Mandala Monday ~ When Nature Gives You Wind

You make a mandala with the debris…

We had some pretty strong winds blow through here over the weekend, and sadly, the lilac in my garden took some damage. One of its main branches split. Luckily, that branch was on the backside, so it doesn’t affect the overall appearance from my view. Lilacs are hardy shrubs, so I’m sure it will bounce back.  I’ve mentioned in previous posts that my grandpa planted this lilac for my grandma like 75 years ago, so it has definitely weathered its share of wind and storms over that time.

The lilacs are just getting ready to bloom here and I was sad to lose one of the main branches of potential fragrant blossoms, so I decided to snip some of them off that broken branch and put them in a vase anyway. Maybe they will end up opening? Or maybe not. But they still look pretty in a vase…

The Rhododendron on the front corner of the house is in its absolute glory right now and thankfully didn’t suffer any damage from the wind.  Well, except for this rather unsightly hole…

So I decided to take some of those blossoms and put them in a bowl of water to help preserve them for a little while.  But they were lonely in there, so I added a bright yellow dandelion and a few violets.

I adore violets, sweet little things!

I don’t usually like to pick flowers or things of nature, because then they die, but I’ve been missing my granddaughter so terribly that when my daughter told me they had been out picking violets (we usually do that together each spring), I had to go out on my own and gather some too.  The little basket above is the one my granddaughter usually uses for foraging on nature walks when she’s at my house and I have to admit it made me feel sad to use it without her.  It makes me sad right now typing about it…

I hadn’t intended on sharing anything sad in this post, I was actually wanting to share about how you can turn life’s ‘storms’ into something beautiful, because I do truly believe that, but gosh my heart aches right now.  I blame my sharing about that little basket.

I know I’m not the only one facing heart ache right now and my heart goes out to everyone.  Love and Light to you all.  May you find beauty, hope and joy today.

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Mandala Monday ~ Autumn Equinox

A mandala I created last week to celebrate the Autumn Equinox…

Ahhh Autumn…

🍁🍂🍃

 

Happy Monday, wishing you a beautiful week ahead!

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Spirals

In the garden of my mind

many thoughts intertwine

 

and in my heart emotions swirl

joys and sorrows all unfurl

 

The journey of change as life unfolds

leads me back to Source where peace flows

 

© Julie Rehnelt 2019

 

Just creating spirals with flowers in my garden while I work some things out…

Spending time in nature and being creative is always good for working things out, don’t you agree?!

 

Wishing you joy and beauty today!

 

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Mandala Monday ~ To Bring Cheer

A little flower mandala I created this past week from a few of the annuals I have growing in various pots on my patio…

I normally don’t like to pick the flowers from my garden, but I was needing a bit of extra cheer and creative expression, and sitting on the soft green earth playing with flowers in my garden did just the trick.  And those purple petunias… sooo wonderfully fragrant!

Hope this brings cheer to you too on this Monday!

 

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Mandala Monday ~ Memorial

It was at this time of year that my dad went into hospice care here at home, and whenever I came over to visit him I would always stop in the garden first to pick him some lily of the valley.

I remember him holding them up to his nose and closing his eyes and smiling as he breathed in their delightful scent.  I love seeing that memory in my mind’s eye.  It was only a small, simple gesture, on my part, but I think he liked it and that it helped to brighten up his last days.  ❤

So each spring when the lily of the valley are in bloom, I will go out into the garden to collect some to set in a vase next to his urn.

While I was out there gathering them yesterday, I decided to pick a few other things too and then play around with them a bit.  I created this little memorial mandala…

I could not bend those lily of the valley to my will, and I had to leave the stems on them because I planned to put them in a vase when I was done, so the circle got a bit choppy.  Also, it was only after I had already snapped these pictures and then had my batteries die that I realized I should have arranged them so that none of them would have been upside down.  I was just spiraling them around and not thinking.  So all the little bells on the right are upside down.  Oops! 🙃

Oh well, it’s still pretty, and I still very much enjoyed myself.  Sometimes it’s hard when you’re creating something and want it to be just right, but it doesn’t have to be perfect, and I think my Papa would have liked it too!  🌸

With the lily of the valley and the addition of lilacs, this was definitely the most fragrant nature mandala I’ve made thus far.

