I've just decided to do a basket giveaway.
:)
I don't know what kind of basket it will be but hopefully it will be round and able to carry things!
:)
I will post anywhere in the world.
:)
There's no reason for this giveaway... I suppose I'm feeling happy, there's a reason!
:)
Please leave a comment that tells me one thing in nature that makes you smile.
:)
I think I'll let this run until the oak leaves on my little tree burst. A few weeks then.
:)
I don't know what kind of basket it will be but hopefully it will be round and able to carry things!
:)
I will post anywhere in the world.
:)
There's no reason for this giveaway... I suppose I'm feeling happy, there's a reason!
:)
Please leave a comment that tells me one thing in nature that makes you smile.
:)
I think I'll let this run until the oak leaves on my little tree burst. A few weeks then.
I'll use randomiser software to pick the receiver of the basket.
As we drove through the burnt out landscape of the bushland here in Victoria, Australia today the small glimpses of green regrowth, a great sign of recovery and regeneration made me smile (something which there has been too little of recently)
ReplyDeleteA swarm of bumbarrels swooping into the garden, all a chatter, zooming onto the feeders then just as swiftly, soaring off to another garden, never to be seen again for weeks!
ReplyDeleteI love to see the first leaves of the snowdrops that tell us that winter is coming to an end and spring is just around the corner and then the dancing yellow heads of the daffodowndilly, shaking its head in the wind.....it may be cold but we are here showing that, even if you don't quite feel it yet, spring is here and the promise of better /warmer days aroung the corner.
ReplyDeleteOh how generous of you, thank you. My favourite thing in nature is the sight of the sun rising over Glastonbury Tor. I keep it in my heart until the next time I get to visit when I can renew once more.
ReplyDeleteSuch generous gesture Hen ....thank you
ReplyDeleteMy best thing is how nature finds a way even in "our world" orchids on motorways, wagtails in playgrounds .Cranes(the bird)on church roofs(lincoln cathedral last year)
Today was a perfect example as we left our driveway a pair of redlegged partridges appeared from under next doors hedge and later whilst doing the weekly shop a flock of Waxwings were flitting in the trees in Tescos car park. Makes the human race seem small and thats not a bad thing
Shaz
One thing in nature that makes me smile is when I'm walking beside the creek and a frog jumps into the water in front of me.
ReplyDeleteWow what a lovely prize :o)
ReplyDeleteThe thing that makes me stop literally in my tracks is when I am out running & see the hares.My heart leaps & a grin breaks out across my face,truly noble creatures,I had never seen a real one until moving here :o) They come along the lane,sometimes in the opposite direction so we run towards each other. I love seeing them,its like a talisman that I carry with me all day :o)
GTM x
Oh My God! A Dream come true for me!! hehe. A very kind giveaway Hen!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, one thing? Well I guess this time of year I really love being out for a hike and finding the first little flowers bursting forth. They are like little gems celebrating the arival of spring.
But there are so many things in nature that make me smile. Its just a magical experience being immersed in nature.
Everything in nature makes ME smile. But I'm particularly fond of the first blossoms of spring, crocus, pussywillows...
ReplyDeleteWe feed the bird in our backyard and I love to sit on the back porch with a cup of coffee and watch the squirrels feed on the ground from dropped seed while the birds feed at the feeders. We feed so many critters here--even a generational family of raccoons.
ReplyDeleteespressogurl at hotmail dot com
Gosh, so many things in nature make me smile. For me though, mad creature that I am, it's stormy weather. The rush and howl of the wind and heavy fat raindrops hurling themselves at the windows, whilst I'm tucked up in bed with a good book and a snuggly cat.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you love, hen?
Kim x
Lovely blog hen - you are so clever !
ReplyDeleteAs it is autumn down here in New Zealand,my fav piece of nature that makes me smile is the mellow light - cooler and soft, so refreshing after the hot summer sun. .
