Contemplating.

Contemplating.
Wayzata, Minnesota

Saturday, April 30, 2016

Critter Photographer Well


Not so much.

Yes I admit that I'm not a talented nature photographer (something worth changing) (and I'm trying) and watching all the talented nature photographers right here,
 as most of our fellow bloggers are here in our happy Blogland. 
But that's okay. I'll keep learning from you. 
So that being said, here is my post for 


on this fine Saturday morning!


Cool little cowboy.



Three main things here for me- 
cute-adorable boy, sweet pony and his shadow.


King of the fence post gnome critter of course.
(Especially for Mac)


I will continue to capture faces that I love 
and critters that are standing still.



Did mention I enjoy pictures? Not just shooting them either. Photographs, retain the beauty and special moments of our lives. 



Oh Jasmine you are so pretty and graceful  


and yet, you know how to roar. Or are you just yawning?! 
Yep, she was just yawning.



 Mr. Bunny is hiding in the shade of the old oak tree. 
Just kidding, it's not an oak but it sounds better.

Hey, now the grass looks inviting right?


Umbrella critters.

and a giant shadow approaching.




You are the sunshine that makes my day!
Raining or not.



On the good side, they're really red and
 so they stand out better in shots like this.


You see a camera sees differently than we do.

The latest in bunny-apparel for wine bottles.


Best bunny capture to date!


On a grey day anything can happen
and here to greet me 


Honk Honk!


On finding critters (even stuffed) that know how to
 make your day brighter,
just by being there.


Enjoy every single second of your weekend.
As we all know Monday is soon to arrive and the week will
begin again.  Aren't we lucky for that!
Take good care of you.

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Pick A Daisy

Good morning all!

This day has me thinking about my dear father and remembering how we always celebrated his special day.  So I'm sending birthday wishes and hugs up to heaven.


This photo was taken a few years before my father was born, but it pretty much describes the way things were in his world way back when.  (My grandmother was quite the gardener) 
His childhood was spent mostly outdoors, taking in clean fresh air, playing and raising animals of all kinds, and of course lots and lots of flowers, and vegetables too. His older sister was born to ride, and showed him many things!

Then, once my daddy turned 12 his father moved away to Arizona and during the summer months and his college years my Daddy really learned what life of a cowboy was all about.


Welcome to another


"You have to decide if you're going to wilt like a daisy 
or if you're just going to go forward 
and live the life that you've been granted."
Kevin Costner


Go forward always.

"Always have something beautiful in sight,
even if it's just a daisy in a jelly glass."
H. Jackson Brown Jr.





I don't really know why
but daisies always make me smile.

Enjoy your day, and pick a daisy 
but don't keep it
give it away today!





Tuesday, April 26, 2016

The Tulips and The Gnome

"Others said May was best,
that sweet green time when 
lilacs bloomed and gardens along Main Street
 were filled with sugary pink peonies and Dutch tulips."
Alice Hoffman


What the Gnome said to the tulips.





You simply can't compare me to another tulip.
Because this isn't a competition.
I'm one of a kind, and that's real.




"You're strictly a tulip girl, a red tulip girl."
Alyson Noel




2 Am's were made for Poets/
lovers/writers.
Visionaries.
Photographers.
Painters.
Over Thinkers.
Silent seekers.
These are my favorite hours.
Tulisan Manda


Green tulips growing ever so softly-



It's a time when dogs and cats
and tulips sleep
while you create.




When I grow up I want to be a tulip. 
The Gnome








Play outside. Get dirt on your hands and face. Play.




From the days long. long, long ago when the sun came out to play.





Be Happy! Take good care of you.

Monday, April 25, 2016

For Who Can We Be

Oh Deary me!

Welcome dear ones!




"For who can we be, but ourselves."
Molly Vonk


Photo by Tom Chambers

"The great man is he who in the midst of the crowd
keeps with perfect sweetness
the independence of solitude."
Ralph Waldo Emerson


Said the deer to the girl,

"I live by the nature of me."

Always bring you
to everything you do.
Never let anyone change you
from being you.

Live out of your own skin
like something akin
to gratitude pursue.

It's the perfect thing to do.
Be your main character
just live out loud.



"Today you are you!
That is truer than true.
There is no one alive
who is you-er than you."
Dr. Seuss

Fall in love with your life.

Friday, April 22, 2016

Insight with Good Fences

Insight










A stroll through town.
A few fences
And a few critters along the way.



Lions in stone or alive are always
Sharp, shrewd and smart.

A place where lions watch over all.
















"A moment's insight is sometimes worth a life's experience."
Oliver Wendell Holmes







"A man's mind is stretched by a new idea or sensation,
and never shrinks back to it's former dimensions."
Oliver Wendell Holmes



What once was Lakeville's All Saints Catholic Church





Is now our Lakeville Area Arts Center












Visiting the memorial garden at McGuire Middle school where plaques, birdhouses, benches, newly planted trees and pavers commemorate those who have died. In honor of teachers as well as students.










I took this photo a couple of years ago,
 but it's a perfect photo to remind us that 
it's tick season once again.  







Don't put off your tick checks,
 especially when romping anywhere outside.


"The greatest of all faults is to imagine you have none."
Author Unknown



Enjoy your Friday and weekend as well!


Monday, April 18, 2016

Solitude

Thoughts on 

SOLITUDE
and

CHILDREN/ANIMALS
Eyes that see no hatred.



"We need solitude,
because when we're alone,
we're free from obligations,
we don't need to put on a show,
and we can
HEAR our own thoughts."
Tamin Ansary





Try to see the world through the eyes of a child/animal.




Eyes that are not yet cynical or skeptical. 



Eyes that marvel at everything they see. 









The lessons we learn from children about life 









are so much more important than the lessons we teach them.








 Think happy thoughts.
Leslie Inner Calm Reiki




"Being alone is very difficult."
Yoko Ono

But I believe my alone time
is what makes me appreciate everyone and everything.

What do you think?

Enjoy your day 
be it alone or not
and take good care of you.




Saturday, April 16, 2016

Really Mama, on Saturday Critters


About ready to head out for some Minnesota captures, but first,


Welcome to SATURDAY'S CRITTERS





"Really Mama? You kind of make me look like a girly-girl here."




"Tell me I'm clever, tell me I'm kind, 
Tell me I'm talented, tell me I'm cute,
Tell me I'm sensitive, graceful and wise
Tell me I'm perfect-
But tell me the truth."
Shel Silverstein



I'm caught in the act of kissing in this photo.



Emmie is a sweetie. 


"Underneath my outside face
There's a face that none can see
A little less smiley
A little less sure,
But a whole more like me."
Shel Silverstein 






I'm a cutie right?






We do a whole lot of kissing in our family!




"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts.
Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me....  
Anything can happen, child. Anything can be."
Shel Silverstein




Sure Mom, go and leave us all alone on a Friday night 
and post all those pictures of other dogs the next day.