38 KJV)

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Philippians 4:6 KJV)

What a great story from Emma. It is enjoyable to watch her talent developing. Also, it is good to see Tilly and Milly being so hospitable. This is only fiction, but how did the animals interact with each other before the fall and the curse affected all of nature? Maybe this story is just a glimpse of how they got along so well.

Emma’s Stories

Good News

The Bobolinks Have A Tea Party

August 1, 2014 by Lee

Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) by J Fenton

THE BOBOLINKS HAVE A TEA PARTY

Who Should Arrive But the Fairies

“The other day,” commenced daddy, “the bobolinks had an afternoon tea.

“The tea party was given for the meadow larks. The bobolinks are great friends of the meadow larks and they wanted to be the first this season to entertain them. Besides, most of the bobolinks had new summer homes and their colony was near a beautiful stream.

“You know the bobolinks always build their homes in the meadows—but they build very near a stream and their homes are always deep down in the long grass.

“They had all come to live in Waving Grassland for the summer—that is, all the bobolinks who always moved about together in the summer and winter—and many of their friends, the meadow larks, were on hand to greet them. A number of others were going to arrive in a few days—before the tea party.

“Now Waving Grassland was very beautiful country. The meadows were very large and the grass was so beautiful and so long that it always waved in the soft breezes, so that the bobolinks named their new summer place Waving Grassland.

Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) by Bob-Nan

“And so the bobolinks made all their preparations for the tea party. The guests arrived dressed up in their best new summer plumage. The meadow larks came first, as they were the guests of honor.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus) by Raymond Barlow

“The red-breasted grosbeak family were all there looking too lovely for words. And the bluejays,

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) at Bok Tower By Dan’sPix

downy woodpeckers,

Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) by Raymond Barlow

the orioles,

Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus) by Daves BirdingPix

the thrush family,

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) ©USFWS

the chipping sparrows,

Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) by Ray

the robins,

American Robin (Turdus migratorius) eating by Jim Fenton

the indigo birds—

Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) by Raymond Barlow

and even the shy vireos ventured forth.

Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) by Kent Nickell

Of course, usually they hate parties, but they loved the stream nearby and the beautiful country the bobolinks were living in, and they thought at least once a year they ought to be a little bit sociable and friendly with their neighbors.

“After they had all chatted together—to us it would have sounded more like chirping—the bobolinks began to serve tea.

“They had spring water for their tea—the water from the cool stream which had a deep spring within it. And this tea they served in little moss-covered stones. That gave it the most delicious flavor, and all the birds asked the bobolinks where they had found such good tea. You know in birdland they don’t ask each other where anything is bought, but where it is found! And the bobolinks told their secret.

“But as they were drinking cup after cup—or stoneful after stoneful—of tea, who should arrive but all the fairies!

“The birds greeted the fairies with their best songs—or their way of saying ‘We’re so glad to see you’—and the bobolinks trilled with joy because they had arranged this lovely surprise for their guests.”

Lee’s Addition:

In that day,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘Everyone will invite his neighbor Under his vine and under his fig tree.’ ” (Zechariah 3:10 NKJV)

Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, … But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:12-14 NKJV)

That was nice of the Bobolinks to invite their neighbors and friends. We also should be willing to invite and share with others our blessings. Also, it sounds like they had a lot of fun and chats. Are you friendly to those around you and willing to share. We should share and not expect to receive something in return.

The best thing we can share is our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. ABC’s of the Gospel

Another Bird Tale From

Daddy’s Bedtime Bird Stories – Gutenberg ebooks

Mary Graham Bonner

With four illustrations in color by
Florence Choate and Elizabeth Curtis

These stories first appeared in the American Press Association Service and the Western Newspaper Union.

Many of the sketches in this volume are the work of Rebecca McCann, creator of the “Cheerful Cherub,” etc.

: Daddy’s Bedtime Bird Stories by Mary Graham Bonner – 1917

Links:

Bird Tales

Daddy’s Bedtime Bird Stories

ABC’s of the Gospel

Icteridae – Oropendolas, Orioles & Blackbirds (and Bobolinks) Family

Farmer’s Scarecrow Protect A Corn-Field

July 24, 2014 by GuestWriter

Hawaiian Crow (Corvus hawaiiensis) ©WikiC

FARMER’S SCARECROW PROTECTS A CORN-FIELD

“It’s a man.”

