Memories of Summer

March 1 and another day closer to spring. Yeah!!!

As I think about the coming seasons.I am reminded of the flowers 

of last summer.

The following pictures were all taken last summer,some in our gardens and some in Winnipeg,at the English Gardens.

This water lily was in the English Gardens.

You can see a few bugs on the petals,but some of the flowers were covered with these tiny bugs,making them less than desirable to photograph.

The simple Hollyhock.

Beauty can be seen in the simplest things.

A Day Lily close-up,again,not a fancy flower,yet so striking.

Sunlight highlights this lily in our garden.

This is obviously a fall flower,the Gallardia.

The bees were busy collecting nectar from these.

We have many of these flowers growing in our gardens.

Live simply,

speak kindly,

love unconditionally.

OH CANADA !

The winter Olympics are almost over,and all the athletes 

have worked hard to 'Go for the Gold'.

Today I feel a sense of pride in my country.

The women's hockey team just won the Gold. Go Canada!

With this in mind I put together a collection of pictures

which to me say Canada.

The Maple Leaf is the one that graces our flag,so that is a sure symbol of Canada.

I had to add the red berries,our color.

Anyone watching the hockey games has seen a sea of red in the seats.

The snow scenes serve two purposes,one,white is the other color on the flag,and two,

this is typical of our winters.

It is wonderful to see all the countries participating in this one event,

too bad not everyone can go home with a gold medal.

Each one of the athletes has given it their best and that is what is most important.

The world crowns success,God crowns faithfulness.

Black and White World

I am finding it difficult to make a up a new post right now.

I don't know if its the lack of new pictures,or simply a blogging slump.

In looking for something of interest,I found some pictures taken by Jake in 2006.

I am hoping that I have not used these before.

In transferring our pictures to the Mac,we lost some of the tags,so I am not quite sure which ones I had posted before.

Obviously these are taken close to Christmas.

This building used to be the town Post Office,then the Library and now it is the Art Gallery.

 Jake took these in color and then turned them into black and white pictures.

I think they are more dramatic this way.

Above is a scene taken in the local park.

This park has the creek running along side of it.

This is a popular place in summer,because of its play ground areas,a small water feature for the children,and for us,
lots of birds along the creek.

Here we are looking along the main street in town.

Several small stores are located here,as well as some restaurants.

This is just another angle along our main street.The proper name of the street is Stephen Street,but around here it is most often just called main street.

Just in case you had not noticed,all the pictures were taken before the sun was up.

Here is a look down First Street.This happens to be the one we live on.

The blur you see on the left hand side is a vehicle driving by.

Begin the day with prayer,end it with praise.

Diamonds in the Snow

Yesterday was a beautiful day,only partly cloudy and mild.

Jake and I went out looking for photo opportunities.

Here are a few of the pictures I got.

The area we were in had seen a lot of hoar frost recently.

Some of the trees and weeds were still coated with this beautiful frost.

Do you see the diamonds? They are so pretty.

As we pulled up to this carcass in the field there were two Black-billed Magpies and a Bald Eagle feeding.Obviously the Eagle was not in a photogenic mood.

I saw this Magpie approaching and started shooting,hoping for the best.

I was too far away,but this picture is still OK.

A much smaller bird,the Snow Bunting has been a challenge to capture.

This is the first time I had ever seen one sitting in a tree.

Again,I was much to far away for a great shot,but this is better than none.

The White-tailed Deer was standing fairly close to the road and allowed me several shots.This one stands out well against the whiteness around it.

I give you one more picture of the Diamonds in the Snow.

These were small weeds at the edge of a field.

The wonders of creation reveal God at work.

A Bouquet of Flowers

It is once  again an overcast day,so to brighten things up I picked a bouquet of flowers for you.OK,I didn't go out to pick them,but rather picked them out of Photo Storage.

Shout for joy to the Lord,all the earth.

Psalm 100:1

Another Life Bird!!!

Yesterday,Jake and I went out in search of birds and photo opportunities.

Well,we were successful in both areas.

We had not travelled very many miles from our home town when we came across this beauty.

This is perhaps the whitest Snowy Owl I have ever seen.The blue sky and sunshine made for great photography.

As we went further away from home we headed towards Winnipeg,but never got till there.

We saw another Snowy Owl close to a small village called Springstein.

The main reason for our travels was to find the Northern Hawk Owl.

We had heard reports of it being in this general area.

Once again we were fortunate enough to see this little owl in a perfect photo setting.

We were thrilled as this bird brought our Life List up to 233

Again the Owl was very accommodating and just sat and looked at us.

We could walk around and talk and the cute little bird, (only 8 inches in length), didn't care at all.

I would say that we had  a successful day and came home thrilled to have seen such beautiful birds.

Each bird is special and one of God's originals.

  

God specializes in original creations.

The Winter Olympics

Tomorrow is the official start of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

All eyes around the world will be on Vancouver,Canada and on the athletes from each participating country.

Because of this I want to show you some pictures taken by Jake of the Olympic flame as it passed right close to our home on January 7.
We live at the corner of 1st and Wardrop and that is exactly the route of the flame.

The RCMP,(Royal Canadian Mounted Police),were on duty.
The way this gentleman is dressed is indicative of the temperatures on that day.

The torches meet and the flame is passed on to the next runner.

Inspite of the bitter cold,these people are still able to smile.

Carrying on with the flame.
All this has brought to mind a verse from the Bible.
Matthew 5:16 says, Let your light shine before men,that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Just as the Olympic torch bearers held their light high,we need to let our Christian lights shine brightly.

