Season's Greetings ...

We're having a bit of snow to get us in the mood for Christmas.  I was out for a little walk this afternoon to snap up some pictures for you...and now with nightfall the snow is beginning to blanket the streets and bring that delicious quiet to the world.  Speaking of delicious,  I'm also enjoying a homemade lemon snowcone fresh from the heavens...

I wanted to send you a Christmas greeting but  I have no words comparable to Zechariah's eloquent song in Luke 1--that     l-o-n-g song-filled chapter where everybody's having miracle babies and singing for joy! 

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,  because he has come and has redeemed his people!

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us...to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,

and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

...to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

to shine on those living in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

 

to guide our feet into the path of PEACE."

Amen.   May you and your house experience His peace this Christmas season and always!

Blessings!

Linda

P.S.  Our own miracle grandbaby is coming to be with us this Christmas.  What a joy!

Fall Color

Have you ever noticed how lovely it is in the fall to have the yellow line on the road match the changing leaves.  I love it when things are color co-ordinated ( :


Had a spot of sun today and a rambling walk with Rachel-- lots of mushrooms around this year.  Sure wish I knew where to find the edible ones.  These can earn you some money!  For just as the mushrooms are sprouting up in the fall  little store fronts appear to purchase yours,  like "Marg's" on the corner.  Problem is the  haunts of the coveted 'pine' mushroom are a well kept secret among persons in the 'know'.  Even friends and neighbors are loathe to part with their knowledge of these things.  So, I just keep to my trails and take pictures of the odd mushroom and leave them be.


This picture is a 'cheat'. I repositioned this little threesome for a clearer photo.  Mushrooms don't typically grow in bright beds of moss...

Ooo.  Somebody made a boo-boo here.  These beauties are toxic!

This strange bit of growth looks like it ought to be under the sea in a coral reef or something...

Ahh the palette of a True Artist...

One man's work (get raking!) another's splendor... For now I get to take the pictures but one of these years I want to have one of these beautiful little maples of my own...

Rosy hips ( :

Nope. Not edible. Just picturesque.



I've been watching this little oak tree from year to year struggling to gain momentum.  He seems to be coming into his own this year and what a beautiful wrap he's put on for the fall.  I found the little ring of mushrooms at his feet curious.  Do you suppose he was fertilized with mushroom manure?
[
"...then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord,  for he comes, he comes to judge the earth... in righteousness." (Ps.96:12,13)
How might a tree sing for joy? Can you hear this one?

[What's happening in your corner of the world this fall?  Drop me a comment ( :  ]
--LS

The Glory of Fall

We're having a glorious fall day that makes my reluctance to leave summer behind feel silly.
The sun is shining through a crisp refreshing breeze.  I’ve had a walk, a casual lazy day walk.  Bear droppings are everywhere.  Hazelnuts are all cleaned up—birds and bears no doubt have helped.  I missed my helping this year.  Came home to gather my pumpkins and gourds. I always love this part of fall.  What will I find beneath the straggling vines this year?  There was a bumper crop of volunteers in the compost pile this summer.  One was a big pumpkin.  Unfortunately a wandering bear had some fun with it before abandoning it on the lawn…

But I was very pleased with the armloads of mixed cousins I discovered.  And the gargantuan ribbed zucchini to top them all!

It was a good summer for volunteers.  Had a bumper crop of small red potatoes but the ones that grew in the abandoned compost area were giants!

Likewise the sprawling nasturtiums...

This was my favorite this year:

Well, but summer is over with its swimming and boating, gardens and travel.  In exchange there will be cozy treks in wool and windbreaker and the ever essential earwarmer.  But best of all the  delights of fall is the fire to come home to at trails' end.

Every season has its glories-- God bless the season you are in with His bounty and His comforts--the best is yet to come!

All in a Day's Walk...

Summer's bounty is fading now.  Blackberries that escaped bears and humankind hang shriveled on their brambles... Geese fly overhead morning and evening, restless...Pears and  their peelings fill the compost, enticing bears...the hazelnuts are beginning to fall on the street just around the corner... The air is cooler and wetter and the skies are grayer.   The  sun sets earlier now.  It's inescapable--fall is on the way. 

I generally have a hard time letting go of summer--the blue skies, sunny days,  picnics, gardening... But the time has come.  So I put on my comfy old sweatshirt and tried-and-true-- though ugly-- windbreaker and headed out for a walk.   But you know, it wasn't so bad.  The moist cool air was actually invigorating to breathe deeply.   And it triggered eagerness for a fresh season.  So yes, I am reconciled to summer's passing, at last.

Have to tell you what I saw on my walk this afternoon--two miles of nothing more eventful than a rustling in the roadside growth, to which  I told Louie to "Speak!" and hastened on my way talking loudly to myself!  Reciting my Bible memory work out loud suddenly seemed very sensible. 

