Wild Berries, True Grit and Toadflax

Did somebody say wild berries?
No berries were hurt in the making of this post.

True Grit.

Best. Try. Ever.
Self-lesson about to begin.
Karina took a kayak and set out
(by herself) 
but the wind just wasn't willing to let her leave shore.



Admitting your
weakness does
not diminish
your strengths,
it shows your courage.
Erin Andrews

"I can't change the direction of the wind
but I can adjust my sails,
to always reach my destination."
Jimmy Dean

"Always be open in everything, because where there is secrecy, 

it often is mistakenly seen as being sneaky,

even though you may be innocently quiet."

"History is hereditary only in this way;
we, all of us, inherit everything,
and then we choose what to cherish
what to disavow
and what to do next
which is why it's worth trying 
to know where things come from."
Jill Lepore
(author of the Secret History of Wonder Woman)

I saw that!


"Your perspective on life comes from the cage you were held captive in."
Shannon L. Alder

Choose fun in the sun!
"Seek freedom and become captive of your desires!"
Frank Herbert


"Most misunderstandings in the world 
could be avoided if people would simply take the time to ask, 
What else could this mean?"
Shannon L. Alder



Excuse me.You know it's raining out right? barked Rusty.

Happiness is right where you are.

We gather where we wander.

Life is an adventure or it's nothing.

My greenhouse growing adventures has taken a new turn
of hopefully great heights, someday. Okay years from now.

"Go out into the world today 
and love the people you meet.
Let your presence light new light in the hearts of people."
Mother Teresa 

If you do,
It cures everything.

On your journey
 if you should happen 
upon an old shack in the woods-
rest a bit.

Perhaps you'll notice the hearty toadflax that is similar to the snapdragon.

Although, nature has a way of closing in on everything.

Be watchful.

For my Gnome fans.
This is for you.

Thanks for stopping by I appreciate your visits 
take good care of you.

Never Llama Drama

Just pure fun times! My place for llama inspiration is always at Lark Toys!

Critters feed the inner linings of our souls.

Bead 'em and lead 'em
just to see 'em
no Llama drama 
ever you see bring 'em
out and see.
Here Llama, Llama.

Don't find fault, find the remedy.

Henry Ford

Joining in with 

SATURDAY'S CRITTERS

Journeys between the pages of childhood.

Leadership is practiced not so much in words

as in attitude in actions.

Harold S. Geneen

As a matter of  fact yes, I am allowed to rest here.

For a brief political thought

If we lead with

 the persistence of a Llama,

the integrity of a fox

the heart of a dog

and the steadfastness of a cat

One would never be headed for complete destruction.

If it's broken, sometimes it truly needs fixing.

It's definitely

Time for change.

I have no special talents. I am passionately curious.

Albert Einstein

Sometimes you just can't beat the wind.

Did you all celebrate Flag Day?

Life is like eating a watermelon

you know you're going to get some seeds

just spit them out and take another bite.

Jeff Steinmann

Goldfish are flowers

flowers that move.

Han Suyin

There is nothing stronger in the world than gentleness.

Han Suyin

People bring to what they see and feel 

the inner weather of their souls

and complexion of their minds.

Han Suyin

Does Anybody Really Know

Did you catch the rainbow?

Does anyone really know how to find
the Cheshire Cat from Wonderland?

Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree,

 "What road do I take?"

'It doesn't really matter which way you go,' said the cat 

'so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added

Does Anybody Really Know 

what troubles some,

 while others breeze on through life?

How do they do it?

Lately it's felt like we're left with so many questions, realizing there may never be any answers.

After the recent loss of Anthony Bourdain

and Kate Spade a friend of mine offered this quote.

"But pain's like water. It finds a way to push through any seal.

There's no way to stop it.

Sometimes you have to let yourself sink 

inside of it before you can learn to swim to the surface."

Katie Kacvinsky

"Be like a duck. 

Calm on the surface but always

paddling like the dickens underneath."

Michael Caine

"Context and memory play powerful roles

in all the truly great meals of one's life."

Anthony Bourdain

There's something calming about a camper's breakfast, under the trees and among the birds.

Always enjoy those little precious moments

because you'll miss them most when they're gone.

You need to be content with small steps.

Really.

That's all life is.

and of course that moment you bite into a delicious sugar cookie!

