Welcome to the New Year

Canvas of rose clouds

painted by the rising sun

welcomes a new year!

The beauty of a sunrise says good bye to the old year, 

and welcomes a new year filled with hope. 

This is Straight Out of the Camera
Simply Silver Sunday Photo Challenge

Peace

Guardian Angel
Sending peace throughout the world
from her lofty perch


Wishes to all for peace and prosperity in this coming year. 

Linking to Haiku my Heart with Rebecca @ recuerda mi corazon

Hump Day Haiku - Long shadows

Low sun in winter

creates a longer shadow

of my favorite tree

Recent trip to Marine Park in Fairhaven (Bellingham) on a sunny day. The sun was not in a good position to get a decent picture of my favorite tree, however it was casting long shadows.  There were many crows about that day, and this one flew by as I was snapping pictures. 

I started doing Hump Day Haiku with Carla Sonheim's Silly classes...  and decided as a challenge for myself, I'd continue.  In this process, I have found that creating a haiku to go with my photos feeds my soul. 

Perhaps you'd like to share a haiku you have written?  

Gingerbread Walls

My son won a Gingerbread House kit at the Cascade Vocational Services work party last weekend. He spent this afternoon doing construction and decorating of said tree. Luckily the house came pre-assembled, so the major work was getting the tree together. 

 The master architect at work... 

The finished project. 

 Merry Christmas! 

Linking to Cheryl's Writing on the Wall
This is Straight Out of the Camera

First Day of Winter

First Day of Winter

Frosty decorations left
on this little tree. 

This little shore pine is in our tree nursery, wintering over as it grows a bit before being planted in our "wild" area sometime next year. A bit of holiday decorating was done compliments of Jack Frost. :)

Linking to Haiku my Heart with Rebecca @ recuerda mi corazon

Hump Day Haiku - Sunrise

A bit of sunlight 

breaking through the morning clouds

Winter has arrived. 

Ah, Winter Solstice!

Hope of longer days to come

sealed with sunlit heart.

I'm getting a bit fanciful of late, seeing hearts in everything. 

Do you see a heart in the rosy clouds between the trees, or is it just me? 

Sharing the joy of a beautiful sunrise and the knowledge that the days are getting longer at at last!  Wishing my friends Happy Chanukah, Happy Solstice, Happy Yuletide, and a Merry Christmas! 

I started doing Hump Day Haiku with Carla Sonheim's Silly classes...  and decided as a challenge for myself, I'd continue.  In this process, I have found that creating a haiku to go with my photos feeds my soul. 

Perhaps you'd like to share a haiku you have written?  

Colorful

 Another favorite tree from our visit to Skagit Gardens Nursery in Mount Vernon, decorated with colorful gardening tools and gloves and watering cans. 

And a cool garden ornament frog. 

I can see a heart in the swirls, but maybe I'm just fanciful. :)

A colorful frog.

Wouldn't you be fun to see

on my Christmas tree? 

 I love to create a haiku to go with my photos, and invite you to come back to visit on Wednesday's, when I host Hump Day Haiku. And perhaps you'll share a haiku you have written. 

I thank you for stopping by and wish you a Peaceful Holiday Season!

This photo is Straight Out Of the Camera.

Linking to Lisa's Chaos-Macro Monday and Ruby Tuesday


And of course linking to Guest Heart Thursday! 

Green Raven

An intriguing writing on the wall 

Found on a white board mounted to a wall and wondering who put it there, and what exactly it means. Wouldn't it be fun to see a real green raven, though? 

Linking to Cheryl's "Writing on the Wall" @ mysticmissive.blogspot.com/

Chairs!

Chairs stacked together

mixed with stands of yellow lights.

Unique Christmas tree. 

My husband and I went to Skagit Gardens Nursery last week. (Road Trip!) Our original purpose for driving the 25-ish miles to Mount Vernon was to get the fireweed honey we love from their Food Co-op. Our Food Co-op doesn't carry fireweed honey, sad to say.  But that's another story. :) 

I thought it would be fun to visit Skagit Gardens, since we were so close, and since I'd recently bought a Hellebore from their nursery at our favorite local Garden Spot Nursery. (Where I went to a fun class to learn all about them, but that's also another story. *grin*)

Skagit Gardens had their holiday displays up and we had a marvelous time going around admiring all the creative Christmas trees. This one really caught our attention. I mean, who would have thought all those old chairs and stools could create such a unique tree? 


It's a joy sharing impromptu adventures with my husband.

Sharing my joy of the day with meri on Share the Joy Thursday

and sharing with Haiku my Heart with Rebecca @ recuerda mi corazon

Hump Day Haiku - Party with a view

Party with a view!

Sharing art, food and presents

friends enjoy the day.

a quiet moment

sound of waves upon the rocks

soothing restfulness

Our local art journal group met Sunday for our Holiday Party at a beach house in Birch Bay. Large windows gave us an ocean view as we enjoyed our time together. 

As we finished cleaning up, I braved the cold to go outside. The water came right up to the break wall at the edge of the deck, along a rocky shore line. I wished we'd been there at low tide.   :)

I started doing Hump Day Haiku with Carla Sonheim's Silly classes... and decided as a challenge for myself, I'd continue.  And so I have.  

Would you care to join me? 

Old Truck

Ancient rusty truck

sits in the garden center

as a piece of art. 

I think part of this old truck was red at one time, now it's a cool rusty red. It's always fun coming across unique pieces of "garden art" when visiting the local nurseries. 

This is down just south of Mount Vernon at Skagit Gardens Nursery. Their holiday display is well worth visiting, by the way. More on that later. :)

Linking with Ruby Tuesday

Terracotta

Terracotta pots

patiently awaiting spring.

