Sunday Stroll - Slow Melt

A slow melt
trickles nourishing water
into the earth.

Windows in the snow
offer glimpses of
the seasons to come.

In the spring daffodils will rise here,

and brilliant red tulips will blaze in the sun.

Here bright poppies will sway in summer,

and silvery lambs ear will bloom soft and sweet,
at the feet of the sensation lilac.

This cycle…the bloom, the fade, the freeze, the thaw…
This is the song of the year;
the slow turning at the heart of it all.

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you a heart filled with joy.

All photos and text by Aisling, February 21, 2010

Sunday Stroll Invitation

"Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they do when they stick together. "
- Verna M. Kelly

If you have time this week for a Sunday Stroll, please post about it on your blog and then come back here with a comment and a link to your post. You may use the Sunday Stroll button at the top of this post on your post or sidebar if you would like. I will add participant names to this post so that other strollers may walk through your garden too. I'll check back as often as my day allows and try to keep the list updated. Enjoy the day!

Look who is strolling today:

Margaret at Periodic Pearls

Cloudhands at Uncarved Block

Monday Muse - Inspiration

Here is one of the most beautiful methods of storytelling that I've ever encountered:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOhf3OvRXKg

As I understand it, it tells the story of a family during Hitler's invasion and occupation of the Ukraine in WWII.

Sunday Stroll - Winter Color

With a nod to both Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year, I went looking for color today, especially red. These snow covered hills are not as monochromatic as one might expect,thanks to the intense color of sunset (this one is from several nights ago) or the soft rosy glow of morning. Abundant evergreen and red-twigged dogwood also offer relief from the white, gray and brown palette of mid-winter. Glossy rosehips cling to their thorny, leafless vines.

Brittle, brown leaves cling to red branches, until the cold wind blows them down.

The fire-thorn clings fiercely to generous clusters of bright orange berries, offering a burst of color against evergreen leaves. I am glad to see them glowing against the drifts of snow.

The afternoon sky is cloud-veiled and drizzling wet icy snow. Behind the blue door, woodstove heat and a hot mug of green tea await me. Ah, the comforts of home!

Wherever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you beautiful color!

all photos by Aisling, February 2010

Sunday Stroll Invitation

When snow falls, nature listens.

~Antoinette van Kleeff

If you have time this week for a Sunday Stroll, please post about it on your blog and then come back here with a comment and a link to your post. You may use the Sunday Stroll button at the top of this post on your post or sidebar if you would like. I will add participant names to this post so that other strollers may walk through your garden too. I'll check back as often as my day allows and try to keep the list updated. Enjoy the day!

Sunday Stroll - February Light

On a cold, clear morning in February, the boards on the front deck creak under foot… but the air is still and quiet. Smoke rolls out the chimney, pearly white against a blue sky. Frost and slivers of ice cling to tree branches and blades of grass. Where the sun touches the snow, it sparkles.

It seems as if the entire world is sleeping, except for the rippling light and the shadows at play between the leafless trees. Then, the quick dart of a bright red cardinal and his blushing bride catch the eye.

A little mole, glossy and dark, scurries across the glinting snow, too quickly for photos. He drops through his half-moon door into a hidden nest.

Taking my cue from the mole, I scramble back up the hill, and scurry into my own warm nest.

Where you are, what ever the weather, I wish you beautiful light.

all photos by Aisling, February 7, 2010

Sunday Stroll Invitation

"From within or from behind, a light shines through us upon things, and makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you have time this week for a Sunday Stroll, please post about it on your blog and then come back here with a comment and a link to your post. You may use the Sunday Stroll button at the top of this post on your post or sidebar if you would like. I will add participant names to this post so that other strollers may walk through your garden too. I'll check back as often as my day allows and try to keep the list updated. Enjoy the day!

Look who is strolling;
Margaret at Periodic Pearls
Me, here at the Quiet Country House