Weekend 113: A walk in fresh snow

We had snow on the night of 25th December but it was gone within 48 hours. It snowed for the sake of white Christmas. Many of us were missing snow even the people who don’t ski.

On the first day of 2021 we enjoyed our usual hike but there was no snow just some frost.

Fortunately we had good snow on Saturday morning. The trees covered with snow were beuatiful. The temperature was perfect for a leisure walk and a visit to our local cafe. They serve good carrot cake and coffee. The cafe visit didn’t happen as it was closed for Christmas. It may sound odd but yes, in this town the restaurant, the cafe and the bar all were closed from 21st December til 3rd of January. The employees were given Christmas break to be with their families.

It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it ~ Dale Carnegie

Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties ~ Helen Keller

Our walk was concluded with a piece of rum soaked fruit and nut cake which I made for Christmas and a cup of hot chocolate.

Jo’s Monday Walk

Sunday Trees

Living Now

Do not set aside your happiness. Do not wait to be happy in the future. The best time to be happy is always now ~ Roy T. Bennett

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  Our walk today

Life is no different than the weather. Not only is it unpredictable, but it shows us a new perspective of the world every day ~ Suzy Kassem

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Sometimes there is no next time, no time-outs, no second chances. Sometimes it’s now or never ~ Alan Bennett

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At any point in time you can always find something more pressing to do than that one vital but not immediately necessary task, and it’s only once it’s too late that you look back on your decisions and your mistake becomes painfully obvious. The trick is to substitute thinking ‘do I do this now or later?’ with ‘do I do this now or never?’, because all too often that’s the choice you actually end up making ~ Anonymous

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Since April we started exploring our surroundings. We go on walks/hikes almost everyday with some rare exceptions. For Lens artists photo challenge this week, Amy proposed the theme “Now and then“. I decided to stick to the first part “Now”. Sometimes I like to dwell on the past and check our travellings photos but for now let us enjoy the beauty of November. I hope Amy wouldn’t mind either.

I am listening this piece while working on the post:

Nurturing Thursday

Weekend 111: In the neighbourhood

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like ~ Lao Tzu

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  Beautiful morning!

Someone may find it strange but for us it’s quite natural, the skies are clear during sunrise or sunset and the rest of the day clouds accompany us in different shades. Anyways we try to take walks irrespective of weather.

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The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude ~ Oprah Winfrey

November is not like spring or summer or not even like autumn but still each day has it’s own significance.

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Don’t Just

Don’t just learn, experience.
Don’t just read, absorb.
Don’t just change, transform.
Don’t just relate, advocate.
Don’t just promise, prove.
Don’t just criticize, encourage.
Don’t just think, ponder.
Don’t just take, give.
Don’t just see, feel.
Don’t just dream, do.
Don’t just hear, listen.
Don’t just talk, act.
Don’t just tell, show.
Don’t just exist, live.
― Roy T. Bennett

( The Light in the Heart)

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  Time to go back home

Lens artists photo challenge

Sunday Trees

Weekend 110: A walk in the mist

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After one week we were back on one of our favourite trails. The actual weather decided to show significant difference from what the meterological institute had forecasted and I am glad. We had an amazing experience.

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky ~Rabindranath Tagore

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It is the uncertainty that charms one. A mist makes things wonderful ~ Oscar Wilde 

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We have forgotten what rocks, plants, and animals still know. We have forgotten how to be— to be still, to be ourselves, to be where life is: Here and Now ~ Eckhart Tolle (Stillness Speaks)

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There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

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We walked in the mist hiking up and also coming down. Needless to say, we were happy with our decision of going out.

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  Details about the distance and the elevation. The beauty of nature was boundless

No cloud is so dark that the sun can’t shine through ~ Unknown

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Friday Fun – still

Lens artisits photo challenge

Jo’s Monday walk

Weekend 109: Last walk in October

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Is this not a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love – that makes life and nature harmonize.~ George Eliot

In a forest of a hundred thousand trees, no two leaves are alike. And no two journeys along the same path are alike ~ Paulo Coelho

Flowers, leaves, fruit, are the air-woven children of light~ Jacob Moleschott   

One feels blessed when in spite of the odds one could manage last walk of october, before the light of the sun is hiden in dense clouds. I wished for a special entry for last walktober in 2020 and festival of leaves this week. I am really happy with what I experienced today. My little walk gave me immense pleasure. I hope you all are happy too.

The weather god was most kind earlier today. As of now it’s going to rain for next four days and currently it’s really stormy. Stay safe, healthy and kind.

Sunday Trees

Weekend 108: Autumnal stroll

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience~ Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The images of wild roses were taken a couple of weeks ago. The colours were so different. Some trees were showing yellow shades but all was mostly green.

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On Sunday we had been on our usual hike/walk. Unsure of weather in near future I insisted to go on a nearby mountain. It was perfect for hiking cold but sunny. Autumn sun makes every thing beautiful.

