a spirit of simplicity

There is something about checking off the winter months which is rather comforting "Juno" the first winter blizzard of 2015 dropped over two and a half feet of snow on us! February 1 we celebrate Imbolc the half-way point between  winter and spring So over at Pieni Linkita we are sharing January mosaics Saturday photo hunt cubes of photos mosaic monday

Juno the blizzard of 2015 as in Alaska weather hit us hard we were snowed in Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday Roads closed, schools cancelled, government and town offices closed ~ Honestly, I am still a bit fragmented from all of it I can't seem to get my thoughts together ~ Yesterday afternoon, I went out snowshoeing through the path in the wood it was bright and beautiful and still and serene one could imagine they were the only person on earth when the wood looks like that untouched ~ this morning they are telling us that there is more snow on the way but only a few inches just enough to cover everything up again ~ We will have the boys with us this weekend it has been quite a while since they've been here we will take them out snowshoeing friday finds willy nilly friday sky watch friday

juno the blizzard of 2015 Crashing If this was last week at ABC Wednesday I could have done B is for Blizzard!! I will have to settle for Crashing waves. This is the latter half of the Blizzard of 2015. It had been snowing and blowing here for about 24 hours  when I took this picture at about 4:30 last evening. It snowed for almost 30 hours and this morning dawned gray and white with continuing rough seas. ABC wednesday watery wednesday outdoor wednesday Wednesdays around the world

of a morning dawn came up over a woodland snowfall this morning we will not see dawn rising the blizzard rages over  our rather tiny island all night we heard the wind and the tides crashing about though we couldn't even make out the  beach just across the street all day it will be much the same here the snow will come down sideways in the wind late into the night the snow will continue until tomorrow morning which will dawn bright and white again texture tuesday texture twist

altar i leave them where i find them on the beach a pile of pretty shells or 7 heart shaped rocks placed upon a large flat boulder once i came across a circle of clam shells in the light of dawn as i walked the beach at sunrise once i saw a bunch of wildflowers and some moss in the crook of a hollowed out branch of an afternoon i came upon a field of pure white snow with the tracks of a small fox making its way across in the gloaming i lit a candle on the driftwood altar in my living room  and placed bit of gray-green reindeer lichen down on it at this moment a pair of cardinals litter the top  of the snow on my porch with sunflower seed shells Perhaps we create altars where ever we go and leave them behind in our wake with every exhalation we offer something to the universe with every conscience breath we receive what it offers to us omnipresent altars  if we are aware th

the fun we have some weather headed our way A blizzard of epic proportions bigger than the "blizzard of '78" in which roads were closed for a fortnight and all commerce pretty much shut down the snow is to start around noon today and not stop till after midnight tomorrow by the end of it all we should have somewhere between 1 and 3 feet the random the call has gone out across our rather tiny island all boat owners must be sure the boats in the wharf parking lot are fully secure and any debris, such as ladders and mooring balls are put indoors. We are expecting 30 to 60 mph wind gusts and coastal flooding This will be particularly dangerous during the 3 or 4 high tides which will take place through out the storm. the good Fortunately, the moon will not be full as that causes the tides to be higher  than at other times of the month.  I have my electric devices charging, a full tank

relax every Thanksgiving my mum likes to get a picture of all her grandchildren around the turkey we have some great pictures over the  years now that they are all grown up this year was a rare occurrence when they were all there Here they all are relaxing before my mum starts telling them all to smile and stand up straight in my cup for my hot cocoa.... morning light on a carnation looking down at daddy tying his skates weather we had the first snow storm of the season yesterday when I walked the wood this morning it seemed as if the light was dancing on each snowy branch we are expecting a real doozy of a storm Monday and Tuesday they are calling for over 20 inches of snow now, that is some weather...even for New England standards. scavenger hunt sunday sunlit sunday our beautiful world sundays at home

welcome  i am glad to have you here at a spirit of simplicity my name is Kara We live near Boston, Massachusetts on a rather tiny island (1 square mile) which is joined to the mainland by a two mile causeway i am an amateur photographer  and writer of poems  a bard i am an island-dweller i am a daily walker i am a beach comber and a wood-sprite elvish girl i am a gardener and a gleaner in fields i am a part of the nature that surrounds me  a singer of songs and a lover of life i am a farmhouse cook i am a gatherer of sea shells and heart shaped rocks  seed-pods   and people to love and driftwood sticks I am a bicycle rider I am a help-meet and a reader of books i am a needle worker i am a leading lady to the man that i walk beside i am a birther of daughters and a mama to many i am a sister a daughter a lover a playful ch

we have settled down to winter  here on our rather tiny island the season's first winter snow storm   will find me at the fireside piles of books, basket of knitting and cuppen tae at my fingertips     ~ twilight - and the city of Boston barely visible on the horizon - night just beginning to settle over us ~ ~  Brigid's Day or Imbolc or candlemas is on 1 February it is a Gaelic festival that marks the Celtic first day of spring. around here we will celebrate the half-way point between the dark days of winter and the light and new growth of spring. I am preparing red and white candles and a special dinner for our family. ~  I have my first test of the semester on Tuesday. It is an easy one and I'm sure I will do well. ~ I think that dawn is my favorite time of day I love to sit quietly with my tea and watch the sun coming up over the Atlantic friday finds friday my town shoot outs w

Boys Hiking near Boston we took advantage of the winter warm up  my daughters weren't with us they are grown and on their own now  so i often find myself the only girl in this group of boys every once in a while one of them would turn back to make sure I was OK and the youngest one would turn back to warn me when the path got icy  i am always the slowest walker because I am dawdling with my camera but they all want to make sure and take pretty good care of me since I am the official  cookie maker and ice cream scooper-outer app happy Wednesday outdoor wednesday Wednesdays around the world ABC Wednesdays

macro monday 2 i heart macro nature footsteps  blo-ma nature notes creative every day inspire me monday texture tuesday texture twist

starts with  J jack and joey jumping kindness this is the plant commonly known as Monarda it is also known as Oswego tea after the Oswego indians who showed the white people how to make a tea from plant three my favorite new shoes from Bjorn to do take a walk of an afternoon in the bright and beautiful sunshine  "me i'm just the lucky kind love to hear you say that love is luck and though we may be blind love is here to stay and that's enough someday when we're dreaming deep in love not a lot to say then we will remember things we said today" the beatles   scavenger hunt sunday sunlit sunday our beautiful world

this week's prompt is to write about deity or divine but i am not really sure that i have one my first true best, best friend was a tree that lived about half way between my bus stop and my house but i would not call that a deity perhaps my divine comes from walking the beach at dawn or twilight walking the wood of an afternoon watching the moon shining over our rather tiny island and into my bedroom window in the morning i wake early i walk softly into the kitchen and put the kettle on i listen to the hot water pouring into the french press i light the candle  i watch the light fill the sky over the Atlantic ocean i see the brushes and dunes change according to the season now they are brown and grey and mauve and they dance like a hundred ballerinas in the wind sometimes a rabbit scuttles about in the pathways I feel the pull of the tide it calls me to it's side so i bundle into hats an

weekly writing prompts at writer's workshop   10 roses for the 10 people I would like to continue pursuing a relationship with 1) my man -boyfriend, significant other, heterosexual live in life partner, Joe, my  person, the one that i walk beside. I will continue my relationship with him for the rest  of our lives. He was the first boy to kiss me -when we were eleven- and I would have  him be the last boy to kiss me as well. He is my best friend, my guiding star, my sweetest joy. 2 and 3) my daughters ~ though i am still the person i was before them i would not be  complete without them. They taught me how to love some one else more than i love  myself. I could not imagine a life without them. I want to continue a relationship with  them till it is time for them to go on without me. 4). My mum -She is old now. She is in very good health and spirit but i see it when i look  at her. She is beautiful. Because of her i know how to be a friend, all abou

roads go ever, ever on under cloud and under star, yet feet that wandering have gone turn at last to home afar.  Eyes that fire and sword have seen and horrors in the halls of stone Look at last on meadows green, and trees and hills they long have known.  J. R.R. Tolkien ~ snow dusted our town last night sprinkling white over all the lawns ~ shared lunch with my daughter yesterday ~ I purchased a journal for myself very cool cover and blank pages ~ the boys are here this weekend ice cream eating  and granola making friday finds sky watch friday my town friday -the color blue six word friday willy nilly friday five Roads go ever ever on, Under cloud and under star. Yet feet that wandering have gone Turn at last to home afar. Eyes that fire and sword have seen, And horror in the halls of stone Look at last on meadows green, And trees and hills they long have known. - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/Roads-Go-Ever-On#sthash

i am not one to put much store in fortunes but once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right little things thursday share your cup thursday

Adventures “Let the unseen days be. Today is more than enough.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien , The Children of Húrin   ABC wednesday outdoor wednesday app happy wednesday wednesday's around the world

texture tuesday texture twist wordless on tuesday

as i drove along the Shore drive of a mid-morning i noticed how beautiful the sea and sky looked i drive this road almost everywhere i go and though i never take it's beauty for granted i admit that it is a rare day when i pull over to take a picture Yesterday was just such a day  and i braved the frigid temperatures  to stand out on the precipice taking pictures with my phone creative every day inspire me monday amaze me monday

The the good the library in our little town held an open house on Saturday the occasion was to welcome the town into the world of libraries with computers. We've been using the Dewey decimal system all along and only just added a computer system this past summer. Honestly, I sort of miss the old ways since it was like a portal back in time. But, progress must be made.   The Nahant Public Library was founded in 1819 , the third oldest in Massachusetts after Franklin and Harvard. Our library became a free public library in 1872 . The present library building was designed by the Boston firm of Ball and Dabney, and opened June 1, 1895 , and was the first electrified building in Nahant. the random i broke a tooth and have to go to the dentist today ugh! the fun Bonnie's birthday celebration the good, the random, the fun

wintery breakfast this is the view from my kitchen window as I have my breakfast this is a picture from last february though as  it hasn't really snowed yet this year. new year's day we went for a walk to the high rocks near the beach where they light off the fireworks it reminds me of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood it's a beautiful day and the sun is just shining onto these tiny streets red ribbons and strings this is another image from a different walk we took this time to Bailey's Hill and there are polka dot circles on my vest simple all things simple meet at the beach water - sky - earth and in the evenings the sun is on fire as it sets over the horizon scavenger hunt sunday sunlit sunday  our beautiful world

ten on ten 8:00 on the driftwood shelf that Joe built are the olden books and a candle that I light in the morning 9:00 eating granola in the kitchen the morning sunlight shines on the sea glass on the windowsill 10:00 i went to the dry goods store to stock up on supplies 11:00 Canoe beach it was very chilly so I only walked long enough to find a moon snail shell 12:00 the library had an open house to introduce the rearranged rooms and the new computer system 1:00 I lunched on yoghurt and berries 2:00 filled the bird feeders with fresh seed and watched them through the porch door 3:00 I had tea in the darkening afternoon 4:00 the beautiful old fireplace at my dentist's office