I recently planted one of my favorite herbs in our garden and every hot evening, it’s those few minutes of watering my new lavender to release it’s scent that seals the summer day for me.  This weekend we woke up early to visit the flea market, and then we decided to make a day of the full summer sun and drive a couple hours south to a small bluegrass festival. On our way south, we stopped in Olympia to eat lunch at the farmers market, where I found more lavender. Or does it find me? Before I could stop myself, I was running my open palms over the tops of all the rows of blossoms like a modern dancer warming up backstage. Tickling my fingers. Perfuming my wrists.  Buckets of lavender for sale, but all I want is their smell on me.  You would never know I was in the middle of a bustling farmers market, but alone in the fields of Provence…

More pictures of the market below.  Oh! And I just found out that this weekend is the 14th annual Sequim Lavender Festival and I can hardly contain myself till the end of the week is here. I grew up here in Washington and I’ve never been!  I’m so ready to wake up early again, pack up my boys, invite some friends (maybe go camping!) and go swimming in a sea of lavender with them.
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Spring has returned. The earth is like a child that knows poems. ~Rainer Maria Rilke

+ the impossible project

checking in again…and wow, it feels like i’ve been gone for ages. trips can do that to me, what about you?

even just a day in a foreign place can change everything. so the many days add up!  it feels like there should be handfuls of calendar pages crumpled and tossed with the old perceptions.  travel is neat that way.  it seems to quicken life, the senses, even extending the directions in my timeline to all kinds of possibilities.  (it’s the coming back where you realize that nothing has changed for anyone else but you. that one is always tricky.)

i suspect it will take a good while to fully share rio with you, something i look forward to.  for now i’m getting some rest because i’ve having some vertigo. odd right? not the hitchcock cary grant afraid of heights kind of vertigo (ooh, one of my favorites.) but something that is throwing off my balance entirely…hope to get it back soon.   kind of necessary, balance.  no worries and besos to everyone out there, xx.

let’s hope that Zinedine Zidane forgot to eat his wheaties this morning…world cup championship, woot! woot!

and, since i’m already interrupting this broadcast, i have to show you what happened to my zucchini while i was gone! all of them were overgrown except for one normal green one. mama mia! the basil has also gotten enormous and i have more tomatoes then i know what to do with. last night i fell asleep reading my cookbooks for ideas. we’ve already made a giant batch of lasagna and the best bruschetta!

gardening is a way of showing that you believe in tomorrow.

see some more photos from my garden, one of the best places i like to be. especially on days when i have lots to do, even just a few minutes weeding or watering out here sets my soul right.  and there’s nothing like the scent of basil, rosemary and tomato vines in the middle of the sunny afternoon.

morning: start the day off right, vans organic waffles toasted hello kitty style & topped with natural peanut butter Mmm.

afternoon: somehow finding myself back at the beach, summer weather comes early here.

pack up a finished commissioned piece for kristen, hoping she likes it…

late afternoon:water the blooms in the garden, getting giddy over the little tomatoes already getting plump on their vines and pinching off some basil for tonight’s dinner.

evening: whipping up an asparagus tart and dessert. my favorite zucchini bread fills the house with the scent of mixed spices, clove and cinnamon. slathered in butter, nothing comes closer to heaven dissolved on my taste buds.

late evening: reading, some housework, catching up on the days events with tall dark and handsome. and finding max asleep on his bedroom floor. kisses and tucking the bed bug in and tomorrow is already on the horizon…

unless, of course, they have googly eyes and can draw on the sidewalk! we’ve been enjoying some time outside today, at a nice slow pace. i’m so excited to eat from our garden! late afternoon was spent eating lunch at my new favorite cafe sitting underneath the umbrella table and reading a new book. the best part is the food is delicious, the atmosphere casual but lovely and it’s only a few paces from my house, next to a playground and the library. perfect! places seem to come and go lately in our little historic district, but i am going to make this one a keeper!

so…i’ve been working on a new painting for a friend, and i’m so tempted to show a bit before i send it! should i? or make it a surprise? you tell me!

maybe i’m a late bloomer with gardening. because every time i return from digging in the dirt, i feel so renewed. i wonder, why haven’t i done this earlier? we have a generous sized backyard, for our first house. its slightly overwhelming thinking about its potential. we’ve tilled, shoveled, and weeded the ground next to our brick shed that already had a pretty camelia tree with bright red blooms falling all over the chosen spot. and i found years of treasures buried underneath the earth. a previous garden edging had to be dug out, cement squares, old giant stones, beer bottles, metal spoons and various pottery shards. now there are little sprouts of herbs and my favorite vegetables in pretty little rows. lovely!

and just as i was about to go put some more topsoil over them, claps of loud thunder sounded and rain! pouring! HAIL! flooded garden plot, oh no! max and i said a little prayer that our garden would make it. and what do you know? it stopped raining.

yesterday it was raining cats and dogs on and off all day long. but never mind that, i still drove to richmond’s spring bada-bing! and it was totally worth it to go and meet some friends! it’s so nice to put a (pretty!) face to all of you. and now my wishlist of handmade goods is literally a mile long! too bad we don’t celebrate half birthdays seriously. i came away with some gorgeous items from blossom boutique and mood swing, you treated me like i was royalty at your booth! so kristen, you’ll be getting the painting of *your life* very soon from me!

speaking of pretty little things, i have some more charms up in my shop! little special somethings hanging from vintage brass rings to go on your bag, keychain, or even on your favorite necklace strand. abigail commented the other day about the beautiful idea of the queenthings evolution, “the organic flow of creativity that continues to grow once you have made the charms.” isn’t that such a pretty thought? i like to think of my being all over the place with my artistic focus as hunger for making. my shop is pretty for pretty sake, my painting is my secret fuel.

i now leave you with a sweet little thing that max has been into lately, since being in the garden he has been finding so many creepy crawlies!

i was outside, lots. we tilled a giant rectangle of earth for a plot of vegetables to satisfy my constant desire for the perfect tomato. and squash, some rosemary, lavendar, mint, basil and transplanted black eyed susans from last fall. the wait begins. and peeking out the windows into the backyard at my hard work is rewarding. even if the plants are yet small. i love the miracle of gardens. there’s magic in being a part of the growth. every time i leave the garden, i feel so connected.

also some new paintings, i promise to show you soon.

the funny thing about this blog fast is the longer i let the silence go unbroken, the bigger i need the feast to be. but i’m just here. hello. i missed you blog.