Make Time

   Give it some time and everything will change.  

From a sunny, blue sky morning to...

 March snow.

Time waits for no one, the saying goes

And that includes pink gerbera daisies, a two week old gift of sweet beauty. 

Nothing lasts forever, but a photograph of roses taken two years ago still looks fresh and new and even better with a little processing. 

Time is a created thing.  To say, "I don't have time" is to say, "I don't want to."  ~ Lao Tzu

I am guilty of saying I don't have ...

              Time to exercise

                         Time to stop and visit a friend

                                     Time to to do all the things I want to accomplish

                                                 Time to dance

                                                             Time to play

                                                                         Time to be all that I can be.  

 Well...it's time to make time because I want to! 

 

Texture Tuesday

What a morning! While snow fell like dancers in upturned tutus

the daffodils huddled against the house in a catatonic state.

  This year winter's mild manners have flora and fauna confused.   Outdoor daffodils with buds this early are taking a chance.  So I decided to do an experiment.  I cut three buds and brought them indoors.

Will they bloom?  Only time will tell.

I titled this last photo, Daffodil Hope because I hope these three buds do burst into trumpets of bright yellow.

Daffodil Hope is part of Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday. The photo was edited in Elements 10 with various basic editing techniques and then layered with Kim's texture Felicity and a final layer of Rosy French, a texture from French Kiss. View more texture love by clicking on the button below.  Have fun!

Violets & Snow

It snowed on Monday.

So I hurried outside to bring the Johnny jump-ups indoors. Of all the sweet flowers of early spring, none are more adorable than than tri-color violas that come in so many colors there's something for everyone from the deepest purple to the softest creams. 

There are more common names for violas than any other plant in the flower world.  The names often give a nod to love and romance, but all are charming:  love-in-idleness, Cupid's flower, tickle-my-fancy, kiss-her-in-the-pantry, Kit-run-in-the-fields, monkey faces, peeping Toms, three-faces-under-a-hood, heartsease, and the name I've always known them by Johnny jump-ups.

Yes, even during an April snow, the sweet faces of pansies make me smile. 

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Tomorrow you won't find a new Cape Cod post.  Instead, I'm planning a special Earth day presentation. I sure hope it works! 

Have a great day!

Outside My Window

Photo ops abounded just outside my window...

 Like tiny snowballs, the spent blossoms of autumn aster sported pom-poms of snow.

An icy cage imprisoning rose hips became beauty held captive.  

Nature's artistic hand surrounded leaves with ice and became ephemeral sculpture.  

The February first storm hit nw Ohio and just outside my window the wind chases snowflakes across the street and whipping over the open field rushing toward tomorrow. 

Stay warm & well, my friends!   

Snow on the Dandelion & Sharing

It's snowing...white, pirouetting flakes, sometimes ladies in big flouncy skirts, other times tiny bits of lace falling from the sky.  Yesterday it was 54 degrees and today...well it's shivery cold.  I  noticed a lone dandelion blooming like a golden kiss in the browning grass and smiled thinking, surely this is the last bloom of the year.  This morning there it was...snowflakes clinging to fragile petals no wider than a thread.  Out I went,camera in hand, laid on the cold, wet ground and shot a few photos. 

How often do you see a dandelion sporting a winter snowflake cap?  

A snowflaked dandelion seed head. 

I superimposed a dandelion photo from last summer to create..

A Dandelion's Dreams of Summer

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle and the life of the candle will not be shortened.

Happiness never decreases by being shared.

~ Buddha

Do you know Se'lah?  If you don't, you should.  She has a generous heart and comes up with wonderful ideas for sharing and casting light in shadowy places.  She's once again opened her heart to others and is asking anyone and everyone to join her in making Christmas for children from four families a magical day.  You can get all the details here.  Pay her visit and become part of 'Let's be the village."

Snow Dog Afternoon

It’s snowing!!!   Can you believe it??? SNOW!!! Yes I’m so excited that it’s snowing and…wait for it…blowing, that I can barely contain my excitement!” she said while raising her fist toward snowflakes racing the wind outside the window. Then she swore, “As God is my witness, they’re (snow and wind) not going to lick me (unless I venture outdoors, in which case, the wind won’t lick, but it will bite and the snow will definitely make me wet…kind of like a lick). I’m going to live through this and when it’s over, I’ll never be cold again (HA! Who are you kidding that pesky ground hog all ready told you….6 more weeks of winter!) Ok so I took a few liberties paraphrasing Scarlet from Gone with the Wind, but I don’t think she minds, although I did make the weather sound like a dog with all that biting and licking, but these are sure not the dog days of summer and I don’t think I can see the dog star sailing up there beyond the gray clouds. I think I’ll just call this…Snow Dog Afternoon or how about The Dogs of Winter?

Yes, I’m sure you can feel my passionate excitement for the white stuff that piles up and the wind that’s intent on stacking it up making it hard to get out of the drive. I’m surprised someone hasn’t come out with an exercise DVD that incorporates walking and running through snow, dancercizing to Baby, It’s Cold Outside, and shoveling to strengthen all those flagging body parts that grew weak from sitting by a window watching it snow.

Sooo…it’s snowing in nw Ohio. I have plenty of things to do around here, but I’d sure like to be on a warm beach somewhere…soaking up the sun, digging my toes into a white sandy beach, sipping on an umbrella-decorated cocktail served by a Johnny Depp look-alike in Mad Hatter garb. (I just love Alice in Wonderland…don’t you?) Instead, I’ll go back doing what I was doing before I started writing this post…staring out the window at the snow while my hand turns the pages of the White Flower Farm perennial catalog.

All the photos today were taken by me at places like Craigville Beach and Provincetown on Cape Cod.  Sure looks inviting on a day like today.   

So what do you dream when the snow flies? 

The Winter Photography of a Friend

My friend, MJ, has been photographing the world around her for years. She took photos for her father’s small town newspaper until he sold the paper and retired. She takes photos for family, friends, and fun. Ten years ago we headed for the east coast seeking a new start for me. Along the way she took amazing photos and they remain some of my most cherished photos.  Today, I’m sharing with the world MJ’s view of winter in her Toledo garden.

“Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together.” ~Vesta M. Kelly

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.” ~Anne Bradstreet

“The snow doesn’t give a soft white damn who it touches.” ~e.e. cummings

"And when the winter wind comes chasin' after me, I think of you even more."  ~ Ben Richmond

“Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle—a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nutures our dream.” ~ Barbara Winkler

*All photos were taken by MJ on Thursday, January 7, 2010   

View from My Window

I awoke to white outside my window. Grab the camera, open the window and the storm window, click...click...