More Pinterest finds

Lately, the only reason I visit Pinterest anymore is to check my recipe board to get ideas for dinner. Sometimes while I’m there, I’ll browse the site a little bit and pin things to my boards if I like what I see.

Sometimes if I’m feeling down or agitated, I’ll go on one of my boards – specifically one I call ‘Beautiful’. Just looking at the images seems to calm me down, to make me feel better. Today I’m sharing some of the pictures I’ve saved.

 

If you’ve been a long-time reader, you already know how I feel about feathers.

Found on inspirationlane.tumblr.com

 

 

This one looks like a painting to me.

Via Alan H

 

 

And this is just dazzling.

Sparkle (no site listed)

 

 

Love the font.

(i am into fonts, btw)

From Visual Armory at Tumblr

 

 

Wherever this leads, I want to go there.

Found on callmemizu.tumblr.com

 

 

I made this for lunch today. I didn’t have the spinach wrap, so I used plain. I used feta cheese but would have rather used goat cheese. But it was still fabulous. It’s going to be a regular at the casa de George from now on.

Found on thepioneerwoman.com

 

 

 

And because I always love sharing fun kitty pictures, this is my latest find.

Found on theanimlasplanet.com

 

 

And I promised one of my readers that I would never share Pinterest pictures without adding one of my own. I have a board entitled ‘My Own Pics’ and this is one of them.

Pansy by K.Young

 

 

Happy Spring!

 

Hope you’re glad you stopped by ~

Random thoughts on a weekday evening

It snowed again the other day and I’m hoping that this is the last of it for this winter. It was pretty, I’ll give it that. Luckily it didn’t snow enough to close the schools. We already have enough days to make up on the calendar.

It only amounted to a couple of inches although it came down in blustery swirls all night.

 

Checking my photo files, I saw that on the same date the previous year, it had snowed enough to cause school closings. I shot the photo below from my bedroom window on March 25 of last year.

 

We had about six inches then. So this year’s end of March snow was nothing.

I just hope it’s the last of it.

 

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A co-worker gave me a present today. It’s a really pretty wireless mouse. She said that she knew I liked birds. She bought it {here}.

It’s sitting on a mouse pad I made several years ago that I bought from Shutterfly. I used a photo I had taken while visiting Deer Isle.

 

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I took this because it caught my eye while walking in Baltimore last weekend.

I was hoping to see some firemen, though.

 

Inserting gratuitous firemen shot.

Taken on the High Line in New York City back in 2009.

 

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Today the children in 1st through 5th grade were rehearsing for the Spring Concert in preparation for tomorrow evening’s show at our school. I went out to listen to them a couple of times because it makes me glad, but I got this one song stuck in my head that has become impossible to shake loose. It’s the The Lonely Goatherd from the Sound of Music. Maybe sharing it with all of you will finally get the monkey off my back.

I apologize in advance.

 

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I shot this through my kitchen window late one afternoon this week.

I thought it looked kind of dreamy.

 

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Respectfully submitted,

Life is beautiful

 

Guess who I went to see yesterday afternoon?

 

Baby M!!

 

 

She is standing with support now.

And she is absolutely adorable.

 

 

It’s going to be her first birthday and my son came down from the big city and we all met up in Baltimore with Baby M’s parents and my in-laws who were on the way home from Florida. We haven’t seen them since the holidays (and they are very tan).

We went to a restaurant and baby M was the perfect guest. (I believe it took a lot out of her because she was ready for a nap by the time we got home). All in all, it was such a nice visit on an early spring day.

 

And life is beautiful.

 

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Hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend ~

 

I’ll try to post more this week and not be so lax about blogging!

 

Yet another snow day

Hello and top ‘o the mornin’ to you on this snowy St. Patrick’s Day. I knew we were getting a little snow overnight but was upset to find out that it was enough to close all the schools and it’s still coming down out there.

I took a few shots from my windows and then settled down to enjoy my coffee. I had let George out when I got up and then noticed that the one big feeder was empty so I put on my boots and in my robe, went out and filled it. I can’t enjoy my coffee knowing that there are hungry birds out there, you know.

 

The weekend was beautiful, especially Saturday with temps of 65 and sunny skies with beautiful puffy clouds. After my morning chores, I packed my bags and George’s travel food bowl and took off to visit long-time friends in New Jersey. Had a beautiful time of it and George enjoyed himself immensely.

