The weather was not exactly "nice" but the kids and I took a winter hike yesterday in the section of Pennypack park that yields this spectacular view of Glencairn Castle.

My cousins first brought me to this neck of the woods with a hilltop view when we were in high school in the early 90s. 

The fact that Caitlyn has a heart on her hat is just a lucky coincidence. 

While this scene took place right outside my window, it did not take place today. I took a journey back through my son's photos and found one from 2014 when we first gave him his camera. At 7 years old he showed a strong interest and aptitude for taking pictures. He gravitates toward taking pictures of animals, most often birds. (He makes a mama proud!) I love how this shot captures a gorgeous Northern Cardinal almost huddling under the protection of the bird feeder in the snow.

I was hunting for a good Cardinal photo reference in honor of Christmas this Sunday for visual reasons...color, in particular. Turns out these beauties are native to North America. While European settlers saw them and named them after the guys in red (Catholic Cardinals), Native Americans know that these faithful maters make good matchmaking medicine. And, don't they just look beautiful in the snow! 

Meet the tea cup terrarium that stole my heart.

For the second year, I assembled several terrariums for the cozy holiday sale that my artists group (MamaCITA) organizes in the house of one lucky Elkins Park (sometimes Melrose Park) resident. Once I set eyes on this succulent little Black Prince Echeveria contrasting and harmonizing with the fine lines of the tea cup, I knew. This one was never going to make it to the sale.

Is it wrong to gain so much joy from looking at a terrarium? If that's true, then I don't want to be right!

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I love to walk around the block...on sidewalks. In fact, my one non-negotiable detail in house-hunting is the house needs a sidewalk. Maybe because I spent several years living in cities without a car, I want to be able to walk places. And, guess what!  My persistence paid off. I can walk to an ice cream parlor that is open year round in under 15 minutes! Oh, the simple pleasures!

My family and I last took a walk around the block several days after Thanksgiving. My son Dylan and I arranged some particularly beautiful leaves from a thorny hedge on High School Road. These leaves are resting on an aggregate concrete sidewalk with which I took a few artistic liberties.

While this could almost belong to my Take a Walk series, I'm placing it as number four in my Heart series. Enjoy!

I left this yellow leaf heart on a tree stump at Briar Bush Nature Center last week. I made it with a process that I'll call "Leaf Origami." With two leaves that had fallen from the same tree, I folded the halves. Then, to secure it I poked a hole through both layers and wove the stem through. 

The abundance of leaves on the ground has given me some great material and I have a collection of photos to work from. But alas, all good things must come to an end, There are not many leaves left on the trees anymore and freshly fallen leaves work best.

It looks like I'll just have to discover some other process as we head into winter. I'm not worried. Nature yields plenty of materials to play with!