Garden day

The day began bright and sunny and I was drawn to the buzzing, humming and twittering outside. I watched the birds and the bees, the budding plants and I was overall delighted with the progression of spring.

Something has to be said of the fresh green tips, the dark red, still unfurled, leaves of the maple trees, the just opened blossoms of the azaleas and the wisteria, climbing around the garage wall.

There were the sound of insects, birds busily flattering in and out of the hedges, looking for food, twigs and this and that to build their nests...

The lilac begins to green, in front of the, still standing, dried grasses from last year. A task waiting for me, to cut them, to make space for this year's growth.

In the afternoon all changed to kid's laughter on the trampoline, my son and friends sprung happily around and the sounds of

happy chatter rung through the otherwise quiet  neighborhood. These are the moments I so cherish!

My sweet young neighbors explored the blossoms and the garden at large, not missing a beat!

They discovered what I had found earlier this morning: The beauty of spring!

Wishing you all the joys of the season and a Happy Easter to come! May you all feel a sense of awakening and renewal!

Easter greetings to you all!

PS: Don't forget to see my other site here!

All images by V.Zlotkowski

Windows of opportunity

Music room window sill until yesterday

I have two window sills, facing east, the front of the house, deep enough to have a whole shop display exhibited and I change what's there regularly, to entertain us, keep something new displayed or enhance seasonal decorating. There are stars and evergreen branches at Christmas time, shells during the summer, leaves and twigs collected at walks in autumn and ghostly ghouls at Halloween! It's a wonderful place to have some plants, flowers and some glass, candles or books, showing our latest interests, finds or new collected things. 

Some displays are short lived, some stay for weeks at the time without much change.

Dining room window with Easter lilly

I switched the vase to the other room, to have the Easter lilly in there and found some Willow pussies for the other!

I love this book: The Book of Botanical Prints by Taschen

Two brass mushrooms from Anthropologie

One belongs to our dining room, the room where all the action takes place in our family.

Our dining room at 6pm

Every meal, writing, homework, all this and more happens at this dining table and many after dinner conversation.

Afternoon light streaming through the music room.

The other resides over the music room, where we, apart from making music, sit around the fireplace for conversation and reading. It is a cozy room, beloved also by the dog, who has had chosen the ottoman as 'his' central cozy spot early in his life with us!

Willow pussies slowly greening

Spring has given me yet another chance to bring out some Easter decorations, some of my glass collection and white vases, lucky finds at Marshall's, where I did not spend more then $10 each. I couldn't have passed such a chance now, could I? 

Early afternoon, the sun has moved on...

Willow Pussies in one, Easter Lilly in the other and the foundation for a new window display was created.

Glass bird, bunny and a moss ball sharing the space with the Easter lilly. 

There is an old ceramic bunny with carrot, which has been with us for as long as the kids have been around and sometimes he is joined by some paper mache ones, but they are still in their boxes...

Do you have a spot, where decorations and displays are changed regularly?

Please, do tell me!

Rainy day

This rainy day has inspired the strangest thoughts...I found myself gazing into the soggy garden, looking at the decaying blossoms and the watered down flowers, the slowly dying daffodils and small weeds and wild herbs, which have taken hold in some of my flower beds. 

There I found beauty within the decay and after that, looking at the abandoned breakfast table, I sense the same. The candles are still burning and the bread has not been packed away, eggs still sitting half eaten in their cups, yet left behind. Maybe it's this, this being abandoned, which makes me look at these things again. 

I think of the just passed conversations and how our words have evaporated into memories already. How some words turn into actions and some into nothingness.

I love the lived-in table, where I read the paper and begin to think of this and that!
It is the beauty of ebb and flow, it's of being born and death, the steady rhythm of on and off, beginnings and endings...laughter and tears. I am not sure I am making sense to you.

These are the moments, when I muse about life and it is a feeling hard to grasp...
I am  thinking of impermanence, the only constant.
We try to reach equilibrium, just to realize a moment later the permanent imbalance of it all.
So we shall enjoy every moment of imbalance, for it is the fabric of our lives.


March is leaving us, he has been kind and gentle and April knocks...


Emily Dickinson wrote:


Dear March, come in!
How glad I am!
I looked for you before.
Put down your hat -
You must have walked -
How out of breath you are!
And the rest?
Did you leave Nature well?
Oh, March, come right upstairs with me,
I have so much to tell!

I got your letter, and the birds';
The maple never knew
That you were coming, - I declare,
How red their faces grew!
But March, forgive me -
And all those hills
You left for me to hue;
There was no purple suitable,
You took it all with you.

Who knocks? That April?
Look the door!
I will not be pursued!
He stayed away a year, to call
When I am occupied.
But trifles look so trivial
As soon as you have come,
That blame is just as dear a praise
And praise as mere a blame.


What can I add? 
It is still raining out there and, watching, I sit patiently, knowing the future will bring sunshine.
All is in flux...


Wishing you all a delightful Sunday!










All images by V.Zlotkowski

Friday love

Good morning! 

This little fellow was singing his heart out this morning!

While I was preparing breakfast. 

And there was nothing better then to listen to his happy song while doing it!

For it all made me grateful to be alive!

Happy weekend!

All images by V.Zlotkowski

Outdoors & indoors

                      

Well, today was the first warm day around here, temperatures soared to 67 degrees...

I ventured out to do a long good garden clean up and rewarded myself with coffee and poppyseed cake on the deck.

Unfortunately my youngest is home with a nasty cough, croup like, spasmodic and painful. For a kid with asthma not so good and we all suffer from loss of sleep. Missing school adds to the damage, thank goodness the weekend is around the corner and we can catch up a little!

Sitting in the sun was so beautiful, but I am under no illusion that this warm weather will last. Maybe, please?

But it is, after all, only the beginning of March. But I can dream, right?

All these colors above made me think of this lovely 

room:

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Happy Friday!

Images byV.Zlotkowski

Springing ahead

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I have spring cleaning in my mind.... The sunshine gives me all the energy and for whatever reason I believe winter here has run it's meager course for this season. 
New York did not have much snow to begin with this winter, unfortunate ski resorts lost plenty of money, but I guess we experience some slow climate changes.

The garden in March

May it as it be, I will finally remove some pieces of decoration which have survived since Christmas and now need to move to be stored away. I crave flowers and fresh patterns, chocolate Easter bunnies are hopping all over the place in shops and I need to  breath fresh air.

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After a long walk through the park on Saturday I could almost see the sprouting green and some willows sport already soft yellow green tips!

Spring brook

Thick winter blankets can be cleaned and stored away, I love to change pillows and wash slip covers. 

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I exchange aromatic wood scented candles to something fresh and airy...

Illume Spring Eden Candle

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My old recipe for letting spring in, is to open windows wide. The birds are singing, often early in the morning and I love to hear them.

Yesterday in our hedge to neighbor's garden.

We are checking the outdoor furniture, clean the cushions, and I look through catalogs to find plants and some planters for the deck!

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And nothing says spring louder than a pair of delicious flats...

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So, let's dance into spring!








All images as indicated and byV.Zlotkowski