Watercolor Wednesday | Scenes from the Orchard.

We've had a delightful time visiting and catching up. Even the weather was smiling yesterday.

We walked outside in the morning to get Martha a few photos to share on Facebook.

Martha and Mother 

Later in the afternoon, Holly and I ventured out for a long walk through the orchards. so beautiful and peaceful.

We're headed home later this morning (thankfully, not through snow!) - it's been a short, but wonderful, change of scenery.

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Amaryllis Watch | Week Eight.

This week, the first two buds opened!  I started a daily photo watch the day the snow came ... it's remarkable to me how much can change in 24 hours!

Tuesday

Wednesday

I took this photo while my sister and I had our weekly cocktail hour via FaceTime 😀

Thursday

and today

Here's a topdown view of that four-blossom bloom. I wonder if the flowers will be so dark?

Waterlogue (and a little bit of photoshop) suggests maybe not!

Streamlined filter

Wishing you a happy Friday and a great weekend - and may your team win on Sunday!!

(Weeks One - Six, Week Seven)

Amaryllis Watch | Week Seven.

It's week seven and all three copper stakes are now in use.  I might get to break out the knitting needles after all; each bulb has a second bud!

I think blooms are still a ways off, but I'm starting to see a faint hint of red (or is it just my imagination?)

Today's waterlogue is the Illustration filter. All those wonderful pops of blue are a marked and welcome contrast to the skies outside the window - dull, wet gray.

Wishing y'all a wonderful weekend!

(Weeks One - Six)

Watercolor Wednesday | Unraveled.

I met up with a few friends for knitting and lattés this afternoon. Happy to report that Taproot is drying ... and since the Bodie pattern isn't coming out until next week, I'm back to a bit of gift knitting. The recipient reads the blog, so my friends were happy to oblige with a waterlogue'd photo that doesn't give away any details.

On the reading front, I'm still listening to 4 3 2 1 (less than five hours to go now!) and still enjoying it immensely. There have been a few unexpected twists in the plot; I have no idea where it's headed. But I'm hoping to find out tomorrow!

Joining in with Kat and crew for Unraveled Wednesday. and kicking off what I hope will be my third successful NaBloPoMo!

Cheers | Seven Dials.

Waterlogue's Illustration

My sister found the recipe and shared it with me last week. I only had to buy grenadine and apple juice to mix it up today.

It's kind of a crazy mix of flavors, but it works! ...and it was the perfect accompaniment to our typical Wednesday evening conversation (family. books. knitting.) and tonight, the weather. She's driving to Florida tomorrow and I'm flying to Madison.

I think I'm going to have the easier time packing ... Madison looks like Atlanta right now!

Hope your week is going well. Cheers to Wednesday!

Watercolor Wednesday | Spring Colors.

We didn't see any blue skies on today's morning walk, but the colors near the ground more than made up for it.

I know many of y'all are seeing wet white and gray today ... figured you might like to see a bit of spring - even if it's just a picture (or three)!

Waiting and Watching | Week Seven.

yesterday afternoon

playing with the light (and yep, that's a knitting needle holding up the stalks!)

The main reason I planted amaryllis bulbs this year was to re-live a bit of the magic our first one brought us last January. These blooms are certainly not as stunning as last year's (whoa, those white stripes and whoa - all those blooms!), but this one got the timing right.

Sunday afternoon there were still just buds

but by Monday afternoon there were blooms!

I'm betting the bright sunshine yesterday and today will get that third bud to open by this afternoon.

Today's waterlogue is again the Color Bloom filter, chosen for the beautiful way it portrays the blooms, their reflection and their shadow. and that touch of blue in the window...well that's just serendipity!

Happy Wednesday!

(Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five)

Waiting and Watching | Week Five.

Three of those eight white blooms from last week are still holding on, but this week's real stunner is on the second bulb.

At least I hope it's a stunner... waiting in the wings.

Today's waterlogue is another new filter - Fashionable. chosen entirely because of the way it rendered the collage. I love the pops of pink and the faint, suggestive outlines of the words.

These photos were actually taken yesterday; Holly and I are headed to Florida this morning to visit my mom for a few days. Hoping to share a few posts while we're there. I'm itching to see what the #blueskyblooms are up to!

Happy Wednesday!

(Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four)

Waiting and Watching | Week Four.

There are eight (!!!!) white blooms this week and every one of them is lovely, but my favorites are the ones that catch the sunlight (yes, sunlight!) just so. simply stunning.

I tried a different Waterlogue filter this week - this is Color Bloom ... which will be even more appropriate once the Red Lion blooms.

Happy Wednesday!

(Week One, Week Two, Week Three)

Waiting and Watching | Week Three.

With all the zeal of the newly converted, "WOW!" or maybe "Whoa, that was fast!"

I took these photos yesterday afternoon - maybe 48 hours after I noticed the first bloom on Christmas Day.

...and then just for fun, this morning I played around with one of them.

I think I like what Waterlogue does with the pictures and the birds even more than the amaryllis.

Happy Wednesday!

(Week One, Week Two)

Watercolor Wednesday | Waiting and Watching.

in my study

Yesterday's trip to Whole Foods was mostly about picking up amaryllis. We came home with two. The one in front is labeled "white" and has already started to sprout (I took that as a good sign; I also like the fern it's planted with). The one in back came fully ready to pot (the package included a pot and potting soil) and is a "Red Lion". Charlie and I made quick business of getting that second one potted.

But it took me a while to find a good location for the two pots. The directions say "full sunlight"; I'm not sure there are many (any?) places in my house where that's going to happen. But on a sunny day, this chest gets good afternoon sunlight. We'll see.

Thank you, Bonny and Kym for the encouragement!

Now the waiting and watching begins...

Watercolor Wednesday | A Poem.

Monday morning at the lake

Much of what I've been reading lately (including posts from several of you!) has talked slowing down, taking time to savor wonder of this season. This poem, while not specific to December at all, captures beautifully this idea and my favorite time of day. I hope you enjoy it.

The Rebirth of the World

A great blue heron
flies across the red
face of the rising sun,
its crook-necked, lanky
body unmistakable.

Nature has a way of
welcoming each new
day with singular grace;
no two mornings are the same. And I am not
a mere spectator here --

I am moved and changed,
struck dumb by loveliness,
so infused with awe and
wonder at the generosity
of mockingbirds and doves,
pine trees and high cirrus

clouds catching the first
rays of sun that I struggle
to find words. In the end
I give up and sit in silence,
cloaked in the glow of
morning, and the rebirth
        of the world.

~ Danna Faulds (from One Soul: More Poems from the Heart of Yoga)

Watercolor Wednesday | Five Minutes.

Thanks to Kat and Bonny, I've been following along with Michelle's Gratitude Week. Today, she's invited us to

Take some time today to step outside or to sit in a favorite spot in your home. Take five minutes (yes, you can carve out five) and get quiet. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, then open your eyes. What delights you, what shakes you, what makes you say oh my?

Five minutes. What struck me first when I read those words was that it wouldn't be hard at all for me to carve out that time. In fact, those minutes might give some purpose and direction to this day that felt a little bare when I laid out my calendar on Monday. no knitting class. no toddler to care for while his parents were in the hospital caring for a newborn.

I step outside every day, and I like to think I do it with purpose and eyes wide open ... so I rarely (if ever!) do it with eyes closed. The park seemed like the best place to try it. I found my favorite bench and sat down. closed my eyes. waited what seemed like five minutes (but was really just two). and opened them.

I saw golden sunshine and felt peace

and immense gratitude for where I am right now that allows me moments like this.

the time to experience them. and share them.

Happy Wednesday, my friends!

Watercolor Wednesday | Every Fair Flower.

this morning in the garden at our local YMCA

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful. Beauty is God's hand-writing -- a way-side sacrament; welcome it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower... 

~ Charles Kingsley

Watercolor Wednesday | Here.

from this morning's walk

Here

It's always here, the silent

underpinning, the foundation

beneath the foundation. When

I reach deep enough into darkness,

inside fear, self-doubt, aversion or

despair, there's something so intact

I almost miss it in my focus on

brokenness. It's always here, this

ground of being. Like the water in 

which fish swim, it's easy to overlook

the eloquence of truth. It's here, this

guiding presence, this calm, abiding

stillness. It's here when I don't try 

to make life any more or less than

what it is, when I stop trying to be

right. It's here when I unclench my

fists and breathe, when I let go of the

demand to make life smooth or easy.

It's here, the oneness underlying

multiplicity, the exquisite "is-ness"

of everything. I could shout it from 

the rooftops, but it's true no matter

what I say, and I know you'll find

it in your own time, your own way,

that precious moment when you 

choose to meet life exactly as it is.

~ Danna Faulds (from One Soul: More Poems from the Heart of Yoga)

A Morning Walk in Madison.

Last Monday, I had a little over an hour left in Fahrenheit 451; there's nothing like a little dystopia in your ears to add atmosphere to a quiet, cloudy morning. Henry Vilas Park is about a mile and a half from Sara's (this time, I checked the map before I set out  :-) This was my first time visiting there and I had no idea what to expect.

I wasn't disappointed. The scenery is beautiful.

(no filter required)

I made it back to Sara's with a little more time left in the book (at this point I was listening to the Coda and Afterward) so I kept going. This view is a block past her apartment. I'd seen it many times before, and always thought it would make a lovely Waterlogue.

Hope your week is going well - happy Wednesday!

Views from our Daily Walks.

Morning and late afternoon walks are part of our daily routine around here (as much as Holly might wish otherwise...especially when the temperature approaches 100 degrees). As I looked through my photos from this past trip, I was struck by how different the scenery is from what we see around here. 

This is from Friday morning's walk around the marina (at my aunt's in North Palm Beach). I sent this photo to Marc. It's the spot where Tiger's boat lives (when it's parked). The Atlantic Ocean is just on the other side of that far bit of land.

Saturday afternoon we were back in Leesburg with blue skies. And trees with yucca blooms (or maybe those are just really tall yucca plants?)

Sunday was mostly gray and rainy; it seemed appropriate given the early morning news about Orlando (which is less than an hour away from my mom). I shared this photo on Instagram.

"ready for the rainbow on this gray and rainy day #prayfororlando"

I took this photo Sunday, too - but doctored it up with PicTapGo and then Waterlogue'd it. This little view is one of my favorites in my mom's neighborhood. It might be the first time I've seen it without any flowers. But still, all those greens (even the filtered ones!)... this one makes me smile.

I hope you see something today that makes you smile too (even if you have to put a filter on it first!)  Happy Wednesday!

Wednesdays Are for Knitting.

Taking a cue from Carole, I had planned to tell you about my knitting today - the projects in process instead of simply showing up on Fridays to show you what I've finished. But turns out those projects need just another day to two to be share-worthy. 

So instead I'll use two of my regular Wednesday standbys to share a bit more from Friday's visit to the garden.

Words in the Wild.

And Watercolor.

Katie and I had a hard time identifying this as "oak leaf hydrangea" - I love how the watercolor really makes the oak leaf shape pop!

...and now back to the knitting!