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Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Homegrown Sunshine

This morning, after seeing my daughter off on the school bus, I remained standing by our kitchen window. My thoughts drifted to what I would've seen here only a few short months ago: a seemingly infinite expanse of white fields. Today, the only white I see is in the blossoming crabapple tree and petals of a few scattered daffodils. There is green, beautiful green everywhere, but it didn't get there without a little gray... and as I look up, yes, here it is again. Here comes the rain.

I usually don't mind rainy days. After our long winter, I'm downright grateful for it instead of snow or sleet. Still, this morning I couldn't help but yearn for the sunshine and blue skies we had just yesterday.

"Whatcha thinkin' about, Mom?" was followed by a big hug and kiss. A little boy now stood by my side, and we looked out through the rain streaked window. He sighed and offered some 7 year old wisdom, because he obviously could see I needed a dose. "Mom, you know we can't have all sunshine, even though it's pretty nice. We've got to have rainy days too. They're not so bad... come on, I know! Let's read some books!"


So that's what we did. We spent the morning hours reading all kinds of books in "Daddy's chair." The gray clouds and rain outside lost their power.  We chose to make our own sunshine:


Suppose you're dressed for walking,
And the rain comes pouring down, 
Will it clear off any sooner
Because you scold and frown? 
And wouldn't it be nicer
For you to smile than pout,
And so make sunshine in the house
When there is none without?

~ Phoebe Cary

Our local weather forecast is rain and thunderstorms all week, and that's to be expected. It's the end of April, after all. My prediction is of a slightly different sort:
a week of sunshine, of the homegrown variety.



Monday, April 28, 2014

Garden of the Heart

"Let us, then, plant with diligence and care
the garden of the soil, but let us, with far deeper
earnestness, tend the garden of our hearts."


~ from The Cottage Gardener, 1849 ~








Here are the original postcard
images from a set, Floral Favors,
found on TuckDB:



Carnations
Fruit blossoms
Violets
Roses & forget-me-nots
Primrose
Roses



Thank you for stopping by!

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Spring Lilacs & Music

It's happiness for me to hear
A songbird's sweet refrain
Or smell the lilac's fragrant blooms
After a soft spring rain.


~ Carice Williams ~

Printable lilac stationery above, and notepaper below:
Lined notepaper:
Below are 2 printable pages of lined notepaper and tags:

Lilac & French music cover photo:


Here are the free graphics
& sources
used in my artwork:


*Flickr*
Lilac image, c. 1909

*The Graphics Fairy*
French sheet music


We search afar for happiness
When it's just outside our door.


~ Carice Williams ~


Thanks for stopping by!