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 - 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 - Other Januarys

As I listen to the rain pelting against the front door, I've decided to stroll through the Januarys of the past few years rather than head out into the wet and windy afternoon. It is warm enough for the falling precipiation to be rain and cold enough for it to freeze on many surfaces, especially the big patches of snow that still linger on our country lane. All of the photos which follow are from January, most have appeared here on my blog in previous years, and most are from mid-month. So... this is January in my northern hills..

2006

2007

2008
2009 2010

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you happiness and comfort.

all photos by Aisling or Haiku

Wordless Wednesday - Snowfall

(If you'd like to hear just the snowfall, you can turn off the music on my right sidebar.)

video by aisling, filmed 1/3/2009

Sunday Stroll - A-Flutter

The crest of

mid-December
and

all

is

a-flutter.

Snowflakes tumble,

Flags wave

Leaves shiver,

And trails wander away.

Paper snowflakes twist on ribbons,

As the cold settles in,

and the days slowly roll by,
while hearts are all a-flutter.



Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you the joys of the season.





For strolls by other bloggers, please scroll down to the previous post.

all words and photos by Aisling, December 20, 2009

Sunday Stroll - Birch Song

In the summer, one imagines that the wind is singing through the leaves in the trees. Yet in the barren, leafless days of winter, I still hear the wind in the trees. As I stepped out the front door of the house, I was immediately aware of three things: the sun was so bright I could hardly keep my eyes open, the cold air found every bit of skin I hadn't covered with snow gear, and the birch trees on the back hill were singing as the winter wind gave them a voice.

As I made my way to the birches to the southeast, I heard other songs. Last autumn's corn stalks chanted softly in their native tongue.

The tiny creeklet that runs down from the stand of birch trees to join our creek before they both tumble south, was humming merrily.

I climbed up hill, dodging the thorny brambles that in the summer are loaded with wild roses and crimson berries. My graceless scramble up the steep hill in winter boots sent a little rabbit bounding away too quickly for me to photograph.

And then I was there, atop the hill, amid the birches and all around me was their song. In the early spring, little yellow violets bloom in this grove, their season so short that some years I miss it.

I moved back down the hill, with Miss Maudie leaps and bounds ahead of me, into the snow-filled marsh.

I followed the creek north toward the butterfly garden where these two dapper gents allowed me to take a couple of (not very good) photographs before they scurried up and over the back hill.

Maybe they will take a walk in the birch woods later too . It is a silvery place today, with the song of wind and birches trickling down from overhead and the winter sunlight streaming in through the branches.