A garden can become a place to surprise you

It's not like I woke up one morning, and they were there, but I knew something was growing, and that was also something I've never planted myself, or at least that was something I didn't remember having purchased for my garden.

I'm talking about two bushes of roses.

I always loved those flowers in my life, and they've always had a special place in my garden:

Yet, when I moved first in this house and the garden wasn't at all set, I planned a special place for them, together with other species of flowers to create a lovely bouquet of colors and scents. Now, I also know what kind of roses I've chosen, and white roses weren't much on the list.

A few years later, something started to grow, and I was wondering whether it was one of those roses which I thought they died out and found new life from the roots I hadn't remove, or they were something new. I didn't eradicate then because they were not harming, and they filled up nicely the empty spaces. Now, thy never made any flower, so I was really wondering about their origin and their specie.

I did wait, and meantime, I kept trimming them every fall and spring. They were growing nicely yet no flowers.

This until this summer, when finally they started to bloom and to show their beauty. White roses:

Indeed those were roses I've never planted myself; the only explanation is that the seeds have been brought to my garden by the wind or the birds.

I was pleasantly surprised and happy to see them blooming after many years of just having the bush. I cannot say which kind of specie they belong to, as I haven't purchased in the first place, but I believe they make a great addition to my garden.

Once again, when you let nature help you with the choice of flowers for your garden, you will undoubtedly get fantastic surprises.

Do you have a garden? What do you plant there?

Stay safe and tuned!

Spring is here despite everything

Something you can count on is that Nature is not going to follow any quarantine. Spring is coming, and with it, everything is waking up to a new cycle of life.
This is a sort of consolation, and although, it would be better to be quarantined in winter, the explosion of colors offered in this period gives an extra motivation to keep going.
During this long weekend, which included the missing celebration for the first of May, I had the chance to retreat to the forest, and take some pictures.
I thought to share what I've found in nature with you, hoping this will cheer up you all.
This lockdown seems to last forever, and in effect, the only reasonable way to end it would be having a vaccine and a cure for COVID-19.
Meantime, I know someone who has been extremely annoyed with having us for a longer time at home, and that is Carolina.

Despite the low resolution, it was obvious I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, at least considering the threatening stare she gave me.

This was one of the reasons why I took my camera and decided it was safer to be away and leave her spaces too.

The weather was strangely fair, and the healing power of nature did the trick on my restless soul. It didn't just give me peace, but also inspiration and entertainment.

The first person I met was an interesting guy. He was looking for food, and if I'm heading to a particular spot, I know that on my way I will meet him or someone who won't miss the occasion for a snack. Therefore, I had some nuts with me.

The wood is a place where to find hidden gems, like a sun, shining in the darkness:

And as the sky was so perfectly clear, the new leaves peeked out to test the weather.

Losing myself in this beauty, I completely neglected my garden, to which I hope to give the right attention starting from the next week.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this small spring show, and I wish you a great beginning of the month.

Take care and stay at home.

Quote of the day - Life and motivation

Every day I stumble into something worth sharing with those who have the patience to follow me. The world is full of inspirational quotes, and we read at them, understanding their depth and simplicity.
So here is one:

Life happens every second, and quotes like this one might feel overwhelming. Creating a whole life worth watching at the end of your days is a challenge, and perhaps this is not even what it's supposed to be.

Life is made of idle moments where you take a pause to think, to admire what you have around, what you have achieved and to dream what would you like to do next.

Moments that live for themselves and don't include doing something special. Yet, they make us feel good, and if they can put a smile on our faces, they are fully worth it.

There will be endless times of working on a longer schedule, feeling: "I'm not paid enough to take this shit."

Yet, there will be those times when you do something to be proud of for the years to come.

If you see this as a whole, the life flashing in front of your eyes might be something even boring to see. Moreover, when we look at our past, we might still find something we might have done differently.

For this reason, if one day, my life flashes in front of my eyes the only words I want to be able to describe it would be: "Carpe Diem."

Create something for the future, but don't forget that your life is happening now, and you need to enjoy it at this moment. Don't get too stressed at how it will look like, once you're old or once you will have to look back at what you've done (you will always watch it with a too critical eye).

I guess that the best show worth watching at that time is that you lived your life enjoying every second of it.

You might have not saved the world, or you might not have been a superhero. But you have lived your life, you enjoyed what it brought and built something even only for yourself.

Nobody should ever get too stressed about becoming someone special, we all are in our different ways without trying too hard or trying to be someone else.

Make your day worth living.

Have a great weekend you all!

It's a magical world!

Today I am going to tell you about one of my passions besides writing: photography.

I believe there is a very close connection between all forms of art. In my case, the three things that go hand in hand are writing, traveling, and photography.

How do they relate to each other? Well, writing needs inspiration right? What better inspiration than visiting new places, experiencing cultures, meeting people, reading other countries' newspapers.

Photography offers inspiration. This one helps me to think outside the box, see the world from different perspectives, and clear my mind whenever I feel stuck with a page or chapter.

Here, the weather started to be quite unstable. It began with a chilling period, when we had the first snow, to the time we are now with temperatures that raised far above the seasonal average.

Despite this, during this winter, I was lucky enough to have a camera with me right when I needed it and could get some interesting shots that helped me going through the last few weeks.

Due to stress at work, I couldn't proceed with my writing, so I just got out and took a walk in the forest.

What I found was really stunning, and I spent most of the time taking shots of those crystals. 

The perfect harmony between the white of the snow, ice, and the blue of the sky (believe me, it's quite rare) was extremely inspiring. I could have spent the whole day there.

 And that was exactly what I did. Not caring about the temperature, I stayed the whole day out, to take pictures, and admire the sceneries.

I also got the chance to take a shot of a hawk, who was taking a rest on a tree, checking the food situation on his territory.

Undeniably, days and walks like this give a lot of inspiration, besides offering the chance to unwind from the stress of everyday life. 

With those images, I greet you for this weekend and wish you a great day.