Snowflakes in December

Snow covers our winter garden and adorns it for Christmas.

I love to see the evergreens with snow glistening on the boughs. As I walked to the mailbox today, I was thrilled as the snow gently fell and clung to the northwest sides of the trees. 'Tis the season to be jolly, fa, la,la, la, la, ..la,la, la, la! The stillness whispers of the sacredness of the season.

Back to the warm cozy house, and time to turn on the oven and make some snowflakes of my own. Cookies, of course!!

Once I got going on cutting out cookies, I wanted to make some Christmas trees too. The following are some of my edible treats. It took me a while to get the dough mixed, then chilled, then cut out and baked, and finally iced. I had forgotten what fun it was to make sugar cookies. And I was ready to sit for a while after finishing the treats.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and both in our home and outside. Here is a picture I painted a few months back of Santa. May your Christmas be Merry and Bright~. God bless you one and all.

Autumn in Southern Illinois

Illumination of Blackberry leaves creates a rainbow through the woodland.

A lovely walk down the leaf strewn path was like a parade on each side with the colors of the remaining foliage glistening in the evening sun.

It has been a difficult 6 weeks waiting for our camera to be repaired. I did take some photos with our Olympus and these are the pictures that depict the last few weeks in southern Illinois. As always, I can't resist taking pictures of hay bales. Although I am more of a fan of the older, smaller rectangular bales, still the large round ones are beautiful too.

Farmers are still struggling to harvest their crops, as witnessed by the corn below. I love to see the corn and the textures of the stalks, tassels, silks and blades. Childhood memories of being raised on the farm, and watching the harvest flood my mind as I examine and recall the intricate beauty of God's creation.

As you can see, we have an abundance of leaves, which is great for our compost pile. And the effort it takes to get them there is great for our exercise routine! Gets us moving and off the couch. I am to report that we do have many of them blown around the trees, raked, and moved to their designated places.

Here you can see Leon doing some of our leaf-management. No that's not smoke, it is dust! There was sooo much dust in the leaves, which is strange with all the rain we have had, but guess it is partly leaf-mold. Anyway, when we work in them, we have found that a mask is good for filtering the air.

After all this hard work, we needed a break, so we went to Carlyle Lake and checked on the wildlife. Saw this beautiful great blue heron fishing on the western shoreline. He was very cooperative, and beautiful. I surely wished I had my other camera!

The west access at Carlyle had very high water, and there were lots of gulls enjoying the misty, gray afternoon. They were waiting for a hand-out and using the handrail for a perch. It was such a wet, foggy day that it reminded me of New England.

When all the dust has settled, and all the rain has cleared, look up!!! This is the vision of bright hope and beauty, as the limb-sculptures frame the magnificent blue sky and the motion of the drifting white clouds forms a motion-picture, unmatched by any theater screen. It is a reminder to keep looking up--keep the faith, count our blessings and Give Thanks!!

Ahhhh, A New Month!!!

Thankful for all our Blessings

After many, many inches of rain and no sunshine in sight for weeks, we made it through October and it is now the Bountiful month of November.

Just last week I snapped this picture out our back door of the windsock blowing in the rain. I have been recovering from a sore throat and swallowing antibiotics around the clock for 10 days. It has been a gray month. I am ready for the opportunity to plant a few bulbs, so I can look forward to those spring blooms emerging. It is so exciting to see that first color burst through the snow as the crocus pop up.

I snapped a quick picture from the front porch, in between rain drops, as the vibrant red Japanese maple leaves fell and covered the ground. So quickly and silently the branches became bare and new carpet was spread all over our woodland floor. I longed to capture more moments and scenes from the autumn of 2009, but with our camera still away being repaired, I have been limited to our backup camera. Looking forward to our photo club meeting this week and getting back to paint class with the ladies. Thinking of Thanksgiving, family together, and blessings galore makes November a time of heartfelt thanks.

