Thankful Thursday {things I love} ...

So many hummingbirds visited our garden this Summer ... one afternoon while having tea on the deck, i looked up and spotted 6!

The trumpet vine growing along our fence is always a favourite stop over for the hummers, but normally we see 1 or 2 at a time.
I wanted to remember the moment in a painting ... thinking about the hummers and the bees and birds in our Sparrows Garden .
It changed directions many times. The story written in pencil ever so lightly ... then a layer of watercolour paints, followed by watercolour pencils, then a bit of acrylic paint, some white ink, a bit of stamping ... and finally, marker making everything pop.
Each time I walked into Sparrows Studio, I picked up a different medium... a little bit of everything ... just like our garden!
the words intertwined with the paint...
***
I watched you in the garden
as you went about your way
with fierce determination
on a sunny day in May

You knew just what you wanted
the moment you arrived
and I had planted many offerings
so you'd never feel deprived

And even though I knew you wouldn't stay for long
and that this moment wouldn't last
It will always be the sweetest thing
of a Summer past

we were having dinner the other night when out of the corner of my eye I spotted something ...

it was the sweetest little hummer spending a few moments on the red geranium I have next to the kitchen window … and then in a flash, she was on her way

a fresh block of suet has been a favourite spot for not only the hummers

but the two Jays we have had in our garden this summer

The Blues Brothers as we refer to them :-D

as well as the Cardinals

thankfully, the squirrels haven't bothered with it so there's been lots for the birds

found feathers

I save my jam jars (large and small)

hello sweet visitor

this is what the cosmos look like in the garden today

but they are still attracting monarchs, bees and birds

saved two butterflies at the beach a few days ago ...

gathered them on a long piece of found driftwood and took them over to a nearby bush

and then the next day, while walking with Archer a monarch landed on my hand :-D … pure magic!

gathering leaves & twisting them as I walk into leaf roses

dragon flies have been circling me for the past few years ...

I've been looking for a dragon fly necklace or earrings to honour them 

"We should certainly count our blessings,

but we should also 

make our blessings count"

~Neala Maxwell~