I feel badly putting my name into this because I don't live very close, so if I'm picked make me something VERY VERY small! I'll be able to enjoy the love you put into making it!
ReplyDeleteI love too many things in nature. I'll tell you though that I never tire of seeing wild flowers in the alpine. Ahhh.... Just thinking about sunny days eating lunch of hummus and veggies in wild flower covered meadows. Cool enough breezes that you can snuggle in a light sweater. Beautiful views... That's what I love.
one of the many gifts of Mother Nature that makes me smile so much is a fluffy bee bum, sticking out of trumpetty flower! Gets me grinning every time!
ReplyDeletewhat a generous giveaway hen, the winner will be truly lucky.
leanne x
A sight I see rarely but treasure when I do - a wild brown hare. This is such a generous giveaway hen, someone is going to be very lucky.
ReplyDeleteSaw a buzzard close up flying low across the frosty field we were sharing. Beautiful finger feathers at the edge of its wings and a bright eye scanning the grass. Smiling and tearful at the same time (me, not the buzzard :-)
ReplyDeletePG x
The space between the leaves
ReplyDeleteYay! How wonderful - what a lovely, lovely person you are!!!
ReplyDeleteThere's so much in nature that makes me smile but right now I think I'd have to go for watching the lambs gamboling about in the fields - its just so cute and never fails to make me smile plus baby small often has fits of giggles at their antics which makes me smile even more.
xxx
I love to watch big fuzzy bumble bee's darting from bloom to bloom. Blackbirds finding a nice jucy worm and baby ducks bobbing along the river. xxx
ReplyDeleteNature's tenacity.
ReplyDeleteIn a 100 square meters of concrete car park there will be a small crack, nature will seek out that little crack and something will try and grow, try and take back that space.
Where mankind has made its mark on the Earth, no matter where, nature is always there.
So, what makes me smile? The ivy clawing through a brick wall slowly eating away at its structure, the patch of moss spreading over a white washed wall, the young plant growing in a crack in the pavement... the tenacity of nature.
So nice of you to offer such a prize Hen, good on ya! :)
The first bumble bee of the spring searching hard for 'something' in flower ... so difficult to single out one thing ... ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe way Puffins move - they really do look like wind-up toys as they attempt to walk and/or fly.
ReplyDeleteHi Hen way Up there on Top of the World Smiling Beautifully. You are a part of Nature, and Your Smile just made me Smile.
ReplyDeleteBaby animals make me smile. Every day on my way to work, I see calves, colts, lambs, kids. They always make me smile.
ReplyDeleteOne thing about nature I love (how can you narrow it down to 1?) in the spring, in Montana, when the sun shines on the bark of the ponderosa pine trees, if you stick your nose into the bark, it is the most wonderful smell you can imagine. Definitely indescribable, earthy, yet vanilla like in a way, sun warmed and all encompassing! Mmmmm!
ReplyDeleteI'm posting this on behalf of a lady called Jo Anne from the mountains of British Columbia (!)
ReplyDelete"Right now it is the return of the robins. I live in the mountains in British Columbia and we have had a wild, long, long winter. Lots of snow and cold weather and everyone was looking for signs of spring. I looked out the kitchen window and saw more robins than I have ever seen before. My 4 year old granddaughter was visiting and she and I sat and watched those birds, swarming and sailing and landing on the ornamental crab tree outside the window. It was surely a sign of spring and made both of us giddy with the wonder of nature. The birds looked a bit shocked to see so much snow still here and the temperatures much lower than normal. They truly lifted our spirits and made us dance a crazy dance of spring in the kitchen!
J. Fisher"
Thank you all so much for your comments so far! They are all just wonderful!!!
ReplyDeleteThat oak sapling isn't showing any signs of bursting! The beech leaves in our area have burst, and normally that means the Oaks don't have much longer to go!
:)
hen
x
I love how when the wind blows the petals off the blooming trees in early spring. It's very other worldly to be showered in petals.
ReplyDeleteThe wonderful tree colours in Autumn- like the best paint chart in the world.
