I Heart The Beach!

Sissie and I had a wonderful time at the beach ...
Three days of pure bliss!
And hearts ...
Like this kelp showing it's hearts in the snowy sand ...

And this seaweed heart brought in with the tide ...

Then there were the seagulls. We tempted them with yummy tidbits of bread, and look what happened ... This lucky seagull ate his heart out!!! (Sorry, I couldn't resist)

It really was hard to leave. I can't wait until the next trip!

Heart and Autumn Oak Leaf

I will be gone for 3 days - to the beach!
To watch the winter storm ...
And spend time with my sissie.

Until I return, please enjoy this delicate Autumn scene
Of heart and oak leaf.

Sunny Heart

I was taking pictures of the last leaves still hanging on the trees - before the coming windstorm. The sun peeked through just long enough to catch some beautiful and radiant shots.

As I moved around to get the best angle, I noticed the sun showing under the leaf - had become a glowing sunny heart!

When I looked at the picture full screen, I noticed the spider webs - reflecting the rays of the sun into little miniature rainbows.

Life can be so amazing, if we learn to look closely!

To see reflections from around the world, visit James at Newtown Area Photo, and join us for Weekend Reflections!

Guest Heart Thursday #32

Welcome to Guest Heart Thursday -
A Place to Share YOUR Hearts!!!

The ocean holds a very special place in my heart - though I have not seen it in several years. Beth, over at Expect the Unexpected, found this beautiful cloudy Heart Over Ocean on one of her trips to the Oregon coast.

I chose this heart for a very special reason.
Beth and I are going to be spending 2 days at the beach next week!
I am already excited!
My sister; my ocean. What more could a girl want???

Thank you, sissie, for sharing your heart. And your ocean.

Deann at The Whimsey Asylum continues to delight and amaze me with her delightful (and sometimes naughty - love it!) art. She loves to enter "challenges", and is becoming quite well known for her imagination and talent. When you visit her, you will see why!!!

Deann, you are wonderful, and I love you. Thank you for sharing your heart!

Diane is from Arizona, and is a talented photographer. Her blog, Desert Colors, is among my favorites to visit!

Diane took some adorable pictures of a desert towhee taking a bath.
Little did she know ... she found a heart. Do you see it? It's a feather on the towhee's wing!

Thank you, Diane, for sharing your world, and your heart.

Judy's blog Lilac Gate holds magic. Judy takes macro shots of gorgeous plants and flowers, and I'm not sure how she does it!

Judy found these violet leaf hearts kissed by the frost ...

Thank you Judy for sharing your hearts - and your flowery world!

Susannah sees the world differently - she sees the tiniest of life's beauty - and shares it with the world. I am constantly inspired by her and her blog, Wanderin' Weeta (With Waterfowl and Weeds). I even find myself looking at the world a little differently myself - and have been known to see something tiny and beautiful - and shout out "Look! A Wanderin' Weeta Moment!"

Thank you, Susannah, for sharing your hearts - and your beautiful world!


A huge thank you to all who participated in Guest Heart Thursday last week. I loved seeing the beautiful and amazing hearts you found in your world!

If you have found a heart (or drawn a heart, or designed a heart, or ...), please join us for Guest Heart Thursday. Just link the URL of your heart to Linky!
The link will be open from Thursday morning until Sunday night.

Have you found more than one heart?

Put in more than one link!

Is your heart from a long time ago?

It doesn't matter, as long as you put the direct URL link to that post!

Mushroom Heart

I was out in the woods taking pictures of the many mushrooms I found.
They sure are prolific this time of year!
I had to stop in my tracks, though, when I came across this one.

It had curled itself into a heart!

Bird Nest Heart

Someone had knocked this bird's nest to the ground ...
Fortunately, the birds were already long gone.

I still felt a little sad ... until I noticed that the center of the bird's nest was shaped like a heart! Do you see it?

FRIEND UPDATE: My friend Nadine's husband Wally, who underwent brain surgery 4 times in the past 2 weeks, is FINALLY done with surgery ... the problems corrected ... in fact - he got out of the hospital last night! He was not expected to get out for up to another week, but he got well so fast, they sent him home early!!!

Thank you all for your prayers and healing thoughts for Wally.
IT WORKED!!!

Bug Eats Leaf Heart

It was just a bedraggled bug-eaten leaf.
Like thousands of bedraggled bug-eaten leaves around here this time of year ...
But this leaf took on a whole new beauty ...
When the bugs ate a heart into it!

