. . . the little mice began to gather corn and nuts and wheat and straw. They all worked day and night. All—except Frederick.
“Frederick, why don’t you work? They asked.
“I do work,” said Frederick.
“I gather sun rays for the cold dark winter days.”
—Frederick by Leo Lionni
Melissa Shaw-Smith 
Beautiful photos. I particularly like the shadow.
Thank you. I couldn’t resist the golden shadow–I’ve never seen a shadow glow so much before.
Agreeing with RO; what an excellent self-portrait that is! And if you can make me see beauty in Japanese beetles (who did their best to kill my cherry tree last year), you are some kind of magician… 🙂
Thanks, Sunshine. Yes, those pesky Japanese beetles are devastating jewels.
Beautiful shots and lovely quote. Love those leaves in the water especially!
Thanks. Leo Lionni has been a favorite children’s author in our house for many years. His own illustrations are charming, too.
He is not a children’s author I have come across – despite having a house full of kids books – will definitely look out for him now – thanks for recommendation
Outstanding images Melissa. I love the way you capture the unusual, I love doing that also. Thanks for sharing.I gather the sun rays of my time out in nature birding and carry them into my workplace to help me through a busy shift. I love your style.
Yes! What would we do without those sun rays. Just finished digging out from yet another snowfall. We’ll be lucky to see earth before the end of March. So lovely to have photos to remind ourselves of the pleasures to come. Thank you for visiting.
I thought you’d be up there shoveling snow. What’s with the bare earth? And flowers? But I loved looking at them.
Brenda, you’re getting all your sun rays naturally down in Mexico. For us up north we have to resort to drastic measures. Enjoy!
Beautiful hopeful thoughts and photos, Liss. Ex
Emma Shaw-Smith
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Thanks, Emma. Can’t wait to see photos of your gorgeous spring garden in London.
Stunning post, dear Melissa… I truy liked the photographs and the thoughts you shared over here. Thank you ⭐ All my best wishes, Aquileana 😀
Thanks for commenting and visiting, Aquileana. Enjoying your informative posts on Greek mythology, as always.
You have captured some amazing pictures here. It’s quite wonderful what you can do with some beautiful sunlight and a camera! 🙂
Thanks, Suzy.