Up Close & Personal with Flowers/Weeds in My Lawn, Mars, PA
“Weeds are flowers too…
Once you get to know them.”
— A. A. Milne, Author of Winnie the Pooh
May you see flowers in all of your “weeds.”
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Earth
Thistle Watercolor
Hope Thistle bring a smile to your lips.
Hope Thistle bring joy to your day.
Hope Thistle help you see the beauty in nature.
Hope Thistle encourage you to create.
Hope Thistle brighten your day.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Can you remember
who you were
before the world
told you who
you should be?
Be brave
and be that person.
It is undoubtedly
the best you
you can be.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
The other evening
after dinner,
I went outside
to breathe in
the gentle fragrance
of the Spring air
and dig my fingers
into the warming earth
to clear the leaves and twigs and “weeds”
in preparation for planting
flowers and herbs and vegetables.
In the crack of the stone wall
in the landscape where nothing should grow
and where I tend to pull out things
that do not “belong,”
I decided to leave this tender
flowering plant
that added life
and its own kind of beauty
when you look at it for what it simply is.
Like life in between,
where I cherish the moments,
I cherish the beauty
in the cracks of life.
The crack in the chip
of an heirloom antique cow creamer,
or the crack in the humor
of a “dig” or a joke from one of my guys.
The crack in the corner of the lips
of a friend’s smile when they see me,
or the crack in the voice of my Dad
when we reminisce
about times we’ve spent together
or the times we sadly missed.
The cracks in the corners of
hubby’s (and even my) eyes
that show we have lived and loved and laughed
throughout the years.
(not to mention another cute crack
when he bends over without a belt!)
There truly is beauty
in the cracks of life
if only we open our eyes to see
the tiny little joys
in the cracks in between.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Why does there have to be
So much fighting…
So much hatred…
Politics.
Religion.
In a world where
you can be anything,
Be Kind.
It’s really not that hard.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
(pink rose from my anniversary bouquet)
Forsythia…
for bursting buds,
for warm sunshine,
for bright blue skies,
for puffy clouds,
for greener grass,
for gentle breeze,
for birds singing,
for longer days,
for Easter’s near.
First signs of Spring.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Your mind is a garden.
Your thoughts are seeds.
You can grow flowers,
or you can grow weeds.
– paraphrase from William Wordsworth
Choose flowers!
Cherish the moments.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Single Purple Tulip Watercolor on Arches 140 lb Hot Press 5 x 7
Spring Fever…
Tulip Fever…
Synonymous.
Yesterday – an impressionistic bouquet,
Today – a single, bold, beautiful purple tulip.
I’ve got the fever –
Tulip fever.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
I’m excited to share some of the new things Colleen and I have been creating for our new Etsy shop! We are having so much fun with this, and we are pleased to have had over 25 sales already in our first month!
To show our appreciation to our friends here at LifeinBetween, we want to offer a little gift to you. If you refer someone to our shop who makes a purchase, we would like to thank them AND YOU with a free card of their and your choice. Each of you can choose one of any of the cards offered in our ETSY shop for FREE! (Simply have your friend let us know when they order that they came here from LifeinBetween and mention your name.)
Have fun perusing the photo gallery of our newest Spring things.
You can visit our shop here: McKinneyx2Designs on ETSY and follow us on Facebook and Instagram too if you like.
Happy Spring Thinking!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Today I am celebrating my dear, sweet Joyce.
Today is her birthday, and I made this little card for her that I hope she receives in time! (Yikes – just sent yesterday – so she may see it here before she gets it in the mail!)
Joyce is my second cousin by family, but she is also one of my dearest friends by choice. She and her adorable hubby, “Oh Rob,” are some of our besties for so many reasons.
Joyce and Rob are true inspirations in the way they live their lives. They truly CELEBRATE life!
They are creative and soulful and kind to others.
They are respectful of the environment.
They are generous with their time and money and gifts.
They are teachers, and they also love to learn.
They share their home (and their friends) in a way like no others.
They cook and preserve and eat with gusto!
They have open minds and open ears and open hearts.
They give REAL hugs – the kind where you really squeeze and hang on like you might not have another chance and like you really, genuinely mean it! And they give kisses too – right on the lips!
And they have helped me through a lot of “stuff.” (you know that kind of stuff we all have but don’t always talk about…) Joyce and her family really helped me get through a tough time and period in my life, and for that, I will be forever grateful.
It’s funny how a post about Joyce turned into one about Joyce and Oh Rob…. but they are such a perfect pair and complement each other so beautifully, it is hard to think of one without thinking of the other. And that is a compliment and tribute to their marriage and the kind of people they are.
So please join in in wishing one of the world’s best a best birthday!
Joyce is, among so many other things, an avid gardener, so her card is a little “doodlewash” of a sprinkling can that I was inspired to do from a painting I saw by an amazing artist that I want to learn more from, RoseAnn Hayes. Joyce is also an amazing watercolor artist, so I hesitate to even send my humble, feeble attempt to her, but she will love it anyway just because it was handmade for her from me. 🙂
On the inside, I wrote:
Thank you for sprinkling my soul with your kindness
and feeding my heart with your love.
You have helped me to blossom.
Wishing you the happiest of birthdays with lots of love, my Joyce!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 