Was how I felt the Sunday before we were to leave, as I woke up, from what felt like the worst sleep ever. Did I even sleep? Is what I asked my husband. I knew I had in small spurts.
Our trip was off to a bit of a rocky start, on Monday I woke up feeling horrible. After a few highly emotional weeks and a recent heavy loss, my body succumbed to the lack of sleep. I knew I needed to do ALL the things to help shift this… to fly out on Thursday!
Essential Oils, my absolute go to and yet when in higher states can also be forgotten. On Guard, Turmeric and Digest Zen in my tea. Intuitively grabbing oils and applying, Rose, Copaiba, Frankincense, License, Oregano, On Guard, Tea Tree. My DIY throat spray. Lots of tea, water and electrolytes. My fav is the doTERRA lemon/lime.
I was also taking my On Guard and Copaiba softgels to also help boost my immunity. When I feel under a germ attack, I take twice as many to get a boost into my body. These oils work incredibly well!
On Guard throat lozenges. The absolute best! Helped keep the cough that arrived Wednesday at bay. I made sure to pack them in my suitcase, carry on and purse!
Healy frequency device – used defense and tonsils on repeat as well as sleep and extreme stress. This device works with your frequency, like essential oils have high levels! This device is so unique and truly does work well – we had gotten out of the habit, this is now a reminder to get it back on my husband for his leg!
Castor Oil packs on my throat and abdomen. The throat one really provided me with comfort and relief by the next morning. I continued with this everyday until we left. The Digest Zen roller that I carry with me, I added in castor oil to the roller with coconut oil, so when I use that on my tummy or throat it helps even more!
CBD oil, my husband has a spray that helps with pain. Its now mine, the relief I had on my throat was incredible!
By the time we flew out on Thursday evening, I was feeling like night and day different. Grateful for my holistic tools to help boost my immunity!
As we were driving up to our family cottage last week, this song stopped me in my tracks. As I truly heard the words, my jaw dropped … “I guess you gotta go when the angels calling”… As the Thanksgiving weekend is upon us here in Canada, another family holiday that our brother can only be at in spirit – and I have full trust he will be fully present.
Being near the water has and always will be my healing grace ❤
[Verse 1] I heard that you were late going home Knew it right away, something’s wrong I guess you gotta go when the angels calling Never got to say what I want Never be the same with you gone Crack another can for the lost ones falling
[Pre-Chorus] One tear for the brokenhearted Pour out a little holy water Two tears for the soul departed Pour out a little holy water We still slowly feel what you feel, yeah, yeah Two tears for the soul departеd Pour out a little holy water
[Chorus] Eeh-yеah, eeh-yeah Eeh-yeah, eeh-yeah Eeh-yeah, eeh-yeah Pour out a little holy water
[Verse 2] Memories, they stream down my face Smiling while I bite through the pain Guess I’ll never know why the good die young, yeah Looking for somebody to blame Anything to get through the day So I crack another can for the lost ones falling
As the anniversary of that fated day approaches… 😥
My photography and music has been deeply, healing, also in a twisted way allowing permission, sometimes life does suck and its more than OK to cleanse and cry!
I was reading earlier about the super moon… happening and my goodness is it perfectly timed with our final class of the Clarity Catalyst. A course I began when my heart, needed something.
“This Super Full Moon asks us to be courageous, take action on our desires, and release connections, patterns, and commitments that no longer support our growth.”Moon Omens Source
I met someone within this course whose life was rocked similar to mine. The loss of a sibling. Among all of life’s other ups and downs, because let’s be real when heavy shit happens, it feels that much heavier.
I set the intention before our trip to Eastern Canada for healing, in a deep way interconnected with nature. A trip that all we had planned was flights and accommodations, the rest was traveling at our free will exploring the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton.
An opportunity to step more fully into husband and wife, with a deep appreciation, gratitude and trust for our teens at home. A trip my heart had deeply been needing for months. The sole daily purpose of BEing in nature every single day. The icing on the cake, getting to photograph it and experience in real life with my husband.
Trusting in the releases in life, the sad, angry, confusing, lonely, happiness blocks. Gratitude for the ability we do have, what we can experience and fully embracing. Stepping fully into my and the absolute joy that comes to my heart photographing life as art!
This full moon allows me to deeply appreciate the Clarity Catalyst and for when it came into my life. Alicia and I met briefly and then one night at a retreat connected in a profound way. When she introduced me to the course, my heart was in.
