Recently I had a couple of people come up to me and say how much they love my Facebook posts. They love the positivity and the pictures I post. They both said they had had some difficult times in the past year, but always found my posts gave them something to think about and it helped them work through their issues. I was pleasantly surprised. I’ve had people comment on my posts and pictures many times, but to have people tell me this in person means a lot.
I haven’t posted on my blog since my Ireland trip, so I thought I’d post one before the New Year. I’ll try to share a picture or two, in case I can’t choose just one, from each month and perhaps include a few words about what they mean to me.
I hope you will find some enjoyment, or inspiration, from them, as I do. Going forward, I will try to post more blogs in the coming year. And I will try to remain positive in a world that has much too much negativity.
Here we go…..I thought choosing the pictures would be easy, but not so. I struggled and spent hours looking through the whole year. Some months will have two, while others will have three.
JANUARY
What is prettier than an Amaryllis? Love the rich red colour of this one. They are fun to watch, as they grow so high and quite quickly. And they come in a variety of reds, pinks, whites and combinations.
My Happy Place – is a location in my yard that I can sit and look towards the upper end of Black River, the river that borders my property. It’s a gorgeous view no matter the weather or the season. It’s a place I can go and meditate, think, knit, read, sip coffee or just sit and admire the view, the wildlife, and nature.
FEBRUARY
I am blessed to see so much wildlife in my own yard. There is an abundance of eagles, which thrill me, and I see them almost every day. I’m happy to say there is a nest being built very close to where I live. I’ve been watching the progress and I plan to do a blog on just eagles and their behaviour soon.
This is MacRae’s Island just after a snowfall. It’s a short walk from my home and I think it is stunning with the trees covered in snow and the water so blue. There is actually an eagle in the tree second from the right. This island is shaped like a heart.
MARCH
Look at this face. Is that not cute? Love the Highland cattle and my friend Robert Pringle has a few. They are adorable, but I’d not want to have one turn on me. We are blessed to have some local farms around that provide us with fresh meat and eggs. I’m not sure I could eat this cutie.
I love sheep. This picture is from Katherine Farms where I got to go in the pen and see all the baby lambs. So so so cute. Some of them were tame enough to pet. Such a cute face. (PS…I don’t eat lamb.)
APRIL
Crocuses make me happy. They are so hardy, sometimes popping through a late snowfall. And their colour is so vibrant. They give hope of spring arriving and bringing sun and warmth. I know….I’m in Cape Breton and spring is rarely sunny or warm. But they still make one hopeful. One of the first colours in the spring.
One thing I love is sitting around a table, with friends and family, sharing food and drink, and conversation. This was our Easter dinner table at my brother’s. Such a nice time. Sandy and Greg did the cooking and it was so delicious.
MAY
I travelled to Ireland in May and the next two pictures are from my trip. It was so so hard to pick only two pictures this month. The first is a stained glass window at St. Mary’s Church of Ireland in Killarney. I am not really religious, but perhaps more spiritual. I do love going into churches to see the stained glass windows, the architecture, the pipes if there is a pipe organ, and many other aspects of the church. I also enjoyed roaming about on my own, when time permitted on this trip.
I think the Laburnum tree, sometimes called Golden Chain or Golden Rain, is gorgeous. How can something this gorgeous be so poisonous? As I understand it, every aspect of this tree is poisonous from blossom, leaf, bark, trunk and root. It contains cytisine which is toxic to both humans and pets. Mind you I had no desire to try a taste of any part of the tree.
JUNE
Dandelions are one of the first flowers that bees use in the spring. I don’t mind seeing them take over my yard when they are in bloom. They provide colour and I love watching the bees fly from blossom to blossom. However once they start to go by, and they lay down when the mower arrives and refuse to be cut, they do become annoying.
