Sunday Sunlight

Shadows and light, colors and their reflections, colors that try to hide in the shadows of white...

International Faery Day

Rosina, who usually hangs out in my back garden, says, "Don't forget, today is International Faeries Day!  We'll be celebrating all evening and all through the night, until the stars go back to sleep for the day.  Keep your eyes open...you just might see one of us!"

Faeries Friday

"Sometimes Fairy stories may say best what's to be said."  C. S. Lewis  (photo from Pinterest ).  

Sunday Sunlight

I took this back in June of 2008.  It was growing in someone else's garden, but they didn't mind if I took a photo, bless them.

Faeries Friday - Sunflower

This is Sunflower.  I only see her in the summer months, and I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of her very early one morning just before the dawn.  And, wasn't I lucky to have my camera in my hand! ;-)  She quickly flew out the open window and up through the dogwoods just outside my studio.  I suppose she was flying off to the sunflowers in the little meadow just up the mountain slope from my studio.  She helps them to open up in the morning and sings them to sleep in the evening.  She has lots and lots of relatives so the next time you're around a field of sunflowers keep a sharp lookout...you just might see a Sunflower Faery!

Wordless Wednesday - Floating

Dollar Lake

(Alpine Shooting Star, Dollar Lake, elevation 9,288 feet, San Bernardino Mountains, CA)

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike."  John Muir

Dollar Lake is one of my favorite places.  It's hard to get to even though it isn't that far from where I live...if I were a Raven and could fly there.  It's located in the San Gorgonio Wilderness (95,903 acres) nearly at the top of the North Face of Charlton Peak (elevation 10,806 feet) and is a 10 mile hike from the nearest trailhead.  During those 10 miles there is a vertical gain of about 4,000 feet, so it's a pretty steep trail, and the trail isn't much of a trail.  But once I get there...ahhh, complete solitude and an utter lack of human-made sounds, as long as I don't go up there in the summer months.  (At Dollar Lake's elevation summer occurs in July and August).  I usually go by myself and camp for at least three days and it really is a healing experience "to body and soul alike."

Sunday Sunlight

This was taken last May while I was walking on the path that goes around Lake Arrowhead.  The sun had almost set, and I was alone on the path, when I came upon a Dogwood tree that some idiotic, thoughtless person had ripped a lot blossoms from and then just left them there on the ground.  Really, what is wrong with some people?  Oh, right.  I already answered that; they're idiotic and thoughtless.  Anyway, the way it was holding the light caught my attention.  After I photographed it I took it and the other victims home, where they floated in bowls of water for several days.  Every time I looked at them I wondered if the person who ripped them off the tree knew, or cared, about the berries that the center of the blossoms would have turned into this coming Autumn and how many birds might go hungry because those berries weren't there. 

Of course, there are lots of other Dogwood trees in this forest, so, hopefully, no birds will go hungry.  I guess what really got to me was the expression of a total disconnect from, and lack of respect for, Nature.

Faeries Friday

This is my newest Faery.  I don't know her name yet because I didn't want to wake her up from her nap and risk...well, you know. 

Not Again!

The black kitty on the right is Stella when she was a kitten, but her look captures perfectly how I feel.  My computer got the SAME virus that it had a couple of weeks ago.  SCREEEEEEM!!

When I got it back this time, it didn't have all my photos in it where they should be, so I'm hunting through the hard drive, finding them from the list I have on Seagate (thank God/dess I backed everything up).  When I copy them to the proper folder it makes 3 separate copies in a different file.  If I delete even one of these copies, they ALL disappear.  FOREVER! 

So I'm finding that screaming every now and then acts like a pressure release valve.  Plus, it scares the heck out of my husband .... and that always makes me laugh! 

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM!!!

The Past Two Weeks

Sunday Sunlight

Taken 7-8-2008 from the top of the ridge west of my cottage.

Faeries Friday - Amie

This little rabbit has a hurt paw, so he has come to Amie because he knows she will heal it.  Many Faeries are friends to the animals and will help them when they need it, but Amie is well known as a superior healer.  I'm sure she'll have him healed and happy in no time at all!

Lilacs

They're blooming all over here.  Some put out leaves and buds too early and have no blooms, just new leaves coming out.  Some, like the one above managed to save a few blooms.

Others, like this one, and the one below, did pretty well considering what a crazy Spring we've had.

The air is wonderfully scented with lilacs.
                  

