beach sunset

Sint Maarten, NA 

This post is for SkyWatch Friday hosted by Yogi.  Come join in this awesome meme and meet folks from all over the globe.

photo by me © 2010   all rights reserved

November Reflections

Ah November!   when glorious Earth shouts a last hurrah! 

and beauty fades to a more tattered and well-worn form.

when whoosh!  leaves abandon trees

and the wind in a blustery whirl bites cheeks

I'll sit by the fire contemplating and dreaming of what is past and what is to come

and hope for life's miracles to reveal themselves.

Soon silence will have passed into legend.  Man has turned his back on silence.  Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation.

~Jean Arp

My Blogging Business Artisans team sets forth a new Challenge every month.  The purpose is to encourage us to explore our creativity, to stretch our imaginations.  Perhaps we are re-working something we've done in the past or still do.  Perhaps we're making something entirely new.  
It's always fun to see how others interpret the Challenge!

The Blogging Business Artisans team Challenge for the month of November was created by me.

November is a time of changes.  In much of the Northern Hemisphere, the weather turns colder and we begin to look inward.  Through your art, express what this means to you.

I am inspired by beauty in the world-- and relationships.  Instead of being specific, I am encouraging myself to reflect and letting my imagination run and my dreams percolate.  I am hoping for renewal of spirit and mind.

QUESTIONS:  
What inspires you?
What renews your spirit?
How do you reflect?

photos by me © 2009-2016   all rights reserved

Grand Canyon sunset

lovely early September sunset at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

This post is for SkyWatch Friday hosted by Yogi.  Come join in this awesome meme and meet folks from all over the globe.

photo by me © 2016   all rights reserved

moody November sky

This post is for SkyWatch Friday hosted by Yogi.  Come join in this awesome meme and meet folks from all over the globe.


photo by me © 2012   all rights reserved

Autumn colors

early September off-roading in Dixie National Forest in beautiful Southwestern Utah.  What glorious Autumn colors!

This post is for SkyWatch Friday hosted by Yogi.  Come join this awesome meme and meet folks from all over the globe.


photo by me © 2016   all rights reserved

Grand Canyon sky

Point Imperial

 elevation 8803'--highest point in Grand Canyon National Park (September 2016)

This post is for SkyWatch Friday hosted by Yogi.  Come join this awesome meme and meet folks from all over the globe.


photo by me © 2016   all rights reserved 

Roadside Views

When traveling, I like to take photos from the moving car-- "drive by shootings."  This way I can remember the flavor of a place not just the special views.
I offer you a few from my recent trip to the Canadian Rockies in early September this year.  
Oh, and by the way, just in case you were wondering, I'm NOT driving at the time!

along the Icefields Parkway

Oh the colors!   Isn't the sky magnificent?  See the Athabasca Glacier on the far right side in the middle.

 mountains and sky--how glorious!

 That's me, taking a photo.

LINKS: 
Icefields Parkway
Parks Canada
Athabasca Glacier --my POST on my hike up to this glacier in 2012 with lots of photos

(just for fun--last year at almost the exact same date, we were on the letter V.  HERE's my post from then.  Sadly, the trees are not nearly as beautiful this year.)

Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny, is so much fun!  This week our letter is "V." Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun! 

I'm also linking up with SkyWatch Friday 

Come join us in this awesome meme, link up, and meet folks from all over the globe!  Skywatch Friday is hosted by Yogi, Sylvia, and Sandy.

photos by me © 2013   all rights reserved

Azure

Listen!  the wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves,

We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!

~ Humbert Wolfe

 There is a harmony

In autumn, and a lustre in its sky...

~ Percy Bysshe Shelley  

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.

~ George Eliot

For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad. ~Edwin Way Teale

Ho! for the leaves that eddy down, 

Crumpled yellow and withered brown, 

Hither and yonder and up the street 

 And trampled under the passing feet; 

Swirling, billowing, drifting by, 

With a whisper soft and a rustling sigh....

~ Grace Strickler Dawson

Every leaf speaks bliss to me,

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

~ Emily Bronte

photo #1 my backyard

photo #2 crabapple loaded with berries

photo #3 birch

photo #4 spiderweb in the hawthorne

photo #5 my backyard

This post is for SkyWatch Friday hosted by Wren, fishing guy, Sylvia, Klaus, and Sandy.  Come join us in this awesome meme, link up, and meet folks from all over the globe. 

