Venture Beyond Your Limits

Embrace the notion of venturing beyond your own limits.

~ Eleesha

The Smallest Things

One of my greatest joys is to find HEARTS in nature :) 

For The Birds

Up close with a White-breasted Nuthatch

I realized that if I had to choose, 
I would rather have birds than airplanes.
Charles Lindbergh 

I am in total agreement with Charles on this one!

Falling Together

White-crowned Sparrow

I didn't have to go far to find this White-crowned Sparrow.

He posed for me in the parking lot of a trail/park that I frequently visit. 

Heritage Park is Blacksburg's largest park with 169 acres of natural area.

It's one of my FAVORITE places!

I usually hear these little ones before I see them.
A link to their songs/calls - HERE 

Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That's the problem.

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

This Print Available - HERE 

Frosted

I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again." 

 ~ Lewis Carroll

Simply Blue

Blue Jay poses outside on my deck (taken thru the sliding glass door)

...life is simply a collection of little lives, each lived one day at a time. That each day should be spent finding beauty in flowers and poetry and talking to animals. That a day spent with dreaming and sunsets and refreshing breezes cannot be bettered.

~ Nicholas Sparks

Between The Trees

 Sun sinks low
Trees reborn with light
Moon watches

Print Available - HERE 

Hope In The Darkness

So give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light 

Cause oh that gave me such a fright 

But I will hold on with all of my might 

Just promise me that we'll be alright

From Mumford and Sons latest Album - Babel

This verse is an excerpt from the song - Ghosts That We Knew

 You can click on the link above and "preview" their songs. It is one of the BEST CDs I've ever purchased.

A Feast of Berries

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

 ~ Melody Beattie

Print Available - HERE 

It Is NEVER Too Late

More Butterflies Found - HERE

Time Comes To Us Softly

American Goldfinch strikes a pose.
These little beauties capture my heart :)

Time comes to us softly, slowly. It sits beside us for a while. Then, long before we are ready, it moves on.

 ~ Jacqueline Woodson

Mosaic Macro Art and an EXCITING GiveAway

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.

~ Thomas Merton

Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.
~Oscar Wilde

Isn't this Mosaic pendant awesome?  

I am so happy to announce that one of my blog readers will be able to WIN a pendant of their choice in my latest Giveaway. (one name drawn randomly)
 These pendants are designed and handcrafted by Margaret Almons of Nutmeg Designs.  You are probably wondering HOW you win one of these lovely pendants.

FIRST - Visit Margaret's Esty shop and view the awesome selection of pendants  - HERE 

SECOND - come back and comment on which pendant you would like to win

(that comment will be your entry into the giveaway)

THIRD - For an additional entry into the giveaway - LIKE  the Nutmeg Designs Facebook page found - HERE  - 
then you must comeback and comment and let me know you've "liked" her page.

FOURTH - Check back periodically on this blog.  Every few days until the Giveaway ends on December 3rd - I will post a blurb at the bottom of my latest post and give you ideas on how to get additional entries for the Giveaway.

  BEST OF LUCK TO YOU ALL!

Linking with MACRO MONDAY

A BIG "Thanks!" to Lisa for hosting Macro Monday each week!

Make Each Day Your Masterpiece

Be true to yourself. 

Make each day your masterpiece. 

Help others. Drink deeply from good books. 

Make friendship a fine art. 

Build a shelter against a rainy day. 

Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

~ John Wooden

Butterfly Moments

There is so little time. We need to make every moment count.

 ― Shannon Delany

Available - HERE 

A Crescent Moon Morning

‎

Meditate. Live purely. Quiet the mind. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine.

 ~ Buddha

  Claytor Lake State Park - Dublin, Virginia

Fun is Good

Mr Squirrel Has Fun in the Sun 

Sunlight on His Tail 

See ya Later

If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good.

 ― Dr. Seuss

Images from a weekend at Claytor Lake.  Not only did the squirrel catch my eye but also the bokeh made by the autumn leaves and light.

 

Dark-eyed Junco In the Berries

Dark-eyed Junco surrounded by berries

Zoomed in a bit closer

Isn't that a Sweet Face?

I found this verse from Thoreau this morning - and I believe - oh how I believe - that each day I live
I have truly caught a little stardust, and have held in my hands a small part of the rainbow.

If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, 

and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs,

that is your success. 

All nature is your congratulation, 

and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself. 

It is a little star-dust caught, 

a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched.

~ Henry David Thoreau

Linking with Wild Bird Wednesday

Go To Nature

Claytor Lake State Park - Dublin, Virginia

  

To get inspiration, go to the nature; for silence, go to the nature; to question the meaning of life, go to the nature; to feel the existence, go to the nature; to protect your mind, to reach the truth, to think about the universe go to the nature!

 ― Mehmet Murat ildan

 More Claytor Lake Images - HERE 

Butterfly Wings

Butterfly Peek-a-Boo

The trick is to enjoy life. Don't wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead. The grand and the simple. They are equally wonderful.

 ― Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Linking with

Macro Monday

Mellow Yellow Monday

Mandarin Orange Monday

Moon and Morning Star

Perhaps the crescent moon smiles in doubt 

at being told that it is a fragment awaiting perfection.

~ Rabindranath Tagore

Early morning at Claytor Lake State Park - 11-10-12

Thinking Happy Thoughts

~ Sometimes the weight is heavy
then I count my blessings
and my load gets a little lighter ~ 

Be brave and be patient. Have faith in yourself; trust in the significance of your life and the purpose of your passion. You are strong enough to sit in the space between spaces and allow divine inspiration to shed some light. When you put positive energy and productive effort into the world it will come back to you. Occasionally in ways you might not immediately understand and on a time frame you didn’t expect. Look. Listen. Learn. Stay open. Your destiny is awaiting you. 

 ― Jillian Michaels



This image is available as a notecard - HERE 

 

Woodpecker Wink!

He was winking at me! 

Time spent laughing is time well spent. 

~ J.C. Phillipps


Red-bellied Woodpecker - Bisset Park - Radford Virginia
If you ever get to the Radford area,  
I highly recommend a visit to Bisset Park
It has a lovely walking trail along the New River AND is a GREAT place for birding!  
It is part of the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail.

Believe You Can

A positive attitude is the KEY!

Great Blue Heron Series - Fishing and Catching

Scouting out a Meal

Diving into the water 

I see you!

Success!

Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.  

~ Jim Rohn

Linking with Wild Bird Wednesday

To Brighten Your Day

iPhone pic from August 2012 - the butterfly was cooperative 

same pic just cropped a bit closer 

If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path. 

 ~Siddhārtha Gautama

Truly hoping this brightens your day!

Hard to Say Goodbye

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.

~ A.A. Milne  

I fall in Love

Each time I see him

Sweet Baby Boy

Linking with Your Sunday Best

Conner at 3 weeks + 1 day
We had a wonderful visit with Junior, Whitney and Conner this weekend.
It was very hard to say goodbye.  Can't wait to see them again soon!

Pay Attention - Stay Eager

Do stuff. be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration's shove or society's kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It's all about paying attention. attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. stay eager.

 ~ Susan Sontag

Keep Peace In Your Soul

Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

~ Max Ehrman

Free November 2012 Calendar Download

I think of November as the month of Thankfulness.

Friends - I am so Thankful for you!  

Thanks so much for stopping by.

If you would like the hi-res/large size of this calendar (about 10 x 17) please email me or comment and I will send you the large version.