This course has shown me where my heart lives, its emphasized the incredible embrace I have on my life and the way I am living. Cohesive in a growth mindset ✨️ one who has been a lifelong learner and loves it. To BE in the moment, to live with no expectations, to simply, Be Here Now.
A beautiful reminder, to help break the chains of the 2020’s of the challenges that appeared. To trust in the flow of life. An understanding that the heartache is ok to be felt. All the feelings are OK infact. An alignment in life of a higher level, an understanding, compassion, love.
To trust my intuition above all and know, what’s clear for me in my life isn’t for everyone, our lives are individual and unique, the way it ought to be. To grow, build and see our way through.
This moon encourages releasing any negativity within that may harbor your daily growth to strive to be the best you can be with full trust! 💖
John shares… “I watch the birds fly south across the autumn sky And one by one they disappear I wish that I were flying with them Now you’re not here – “Forever Autumn” written by Jeff Wayne, Gary Osborne, and Paul Vigrass and performed by the Moody Blues
Less than two weeks ago, summer slipped away, and autumn is upon us in the northern hemisphere. It was in those waning days of summer that I realized it was my turn to host a ‘Looking Back’ post on the Lens-Artists Schedule calendar. With autumn fully entrenched here in North Dakota, I searched the archives for a “Fall Colors” theme. In July 2020, the team hosted a series titled “Seasons.” Patti hosted the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #106: Autumnhere. Thanks to Patti and the team for the idea to focus on nature’s most colorful season in this edition of “Looking Back.” “
Autumn is no doubt my favourite season, I love the cooler mornings and evenings and the warm days, the colours are incredible! When we know winter is going to begin creeping in soon, with the shorter nights and waking in the dark, its incredible how quickly it feels summer slipped by.
This past weekend we spent at our family cottage, with a bunch of extended family – it was awesome! Fall on the beach is a fav of mine.
The sun… over the beach Saturday evening was incredible!
I loved the double sun flare in this one above!
Geese practicing their flight…
It wasn’t a typical fall lake this weekend, it was beautifully calm and with the water level quite low it provided meeting space on each point of the bay for the Sea Gulls and Canadian Geese.
So many birds on all the bay points!
Pumpkinfest Rides… with a toddler now we are back in the midway!
Dogs love the cottage in the fall too!
From John’s Post “Last week, our guest host, Joanna Mason, challenged us with the title “Everyone Should See This,” which brought many unique images in the responses. Next week, the Lens-Artists Challenge is hosted by Ann-Christine. Be sure to follow her blog here so you don’t miss the challenge she will publish on Saturday, October 11, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time. To find out more about the Lens-Artists Challenge, click here.“
I eagerly looked up the theme today for our Lens-Artists Challenge on WordPress, my heart was elated with what I was reading…
As I type this, it is Saturday September 27th, we just arrived back to our hotel after visiting the right side of the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton Nova Scotia! Excited to download photos!!! I held off however, and downloaded on our last night. I had well over 1000 photos to get through!
Here are the theme details:
“Joanne, from Joanne Mason Photography, and I’m honored to be your guest host this week. This is Lens Artists Challenge #367: Everyone Should See This.
Often times we see something that inspires us. We think – “Oh! I wish others could see this!” It might be a place, a thing, people maybe, that you think everyone should see. Maybe it’s something you’ve discovered. Or it’s a special place you’ve been to that you think is definitely worth sharing. Or perhaps it’s a person (or people) that you know or have met that you think others should know about. I think all of us have this experience now and again. And most of the time, we take a picture of it. Maybe it’s the picture itself – an image that represented a challenge, something you’re especially proud of.
This week’s challenge is to share some photographs of things/people/places that are inspiring and that you want to share. Tell us the circumstances of your photograph and why you want everyone to see it.”
My husband and I are having an incredible time in Nova Scotia, Ive already begun a blog post of our entire trip so for this challenge I will share a few of the highlights! You will have to return to see all our trip details and recommendations… and many more photos!
We are now home, its Thursday at lunch and I still have over 200 photos to get through from my other camera, so I want to share a few of the images I have gotten off my Canon RP – I used this camera for wide angle shots.
This image is from Meat Cove, a very cool place that also now holds a piece of my heart. We arrived, and found it was a beautiful camp ground on a cliff – literally! We in Ontario can truly learn so much from the east coast and their beautiful chill vibe and small, “stay back” signs, where common sense lives. It was beautiful to see. We found a washroom there, tucked around the corner down a path, beautiful washroom for the campground, as I was in the stall I looked up at the door, the typical signs for those on septic’s, don’t flush this and that… signed by the manager – Kenneth McLellan… my great uncle who we just had his celebration of life for, literally days before, that was his name. No coincidence at all, I looked at my husband and said, ‘we are on the right path’…
The image above is Cape Smokey, an alternative if you cannot hike the trail here you can take a Gondola ride to the top, the views were amazing!!!