This post is also for the etsy bloggers' team carnival.   Linda of Spotted Cow Soaps is the host and will post all the submissions on her blog on Monday, October 11 HERE.  For this carnival, Linda asks us to "Show us some awesome photos of autumn in and around where you live."

photos by me © 2010 (taken today in my yard)

Bryce Canyon Sky: SkyWatch Friday

sky seen from the Queen's Garden section of Bryce Canyon

This post is for SkyWatch Friday hosted by Wren, fishing guy, Sylvia, Klaus, and Sandy.  Come join us in this awesome meme, link up, and meet folks from all over the globe. 

photo by me © 2010

Spring Clouds: SkyWatch Friday

 Yesterday, I was fortunate to be able to sit outside and work for a few hours.  The deep

 blue of the sky and the amazing capricious cloud formations captivated me.

I love the young Spring-green of the baby leaves and the still-bare branches of trees.

See the streak of the plane in this one (above)?

The temperature was perfect with just a whisper of a breeze.   AAh...the gloriousness of Spring!

 This post is for SkyWatch Friday hosted by Wren, fishing guy, Sylvia, Klaus, and Sandy.

Come join us in this awesome meme, link up, and meet folks from all over the globe.
photos by me © 2010

bloggiversary!

I just realized that today is my one year bloggiversary!  Even though I was somewhat apprehensive in the beginning, it has been so much fun!  I have met so many wonderful people.  I have learned new things, been to new places, seen wonderful photographs, shared laughter and tears.  Thank you, my bloggy friends, for a wonderful year!

Wintertime: my first post

Wintertime Beauty in Ice and Snow: my second post whose very last photo I love
RECIPES: 
Cranberry, Orange, and Pecan Scones with Sweet Chevre Spread

Raspberry Rubarb Cobbler

Artichoke Tapenade

Mango Salsa

Summer Tomatoes

Vegetable Jalousie

Chocolate Nut Brittle

CATS:

What I felt like doing most of today

The art of laziness

Hey, I'm lazy, too!

Asheville Kitty

Kitties Who Came to Play
wishing you 
a simple tip
FLOWERS:  lots, so I'll pick some favorites
the miracle of flowers
inspiration:  Mother's Day style
a flower
kindness
cactus (number 2)

The Color Purple--The Brenda Photo Challenge
Daylily:  Today's Flowers
Nigella:  Today's Flowers
LANDSCAPE:

escape

Happy Earth Day!

St Maarten (Baie Longue/Long Beach)

St Maarten (Cupecoy)

majesty

highways and byways

Pagosa Springs-SkyWatch Friday

Fish Creek Canyon, Arizona

SKY:

a birthday wish

St. Maarten (sunset)

along the Hidden Lake Trail

Glacier Skies--SkyWatch Friday

Idaho:  SkyWatch Friday

chasing rainbows:  SkyWatch Friday

Oregon:  SkyWatch Friday

St Maarten:  SkyWatch Friday

CRITTERS:

Butterflies (number one)

butterflies (number two)

St. Maarten (bird)

flower and bee (#2)

SNIPPETS (of happyment):
snippets (number 1)
snippets (number 2)
sinppets (number 3)
snippets (number 4)

COOL, INTERESTING, WEIRD STUFF:

what is one strange thing...
knitted village

and about me:

Summertime.....back in the day....

Red, White, and Blue!

my "studio"
honesly...seriously

a favorite Christmas

an incomplete retrospective

Happy Mother's Day

I leave you with a photo I love that is not in any post above:

It seems I couldn't help myself and the list of a few posts turned into more.  This list is by no means comprehensive, however it will serve as a sort of "catalog" for me.

all content and photos by me  © 2009 & 2010

PS:  HERE is the post on that cactus.

Idaho:SkyWatch Friday

LINKS to past SkyWatch posts by me:

Pagosa Springs Colorado

Glacier Skies Montana

Sunset Over Cupecoy St. Maarten, NA

For more skies, visit this blog,  and do join in!

photo by me © 2008

Wintertime

aah, Wintertime, a time of reflection, of cozy fires, snuggling children and pets, reading good books, dreaming of summer gardens...
I love how the ice-coated tree branches sparkle in the sunlight. We had a major winter storm on January 27-28 -- about 5 inches of snow, several inches of ice, then about 3 more inches of snow. That is major for the Cincinnati, Ohio area. So beautiful while safe at home.

The snow covered Winter King hawthorn branches remind me of a Chinese watercolor.

photos  by me ©2009