Mr. Owl and the Christmas Moon

There's a great hiking path near me and I was told 2 weeks ago I would see a lot of owls. 

Well, I did but I didn't have my camera with me. 

Fast forward to tonight and I am so happy I was able to get a few shots!

‎"To the artist, the forest is an asylum of peace and 

dancing shadows."

 ~ John F. Carlson

The full moon was incredible tonight. At first it was really orange, much more so that this photo. 

This is the Christmas moon or also called yule moon, long night moon, bitter moon or, in English medieval times, the oak moon. 

Another woodland creature I recently came across...

Wildflower Walk

It was a freaky 80+ degrees yesterday so Zoe and I decided to pack a picnic lunch go for a walk at Shenk's Ferry Wildflower Preserve.  Poor flowers, it was a bit too hot for them, and us too!

Dutchman's Breeches, in the bleeding heart family.

Their seeds are planted by ants, no wonder they were everywhere!

Even growing off rocky areas.

Wilty Virginia bluebells don't like the sun and heat.

Bending over to fix my shoe, I nearly put my hand on this guy!

A wolf spider perhaps?

A lovely tree planter created by Mother Nature.

 We found this neat looking hobbit hole.

One of my favorites, a yellow trout lily.

Marsh marigold.

It was so hot, the cool creek felt like heaven!

Everything is starting to turn green. My little Zoe looked like a woodland fairy child. :)

A Walk in the Woods

Sunday was a glorious day. The spring air was warm and carried on the breeze was the delightful smell of rich, wet earth and blooming wildflowers. Since I'm cooped up in the house most of the week, we thought we would go to Lancaster Central Park for a hike through the woods.
The trail we chose started out at an old covered bridge and followed a small river. The wildflowers were so pretty, I wish I had taken more photos of them. There were also these teeny tiny light blue butterflies which I had never seen before.
They were way too fast for me to take their photo (as was the snake we met). The turtle was nice and allowed me to snap his photo - I wonder what kind he is?





I also want to thank Lyndy and Kristen for my most recent blog awards. Please stop by their websites when you have the chance...
Today's Gold
Kristen Beason Designs