From Hudsons to Sunset

"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving."~Lao Tzu

We drove around on Hilton Head and took in the unexpected vistas around each bend and over every bridge. Our minds experienced the lives of the rich and famous, as we admired the landscape, and snapped photos to re-visit the places time and again.

Hudsons on the Docks was our idea of the perfect seaside restaurant, with the best seafood anyone could imagine, and the atmosphere of being by the docks with super friendly people. It was wonderful. I highly recommend it to everyone. It was not super fancy, as a couple places next door, but was just exactly our type of place.

These birds call the docks at Hudsons "home" and were happily perched on top of the boats awaiting an easy meal.

There is a fascination with the shrimp boats and all the rigging and nets that go into the great meals we enjoyed. The life of the fisherman is not glamorous, but many of them would not trade for any other profession. Their boats are their life. I always enjoy reading the names of the boats and knowing that vessel truly has a story to tell.

After lunch, we needed a walk and found the perfect spot--Audubon Newhall Preserve. We strolled through the tall pines, surrounded by the stillness of the woodland. Our footsteps were muffled by the pine needles and the sweet song of birds filled the air.

As the sun's rays separated the boughs, the palms were illuminated and begged to be photographed.

Soon it was approaching the end of day and we wanted to visit Harbour Town at sunset. We were not disappointed, as the sun began to sink, the boats were sailing in and Old Glory was waving in the breeze.

This gull picked his special seat for the prime view of sunset. It is good he didn't charge for the pictures people took of him, for he was a star.

As night approached, it was appropriate that I captured a shot of the South Carolina state logo, as the moon was over the palmetto tree and the lighthouse and flag were standing watch.

The close of a beautiful day.

Sights from Harbour Town

Outside our hotel the beautiful Spanish moss dangled like pendants

from the boughs of the live oaks. I love it!!

What fun it was to drive to Harbour Town and experience the water, boats, lighthouse and seashore. The weather could not have been any nicer, and being late in the season, there weren't any crowds. We just took in the fresh air, sounds of the birds and waves, and watched people coming in on sailboats, and going out on fishing excursions.

We did climb to the top of the Lighthouse, and walked outside to enjoy sights from all sides. The wind blew through our hair and the sunshine warmed our faces, while we watched the people
below. The next picture was taken from the top of the Lighthouse and you can see one young mother watching her two little children explore beach, and gather special shells to take home for treasures.

There are shops to catch the eye of everyone, especially us ladies!! And lots of red rocking chairs outside for the gentlemen. Sea food with tables by the water and in the evening, live music fills the air. I saw the cutest little maybe 2 year-old girl dancing in the sand to the song "Sweet Caroline" with her Mama. Vacation memories that bring back smiles.

Here is a couple that we saw who had 4 beautiful golden retrievers. They were so well behaved and cared for, and everyone stopped to admire them. They seemed to love all the attention from we tourists at Harbour Town.

In the afternoon we wanted to visit some nature spots, so we drove to the Coastal Discovery Museum and walked around the grounds, historic buildings, and out on the boardwalks in the marshes. There was also a butterfly house there and lots of active "flying-flowers" filled the air.

There were some very unusual plants there too, and I had to take a few pictures of them, and may someday know what they are???? They will surely be a part of the interesting finds on Hilton Head.

I will close for this evening, and try to return with a follow-up on Hudson on the Docks, and sunset over the water. It is great fun to recall and share our journey. God bless you all!

Sunrise on Hilton Head Island

Us at sunrise on Hilton Head beach September 29, 2009.

This past week we have been on a little trip to Georgia and South Carolina. It was good to visit with family and spend a little time reminiscing and reminding one another that we are always close in heart although sometimes miles separate us.


While on the road we journeyed to Hilton Head, South Carolina and were blessed with perfect weather, and so much beauty no camera could ever capture it all. After arriving Monday evening, and having a scrumptious seafood dinner at the Grumpy Grouper, we arose early to be on the beach at sunrise. As you can guess, this was my idea, not Leon's---he wasn't quite sure what a sunrise was!! But once he was out there and saw the magnificence of the sun awakening the ocean to a new day, he agreed it was a very special event.

