Bird Song and St. Valentine's Day

Yes, storm after storm and another on the horizon.  Yet the birds were in full spring-song this morning while we were manning our snow shovels and facing a long morning of snow and ice removal.  Even my husband remarked how cheerful the birds sounded, so could it be they've an inkling spring is most here.

But who can remain grumpy for too long between bird song and St. Valentine's Day.  I've been embroidering the Sacred Heart this past week and now calling it done for St. Valentine's Day.  More could be added to it, and many stitches reworked, but it's better to declare this a practice piece and try another. And certainly drawing the design first and then transferring it to fabric would have been better than free handing it--something I will do with the next Sacred Heart.
    
Handwork is relaxing and with more snow on the way this weekend, I'll hunker down with needle and thread and count my blessings. And if the birds believe spring is close-by, then I must too.

A Welcome Sight

Sometimes it's just the notion that something green is growing that gets you through a winter's day.

I'm relying on memory here to embroider some emerging ferns: a good exercise in using the imagination to create an outdoor moment.

Green is the color for today--white outside, but green within.

Frost

The cold can certainly be a bit beleaguering at times, but when the calendar reads February, it's reasonable to believe we're about to turn a corner--and hopefully a warmer one.

But the cold can create some beautiful things in the winter--frost being one of them.  The sun's rays were already reaching the car as I searched frantically for my camera in order to capture these formations that transformed the windshield into a jewel-like canvas of fronds, feathers, and other fancies.

It is nothing short of a miracle to behold something so beautiful, and yet so fleeting--and I have to admit, I am envious of God's handiwork.