Hasta La Vista, Cuba...

Garden of Happiness

I have a garden. Vegetables, flowers, aromatic and medicinal herbs. It makes me happy. Profoundly.

I love to go around and pick ripe veggies and beautiful flowers. Whenever I can, I put a bunch of them around the house. It makes me smile. Gratefully.

She Sells Sea Shells

Remember the beautiful sea treasures my friend Catherine brought me from Mexico? Well, they make such beautiful jewelry! Colors are amazing and they fit perfectly with white seaglass. That'll be something new in my Etsy shop - sea shells pendants and rings. A little change, a new challenge and as always, a lot of fun.

Dream Destination

Photo credit: Photoscot

In my dreams there are beaches. White, sandy beaches. Palm trees, and shells. And a little seaglass. I never even thought about dreaming of a seaglass beach. I mean a whole beach. I would just go completely crazy out there. Finding 10 pieces of seaglass can take hours... A whole beach? Since I read about that Glass Beach, it almost became an obsession. I want to see this place before I die!

Unfortunately, the beach is part of a state park so it's not permitted to remove any artifact. But I would still enjoy and explore and probably take a gazillion of pictures.

photo credit: mlhradio

Enchanted Land of Pink Urchins and Orange Mushys

First I found this photo. Love.

But then I found another one. Love. Love.

So I decided to have a look at the complete photo collection of Machel Spence. Oh. My. Goodness. All those mushrooms, and insects and birds and flowers photos... I felt like a tiny creature travelling in a magical forest full of fungi smells and sparkling lights. Machel's photos are like images of an enchanted land, where you can rest under an umbrella-mushroom or ride on the back of a woolly moth.

A great thing about Machel's amazing photos is they are affordable.
I need to get at least some of them to put next to the beachcombing photos !

Meanwhile, you can come with me for a walk, we could jump on top of an orange mushroom with a baby mantis...

Souvenir of Mexico

Travelling somewhere there's a beach, a lake, a river? Wanna bring me back a souvenir and make me reaaaaally happy? Just fill out your pockets with whatever stone, seaglass or shell you find and take them back to me! My mom, who travels at least twice a year, usually to some place involving a beach, uses to bring me back a little bag of sea treasures. I love when she does that, because most of the things I get from her I cannot find around here or I've never seen before. Like those perfect white rocks from Spain...

My friend Catherine also knows my love for apparently valueless beach finds so she offered me a handful of amazing-never-seen-before things from Mexico. She found a desert beach full of these little marvels but unfortunately she had nothing to bring them back so she took what she could with her - and my, how I love them!

There are pieces of turquoise opaque glass - I have no idea from what -, orange coral, purple pieces of shells, aqua seaglass... A feast for my eyes.

So if you're going somewhere and want to bring me back something, now you know how to make my day.

Thanks Cath!

It's a hate-love relationship

I've never been a big fan of winter but I have to admit it can be beautiful here during those cold months.

Everything is different: sounds, light, air... Walking outside when snow is lightly falling makes me feel so calm and peaceful! Breathing the cold and crisp air re-energizes me and I feel much better when I come back home.

Being positive about winter helps me to go through it a bit more easily. I used to say that I profoundly hate it, but I think one day I could be able to say" Winter, I love you!"

A walk in the woods

Camping Trip

Left baby Marwani with my mom, packed my tent, my camping gear and my camera and headed to La Mauricie National Park of Canada with a friend and her 5 kids.

The park is absolutely beautiful and the campground is very basic. Real camping in wooded areas, with nature all around and welcomed privacy.

There are many hiking trails, myriads of lakes and plenty of activities to do. Nature. At its best.

The Song of Hope

photo credit: Kelly Shipp

I heard them, this morning. My dear cardinals. My beloved chickadees. Even the gloomy crows. They sang the song of hope, the song that make me believe winter will be over, someday, soon.

The sun was shining. Snow was melting, despite the rather cold weather.

And my birds. They were singing. Just for me.

Me + Dear Friend + Kids + Camera

= a perfect day, especially when it is spent outside, near a river (or lake, pond, brooke, ocean...).

The most beautiful time of the year

is now.

There's something about your light, the intensity of your greens, the smell of lilac and the beauty of blossoming trees that is undeniable and indescribable. Spring, you are my favorite.

Take your time, don't let summer kick you out too fast. Let your evenings be a little fresh and your wind soft and pleasant. Let the birds sing their love song at 4 in the morning even if sometimes, it prevents me from sleeping. Let me feel the sun, warm but not hot, inspiring but not overpowering. Let me profit from you. I never get enough of you. Spring, you are my favorite. I love you. And I thank God for sending you once a year...

They are back

photo credit NDomer73

Oh how I missed them. My little birds. Yesterday early morning, I heard the robin for the first time.

Today, the red-winged blackbirds. They are my favorite. My father tells me all the time that they are quite dangerous bird and that they attack people who come close to their nest but still, their song brings childhood memories full of mud, sunshine and blooming flowers.

Nothing is the same when they are back. The are the promise that weather will continue to improve, that we can leave windows open, that winter is gone, gone, gone...

Green

Couldn't live without.

Days of Joy

Here you see my house for the last 5 days. My tiny house. One bed, one chair, one table. One woodstove, with a fire that I have to constantly look after. All I needed to rest, reflect, pray, meditate.

The woods, a little creek, birds.

And the silence. Oh. The silence.

Outside. Then inside.

Moments of pure joy.