Bags of Heart♥

Today's heart is brought to you by the 'bling' I have hanging from my haversack.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Why ... you might ask, 

do I have a clutch of hearts♥ and bells on my haversack?

We all have haversacks and apart Himself's who's is black and grey

the rest of ours are the same brand and colour 

but with slight differences,

so we regularily pick up the wrong bag when out walking.

 

So, in order to make mine a little different,

and seeing I don't do 'girlie'

a small cluster of hearts♥ and trinkets did the trick nicely :) 

Having taken the photo, I now see there are two more hearts♥ than I knew I had !

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Have a lovely and Happy Monday!

♥ Don't forget to visit the other Hearty Marathoners!♥ 

Just follow the link at the top right :)

See you tomorrow x♥

My heart♥♥ on a stone

Today's heart is ......♥♥

you might as well ask,

but...?

What is it?

Walking when the sky is low

and the mist swirls around,

your eyes give up trying to look for the horizon

and your gaze is concentrated on closer views.

As we trudged up a slight hill,

our stop in sight,

along the way was evidence of worked stone.

Old farming posts and fallen walls.

And then,

there was this large stone block.

The small protrusion in the centre caught my eye,

so I returned.

Two curled pieces of metal,

bent down with time.

Giving a quiet little heart.♥ 

It seemed such a proud little shape.

It stood definantly 

in the centre of a huge square plinth.

I stared for a while,

wondering what it really was,

really really was,

before my eyes and my head

turned it into a heart.♥

♥♥♥♥♥♥

♥ Don't forget to visit the Hearty Marathoners!♥ 

Just follow the link at the top right :)

See you tomorrow x♥

05 Feb 2011 HERE

Tree Heart Graffiti

So, how's the hearty♥ happenings going round with you?

Lots of happy hearty♥ moments?

I certainly hope so :)

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

A few weeks ago, we did one of those walks that initially did not show much promise,

then as it unfolded 

it turned out to be a rather good one!

Part of the route took us along a quiet lane lined along one side by some rather mature trees.

They all sported tree preservation tags and due to their rather picturesque riverine location,

were obviously a magnet for courting couples over the years.

(and more recent ones indicted by the amount of litter!!)

So we stopped to investigate.

No,hang on, let me make that a little more clear,

I stopped to take photos,

the others studiously walked on in the vain hope I would follow...

they had to return for me (hehehehehe) 

Some hearts had dates - this one possibly says 1906  or 1902

Others were less legible but still visible declarations of love 

How many of these heart framed initials are still together?

Then, as my investigation progressed,

I almost stepped in a pile of ashes.

I leapt back, it seemed ... wrong ... to be loitering and photographing these trees 

and the mood had turned sombre.

The ashes looked so freshly laid.

I left.

It was only later, as I dwelt on the thought,

I wondered if the ashes belonged to any of those initials ...

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

♥ Don't forget to visit the Hearty Marathoners!♥ 

Just follow the link at the top right :)

See you tomorrow x♥

04 Feb 2011 HERE

A quiet moment

Not all declarations of love are hearts and roses, 

sometimes they are quiet thoughts, 

quiet words and quiet deeds.

Last year, visiting the Llyn Peninsula on a chilly April day, we walked down on a rocky coast with it's gritty beaches tucked in between the hard rock. There were a few other hardy souls doing similar hunched head walks, you know the type I mean - when you are cold and wrapped up but the bitter wind still manages to find the gaps, so you hunch your shoulders up about your ears in the vain hope you will feel warmer ..... yeah, I've done that too.

Any hoo, as we walked along, watching the grey sea and sky merge into one, Eldest was picking up stones and skimming them on the restless water. He called me over ... he'd found this ...

Scratched into the soft stone was a sad little message of love and loss. 

We stood there, Eldest and I, and in the midst of the sounds of the sea, 

the wind, the screech of the gulls, 

it felt very quiet.

Don't forget to visit the other hearty marathoners - the link to their pages is on the right.

3rd Feb 2010 HERE

More Hearty♥ Happenings Right Here!

Day two of our heart♥thon and today's heart is brought to you by ....

A sock-knitting kind soul and Yarndale.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ February Heart-♥-thon ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This was my third visit to Yarndale and it sadly rates as my least favourite one. It felt so oppressively busy that it was difficult to see anything or fondle any yarns or wools due to all the elbows and shopping bags.
May be it was just timing and if we'd been earlier/later/different day it would have been more pleasurable (as it had been the previous two visits).  Any hoo, we managed to find a respite from the crowds in the middle section where Lucy lays out her crochetty-goodness stall. While my mom and I drew a breath, we looked at the racks of hand knitted socks. Such joyous colours and promise of warmth, l♥ve and friendship. So I just 'snapped' a photo, it was only later when I was looking through the photos of the day, I noticed a slightly out of focus heart♥ shaped tag then a tag with a hand drawn heart♥, both sharing and showing love. In fact the more I looked, the more hearts♥ I saw - knitters you are amazing!

