Gazing on Beautiful Things...

Is there anything more lovely than the scent of lilacs?

They are such pretty and feminine looking flowers, don't you think?

There is something so old world about them... unlike a petunia or a rhododendron, for example.

Do you know what I mean? ... or have I become intoxicated with the beauty and you find me rambling nonsensically?

Anyway, with all the rain we've been having, I am missing them due to my lack of time outdoors and have decided that I will bring them in to enjoy instead.

Aren't they stunning in the vase on my counter top?
Simply delightful, I think.

What about you? What's your favorite flower at this time of year?



Are you tired of all this floral photography yet?

If not... here are some more... and even some more over at my Capturing the Beauty!



And if you are, well... I'm sorry, but...I just can't help myself!

As Michelangelo once said, and I repeat,

"Gazing on beautiful things acts on my soul, which thirsts for heavenly light."

I just get such joy from it.

"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."
~Nathaniel Hawthorne

Just a couple photos of the Butterfly Gardens from our little trip to Calgary this past weekend in honor of my birthday last week and in celebration of another homeschooling year completed!

For more photos and/or video check out my Scrapbooking Blog and/or my Homeschooling Blog.

Hands Full of Sunshine

Gifts from a Small Boy

His small hands overflowing
with sunshine-tinted bloom,
He quietly, half-shyly,
tiptoed into the room;
"These posies are for you, " he said,
then hurrying through the door,
Left me with more than flowering wreath,
so much - O, so much - more!

Katherine Edelman

I've loved this simple poem, found in a little book of poetry that belongs to my mother, for as long as I can remember.

Long before I ever had small boys of my own I was enchanted by this verse.

Maybe it's because I was meant to be the mother of these treasures who think of me when flowers
bloom and bring me these offerings of heavenly scent and color.

Yes, always plucked too short for a normal size vase but perfect for the one I've kept just for this purpose
and which now resides on my dresser in my bedroom.

Photos: Grape Hyacinths plucked by son, Marcus, from amongst my tulips in the backyard garden.

A Bouquet just for Me.

From my garden.

Elusive Spring

I'm beginning to wonder... if just maybe:

"To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind
than to be hopelessly in love with spring."
~George Santayana

Sending out a bit of early last weeks sunshine to those of us who looked out the window this morning at yet another layer of snow.

Just when the buds where beginning to unfurl, winter has come upon us again.

Twice already this morning, one or another of the boys have gazed out the window at the white and wistfully asked, "Will Spring ever come?"

I know how they feel.

What's it like where you are?