Happy Valentine's Day!

(not necessarily romantic)  LINKS:
NPR  The Dark Origins of Valentine's Day
The Atlantic  America's Valentine Day spending 

art by E. Sablosky © 2016  all rights reserved  (We received this beautiful hand painted card from our talented neice!)

random cool things

COOKIES

Whooo doesn't like owls?!  (farmers, perhaps)
These super cute owl cookies made an appearance on the etsy blog in a story by Heather Baird.

source

Click this LINK to get the recipe and directions.  While you're there, discover a very cool Thanksgiving tradition in Heather's family.
(Did you know my hubby and I helped re-nest 3 baby barred owls a few years ago?  Re-nesting & Baby Owl #2 )  

NAMES

Want to know how popular your name (or kids' or friends' or...) was in the years from the 1880s to 2014?  Of course you do!   WARNING:  This is addicting!  Go directly to Baby Name Wizard Voyager and begin typing away!

NameVoyager: Explore baby names and name trends letter by letter

Baby Name >

 Both  Boys  Girls

Current rank:

Names starting with 'MARGARET' per million babies

per million births

source

(unfortunately, the graph is not showing up when the blog is posted)


Moose Roots (names) is another cool name search site that even includes last names. This site has links to the meaning and origins of names as well as lots of other data.  Go explore!  Moose Roots .com itself is a genealogy research site.    

draw like Picasso

picasso head --click on the CREATE button and "draw" a face.   Save it to the gallery.

source

just for fun!

Snowboarding Bird video

source

What cool random things have crossed your path recently?

other name links:
google search Moose Roots trendy names
trendiest baby names
15 trendy baby names
Do you know any small children with these trendy names?  I do!

all images © by the individual websites

sunset

photo by me © 2015 all rights reserved

Water

lovely sunset along the Washington state coast in the Olympic Peninsula
The "sticks" at the edge of the beach are actually tree trunks washed up on shore.  This is a very wild place!


Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny is so much fun!  This week our assignment is the letter "W."  Come see other submissions HERE and join in the fun!

photo by me © 2015  all rights reserved

Splendid Autumn II

my backyard

chrysanthemums

detail of forest floor from a hike in the mountains of North Carolina

ornamental kale

Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) caterpillar on rue plant in my front yard

"Patisserie" treat table next to the wedding cake shown on my blog post HERE.  This beautiful wedding was held outdoors at the groom's family home in late September.

a little more about Black Swallowtails:
general information with photos
What did they eat before non natives existed?

photos by me © 2012-2105 all rights reserved

dahlias

a few beautiful flowers from the dahlia garden at Finn Meadows Farm

Last Thursday, I walked around the dahlia garden at my friends' farm and was amazed at all the variations of stunning colors and designs of these flowers.  Some are only a couple inches across; some are as large as a dinner plate.

photos by me ©2015 (iPhone)  all rights reserved

Splendid Autumn

I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.

~L. M. Montgomery

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

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

~ Humbert Wolfe

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

I'm still getting yummy produce from my garden.

a walk in the woods of North Carolina

a luscious Autumn wedding cake

Autumn is a swirl of colors and scents, awakening the senses to the earthiness of the world and the possibilities of delights. Summer lingers yet the air hints of chill to come.

This post is for the Blogging Business Artisans Team Challenge for the month of October.  Judy of Mister Pen Quin  (blog--This Creative Journey) states:
Fall is in full swing by the time October rolls around.  Create something that reminds you of Fall through your senses--visually by smell or by touch.  If you prefer, write a post that celebrates the sensory appeal of autumn.

photos by me © 2013-2015  all rights reserved