Christmas bells

 

                                                                 I heard the bells on Christmas Day
                                                                 Their old, familiar carols play,
                                                                 And wild and sweet
                                                                 The words repeat
                                                                 Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
                                                                     ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

frosted

                   Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.

                              ~Norman Vincent Peale

mirror on the wall

                  There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. ~Edith Wharton

furry faces: i heart faces photo challenge

                                                                     

i heart faces challenge: feet

                                                                    

water drops

                        We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.  ~Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732

gingersnaps

               Recipe:

               1/2 cup butter

               1/2 cup shortening (butter can be substituted)

               1 1/2 cup sugar

                1/2 cup molasses

                2 eggs, beaten

                4 cups flour

                1/2 tsp salt

                 2 1/4 tsp baking soda

                 2 1/2 tsp ginger

                 1 1/2 tsp cloves

                 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

                 Additional sugar

                 In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, shortening and sugar until light colored and fluffy.

                 Beat in molasses and eggs; set aside. In another large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda,

                 ginger, cloves and cinnamon. Blend thoroughly with wire whisk. Gradually mix flour mixture into

                 creamed ingredients until dough is blended and smooth. Roll dough into 1 1/2 in, balls.

                 Dip tops in sugar; place 2 1/2 in. apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for

                 11 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool on wire rack. Store in tightly covered container to maintain

                  softness. Yields 3 dozen. Enjoy with a cold glass of milk!

autumn light

               God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today.  Have you used one to say "thank you?"  ~William A. Ward

gerbera daisy

                                                 God has sown his name on the heavens in glittering stars;

                                                     but on earth he planteth his name by tender flowers.
                                                                            ~Jean Paul Richter

frosty morn

                             Some colors exist in dreams that are not present in the waking spectrum.  ~Terri Guillemets

I heart faces photography contest ~autumn splendor

Golden light

                                  A woodland in full color is awesome as a forest fire, in magnitude at least,

                              but a single tree is like a dancing tongue of flame to warm the heart.  ~Hal Borland

bokeh

                  There are two kinds of light - the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures. ~James Thurber

sunrise

                                                            

              Oft when the white, still dawn lifted the skies and pushed the hills apart, I have felt it like a glory in my heart.
                 ~Edwin Markham

kitty

                                            I had been told that the training procedure with cats was difficult. 

                                                     It's not.  Mine had me trained in two days.  ~Bill Dana

frost on the barberry

                                                  Nature never goes out of style.  ~Author Unknown

window…

                                                    The eyes are the window to the soul. ~ Proverb

weeds

             A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows.  ~Doug Larson

frost

For she is a fair maiden, fairest lady of a house of queens. And yet I know not how I should speak of her. When I first looked on her and perceived her unhappiness, it seemed to me that I saw a white flower standing straight and proud, shapely as a lily, and yet knew that it was hard, as if wrought by elf-wrights out of steel. Or was it, maybe, a frost that had turned its sap to ice, and so it stood, bitter-sweet, still fair to see, but stricken, soon to fall and die? ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

wild berries

    The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.  ~Author Unknown

mums the word

                                          Flowers are those little colorful beacons of the sun from which we

                                          get sunshine when dark, somber skies blanket our thoughts.  ~Dodinsky

fall leaves

                    How beautifully leaves grow old.  How full of light and color are their last days.  ~John Burroughs

Golden light

      For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together.  For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad.  

                ~Edwin Way Teale

autumn glory

                                   Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.  ~Albert Camus

Ryan

mums!

                                Art is the unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of flowers - and never succeeding.
                                  ~ Gian Carlo Menotti

sunflowers

                         “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It’s what sunflowers do.”                           

                                ~ Helen Keller

Red Rose

                   We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.
                    ~ Abraham Lincoln

Morning Dew

Beauty, sweet love, is like the morning dew, Whose short refresh upon tender green, Cheers for a time, but till the sun doth show And straight is gone, as it had never been.
~Samuel Daniel

baby pippa