Autumn Stirs

Photo by Angelita Surmon

Les Miserables Teaser

Wow, this is going to be good.

Bluebird on My Shoulder

Photo by Riikka Sormunen

The Bluebird carries the sky on his back  ~~Henry David Thoreau

So Close

Not quite the same thing, but oh so close. 

I love this little red suede necklace pouch that must be based on Waterhouse's "The Flower Picker."

After all, a girl must be able to walk and gather flowers hands-free.

“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

old Time is still a-flying. 

And this same flower that smiles today, 

tomorrow will be dying.”

   --Robert Herrick

Photo Credits:

"The Flower Picker" by John William Waterhouse

Red Suede Necklace Pouch - Let's Track Back

One Man Les Miserables

Playing Fall Cards

Summer days are hibernating days for me because of my work schedule. My hibernation time has come to an end with the end of summer. Even while I mourn the end of these hibernation days for this year, I know good things, better things, are coming...the chill in the night air and the evening thunderstorms that come each night tell me fall will soon be here. The mountains are already playing the fall card...changing from their glorious summer purple to the wonderful and warm autumn shades a few weeks early this year, (usually this starts two weeks into September and is a rite of passage from one season to another).
So fall is almost here and I anticipate her with bated breath. I will play every fall card that I have;  

I vow to... 

...collect leaves for bouquets, walk more and wear jackets on my walks, drink hot chocolate and herbal tea, watch more sunsets, notice star changes in the sky, and make my evenings all about reading and writing. 

(May be a bit early for blowing leaves, but this is the first card I play)

"Blowing Leaves," by Arthur Rackham

Steel Myself With Words

Guts don't come so easily to some of us as they do to others.
I wish I had a stomach of steel, and courage as strong and wide as a bridge.
Since I don't, I have to steel myself with words meant to spur me on.
 Stretching your wings outside of your comfort zone is not easy in real life. It takes fortitude. The heart to act is inside all the while, but you have to take that very first step, which for me is the hardest part.

One foot in front of the other
If you have the guts to try
The whole wide world is waiting
From the russet earth to the blue sky
Time to stretch your wings and fly high
~Bookishkind

Beata Beatrix by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

After too long in the nest, in this case, my comfort zone, the wings are restless and unproven. Stretching is long overdue, but made awkward from disuse. I will find the strength to act somehow. I know I will for endurance is my stronghold.

Not A Single Rose

The rose bush that survived from two years ago is growing like a weed in the backyard. But other than a first bloom in the spring, there has not been a single rose bloom all summer. While I have the love of the bloom part down, I am still figuring out the ins and outs, temperaments and whims of the rose bush. There is one thing known for sure however, ... it's just not right to not have roses blooming in the summer.

These will do just fine.

From OpenMintNet

John William Waterhouse

How cunningly nature hides every
wrinkle of her inconceivable antiquity
under roses and violets and morning dew!
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Copying Emily

I've been reading a book about Emily Dickinson in which it tells how she loved nature like she loved words, which is not surprising to anyone who reads her poetry, but what struck me was that she had a little book she collected flowers in that she came upon during her walks. They were tucked inside and labelled with thin cuts of paper, the name penciled in on the strip.
It's not the most original idea, but, I am in the mind of copying Emily with her little nature book. I have been searching for the perfect little book to start my collection, and I think I have just found it here.

Photo by BonnieMommy

Here is a link to the darling shop I bought it from. 

She is also having a free shipping sale through July, 

so it's a fun time to be buying from her.

"I pull a flower from the woods, ----

A monster with a glass

Computes the stamens in a breath,

And has her in a class.

--Emily Dickinson

London Olympics

I am 100% American. I am at least 30% British, (maybe a little more). So, this Olympic thing is pretty exciting on it's own, but the fact that it's showing in London, just makes me happy. Six years ago, I was in London, ...that 30% of me is still there, and I am going to love these next two weeks. I even found a cute little British bag at Goodwill, just what I have been looking for, ...which is sort of a mini celebration since I cannot be there in person.

So Cute, huh!

Let the games begin! Go USA!!!!!

Etsy Love - Favorite Things

You might know I love Etsy and the amazing & unique things for sale there. Not only am I a seller on Etsy, but also a shopper. I buy most gifts, things I need for home, and best of all things I never knew I needed or wanted there. You can find almost anything, and if you have never visited the site before, I highly recommend that you to try it out. Here are a few of my current favorites.

From CraftSoo

From DreamsCatcher

From CatchingWaves

From OdeToJune

From GrammaLea

 SHOP!

CraftSoo - Leather Journal

DreamsCatcher - Journal Band

CatchingWaves - Ocean Frame

OdeToJune - Marble Bookends (I bought these a long time ago!)

GrammaLea - Ladies Slippers (I bought some of these in red!)

A Beauty

On Saturday, while out treasure hunting, I came upon a certain yard sale, but was mostly drawn to their next door neighbor's yard which housed two gorgeous horses on their property. Even in the city, horses are allowed in some places, and I was especially taken with the lighter colored of the two who resided there.
She, or he, was a beauty, the kind of horse you connect with immediately. She let me stroke her head and just looked at me. I looked right back into those stunning dark eyes and wished she was mine. She did the same, or at least that's what I like to think. It was only a minute or two, but it's a moment I will always remember because she was mine for a time, however short it was. Sometimes certain minutes in your life end up being the ones you treasure and hold on to, ...this was one of those.
I did not get pictures of her, and may not even remember where I saw her, to go back. Here is another beauty that looks similar. She was a little darker than this one, and wore no bridal. There was a worn area on the fence she kept gnawing at, and I know she was telling me she wanted to escape and run in a meadow full of summer.

From RockyMountainca

From IdaSchoolsOrg

She was very similar in color of this gorgeous girl. 

I am smitten. I hope to go back and visit her.

Girls and their horses should be together.

Victorian image

Fairy Garden - Children At Heart

One of my neighbors has created a fairy garden in her side yard for the children in the neighborhood to visit, in the vain of the secret garden. It is a delightful little spot, and I often see children walking through, or reading a book. Sometimes they bring a parent with them, and sometimes they are on their own.










Fairy statues are allowed to be moved in the garden once each visit. Strawberries are available for the kids to pick and eat, and they are encouraged to pull a weed or two while visiting, after being shown how. Such a beautiful and sweet place.

 

Photos by Carl Larsson

Fairies are magical and charming, just ask any child and they will tell you so. 

Even children at heart agree.

Under God

I wrote "Under God" a few years ago, but now seems a good time to share it.

It's sort of patriotic. It's mostly about God. It's about a world that needs to relook at itself and maybe, just maybe put themselves under God.

We are desperately in need,
To put ourselves under God,
Not alter what has been established,
Or cater to our own rules and laws,
Only then will all people unite as one,
Until then, we'll suffer the damage already done,
We are desperately in need,
To put ourselves under God.

Copyright 2004, Brantage Publications

To read the whole thing, go here.
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Fourth of July

God Bless America!

We can't all be Washingtons, but we can all be patriots.  ~Charles F. Browne

Where liberty dwells, there is my country.  ~Benjamin Franklin

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
(Last verse of the Star Spangled Banner)