Bleeding hearts were never my favourite flower but they are growing on me. I bought two at an end of season sale several years ago, one of which has survived. I have since bought another one and had a white one given to me. They seem slow to grow, so I might have to look at moving them to give them more of whatever they need. I’m thinking they are too shaded. I’ll have to research what conditions are best for them. I think it is more of the name of the flower that I don’t like than the actual flower.
JULY
I started growing Bearded Iris a few years ago. They are gorgeous. I love some of the names they have and their construction is interesting. The three main parts of the iris are the “standards” which are the three upright petals, the “falls” which are the three lower petals that either fall down or flare out and the “beard” which is the fuzzy catipillar from which the bearded iris gets its name. The following iris has peach standards, purple falls and orange beard.
I love what this picture doesn’t show. Simply this is just a platform for diving or jumping into the water. Beyond this is the Bras d’Or Lake, MacRae’s Island, and further across the lake is West Bay and Lime Hill. However the fog was heavy and I saw nothing but the platform and its reflection. Simplicity.
AUGUST
I love planting my garden. I embrace weeding, finding it a time to just unwind and relax while pulling weeds and making the garden look nice. This picture shows a cucumber maturing and giving me hope for a successful garden. It was not to be. The deer finally found out that they can jump the rather low 3′ fence I had been using for years. Why it took them so long is beyond me, but this was the first year. They basically decimated the garden. We had very few peas and beans in our freezer for the winter and they are long gone. They tried most of the zucchini and realized they didn’t like them. I found many that had been bitten off and spit out. I did get a few cucumbers and tomatoes but very few. The deer were so bold that even yelling at them did nothing. I had to actually run after them to get them to leave the garden. I love wildlife and enjoy seeing the deer in my yard, but it did become very frustrating this year. I haven’t decided if I will bother with a garden next year.
I still miss my dear friend, Alayne Martell. Although her presence is no longer, it is comforting to know her memory lives on in Harbour Wars, Alayne’s Legacy. This is a fun competition, which was started by Alayne, between fisherman/fisherwoman, that raises funds for the Tom MacNeil Cancer Centre in Sydney. It is run by a passionate group of volunteers. This year they raised close to $50,000. Mind blowing from a small fishing community, but the local support is tremendous. She would be so proud.
We may find ourselves surrounded by larger than life people, or by intimidators, or we may feel inferior by others actions, or we may just be uncomfortable at times. But we are all beautiful in our own way. My Hibiscus thrived out on my back deck this summer. It is dwarfed by the Canna Lilies which grew to enormous heights. The foliage on the Canna Lilies is beautiful, but once again they didn’t bloom. But the wee Hibiscus brought me so much joy with its beauty. We can find beauty in most anything, but we just have to look. Like the foliage in the canna’s or the blossom in the tiny Hibiscus. Like the plants, we all have something to offer.
SEPTEMBER
I love to go for walks with my camera. Sometimes I take no pictures and wonder why I brought it. Other times I see so much and take tons of pictures. This image is simply birds on a wire. All too often I find myself looking down or off to the sides when walking but rarely looking up. When I did look up, I saw this and thought it was cool. Nothing particularly special, but it appealed to me.
One of my Mom’s and my passions is doing jigsaw puzzles. We usually do only 1000 pieces or more. They are relaxing and fun. They can be frustrating too if they are hard but so satisfying when we complete the more difficult ones. We have a few friends that we trade with, or just pass them along too. It’s a great pastime, particularly during the winter. We started early this year, in September, and we are working on puzzle 22 now. Since writing this we have completed #22.
OCTOBER
I’m lucky to have my Mom living with me. We get along, most of the time. We share many of the same interests and enjoy doing things together. Mom loves to play cards and although I’m not as keen to play as she is, I do usually play 45’s with her before I go to work in the morning and one game of crib in the evening. She would play for hours on end if given the opportunity. She’s a competitor too. We played crib on the deck early in the month on a rather warm gorgeous weekend. It was a close game, but she won. Special times for sure.
