For more than 30 years, I’ve made my home in the area surrounding Flandrum Hill in Cow Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada. My grandchildren now run among the trees I transplanted with my own children when they were little. The wonder I have for my natural surroundings enhances the quality of my life and acts as inspiration for this blog and my art work. I especially enjoy writing about the hidden and half-seen activities in nature that spark the imagination and fuel the soul.
I think people in general, and children especially, would be happier and more at peace if they were to spend more time outdoors in the fresh air, getting to know the living things in their local environment.
With my dad in the 70s
I learned to enjoy nature by spending time outdoors as a child with my parents and grandparents, who always seemed to have a garden tool in their hands. As an immigrant to Canada, my dad never took the beauty of our vast wilderness for granted. His photographs of nature were enlarged and displayed as fine art in our home.
As a young mother, I transplanted countless trees while holding a baby on my hip. I didn’t have to tell my kids to go play outside. I was already out there with them.
Whether you live nearby or on the other side of the planet, I hope that the words and pictures you find here serve to add to your wonder and appreciation of nature and inspire you to take a closer look at the natural world in your own neighborhood.
Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul. ~ John Muir
Happy trails,
Amy-Lynn
Unless otherwise credited, all writing, art and photography on this site is of my creation. I write about my art work at www.drawingconclusions.wordpress.com
Flandrum Hill 
Thanks for visiting my blog Amy-Lynn! I’ll be sure to stop by yours again. I’m a city dweller but frequently more and more tempted by the love I have for nature to make my home somewhere quieter.
Thanks for visiting my blog. I live in the Catskill mountains of New York and can’t imagine living in a place where I’m not surrounded by nature. Please feel free to visit my blog anytime…I enjoy getting feedback 🙂
Thanks for checking out my new blog. I am not sure what I am doing yet, but I am having a good time. Your photos and descriptions of your world up in Nova Scotia are beautiful. Chicago is jealous.
I just discovered your blog and I very much enjoy the articles. You have created a beautiful sacred space. I live in Paris and enjoy living in the city but I also love nature. Very soon I will move to a different apartment. While I will not have a garden, I will have some space for plants that I can turn into a little sanctuary. Have a wonderful sunday.
oh … Amy-Lynn …
i am delighted … i am filled with joy … thank you for sharing …
this summer we had a pair of foxes in our backyard …
while one was taking a nap … in the sun … on some old logs … the other was looking for possible danger …
greetings from werner
Werner, how lucky you are to have seen not just one but two foxes in your backyard! They must have felt pretty safe to be napping. I only saw one in my yard this summer. He looked up at me while I was staring out the kitchen window while making coffee in the early am. They are such lovely creatures.
First off, thanks for visiting my blog :p
Second, I really appreciate your respect for nature. It’s hard to come across many people such as yourself.
I think that a lot of Canadians on the east, west, and north side are very lucky to be near such wonder.
I remember living in Syracuse, New York and seeing deer and many other amazing creatures when I was a kid. It was awesome!
Yes, we Canadians have numerous natural wonders to be thankful for but other countries have their share too.
thank you for commenting on my blog, saving me some time in explaining about ‘skystones’ – and for leading me to this beautiful site! I will enjoy following your posts. The natural world is so crucially important to our wellbeing, and deserves our greatest respect.
Like you blog, very nice 🙂
Throughstones and Amy, thanks for dropping by. Glad you like the site 🙂
Thank you for visiting my blog 🙂
I happen to like rowan trees a lot, and have several large and smaller ones in and around my garden, – they tend to pop up everywhere now that there are less sheep around grazing.
They are very decorative both when they blossom and in the autumn with the red berries and colourful leaves.
Eldrid
Hello – how lovely! And what a long way from Australia and drought and gum trees. Happy planting,
Kate
Wow Kate, I didn’t realize you were in Australia. We’re supposed to be in springtime now, but you’d never know it by the huge snowfall we had last night. I hope to be planting soon 🙂
What a beautiful picture of you and your dad. It makes me smile, just looking at it.
Thanks Kathy 🙂
I love the way you write and I share your love for nature and drawing. Your blog is becoming one of my favorites.
seashellsbymillhill thank you so much 🙂 The more I draw and write about nature, the more interesting it becomes. Sharing these reflections with others adds a whole other wonderful dimension to the experience.
What a wonderful BLOG. I so enjoy reading your descriptions of nature and your images. Quite magical.
Thanks for sharing. Sybil
Peterborough, Ontario
So nice of you to drop by and leave such kind comments Sybil. I’m glad you like it 🙂
WOW nice blog i live in cowbay too. I have noticed that scenery but the way your photos are it makes it look even nicer!
Thanks Alex. So nice to see a local here 🙂 It is nice here, but I could do with a bit less wind, especially this week.
ya i could do without the wind too but now thankfully it should be over 🙂
HOw true.. all that you say. I live in a city but luckily, it is close to forests. How I wish forests were for ever; unfortunately, India needs minerals and forests are disappearing.
Btw, the photo from 70s is beautiful, I wish I were there in the 70s. Sigh.
swaps, that is a shame about India’s forests disappearing but this is the way of progress, both in your part of the world and mine.
The 70s probably look best in retrospect. The Golden Age was never the present one 🙂
I’m so glad your blog was on the main page. What beautiful pictures and word illustrations! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Me too heresofar 🙂 I’m glad it brought you here.
