The Smiles of Nature - and Other Things

Colors are the smiles of nature.

~ Leigh Hunt

The shadow of your smile
When you have gone.
Will colour all my dreams
And light the dawn.
~ Paul Webster (The Shadow of Your Smile)
Beautiful sunrise. Mist across the bay. Gold in the sky. All reflecting in the tranquil lake. How could one not smile?


 



Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it's breaking
~ Charles Chaplin (Smile) 
 I was delighted to discover that we had bleeding hearts growing here.






Keep on smilin' thru the rain
Laughin' at the pain
Just flowin' with the changes
Till the sun comes out again
~ Jimmy Hall - Wet Willie (Keep on Smiling)
This sign, at a local baked goods and trinkets shop, gave me a chuckle.






When you're smiling, when you're smiling
The whole world smiles with you.
~ Joe Goodwin (When You're Smiling)
Saturday morning garage sales - perfect for restocking the library. I just finished reading Secret Daughter. American and East Indian story line. Canadian author. It's not bad.






Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag, and smile, smile, smile. 
~ George Henry Powell/Asaf (Smile, Smile, Smile)
A decorative bicycle parked in a yard seen on one of my outings.






Smile an everlasting smile
A smile could bring you near to me
~ Barry Gibb - Bee Gees (Words)
Benny - he makes everyone smile. I know you agree.






Whenever I see your smiling face I have to smile myself because I love you. Yes, I do.
~ James Taylor (Your Smiling Face)
As promised in my last post, here is the strangest little creature I've ever seen on the outside of the window pane. This adorable tree frog was only about 3cm (just over an inch) long. Cute, or what?







A long, long time ago I can still remember how the music used to make me smile - 
~ Don McLean (American Pie)
These little guys provide night music (much like crickets do) during their mating season in late spring and early summer.







I'm so happy that you love me.
Life is lovely when you're near me.
Tell me you will stay. Make me smile
~ James Pankow (Thanks, Suldog) - Chicago (Make Me Smile)
Colourful Muskoka chairs (Adirondak chairs south of the border) always make me smile. They remind me of the Laurentians, north of Montreal, where we spent our summers as children.






Keep smiling, keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me, for sure
That's what friends are for.
~ Carole Bayer Sager (That's What Friends Are For)
My Skitty and Zephyr always make me smile. True brotherly love.





To know, know, know you
Is to love, love, love you
Just to see you smile
Makes my life worthwhile
To know, know, know you
Is to love, love, love you
And I do, yes I do, yes I do
~ Phil Spector (To Know You is to Love You)
This gentle paw belongs to my beautiful Zephyr.






Looking back at sunsets on the east side
We lost track of the time
Dreams aren't what they used to be
Some things slide by so carelessly
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
~ Mark Stoermer- Killers (Smile Like You Mean It)
We face east so when a sunset provides colours this vivid, it makes me wonder just how brilliant the view would be facing west. Of course, then we'd miss our wonderful sunrises.

More photos coming up.. sometime.

My Soul is Sunshine

In the garden, my soul is sunshine. ~ Proverb

Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable, butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life. And everyone deserves a little sunshine. ~ Jeffrey Glassberg

This little beauty was flitting about from flower to flower but paused here and there allowing me to photograph it.

We were so far back in the woods, they almost had to pipe in sunlight. ~ Roy Rogers

A brand new growth of pine needles. They're as soft as a kitten's ear.

What is it about a beautiful sunny afternoon, with the birds singing and the wind rustling through the leaves, that makes you want to get drunk? ~ Jack Handy

This gull was photographed from across the creek. Look closely and you'll see that it's making a meal of one of the trout which never made it all the way upstream, this spring. Look even closer and you'll see that the gull only has one leg. His left seems to end abruptly right below the joint. I only noticed this once the photos were uploaded.

I never knew how soothing trees are - many trees and patches of open sunlight, and tree-presences - it is almost like having another being. ~ D.H. Lawrence

This is the field across the street from Frank's place. You can see the park bench in the background. I just liked the way the sunlight was illuminating the tree.

Love comforteth like sunshine after rain. ~ William Shakespeare

This little baby robin was keeping his mama busy searching for worms and feeding him. His little "cheep, cheep!" sounded an awful lot like "feed me!" I'm certain that his mama thought so too.

Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

I'm not sure what these flowers are but they're about as tiny as the nail on my pinky.

Sunlight is painting. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

A brand new red maple leaf caught within a shaft of sunlight.

Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you. ~ Walt Whitman

You might have to lean back from the monitor to see the human profile in this image. This was what I saw, one evening when looking through the curtain on Frank's back door. Does he look a bit foreboding? Worry not, it was just Frank's older son standing on the back deck talking to his dad.

Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day. ~ W. Earl Hall

Bunnies are incredibly cute creatures. Not terribly bright. But darn cute. This little guy was dining on grass and weeds. You can see that we caught him frozen in mid munch.

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul. ~ Luther Burbank

What more is there to say about these Bleeding Hearts? I think Luther pretty much covered it all.

I'll have more photos in a few days. Thanks always for joining me.

