Porter's Preserve - again!

A walk cannot be complete without finding a heart or two....I have walked this trail dozens and dozens of time and usually can find a different heart each time.

These tiny feathers were frozen in place in a small puddle near the shoreline. I think the upper feathers are in the shape of a heart...a heart made of "angel wings"!

The ocean looked just like glass...so very flat and calm.

Just floating....

I really like this photo of the icicles hanging from the shoreline, out over the seaweed covered rocks. The tide line is very definite!

Here is an example of how the weather has been here lately....cold and in the 20s. There is ice along the shoreline and on the rocks. And just a few months ago we were walking here covered with bug spray!

Here is a photo of the Memorial Grove located on the Preserve. It is beautiful no matter what the season is. The wooden benches invite one to sit...in peace and quiet.

Odd appearing icicles in a little brook we cross over on the trail....the semi-circle of ice has water trickling down through it....it just amazed me how it froze into that shape....

The Canadian Geese evidently are content with Maine's weather....basking in the sunshine.

I think this leaf resembles a heart, don't you? Hearts show up in the most amazing places.

Some of this and some of that....

One chilly afternoon BuddyTheElf and I took a nice, long walk behind the house. We walked through the woods and along the marsh. It felt nice to be outside, even though the temperature was only in the 20s. As we were heading home I spotted this heart in the snow.

I love this little tree. I've watched it grow over the years and it is so pretty now. I bet the birds would love to find pine cones covered with peanut butter and seeds hanging on it. That would be a nice "Mommy and Me" project to do with Ashton since her fall semester is done now and she doesn't have to go back to school until January 18th.

Do you see the mossy heart on the tree? I think Mother Nature likes to surprise us with hearts in unusual places.

After a recent "dusting" of snow I headed out for a walk and spotted this snowy heart in the driveway!

The two chairs will have to keep each other company from now to spring.

I have wanted a "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" forever...and found this little beauty on-line for a bargain....$7.99, shipping and tax included. I love it! It brings back memories of looking forward to watching Charlie Brown's Christmas Special when I was younger.

Ashton has been working at the YMCA's Day Care Center part-time and brought me her snowman from a project she worked on with the little children. Never too old to bring your mom artwork and hang it on the refrigerator!

What a pleasant find! I stepped outside and spotted this heart on the damp step, with just a "touch" of Buddy's pawprint on it. I hope you have enjoyed the different hearts I have spotted!

Snow days

Yesterday was cold here, 30s but perfect for a walk in the woods. The trees were still dressed in their white coats from the snowfall a couple of days ago.

The little brook that flows from a marsh on the Zak Preserve had ice on it!

I spotted a snow heart! This one is especially for Rainfield.

Last night Ashton put up the Christmas tree and decorated it. It was bittersweet for me, listening to her memories around each ornament. In the past I purchased an ornament for each child, based on a special event of their year. I couldn't help but think of Ashton in her velvet Christmas dress, eagerly hanging ornaments on the tree as a child. Each child would hang his or her ornaments. My two sons have their own homes to decorate but Ashton is still at home to decorate the tree. I miss the "oohs and ahhs" from little children on Christmas morning, the opening of their stockings and paper and bows flying all around the room.

Today the temps were in the 20s but Buddy and I bundled up and headed out in the crisp air. I enjoy walking in the cold. The neighbor's pond was lightly skimmed with ice.

The trail next door is still covered here and there with snow.

The creek that winds around behind our home has ice along its banks.

A wee snow heart on a branch.

The fern was still so bright and seemed to be holding up the snow. A very pretty contrast.