Archive for the ‘Spring’ Category

M is for …

Posted in Honoré, Spring on May 1, 2013 | 1 Comment »

Happy May Day!

May your everyday this merry month of May be filled with bright and happy flowers!

Cheers~

Honoré

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Good Friday

Posted in Celebration, Family, Gratitude, Spring on April 8, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Each and every Good Friday for as long as I can remember, I chew and chew on the phrase Good Friday and wonder why those words were chosen by Christians to identify the final sufferings of Jesus. Evidently, others wonder as well. [I heart the internet.]

...from Dutch philosopher, Spinoza: Nature is the true expression of God. And each of us is part of it. Oh yeah.

Like any woman with a hardshell Southern Baptist background, my day was spent working for my family. Especially sorting through - and re-aligning - my unfulfilled expectations RE: OLW and MMEW. Three full months behind. <grin> After? Taxes at noon, big grocery effort at 3 (thanks, Josh), prep for/travel to Cornell Kids Slumber Party. Kids? Now, that’s God’s work.

...as I head home from the Slumber Party on Saturday morning...

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a full pink moon…

Posted in Honoré, Nature, Photography, Spring on April 7, 2012 | 1 Comment »

I have been capturing a photo of this year’s full moons. As the day approaches, my radar is constantly attuned to the sky. It seems that with the change over to Daylight Savings Time, the moon shows up later, – of course - and not in the spot where I’m used to seeing it: out my kitchen window that faces northeast. So, taking the photo is a challenge ’cause I’m not sure when or where the moon will show up…lately, it’s been in the southeast/west sky.

Last evening, I went out several times to get that photo (and just in case the day of the full moon greets us with inclement weather, I have also been taking a picture of a not quite full moon earlier in the week). After 7-8 attempts, along with trying to remember the best setting for taking night photos on my little ol’ point ‘n shoot, I finally got a couple shots that are keepers. Certainly nothing to get up in the middle of the night to write home about…but this one fills the bill…

I kinda like it, especially the yellow glow cast by the streetlights and the different colors of the leaves…

Next month, who knows what I’ll capture?

Cheers~

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colors of spring…

Posted in Beauty, Color, Honoré, Nature, Spring on March 30, 2012 | 2 Comments »

I have two rooms in my house that I’ve appropriated as studios: one is my sewing/knitting studio and library. The other, my computer/scrapping/art journaling space. This room – which I call Studio B – was originally designated as a craft space until I started working from home and then it became my home office. Now that I’m in protirement, I’ve repurposed Studio B.

March is generally a month when lots of people’s thoughts turn to spring and cleaning…certainly mine have and actually, since Feb 22, I’ve been in a rearranging and purging state of mind. Heaven knows I have too much stuff and it seems, that no matter how many times or how ruthless I am when decluttering , I still have too darned much… Funny, as I was reorganizing, I found an album I created in 2005 documenting a workshop on time management Kathy and I were planning. The album featured a decluttering/makeover of the then office and now Studio B. After several days of reorganizing my studios, yes, yet again, yesterday (Thursday, March 29) afternoon, I put the finishing – for awhile, at least – touches on the two studios and decided I owed myself a treat: a walk outside.

Tho’ a bit windy, the day was beautiful: bright, clear and very colorful:

Wisteria

Iris

Japanese Maple

Tulips

a tree whose name I know not but I love the richness of its deep pink blossoms...

and my absolute favorite: the dogwood

Certainly a wonderful display of color. I am so glad we’ve been treated to such an early, glorious spring and actually, I am also glad March is in it’s last few hours. Seems to me the month has been longer than usual and I’m ready for April! Have a great week and we’ll touch base again next Sat, April 6.

Cheers~

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…on the First Day of Spring, Mother Nature gave to me…

Posted in Gratitude, Kathy, Lifeology, Nature, Spring, Time on March 21, 2012 | 1 Comment »

...a wild plant a-blooming...

...buds that are leafing...

...and a flock of spider webs in the fog.

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yesterday was AA’s birthday

Posted in Beauty, birthday, Celebration, Friendship, Funny Stuff, Just for fun, Laura, Lifeology, Memories, Nature, Photography, Spring on March 21, 2012 | 3 Comments »

A few years ago I wanted to surprise our friend Antonette with a special ‘on the day you were born gift’ with Mickey Mouse on it—she’s a huge Mickey fan. So I went to the source to confirm her birth-date—her mom! When she received the gift in the mail she called me and laughed and laughed and said, You asked my mom didn’t you? She always gets the date wrong my birthday is March 20th not March 21st! So yesterday was the first day of Spring and Antonette’s birthday. I love you no matter which day you were born A! But Jeff and I called her today to sing her happy birthday and laugh together and Jeff asked her, are you going to believe a piece of paper or your Momma?

I know its Spring because our lilies are blooming:

...sooooo gorgeous...

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welcome Spring 2012…

Posted in Honoré, Nature, Spring on March 21, 2012 | 1 Comment »

The Centennial celebration of the national annual Cherry Blossom Festival officially began yesterday, the first day of Spring. My intention was to journey to the Tidal Basin, along with the millions of tourists, to see the cherry blossoms…as they are in full bloom, and of course, magnificent.

Mother Nature had other plans: we awoke to a bona fide spring electrical storm. So, instead, I settled in for a longer-than-usual Morning Solitude and Quiet Time (MSQT) session and enjoyed:

sipping hot tea and tasting the sweetness of orange juice followed by the coolness of a ice H2O…

sitting in my chair, surrounded by my Circa journal, iPad, pens, magazines, and books…

listening to the rolling thunder…

seeing flashes of lightning…

hearing the rain’s patter on the skylights…

counting the seconds between flashes of light and claps of thunders…

loving the sound of the pen as it moved across the page, capturing my thoughts and revising my plan for the day…

wondering, still, if a trip to the Tidal Basin might still be feasible …

Though the storm lasted just about an hour, the skies remained grey and threatening most of the morning and early afternoon. So, I went to the library…

...though the bag is from Delaware libraries, I went to a library in nearby Prince George's County Maryland, where I once worked...

…stopped at Starbucks for a free drink (received from my visit last week) and a local CVS drugstore for a box of crayons (for a project to be revealed in another post someday soon)…

Doncha just love the idea of a new box of crayons? Treat yourself!

About 3 PM DST, the sun broke through in all its glory…but too late for me to hop a Metro train, especially since rush hour was just beginning (read: people were starting to get off work and would be adding to the already crush of tourists on the Smithsonian Mall/Metro and at the Tidal Basin). So, instead, I decided (and needed) to take a walk throughout the neighborhood, to check out the signs of Spring:

the ubiquitous dandelion, of course…

…and lo & behold, some flowering trees:

Could they be cherry blossoms? A quick comparison with Google images suggest the answer is Yes! Yes! Whatever, they are beautiful! Today, it is grey and misty but I expect it will clear up …so, perhaps I’ll get to the Tidal Basin later …and if not, certainly another walk around the neighborhood is do-able.

Happy Spring!

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