A Garden In Winter

 

There's something peaceful and magical about a winter garden. I felt temporarily well enough after a shower this morning that I ventured outside to shoot the diamonds hanging from needles and branches in my garden. It had rained earlier, all night in fact, so capturing them was easy.

 

 

We are planning to move one day from this area. My only regret will be leaving this yard and garden we have worked so hard to make beautiful. Over fourteen years we have toiled (or my husband has!), and we still have lots more work to do, but there was literally nothing here when we moved in, not a stick or branch of anything, just bare dirt the consistency of powdered sugar. Now it is not only a haven for we humans, but one for birds, frogs, deer, and other wildlife. We see birds fly by every day and when the osprey return every spring, it's thrilling to see them soar within feet of our windows, often carrying steelhead in their talons. I will miss it, but until then, I will enjoy the quiet and lovliness, and even the hard work, of my ever-changing garden.

 

A Blackbilled Magpie

 

Forest Goddess (or something)

 

 

I haven't blogged for awhile so I thought I'd share something I made. I created this painting years ago (my friend Angie Kile used it when her first child was born as a focus during labor). I recently found it again and have been adding improvements and subtracting mistakes.

 

I happen to be sick right now, having contracted something from school (a rarity for me, as I hardly ever get sick). Anyway, perhaps this portrait will become one of the characters Eilidh meets in the elven realm. She is now sitting on my "altar" of stuff I collect and like: rocks, old antlers, copper pots, feathers, sticks, dried bouquets of roses, weeds, and a mask I bought and repainted so it was much cooler.