I didn’t take this one, my husband did of me taking photos on the beach!
This image is on the skyline trail, we made it to the fork in the trail. Its our new reality we can do minimal walking, especially on uneven ground. I am grateful we at least got to experience part of the trail, it was much like this and is so beautiful!
This trip was to celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary, honestly hard to believe, I am so proud of us though, we have successfully raised 2 amazing teens and our marriage is stronger than ever. Our family has unfortunately had a lot of heartache the past year, I had set the intention before we left, this would be a healing trip, it was in deeper ways I would have no clue until we were in it!
I will be adding more images to this album on Flickr and once I get through all will be sharing our day to day trip in a blog post with images – be sure to check them out!!! Click the image below to see the album.
That is this week’s Lens Artist Challenge: Share with us photographs of places/people/things that you find uniquely inspiring – or photographs themselves that you are proud of – Simply stated, photographs everyone should see. It has been a honor for me to have been your guest host this week. I am eager to see your work.
Last week’s challenge was hosted by Tina who asked us to reflect on urban and rural scenes in City Mouse/Country Mouse. Next week, it will be John’s turn to challenge us. Watch for his post at his Journey’s With Johnbo.
If you would like more information on the Lens-Artists Challenges, check that out HERE!
The little things, but not just the little things or taking pictures of the little things, BEing present for these little things and realizing that yes this IS it.
Macro breakfast from when we were camping, because… why not?
I had my cameras and multiple lenses and… what do I capture?
YOUR LIFE AS ART… our yummy griddle + bbq breakfast!
Yes even camping I love my balanced breakfast when all we have, is time!
Breakfast with such a peaceful view – full of gratitude!
When we were away camping a couple weeks ago at Hope Bay, we had this cute little bunch of mushrooms growing on our site. Of course, I brought my macro lens (in truth I brought ALL my lenses and both cameras in both my peak design sling bags)!
I love when its like you can feel the various textures in the photos!
Its a mama brag post with a photo of our girl earlier this week during her school basketball game.
Someone said to me this summer, ‘Oh you still take as many pictures of the kids?’
No, not at all, I don’t have near the opportunities with having two young adults, so when I do, of course I am bringing my camera and taking photos of what they are doing!
Its her last year of minor hockey, last year of high school and high school sports. This mama is embracing it all!
I happened to capture this image above and love it! In a moment that I still had my RF 28-70mm lens on my camera and hadn’t switched to my EF 70-200 f2.8 (w/RF adapter).
I absolutely love each stage with the kids, but yes, I am going to miss this!
If I have the opportunity to ‘sneak away’ to capture these moments, I most definitely always will!
“This week we’ll start with a question – having seen the two ducks above, did you assume we’re in the city or in the country? Well you know what they say….never assume! These little feathered friends were enjoying a swim in a pond in a New York City park during our visit earlier this month. They and some of the other sights along my daily walk reminded me of the classic Aesop fable “City Mouse/Country Mouse”. If you’re unfamiliar with the story, its moral is that no matter how appealing someone else’s life may seem, there really is no place like home.“
Today on this new moon solar eclipse, also happening on a Sunday, feels like an energetic reset, a perfect day for my own interpretation of city mouse, country mouse. I am the country mouse, we live in a small town that I also grew up in, working within our family business and raising our teens, young adults. It is fun to play the city mouse every once in a while!
In April 2024 we traveled with friends to Nashville, Tennessee and had a blast! Nashville IS busy, its also an awesome experience! The people, the music, the food, the bars – wow even if you aren’t a drinker you will be in awe of the day and night life there!
Of course when in Nashville, need to check out the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Military.
The bars were also incredible, and the views just as incredible as the music!
Incredible night life, that we enjoyed experiencing!
Finding tranquility within the busyness of the city, water will always be my calm!
We enjoyed the night life, and also equally enjoyed being in bed in good time!
A super cute, quaint near by town, reminded us of the small home town living.
And… when we are done in the city, our experience is over, its time for home… and I will always appreciate our country views and our own space! Its a blast to get away, I very much am a home girl, its my calm, my reset, my escape from the world, when I walk out into our back yard and see trees and hear the birds.
Enjoy this New Moon Eclipse and your own energetic reset, if you are spiritually aligned with this energy! 💖