Colorful display. 

Rows of clay pots at a local nursery patiently await the spring planting season. 

Other than adding the watermark, this photo is Straight Out Of the Camera.

Linking to Lisa's Chaos-Macro Monday

Walls of Glass

Greenhouse walls of glass

keeping winters weather out 

so green plants may grow.

If you look closely at the glass window mosaic, you'll see a heart or two. :)

Linking to Haiku my Heart @ recuerda mi corazon

Also linking to Cheryl's "Writing on the Wall" @ mysticmissive.blogspot.com/

And linking to Guest Heart Thursday

Hump Day Haiku - Stump

Found a gnarly stump

sitting underneath a tree 

showing us its heart. 

I started doing Hump Day Haiku with Carla Sonheim's Silly classes... and decided as a challenge for myself, I'd continue.  And so I have.  

Would you care to join me? 

(A haiku is a non-rhyming verse, written as 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second line, and 5 syllables in the last line. I like to create haiku based on one of my photos)

Holiday Fun

Spent a fun day Saturday with a friend attending various festivals in town. The Festival of trees included this adorable one created by my friend Michele. Isn't that topper the best?  

Michele's tree

Close up of Snow-person

We also attended the Holiday Port Festival, which features a gingerbread house competition. My friend Llew entered a gingerbread village, which was so large it was entered as two. She won first place and third place for her village. It was great fun being there when she could show us around.  

Gingerbread village

Creator of village

Linking to:
Lisa's Chaos-Macro Monday

Ruby Tuesday

Flicker

On a frosty morning, the flicker comes to call

Mr. Flicker usually pecks at the side of the trees (or house) and scratches through the undergrowth for bugs, so it's a treat to see him "hanging out" at the feeder. This frosty morning he stayed quite a while, hogging the space. The smaller birds were a bit disgruntled, other than the chickadees who flitted to the other side of the feeder not minding he was there. 

Not the best picture, as it was taken through the sliding glass door (the birds refuse to hold still if I try to open the door, silly things!)

Joining Cheryl's "Writing on the Wall" over at mysticmissive.blogspot.com/

This photo is Straight Out Of the Camera

Bumpy Path

Bumpy trail ahead!

Keeping eyes upon the goal

helps to persevere.

Linking to Haiku my Heart @ recuerda mi corazon

Hump Day Haiku - Frumpy Hearts

Sidewalk mystery.

I wonder who 'hearts" Frumpy

writing it in stone.

I started doing Hump Day Haiku with Carla Sonheim's Silly classes... and decided as a challenge for myself, I'd continue.  And so I have.  

Would you care to join me? 

Bright blossoms

I took my husband his lunch today. He works alone (weekends) at the nursery this time of year, so a lunch visit is appreciated. I was treated to a tour of a few of the green houses, and the cyclamen was blooming in a variety of colors. 

These pretty pink ones caught my eye. As did the heart shaped leaves.  

Lovely pink blossoms

brightening a winter day

cheerful cyclamen 

I'd like to invite you to come back on Wednesdays for Hump Day Haiku, which I started doing with Carla Sonheim's Silly Classes. I'd love to see what haiku you may have to share!

Linking to:
Lisa's Chaos-Macro Monday

Ruby Tuesday

Guest Heart Thursday

Share the Joy Thursday

Writing on the Wall - Letter Box

Hanging on the wall

storing writing safe within 

deluxe letter box 

Today I'm participating in a new blog hop "Writing on the Wall" over at Cheryl's Excellent Adventure. Find out more and join here. 

This photo is Straight Out Of the Camera

Haiku my Heart - Wonder

Following the joy 
Learning to feel with my eyes 
Everyday wonders

Find other Haiku my Heart wonders at @ recuerda mi corazon

Thanksgiving Heart

Happy Thanksgiving to my USA friends!  


I'm so grateful for all my family, friend and teachers
who have challenged me to stretch my wings
and look for the unexpected in the everyday. 



On a chilly morn

frozen parking lot puddle 

frames an icy heart

Linking to Guest Heart Thursday

Hump Day Haiku - On a chilly morn

Little bits of ice.

Views from a frosty garden

on a chilly morn.

Share the Joy Thursday

Frosty turning leaves

highlighting the backyard fence

on a chilly morn.

Finding Joy in the wonder of nature. 

And

I started doing Hump Day Haiku with Carla Sonheim's Silly classes... and decided as a challenge for myself, I'd continue. And so I have. 

Would you care to join me? 

Red Frost

Tiny icicles 

glistening on the red leaves.

Jack Frost's calling card

  Happy Ruby Tuesday!

Frosty Morning

Jack Frost visited

leaving his icy etchings

throughout the garden

Native bee balm seeds

within their hoary frosting

waiting for the sun.

Slowly the sunshine

peaking through high cloud cover

starts to melt the frost.

A frosty morning in the garden... record lows and hoary frost on everything. 

So of course I ventured forth into the cold to get some photos. 

Linking to Lisa's Chaos-Macro Monday

Mellow Yellow Monday, 

Masterpiece

fast approaching clouds

quickly changes sun lit skies

leaves a masterpiece

A late fall sunset from my front porch. I so enjoy having a treeline view from our yard. So much more appealing than man made messes, don't you think?

Straight Out Of the Camera Sunday

Gnarly

Despite all the moss

covering it's gnarly trunk

the old tree shows heart

Found on a recent trip looking for fall colors. 

See more random hearts with Clytie at Guest Heart Thursday

More haiku the heart of joe spadoman @ recuerda mi corazon