 

I can see my tracks in the snow here.

 

 

We have about six inches on the ground so far and it’s still coming down a bit. There’s more on the car, though. Probably because the ground was so warm to begin with.

 

 

I had a surprise in my e-mail box this weekend from a rental agency in Maine. I have a cottage reserved for a week with my sisters. This is the booking from last year when I was taking my husband up there for one last time. He began failing shortly before the trip however, and I had to cancel it. I couldn’t get my money back but they said I could save the booking for next year. So I upgraded to a bigger place after asking my three sisters if they wanted to come. And they all did! Two are flying in and one is driving up with me.

The surprise was that the cottage I had upgraded to has been sold and was not available as a rental anymore. Darn! They had two other cottages for the same week to offer in its place and one of them was just perfect plus it was less expensive. I like it even more than the one I had reserved. So it was a win win all the way around.

 

 

I can’t believe that the first day of spring is only three days away.

This has been one extraordinarily long winter.

In more ways than just the weather.

 

 

But I’ve got coffee.

 

Life is good.

 

I showed my friends this video yesterday. Cracked them up.

Here’s to a good week for all of us ~

Until next time, my friends . . .

Hello out there

 

I am feeling much better, thank you. I caught a cold that seemed to suck the life out of me and got nothing done this weekend other than picking up cold medicine at the pharmacy.

The state of my home can attest to that. I foresee much housekeeping in the coming weekend.

The weather was lovely on Monday and Tuesday but I could barely summon up the energy to do anything with George. After work on Monday afternoon, I tried to take him for a walk and ended up having a lie down on the grass and nearly falling sound asleep.

Yesterday wasn’t much better. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I sat in a camp chair on the lawn and tossed a frisbee from my seat.

Today I actually went for a walk and then came back inside to get my camera after seeing buds on the pussy willow bush.

 

 

 

 

I’m embracing the blur here.

 

 

But this is a little too much. Ha.

 

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I mentioned in the last post that I watched Blue Jasmine. It was worth seeing just to watch Cate Blanchett who I think is a wonderful actor. But the story did nothing for me. I got the Streetcar Named Desire parallel and the movie was generally a real downer. So that’s my two sense.

I’m currently binge-watching Mad Men on Netflix. I cannot believe I never got into this show when it first came out several years ago. Season 7 begins April 13 and I am currently at the finale of Season 2 which I’m having for dessert tonight. I gave up sugar 7 weeks ago and haven’t had a real dessert since so this has been a good alternative.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hope all is well in your part of the world ~

 

 

p.s. – George says hello.

Is it so small a thing?

The weather today was incredible. I was outside with just a sweater to keep me warm and the warmth of the sun was a joy. Unfortunately, I am fighting off a cold which is sucking the life out of me. This didn’t stop me from being outside, though. I can’t remember the last time that I caught a cold but this one has me feeling like I could sleep for days and still wake up tired.

So instead of doing chores, I spent some much-needed time in the sunshine with my camera.

 

I went to see my niece in a play at a high school in New Jersey last night and I had every intention of staying over, but I wanted to be home for George.

Does that sound silly?

 

I don’t care if it does because he misses me all week when I’m at work so I try to be here for him on the weekends.

 

I cleaned up two little birdbaths and put out special seed for my bird friends, then sat outside to capture them with my lens.

 

I head the hawk before I saw him. But he was turned the other way and not interested in what was going on way over where I was sitting by the feeders.

 

 

Tufted titmouse taking off with his prize.

 

And posing on a perch for me.

 

 

It was thrilling to see the tiny buds on the tops of the trees along the property line.

Spring is coming and I can feel it in my heart.

Can you?

 

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Tonight I’m planning on watching Blue Jasmine which came today from Netflix. Then I’m going to bed early and trying to sleep off this awful cold.

Hope your Sunday is beautiful. Better turn the clocks forward

before we go to sleep tonight.

"Is it so small a thing / To have enjoyed the sun, / To have lived light in the spring, / To have loved, to have thought, to have done?"
-Matthew Arnold

Images from my phone

We had more snow yesterday and schools were closed yet again. We found out the night before, and I was glad because I could watch all of the Oscars. One of our former students was a finalist in Channing Tatum’s Team Oscar competition and he was on stage handing the statues to the presenters so that they, in turn, could give them to the winners. It was so exciting to see someone I knew on stage!