A day without sunshine is like, you know, night. ~ Steve Martin

F Words

Foliage, Flowers and Feathers. What did you think the F words were?

You might think these are autumn leaves but they're not. They belong on Frank's Red Maple tree in his back yard. The colours are beautiful, particularly when the sun is shining through them from behind.

Out in the fields, ferns have unfurled to reveal lovely, lacy patterns.

A gull, unsuccessful in catching a fish, pond water still dripping from its beak.

Bleeding hearts. I never tire of seeing Nature's little love flower.

Another red leaf from the Red Maple tree, late in the evening, just before dark.

A mystery bird. This little cutie was sitting on the boulevard just as we were heading out for a walk. I think it's a juvenile but I have no idea which kind of bird it is. Can anyone please help with this?

And speaking of mysteries, I have no idea what kind of flower this is but I liked how it looked in the near-dark.

A beautiful Eastern Kingbird posed perfectly atop a high branch.

The brilliant red feathers of red-winged blackbird as he comes in for a landing.

Thanks for joining me in exploring a few F words. They're be more photos coming up real soon.

In the Pink

“Almost all words do have color and nothing is more pleasant than to utter a pink word and see someone's eyes light up and know it is a pink word for him or her too” ~ Gladys Taber

“The very pink of perfection.” ~ Oliver Goldsmith

“Picasso had his pink period and his blue period. I am in my blonde period right now.” ~ Hugh Hefner

"More pink here, if you please." ~ Franz Liszt

"I believe in pink." ~ Audrey Hepburn

"Pink is not just a colour it's an attitude." ~ Miley Cyrus

Tickled Pink

The colour pink, warm and lovely colour that it is, is rather limiting as far as subject matter goes. At least for me. So for this post, there's an abundance of flowers which make up the rosy end of the spectrum (Frank, I know your eyebrows just shot up at "rosy end." Stop it!).

Judging by your kind and supportive comments in the previous post, about inviting a bit of green into our northern hemisphere winter, I doubt you'll object to seeing mostly floral images as you scroll down through the photos. Please remember to click on each of them to enlarge.

"I fell off my pink cloud with a thud."
~ Elizabeth Taylor'

“Almost all words do have color and nothing is more pleasant than to utter a pink word and see someone's eyes light up and know it is a pink word for him or her too” ~ Gladys Taber

"More pink here, if you please."
~ Franz Liszt

"Pink - it's the colour of passion."

~ Aerosmith lyrics from Pink

The Brain: "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"

Pinky: "I think so Brain, but Zero Mostel times anything will still give you Zero Mostel." ~from Pinky and the Brain

“The very pink of perfection.”

~ Oliver Goldsmith

"That last kiss
I'll cherish
Until we meet again"
~ Who Knew? by Pink

"When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown,
The dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb."
~ Pink Floyd lyrics from Comfortably Numb

"We don't have none of this stuff in the boy's room! Wait a minute! We don't got none of this... we don't got doors on the stalls in the boy's room, we don't have, what is this? What's this? We don't have a candy machine in the boy's room! " ~ from Pretty in Pink

And a few fun Inspector Clouseau quotes from The Pink Panther Strikes Again:

"Now then, what do we know? One, that Professor Fassbinder and his daughter have been kidnapped. Two, that someone has kidnapped them. Three, that my hand is on fire."

"A beekeeper who has lost his voice, a cook who thinks he's a gardener, and a witness to a murder. Oh, yes. It is obvious to my trained eye, that there is much more going on here than meets the ear."

"Of course it won't be easy; nothing worthwhile ever is. That is why I have always failed where others have succeeded."

Back in a few days - possibly with another colour.

Sum Sum Summertime

There isn't much that I don't like about summer. I love the sights, sounds and fragrances which represent my favourite season.

(Click to enlarge)

On those particularly hot days, you might want to relax under the shade of a large umbrella and enjoy the garden.

(Click to enlarge)

Flowers, such as these Bleeding Hearts are in full bloom.

(Click to enlarge)

This stray bell-shaped flower took root in the crack of a patio stone, and grows right beside the step.

(Click to enlarge)

This small yellow blossom, found shortly after a light rainfall brightens its surroundings like the emerging sunshine.

(Click to enlarge)

This little bug seemed to reflect the colour of the surrounding foliage.

(Click to enlarge)

Here's a bit of perspective which shows how tiny it was.

(Click to enlarge)

The early evening sun filters through from behind this tree, casting a long shadow. This is my favourite time of day.

(Click to enlarge)

Late-day sunshine seems to saturate its surroundings with intense colour. The bark of these trees almost appear to be lit from within.

(Click to enlarge)

A short while later, this park bench glistens like gold in the setting sun.

(Click to enlarge)

The rising moon and setting sun provide soft contrasting colours behind this dead tree's silhouette.

(Click to enlarge)

As the day grows dark, two birds bid each other "goodnight" with their song.

(Click to enlarge)

A Canada Day firework set off at the end of our street. With this, I wish a Happy 4th to our Amurikan pals, from your friends north of the border!