a week in color {№8}

there were walks with painted walls.

breakfasts with pink macarons and coffee and birdsong.

bloom after big bloom of peonies.

flower market love.

itty bitty fallen flowers.

a wall that radiated love and kindness.

and a nap in the sunshine while bits of sari danced in the breeze.

hey colorful week, thank you.

a week in color {№7}

oh friends, thank you so much for your kind words and warmth and love regarding my last post.  you lightened my heart that was so heavy with fear that we would lose our wire fox terrier child luca.  i am over the moon to report that all the love and light and prayers and happy thoughts worked!  luca recovered from his mysterious illness almost as quickly as he succumbed to it.  one moment i was stroking his head and thanking him for being such a good boy (tearfully saying goodbye) and then he kind of just popped up and decided to still be.

dogs, like children, are incredible teachers.

i am overflowing with gratitude.

in other news, may is here and she arrived wearing the loveliest colorful frock.  the forest is a mix of pink and white blooming trees and those in full pea-green leaf.  the sun is clear and soft.  there is enough rain to (kind of) keep the pollen in check.

there is painting and daydreaming and reading and (yes) working outside in the dappled light and warmth.

there are sunday morning pancakes with rainbow sprinkles.  i've always wanted to make these!  their sweetness was perfectly mellowed by ginger syrup.

there is a lot of clearing of the old and wintered on gypsy hill.  the polar vortex took out some of our favorite plants, including the vine that has covered the pergola for over ten years.  i'm still trying to decide on its replacement:  wisteria or honeysuckle?

there are many trips to the garden shop.  one of which resulted in a carload of peony bushes.  it's not an inexpensive endeavor to rebuild the lushness that developed over a decade, so i will be patient and measured and grateful for the beauty that is already here.

and then there is this:

luca goofball sugarbutt parks says have a beautiful week friends.

sunday grace

mercy is in your hands.  pour me a little.

-mary oliver

some days you have done all you can do.  all the good intentions, the good ideas, the good deeds and the good karma aren't quite enough.

these are the days of surrender.  to spirit, to magic, to love, to the power of grace, to that which you find most holy. these are the days when the only thing left a human can do is humbly whisper the word please.

{easter} sunday grace

happy easter friends!  it's a gorgeous spring day here in virginia.  we are excited to have our first picnic of the season and our first hike on the blue ridge for the season.  around here we celebrate jesus and transformation by being in nature.

and sometimes i celebrate these things in the soul kitchen.

i have been wanting to make pink deviled eggs for years.  a colorful easter picnic is the perfect time to make this happen.

i used the instructions from the kitchn.  if you are going to make deviled eggs anyway, it's really just one more step (the "pickling" in the beet juice...mine were in their hot pink bath for 16 hours as the guidelines suggest).

i used my go-to deviled egg yolk mix (mayo, grainy dijon, turmeric, salt and pepper) and garnished with fresh dill.

et voilà!

happy eggs!

happy easter!

sunday grace

grace this week is all about the wonder and beauty of spring.  she arrives suddenly but softly with color and light just at the moment hope is beginning to wane and we start to believe that life is just plain harsh.

she allows us to see with new eyes.  to touch and feel our world.  to experience our own rebirth that mirrors the thousand tiny births taking place each second around us.

for me, reconnecting with a familiar life:  the first farm market of the season.  there were easter egg radishes and pea tendrils.  children laughed and played.  organic farmers smiled even while telling tales of their hardest winter ever.  the air smelled of kettle corn and pear blossoms.

grace, grace, grace.

bonjour spring

thank you for finally showing up.

the magnolias are magnificent.  (we found the perfect one with fuchsia petals for gypsy hill.)

thank you for garden shops and the color green.

thank you for wellies, puddles and cherry blossoms.

thank you for perfect afternoons at the flea market.

thank you for easter egg radishes with butter and pink salt.

thank you for rainy day naps with the pups and endless episodes of the paradise.

thank you for ranunculus and anemones in blue mason jars.  when i look at them i catch my breath.

thank you for reminding me that all dark things end eventually and that light and colour and warmth and joy are always within our reach.

and for these words:

ten thousand flowers in spring,
the moon in autumn,
a cool breeze in summer,
snow in winter.
if your mind is not clouded by unnecessary things
this is the best season of your life.

-wumen huikai