relax / rest

L - iphone / T - iphone

Enjoying a most beautiful spring day.

day 24 - an animal

L - iphone / T - iphone

Well we weren't very clever with this prompt for sure but it was a weekend of the animals - the dogs. Daisy had so much fun being outdoors all weekend long. With her new wireless collar she is free to roam around our big yard - roll in the cool green grass, romp through the ivy and forage around the firepit for the best charcoaled sticks. (does anyone know why dogs enjoy this? both daisy and evee loved picking charcoal bits out of the firepit and eating them)

day 14 - clouds

L - iphone / T - iphone

We had lunch together and brainstormed on her fairytale story she is choosing to write for her children's literature class. I went back to work and she took Daisy to the dog park. Not even the first day of spring yet and the temperatures are like summer - 80º today.

day 13 - sign

L - iphone / T - iphone (portion of a piece at Lamar Dodd Art school)

Signs of spring and signing as art.

day 5 - smile

L - Nikon / T - iphone

Or reasons to smile. Spring is almost here. / presents in the mail. ( i received the cutest present from my cousin. She knitted me some hand warmers and presented them on hand decorated hand forms and drew this adorable little fox for my card. she is the most thoughtful little girl i have ever known)

I have to show you the whole package. Check out the little fox on one hand and the adorable little hedgehog on the other. And isn't that a fine job of knitting for an 11 year old? - L

spring / winter

L - Nikon / T - iphone

daisy saw her shadow.

and so did the famous Punxsutawney Phil- saying we'll have 6 more weeks of winter. That's fine with me - doesn't seem like we've had one week of real winter here in the south. The birds have been singing like it's spring time. And I've seen spring flowers popping up. So I'm not so sure mr. groundhog is correct this time - after all he's only had a 39% accuracy rate. What do you think?

Happy May Day!

solo post - L , Nikon

Sing a song of spring on the first day of May.

"Let's twitter and tweet

Like the birdies in May

Get into the mood

And be merry today

Forget all your troubles and warble away

Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do

Oh!"

- Bambi soundtrack

I hope your day was beautiful and bright.

intricate / simple

solo post - L, Nikon

"Trust that your intuition is your supreme inner intelligence." - 54 keys to happiness

No matter how much knowledge we gather, sometimes it's simple intuition that gives us the answer we need.

running / soaring

L - Nikon / T - Canon

"Keep the child in you alive. " - 54 precious keys to happiness

(sorry for the repeat of the last one - it just seemed appropriate for these photos. After all, it is an important one and worth hearing again, right?)

Evee just turned 12 on April 6th. Pretty old for a dog but you'd never know it in the way she behaves. She still has puppy energy. I love to see her running like the wind, ears flapping, loving the warm sun and cool breezes of springtime. / with two weeks left of school and breezy weather, we decided it was a great day to fly a kite. unfortunately the dollar store two for one kites weren't all that reliable, but my friend has some sort of kite whispering abilities that made hers soar. i gave up and decided that all i could do was document, but i vow to get better soon, in the sun and freedom of summer.

purple jelly beans / pink pom poms

L - iphone

"Make keen use of your five senses and become a sensualist." - 54 precious keys to happiness

I was keenly aware of my five senses today as I sat outside and ate my lunch. I looked around at the colorful world around me - yellow tulips, pink pompom cherry blossoms, white and purple pansies, the green green grass and the beautiful blue sky - colors matching the sweet and chewy jelly beans I had as a snack. A bird sang and I couldn't place it's song. A cool breeze was blowing, that mixed with the warm sunshine, brought a tingle to my spine . It gusted at times whipping up a mist from the waterfalls that cooled my skin and blew around in swirling delight the soft pink petals of the cherry tree that landed in piles like pink snow. It was a delightful day to be outside.

What excited your senses today?

unfold / emerge

L - Nikon

"Remember that order - preceding beauty - underlies all things."