Gather as many small steps as you can, that you take every day

so that when you look back down the road

You are starstruck! 

and you're better with every single step you took.

It all adds up and you know you've covered the distance.

Feeding your soul.

Find your calming presence.

Take a deep breath

get present in the moment

and ask yourself

What is important this very second?

Everything?

Or?

"If we have no peace,
it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
Mother Teresa

Togetherness.Our travels or journeys within our days, even if it's short, are ours to enjoy.
  "Travel changes you. 
As you move through this life and this world
you change things slightly,
you leave marks behind,
however small.
And in return, life and travel, leaves a mark on you."
Anthony Bourdain


Always, stack up those marks!

Wear your smile as wide as you can

and give away as many as you can.

Thanks for stopping by and bringing your smiles to me.

Take good care of you.

Silly is as Silly Does or Capricious and The Nude

"In this life, all is evanescent. Live for the now."
Carlyle Labuschagne

This morning.
The planting of flowers in the rain

 offers the best sort of watering ever.

The Nude Painting

A woman goes to a painter and says,

"Could you paint me in the nude."

"Okay," says the painter.

"But I might have to keep my socks on otherwise

 I'll have nowhere to put my brushes."

"The history of the bow and arrow 

is the history of mankind."

Fred Bear

"Our night brushed aside like cobwebs. 
 Our day begins wound loosely 
yet one twist or bend makes all the difference.
We reach back in memory 
sensing the tighter webs
of lingering memories.
 Before our last fleeting dream escapes our thoughts
slipping beyond the last of the fog, 
those spectral and evanescent residues, 
have faded beyond our reach, loosely."

"A consistent  soul believes in destiny,

a capricious one in chance."

Benjamin Disraeli

"A person does not grow from the ground
like a vine or a tree,
one is not part of a plot of land.
Mankind has legs so it can wander."
Roman Payne

People on earth
are everywhere.

Behind every new door something begins.

Buildings always seem to speak out for themselves.

The trick is to listen.

Pull up a chair.

Sharing lunch with an old friend
the more we share the more we have.


The circle of life.

There are always two sides to every window.

Our sweet friend Cloudia always shares the most beautiful of rainbows, 
which I tried doing here.  It happened to be a double rainbow.  This photo only shows part of the strongest one.

May every path that greets you be as beautiful as each of you are.
We are strong, bold and brave.

Sometimes you just have to drop anchor and be wistful.

Thanks for stopping by
take good care of you.

Catching Up

Catching up with Carmi's THEMATIC PHOTOGRAPHIC and Red as his  last week's theme
and SATURDAY'S CRITTERS.

Reset and Revive
It's what we do to catch up with things.

Somedoggy stole my seat!

"The dream was always running ahead of me. 
To catch up, to live for a moment
in unison with it, that was the miracle."
Anais Nin


A wee bit of RED for Thematic Photographic

and a wee bit of doggy romance too. Notice she's in a red car.

Dash is just freshly groomed and ready to rock and roll!

"Life doesn't give us purpose

we give life purpose."
Flash


Especially for Ride your Bike to work day, downtown Minneapolis.

"Learn to pause 
or nothing worthwhile will catch up to you."
Doug King

Here's looking at you Rusty!

(He still has the same bone we lost in the snow a few weeks ago!)

There she goes. I'll probably never ever see that doggy-girl-poodle again,
"Give nonsense a good head-start 
with Tradition and Habit
cheering it from the sidelines,
and if you think 
Reform can catch up with it inside 
of two or three thousand years or more
your opinion is contrary to experience."
unknown

I fully agree with this quote by Tom Wolfe
(I'm sure he's up there somewhere, still learning, still discovering.)

"To me the great joy of writing is discovering.
Most writers are told to write about what they know,
but I still love the adventure of going out and 
reporting on things I don't know about."

Yep. Sounds perfect doesn't it? Learn things. Be adventurous.
Venturesome. 
Venture-a-lot!

Stop. Sit. Listen. See. Be. "It's life that matters, nothing but life
the process of discovering,
the everlasting and perpetual process,
not the discovery itself, at all."
Fyodor Dostoyevsky

and smiles. It's all about those cute little smiles.
"The soul is healed by being with children."
Fyodor Dostoyevsky

We are mighty!
"It's a funny thing about life,
 once you begin to take note of the things
you are grateful for,
you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack."
Germany Kent

Take really good care of you!