rust art
by Marja-Leena
by Marja-Leena boiler beauty
or, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder…
Original photos were taken by husband, then much loved and played with by me!
by Marja-Leena a volunteer
This datura emerged in my pot of sweet bell peppers, not quite as large as the one that grew in another pot three years ago.
As it did back then, it still makes me think of some prehistoric giant plants, ready to take over the world, maybe coloured by a book that I’m currently rereading some twenty years later: Rumors of Spring by Richard Grant. Highly relevant in today’s troubled ecology, I must say, even as it is fantasy/science fiction.
by Marja-Leena shadow play
This afternoon’s moment of shapely shadows playing on white curtain,
recalling yesterday’s fleeting, precious ephemeral instant:
a hummingbird’s shadow,
too quick to be captured with camera,
as he feeds at the hanging red ivy geraniums.
by Marja-Leena contrasts
cool and drizzly after hot and dry days and nights
soft leaf on hard angular body and sharp spines
dark against light,
a hint of coming change of seasons
by Marja-Leena 
by Marja-Leena triskaidekaphobia
Another new word for me!
It is Friday the 13th and though I’m not a sufferer of this ‘ailment’ I found this article about its history very interesting.
by Marja-Leena women who inspire
I am touched and honoured that author Kate A. Laity has chosen me as one of many women who are ‘an inspiration’ over at a new women’s group blog curiously called Women’s League of Ale Drinkers, a repository of creative women.
I’m particularly thrilled to be in the company of a fantastic Finnish musician, Ulla Suokko. And this after having already been interviewed by Kate last year for Women’s Month!
Kate herself has Finnish roots and has inspired me many a time with her blog, Wombat’s World, through which we initially “met” (read my blog post about it if you don’t know the fascinating story) and her wonderful book of stories inspired by the Finnish epic Kalevala: Unikirja. She now has a delightful book trailer out that makes me want to go back and reread her book all over again. Her first book Pelzmantel has just recently been reprinted by Immanion Press and is on my wish list.
by Marja-Leena family days
Yesterday late afternoon we returned from several days away traveling and spending time with our three daughters and two granddaughters at our eldest daughter’s place in the Thompson River Valley region east of Kamloops, BC.
A neighbour raises a few goats and llamas for fun and they are allowed to graze in the lands behind this small rural community. So we all enjoyed visiting them close up with some treats of alfalfa cubes and raw carrots. It’s amazing how the young animals were attracted by the young humans, so much so that youngest granddaughter was just a bit fearful when their attentions became too forward for her.
On our last evening one of my nephews and his wife joined us to share in a feast of fresh-caught salmon just brought home by daughter’s partner from a fishing trip with several buddies off Prince Rupert on our north coast. Besides lots of salmon, their catch included rock cod (or was it rock fish?), crab, red snapper and a 42 pound halibut! Their freezers are now well-stocked for another winter.
It’s a hot dry region and I had dreaded the heat but it did cool down on our second day, even rained a tiny bit now and then. Our drive home yesterday was accompanied by lots of rain. Back home, sister-in-law had been taking good care of my garden and plants and our home and was also helped by some rain. She just left a couple of hours ago. Soon eldest daughter will be arriving to spend a few more days with her sisters and nieces. Busy days!
by Marja-Leena scent of rain
While doing some photography, I’m suddenly captivated by a scent in the air, forgotten for a while but oh so familiar. The scent of rain awakens a flood of memories of cooling summer showers. Only some time later do I see a few drops on the skylights.
The discovery of a new word for this phenomena, petrichor, delights me. I’m not sure though that this really applies to just a few sprinkles. Perhaps there’s been more rain not too far away from whence the scent drifted here.
More please, for the sun is out again and the scent is gone. The sky has a dirty whitish cast to it, probably caused by smoke from distant forest fires. We need lots of rain here in BC for we have numerous forest fires, mostly caused by lightning in tinder dry forests. And I’m getting tired of watering the garden.