Mo'a Romig-Boyles

Blue Birds and Are Your Feeling Blue?

The busiest place around here are the bird feeders...they are also give us much entertainment. This one is in the front of our house and we see it out our family room window.

...and this one is attached to our kitchen window.

The photo is taking though the window...we are not sure why the background is turquoise...it was this color before I did anything to the photo.

Your may have noticed that we are fixated on the Blue Birds that visit us from January through March.   Ken (my husband) takes photos of them and they seem to pose for him.  All the photos are taken through our windows that will need a good spring cleaning.

This photo, of a handsome Blue Bird in the spot light,  is one of our favorites.

Then there is this one that runs a close second.

Have you had too much of this and are you feeling blue?

Would you rather have more of this?

And this kind of Blue?

And this?

I am with you.  It will be coming soon enough and then we will be complaining about the heat wave.

 

Snow Magic

There is, to me, something magical about an overnight snow storm.  One wakes up in the morning to Snow Magic...Especially when the sun is shining and the wind  blows the fluffy snow making it look like diamonds falling from the sky.

The first thing I do is open the front door to smell the air and to take a picture of my 'Snow Cake' that forms on the bird bath.

I look to see who is at the bird feeder and saw this little guy the beautiful Blue Bird.  I am blessed with him and his familie's presence every year around this time.

Then I go back inside and run from window to window to check on my girls.  I look out the guest room window and there is Paloma is donning a new hat...she does that with every snow storm...this one is quite stunning.  Don't you think?

I look out the kitchen window and there is the little Faery with her magic wand and the snow lantern.  I am besides myself with excitement.

I look to the right and there another one of my girls with a snow hat...one I think Paloma would be jealous of...good thing she can not see around the corner of the house.

She looks like she is wearing the headdress of an Icelandic costume called Skautbúningur click on this link and tell me if you agree.  I see hats everywhere.

In my house it is Christmas until January 6th with Christmas music, lights and too much food that one has to Pay the Piper for in the form of a diet.  In Iceland 12th night is called Þrettándinn or the thirteenth...click on the link to read about how Iceland celebrates that night...*Hint* there is dancing around a fire...elves and much more.  This is also the day that Kertasníkir.....Candle-beggar the last of the Jólasveinar leaves for the mountains.   And, the day my singers along with the Jólasveinar and miscellaneous Christmas decorations get put away for another year. 

Happy New Year...I hope 2014 will be a good year for you.

 

 

Saturn's Moons

I named my little wall hanging Saturn's Moons.  If you look closely you can see seven moons, in this piece.

Some are mended and others are not. Two are half moons.  One has a heart...

...and one that is velvet that you saw here. Then there is an eye, that has nothing to do with moons...it just appeared, in a space that seemed to be made for it.

Here is the whole piece.  Can you see the seventh moon?  Hint: it is a half moon.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend.

Remember to use Sun Block and...

...to smell the flowers.

Flowers in order of appearance:  Peony and Blue Flag Iris in my Mother's garden. Mountain Laurel appearing with hundreds of others in my garden.

With Thanks

It is almost a month since my father's passing. My family and I, thank you all for your comments, e-mails, cards and calls. Your thoughtfulness is great comfort to us all.

One of the other reasons for my absence from the web, is because of more computer problems. My computer has spent more time away from home than with me. The time is approaching for new computer shopping, for now the computer expert/fixers have bought me some more time with this one.

The weather here has been wonderful and I have spent many an hour siting outside stitching, admiring nature and taking photos of my surroundings.

My ochid catus bloomed this year, for the first time in seven years.

I was over the moon by this event...here is a closeup of the blossom.

This year, our Stewartia tree that we transported with us, when we moved from Salem, MA eight years ago, bloomed for the first time since the move.

I am always struck by how much beauty there is to be found right at home.

The Magic of Spring and A Friendship

The last two weeks have been magical for me.  Spring is here and around every corner is something new to marvel at.  Just two weeks ago this field was full of flowering mustard.

Dandelions bloom nearby as if competing with this burst of yellow.  I have always loved dandelions and remember making dandelion necklaces, crowns and porting bouquets of them as a gift to my Mother.  In Iceland dandelions were a sure sign that summer is not far behind.

In my garden the dogwoods have bloomed the azaleas are having their moment... ...and the rhododendrons are about to give us a full show. Just this morning I got a preview. Starting with a tight bud...

...and a little more open one...

...then one that seemed to be in a bit of a hurry by skipping a stage.

Ahhhhh!!! the magic of Mother Nature.  Speaking of magic, look at the sunset we saw last night.

Now you are wondering.  Where does the friendship part come into this story?  I will tell you, but first take a look where Susanna's Winged Messenger has landed.

Susanna gave it to me quite a while ago and thought it would be fun to have one in Icelandic.  The meaning of this message is "You are Exceptional" which is a message I sent to Susanna some time ago.  Now it has landed in my studio and refers not only to my studio, but also to my friend Katrin who spent the last two weeks with us.  

There is much to tell about my studio and my friend Katrin's part in making it a Magical place.  I could not possibly tell all there is to tell in one post, so over the next few weeks, perhaps months, I will show you photos and tell you about the transformation.  There will be a post every Thursday...hmmmm!!! what will I call it, Studio Thursday...Magical Makeover Thursday...Thursdays in the Studio?...HELP!!! Please :)  See you Thursday.

The New Year

We are now three days into the New Year and I have not made a resolution. I have made the same resolution each year and somehow loose resolve or interest. This year I decided to come in from the back door and trick my mind into finally sticking to my task.  Notice how I have not told you what the past unresolved resolution is...you see if I tell you, my mind will catch on to the unspoken resolution...tricky stuff. Next year I will tell you if this strategy worked.

We had a lovely day after Christmas snow.  The hot chocolate, good book and a blanket kind. In the past few days we have had over 50 degrees and rain...so most of this snow is gone.

Do you see the middle tree...it is the home of a family of...

There have been many baby squirrels born in this tree.  A couple of years ago, when we were watching the little ones venture out, we noticed that one had just a stub for a tail. He is still around and seems to be just fine. He can climb trees with the best of them...I always thought that a squirrel's tail was for balance...now I am thinking that it is more for decoration...squirrel's tails are certainly handsome.

The winter sunsets have been lovely...this one reminded me of embroidery threads...the branches rather than the sky seem to have taken on color. I found this so interesting that I decided to show you this photo even though it is slightly blurred.

A very Happy New Year to you !!!

Did you make resolutions this year...have you been successful in the past?

 

 

 

Rangpur Lemon Tree and Humming Birds

I took this photo for you to show you on May 1...the day that the French give each other a small bouquet of Lilly of the Valley...alas I missed the day.  Corey of Tongue in Cheek, wrote a wonderful post about this French custom here. 
This photo is of a small display in my kitchen window...the Icelandic Flag, a small bear from Berlin, a bouquet of Lilly of the Valley, Forget Me Not and Buttercup and a small dish I bought from our friend Constance of Rochambeau, when she was moving from NJ to Texas.

Years ago...more years ago than I will admit, I worked for Coty Cosmetics.  In May we always had a Muguet Des Bois festival...I loved spraying  the lovely  fragrance to entice the customer.  We sold truck loads of this very lovely and old fashioned fragrance.

About 12 years ago a good friend of ours, who is a Landscape Designer and collector of plants, gave us a small three leaf seedling of a Rangpur Lemon Tree that he had grown from a seed from his own tree.  We pampered this little would be tree and over the years moved it to larger pots as needed.  We have taken it outside for the Summer and in the Autumn we take it inside to the Sun Room or as my German friend calls it, The Winter Garden.
In July of last year it started to flower and we spotted several small green lemons...we were elated.
Far left in this photo is our Rangpur Lemon Tree :)

In December it greeted us with some green and some orange colored lemons...that event became Dinner Party conversation. OK!!! I admit it...there was a little bragging :)  We felt like new parents.

Then in March of this year...the tree lost most all of it's leaves and all you could see were thorns and lovely lemons...23 to be exact.  I panicked, until I saw that there was evidence of future leaves on the branches.

Then on May 1st after all the lemons had ripened I donned gloves...thorns you know...and harvested the lemons.

Ken squeezed the the juice from our harvest and froze it in an ice cube tray to use in Gin and Tonics.
We found out last night that we only need a half a cube per drink :)

While we were sipping our Tanqueray and Tonic, the first Humming Bird of the season was sipping his sugar water at the Hummingbird feeder.

We listened to the water in our fountains, to the birds singing and the rustling of the leaves in the breeze...which always remind me of the Icelandic water falls that I love so much.  It was a good evening all together.

I hope that you are having happy spring  events in your life.

Think Spring

Last night, after it had snowed all day, we lost our power.

We cozied up by candlelight and had a lovely conversation.  It was almost completely quiet, except for an occasional grunt and groan from our house.   Did you know that houses do that?   Usually there are so many  sounds covering  those grunts and groans, that we don't hear them.

Are you tired of snow pictures?  I could not resist  showing you a  couple.  This is the Bird and Suet feeders.  The birds found a way to get to both after I took this photo.

We will knock the snow of some of the trees and bushes in the hopes that they will recover and straighten up.

Did I say just a couple of snow photos?  Well I could not resist showing  Paloma again...this one is for you  Doug  :) 

Here is a winter sunset photo...you know I cannot resist those.

It is lovely to  know that under all this snow is an other kind of beauty waiting for us.  Think spring :)

A Snowy Day

This morning, much to my delight, we woke up to ten inches of snow. I went from window to window oooing and ahhhing...

...at the bright clean world outside.

I gave my Husband a running commentary..."Oooooo!!! look there is Aurora almost hidden from view."

"There is Paloma's Chair...look at her beautiful white world"

Ken said "Come look at the bird bath...it looks like a cake plate with a white cake on it...coconut,  I think"

Through the kitchen window we saw the big rock in the Japanese style garden...it looked like a house with snow on it's roof.

There were birds all around and on the feeder.  This is one of seven Bluebirds that have been here for the last couple of weeks.

There were Cardinals in the Rhododendron and just above him a little bird puffing himself up to keep warm.....

On the bird feeder the Cardinal is joined by one of the Bluebirds.

There were Goldfinches and Bluebirds and ...

...Bluebirds and  Bluebirds. Meanwhile over at the suet feeder was...

 

...Woodpecker and...

a little while later a Chickadee, while in the Rhododendron a Nuthatch waited his turn.

Way up in a tree two Mourning Doves took in the scene.

 

I just love nature...how about you?   How does your world look? 

How My Garden Grows

I adore flowers and if I had my way my property would be one big flower garden.  I have had many gardens in the last thirty eight years of marriage and ten homes.  It is never hard for me to leave the house when we move...it is always the garden that tugs at my heart.

Each time we move we take something from our garden with us...last time it was two small Stewartia tree saplings and a Pyparus plant that had it's home in our water garden in Salem, MA.

The Golden Glow flower in the photo above lives in my Mother's garden. We gave it to her when we moved from Ipswich, MA eighteen years ago....My Mother has many plants in her garden that come from our various gardens from around the country.
The Golden Glow came to us from the farm in Chester, NH that my Father-in-law grew up on and was in the family until six years ago. My Husband spent his Summers and weekends there while growing up.

Yesterday when I walked around my garden, I saw that the Water Hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) that lives in a Chinese Egg Pot along with the Papyrus, was in full bloom.

Don't you just love the way the design on the blossoms looks like that of a Peacock Feather?

I live deep in the woods, consequently there is a lot of shade.  We also have very sandy and acid soil.  I have solved my lust and love of plants by growing them in pots.

I grow them in small pots and big ones and in between. I am also attracted to leaves, their textures and design can make me swoon with pleasure.

 
For instance, notice the Heart within the Heart, of this Elephant Ear (Colocasia esculenta) leaf. 
As I walk by my Lambs Ear plant I like to stroke it's leaves and feel their softness ...an aptly names plant.

I have many varieties of Coral Bells (Heuchera), I add a new one each year...I have become quite addicted.  Now what is there not to love about this one...it also feeds the rabbits...they nibble on the tiny blossoms that grow on long spikes.

Then there are the rewards of an occasional surprise. This Tiger Lily (Lilium tigrianum) sprung up next to my driveway and said out loud "HELLO"

No report on flowers and gardens would be complete without 'somepinkflowers'...so I give you the Mandevilla that lives and climbs between my garage doors.

How does you garden grow?  Tell me...I would like to know :)

We had a Tornado here on Friday...I had just pressed the publish button for my last post, when we lost our power for 32 hours. 
I found it quite interesting to be in a quiet house with the only sounds being, the tick of our two antique clocks, our own breathing and an occasional groan made by our house...did you know that houses groan?

There was a lot of damage in the town next to ours.  Many trees down...some landed on roofs and cars.  Their Golf Course lost 36 trees.
We were lucky, as we only lost limbs from trees and one flowers pot that was broken by one of those fallen limbs. 

I am still working on getting around to say 'Hello' to all my special blog friends. See you soon.