Driving south 2019

I'm on my way from Vermont driving to Florida to be with family and friends for a couple months. So far so good. The drive yesterday from Virginia to North Carolina yesterday was a bit grueling with all the rain but was forgotten when I arrived at a friends house and had a delicious dinner. Today we will wander around Mint Hill and enjoy some stillness and maybe a little bit of adventure.

In Virginia Sue and I winterized her beehives. They are starting to hibernate bud as the day warmed up they started being active and Tara the turtle had to investigate. She loves adventures.

Spring is finally here!

Spring is finally here in Vermont! It's so nice to get my hands in the dirt and start growing things again. The kale, broccoli and lettuce I planted a few weeks ago are growing beautifully. Seeds are sprouting everywhere. LIfe feels calmer although there is so much to do after the snow melts. Being in the garden and connecting with all the tiny plants is such a delight. I never get tired of it.

Vermont winters are almost my favorite, besides autumn, spring and summer. But there is something about winter and gathering with friends inside to eat, drink and share stories that makes me feel warm, even after I've spend three months in Florida. I love to have parties and since I've been back here the themes always start now with Hygee. A Hyggee Valentines Party, Hygee movie night, Hygee Moth party.. you get the idea. We just light candles and enjoy the dark inside, ever hopeful that spring will be here soon.

Rumi on love and kindness

My plan today is to just "be kind". I'm working on the first of the 2019 Simple Inspiration Calendar designs and the quote is from by Rumi, my favorite. "Your acts of Kindness are iridescent Wings of Divine Love, which linger ad continue to uplift others long after your sharing." It's such a beautiful quote and I hope my painting does it justice. It will have flowers, hummingbirds and butterflies. The hummingbirds are mostly iridescent anyway.

So I'm looking for places to be kind. On my walk this morning a cat came up to me and seemed to want to walk with me, or rather lead me on a walk. So I walked the short way behind her and lovingly petted her at the end telling her how beautiful she was.

Here is another Rumi quote amongst hummingirds that will be in the 2017 calendar.

The rocky Maine coast

I recently went to Maine for the first time ever. It's not so far from Vermont but I never wanted to leave the state to go anywhere in summer because... why? Vermont has everything and more. Well not an ocean but beaches, mountains, rocks, gardens, flowers and many chickens. Maine was a great time and being by the ocean felt a lot like being a kid again growing up near the beaches in South Florida. The Rosa Ragosa reminded me of the times I spent on Nantucket with family. I'm in Florida now and enjoying the heat.. haha.. no really... I like the heat. My favorite thing to do was climbing on the rocks, smooth ones, beach ones, jagged ones.. doesn't matter, they are all lovable.

Coffee coloring pages

Wouldn't it be great to always wake up Awesome? My favorite way to wake up is to walk to a yoga class. I feel kind of awesome after that and ready to get to work.

You can see these coloring pages in the "Cheerful Journey" coloring book by Lang at lang.com. They also have calendars, journals, puzzles and a really cute traveling coloring book. I tried to do one of the coloring puzzles with my artwork with my dad but neither of us have the patience to do it. People that do puzzles are quite amazing.

Wake up and be Awesome!

These calendar designs from my "Simple Inspirations" Calendar by Lang were the inspiration for the coffee fabric line. I love coffee! It's always fun to take existing art and turn it into something else. The coffee designs are also used in the coloring book products I've been working on also with the Lang Companies.