It came to me that despite all the squash and noise and sharp elbows, it was a good day and these socks were an important reminder that knitters/crocheters l♥ve to share their work, to spread the joy and the l♥ve.

And if, per very slim chance, dear random blog reader, one of those socks up there is a pair you knitted - well done, your kindness and thoughtfulness is wonderful. Thank you.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 
♥ Don't forget to visit the Hearty Marathoners!♥ 
Just follow the link at the top right :)
See you tomorrow x♥

2nd February 2011 HERE

February's Hearty Heart♥thon Starts Here!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ February Heart-♥-thon ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Can you believe it - it is February already! 

You know that that means don't you - it means a he♥rty he♥rt filled 14 days. 

A he♥rt a day up to the 14th, so with out further ado - let the heart♥thon begin!

This year has a bit of a second theme running through it too, 

graffiti and trees feature quite regularly!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

We walk regularly, Himself is our powerhouse when it comes to organising and leading walks, he quietly decides where were are going and gets us there, the rest of us just all turn up and enjoy the day!

This particular walk was fairly muddy from memory (mind you a lot of our walks are muddy ....) during a damp and cold October weekend. The field we were slipping through had obviously been the autumnal pasture for cattle as the ground was poached, wet and tussocky making for slow progress.

As we reached the crest of this particular soggy lump, we spied a line of mature trees perched on an old hedgerow line. It looked lovely and dry so we trudged our way up in an attempt to find somewhere to stop for a break and possibly lunch. I'd wondered why this area had been ignored by the heavy footed cows, leaving it pristine, however I was not going to complain!

As we approached, a glint caught my eye, about head height and my first thought was it was a tree tag preservation order number. I soon forgot about it as I concentrated on sludging towards the drier ridge. Thoughts of sitting down and having lunch filled my head - YaY!

Then it hit us...why the cows had not lingered at the trees. The wind was cutting and brittle. Despite the trees, there was absolutely no shelter from the icy blast. Our dry lunch spot thoughts were dashed instantly. Disappointed we turned away, the glint caught my eye again ... so despite having to turn back into the chilly breeze, I did.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

 I am so very glad I did.

The view below from the tree was lovely

and obviously a special spot for this loved up couple

but not today

for today

it was 

p.o.s.i.t.v.e.l.y...f.r.e.e.z.i.n.g

We did get our lunch spot, 

further down the other side of the hill, 

with our backs to a derelict barn 

and our faces warming in the waning sunshine of an autumnal walk - 

not bad, not bad at all :)

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 
♥ Don't forget to visit the Hearty Marathoners!♥ 
Just follow the link at the top right :)
See you tomorrow x♥

1st February 2011 HERE

A Monday, somewhere at the end of January ...

Morning Monday,

What do you have in store for me today?

There is a strange light in the sky, no it is not the sun but the clouds appear to have a pale luminescent creamy glow making everything almost sepia. The birds are quietly twittering in the hedges and trees and although I can not see them, I know, as does the next door's cat, that they are there.

In my ears I have an 'epic sound track' pumping out stirring and positive music. I have a sleeping dog on one numb but lovely and warm foot. The other foot is partly jealous because it is cold and partly relieved as it is not being squashed!

There is a pile of paintings in various stages of completion and some waiting to be started next to me, so I better 'get to it'...

Thank you every one who was involved with January's photo-hunt - as I mentioned before, February is slightly different. It is 'Hawthorn's Heart-♥-thon' where I post a heart♥ themed picture and waffle on a bit each day until the 14th. This year I am not alone, Susan from Granny Smith's Quilting and Jak from Jak's Tales have are joining in. 

I will be adding a semi-permanent link on the side of my page as from the 1st February so please pop over and see what hearty♥ happenings they have been up to. If you are mad enough to want to join in too (bet you have one or two hearts♥ and hearty♥ stories around your home) let me know and I will add your name to the link list too.

Here is to a little bit of  L♥VE - the world certainly needs it now more than ever.♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

And the photos? Well, in start contrast to today's sepia tinted damp day, yesterday was crisp and icy.  Those dramatic 'feather and mountain-scapes' were on Himself's windscreen.

Well Monday, 

been nice chatting with you, 

I must get on... but first, 

I shall put the kettle on,

then bring on the day!

I am ready.

January's Scavenger Photo hunt link up.

Welcome to January's Scavenger photo-hunt participants - enjoy!

If you have joined in with my

Scavenger hunt, please link

with me on your blog :)

Please add your name to the

link up tool below,

just follow the instructions.

Look forward to seeing all you lovely photos :)