Spring Morning Light

"This morning, that spring morning light,

something special, magical, the low dim, soft light

illumining the treetops, the nascent buds, the flowers

translucent, glowing a cherry red, burnt orange highlights

a warming sun, not yet hot, awaking the forest, the woods

just off the highway, still visible into the thin groves

before the summer leaves block the view

the spring morning light, washing through,

more than filtered light, shining spotlight still

down to the forest floor, all the woods awash, bathed

in that wondrous spring morning light"

I wish everyone a season full of magic. May the glorious light of Spring be full of joy and peace. May all your dreams blossom just like wild flowers in the fields.

Photo by Weheartit.com
Poem by Raymond A. Foss

Ivy Days

I have a strange passion for Ivy. It's right up there with my love for roses, hydrangeas, peonies and full moons. I'd love to wrap my shoulders with Ivy tendrils, let them cascade down my back. Ivy is Nature's own Spanish Mantilla.

I love the smell of Ivy, the shape of the leaves

I love the way it wraps around abandoned homes

 statues

 and fountains, as if to say, "don't worry, don't be lonely, I'm here even when no one else is..."

A simple iron gate becomes a work of art adorned with Ivy garlands

Ivy covered walls become mysterious partitions behind which fairies hide

Ivy makes a cottage window as elegant as one in a castle

Snow covered Ivy is an everlasting green blanket that provides shelter and warmth

I want Ivy on my tombstone. I want my name outlined by tender fragile leaves...

Photos by Weheartit.com and Bing Images

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I am not Irish but I have come to love this special day through special friends. It's quite impossible not to join them and believe there is gold at the end of the rainbow. Magic, just like love and laughter, knows no boundries, no frontiers, and so, here's a heartfelt wish from a non-Irish kindred spirit:

"May you have -

Walls for the wind

And a roof for the rain,

And drinks bedside the fire

Laughter to cheer you

And those you love near you,

And all that your heart may desire"

Celtic prayer

Photo by Weheartit.com

Miss Willmott

I have a tendency to fantasize (sometimes more than I should) about  things. For example, in the gardening world, I find plants' Latin names to be too scientific. I much prefer the common ones used by gardeners who, like myself, are probably unable to memorize or pronounce such words. I ask you, is there a romantic heart able to resist the charm found in names like "Sorcerer's Violet" or "Roaming Charlie"?  This brings me to Miss Willmott  aka potentilla nepalensis, a beautiful perennial with magenta colored flowers. As a result of my fanciful disposition, I envisioned the lady after which the plant was named to be a beautiful woman, quiet but passionate. I went as far as to imagine this woman's dwellings, a thatched roofed cottage hidden away in the gorgeous English countryside. I am saddened to have learned this could not be further from the truth. Miss Ellen Ann Willmott was in fact "a short-tempered nutter who berated her army of gardeners if she spotted even a single weed."

This discovery should deter me from fantasizing about people and the plants that are named after them, but I know the next time I visit a garden center I will stop in my tracks as I pick something called perhaps... "Love in a Mist"... and I won't be able to resist taking a trip aboard the Wings of Fancy.

Flooded

It's been a crazy weekend. Spent amidst buckets, wet towels, noisy wet vacuums. We got enough water in our basement to create minor waves and ripples.  I confess I did imagine I was Alice in the pool of tears so I made sure I carried a thimble in my pocket...

In any case, here I am, my fingers are a bit wrinkly but other than that, I'm okay. All I can say is one thing:

I am ready for Spring!!!!

Photo by Bing Images