Mockingbird and Autumn Bokeh

May the sun shine all day long,

everything go right and nothing wrong.

May those you love bring love back to you,

and may all the wishes you wish come true!

~ Irish Blessing

About the image: Mockingbird on the fence - Taken 11-03-11 along Deerfield Trail - one of my favorite walking trails. Shooting into the sunlight is not always a good thing - but I liked the bokeh that developed in this one. For more info on Bokeh - click HERE

Brown Creeper Excitement

It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.

~David Attenboroughv

About the Image: Taken 11-03-11 as I walked along Deerfield Trail - Blacksburg, VA. It was only my 4th ever sighting of a Brown Creeper - which made it a VERY exciting day for me. They blend in so well with the trees and normally stay on the shady side that I usually have to ID by silhouette. Such neat little birds!

Relish Small Pleasures

Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures.

~H. Jackson Brown, Jr

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly - From the archives - August 2010 - Gateway Trail, Blacksburg VA

Taking a Deep Breath

Smile, breathe and go slowly. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Another shot from my archives of last summer. Not sure what kind of turtle this is. Seen at the Heritage Park Pond - Blacksburg Virginia - May 2010.

Imagination Took the Reins

White-breasted nuthatch on tree in my front yard

Imagination took the reins, and Reason, slow-paced, though surefooted, was unequal to a race with so eccentric and flighty a companion.
- Fanny Burney

Wednesday Wings ~ Wings in Motion

Growth, in some curious way, I suspect, depends on being always in motion just a little bit, one way or another. ~Norman Mailer

Sunday Simplicity

The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.

~Robert Louis Stevenson

Quiet Reflection

Visit Lisa HERE for more Macro Monday images!
Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action. ~Peter F Drucker

Using His Tail

I see woodpeckers using their tail this way - but this is the first time I've seen a Blue Jay use it like this.

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. ~Michael Jordon

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you Peace and Joy and Love and Kindness ~ today ~ and all of the days to come.

Merry Christmas!

Wednesday Wings - Winter Blues

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home. ~Edith Sitwell

Happy Wednesday!

Happiness comes .....

A flashback to summer ~ to brighten your day.

To see more critters snapped with the camera ~ Visit Camera Critters HERE.

Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed. ~Storm Jameson

Friday Feathers - Red, White and Black

This handsome gentleman (Red-bellied Woodpecker) dropped by for a visit about a week ago. I would like to purchase specific feeder just for the woodpeckers, but haven't found the one I want yet. I would welcome any suggestions you have!! Hope you have a FABULOUS Friday!

Simply give others a bit of yourself; a thoughtful act, a helpful idea, a word of appreciation, a lift over a rough spot, a sense of understanding, a timely suggestion. You take something out of your mind, garnished in kindness out of your heart, and put it into the other fellow's mind and heart.
- Charles H. Burr

Carolina Wren close-up

A Carolina Wren hanging out on the bird feeder wreath. They love to dig around and find the little treats I've sprinkled in it. Go HERE to find out how I made the wreath.

Happy is he who still loves something he loved in the nursery: He has not been broken in two by time; he is not two men, but one, and he has saved not only his soul but his life. ~G.K. Chesterton

Have a Wonderful Day!!

Wednesday Wings ~ Golden Delight

(Goldfinch on a snowy branch)

Let us savour the swift delights of the most beautiful of our days!
-Alphonse de Lamartine

Wishing you all a Wednesday full of DELIGHT!

Looking for Warmth

To see more Ruby Tuesday Reds visit: Mary at Work of the Poet

May you have warmth in your igloo, oil in your lamp, and peace in your heart.
- Eskimo proverb

Be Aware of Wonder

taken last year during one of our ice/snow events
How many of us go through our days unaware of the wonder around us? Every moment we have on this Earth is a unique gift, and we should cherish those moments and use them wisely ~ And be aware of the wonder around us.

Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

~Robert Fulghum

Friday Feathers - Watching the Snow

Carolina Wren watching the snow fall.

The million little things that drop into our hands, the small opportunities each day brings He leaves us free to use or abuse and goes unchanging along His silent way. ~Helen Keller

Nature's Connection

It has been brutally cold here this week so I thought a warm weather shot was needed!

“In nature we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it, under it and over it.”

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Portrait of a Lady

I Love how this lady posed for me!

And she gave me a good shot at the detail in her wings too.

Wishing you all a Wonderful Day!

If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give. ~George MacDonald