But then I got to the homestretch--back in our own neighborhood.  I chanced to look up at an apple tree beside the street and got a 'start'.  What?!  Big furry paws hung down through the branches. 



There was something strange about them though, they looked limp,  like maybe someone had shot the bear and left it there?  Strange.  I had to have a closer look.
Chuckle.  How funny.  I've heard of decoy ducks but bears!  And what do you suppose was in the tree next to this one?
His twin, clambering up to get one last apple...

( :  So my uneventful walk was saved from tedium by a good chuckle.  Just never know what you'll encounter in a day's walk.

Hope your day will have some comic relief tossed in when you need it most.  Blessings!
--Linda

Life as we know it...

My trails of late have mostly ended with water.  We've had a record breakingly wonderful hot summer-- the likes of which we have never known here in Powell River.  It has brought back memories of summers growing up when days were hot and corn grew tall...
So, we've been heading to the water a lot to brave its chill and celebrate its getting warmer with each successive week of sunshine.  The day I want to highlight here was an all-girl adventure.   We set out with our bikes to fetch a friend's boat out of Okeover Inlet...  The tide was w-a-y  low so the ramp to the dock was rather precipitous...
But we got the bikes all tucked in at last and donned our ill-fitting life jackets for the cruise out to sea...



We picked our way along slowly, sharing the job of deciphering  the charts and determining which rock was which!  We missed them all (whew!) and here's the view--the gateway to Desolation Sound.



But we were headed the other direction--towards Savary Island, fabled land of  white sandy hot beaches,  home to summer cottages for people from far and near...

But first a stop at the Copelands--designated a 'marine park' and more affectionately known as the Ragged Islands.  We tucked into a little cove there for a picnic lunch and swim in the brisk ocean water! (brrr! good thing the sun was hot at least).  This cove was the first one we discovered as a family in our sailboat so it's full of happy memories...

(in the cove...)

(looking out to sea)


Then we were off to Savary Island...dropping our bikes off at the dock,  anchoring off shore,  waiting for our 'captain' to swim in, and then setting off for the little wee church to have some focused time to pray... (this was in fact the purpose of our trip)

Next notion was to pedal to the end of the Island; not sure how far that was going to be we took our cue from signs (and passersby) along the way.  The island was all set up for a triathlon on the coming weekend so we had the bonus of mileage signs to count down our distance.  It was about 8 km. to Indian Point, the island's westernmost tip.  And it was all adventure, esp. the running out of water and the prospect of no stores on the island-- but surely someone would give us some water?...

Had to pause for a photo of this whimsical knight adding decor to someone's private drive...
 
And then there was Indian Point--snack time with what we could scrounge.  It was now actually supper time  and time to get going home but first one last dip in a very cold ocean...


Oh, and we did find water at last--a tiny house store with a shingle out-- the price? $2.00 a bottle.  But what's a little money when you're going to die of dehydration otherwise?!  And somehow the pedaling back seemed shorter than the coming and the hills not as foreboding as we'd thought.  We arrived safe and sound at the dock and after fetching the boat and loading the bikes we headed off across the sea to the dock at Lund just down the highway from home.  We were met by our gracious escort with not only the boat trailer but watermelon and Sesame snaps besides--sweet pleasure to end a sweet adventure. 

"In [His] presence is fullness of joy;  In [His] right hand there are pleasures forever..." (Ps.16:11) and to think we haven't seen anything yet!!

Mysteries and Wonders of Spring...

I took a stroll out back a few weeks back and had to fetch my camera to capture all the beauty springing up...
This year the deer didn't get all the blossom tips of my rhododendron!
All Jim's little fir transplants are sprouting tender new growth...
My maple transplant has grown tremendously.  I love seeing the fresh new leaves...
Dandelions may seem common but there is nothing common about these amazing little puffballs...
Sping Beauties grew in the woods of NJ where I grew up--always a signal of early spring...
Hairy curiosities these.  Do you recognize them? They will unfurl to be grand ferns.  Who would have guessed it...
I don't know why the grass does this but it does.  Very weird root-like hairs burst out of what look like seed bodies of this saw grass that grows out back...Weird.
Always something more to be seen on a closer look...
  Willow wands...
My little ash tree is dressing up.  These will be transformed to red-orange berries come fall.
I love blue flowers!
 

Promise of strawberries to come...
Chives are everywhere standing sentinel in their purple pomp...

One day I hope to have lilacs blooming all over the place.  This is my first bush and I love it!
Note: My postings have become erratic at best...This is due in large part to the coming of the sun to our part of the world and the irresistible draw of the out-of-doors in general, and my garden in particular.  It is glorious!  LS