- 54 precious keys to happiness

hope / faith

L - iphone / T - phone pic

" Sustain hope and faith. "

- 54 precious keys to happiness

rouse / awaken - oh spring

L - Nikon / T - Canon

"The February sunshine steeps your boughs and tints the buds and swells the leaves within."

- William C. Bryant

p.s. flower overlay is added to photo - not wall.

i walked / she sat

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

The weekend was like a beautiful day in April.

"The sun was warm but the wind was chill.

You know how it is with an April day.

When the sun is out and the wind is still,

You're one month on in the middle of May.

But if you so much as dare to speak,

a cloud come over the sunlit arch,

And wind comes off a frozen peak,

And you're two months back in the middle of March."

- Robert Frost, Two Tramps in Mud Time, 1926

cool shade / cool rain

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

Taylor's back, at least for a day, and I really love the photo she sent me. It speaks of shelter, fresh, spring, protection, cool breezes, etc - just like my image does - synchronicity?

It was an unusually hot day for the first of May. I was walking around my back yard looking at the changes of growth... the ferns have all unfurled; the wild azaleas have faded - the rhododendrons are now in full bloom; the red buds are full of beautiful heart shaped leaves and little pods hang off the branches; the hydrangeas are budding out and the shasta daisies leaves look healthy. I stopped and sat on my little red bench to enjoy the shade of the beech tree and looked up - layers upon layers of new green that will provide a welcomed shade in the heat of summer. I love this tree – in all the seasons. / monday morning and the rain is a welcome relief from the heat of the weekend. problem is, it made me want to stay in bed and sleep! i guess the good part was that it kept me inside for the majority of the day- essentially guilting me into my school work (studying for finals now) since i had nothing more exciting to do with my time.

posy / bouquet*

solo post - L, Nikon

"A delicate fabric of bird song 
Floats in the air, 
The smell of wet wild earth 
Is everywhere. 
Oh I must pass nothing by 
Without loving it much, 
The raindrop try with my lips, 
The grass with my touch; 
For how can I be sure 
I shall see again 
The world on the first of May 
Shining after the rain?" 
- Sara Teasdale, May Day

I woke up this morning with good intentions of being productive today... then I stepped outside... with camera in hand. You know the story.

Hope you enjoyed this first day of May.

*not your traditional bouquet of flowers but it works for me

relaxing / peaceful

solo post - L, Nikon

It was such a peaceful and relaxing weekend . I woke up Saturday morning and stepped outside and immediately thought, "I'm not sure there could be a more delightful day"... that thought stayed with me the entire weekend.

spring up

solo post - L, Nikon

"And Spring arose on the garden fair, Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere; And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast rose from the dreams of its wintry rest."
- Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Sensitive Plant

April is colorful and sweet smelling - yards and work places are filled with pinks, purples, and reds of azaleas, oranges and purples of pansies, sunny yellow tulips, lavender red buds, brilliant green grass, and the pure whites of dogwoods - all in full bloom against a bright blue sky... and a sweet scent fills the air. It sure makes one feel alive to be surrounded by such beauty. I have to say I've been enjoying it to the fullest all week - lunches outdoors, relatively non-stressful days and home in time to enjoy the golden hour every single day so far. I hope your week has been sweet as well.

infinite

solo post - L, Nikon / Canon

“I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.” - e.e. cummings

yellow / green

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

The color of the week is yellow green. How appropriate. There is new growth all around us. I love this time of the year when the colors of green in the horizon are so varied. But I don't love the haze of yellow green that's in the air - it hangs in the air like a thick cloud and covers everything like a yellow blanket! The pollen count in Atlanta yesterday was 5733 - 120+ is considered extremely high. What? Well, thank goodness we've had a nice rain today to wash it all away. As I look out my office window now, the clouds have lifted and the world is clean and fresh looking, the pavement is grey again instead of pale yellow and once again you can tell that I drive a white car not a yellow one. / i came home yesterday to go to a concert. i had lunch with mom and i also got a haircut, finally. i needed one badly but now it seems so short to me. p.s. there is pollen everywhere, on everything. my green yellow car is now yellow green.