Borrowed Beauty

While I wait for the snowdrops to push their way up and bring their beauty to my world,

I’m enjoying nature as seen through an artist’s eyes, one of my very favorites…

Something in nature inspires creativity, so I had to sit down with my own quail egg and try my hand at recreating one…

Now that was fun!

And there are more in the fridge where that one came from, thanks to my desert-loving daughter with her own little apartment-dwelling covey of quail…

Always a sunny-side up to be had, even on a rainy day!

--LS

It’s Raining…

And I certainly couldn’t imagine anything photo worthy today…

But I donned my gumboots and tromped out for a look… gradually calming to the cadence of a gentle rain as I stood and watched raindrops form…

on the year’s new buds,

and catkins…

And is it my imagination, or do these branches not look rather festive?

The orange peel fungus caught my eye, apparently undaunted by the rain, if not altogether edible!

The ivy is in its element too, quietly taking over our little piece of woodland, one silent creeping tendril at a time

And then I circled round to our winter ‘pond’, the end result of all this rain.

Is there any beauty here?

I didn’t think so but… as I stood in the rain watching the raindrops endlessly forming perfect concentric circles, with just the softest little pitter…I saw a certain beauty even in our big winter ‘puddle’.

Reflections…

Splish-splashes…and Bubbles!

A quiet rainy morning has a beauty all its own…

Even the firs are decked out in a hundred crystal baubles!

--LS

“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Eccl.3:11

Come walk with me?

Winter’s here and the poplar woods are bleak and bare…
It’s a bit of a chore without even the dog for company, but I have in my mind’s eye a destination:



The Strait is really rather lovely, any time of year!



With front-row seating besides!

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, 

as the waters cover the sea. Hab.2:14

--LS

Frosted Wonder…

It was a frosty morning, the kind that overlay every ordinary twig with extraordinary beauty…the kind where you freeze your fingers out taking pictures of frosty things…

…and spots made mysterious by fog…

But what’s this great white fluff that catches my eye?! It has not snowed.

Its filaments are like cotton candy, but it is ice…being spun by the night’s freeze from fissures in the bark of commonplace twigs—nature’s fiberglass!  taunting me to capture the wonder of it in a picture…

…before heading in to homey comforts.

[I just love my newly fashioned tea shelf. Jim concocts a custom blend every morning; I feel like a queen!]

--LS

Recalling 2012…

Well the year rolled in with this little chickadee turning fifty…and it ended with all but one of her fledglings having flown, one at year’s beginning:

 

The other at its end:

 

Still there is the ‘baby’…

…who is counting days till she can move away to warmer climes and be done with math and science and all such things…

Meanwhile the emptying nesters are pulling together…

Our  tandem was shiny new and untried last January. It has now carried us along safely for 1,100 miles. Lots of them were routine rides in 20 mile increments, but there was one longer stint--our now annual bike trip to tour the Gulf Islands we missed last time around!

Summer had its usual share of leisure in water and sun, of sailing and cycling and swimming…

and of tending the garden and smelling the flowers…

Meanwhile prayer hikes ceased with the passing of our fearless and persistent leader, Maureen

The crowning event of the summer came in late August with a text message received while we sat and sunned at the top of Scout Mountain: “He looks like a fish!” Another grandson had been born and we hit the road to welcome him.

[He bore no resemblance to a fish, as far as I could see!]

 

The summer extended itself into an especially beautiful fall…allowing us to get out sailing and cycling some more…

 

 

October finished with the passing of Jim’s mom to glory and a trip to the prairies to commemorate with family a life well lived.

And of course we caught up with the growing progeny:

Then came a month of ordinary days dappled with light and shadow…

till the Advent season came round again… and with it our 29th anniversary

 and the coming together of the whole family under one roof to share all our fondest traditions of Christmas.  Wonderful!

And then they were gone.  The decorations came down.  The fridge emptied. And quiet returned.

And at last, today, I got out for a walk….

And that has been our year in a nutshell!

Wishing you all God’s best for you and yours in this new year!

--LS