Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread - Proverbs 30:8

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Mid-February


taking a moment to find joy in the little things

{pretty}
I have two hellebore plants and both are blooming. I'm thankful the snow and ice didn't seem to have damaging effects on them. 







{happy}
Our homeschool group went roller skating on Valentine's day...so much fun and surprisingly good exercise. My girls aren't naturals, but they had fun and did a pretty good job. We need to go again soon. 




I've been watching bulbs begin to poke up out of the ground all over my neighborhood and now I have several making appearances in my own garden. So exciting to see signs of spring.



The girls are still taking their art history/painting class. These two works are in the style of Miro. They created them by closing their eyes and randomly drawing on their paper. Then they opened their eyes and used their lines to create an image. 

by Sydney age 9

by Kayleigh age 7

Also really happy for me....my instagram photo submissions have been featured quite a bit this past week. I talked a bit yesterday about how participating in these photo prompts has sparked a new level of creativity in me and I am encouraged by being chosen and featured. This is a giant collage I put together which shows my photos and others that were featured. 


{funny}
I get these ideas for photos....last week I wanted to photograph this heart ornament hanging off the scroll of my violin. 


In retrospect I realize I could have laid the violin flat on a white surface. But at the time my mind was stuck on the ornament hanging so I set up the following.


Often I have little "stages" set up like this so I can create a shot. If you ever just dropped by my house there is no telling what you might find set up.


Our backyard is so muddy and squishy. At first glance it doesn't appear to be, because it's fully covered in grass. But this is what happens in just a few minutes when I send the girls out for fresh air.



{real}
In addition to the mud, our yard is full of salamanders and frogs. 


Every year, like clockwork, we start to hear them at night. They are LOUD, but I love it....have a listen.

11 comments:

  1. The sound of those frogs is sooooooooooooo much like spring. Kind of like running water. Can't wait to hear it here! It won't be long.

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    1. I like it because it makes me feel like we live out in the country even though we live in a neighborhood. And it's a sign of warmer weather!

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  2. Oh yeah, the frogs are lovely (my cat cames into the room and was listen... - - - )
    Beautiful helleborus!
    By me the white helleborus already blooms all winter, the pink begins in the spring, this variety is also called "Lenzrose" (springrose)

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  3. My boys would LOVE having frogs and salamanders in the back yard. How fun!

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    1. We have sooooo many! In the early summer it seems like my grass hops because as you walk through, little frogs just start hopping and jumping in every direction. My girls love it and they love building little habitats for them.

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  4. Your hellebores are beautiful. I miss the variety of plants from living in a climate like yours. I'm glad I get to see them here. (BTW, the LTTL link should be fixed, it was an error on my part... Sorry.) I wish the lightening was better in out house. I think I would have little stages everywhere too.

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    1. Thanks for letting me know about the link...

      I don't have any sort of curtains up in my house and I think that really helps with the lighting. Unfortunately we have so many gray days here so the lighting isn't always good.

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    2. We had one bare window and I agree the lighting was so much better. Unfortunately the summers are killers and we had to put up blinds to keep the heat out, hmmmph! I think I pouted for days.

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  5. The skating looks like so much fun and I shall try not to be jealous of all your signs of spring!!

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  6. Loved your colourful drawings. Well done :)

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