Glad to have stumbled upon your lovely blog! 🙂
Why don’t I have your blog in my blogroll? Well, I’ll fix that right now. 🙂
Thanks for that Scott. Will reciprocate 🙂
Hi Amy-Lynn, I stumbled across your beautiful natural history journal a couple of days ago but haven’t had a chance to leave a comment until now… You’ve captured the moods of light so exquisitely today! And I love the way you mix appropriate quotes into your picture essays!
I grew up in the woods here in Connecticut, and spent summers on Cape Cod. My parents and grandparents were nature lovers and I cannot imagine living too far away from the sea. I’ve never been to Nova Scotia, but my mother went there on a trip with her friends when she was in college. She loved it there and talked about its natural wonders often. She came home with a photo she took of a mare and her foal by a fence in a huge green meadow. My grandmother had a friend, who was a painter, paint the scene for her. Mom had it hung over our couch, and when I was lucky enough to be taking my afternoon nap out in the living room, I would gaze at it for what seemed like hours on end. It now hangs over my bed.
My husband’s ancestors came from Nova Scotia in the mid 1800’s, when two Rodgers brothers, fishers, moved to Provincetown, Massachusetts. He spent his summers on Cape Cod, too. One of our dreams for some day in the future when things settle down here is to take a trip to Nova Scotia and do some genealogy research and also some hiking in nature.
Your blog is so lovely, in content and appearance, and I look forward to following it closely! Warmly, Barbara
Thank you for your kind comment Barbara. I can’t imagine living too far from the sea either. It is a very special environment. Except for being colder and less populated, I imagine Nova Scotia is quite similar to areas just south of here on the Eastern Seaboard.
As for horses, they’re not an uncommon sight in rural Nova Scotia. I hope you manage to get to Nova Scotia one day and see for yourself.
I really enjoyed my little visit on your blog and stayed way longer than I planned…
I´m a nature lover from Austria living in the Vienna woods. Don´t have the Sea though…
Hello Amy-Lynn,
I am thrilled to have discovered your blog and just like the previous poster, I have stayed longer than I intended…and intend to stay a little longer. 🙂
Your messages important and well crafted, and your photographs are inspiring. I will look forward to your posts as they come.
Cindy
Amy-Lynn, I am so happy to have found this. I grew up in Australia on a property, always out with the creatures, working and playing.My father was a anatural conservationist so much so that the land was never fully developed to it cow carrying capacity, to ensure that the natural bush and the animals it supported could so-exist.
I live in Arizona now, taking care of horses as my ‘job’. Starting each day outside, with the beauty and power of this red rock country, all the large and small creatures around me,grounds and inspires me.
I agree that being out in natural environment is imperative to our wellbeing as living creatures ourselves. More and more ‘they’ are finding thru’ ‘research’ that children and adults need time close to nature, and there are more and more programs manufacturing those opportunities.
thank you for your site. Kate
(PS I have a blog here as well – wellnesswithkate)
I feel so blessed to have found your blog, You not only have a beautiful way with words, but also a great ability to show the true spirit of our community! We purchased and are trying really hard to restore an old homestead and its farmlands in Cow Bay. I am sure you have noticed the “goings on” at the old green Moser House!
Hi Amy-Lynn.
World seems to be quite small, because one of my “Blog friend” is living “quite” near to You in Lunenburg. Her blog You can easily find on my site’s Blogroll.
I checked Your site for long time and found it very versatile and generally speaking very interesting. Also my wife is quilting, although nowadays she is beading mostly.
Regards.
I thought your lovely blog needed some (more) recognition! I think this will sound sort of familiar:
http://thecaferoyal.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/aubrey-is-recognized/
Thank you so much Aubrey. Very kind of you 🙂 🙂
…and what the centre of activity you got there. Wonderful countryside you live in.Nova Scotia is totally unknown to me but the way you are capable to describe its intimate details in no time I will get to know it well…
I followed Laura’s link on FB and found your wonderful blog. I look forward to seeing what nature has to offer in your area.
Wow, your family is lucky to have you! Beautiful thoughts!
What a wonderful blog! I am so glad I discovered it, and I look forward to more!
Your about page is the best one I have read so far. We used to live on acreage and your baby on the hip as you plant brought back sweet memories. You are correct- I did not need to tell our children to go out and play either…
Thanks for dropping by to my blog, Amy-Lynn. You certainly live in a very beautiful part of our country. I also discovered recently the bliss of walking on trails. I definitely will visit your blog again.
Dear Amy-Lynn
Flat Kathy has just nominated your blog for the Shine On Award:
http://flatkathy.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/my-very-first-blog-award/
Hi Amy-Lyn – are you still writing your blog? I live in N.S. and would like to know about blue mussels in Flandrum Hill. If you can let me know about where to find them, I’d appreciate it. Thanks. Sheila
Hi Sheila,there’s a bed of blue mussels at Rainbow Haven Beach in Cow Bay. It is revealed only at low tide. The bed attracts seagulls, crabs and dogwhelks and is not far from the stairs going down from the main boardwalk. If you decide to check it out, be very careful walking on the rocks to which the mussels are clinging. They’re VERY slippery. Hope this helps 🙂