First Purple Iris – May 2016 – Mars, PA
You showed up
in your regal purple cloak
and delicate golden tassels
on the other side of the house.
I almost missed you.
Your hours were numbered
until you gracefully retreated
and made room for the others.
Thank you for the reminder
that beauty is everywhere
and often fleeting
and often in places we rarely look.
Thank you for the reminder
that we must open our eyes
and open our hearts
and take the time to simply look.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Yellow Asiatic Lily “Tiny Glow” – Mothers Day 2016
Tiny Glow
Your yellow is
bright and glowing
like sunshine and moonbeams.
Yet also
soft and buttery
like feathers and thick, creamy Chardonnay.
Your “Tiny Glow” is like the love
felt and expressed
in this beautiful gift
from a son to a mother.
Bright and glowing,
soft and buttery.
All in one,
and one to another.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
If only closing our eyes
and blowing fluffy white
dandelion seeds to the wind
could make our wishes come true.
The world would be filled
with buttery yellow “flowers”
instead of pesty “weeds”
and “pretty” lawns would look much different.
It’s all about
perspective.
Go ahead.
Make a wish.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Goldfinch Watercolor Doodlewash for Draw A Bird Day
Some of you may remember the darling little goldfinch I captured in a photo recently as his family has become a regular in our backyard and at the feeders.
I decided to do a quick little watercolor and doodlewash him for today’s monthly #drawabirdday.
I am out of town today, but he is flying by to wish all the Moms out there the happiest of Mother’s Days!
Being a mom has unequivocally been the greatest privilege of my life and has provided me with such joy and love.
Thank you Jake and Nick for all you have given me. My life would not be nearly as extraordinary if it weren’t for what each of you has given me since the days you were born.
Now that you are grown men with lives of your own, I thank you even more for still allowing me the honor of being a part of your lives and being your Mom. And thank you for the beautiful ladies in Colleen and Liz that you have allowed me to “mother” too.
I am the luckiest Mom of all!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
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
Once upon a time
a little girl was born
to the best Grandma
in the entire universe.
As time passed,
the little girl grew,
but her admiration
for the best Grandma
in the entire universe
never waned.
The grandma knew
she wouldn’t be able
to stay forever
and share her love
with the little girl
who became a woman, a wife, and a mother
who she still so greatly adored.
So she gave the woman
a plant to remember
her everywhere she would go
wherever she went
for as long as she lived.
And every May
the little girl
who is now
soon be a Grandma herself
remembers the love
from her special Grandma.
The gift of life
The gift of love
the gift from the heart
A bleeding heart.
A heart that knows
A heart that understands
A heart that consoles
a little girl, a grand-daughter,
a mother, a soon-to-be grandmother.
With admiration
beyond compare,
with love and a bleeding heart
from one little girl, mother, grand-daughter, grandmother
to another.
I love you, Grandma
now and forever.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
(My Grandma gave me this Bleeding Heart plant before she passed away many years ago. I have moved it twice. Every Spring, I shed a tear of joy, of sorrow, of love, of loss when it blooms and reminds me of one of the greatest ladies , role models, “mothers,” I have ever known. I believe it to be the most beautiful flower on the entire planet.)
Original Dogwood Blossom Watercolor Jodi McKinney
On Sunday I posted a photo I took of a blossom on one of the beautiful old dogwood trees in our front yard.
So, that same sunny, happy Sunday afternoon, I painted it, still glowing with the news we were allowed to share from the day.
The old dogwood tree, I honor you.
Thank you for blossoming each year,
hard as it may be.
You give hope of new life
as we celebrate the hope of a new life.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
The Old Dogwood Tree, Mars, PA
You are a late bloomer,
and I worry every year
if you will make it through
and blossom and bloom.
Such a welcome site
on brittle branches,
your fragile flowers
make their appearance again.
Welcome Spring
from the Old Dogwood Tree.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Bloom where you are planted.
There’s no better place to be.
Right exactly where you are
is where you’re meant to be.
Bloom where you are planted
for all the world to see.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
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
the creative life in between 