Mmm… delicious!  😍

My little gatherings… Such pretty colors and textures – they’re even lovely just lying in the box…

I adore every one of these blossoms – yes, even the dandelions!  😉

I’m enjoying experimenting with flowers to create my nature mandalas. 🌸 And making one in memory of my Papa made this one meaningful as well.  ❤

 

Wishing all of you a meaningful Monday and a beautiful week ahead…

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

 

 

Mandala Monday ~ Foraging

Mother’s day weekend brought my daughter and grandchildren over for a visit, and while they were here, my daughter and I did a bit of foraging together.  She has been taking a course in herbalism and creating some of her own natural remedies, and she wanted to go out and gather some dandelions and violets.  Of course, I was more than happy to do that with her.

She and I had a chance to do some bike riding together too, which I enjoyed very much – I’ve really missed going on bike rides with her since she moved away.  We decided to ride over to the field of dandelions that I wrote about in my Music Monday ~ Yellow post to look for some, but sadly, they were all gone!  Most of them, anyway.  I can’t imagine the city spraying weed killer all over that massive field, so I’m not sure what could have happened – dandelions are quite prolific, as everyone who wants a lush green lawn knows.  😉

We gathered what we could find and then continued on our bike ride.  We stopped at several other areas along the way wherever we found large quantities of dandelions or violets growing.  Gosh, I adore violets, such sweet, dainty, little purple pretties.

In the end, we didn’t come away with as many as my daughter would have liked, but it was enjoyable gathering what we did.  She also gathered some plantain and a few other useful things she saw.

As much as I would enjoy concocting some natural remedies of my own, my main goal for helping her gather dandelions and violets (other than just being in her company, of course) was to first play around with them creating mandalas.

I don’t like picking living things for no good reason, so it was a bit of a challenge finding other things to use in creating a mandala.  But then I found some yellow loosestrife popping up in places it shouldn’t be in my garden, so I had no qualms about picking those. And as I continued around my yard, I noticed that my rhododendron is most likely not going to bloom this year, which is so sad, because it’s usually a show stopper.  I found a few scraggly blossoms down around the bottom and decided to just pick them.

There must have been something in the weather patterns this year that affected things, because I’ve also noticed that my lilacs don’t have very many flower buds on them this year.  VERY sad about that.  😭

I had saved some pinecones and a few dried hydrangea blossoms from last year, so I used those, grabbed a rock for the center and this is how my mandala turned out…

I think this is the first one I’ve made that is in fives.  I usually create them in even numbers like 3 or 6, but I only had 5 rhododendrons.

I only started creating these nature mandalas last fall when I had all of the beautiful autumn colored leaves to play with (autumn always brings out my creative side) and I haven’t done much with flowers or any other elements of nature yet, so it’ll be interesting to see how this little activity/hobby/practice evolves (or not) with spring and summer.  It’s a busy time in the garden, so we’ll have to wait and see if nature mandalas are a part of it…

Speaking of the garden…

I’m heading out there now. It’s a GORGEOUS morning!  I think I’ll plant my peas and lettuce…

 

Wishing you joy and beauty as you forage through this new week!  Have a gorgeous day!

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Mandala Monday ~ Spring Equinox

A couple of mandalas I created last week on the Spring Equinox…

~

 

I had to create them indoors, because in reality, this is what it looked like outdoors here on the first day of spring…

Well, technically, this photo isn’t from ‘here’ in Minnesota where I live, it’s in Wisconsin where my daughter is, because I spent the first day of spring over at her place.  It wasn’t the most beautiful first day of spring as far as the weather goes, but the temps were mild, and hey, at least that creek was no longer frozen!

