I’ve been hearing about spinach smoothies for quite some time now and they have ignited my curiosity. I love fruit smoothies — and drink them regularly — but I wondered if you could really combine fruit and veggies into a drinkable concoction.

Well, I found out you certainly can — and I have a new obsession!

After some experimentation, my favorite combo to date contains spinach, cucumber, pineapple, blueberries and fresh ginger, all combined with greek yogurt, vanilla, almond/coconut milk and a drip of maple syrup. I add ground chia seeds for fibre and Omega 3s.

The result out of the blender is tasty, filling, healthy and oh so refreshing on a warm summer’s morning. You don’t taste the spinach at all and the cucumbers and ginger give the smoothie a fresh, light taste. There are myriad combinations to try — and tons of recipes on the web. But why not start with your favorites and play a little?

I’m not the only one who has been discovering things. We’ve been visiting the grandkids.

At the ages of 2 1/2 and almost 7, discovering things defines their very existence. The finds can be big or small or in-between, but they’re all important and joyous and fascinating — and essential to their growth and learning.

Many mid-life adults yearn for children to take after them, but really, if we’re smart and want to stay youthful, we will strive to take after them. Becoming passionate about photography has made me feel like a kid again.

When I focus my lens on the world around me, I get very curious. I wonder, I explore, I experiment. I notice much more and see familiar things in a new way.

Once I’ve recorded an image, I love looking at it again and seeing even more deeply into it, asking myself why it captivates me  — and observing even more. There are endless keys to yourself embedded in your images. Realizations in turn infuse future images — it’s a wonderfully exciting spiral of discovery that can go on and on and on — if you want it to.

Linking up with Kim Klassen’s Friday Finds.

Processed with Kim’s magic textures.

Wild Geese

by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Linking with Kim Klassen’s Texture Tuesday.

We all know many — including friends, mentors and loved ones — who are facing health challenges and difficult times. This is for them — for strength and hope for better days ahead.

You’ve probably heard of the iconic Moleskine notebooks that are popular with artists and writers everywhere and were favorites of Van Gogh and Picasso and Hemingway….

Did you know they are now available in beautiful photobooks? Moleskine and Milk Books have teamed up to offer a wide variety of high-quality products.

Being a fan of the notebooks, which are such gorgeous quality, I was excited to see the photobook option. I spotted a promotion online and decided to try them out on a set of images we recently made of our winter on our sailboat, Windsong II.

The whole process of making the photobook was so much easier than many others I’ve used, and the design choices were elegant and simple, which is my preference for photobooks. The resulting hardcover book was well made, with heavy matte paper and a sturdy cover. The photographs were reproduced perfectly; the colours were true and rich and there was no sign of any bleedthrough. The book is stitched so it lies flat, which is a lovely feature not found in other books I’ve tried. And of course, it has that cute elastic closure which marks it as a Moleskine book. All in all, it is the best photobook I have purchased to date.

You also receive a PDF file of your book so you can share it online.

If you follow them on Facebook you can find out about their current offers. I’ve already pre-bought another book, and I can’t wait to get started filling it up.

Full disclosure: I have gained no benefit from Moleskine/Milk for writing this review. I just love these books.

Here is the photobook I made. Scroll down to see more images…

If you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to leave a note below.

Windsong II Flipbook by Sherry Galey