“To-night,” said daddy, “we are going to have the story of the meeting of the brownies, crows, and old Mr. Scarecrow. The crows had been giving feasts in a corn-field almost every morning bright and early before any of the big people who lived in the nearby farm-house were up. Such feasts as they did have! And one day they asked the brownies if they wouldn’t come to their next one.

“‘Caw-caw,’ said the crows together.

“‘Where are we going?’ asked one of the brownies teasingly, for they had been going around and around in circles and hadn’t reached any place.

“‘I don’t quite know,’ said Black Crown Crow, ‘it’s a question which is very hard to decide.’

“‘But we thought you had chosen a special spot,’ said one of the brownies.

“Black Crown Crow looked very sad, and his black wings seemed to droop. ‘It’s that guest I never asked. He’s causing all the trouble. How very rude it is of folks to come to a feast who aren’t invited, and to arrive before us, too. It’s very e-x-a-s-p-e-r-a-t-i-n-g!’

“‘Who is he?’ shouted the brownies, for every little while Black Crown Crow had gone ahead and then had come back. In these little trips he had seen right in the center of the corn-field a man—a real man, he thought, with a hat and a coat and trousers and boots—and carrying something which he couldn’t quite make out. It was either a great huge stick—or worse still—it was a gun. He shivered whenever he thought of that awful word gun.

“‘Caw-caw,’ again shrieked Black Crown Crow, ‘it’s a man and he has a gun—I’m sure it’s a gun. Now the rudeness of him! As if we wanted a man and a gun at our corn feast!’

“‘Oh, it was to have been a corn feast, and now the man has stopped it,’ laughed one of the brownies. ‘Well, such a joke! But to show you how nice we’ll be when we’re here ready for a party which can’t take place, we’ll give a nice party ourselves.’

“And the brownies scampered about a little grove near the corn-field, and there they made a bonfire over which they cooked some corn-meal which they had carried with them in their bags. They knew all along, ever since they’d started, where the crows wanted them to go for the feast, and they also knew that the farmer had made that scarecrow in his corn-field to frighten off Black Crown Crow and his followers.

“The brownies made a fine feast, but how they did chuckle among themselves that the pole dressed up as a man had succeeded in saving the corn for the people of the farm-house.”

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) by Daves BirdingPix

Lee’s Addition:

Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. (Psalms 34:11 NKJV)

Looks like the Brownies, helped out the “exasperated” Crows and had a good laugh at the same time. The farmer was only trying to protect his crop and the crows were only trying to eat.

What can we learn?

The Farmer had a right to protect his food.
The Crows were afraid of something that wasn’t really frightening.
The Crows were hungry, but maybe they were “over-eating.”
The Brownies were helpful and provided food for them.

Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! (Luke 12:24 NASB)

This verse tells us that God will provide for the Ravens (and Crows, which are in the same bird family). The Crows may need to go to another field where they can be provided for. Also, are you ever afraid of something, that isn’t really scary?

If the Lord feeds the Crows and other birds, He provides for us and also helps our fears.

From

Daddy’s Bedtime Bird Stories – Gutenberg ebooks

Mary Graham Bonner

With four illustrations in color by
Florence Choate and Elizabeth Curtis

These stories first appeared in the American Press Association Service and the Western Newspaper Union.

Many of the sketches in this volume are the work of Rebecca McCann, creator of the “Cheerful Cherub,” etc.

*
Daddy’s Bedtime Bird Stories by Mary Graham Bonner – 1917

Links:

Bird Tales

Daddy’s Bedtime Bird Stories

Wordless Birds

Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus

Birdwatching from a Christian Perspective

Tag Archives: Hospitality

Tilly’s Pumpkin House – by Emma Foster

Tilly’s Pumpkin House

by Emma Foster

The Bobolinks Have A Tea Party

THE BOBOLINKS HAVE A TEA PARTY

Daddy’s Bedtime Bird Stories – Gutenberg ebooks

Farmer’s Scarecrow Protect A Corn-Field

FARMER’S SCARECROW PROTECTS A CORN-FIELD

Tilly’s Pumpkin House

by Emma Foster

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THE BOBOLINKS HAVE A TEA PARTY

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FARMER’S SCARECROW PROTECTS A CORN-FIELD

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