ReplyDeleteGreenrabbit
People who enjoy nature, appreciate it, and leave well alone. That makes me smile and feel there is hope for the world yet.
ReplyDeleteMrsL
xx
(nice giveaway :) )
I had to comment again, as the sun finally came out for three days running! The earth has really burst forth with songs and green and magic in that short amount of time. It is so amazing to smell earth, dirt, mud again. I had forgotten about the earth smells, decomposition. Soon we will be smelling newer smells, green smells and then flowers! There are bitty pokes of green coming, even through the snow. Good-bye winter, I love you and I will miss you!
ReplyDeleteHello! Spring! My you are gorgeous! Welcome!
I love the weather! I love to grumble and complain about it being too cold, too wet, too dry, too hot -whatever it may be, it becomes such an easy way to begin conversations with friends and strangers alike. I love the softness of a fine misty rain upon the skin, the bone warming sun, the soft breezes that make the flowers nod to each other. I love watching storm fronts race across the sky, rainbows that magically appear and make us gasp at their beauty, and I love the dark flashing lights and rumbling of a good old summer thunderstorm. I love watching the giant flakes of snow falling softly to earth and marvel at the sparkly snow crystals and hoar frost along creek edges....and the sunrises and sunsets in a million colours all dependent on the weather conditions of the moment!!!Oh I could go on and on...I love what weather does to this earth of ours!
ReplyDeleteToo many things in nature I love to pick one but let me go for people, we are part of nature too and the posts above and your basket give away show there are some wonderful people in the world.
ReplyDeleteNice blog by the way, first visit, won't be the last.
In TN, we await the first frost free day so we can plant our seedlings, nutured indoors. Walking the little field near my home, a happy sight, the first buttercups, mother nature smiling her golden smile.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your generous gift. Baskets are revered crafts in this part of the United States.
Marti
What made me smile and got me to type this is your tweet about building a wee chicken house for your chicks. I've been wanting to get some chicks for awhile and my husband has said it won't be long before he can build a little house for them. Please post pic's when it's complete along with pic's those little chicks. This is how we can enjoy nature in this crazy world. BTW, I love your baskets..have made a few in the past and it's a wonderful art.
ReplyDeleteI just found your site. It's lovely. I look forward to exploring it more and seeing your corner of the world through your eyes. I'm going to pop over to Woodlife as soon as I finish this. I really like your baskets.
ReplyDeleteForgot to tell you one thing in Nature that makes me smile. Different things in different seasons. The first spring evening when I hear the frogs in chorus, when the summer sun heats the pine and they release a sweet green smell, fog in early fall that drifts low across a field, and a clear pale blue sky in winter after days of gray.
ReplyDeleteAh, I'm already the proud owner of one of your baskets, so I don't mind in the least if I'm not drawn, but reading all of the above inspired me to add my comment here too.
ReplyDeleteSelecting one thing from so many is certainly a tough thing, but for me, seeing our local toad snuggle into hibernation in a dark, sheltered corner of the garden is always a treat. This year, we were thrilled to see that he had settled down with Mrs Toad and the pair were hibernating together! It's autumnal rather than going with the Spring theme of most posts, but I'm very fond of Mr Toad, as he's a very nice, natural way to keep control of all the slugs and snails in the herb bed. We have never yet seen them emerge from hibernation, and it seems mean to uncover his sheltered patch, in case it's too cold, just to check up on them, but it's wonderful knowing that they're there.
It has been wonderful reading all the posts on this give-away; a truly inspiring and delightful thing you have done Hen.