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Let nature take its course. By letting each thing act in accordance with its own nature, everything that needs to be done gets done ~ Lao Tzu.

The last eight months we are at home and trying to cope with our new normals. Instead of discussing things which are out of our control we focused our energy on simple feasible tasks. We are happy with what we achieved.

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth. ~Henry David Thoreau

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Festival of leaves

Walktober

Nurturing Thursday

Hope you enjoy the post. Stay healthy and happy.

Weekend 107: Chasing the autumn sun

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  Be Still like a Mountain, and Flow like a Great River ~ Lao Tzu

Whole day sunshine is past for now. We are surrounded by mountains and to get the warmth of afternoon sun we need to move out of the house. We do not plan our hikes/walks on daily basis but what matters is the sunny side of the mountains 🌞😎. Anyways when we go out near farms, we get chance to say hello to happy sheeps and to enjoy the beauty and freshness of autumn.

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I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.~
L. M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)

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AUTUMNAL

Pale amber sunlight falls across
The reddening October trees,
That hardly sway before a breeze
As soft as summer: summer’s loss
Seems little, dear! on days like these.

Let misty autumn be our part!
The twilight of the year is sweet:
Where shadow and the darkness meet
Our love, a twilight of the heart
Eludes a little time’s deceit. … …

Ernest Dowson (The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson)

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Her pleasure in the walk must arise from the exercise and the day, from the view of the last smiles of the year upon the tawny leaves and withered hedges, and from repeating to herself some few of the thousand poetical descriptions extant of autumn–that season of peculiar and inexhaustible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness–that season which has drawn from every poet worthy of being read some attempt at description, or some lines of feeling.~ Jane Austen (Persuasion)

In our region the day tempearture is well below two digits now and the days are getting shorter hence it’s obvious that people enjoy the warmth of autumn sun. Trees are changing colours quite fast. A new scene welcomes us whenever we walk on the roads.

Festival of leaves &

Jo’s Monday walk, I think Jo is enjoying a short break for now 🤩

I am updating this post and joining Robin’s Walktober . It’s going to be fun.

Weekend 104: Just in time

Yesterday we went to see a day cabin on a local mountain. Such cabins are popular hiking destinations in the local areas. People can go into the cabin to rest, warm up and eat packed lunches, a day cabin does not have accomodation facilities. The hike was quite steep but not very long. We climbed upto 300 m above sea level while covering only 1.2 km distance.

The pass was through a farm which is currently occupied by a couple of calves ( though not new borns). I was bit scared as it was my first encounter with such a big animal. It went fine.

The first sign of the cabin

A family with kids was already there but there was plenty of space to keep social distancing  😀

Inside the cabin

Just a view

Dramatic clouds

We stayed there for sometime then continued towards another hike but after half an hour we gave up the idea and returned.  The next destination was at 600 moh and we didn’t have enough water and no snacks. My husband insisted to go back.

Sometimes weather decides to go against the forecast and it shows no mercy what so ever. It rained heavily for little more than half an hour.

Later in the evening around 9 pm

I believe the best way to begin reconnecting humanity’s heart, mind, and soul to nature is for us to share our individual stories.~J. Drew Lanham

Becca’s Sunday trees

Jo’s Monday Walk

 

 

Weekend 101 – Hiking 919 moh

Knowing our strength is not impossible. ~Six word Saturday

Yesterday was a fantastic day, we achieved something great.  It was last sunny day before a wet week so we decided to go on hiking. It was a day tour and we hiked up to 919 m above sea level while covering 17.5 km distance in total.

At home we are working on our “terrace”. Terrace decking is finished and painting is going on but we didn’t want to miss the hiking opportunity.  We didn’t have a lot of rain in last couple of days so the mountain trail was perfect for hiking. The route was well marked (which means one has to keep eye on wooden stumps, trees,  and even the stones in the forest). There were some wet places but managed them in good way. Just that our shoes need good washing 😂😂😂

And at the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy, and your eyes sparkling. ~Shanti

Marking

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.~ Rachel Carson

Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads. ~Henry David Thoreau

Security – Friday fun.

Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos — the trees, the clouds, everything.~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Becca’s Nurturing Thursday & Sunday Trees

Jo’s Monday Walk

Weekend 100: Summer at home 2

Walking in surroundings is included in our daily routine now. I picked a couple of images from our walk last week.

Flowers are blooming everywhere here and almost every house has beautiful display. A couple of days ago we took a short walk to appreciate gardens in our neighbourhood.

Our town walk was concluded with coffee and cake. No rains and wind and even the temperature was just perfect resulting lot of people outside. Gladly it was convenient to maintain social distancing while seating outside. July is vacation month in Norway but our borders are still closed and moreover this year people are adviced to spend their vacations in Norway. Hope this will help local business which rely mostly on tourists.

Jo’s Monday Walk

Becca’s Sunday Trees

Second entry to last week’s lens artists photo challenge: Summer

Here is my first entry for the same challenge : CLICK