This morning we woke to a dreary sky and bitter-cold minus 1 temperature. I am fully aware it is February but man it was cold. It stayed dreary most of the day with off-and-on clouds but late in the day the sky cleared and warmed all the up to 15 degrees. A proverbial heat wave.
But the evening sky is amazing. I do not have the best photography equipment, so you can’t really appreciate its full beauty but I promise it was an amazing hot pink purple – if that is such a color. Nature has a way of creating color that, as hard as we try to replicate, we usually fall a little short.
But I wanted to share what I saw so that you could at least smile at the possibility of its beauty.
Always remember the beauty we see in nature as gifts from God. They are given to us to remind us how much He loves nature and wants you to enjoy it as much as He does…for He loves you that much.
Have a safe and blessed weekend and remember always – Be kind, for someone is probably hurting more than you are.
Now that I live in the mid-west, winter means no more sun for a few months. We do see it periodically but the gray of winter really settles in for the season. But even with the grayness, there is still beauty if you know how to look. Nature still holds the key to the beauty of creation – even in the gray of winter. Sunsets seem to be the most colorful…when you see it.
But when the snow starts to fall you see a purity that covers even the ugliest ground reminding you that even in the grayest season, beauty can still be found.
Aside for the beauty you see in the trees, small collections of snow are just as pretty, even on weeds.
So regardless of grayness or sun, winter can still be beautiful. You just have to look a different way. And sometimes in the still of night, the beauty is amazing, especially reflecting off of the snow.
So, look at the gray of winter as another way of seeing the beauty of creation taking in another side of gray. And remember whichever season you are in you can always find beauty and kindness. Share the kindness and watch the beauty grow.
Sometimes those two words go together, and sometimes they don’t, but this last week of the year has shown some beautiful peaceful evening skies. As we think on closing out a new year – the beauty of the heavens encourage our hopes for the new year.
Sunrises are a beautiful way to start you day, but in truth I enjoy my sleep. But sunsets make me awe in the beauty of creation and the calming speechless words they show us that remind us God is in control.
The storms we had last week that threw their destructive way eastward causing damage and death can not overshadow the peace that can come from the peace of Christ and for me, beautiful sunsets are after severe weather reminder of His promise to always be our caretaker – even in hard times. below are sone shots I took from my deck that faces west. I hope their colors and beauty help remind you that, even though the new year coming will have its problems, His peace can be felt if we allow it.
Sincere wishes for a wonderful and peaceful year. We all need one. And may you feel the power of kindness as part of your new year.
WHEW!!! It has been a crazy busy few weeks. I have not had time to even think about anything to share much less actually sit down if front of my computer for a few minutes. But that is how fall is for me. The community garden needed shutting down and cleaning, my yard needed cleaning out the old and planting the bulbs for next spring and then…there is Christmas prep with crafts that needed to be done while inventory in stores was still available. And if any of you follow me regularly you know Christmas is HUGE for me – 5 trees, Christmas village(50 piece hand painted plaster houses) and yard stuff so a lot of prep the first week of November. So before we get that going, lets play with Cee‘s Flower of the Day.
These are pictures from my yard this morning with those who precious flowers who refuse to give up even though we have had a few freezes. So we will share a few week’s worth of FOTD for the last of my holdouts. Enjoy.
This lovely mum type flower came from that mystery seed imbedded cloth I put down early summer.
This one also came from that cloth. I have posted these beauties some this summer. They are quite striking.
This is the last one of those from the mystery cloth. This cluster is tiny being about two inches across with the individual blooms about 1/8-1/4 inch in sized.
This one I planted but can not remember its name. You can see the leaves and majority of the plant has died but the bloom refuse to quit. Nature is a powerful reminder to never quit.
This last one is my daisy. It keeps on blooming as it is somewhat sheltered by the edge of the roof so it remains beautiful, even though the leaves are turning yellow. Its that time of year.
As the season change, let us never change in being kind as the colder winds start to blow.
Always share a kind smile, a gentle word or even a loving hug. Kindness can melt even the coldest wind or comfort a hurting heart. Always be Kind.
Spring is usually the time to catch a rainbow so it is with wonderous awe that we see them in the fall. This one was on my way to work Wednesday and I felt it needed sharing, the picture at least.
Beauty of the Rainbow
 The beauty of the rainbow, hanging in the sky
Ignored by many as they hurriedly zoom by
Its colors so radiant for only a short time
But a reminder still relevant made for all time
It was a promise for Noah and all of mankind
Proving God’s love, even though we seem blind
The rainbow is beautiful but not really a gift
It’s a reminder to God, for our spirits to lift
Anita☺
As we go through our zooming day, remember to glance around at the beauty surrounding you, even if it seems a gray day. Then let that beauty bring on a smile for you to share with others to maybe lighten their day. And as always, Be Kind.
We all know this is a fact that the animal kingdom is always in self preservation mode from predators or from “friends of like kind” who want what they have. Greed knows no limits of creature types. Today we are talking about a few creatures that came across my path this week. I am choosing to highlight their paths of possible doom to highlight that kindness can stretch across all specie types. While I don’t have a picture of doomed fate of this butterfly, I did manage to save it from drowning in the birdbath.
His wings stuck together due to be so saturated
After a couple of hours in the sun, he was able to completely dry and fly off to his next error of judgement for his very short life.
I work part time at my church answering the phone so of course I set up bird feeders outside my window. I have share many photos of the antics the birds, squirrels and rabbits do there. They do keep us entertained. But yesterday…well, I am not sure what to say or be able explain how this happened, However, my gut tells me somehow there was a squirrel involved.
He was quite terrified as I approached to release him from his trap but finally I was able to turn the feeder upside down and he scrambled under a bush. Twenty minutes later, with a full feeder, they were all back eating. I am sure he was part of the group.
Now this next creature was not so fortunate in getting rescued as this stairwell of the church is seldom used but alas somehow he managed to get inside of it and find no way out.
Bats really are quite interesting creatures and watching the Zoo shows on TV, it reminds us they are vital to our environment. They eat lots of skeeters. We hope we don’t have bats again in the bellfry of the church. Not a fun thing to deal with.
The last creature, the tiniest of the creatures, is the winner of the fight. After an extended fight over who owned the feeder, there was a clear winner.
See the mark on his chest?
Maybe that is just under plumage but it looked to be missing feathers. Seems the same bird is clearly marking this as his for the better part of the week.
There are so many wonderful things going on around us in nature. You just need to open you eyes to see them. Embrace the beauty you see, help when help is needed and always be kind.
I recently bought a new humming bird feeder because the others kept leaking. I was using my phone camera for these, but they did come out kind of neat. Hope you enjoy them. I need to buy a lens for my camera that do closeups better.
They are such cool little creatures. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. remember to be kind.
Again we are faced with the question from Cee…is it flower or weed…and what really is the difference. I figure its a person perspective whether the gardening gurus of the world recognize the beauty enough to place it in his garden. But to the Creator above, I think He loves them all.
This lovely four petaled beauty has deep purple veins against a lavender petal. A small flower but striking in my mind. And the leaf eating critters loves it leaves as they are filled with holes. So I give you little purple flower with yellow stamens.
As you go about you day, remember all things love kindness, even flowers. So be kind to all things.
Flowers were the first thing I could think of that only had two colors. What an interesting challenge Cee has given us.
I am showing you what I am calling my Flame lilies. Some neighbors at the end of the street had them so the birds thought I needed them as well. They are quite striking.
Then we go to green and brown…concrete is not really a color right?
I know you can’t really tell his size but he is a tiny baby.
same baby, too cute, had to share again
Nature is such a fun medium. Most of my photos are somewhere in that category. And remember, being kind creates a smile so smile often.
Also remember to not be so hard on yourself. We sometimes had a tendency to do that. So be kind to you.
Clare’s Cosmos has a fun challenge I will play with today, even though my pictures are not as clear as they should be. It is a memory that was fascinating to me. I had three hummers fighting over the feeder, zooming and zipping through the air, chattering that I could hear through the window.
Even though these birds were not being kind, we need to remember the beauty in being kind.
For the Love of 