Another one of nature’s beauties is a rainbow. No words to express the beauty of this one and the picture really doesn’t do it justice. Spectacular to say the least. It was one of the most vibrant rainbows I had ever seen. This is looking down our driveway.
NOVEMBER
I couldn’t get through the year without sharing pictures of my foster kitties. They are owned by my next door neighbours and I look after them when their humans go away. I love them so much. I can be feeling down when I go to visit them and they just lift my spirits. Miella is very friendly. She has learned that as soon as I go inside and take off my Crocs she is supposed to roll on them, turn her belly upwards for belly rubs and she will be fed quickly. It took a few visits but she gets it now. Gus is a bit more standoffish. He likes belly and armpit rubs on his terms only. He also learned that if he lets Miella get the rubs first, they get fed much faster. He does like to play bird on a string sometimes and really goes berserk at times. He’s fun. They are both the best kitties. So cute.
The moon. I tend to take lots of pictures of the moon. Why? Who knows. It’s just cool. Sliver moon, quarter moon, half moon, full moon, it doesn’t matter, I just like to photograph the moon.
DECEMBER
I love to knit. Knitting relaxes me and takes me to a happy place. I love the clickety click rhythm of the needles, and the feel of the fibres moving through my fingers. I love the end product. While I knit, I usually know who the recipient is going to be. I think of that person and I like to think I’m putting love in each stitch, or a happy memory, or a hug, or a wish for well being, for that special person. Knitting is my passion. I have always loved knitting but more so in recent times, as it had become coping mechanism for me. When things are upsetting me, knitting lets me drift to a place of contentment. It might not fix the situation but it calms me allowing me to perhaps reassess and carry on. The following picture shows works socks I gifted for Christmas.
Family are our most precious gifts. I’m lucky to have a wonderful Mom who is my best friend, who has been my support, my confidant, my advisor, my teacher and my mentor. She puts up with my quirkiness, my messy cooking adventures, my attempt at making music, and my stubbornness. I’m also lucky to have an amazing brother, Sandy, who has many of the same attributes of my Mom. He is level headed and makes me see more than one side of any issue. He’s kind, caring and compassionate. He put up with my endless teasing and pestering when we were growing up. He must be a saint. I love him more than he will ever know. I’m also lucky to have Greg, Sandy’s partner, who is like a second brother to me. I know I can lean on him and I have, and ask for advice and he will offer, as he has in the past. I know I can trust him unconditionally. I’m so glad to know he is in the family. This picture was taken by Mary, Greg’s Mom, at Christmas. These are my most important people.
You’ll see that I tend to enjoy flowers, wildlife, nature, knitting, jigsaw puzzles, spending time with those important to me, and the simple things life has to offer. No drama for me. This is just a bit of what I love to do and see.
Friends are also so important to me. I have many friends who have been and continue to be very supportive of me. I’m very lucky to have such wonderful people in my life. You know who you are and I thank you for being my friend.
I also love music and attend concerts when the opportunity arises. Music is also a relaxing environment that makes me slow down and appreciate the talent. I would have posted pictures of concerts, but I didn’t have permission from any of the musicians, and didn’t want to reach out and ask at this time of year, as everyone is so busy. I also play music and have many instruments. Am I any good? No, but I love to try and when something works it is rewarding. It’s just fun to experiment.
I enjoy writing, which you are reading a sample of right now. I tend to write poetry, more than prose. I’ve participated in an online writing group for a couple of years, and I enjoyed an incredible writing session with Newfoundland author Donna Morrissey this past November.
There is never enough time to do everything, but we must make time to do the things that bring us happiness, and that we are passionate about. We need to slow down and count our blessings. We need to be grateful for the people in our lives and let them know what they mean to us. And we need to appreciate the little things as well.
In closing I want to wish you the very best for 2024.
&
If you like what you read, leave a comment. If you didn’t like what you read, leave a comment as well.
All photos taken by myself unless otherwise noted.
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