I wish they would last longer, but I'm very grateful that I have them.  They won't grow down in the valley where my sister lives, so I take huge bouquets to her every spring.  Funny...I won't cut them for myself to be in my house but I can justify cutting them for her since she doesn't have any.  Ah well, I suppose we all have our little quirks.

I'm Watching You...

This is a Steller's Jay.  I love their beautiful blue colors; unfortunately I can't say the same for their voice.  They have a harsh sounding caw most of the time, but sometimes they do make quiet little whortling, churring, and squeaking sounds.  They only make these sounds when they're by themselves, so I suppose they're talking to themselves.  They're great imitators.  This one (I don't know if it is a male or female since, unlike most bird species, they both look the same) always imitates the sound of a hawk when it comes to the feeders.  Of course all the other birds flee and it has the feeders all to itself.  Clever bird! 

Dreams

The greatest achievement was at first, and for a time, a dream. 
The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, 
And in the highest vision of the soul, 
A waking angel stirs. 
Dreams are the seedlings of realities.  ~  James Allen

Art by Gillian Gamble Illustrations and Photography

A Belated Mother's Day Gift

The best kind!  I haven't seen Mr. Darcy, one of the feral cats, since October of 2010 and I had guessed that he had passed away.  But he showed up this afternoon, sitting in his 'asking for food' spot and giving me his 'well, I'm here and I'm hungry, hurry up' look! When I called to him, he came, meowing, and sat down about two feet from me, which was exactly the way Mr. Darcy would do.  I couldn't really believe it was really the same kitty until I got back in the house and compared this cat's appearance to a photo of Mr. Darcy (the one above, taken in 2008).  He has the exact same notches in his ear, the same large orange freckle on the left side of his nose, and the same orange band around the top of his left leg. The only thing that had changed was the size of the two large ...er... round things on his bottom. They have shrunk considerably, so I'm guessing that someone finally managed to catch him and have him neutered.  I wish he could talk!  He didn't look thin, in fact he looked like someone has been taking good care of him, which made me even more ecstatic.  What a happy day!

To Everyone...

who is a mother, whether your children are human or of the fur baby variety, I wish you a Happy Mother's Day!

Vandalism

I just finished this commission for a client who is also a good friend.  She showed me a picture of the style of painting she wanted.  This is not normally the style I paint in, but she likes it, so I said I would design something.  Then she said she wanted me to paint it on her antique butter churn.  I said, "Annie, you can't be serious.  That must be over...well, I don't know how many years, but I don't think I can deface it, even if you are going to call it 'art.' "  As you can see from the photo, she's very persuasive.  Most importantly, she loves it.  But, I still feel guilty.  I feel like I sealed all its stories under layers of paint.  I feel like I committed vandalism.  If it had been anyone else but Annie, I would have declined the commission.  But, she loves it.  I just keep repeating that to myself...

A Quotation and a Question

The tree which moves some to tears of joy,
Is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in the way.
Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all.
But to the eyes of the human of imagination,
Nature is Imagination itself. ~~ William Blake, 1799, The Letters

My apologies Mr. Blake; I changed 'man' to 'human'.  Perhaps you meant it to be all inclusive, but then again, perhaps not, considering the time in which you lived. 

Why is it SO hard, even in these supposedly enlightened times, for so many people to add the two simple letters 'hu' to the front of the word 'man' when they are speaking of the human race?

Perigee Moon

I had a terrible time getting a photo of tonight's moon.  I wanted a photo of it rising over the lake, barely clearing the trees, but I foolishly listened to the scientists about the time she would make her arrival.  When I got down to the lake, she was well above the trees. 

My camera was behaving very badly, too.  It would do ok in the close-ups, but I could NOT get it to focus when I tried to get the moon and her path on the water.  I had my DSLR with me, but I didn't have the tripod with me, and it's just too heavy for me to hold and get any kind of a decent shot. 

Oh well....

Blossoms

"If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom."  ~  Terri Guillemets

Gorgeous Grosbeaks

The Grosbeaks are back, so maybe Spring is here to stay for a bit.  That's a little female in the photo above and below.  They're slightly smaller than the males and more of a peach color than an orange color.

A male Grosbeak letting me know he's keeping an eye on me.  The two pictures below are also of male Grosbeaks. 

The last few days have been wonderful 'Spring Cloud' days, foggy and drizzling lightly.  I, along with everyone else up here, am hoping that we have a very wet, long Spring.  It certainly would help lower the danger of forest fires.