I was very productive Monday morning, getting laundry done, taking the dog for a walk, making soup. I took pictures of birds in the snow and made a video. (It’s below this post). In the afternoon, I took a very long nap and this isn’t something I usually do. But I felt like it. And then, of course, had trouble falling asleep last night. You’d think I would live and learn.

Tonight as I write this post, I have a spaghetti squash roasting in the oven. I’ve made homemade pasta sauce and am going to have it over the pulled squash. It really is yummy and I’ll have leftovers to go in my lunchbox this week.

 

Took this photo last week along the front driveway of our school. The outdoor amphitheater is behind that row of cedar trees that you can see in the background. The Canada goose couple was picking through the bare patches of snow, looking for sustenance I suppose.

 

Another from the school driveway.

 

 

And this was shot through my windshield. It’s the town that lies at the bottom of the hill where I live.

 

 

Miss Blackie yesterday morning looking out my bedroom window at all the birds at the feeders.

 

 

We had a beautiful sunset last night.

 

 

And all seemed right in the world.

 

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

~ Aristotle

 

Thanks for coming by. Until tomorrow, then ~

Here’s the little video I made ~

A Gleam of Sunshine

It’s early Sunday morning as I write this and the sky is heavy with gray clouds. The forecast is for more snow tonight and our area could get another dumping because they’re calling for up to 14-inches. I keep thinking how much my husband would have loved this winter. He would be waxing up his cross country skis . . .

Yesterday was cold but mostly sunny. I had some errands to run but I managed to take a few images to share with you today.

 

The geese are flying back north.

 

 

I can hear their wings as they fly closer. It’s a comforting sound.

 

 

A peek at the house.

 

 

I love these two cedars. They are planted in the perfect spot to get the most of the setting sun and are thriving in this location.

 

 

George loves when I am home on the weekends.

 

 

He brings me tree branches.

 

 

She brings me dead birds.

 

Miss Blackie has spent the entire winter inside. I had tried to coax her onto the porch with us on nice days but she has refused each time. Granted, it’s been a cold and harsh winter but I don’t remember her ever staying inside for so long. Perhaps she is showing her age. She has just lately begun going outside for small bits of time and today she killed a small bird and proceeded to play with it in front of me. I can’t fault her for what comes naturally but I didn’t really want to see that today. Or any day.

Maybe a collar with a bell on it?

 

 

A Gleam of Sunshine

This is the place. Stand still, my steed,
Let me review the scene,
And summon from the shadowy Past
The forms that once have been.

The Past and Present here unite
Beneath Time's flowing tide,
Like footprints hidden by a brook,
But seen on either side.

Here runs the highway to the town;
There the green lane descends,
Through which I walked to church with thee,
O gentlest of my friends!

The shadow of the linden-trees
Lay moving on the grass;
Between them and the moving boughs,
A shadow, thou didst pass.

Thy dress was like the lilies,
And thy heart as pure as they:
One of God's holy messengers
Did walk with me that day.

I saw the branches of the trees
Bend down thy touch to meet,
The clover-blossoms in the grass
Rise up to kiss thy feet,

"Sleep, sleep to-day, tormenting cares,
Of earth and folly born!"
Solemnly sang the village choir
On that sweet Sabbath morn.

Through the closed blinds the golden sun
Poured in a dusty beam,
Like the celestial ladder seen
By Jacob in his dream.

And ever and anon, the wind,
Sweet-scented with the hay,
Turned o'er the hymn-book's fluttering leaves
That on the window lay.

Long was the good man's sermon,
Yet it seemed not so to me;
For he spake of Ruth the beautiful,
And still I thought of thee.

Long was the prayer he uttered,
Yet it seemed not so to me;
For in my heart I prayed with him,
And still I thought of thee.

But now, alas! the place seems changed;
Thou art no longer here:
Part of the sunshine of the scene
With thee did disappear.

Though thoughts, deep-rooted in my heart,
Like pine-trees dark and high,
Subdue the light of noon, and breathe
A low and ceaseless sigh;

This memory brightens o'er the past,
As when the sun, concealed
Behind some cloud that near us hangs
Shines on a distant field.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow