Misty Morning

 the morning held a mix of clouds and mist

and 

whitetail deer

 

 they wander looking for anything to eat

I am sorry

I only had a point and shoot camera with me

still

these offer a glimpse of rural Montana

(my neighborhood)

rocks being lifted by frost through winter leaves

~

a blog friend, Geraldine is having a wonderful give away on her blog

one person will win all the items on her post

including a set of my greeting cards

please visit her for a chance to win!

~

*

 

Summer Horses & a Lucky Winner

early in the season

east of the Rockies

horses lounged amongst flowers

summer has shared a multitude of flowers

most of which have turned to fruit or seeds

summer has been filled with hot blue skied days

~

I would like to thank Novica

for kindly offering my readers

the generous gift of a $50 gift certificate!

Novica supports artists around the world

I personally appreciate hand made items

they hold magical aspects of people and life;

creativity, skill and heart

the lucky winner is:

Sandy Carlson!

~

*

Novica Give Away!

perched

upon a small limb

a nest made of lichen and gossamer spider webs

a tiny humming bird

lays two eggs

they are sat upon with care

day after day

tiny beaks 

peck and peck

two babies are born

the nest is made of gossamer spider webs

so that it can stretch as the babies grow

ingenious! 

~

Novica

affiliated with National Geographic

has generously offered 

one of my lucky blog guests

a $50 gift certificate

!!!

my niece chose a lovely embroidered bracelet for herself:

the winner can choose from anything on the:

 Novica website

so many choices:

Short Dresses, Batik Clothing, Peruvian Jewelry, 

earrings, Men's clothing, and so much more!

~
Novica's items are made from artisans all over the world
they come beautifully wrapped and awesome quality
how lucky that they like my blog readers!

*

winner will be announced:

July 28th, 2013

simply leave a comment

and you will be included in the draw

(or say: no thank you if you would not like to win but would still like to say something

 about the hummingbirds)

~

Thank you Novica!!

*

The Novica Recipient is:

wandered about Montana for a couple of days

camped under the stars 

along a roaring river

~

flowers are budding

and blooming

butterflies

and moose delighting

in the cusp of Spring

leaning into Summer

amazing to think that we are on the verge of the longest day of our year

here in NW Montana

sunset on Summer Solstice, June 20, 2012

will be at 9:43 PM

16.1 hours of daylight

the sweet smelling

sweet tasting

wild roses 

are blooming

~

*

I am pleased to announce the winner of the 

$50 gift certificate

from

Novica, in association with National Geographic

is.....

 Valerianna

of 

RavenWood Forest  

~

Congratulations!

~

*

Mushrooms and Novica!

tis a rainy season

inspiring fruit of the earth

to rise through the dirt

bathing in gentle forest light

some a gourmet delight!

(above) the highly sought after Morel

two always catch my eye

like friends

or lovers

kin

squirrels carry mushrooms into trees.... 

storage

such a treat for me to find!

Once again, our friends at Novica,

in association with National Geographic

would like to give my wonderful blog friends a gift for appreciating natural beauty, our natural world and hand crafted arts.

 I chose the above earrings as a gift. 

They are lovely, well made and came in a beautiful handmade box!

~

The winner of my random drawing with receive a

$50 gift 

certificate to spend as they wish at Novica.

perhaps in one of these catagories:

Silver Charm Bracelets
Amethyst Chandelier Earrings
Sterling Silver Earrings from Peru
Lockets
Silk Fans
Natural Flower Necklaces

~

simply leave a comment to be included in the give away

or

if you would like to leave me a mushroom message

but no gift certificate

simply say "no gift"

~
the winner will be chosen June 18,2012

*

Identification; Amelanchier alnifolia, Service Berry Flowers

wanting to ID the flower buds in the last post

I drove the hour

hiked the hike

felt mystified by what it could have been

you see, the spiraling red in the bud is not common

I suppose that is why it caught my eye

most the bushes were covered in white buds

but upon close inspection, some flowers had lovely red veins

the plant is known as Service Berry Flowers

in fact I have one growing outside my window

silly me

these bushes will be covered in edible berries come summer

yum

Thank you for attempting to help me figure it out!

I wish I had been able to give you more information to go on

Since you were all so lovely to consider what the bud might be

I would love for one of you to receive the offer of two greeting cards

I went to an online random generator and it chose: Evil Shannanigans

Yea!

two poorly photographed examples of a wee bit of red in the petals and stem:

~

Dancing with What Is

living

living as beauty

living fully and freely

dancing with what is

dancing with rain sun and wind

true preparation

for the future

for the fruit of tomorrow

~

dear blog friends, 

i believe the second photo is some sort of saxifrage

but the top photo, what is that adorable little bud?

last week I found that bud in Glacier National Park, which is in North Western Montana USA.

I did not bother to photograph the entire plant, which would surely help in identifying it. 

I was simply smitten with the buds....

SO,

it would be my pleasure to give two of my greeting cards to the first person 

who tells me the correct name of the flower/plant (of the tiny white and red buds in the first photo of this post) in a comment. 

~

and the Winner Is:

Two posts ago I offered a give away from Novica.

They want to give my visitors a $75 gift certificate!

Completely generous of them!

Today is the day.....

random generator chooses Barbara of Brushes and Cloth!

Yea and Congratulations!

From my heart to yours, I thank all my lovely blog friends. 

Your kindnesses, encouragement, friendship touch my heart, inspire smiles

and actually make my art complete. 

So it has been lovely to offer Novica's (affiliated with National Geographic) gift

to you as a thank you. 

I wish one and all a lovely Mother's Day!

~

*

Celebrating Mama's and Their Cubs ~

Look Up, Way Up High! 

look up
way up high
in the branches
that mingle with sky
perhaps you'll spy
a mama bear
denning
with her cubs
up there

mama mama
where you going?
we want to come
and play down there!

Soon they will
descend that tall tall tree
and roam the earth with you and me
~

 I regret not having taken ONE photo of just how VERY tall this tree is!

I am guessing they are denning 50 Feet above the earth. 

I did indeed see the mama bear crawl out of the hole and climb

down the tree and wander about.

As you can see one of the cubs attempted following the mama down

before scurrying back into their den. I am guessing

that any day they will be brave enough to make the journey

to the earth below.

~

Please visit and leave a comment on my last post. 

I have a $75 Gift Certificate Give Away from Novica

that you could have a chance of winning. 

Winner will be picked this coming Sunday!

~

Visit SkyWatch Friday to enjoy wonderful sky photography

from around the world. 

*

*

*

Give Away!! Generosity from Novica to YOU!

Give Away!

but first a conk, a shelf mushroom

have you ever looked up close at a conk?

I did and I was amazed. 

I love looking up close at nature:

~

*

Now for the amazing Give Away!

~

Recently Novica, who happens to be associated with National Geographic, wrote me offering a generous gift. 

You see they noticed that I have wonderful Blog Friends,

Yes that is YOU!

This is not something I usually do, but how could I refuse. 

They gave me a gift certificate to order something and tell you about it. 

I got my sister a gift- Shush, don't tell her!

Look how beautifully it arrived in a handmade gift box!

Handmade sterling silver earrings. 

She will love them. 

They arrived so fast I barely blinked and they were here.

From my experience this company is truly

helping artisans to share their arts with the world.

This in turn helps them to make a living and care for their families.

~

They also gave me a $75 gift certificate for ONE of you!

No jumping through hoops, 

you don't have to follow me here there or anywhere.... 

Just leave me a kindly message on THIS post, 

with a way to get a hold of you (in case you win).

In one week, on May 8th, 2011

I will pick one person who will get this generous gift from NOVICA.

You can choose from their Corporate gifts

or Green Gifts

or any of their products.

You can visit their section called: Novica Live

and 

check out how you can loan money to artisans around the world at their

Micro Finance section! 

I think that is an amazing program. 

(I must, yes MUST hear from the winner by midnight May15th, if I do not....

then I will pick a different person from the comments on this post).

*

Also, if you enjoy amazing macro photography visit:

Lisa Chaos's Macro Monday

~

Do You Love Fungi?

this is one gorgeous fungi season

the enchanting creatures are popping up everywhere

my favorite time to visit

is in the morning light

I have never seen this second photo, the orange red one

it is quite tiny.

Be the first person to tell me what it is

in the comment section 

and you can visit my webstore:

Spirithelpers

and choose 3 greeting cards, as a thank you from me!

 

I have been eating these wonderful little puff  balls, cooked,

they have a nutty flavor that I love.

But don't take my word on them being edible, 

do your research! Get to know them, yum. 

Or just enjoy there wonderful form for viewing.

here is another photo of the mushroom that I want to know the name of

this photo shows the size better

~