Author: sareenmclay

Flowers · Photography · Trees

I’m just saying …

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Introducing my Magnolia Stellata.

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Now, here’s the reality. thumb_IMG_8974_1024

Okay, so there’s only one flower so far this year! I planted this tree in September 2015. We lived in Holland for a while and I loved the Magnolia trees there so much I had to plant one when I started working on my new garden.

Taking a photo of this one flower and putting it up on this blog brought me to thinking about the saying, ‘Never judge a book by its cover.’

In fact I love sayings, especially ones like ‘What’s for you won’t pass you by’ and ‘Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.’

There’s something about the sheer common sense of them. There’s a comfort in knowing they’ve been passed down the years, a thread, a link with our past that we can give to the future.

Do you remember the people who said them to you?

These sayings are timeless, just like flowers. Little gifts to share and pass on to our future generations.

Garden · Inspiration · Nature

Hidden Gems

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Hidden in the winter soil.

This Sedum, a gift,  from my parents’ garden.

Perhaps it hasn’t survived, I thought. Then, this.

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Sedum after the rain

Worth the wait!

So if a gardener can wait, patiently, for the gems hidden below the surface to emerge, can a writer too? Is the preparation and maintenance work the same for the gardener as for the writer?

Words don’t come from nowhere. As a friend of mine, Rae Cowie, writes in her blog, you have to ‘fill the creative well‘.

Water and nourish to flourish with books, discussion, observation, experiences, emotions and, of course, time.

There’s more to this writing lark than sitting at a desk so I’m off out – and then, I’ll be back!

Wishing you all a lovely week and the best of luck in finding your own ‘hidden gems’.

 

 

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Hellebores in flower

 

Flowers · Garden · Inspiration

Sowing Seeds

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I wonder, is a gardener a secret optimist? I know gardening is supposed to be good for your mental health and I think it must be because it certainly gives us the gift of hope.

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Cornflower seeds

The very act of planting a seed, the mystery of opening the seed packet, tipping up the seeds – what will you find inside? Will they be fat beans, round nasturtiums, tiny poppy seeds or maybe the tiny shaving brushes of cornflower seeds?

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Delphiniums – grown from seed last year and actually survived the winter too

Scatter, place or drop, cover with soil. Water these presents of Nature, give the gift of life, clear, splashing, tumbling down onto the dark soil, ready for the magic to begin. 

Something will probably grow. Maybe not all the seeds you planted. Perhaps some will be eaten, some may wither if you forget to water them, but there is a chance. After all:

“Large streams from little fountains flow, Tall oaks from little acorns grow.”

(D. Everett, The Columbian Orator, 1797)

It’s a beginning, a start. What more could you ask for?

I wonder then, is a writer an optimist too? Seeds of ideas appear, you have to be brave enough to plant them, water them, feed them give them life. When you open up your mind to writing, what do the seeds look like? Will you allow them to open up to the world?

 

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Potatoes – hopefully!

 

bees · Flowers · Garden · Inspiration · Nature

Enjoying the Sunshine

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When I started this blog I was determined it wouldn’t always be about sunshine. I would not only focus on the bright side but try to be realistic. After all, there have been dark days, there are dark days and there will be dark days.

I’ve written weekly over this past winter and scrolling back through the posts I see mostly sunshine.

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Tulip – opening up for the sun

As I write this, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and spring has definitely arrived.It is hard on a day like this to think of the darkness, to admit it exists or to let it in.

Earlier, as I was hanging out the washing, this giant bee appeared.

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Busy Bee!

 

 

 

 

Watching it, so busy, tumbling and bumbling over the bright orange petals I couldn’t help but be enchanted and inspired. What a work ethic!

I’ve mentioned before that this blog is a great place to put all the photos I take of the flowers in our garden. The things is, they look brighter, clearer in the sunshine. This means at odd moments I’ll find myself running out to take a picture while the sun is on the bloom.

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Standing, kneeling, sitting, to find the right angle I am taking a moment to myself. Appreciating nature and its ever-changing beauty because after all, everything changes, including the dark to the light.

 

 

 

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Daffodils – it has to be – Wordsworth!

 

I wander’d lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Daffodils by William Wordsworth

Thank you

Thank You!

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I always enjoy a trip to the library. Now, mix that in with a Book Festival and I thought to myself, this is a winner. Well, I was right on more than one count!

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With Dallas King receiving my prize.

Visiting the Central Library in Aberdeen for the Granite Noir Crime Fiction Festival recently I put my name in for the raffle and won!

Thanks to the staff at Central Library and to Bolinda Audio for the fantastic prize.  I am looking forward to listening to and sharing these super audiobooks!

 

 

 

 

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Despite the cold weather – the tulips are coming through!

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers · Inspiration · Nature

Balancing Life

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thumb_IMG_8729_1024Have you ever had the experience where all of a sudden your attention is drawn to something more than once over a short period of time?

When this happens it makes me sit up and take notice.

Recently while attending the Flourish workshops with Elaine Reid, I was introduced to the Five Ways to Better Wellbeing by the New Economics Forum then, flicking through a magazine for teachers I saw this:thumb_IMG_8739_1024

 

I think I’ve found another explanation for why this blog is ‘a little about a lot’, it’s because that’s life. It isn’t just one thing, it’s a balancing act of a whole lot of little actions.

While I think about this I am going to go for a walk with a friend, I’ll ask them how they are and try to take notice of the world around me!

Today, tomorrow, this week – how will you Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Learn or Give?

 

Happy Easter!

 

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