Along comes March

 

February brought a mixture of extreme cold days and then sunny pleasant days. Now March is here and the trees at this time are still bare and in their winter sleep.  This is a good time for me to walk the woods and to really see nature's gifts that I would, in the summer season ,not be able to see.

I gather empty wasps nests from the bare trees. In summer they are full of buzzing wasps and not easy to see with all of the leaves surrounding them. 

I find the wasp amazing creatures.  They can build their homes with such precision.  

Each nest , to me, looks like a piece of art.

I keep a few nests stored in brown paper bags to decorate in wreaths or sprays

 

 With just a few, I decorated with beads and silk flowers.

Also making a small bead wasp to be on the nest.  These make unique and whimsical wall hangings. 

I could not resist the pretty pansies at the local nursery.

I really love the color orange.

Usually I choose the pansies in the colors of blue and pink. What is your favorite color??

This year I decided on the orange and yellow.  They look so cheery and full of warmth.

So tell me........what is sprouting up in your back yard?

I would love to hear.

January

 

A new calendar for the new year has taken its place on the wall and a new month of the new year is already at its end.........

where does the time manage to go?.....I wonder. I look back on the old year with gratitude and  with many wonderful memories....what fun this past year brought to us!

Already this new year for many, has started with tragic happenings and so much uncertainty. So many have lost their homes, their lives, their way of life, and happiness in the fires in California, so many are under a heavy blanket of harsh winter weather on the other side of the nation. So many are trying to find hope starting a new year while still recovering from tragic loss of last year. Then there are those who are unknown, who are facing their own personal crisis and uncertainty.

For all of you.....I extend my prayers and good wishes.

Winter , here, has been dry, very dry......too dry with  days of  sun, and nights with extreme cold, and then days of pleasant sun and warmth with nights not so frigid.  The trees in the woods are all grey and bare with their limbs twisting and reaching up to the sky, 

yet the prickly pear cactus......never withering, never succumbing to any kind of weather... my constant foe in land battle, is standing green and strong.  

As for resolutions.....I choose not to have them these days.  There are things...... the same things that I must do....many from last year in waiting....things that I hope to do to make things better along the grounds and to make things better in my life. When it comes to the outside work that needs to be done, it seems that I can work and work for weeks to get it done and the minute I turn my back, it returns to being wild again. I like to think it is Mother Nature reminding me of where I live and that I am only a steward living here.  I guess if I were to label anything from the list of things I need to do......I would like to call them "accomplishments" for if I am to ever get them completely finished.......that would certainly be an accomplishment!

I personally start this year with gratitude and contentment, with a hope of peace to stay with us throughout each day that comes.

So tell me........do you have resolutions?  Do  you have hopes or plans? I would love to hear.

Here's wishing you days full of what you are hoping for!