On a different note,Connie from Reaching Out and Up has suggested that we list 5 of our favorite things.
Here goes,in no particular order,
1. Spending time with my husband
2.Snuggling with my Granddaughter
3.Chatting with my son,sometimes for a long time on the phone.
4.Homemade ice-cream,YUMMY
5.The blue of the sky on a spring day.
If I could add another one it would be,Connecting with my blogging friends.

I am looking forward to hearing what some of your favorite things are.

Winter's Beauty

As I look outside and see the piles of snow getting ever higher,I am tempted to complain.Instead I will choose to see the beauty which is everywhere..

Winter will be with us for at least several more weeks so I may as well enjoy it.

I took a look through some of our winter pictures and created this collage

to show the beauty of winter.

Yes,I am waiting for spring with all it's new life,but until then I want to enjoy each moment.

In God's character and in HIs creation we see His majesty.

A Frosty Day

I am having the same dilemma that some others are talking about.

When I look outside all I see is snow and therefore I am not taking many pictures.

Don't get me wrong,Jake and I have lots of pictures on the computer,

but I would like to post more recent pictures.

These are my most recent photos.

We had a small patch of frost on the window,and that gave me 

the chance to use the Macro lens again.

It is amazing to see the detail in these tiny frost feathers.

No human could paint such delicate beauty.

I would encourage you to click on these pictures to enlarge them.

The detail really shows up much better that way.

The final picture is the reason for today's title.

Take time to appreciate God's created world.

Dreaming of Spring

When I look outside,spring seems very far away.

Our flower beds are buried under 12-18 inches of snow,with no thought of any melting any time soon.

In my mind,my thoughts are turning towards the coming season.

Today as I was looking through some of last years pictures I suddenly 

had a strong wish for warmer temperatures and beautiful flowers.

With this in mind I give you some Tulips to brighten the day,

I love the soft translucent look of this peach colored Tulip.

Each flower has it's own beauty.
This one is very rich looking,and adds to the overall look of the flower bed.

These Tulips start out with the edges very pale,but as they
age,the color deepens.

What is more vibrant than a pure red flower.
These three stand tall in the sunshine,ready to bring delight to all.
So now that we have looked at a few of the spring beauties,
it's back to winter for a while,but,change is coming.

 If Winter comes,can Spring be far behind?

Pine Siskins

Today I want to show you a few pictures of the Pine Siskins.

I know that not every one appreciates them,but I love them.

                                                         Photo by Jake

WE do not have a lot of variety of birds in the winter,

so the Pine Siskins are a welcome addition to the feeders.

They are quick to come to an outstretched hand with food in it.

                                                           Photo by Jake

Even though these birds are not brightly colored,they are cute.

The males have more yellow on their wings,but even the females,like the one above,are pretty.

 

                                                                  Photo by Jake

Looks like this could be a very cold perch.

When the Siskins are around in large numbers,they will perch anywhere.

                                                              Photo by Ruth

They may even sit in line,waiting for a turn at the feed.

                                        Photo by Ruth

A lone Pine Siskin sitting on the Lilac stem.

These birds do sit still for very long at any time.

                                                               Photo by Ruth

The high pitched song of the Pine Siskin is quite uplifting on a cold winter day.

In my opinion,each bird has some beauty,even though I may not appreciate all of them at my feeders.

God's mighty hand

can be felt every minute,

for there is nothing on earth

that God isn't in it.

What a Day

Yesterday we were told by the weather man that a storm was on the way.

I woke up at 2:30 AM,and looked outside.

It was storming pretty hard,so I figured that I would have the day off.

This is what greeted us in the morning.

This above picture was taken from in our living room.

 If you look carefully you can see some vehicles stuck on the road.

Oh yes,school was cancelled and for good reason.

Here the wind has let up a little,so you can see the stuck vehicles better.

Throughout the day we had at least 8 vehicles stuck at this intersection.

Looking out of the dining room window,the poor birds were having  hard time,

but at least they had plenty of food.

Jake went outside to get a few pictures,I on the other hand was content to shoot through the windows.

Just another view of the PIne Siskins feeding.

They have been super busy today.

I stepped back a little to show that I was indeed standing in the living room.

The pictures are not the best quality,but I just wanted to show you what my day looked like today.

This last picture was taken from on our drive-way,on January 7,2010.

The Olympic Torch Relay came right down our street.

Unfortunately I did not get a shot of the torch because I had gone inside to dress warmer.

So that has been my day,snow,WINDY,and cold.

At least we have a warm house and each other,so we are doing well.

Let's Give the Mac a Try

Well the time has come to get back to normal.

I am making this post from my Mac.

Around here the last few days,although mild have been overcast and dull.

With this in mind I will post a few of last summer's pictures.

Once again I take you to one of our favorite places in Winnipeg,the English Gardens.

This Zinnia is bright enough to lighten up any day.

On a warm summer day,what better to do than this.

The Bunny had found a shady spot beneath the Day Lily leaves.

Another color and shape of Zinnia.

The colors are so vibrant and we saw butterflies attracted to them as well.

Mr. Frog was relaxing on the lily pads.

He was not very big so a leaf was big enough for a bathtub.

The English Gardens is a must see if you are ever in Winnipeg.

This is part of the extensive flower beds.

Looking at these pictures,I know that as soon as possible we will be back there for more.

In God's garden of love,

you are His Forget-Me-Not.