The View From Here: More Spring Blooms!

Meandering about in the warm Spring weather, taking a few pictures of the blooms I see!

Cherry blossoms:

Pear blossoms!

I don't know what blossoms!

Then I made a delicious sweet potato bisque from a recipe I found online. It was so smooth and creamy! The decorative sprig is a celery leaf, with a dash of paprika for contrasting color. Yummy:

In case you've never had the pleasure of hearing spring peepers (tiny frogs) chirp in the early morning, I managed to capture it here. Don't bother to look for a picture; just listen:

Happy Passover! Happy Easter! Happy Earth Day!

May you and your family have a joyous celebration, remembering God's deliverance, and being mindful that we have been put here to take care of our planet.

Below are a few more reminders of what a wonderful Spring it is turning out to be here in New Jersey.

Every Spring I look forward to seeing the forsythia bloom! At this time of year, in a certain spot along route 22 in Hunterdon County, there's a long stretch of forsythia planted in the center median that is just a joy to behold! Rows and rows of forsythia, stretching for what seems like a mile. This is just a small portion of it:

It was a little overcast the day I took this photo, but when the sun is shining, it seems as though drops of golden sun are resting on the surface of the earth because the forsythia glows so brightly!

I captured this shot on a windswept day after a storm:

And finally, an artistic rendering of a couple of baby daffodils blooming:

Last Church Craft Until Fall

Here is the last church craft I made for this session of Kids Quest. It was pretty easy to do. It's a wheel that you can turn, reminding you that you can pray anytime:

I really enjoy preparing the crafts for the children's ministry each week; even more so now that my daughter is involved in the class. It makes me feel like I'm helping out, even if it seems like a small contribution, I know that any help that teachers can get to be more prepared is a big deal. In my small way I am helping impact the next generation.

I also spent some time this week reviewing some ideas for art projects I'd like to work on. I picked out a few and hope to start posting my progress soon.

The View From Here: Duke Island Park

Birds chirping in the early morn, robins flitting about pulling up worms from the ground, daffodils and crocus popping out to say their cheerful hello, spring peepers chanting their glorious chorus in the evening... yes the REAL Springtime has arrived! The fam and I took a stroll after church in Duke Island Park, a refreshing little getaway in Somerset County, NJ: http://www.somersetcountyparks.org/parksFacilities/dukeIsland/DukeIslandPk.html.

It is a nice park to just take a walk in along a paved path that winds alongside the Raritan River, and there was just enough wind to fly a kite! Last year we had a picnic and rollerskated our way along the path, which is also used for biking. Here are a few pictures of the enjoyable afternoon we spent there:

The kite was high up there:

Looking out on the Raritan River:

Plenty of twisted trees to fire the imagination:

Daffodils happy to see some warm weather at last:

Here are two more pictures that weren't taken at the park, but I felt that they should be included as well: