Rebecca Sower

that kind of day

I woke with energy and motivation to go into my studio and make journals to put in my shop.

But that changed when I went down to the kitchen, windows open and that spring breeze blowing in.  I knew it would be a baking, fresh-air chores day.

(I'm just learning Instagram...bear with me...these photos look a little weird don't they?)

That sky-blue sky with those puffy white clouds.  Breathe deep deep deep and savor all that fresh air...

 

just the remedy for that teenage-boy-smell that sometimes accompanies the clothes on that young man that I love so much...

and with windows open and fresh lilacs catching the breeze, I don my apron and start baking...

stacks of waffles to put in the freezer (there is no end to how many waffles a 14-year-old boy can eat in one sitting)...

almond butter cookies that will be gone within 20 minutes of the kids getting home from school...

and fresh bread for dinner and maybe even some for tomorrow too...

What do you like to do with your fresh-air spring days?

good day for a shady spot

Today is such a quiet day around here.  In the stillness I've decided to just be glad for what the day is.  A little sleepy-headed after staying out late at this fantastic music event in Nashville last night.  My husband said I was snoring in the car on the way home but I don't believe him.

The humidity and temps have dropped a bit here, at least for today.  I've been going somewhat stir-crazy here inside the house, I'm too much in love with the outdoors, the fresh air.  So I headed outside to sit under the old pine in the shade, to stitch a little, to clear my thoughts, to breathe in deeply.

Next time I'll show you what I was stitching in the photo.  And I'll show you just how to do it.  Something simple and pretty, the best kind of thing for the waning days of summer.

dawn's early light

Of all the things I most love to do, a solitary (well, except for the dogs) walk at dawn tops my list.  And this morning as I was heading out, I realized I haven't shared my morning walks with you.  So today, will you join me?

beads and keys and string

...hanging in the sun.  Doesn't everything look prettier out in the fresh open air?

 

Well, I may not look prettier out there.  But I feel better.  So I'm heading outside.  Just wanted to let you know I put a few items in my shop.  But after you take a peek, you should head outside too.

And breathe deeply.  Fresh air is good for the soul.

thursday glimpse

Not much to share today.  Random photos of my Thursday.

Paperwhites in a sunny window, working hard in preparation for their upcoming show . . .

. . . The beginnings of a nature collage . . .

 . . .golden autumn out the front window . . .

 . . . more preparations for Silver Bella next week . . .

 
  

Today's meditation . . . "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength"  (Isaiah 30:15) 

birds we know

Sometimes even crueler than the storms and harsh weather are the days when nature teases us.  After a long spell of frigid temps, the air turned almost balmy yesterday and the sun spread its warmth.  But I know what lies ahead.  I know the 'spring' will be yanked back out from under me and winter will be wicked again.  That's just how it goes here in Tennessee farmland.

But for now I will bask in this reprieve.  I will think of my little feathered friends who will come back in their multitudes and taunt my psychotic kitty this Spring and those who will nest on my front porch (what a mess they make) and those who will be singing outside my open window every morning (oh I miss them!).  Even their names sound like a song...red-winged blackbird, meadowlark, song sparrow, house wren, hummingbird, scarlet tanager...can you tell I'm a bird lover? :)

I guess it's these thoughts that led me to create my latest journals (in etsy today).  I finally broke down and used the pages from my vintage 1928 "Birds We Know" book.  Large renderings from my favorite bird painter, Ray Gleason.  Like this one, the goldfinch.  Just look at that sweet face.  That will hold me over until the real ones are sitting on the fence posts outside my back door.

I hope that, wherever you are, nature will be kind to you this weekend.  But kind or not, remember to step out there and breathe deeply.

the merry month of May

And everything (almost) is blooming and growing.  This week, the kids are out of school for the summer.  Put my vegetable patch in this weekend.  Life is bursting at the seams!  Is that how it is for you this time of year too?

It's so hard for me to stay indoors.  Outside, there is so much life!  For my sister gardeners, a few shots of what's blooming around here...

And thank you (a million times!) to all of you who ordered your Postmark LA book.  We were blown away with the great response.  So many sweet comments.  Oh, please let us know how you like it.  We love it, but want you to love it too...let us know!

The winner of the first quote piece is Camille...congrats! and I will be in touch with you.  If you weren't the winner this time, you get to try again for this piece...

Just leave one comment on this post, and I will pick another winner in the next day or two.  Just one more way to celebrate our new Postmark book.

Thanks so much for being great readers who appreciate all things lovely!  Each of you mean so much to me.

letting things grow

William Henry Hudson, British author and naturalist, said these words in 1919:

"I am not a lover of lawns.

Rather would I see daisies in their thousands,

ground ivy, hawkweed, and even the hated plantain with tall stems,

and dandelions with splendid flowers and fairy down,

than the too-well-tended lawn."

William Henry!  Where have you been all my life?

Okay so I'm partly loving his words because my yard at present is pretty awful.

but...

I have always loved unkempt, cottage, rambling yards.  Could never find any personality at all in the well-manicured, perfectly maintained beds and lawn.  Got those genes from my maternal grandmother.  Her flowers grew everywhere and anywhere in her yard which would have never been featured on the cover of a gardening magazine, but it was beautiful...it was beautiful to me.  And doggone it, I'm tired of feeling guilty because my grass might be an inch too long and what might someone think.  And I refuse to zap a pretty yellow dandelion with chemicals (if I could just get my husband to agree).

So let's go crazy this summer and let a little grass creep over onto our sidewalks, who's with me? :)

We're not letting things go, we're letting things grow!

the rest of the world

How amazing is today's weather.  Nature is being so kind to us here.  So much more appreciative of what's outside when we've been so long inside.  And plopping down in the middle of the road to snap a shot is something we can do way out here in nowhere.  I credit fresh, clean air to be the cure for all sorts of things that ail us...that and a little sunshine (and an old chocolate lab thrown in there too).

Mr. Nature-Lover himself, John Muir, said...

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."

{Necklace giveaway winner news...congratulations Joy!  I've already gotten in touch with you and hope to hear from you soon.)

old dogs love rain and i love old dogs

A healing rain has fallen on us for two days now.

Looked out this morning and saw old Otto just sitting and letting it soak in.

Much like I did late last night...went down by the barn, out by the pastures and let it rain down on me until I was soaked through...and healed.  Something we can do out in the country without any neighbors thinking we've finally snapped.  Only the neighbors' cows saw me...and looked just long enough to question why we humans don't do these things more often.

Oh that I could send a wind carrying my rains to the dear people in Southern California...my prayers and heart reach for you.

Will leave you with a quote from one of my all-time heroes, Mr. Fred Rogers...

"How many times have you noticed that it's the little quiet moments in the midst of life that seem to give the rest extra-special meaning?"