Cherish is my favorite word, and I cherish the ability of turning the routine into a beautiful moment.
Nature creates in me, a spiritual and meditative time to bring peace, harmony and balance, into an otherwise ordinary day~
Mary Howell Cromer







Sunday, October 13, 2013

Something to Share While We Are Away~

Red-Shouldered Hawk has a wee meal of a Cicada in it's talons~
We are currently in the state of Washington, and have been here a few days, a very long way from home!  
Tomorrow we head back up into Montana and Canada for a few days, before heading to South Dakota and slowly making our way back to Tingsgrove, Kentucky.  
The SHUTDOWN in the states has made for a mean reception, but it will not rob us of our joy in seeing the beauty of the land.
We have been without phone reception, and we have very little Internet time, so please forgive me for not being able to visit at this time.
Take care all~
Remember to double click on the image, to view a larger slide show of the images shared ~

*** I am going to at least try and link up to Mosaic Monday and Wild Bird Wednesday...will be on the road for a while and so, it all depends on Internet access. 
The weather across the country looks bleak, as well as the SHUTDOWN of our government...what stress this brings our way!

I am linking up with Mary for:

"Mosaic Monday"


at:
 





and
I am linking up with Stewart at:

 This chap was hiding well in the evergreen tress, but I am pretty certain that it was a Yellow-Rumped Warbler~


As Autumn colourations begin a  Downy Woodpecker is thinking that I cannot see him~

This tree limb image was taken a while back at Cave Hill Cemetery. 
The children thought that it looked like an elephant trunk ;)~

Wildflowers and berries along Beargrass Creek~



The Chipmunk was eating a Slug in this photo.  I never even knew that they ate bugs~
Tufted Titmouse going for the Sunflower seeds across the lane~





American Goldfinches at the entrance to Fox Hollow Farms taking in Thistle and Cone Flower seeds~

 

The image below may not look like much and yet, I am so very proud of it. 
We cannot grow a thing...either the weather is all wrong, too much shade, or critters, critters, critters take what we planted to eat, and, or bury somewhere else. 
I planted seeds of Blue Sage a year ago and they thrived in the house under a special plant light all Winter. 
This past Spring I transplanted them into the garden and last week, I had my first pale blue, lacey and delicate Blue Sage flowers...so happy~

Here is hoping that my ID is correct on the next image. 
My best guess is Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Correction accepted with a smile~

Early Monday morning at the Icelandic Horse Farm in Prospect, KY~



There are still hundreds of Sunflower seeds on the huge flowers across the lane from me~



We have lived her for 32 years and until a year ago, we never had a Groundhog around here. 
This one appeared and stays just on our lane and runs the full length of it. 
It must have had a successful hibernation last year and here is hoping the Winter shall be mild and all of us do well~






It may not be healthy, I really do not know, but we have a whole lot of our trees just like this one, adorned by trailing Ivy that has grown up and now hanging back down for decades, and I find them really lovely~

 


 
 

It was only a week ago that I saw this Monarch. 
I can count on one hand how many we saw this entire season...
Quite sad~
 
 

We took the children to Henry's Ark Petting Zoo recently, and of all of the animals, I found this lone sheep to be quite charming, just tucked in and resting~


Have a very happy and blessed week and stay safe~
 


15 comments:

  1. the ponies are beautiful! congrats on the blue sage growth! hope it make it. enjoy your travels and be safe.

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  2. HI Mary, we have been away for 6 weeks travelling, and I have missed your blog posts in that time. I can certainly relate to limited internet time, but then there was so much to do and see while we were away it probably was a blessed relief not to have internet.
    But now I return I so much enjoyed your post today, as I always love seeing your corner of the world. Congratulations on the blue sage flowers. And I really should try growing sunflowers - they would have wonderful photography models.
    Happy safe travels. hugs Jill

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  3. Lovely images and scenes, Mary! I hope you are having a great trip! ENJOY!!

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  4. Hi Mary. I enjoyed your photos as always. I hope you are having a wonderful trip and see lots of great sights. I know your camera will be clicking away. Be safe. Blessings, Pamela

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  5. Wow - what a wonderful series of photos and collages! I could never pick a favorite. They're all just beautiful.

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  6. Lovely photos. I didn't know chipmunks ate anything besides seeds either.

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  7. You may be far from home but we are all still with you Mary.Shame about the shutdown and places you may want to visit. Fingers crossed for all our sakes.

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  8. Another wonderful post... your collages and images are fantastic.

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  9. A great series of photos and I hope you are safe and enjoying your holiday.

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  10. A wonderful post Mary you really do put so much effort into them... lovely images.
    Have a safe trip...

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  11. Wonderful photos! I enjoyed them all, but the hawk and the horses were my favorites. Safe travels!

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  12. Your post is amazing for someone with low internet time. You have outdone all of us ... and beautiful pictures, all of them. I admire your triumph over the blue sage. It is hard to start something from seed and even harder to keep them from being bird/animal bate. A job well done ... you should be proud. Your vacation sounds wonderful and very natural ... at least you don't have to listen and see the news every day to find how awful our congress is ... they are really bent on bringing our country to its knees ... and all of us with it. A sad commentary to what has been a wonderful democratic country. Well, enough said ... enjoy and enjoy more ... Look forward to your next post.

    Andrea @ From The Sol

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  13. Mary! We are on the road too, heading to our winter home in FL. I hope the parks opened up on time for you to see what you wanted to see (I know I'm reading this way late ...same problems as you mentioned).....we were in S Dakota last week....

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  14. Hit send too soon... darn IPAD..... Your pictures are incredible and it was lovely of you to leave this post before you got on the road. Such a wonderful variety.

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