[13:52]

Do not abandon yourselves to despair, we are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.  

Because these are a tradition I grew up with and because I ran out of time I bought them all ready to go… sometimes you just can’t do it all.

There’s always room for chocolate… wishing you and yours a day of peace-joy and all that Easter means to you. 

xoxo, shirina

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[Collection] Definition of collection. 1 : the act or process of collecting. 2: something collected; an accumulation of objects gathered for study, comparison, or exhibition or as a hobby

I am a collector. I collect memories through my camera. I collect treasures from my travels and from my adventures outdoors. I collect to remember and to be grateful for life’s gifts.  ~michele

 

[12:52]

life… renewal… eggs

these are organic eggs, raised by a farmer who has a whole lot of love for his animals, and respect for the land and doing things the old-fashioned way. I was amazed by the color of his eggs… the colors of the earth… and I bought them just to look at.  they’re much too beautiful to eat, don’t you think?

a few years back, I dyed my own easter eggs and they looked a lot like the organic eggs above.  

I used things like… coffee grounds, turmeric, red onion skins, spinach, purple cabbage, paprika, dandelions & beets.

eggs that are colored the old-fashioned way using nature’s gifts, like raising chickens organically, takes a lot more time than just buying a kit, but I think it’s well worth the extra effort… the end result is always a surprise… pure magic.
xo~ michele

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A lazy Saturday afternoon

Strolling through the shops  

The weather was beautiful
Blue skies
Wispy clouds

Warmth of the sun 

Cool breezes 

xo, shirina

[11:52]

I think I love the rain,

because I am a mermaid

who lives too far from the ocean.

 

 

Let the rain kiss you, Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops, Let the rain sing you a lullaby, The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk, The rain makes running pools in the gutter, The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night… and I love the rain. ~Langston Hughes

 

 

RAIN

Thunder skies
dewdrops fall,
timeless motion.

Heavy drizzles,
blurred vision
slumbering moon.

~Tara Estacaan

 

When all is said and done, the weather and love are the two elements about which one can never be sure.”  ~Alice Hoffman, Here on Earth

xoxo, Shirina

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March… a month filled with spring fever…. a yearning to be outside, exploring… ‘teaser’ days filled with sunshine and warm temps.  This week has been one of those and it’s been all about the search for treasures, signs, little glimpses that we’re leaving winter behind.  Here is just some a bit of what I found this week.

Mornings are still really cold with frost covering everything, but by afternoon, the sun has warmed the earth and kissed the trees.  Sheer Bliss~

The ice is rapidly melting off the ice.  And I found a heart in the ice… a sweet farewell from winter I think.

After our hike yesterday, we laid flat on our backs, looking up, this was my view… a sky filled with the color of spring, trees yearning to burst forth with life, 6 birds flying in various formations and soft clouds changing shape by the minute.  We must have stayed there for a half hour… quiet, only the sound of the wind and the birds and water below us.

One of the surest and sweetest signs of Spring… fuzzy wuzzies. : )

On another note, I am praying that all this sickness and bacteria/virus crud will go away.  So many people I know have been fighting something… from strep throat to ear infections to bronchitis to the stomach flu.  I just want everyone I love to be healthy again.  I hope you are all well friends.  xoxo, Michele

[10:52]

“When I only begin to read, I forget I’m on this world. It lifts me on wings with high thoughts.” ~Anzia Yezierska

I’ve been reading so much this winter. Lately, it seems I can go through a book in less than a week. I really love it!  And it might sound nerdy (hey, I am a total nerd) but I love going to the library and finding that next book.  A new book is incredibly exciting… it holds so much possibility.  A good book can transport a person back in time, or into the future… it can scare us, make us laugh or make us cry. We can fall in love with a character or a place. It can make us question what we would do if we were in the same situation. I can’t imagine my days without a book… yes, an actual paper hardcover book.   Some books that I’ve recently read are “The Lost Wife”, “The Mountain Story”, “The Lotus Eaters” and “The Art of Racing in the Rain”.  I would recommended all of them. What are you reading?   ~Michele   “The library is inhabited by spirits that come out of the pages at night.” ~Isabel Allende

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My Bucket List….

I know people always talk about having a bucket list and what those lists consist of.. myself I have a bucket list of flowers…yup a bucket list of flowers.

When I was much more involved with Flickr and met most of you from my Flickr days, I was inspired by your floral images as well as others, I would see amazing shots and think to myself some day I’d love to take shots of something that incredible and beautiful.

Some of the flowers on my list are Coneflowers, Black Eyed Susan’s, Cosmos, Orchids, Poppies, Lilac’s, Dogwood and Tulip Magnolias… of course there is always room to add more and some of these I have taken photos of, but this week I had the opportunity to take photos of Poppies…. beautiful lovely poppies.    Funny thing is, a lot of the flowers that are in my area show up in Feb when it’s rainy and very windy, so I struggle to get great shots of these flowers due to weather factors, but I still go out and shoot lots of shots and usually delete the majority of them, like today I found some poppies, we’ve had great rain storms today with crazy wind (sounds like a freight train as I write this) but I still attempted to get these before they were destroyed by the weather.

They’re definitely not perfection but I love them still and hope you’ll enjoy them as well…. ~Shirina