A few other people were smart enough to get out of their comfy beds and at the water's edge before 7 A.M. It was such a quiet serene place. When we first arrived there were dolphins swimming just about 25 feet from shore. Later the pelicans came by. All the creatures had begun their day.

Here Leon caught me with camera in hand and sand between my toes, as I enjoyed being saturated with the sights, sounds and feelings of the ocean in the early morning hours.

I could not resist leaving a message in the sand, sharing with the world that VAS +LLS had been there.

This was just the beginning of many adventures on our journey over the past 7 days. I hope to share a few more chapters with you in the upcoming days. Since it is the wee hours of the morning now, and we just got home at 9 P.M. it is time I "journey" to bed and get some sleep.
Nite All!!!!

Come to the Woods

"Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose like that of the green deep woods."

.....John Muir

While walking down the path through the woods, I looked down and saw this bluejay feather, and although it was ruffled and less than perfect, somehow it looked so pretty to me.

I must share some of the beautiful flowers that I snipped from my garden, so I can enjoy them on my table. I wanted to post some items that I enjoy and think are lovely, before sharing the photo of how I overcame some of my fear.

Now the following picture is not one that I would have taken, had it not been of one of the topics for our "scavenger hunt" photo contest. Since I wasn't sure when or where I was going to get a photo of a snake, I was happy, yet VERY apprehensive about taking the photos. So I decided I needed to show you the shot of what I saw as I got down on the ground and captured my picture for the scavenger hunt. Sometimes we can do things that we don't think that we can, and in this way "overcomers are born."

And finally, here is one more flower, just so this posting ends with something more beautiful that the snake. This a one of the last roses of summer from my yard. It has the sweetest smell, and I love the pretty pink petals. It has been a battle to get them before the Japanese beetles have them for lunch. As it is getting late, and I was going to get some sleep before I even began this blog, I had best get some shut-eye.

God bless you all for taking the journey through our woods and enjoy the last few days of summer.

The Fruit of the Vine

Welcome to Cedar Hill Vineyard!

I was blessed on Thursday to get to spend the day with a group of sweet ladies that share my love of painting. We carpooled to one of our painter's house, who happens to have a vineyard. She is the hostess with the mostest! A great painter, dear friend and welcomes many into her home and "tasting room". On Thursday, she had prepared food for us and she and her husband showed us around their beautiful vineyard and explained the process of wine making from growing the grapes to sipping the wine. We all had a wonderful time.

Of course, my passion was taking pictures of everything, especially the beautiful grapes hanging on the vine almost ready for picking. Several will be picked this coming week, that is why they wanted us to come while they were still on the vine.

This is one of the gates that a friend made for them with the logo that is on their wine labels. Beautiful iron work.

Below is a view of the "tasting room" that sets in the Vineyard and above the winery. It is filled with many paintings displaying the talents of our hostess. All enter through the grape-covered arbor. As you do the aroma of grapes fills the air, as the Concord grapes are begging to be plucked.

There were several different varieties of grapes growing and as you can see, some ready for harvest. Each bunch was a picture waiting to be photographed. Everyone laughed at me, as I received a phone call while there, and while I was outside talking, I held the phone with one hand, and my other hand was clicking away, trying to capture all the beauty in the fruit of the vine.

I guess I never thought of it before, but as I walked among the vines, I realized that the different varieties have different shapes and colors of leaves, as well as different fruit. I should have realized that was probably the case, but never had examined the differences between species before. It is the different type of grapes that makes the different types of wine, and the way wines get their names.

The fragrance of roses mingled with the sweet scents from the grapes to lure all passersby to pause and take in their surroundings, as everyone's senses were awakened.



I will give you a glimpse of the spread of goodies that met us as we relaxed together for a time of fellowship and relaxation. These outings are great inspiration for the next outstanding paintings!

Needless to say, I did enjoy the journey, and hope you have too!