Blue on Blue

But no blue, not even the brightest summer sky, seems as blue as the bluebirds of spring. 
- Ron Hirschi 

Life is for LIVING

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature

is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden

over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are

blooming outside our windows today.

~ Dale Carnegie

Raining on a Wren

"How beautiful is the rain! 
After the dust and the heat, 
In the broad and fiery street, 
In the narrow lane, 
How beautiful is the rain!" 
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Blue Jay in the Sumac

“Take time to see the quiet miracles 

that seek no attention” 

 ― John O'Donohue

Exquisite Handiwork of Nature

Some of nature's most exquisite handiwork is on a miniature scale, as anyone knows who has applied a magnifying glass to a snowflake.

~Rachel Carson

Print Available - HERE 

Let Life Happen

 Let life happen to you. 
Believe me: life is in the right, always. 

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

It Is Never Too Late!

"It is never too late 
to become what you might have been."

Mary Ann Evans aka George Eliot

Think about it!

A Doorway to a New World

Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.

~John Muir

Red Tree Bark

The tree is more than first a seed, then a stem, then a living trunk,

and then dead timber. The tree is a slow, enduring force straining to win the sky.

~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Bird Feeder Wreath

If you build it...they will come:

I was inspired by Appalachian Lady:

 to make a bird feeder wreath.

I used two grapevine wreaths.
I rolled pine cones in peanut butter and then in bird seed

and also added some millet.

Stuffed some peanuts in.....

And they came!

I have one hanging on each side of my deck.

I'm normally not very crafty...and they aren't the best looking....

but they do the job!

Frosty Blade of Grass

We say of the oak, "How grand of girth!"

Of the willow we say, "How slender!"

And yet to the soft grass clothing the earth

How slight is the praise we render.
~Edgar Fawcett

In The Pines

Male Downy Woodpecker 

Use what talents you possess: 
 the woods would be very silent if no birds sang

there except those that sang best.

~Henry Van Dyke

Collect What is Sweetest

 White-crowned Sparrows are frequent visitors to my deck.  Such SWEET birds!

As bees gather honey, so we collect what is sweetest out of all things and build... 

~Rainer Maria Rilke

Blue Jay

Expect nothing, appreciate everything. 

~ Unknown

The Night Sky

Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive.

When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important

becomes whole and sound again.

When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree.

~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Wandering Feet

 He made the world to be a grassy road 

Before her wandering feet.

~ W. B. Yeates

Downy Woodpecker Peek-A-Boo

 Downy Woodpecker plays Peek-A-Boo behind a branch.

 In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. 

~Aristotle

To The Point

Worry is a thin stream of fear 
trickling through the mind.

If encouraged, it cuts a channel 
into which all other thoughts are drained.
~Arthur Somers Rache

Simplicity

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.

~John Muir

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

This was my first ever sighting of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - January 2009 - Bisset Park, Radford, Virginia 

 They really do have a Yellow Belly :)

Not what we have but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance. 

~John Petit-Senn

Lending A Helping Hand

We can do no great things, only small things with great love.

~Mother Teresa

(Hubby's hand here...I'm the one taking the picture :)

Reflecting

 A place for thoughts

 By living deeply in the present moment we can understand the past better and we can prepare for a better future.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Rustic Red Barn

The true secret of happiness lies in the taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.

 ― William Morris

One of my "from the moving car" shots! 

Peeling Away

Slowing peeling away

the layers that confine me

Hoping I find comfort

in what is beneath

Print Available - HERE 

Simply - A Little Chickadee

 To be alive is to totally and openly participate in the simplicity and elegance of here and now. 

~ Donald Altman

More of my Chickadees - HERE 

Please Help Yourself To It

Happiness is available. 

Please help yourself to it. 

 — Thich Nhat Hanh

More of my Bluebirds - HERE