Imagery by Kimberly

A Giveaway

I am so VERY honored and happy with my little "story" in this summer's beautiful and inspiring edition of Somerset Life!  I believe the issue is available now at book stores and here on July 1.  I am over the moon thrilled that they included images of our Papa Goose and Summer Lynn!  

I have an extra copy that I want to give away to one of you.  I will include some of my greeting cards in your package too.   You all have been so wonderful and supportive over the years and I cherish you being in my life.   So, so, so much.

IF you would like to win the copy and greeting cards, please leave your name in the comment section below and I will pick the winner July 1.

 

THANK YOU BEAUTIFUL FRIENDS FOR SHARING THE JOURNEY.

All my love,
Kim

Chalkboard Scribbles, Grocery Store Roses, Etc.

I hope you have had a wonderful week dear ones who I love so much!

Mine has been in many ways and full in many everyday ways!  Those are the best kind of weeks, don't you think?

The weather has been a wee bit cooler - just enough to lift one's burnt out over-heated summer spirit!  And speaking of summer spirit, I am definitely not burnt out, however, on our Summer Lynn and her sweet spirit! She loves to scribble on the kitchen chalkboard (I may have shared that before - please ignore any repeats) when she visits and of course I don't erase her work.  I let her do that. And may I say that it will be hard for me to erase my daughter's little message that SHE left behind on the dining room chalkboard.  Made my heart soar!  We spent the afternoon downtown last Saturday at a car show and I took a quick phone pic of Summer Lynn dancing on the sidewalk.  Isn't that swan headband adorable?  Yep, she is the cutest pumpkin in our world for sure!  

I have been busy editing images from the wedding that I shot and they are now done and ready to be packaged up to give to the bride and groom.  I painted a 5x7 of the wedding dress for the bride as a thank you gift.  I love doing that - it also makes my heart soar, as do the changing leaves, the golden October sun, and the beautiful as always swans.  I try to bring home a pumpkin to celebrate fall every time I go to the grocery store and I treated myself and Daisy Cottage to fresh roses also purchased there.  And one morning, when I was walking the lake, I saw Miss Mini!  She is the adorable little duck with her tiny crown of feathers who I simply love to pieces.  She has been gone a long long time.  I thought I wasn't going to see her again.  I love being wrong.  Sometimes.  ;-)

It's the little things - the big things - the everyday things that make our spirits soar and our hearts sing.

Thank you, as always, for letting me share some of them with you.


Love,
Kim

All in the Family

Shannon's beautiful friend, Yashi, married her handsome love, Tim, on Saturday. Shannon was the event planner who created, designed, and orchestrated everything in just over 30 days.  Am I so very very proud of her?  Um.... yes!  VERY!  I was the photographer and Miss Summer Lynn was the cake eater and official tiny dancer.  

Tim, who is on active duty with the Air Force, will be deploying very soon and will be gone for about a year.  To everything there is a season.

May their season of love last for eternity.  May God Bless Tim as he serves his country. May God Bless us one and all.  For we are indeed family.







xo

Success!

The La Petit Fancy Flea was wonderful!  I have never had a booth at an event before and it was really neat to be able to showcase our swans and share my images of them.  Everyone was so very nice and I really loved conversing with others who were so passionate about our lake and the feathered ones who call it home.  There are many caring hearts out there and that is simply beautiful.

So now that the flea is over, Summer Lynn says it is time to get on with all things Christmas!

And, like a good Birdie, I am on it ...

 

 

;-)

Boom!

Somebody wanted her Mommy.



xo

I Interrupt....

 

I interrupt my previous post to share that the music on OUR site is back!  To celebrate I am sharing this image of the rainbow again and letting a very special song play first for a few days then it will play last.  

I am so happy.❤️

Random....

A wee bit of random and a whole lot of excitement that it is October 1st! Bring on the pumpkins!  ;-)

xo

A Wee Bit of Random

:-)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

xo,
Me

It's a Sister Thing

I went to the grocery store really early this morning as I wanted to get the ingredients to make chili and cornbread for tonight to celebrate the burst of cold weather we are having.  The store was pretty much empty of shoppers with a few exceptions including these two ladies. When I think of the adjective precious I think of many things, as you know, for you know that I love to use that description often.  I think it applies to so much in life. Well the three of us kept crossing paths as we meandered up and down the aisles and I couldn't help noting the caring tenderness they had for each other.  It was just so sweet.  From their conversation I figured out they were sisters and while one was older than the other, I noted they had the same eyes and nose.  They each kept their compact pocketbooks on the grocery cart's seat and as they walked side by side, they each kept one of their hands on the cart's handle.  They had one list written in pencil and talked about the meal they were making tonight.  They were so lady-like as they made their selections.  Me being me, of course I can't just pick out my own items without taking it all in - wondering if my sister and I will still be able to shop together and have these kind of moments at that age and wondering about the ladies and their families and thinking about all of the things they have lived.  Side by side they shopped.  And while they were focused on their task at hand, they giggled a bit over what I am sure was a sister thing.  

And yes, they were precious.  

xo

"A Lap Full of Love"

One of the dear souls who I have been blessed to spend time with during "swan baby season" is Linda.  She is an artist and children's book illustrator and a truly sweet sweet human being.  I asked her to paint a portrait for me so that I would have something from her - a treasure and a tribute to all of the swans, their babies, and the moments that we have shared together.  I gave her a photo of me when I was little and she used that as an inspiration along with my images of the cygnets.  She said she wanted to capture my "childlike" love for the swans ...

And I believe she did!  Thank you Linda!  I love "A Lap Full of Love" so much!  It is as beautiful as I knew it would be.  I will cherish this forever.
I cannot wait until we hear the peep peep peeps together at the lake again.  