Guest Heart Thursday #31

Welcome to Guest Heart Thursday!
A Place to Share YOUR Hearts!

PLEASE THANK A VETERAN ... NOT JUST TODAY, BUT EVERY DAY!

Pamela took her blog - Dum Spiro Spero - where no blog I have seen has been before ... Cupcake Camp ... where the cupcake creations looked delicious. And thanks a lot, Pamela. I think I gained 5 pounds just looking at the pictures!!!

And look at that teeny little heart Pamela found on that cupcake in the front. No wonder I missed it - I was too busy drooling over these awesome S'more cupcake creations!!!

Thank you, Pamela, for sharing your heart ... and your cupcakes!

My day is not complete until I've read what Costas has posted from Greece.
His photos and stories, histories, documentations are the best I've seen. Anywhere. When you visit his blog, Nature Digital, be sure to enlarge his photos. They turn from beautiful to incredible with one magical click.

Costas has been featuring a hotel he stayed at for a time - and look what he found! The beautiful and delicate chairs ... are hearts as well.

Thank you, Costas, for sharing your heart ... and your wonderful country.

Cheryl sees this misty heart tree on her way to work every day.
She finally was able to get a shot of it!

Cheryl is in the final stretch of her year-long commitment to photograph and post something every day. Check out her efforts in her blog March to March.

Thank you, Cheryl, for the inspiration you've been to me - and for sharing your heart!

Sunny's blog Barnyards and Barnacles is one I treasure.
She takes ordinary life on the farm and in the country ... and brings beauty and amusement home to us all.

Sunny found this PERFECT heart on a board she was getting ready to paint.
I just know it was put there for her to share here!!!

Thank you, Sunny, for sharing your heart!

Gemma, over at Greyscale Territory ... what can I say.
She amazes me with how she sees the world - how much beauty she finds.

Gemma is from Australia, and posted this beautiful heart in honor of Armistice Day.
A perfect way for us ALL over the world to remember our VETERANS.

Thank you, Gemma, for sharing this beautiful and sobering heart.

A huge thank you to all who participated in Guest Heart Thursday last week. I loved seeing the amazing hearts you found in your world!

If you have found a heart (or drawn a heart, or designed a heart, or ...), please join us for Guest Heart Thursday. Just link the URL of your heart to Linky!
The link will be open from Thursday morning until Sunday night.

Have you found more than one heart?

Put in more than one link!

Is your heart from a long time ago?

It doesn't matter, as long as you put the direct URL link to that post!

Pressed Heart Lost ... And Found

Last Spring, on one of my walks in the woods, I carried with me an old journal. I was going to start a nature journal ... but as with some of my good intentions, I misplaced it, then forgot.

This morning I came upon my missing journal. It had been left out in the damp ... exposed to the elements ... for all these months.

As I leafed through the pages, I came upon this pressed wild ginger leaf and flower.
I was intrigued by the stain pattern on the page ...

I thought it made a delightful combination - a wild heart surrounded by nature's artwork.

Dried Tomato Heart

The tomatoes were on the verge of going bad.
And I wasn't in the mood to process them for canning.
So I pulled out the dehydrator, set it to work.

By this morning, the tomatoes were dry, and the house smelled delicious.

As I packed the tomatoes into a plastic bag,
I came across this perfect dried tomato heart.

Just to remind me how good it is ...
This life.
This harvest.

Moss Heart on Cracked Roof

As I wander along the catwalk of the abandoned mega-church, I am struck once again by the sadness and waste of this place. Senseless vandalism, broken glass, fallen ceiling tiles, blackberry vines criss-crossing the once immaculate yet now overgrown landscaping ...

Even the passage of time is felt here. It has been over 5 years since the church occupied this complex ... the roof is cracked and leaking, it's age and lack of care showing.

Yet amidst the destruction, I see something else ... a beautiful heart-shaped patch of moss surrounded by the delicate cracks of the roof ... the beauty of the Autumn colored vines ...

I can hear the birds that have fled the surrounding urban sprawl to make this their new home. They flutter around me, calling to each other.

A random flower pokes it's head through the tall grass in what used to be the 'Peace Garden', sharing it's late beauty with no one, except me.

With a deep sigh, I know that I am at peace.

I hope you feel it too.