Blessings and hugs to you, Sarah
Oh, if it were only so easy to pick one thing!So many things in nature make me smile:the grass slowly growing green again, like someone comes in at night with a crayon to color my yard. the little teeny, tiny lilacs that I can just barely see, hiding in their leaves, the catkins on the ends of the birch tree branches by the garden, the rustle of aspen leaves as I walk with my girls in the woods, the call of the red-winged blackbird on a fencepost by the pasture, but perhaps most of all, the busyness of the birds, all of them going on with the building of nests, and the finding of mates, and none of them concerned with trivial human matters, like taxes and bills and clean laundry, and whats-for-dinner. I have often felt that if I ever come back to this life as something else, it would be wonderful to be a bird, something strong and fierce like a hawk, or an owl. But really, any bird would do. Perhaps an albatross.....
ReplyDeleteOoooh...difficult!
ReplyDeleteI think, for me, it would have to be the smell of a woodland in spring, ripe and rich and earthy, smelling fecund and wonderful....
that promise of things to come, the future view in high summer of gently waving bracken, which the tight, unfurling fronds just pushing through the leaf litter promises....
Wonderful offer, Hen!
I would like to share an extraordinary series of events that have transpired on our land, all prompted by one bold chestnut-backed chickadee...
ReplyDeleteI do not know what prompted that first chickadee to start following me around whenever I was outside, but that he did. One day I decided to offer him some sunflower seeds so as he pestered me with his chirps & trills from a nearby bush, I held out my hand with the seeds and he flew right to me. He perched on the tips of my fingers, chose his treat and flew off. He repeated this several times before I had to make my way to other tasks.
The next day, it happened again. I named him "Munchkin". He was so tiny but he had so much spunk!
From that day forward (it's been about six months now) all the chickadees that travel in Munchkin's flock have learned from him that it's safe to come to my hand. They surround me while I do my garden chores outside, all the while making their chipping sounds and buzzy notes. It seems like they are calling to me with constant , insistent scoldings, "Hold out your hand, your hand! I am followed from one end of our property to the other by this little marauding band of tweeters.
It is a JOY and a blessing from the natural world. How many people in the world have ever felt the weight of a chickadee in their hand? And it brings a smile to my face each and every day.
Well Helen, as you know I was going to leave a rather curt message about my favourite think in nature being.. well you know.
ReplyDeleteHOWEVER...
Whilst driving lost in Oxford a while ago, probably just before Christmas I remember driving down a single track lane, with big beautiful trees arching over the road, high mud banks either side, and bushed growing unhindered by pruning farmers. How sad, I thought, that man has just come along and carved through the country side to build a road that hardly carries traffic at all.
Then I realised that in this circumstance mother nature really didn't care for the short term, as the grass started to grow in this narrow lane and the banks were slowly eating away at the tarmac once laid long ago. It made me realise the insignificance this road had played in the life eternal of an evolving nature.
every spring in april i listen at dusk for the familiar, peepers, tree frogs, coyote barks, waiting and waiting for the "preeent" that means that lingering snows will cease: woodcock. north country spring IS woodcock.
ReplyDeleteThis is quite the exciting giveaway! You have a very generous heart~ It was quite fun to read through the comments that have been left for you, so much love for things in nature that make people smile! I am in love with our natural world and our natural stance. To put it all into one thing, I will say: love in the form of life makes me smile.
ReplyDeleteI once was feeding a swan from our boat and a seagull came up and sat on the swans back, the swan ignored it and the gull stayed there leaning over picking up bits of scraps that the swan had dropped.. I love the way different animals communicate with each other no matter if its in a nice way or a grumpy way like a little piglet chasing a hen across the yard... these are the things that mak me smile
ReplyDeleteThere are so many things in nature that make me smile, baby birds first attempts at flying, trees coming into bloom, the frog on our allotment hopping from plant to plant to find shade and pretending he is not really there. The little sycamore seedling I found in the strawberry bed I was weeding rescued and put in a pot until it gets a bit bigger then I will plant it in the hedge at the back of the allotment where it can grow to give pleasure to everyone.
ReplyDeleteMost of all being able, at last to walk into the garden anytime and watch the plants and seeds growing in their new home.
I thought about this hen and kept on coming up with 'life' - the one thing that's everything.
ReplyDeleteIt bowls me over, totally.