happy valentine's day!

These two little sweeties came into my life a little over nine years ago. What love. They are so sweet and affectionate. Imagine a sweet pussycat purring in your ear and another at your feet. Today, I hope that you find love within yourself as well as all around you.

life change realization and blog delays...

An artist meets a teacher, who is really a writer, finds love and a cozy retreat in the woods.
She flourishes in the relationship, in her new community and in nature. They are so lucky to welcome a baby boy into their family, a miracle really.

All the parents we reviewed as we prepared told us that "It changes everything". We could never have imagined what that really meant. Being in love every day is amazing. It often means that daily things get neglected for the sake of being in each moment. It's like when the guy who is juggling stacks of plates on sticks and playing a harmonica, while riding his bike on a tightrope finishes up his act. Then he goes home to take a nap. Later, there will be time to do it again.

It also changed the stage on which I'm performing this miraculous feat, and now it's a 24 hour show. There's no commute to work, co-workers, desk where I can impose my full control without threat of overstepping boundaries, name that I hear regularly, great outfit to wear or any of that. Or even when not working in the office, there were the uninterrupted blocks of time for tackling projects and making them happen. Funny thing is, now I'm changing too, and striving to do my best each day. One thing I think that will help is to tell myself every day that I have done well, and find the things that were the best and put those things into my mental scrapbook.

And now, back to the studio!

Six things that make me happy...

so, Sixpence and a Blue Moon, you got me thinking...
And, since I couldn't stop at six, there are seven...

I love sun on the water, especially Lake Michigan. Like the shore, only fresh! This is in Empire, at Sleeping Bear Dunes, on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive.

I love this hat, worn by my friend, Mia, on a showshoe trek to the river.

Pancakes! even for dinner. Last time Tommy made them for me, he whisked coconut oil, almond milk and egg together before adding the flour and they were amazing! Friends made the maple syrup too...

I love my little sister's homemade pearapple pie on Memorial Day at the lake (Green Lake this time...). She's an incredible cook!

I love living on the end of a dead end street, with my husband and little boy. This was at the opposite end of the street one morning this past winter.


I love the first greens of the year! We've been especially enjoying Pac Choi and Mibuna greens. Our dear friends at Ware Farm lovingly raised these babies, warming the greenhouse with a wood stove, then planting in cold frames.


I love chocolate, handmade by a local artisan, and I love her title "chocolatier".

What do you love?

happy holiday wishes

photo by Chandra Demers Wheeler, Hitching Post Photography
design by Jennifer at studio71design.etsy.com