YOU...

I just want to tell you that you are a very valuable person. Don't be discouraged,when people make you feel otherwise. You have something good that's been given you,to offer back as a gift to others...You know deep down in your heart what that is...Don't let the negativity of some ruin what you believe in...Find someone who shares what you believe, and spend time encouraging each other. Your life is of great value. Do not give up on this!

Autumn Leaves

I usually can't resist picking up a few leaves,now and then,during this season...Aren't they lovely?

Autumn

I have many thoughts about the beautiful gift of Autumn days...Golden days,full of bright colors,enhanced by the special light that the sun casts over field, tree,and flower, this time of the year....

It is a great gift,and needs to be cherished!

Dip in the Sea...

There are pictures to paint,and stories to write...There are books to read, Music to hear, Food to taste...Beauty to behold, Fragrance to inhale, Breezes to feel...Banquets to share, and Dancing to do!

More about the Moon...

"Toad talked big about all he was going to do in the days to come,while stars grew fuller and larger all around them,and a yellow moon,appearing suddenly and silently from nowhere in particular,came to keep them company and listen to their talk..."~From Kenneth Grahame's "Wind and the Willows"~

~This is a story that I find to be quite adorable,and I hope you will forgive me,Christina Martin,for borrowing the quote that you just used on "Soul Aperture"....It is such a charming thought,to me,to think of the moon,as a quiet friend,keeping a small creature company,quietly,while he sits outside,and murmurs on about his dreams...I wanted to pair this thought with my little painting of this large,quiet,glowing moon! Hope it brings you a smile!

This Time Of The Year



The flowers are enjoying the early September sunshine...





Kitty is luxuriating in his naps...








Adorable acorns are starting to appear in our yard...

A Big,Melty Moon

"Go for the moon. If you don't get it, you'll still be heading for a star."  ~Willis Reed~

Meandering....

We all need a beautiful path to wander along this time of year...Here is one for your imagination~Enjoy!

"Joy is the Holy Fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow..." ~Helen Keller~

My Little Cottage In The Woods

This is a little picture that I just
finished recently...A sweet little
cottage in the woods. It is similar to a place that I once lived~ 

Rasberries!

These lovely rasberries came from our garden. I have so many lovely memories about rasberries from childhood. My grandparents had a beautiful garden,most of which consisted of these lovely berries,which they generously shared with us!

Blue Mood

I have been in the mood for the color blue recently, so this little painting of blue flowers was one of the results~

By The Sea....

I gave a picture similar to this, to some friends recently. I told them that it would be a good reason
to paint another one,so here is the new one. For those of you,who inspire and encourage...Thank you for your friendship!

A Little Painted Path

More Painting

Here is a little more detail on the same picture...a sweet little path for you to imagine...

A Little Artwork

Here's a portion of a little picture that I painted just recently,with love to friends and family.

You

Sometimes,all that I need to feel happy,is to think of you~

From The Treasure Chest

"I believe in the immortality of the soul because I have within me immortal longings."
                                                        ~Helen Keller
"We are haunted by an ideal life,and it is because we have within us the beginning and the possibility of it."  ~Phillips Brooks

"There's More"
 We only see a little of the ocean,
A few miles distance from the rocky shore;
But oh! out there beyond--beyond our life's horizon
There's more--There's more.
                                              ~Author Unknown
Heaven often seems distant and unknown,but if he who made the road thither is our guide,we need not fear to lose the way.
                                             ~Henry Van Dyke
These sayings are taken from a lovely book I found recently,while antiquing. It is titled,"The Treasure Chest",and is copyright 1965 by Charles L.Wallis. Printed in the United States,by Harper and Row Publishers,Incorporated.

Happy Mother's Day!

To hear the whispered voice
of another's heart
and understand unspoken words
are talents of those lucky few~
people who are precious to the   world.~Theresa Ann Hunt
The Heroism of the Mother
Is not the highest heroism that which is free even from the approbation of the best and the wisest? The heroism which is known only to our Father,who seeth in secret? The God-like lives lived in obscurity? How many thousands of heroines there must be now,of whom we shall never know. But still they are there. They sow in secret the seed of which we pluck the flower,and eat the fruit,and know not that we pass the sower daily in the streets.
     One form of heroism~the most common,and yet the least remembered of all~namely,the heroism of the average mother. Ah! When I think of that broad fact, I gather hope again for poor humanity; and this dark world looks bright~this diseased world looks wholesome to me once more~because,whatever else it is not full of, it is at least full of mothers. ~Charles Kingsley~
    ~From the book,FOR A VERY SPECIAL PERSON
       Copywright 1976,Hallmark Cards,Inc.
        Kansas City,Missouri  United States of America

From The Kindly Neighbor

I have a kindly neighbor, one who stands
Beside my gate and chats with me awhile,
Giving me the glory of his radiant smile
And comes at times to help with willing hands
No station high or rank this man commands;
He too,must trudge, as I,the long day's mile; And yet,devoid of pomp or gaudy style, He has a worth exceeding stocks or lands. ~To him I go when sorrow's at my door; On him I lean when burdens come my way; Together oft
we talk our trials o'er,  And there is warmth in each goodnight we say. ~A kindly neighbor! Wars and strife shall end ~When man has made the man next door his friend. ~Edgar A.Guest

      ~From a Hallmark book entitled, "For a Very Special Person", a little book that is a tribute to different kinds of friendship,Copywright 1976 ~Hallmark Cards~Kansas City,Missouri~Printed in the United States of America     

What we miss,if we don't look...

Musing on the thought that it seems so easy to not see the amazing potential in any given life....What we consider to be an ordinary day, or an ordinary life, or someone who is a part of our own ordinary life...could, with closer examination, be quite extraordinary~

The Graceful Old Tree

Dearest Tree, Old Friend,

I finally found time to shed a tear for you this morning

How I have loved you, and have been warmed

Inspired, by your beauty

Your branches, like a swirl of lace

Swept upward into the moonlit sky

As they also drew one's glance

Towards the beauty of the sunrise

You are still a home for small creatures

The birds still love to sing in your branches

The squirrels still play in you

And other creatures look to you for refuge

Though storms have caused some

Of your branches to fall, You are still here

As you have been for many years

Though we do not know

How much longer we will know your graceful Beauty

                                                                S.R.North

More Thoughts From "Wings of Silver"

The flower that follows the sun
Does so even on cloudy days.

The supreme pleasure is to promote
the joy of others.

It is good to let a little sunshine out
               As well as in.

Don't spend your days stringing and
tuning your instrument-
                  Start making music now.

A link of man's mind may be forged by the heart of a song.

When you have thanked the Lord for every blessing sent,
but little time will then remain for murmur or lament.

The Kingdom of Heaven

Again, the kingdom of

heaven is like treasure  

hidden in a field,

which a man found

and hid; and for joy

over it he goes and sells

all that he has and buys

that field.

Again, the kingdom of

heaven is like a

merchant seeking

beautiful pearls, who,

 when he had  found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Stand in the ways and see...

Thus says the Lord: "Stand in the ways and see,

And ask for the old paths, where the good way is,

And walk in it;

Then you will find rest for your souls..."

     ~Jeremiah 6:16~

You

Deep in the heart of me
Nothing but You!
See through the art of me~
Deep in the heart of me
Find the best part of me,
Changeless and true.
        Deep in the heart of me
            Nothing but You!
           ~Ruth Guthrie Harding

Forgive

~We may, if we choose, make the worst of one another. Every one has his weak points; every one has his faults; we may make the worst of these; We may fix our attention constantly upon these. But we may also make the best of one another. We may forgive, even as we hope to be forgiven. We may put ourselves in the place of others, and ask what we should wish to be done to us, were we in their place. By us, love will flow back from them to us, and life will become a pleasure instead of a pain; and earth will become like Heaven; and we shall become
not unworthy followers of Him whose name is Love.~
                                                                                                                                        

MEASURED BY THE SOUL

The size of one's Heaven is the exact dimensions of his soul. Happiness is a matter of appetite and capacity. As well prepare dinner for a corpse as Heaven for a soul whose spiritual functions are dead. The problem of the hereafter is not the matter of celestial climate and a city beautiful. It is the problem of the eternal in man. The kingdom is within him. The greatest concern of a human being therefore should be to feel God's presence, to be stirred by His message, to have faith in the invisible, and to follow aspirations which leap over the boundaries of time and

seek satisfaction in the infinite. For to be devoid of all this is to fall a victim to the disease that
destroys character, paralyses progress, and forbids happiness.
                                                                                                     ~VANCE~
                                                                                                       From LEAVES OF GOLD

Wings of Silver

I thought that I would share, today, some random thoughts about JOY....These are from a book given to me by a dear friend. The book is entitled "Wings of Silver",with sayings compiled by Jo Petty: 

Love your own soul, and comfort your heart, remove sorrow
from you: for sorrow has killed many, and there is not profit
therein.

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

A merry heart does good like a medicine: but a broken
spirit dries the bones.

Pleasant words are as a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

Health makes you feel now is the best time of the year.

Unhappiness is not knowing what we want and killing ourselves to get it.

Some pleasures are more trouble than trouble.

He enjoys much who is thankful for little.

Joy on account of....or joy in spite of?

The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts,
and we grow happier as we grow older.

O satisfy us early with Thy mercy;
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.