tiny birds and big branches

**note**

i was writing the post (below) last Sunday evening,

while it snowed and hailed outside

and just as i was gonna click "PUBLISH",

the power went out!

And it stayed out - until today - Wednesday.

Rather than go into a long drawn out story

about how many storms we've been getting lately,

and about freezing rain & hail

and broken trees and downed power lines,

and how much i enjoyed my tea tonight - 

i thought i'd just show you a few photos my son took,

and then go on with the post i was GOING to send on Sunday.

check these out.

Beauty & devastation, all in one...

(and here's my post from last Sunday - PRE storm)

hello everyone! 

i'm gonna be all over the place in this post,
so bear with me, ok?
It's just that kinda day, week, month. :-)

I bought this mini urn for some of mom's ashes...
(it feels strange to even write those words)
mom loved birds
and i just thought this was so appropriate.
I love how tiny and simple it is.
There are some things you just can't do right away
after the loss of a loved one.
Thinking about urns was one of them for me.
When the time is right, you'll know.

ok, big week of books!
Ordered these on Amazon and they came last week.
Wooo hoooo! 
Now if spring can get here, 
i can enjoy coffee on the deck with these lovelies. :-)

something else came this week too...
this beautiful print by the lovely Stephanie Guimond -
I so love it.
Stephanie is one of those people
who is exactly the same in person as she is on-line.
Adorable.

She and i met on-line a few years ago,
and when she came to visit her family
in eastern Canada two summers ago,
we met in person for coffee.
Clicked right away,
as if we had known each other for years.
I love who she is,
and how she does what she does.

On another note,
we got a blizzard this week.
Couldn't see across the street.
i've given up on wishing it was over.
It'll end when it ends.
In the meantime, i'm appreciating the beauty
as much as i can
and staying warm.

The day after the storm.
You gotta admit, this is pretty, right?
a snow drift on our front lawn
(which incidentally, is USUALLY grass by now...)

and this little surprise when we opened the garage doors...
the snow blew in somehow from a tiny crack in the doors,
and created this cute little blob of what looks like
shaving cream, or cool whip!

...or a big nose!
there's beauty all around us.
It's just that sometimes,
it's found in unlikely places
and i'll be honest -
after 4 months of winter, 
snow is the LAST place we wanna look for beauty!

Then a bit of painting...

 (watercolour on paper)

Oh look! Dots & lines! 
How refreshing! ;-)

 And then this one...

watercolour on paper again,
from an image in a book filled
with the most beautiful photography.

 I wanted to keep it just one tone,
or at least close to one tone.
Simple.
Uncomplicated.

I just love these photos.
Full of deep meaning and mystery.
We may think of ourselves as a rich country,
but sometimes, when i see photos like this one,
i think we have our priorities all wrong.

I think we could learn so much
by letting go of the idea that "having more"
means "being more".
It doesn't.
There are more ways than one
to feel caged in or suffocated,
just like there are more ways than one
to know freedom.

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead!

Thanks for being here. xx