The Blooms Won't Last Long

This is the first spring in the new home and there is a brilliant surprise that I just discovered. Someone had planted white peonies in the backyard. I am loving this little surprise, I know the blooms won't last long, but they are so beautiful right now.
How can you go for nearly half of your life and never know these beauties? Then all of a sudden they are everywhere. Even in your own backyard.

Art by Viktorija Lapteva

Feather From A Crow

Today I found a crow feather. It is simple and beautiful. I read some Native American meanings of feathers that I share here.

A feather from a crow 

symbolizes balance~

The generalized meaning of feathers signified honor, and connected the owner with the Creator and the bird the feathers came from.

When a feather falls to earth, the Native Americans believe it carries all of the energy of its former attachment on a bird to 

a living being

 

Feathers are perceived as gifts from the sky, the sea, and the trees.

Feathers arrive unexpectedly, but not without purpose. 

 

  Art by Ann Faison

Roses On the Mind

Got roses on the mind after seeing this pretty new art ~

 

I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.
~Edna St. Vincent Millay, "Afternoon on a Hill"

Tulip Girl

Pretty much I love everything about this. The flow of the dress, the wind in her hair. The flowers. Stunningly beautiful. Also check out the running through tulips video here. For more loveliness, visit the instagram page here.

Lou & Scott

Does anyone else watch Heartland?
I have been waiting for these two, Lou and Scott, to get back together.
We now have a season 12 that is yet to be filmed. Do you think the writers will get it together enough to make this happen? I am hoping and watching and (still) waiting.

Jane Online

Join me and hundreds of others taking this free Jane Austen online course!

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

• Develop knowledge and understanding of the historical and literary contexts in which Jane Austen was writing
• Investigate virtually the important locations associated with Jane Austen and their impact on her writing
• Assess and discuss the impact of Austen’s society on the depiction of arts and reading in her novels
• Explore some of the myths surrounding women writers of the long eighteenth century
• Identify the challenges of adapting, translating and interpreting Jane Austen’s works and how this affects global understanding of her work
• Evaluate the marketing of Jane Austen in her own time and now

The Woman in White - BBC One

BBC One is currently filming/airing? a new production based on one of my favorite books by Wilkie Collins, "The Woman in White."
Article 1
Article 2

I've written about the 1997 film version before, which was okay, but did not do the book justice. I have high hopes for this one to be a better adaptation. It will take awhile for it to make it's way to the states, but I will be watching when it does. If you've never read the book before, I highly recommend it. Collins was a Victorian writer, and friend to Charles Dickens. He is often overlooked, so it's nice to see this being done. You can read the book online here.


Update: Look what I found

Stay

lovely rain
won't you stay,
linger on the branches
out my window all day

Gathered Words, the Blog

I've been posting a bit on my new blog, Gathered Words.

My latest post ...

"It is well documented, my love for Henry David Thoreau, his love of nature and for simple living. All of that doesn't change with these words. But you've got to admit that having a forest and pond as your space means that truly you are not confined to a tiny house. Open the doors wide."

Where They Stepped

The setting for this painting is St. Mark's Square, Venice. I have been to the real place and the birds were joyful and plentiful there. These three ladies out for an afternoon stroll. I've walked where they stepped, it could have been me. Their footsteps were my footsteps. I know it's a painting, but it comes to life for me, having been there long ago. You can feel the life in the painting, the joy in their steps.

by Vincenzo Migliaro

Listening - A Sound Feast

The spring awakening is happening to all senses, not only the visual ones which I crave so ardently, after a long wintery sabbatical. A sabbatical that I am always reluctant to make, but of course, there is no choice in the matter.
This morning, I am listening to crow chatter outside from the little white house. They were in sight earlier this week when I spied them out during the days once or twice. One spreading his wings wide and strong, then landing on a high post above, right in front of me. They are quite large birds and it was a pretty sight for my nature-seeking eyes. But today, it is a sound feast for listening ears, and I am eager to hear the caws that sonically make their way to my little ears. The sabbatical is waning and almost over. Definitely heaven sent.

Photo by Mary Liz Ingram

Moodyness

The curator in me is drawn to moody art scenes, like this one by William Henry Chandler.

I want my art to be pensive and pondering. Nearly dark, but not quite, with decadent patina.
This one fits the bill nicely.

Photo by "Classic Butterfly"

If the moon can peak through and share in the moodyness, all the better.

I will gladly stare at them all day long from my reflective vantage point.

March Breaths

It's March and we all know what that means. 

The winds are coming, and they will want to play.

“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair" 

― Kahlil Gibran

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. Khalil Gibran
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/khalil_gibran_106889

  

I cannot wait for these roaring and blowing March breaths to arrive. These beauties intertwine with the trees and make them dance.

And me, the birds, the trees and wind,

 We become as one.

Old Pages

She's a seeker, wanting to taste the mystery of places she's never been. Her mind whispers the words that take her there, in a moment. They come to her, and she becomes the words, immersing herself onto old pages as they turn. This is why she loves them, and they in turn, beckon her back, time after time.

As Far As Wings Can Take You

As the bird that I am, 
I am flying fast away from winter, 
As far as I can. 
As far as wings can take you away from bleakness. 
As far as the eye can take you to beauty. 
As far as hoping can take you to better things. 
Away, away, to anywhere. 

Isn't this painting gorgeous?  The artist is G. Beddow. An unknown artist from time.