:-)


I will be back in a few days after I finish a writing assignment - until then I hope you all are staying warm and well!


Love,

Kim

 

P.S.  If you would like to work with Linda on a portrait for you, please email me and I will give you her contact info.

Random

xo

Daily Doses of Joy

Hi Dear Ones..... I hope you and yours are doing well and all is sweet in your world.  I hope your daily joys are many!  Mine are and I am so grateful for them.  Let's see.... I made a huge pot of spaghetti for my family and they loved it.  I passed by a man carrying the American flag as he ran around the lake and it made me cry with gratitude and pride.  I took Bentley to the vet for his annual checkup and he is a whopping 10 pounds, very healthy, and as you can see in the quick phone capture above, the best kisser... ever.  

;-)

I've taken advantage of the sprinkles from the sky that we have been having and have gotten caught up on laundry.  There is something about the smell of fresh laundry ....  Marley loves to stare at the rain through the porch screen though I know he would rather be outside, digging in the dirt. I am collecting heart leaves.  There have been many on my walks... it is amazing to see. And speaking of amazing, our Papa Goose is amazing as always.  He is such a daily dose of joy for me that is just as important for my heart and well being as my vitamins.  How I adore that goose.


Though the time has not yet changed, I sense it coming.  The lamps need to come on a little bit earlier and for that I am grateful.  I am one of the ones who does not prefer daylight savings time.  I prefer darkness to settle in like a comfy blanket when supper is on the table.


I had the honor of taking pictures of Baby Adylin - the daughter of one of Shannon's sweet friends and oh my!  Adylin and her dreamy blue eyes was precious!  She was captivated by the curiosities around her and it was fun to try to capture that with my camera.  I love working on the pictures once home..... I turn on my Pandora and I create and it feels heavenly.

Let's see.... other daily doses of joy?  Well I love seeing the moon in the morning sky.  I love Miss Maggie-Pie.  I love the twinkling evening lights that dance around our lake as God tucks it and all of His creatures in for the night.

I love so many things as I know you do too.


And I love sharing in that knowing with you.

xo 

Miscellany

A little bit of this and a little bit of that.  A little bit of sweetness and a little bit  a whole lot of every day love.  I cannot wait for fall - for pumpkins and for ALL that the season will bring.

But in the meantime moments of miscellany makes my heart sing.


xo 

All Over the Place ...

While I may really be in the same physical place, my mind and heart are all over the place of life if you know what I mean.  So much to see, so much to feel, so much to live, and so much to love.  Seasons' endings and beginnings and special times a'coming.  And our Shawn will be home in a few days.  I will be back after his homecoming.  In the meantime, we soak up the sun and we wait here at Daisy Cottage.  Thank you ALL for your love and support over the past months.  You have really been our angels.

Love,

Kim 

This & That

Sometimes the best days are those filled with a little of this and that, don't you think?

Days of sun, clouds, rainbows, flowers and birds.... babies - human and furred, food and daily rituals of little celebrations that make you feel like all is in order and everything is how it should be.... at least for this moment in time anyway.

:-)

Random Instagram

Little captures with my phone of my Fifi-basket, yellow kitchen, guest room, laundry porch, blue skies, garden stones, Laura-birdie cup, cabernet, blooms, sleeping baby, coffee, Charleston in the rain, yellow chandy, peanut butter cookies, poetry from a friend, vintage pins, birthday parasol, lake, coat rack, desk treasures, etc. in random order.

:-)

If you would like to follow me on Instagram, just click on the Instagram button that you see over there to the right in the right sidebar.  I am still learning my way over there but it has been fun to share in such a spontaneous way!  

Wishing you a happy happy day ~~~~  xo 

Reflections ...

Today is my birthday.

 

Birthdays tend to make us reflect and remember, don't they?

 

Then we may even ponder...

 

How did I get here?

Where am I going?

What will I do?

What will I see?

 

Am I being who I am supposed meant to be?

 

No matter our age - we ponder and wonder.

 

And then we are overcome with gratitude and thankfulness for all that we have lived.  And loved.  And lost.  We are overcome with gratitude and thankfulness for all of our gifts and for all of those who we hold dear, including...

 

Family and friends far and near.

 

I told myself when my Dad passed away at such an early age that I would never complain about getting older. He would love to be here and have that privilege.

 

I don't always succeed but as the saying goes - "If at first you don't succeed, try try try again."

 

And I do.  I stumble and falter and then remember.


 So I try to focus instead on God's beauty around me in the way that it reveals and in the moment that I am in.

 

And I find beauty here among you, my dear friends.

 

I find beauty in your words and support and in you.

You leave a bit of your heart and soul here you know as what you share gently ripples out into the world in the most unique and beautiful way - as ripples tend to do.

And I thank you for that. Every day is a birthday here with the gifts of you that you give to me.

So Happy Birthday to Me!

Thank you for ALL.

 

And may all of our days forward be BIRTH days.
 

xo

Reflections

 

 

When our sweet Tonette asked me if I would write an essay about the loss of my father and how I dealt with that grief, I said that I would be honored to do so.   

I sat down at my computer and typed away the words and thoughts as I felt them and then attached them in an email to her.  I am sure that there are a ton of grammatical errors but I am okay with that as what I wrote was literally straight from my memory and heart to her email inbox.

I admit I shed a few tears as I reflected on that time.  I held back much.  There is so much more that I could have shared.

 

But I shared what I could.

 

If you would like, please visit Tonette and read about her personal journey and vision with her project here.

 

And if you would like, you may read my little essay here.

 

Thank you Tonette from the bottom of my heart...... My angel friend.

 

♥

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♥

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♥