Putting winter on ice
The lake is now water
And the cold spring is just waiting to burst into flower and warmth (sometime soon, I hope).
But before that, I wanted to post one of my favourite photos from this winter.
The purple sunset over the iced over lake
And Oscar looking majestic.
For more cool pets, please visit: Camera Critters.
Tentative spring
It’s still cold here
And there’s ice on the lake.
But Oscar took me for a walk
To find the first tentative signs
Of spring.
For more hope, please visit: Camera Critters.
I’m fighting a heavy cold so please excuse me if I don’t get round to visiting you.
Snow face
No matter who you are
Or what you look like,
A bad hair day can be much improved
By adding some extra sparkle and snow!
I’m off to Paris with my daughter for a few days, so please excuse me if I don’t visit you.
For more glitter, please visit: Camera Critters.
The pink dog
You’ve heard of pink elephants, haven’t you?
Let me introduce you to Oscar,
The pink dog!
This was taken during a very pink sunrise early one morning
When my world was … well…
Tickled pink.
For more colourful pets, please visit: Camera Critters.
Sugar face
May your days be sprinkled with glitter
Sugar, laughter
And joy –
With a dash of magic and snowflakes
For good luck.
Oscar sends you all licks and love!
For more sparkly pets, please visit: Camera Critters.
Off leash
Exuberance and joy are just other words for beauty.
(And having a huge snowfall really helps the magic too.)
For more exuberance, please visit: Camera Critters.
Playtime!
Guess what happened this week?
It finally snowed and snowed
And snowed!
Even in the horizontal, whip-the-snow-in-your-face storm
Oscar just didn’t want to come into the house.
Look at those eyes pleading
For just five more minutes of snowtime!
For more playful animals, please visit: Camera Critters.
Horse breath
It’s that time of year…
When breath become visible
And whiskers shimmer in the sun.
“Remember to breathe. It is after all, the secret of life.” — Gregory Maguire
For more gorgeous creatures, please visit: Camera Critters.
And the Oscar goes to…
Please indulge me as I celebrate Oscar’s tenth birthday with some … well … Oscars (and very bad puns).
Oscar for best smile…
(Muzzle tof!)
Oscar for best yoga position …
(It’s ruff, but he can do it.)
And, of course, Oscar for best swimmer.
Paws for thought…
Perhaps that should be an Olympic Gold for swimming instead?
This is the end of my birthday tail –
You kennel stop growling at my bad puns now.
Your-key to getting away from all this is to visit: Camera Critters.
The farewell
As we stand on the cusp of autumn and winter,
The birds fly off into the pink dawn
Early every morning
Looking like autumn leaves in the rising sun.
The stragglers skim the silver surface of the lake
In perfect and opposite harmony
Looking like little origami birds.
“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.” — Robert Lynd
For more post fowl and fair, please visit: Camera Critters.
Dog, reflected
Take a gorgeous end-of-summer sunset,
A dog
And mix with the reflected sky.
Repeat often for joy and smiles.
For more reflections, please visit: Camera Critters.
From heron to eternity
They dance and swirl right over my head
When I don’t have my camera with me.
But as soon as I go out with it,
They hide in the reeds
Or fly away
So that no matter how much I stalk them
I can’t get any good close-up shots.
I know these aren’t the best shots you’ve feather seen,
But maybe the herons are just trying to tell me
That every now and then, I have to enjoy nature
Through my own two eyes (and not through a camera lens).
From heron after, owl try to avoid any more bad bird puns… although I have no egrets!
For more fowl play, please visit: Camera Critters.
Fowl play
When I was in England this summer, we went to Brighton beach.
The seagulls there was as big as houses and as brave as lions.
These birds remind me that gulls just want to have fun.
Some of the birds flew so close you could feel their claws on your head.
In the words of Beyoncé, if you like it, you’d better put a ring on it.
The young gulls had lovely markings that made it easy for them to camouflage themselves among the pebbles of the beach.
This one appeared to be showing off by shaking his tail feathers.
And remember – for more bad puns, all you have to do is go to goo-gull!
More bad puns? It’s your tern at: Camera Critters.
Swan song
I heard a huge flapping of wings.
A swan flew by so close that I thought
I could just reach out a finger
And touch one of its glorious feathers.
“The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself.” — Lao Tzu
For more celestial creatures, please visit: Camera Critters.
Enjoyment
Don’t worry about Oscar while I’m away.
He’ll be enjoying life with friends.
For more happy creatures, please visit: Camera Critters.
Overcoming the storm
The bird came swooping in
Over the water lilies on the pond –
Only to be met by a strong headwind
That pushed him back the way he had come.
It was a struggle to stay afloat.
He had to adjust his path to the new circumstances.
But the fight was worth it.
Soon he was flying off in the new direction life had presented him with.
We too can learn from and be inspired by the birds, don’t you think?
Dear friends, it’s finally that time of year again: my annual visit back to England to visit my family.
I’ll be away for almost two weeks, so my visits to your blogs will be a bit sporadic.
Please do pop in here every now and then as I’ll have some new posts up for you to enjoy.
For more inspiration, please visit: Camera Critters.
Nest of blossoms
How wonderful to live up high
In a nest of blossoms
And beauty.
If only we might fall like cherry blossoms in the spring
So pure and radiant. — Anonymous
For more beauty, please visit: Camera Critters.
Trilling times
When the silence of winter
Gives way to a wall of constant
Singing, trilling, warbling and chirping
By the birds of spring –
That, my friends, is a thing of wonder
And beauty.
For more cheep trills, please visit: Camera Critters.
The space inbetween
Let there be spaces…
… in your togetherness. — Kahlil Gibran
For more loveliness, please visit: Camera Critters.
Go your own way
Life’s not about fitting in –
But about trying out our wings
And going our own way
(Just like that bird in the photo).
For more flights of fancy, please visit: Camera Critters.
There’s snow business like snow business…
Last week I said we’d seen the last of the snow.
I shouldn’t have.
After all, this is Sweden where it can snow well into May.
This morning we woke up to snow. The horizontal kind.
There’s nothing like a happy dog to teach you how to enjoy the moment –
No matter what the weather.
For more happy animals, please visit: Camera Critters.
Missing you
Someone (my dog Oscar) missed me while I was gone
And now he won’t let me out of his sight.
For more cute pets, please visit: Camera Critters.
Winter rules
When winter comes around and the cold wind is blowing,
You have to learn how to enjoy it.
Rule 1: Revel in it (and maybe take an ice bath?)
Rule 2: Explore the beauty
Rule 3: Take a look around and smile – the world is beautiful and you’re alive!
For more rules, please visit: Camera Critters.
Fresh perspectives
Sometimes
The world looks a lot better
When you try out a new point of view.
For more perspectives, please visit: Camera Critters.
(Do support Saturday Sareenity too!)
Who says what?