Even if the weather had been more spring-like, I couldn’t have spent the day traipsing around outside anyways, because I rolled my ankle 2 weeks ago and have been having trouble getting around.  It was all I could do to take the short walk from the car to the little bridge where I snapped this photo.  Oh, but the sound of that moving water was such a wonderful thing to hear…

Thankfully, my ankle is improving and I’m able to get around a little better each day, but it’s taking much longer than I expected.  It’s been extremely hard on me being laid up, especially with the warmer weather we’ve been having lately.  Omygosh you guys, I neeeeed to be outside!  😥

So anyways, I went out and bought myself some fresh flowers, and like I mentioned in my last post – it was just what the doctor ordered!  It’s really amazing what a difference fresh flowers can make in lifting one’s spirits! 🌸

The little bouquet that I picked out was called “Touch of Spring Mix” and was perfect for the first day of spring!  Here are a few photos I snapped of the flowers that I didn’t use in creating my mandalas…

And I know I already shared this next one in my last post, but it’s just so lovely, I wanted to share it again…

🌼

I may play around with them some more – create more mandalas, or press them for future creative projects, but right now I’m just enjoying their lovely, fresh presence in my home…

I also bought myself some daffodils, cuz I’m greedy like that haha!  Actually, I bought the daffodils first, but they took a couple days to open. I buy fresh little bundles of daffodils every spring, because I need them, it’s almost like a craving…

Mmm so yellowy and bright!

☀️

I had a lovely time with my daughter, creating mandalas and celebrating the first day of Spring.

Here are a couple photos my daughter snapped of the mandala she made.  She had an idea to create something using eggs because it was Ostara…

~

🐣

And here is a photo she snapped of my little Grandie-loves.  I’m just throwing it in for good measure, because I spent the first day of spring with them too…

I can’t even handle how freaking adorable they are! 😍 I love them so much! 💕

[Fun fact: It just so happens that both the sleeper that my Grandson is wearing and the nightgown that my Granddaughter is wearing are things I saved from when my daughter was little.  How special it is to now see my Grandchildren wearing them.] 

 

Happy Monday, Happy Spring, may your day be filled with beautiful things!

 

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Mandala Monday ~ the Heart

Within the heart lies deep mysteries

 

It is a multi-faceted gem of exquisite beauty

resting on a bed of delicate flowers grown in an ancient garden tended with care

its borders surrounded by a heavenly fragrance  Oh ‘precious scent’! 

 

Within the heart lies deep mysteries

 

the greatest of these…

 

Love

 

© Julie Rehnelt 2019

 

Another experiment using pressed flowers, and incorporating one of my favorite crystals as the center of this heart-shaped mandala.  I can’t even tell you how much I enjoyed creating this one!  💜

 

Wishing you beauty and joy, and a wonderful week!

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Mandala Monday ~ Circle of Thanksgiving

Circle of thanks

Obviously, I created this one before the snow fell, while there were still colorful leaves on the trees and green grass on the ground.  😊

I created it with the thought of welcoming the month of November – which I always think of as a season of gratitude.  It’s not too cliche to be mindful of gratitude during the month of November, is it?  😉  (For those of you not with me here in the States, our Thanksgiving holiday falls on Thursday of this week). 

Regardless of the month or where we reside on this beautiful planet, being mindful of all that we have to be grateful for is always in season.

 

Thank you all for being in my little circle here on WordPress.  Much Love and many blessings to you and yours…

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Mandala Monday ~ Peace

 

 

This one is kinda different from the other mandalas I’ve made (except for the oak leaves around the edge, which are similar to last week’s).  I was in the mood to work in threes for some reason.  It sort of reminds me of a peace sign.  We could all use a bit more peace in this crazy world of ours, don’t you think?

 

Wishing you peace, beauty, and love in the coming week…

 

 

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