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I have never been more happy for it to be Friday. my crazy busy week is over. the sky is clear. the air is brisk. the birds are singing. I am being ever so lazy.

(now to my credit I did get the car inspected on my way to get lattes at Starbucks.)

my house is somewhat of a wreck after hosting a club meeting mid-week. my bed remains unmade. dinner will be take-out. but I am happy and content to take the day and do mostly nothing.

this afternoon I sat in the sun and finished my book. a lovely novella entitled The Uncommon Reader. a story of Queen Elizabeth discovering a love of reading. no drama. no violence. no sex. simple. enticing. one of those books that while you know it is fiction it seems very real. and after wondering for years, this week as I watched the Queen celebrate her diamond jubilee, I know she carries a book in her ever present handbag.

'reading was not doing, that had always been the trouble. and old though she was, she was still a doer.'

oh how happy

nothing does a person so much good as to spend a few days with friends. and this past weekend I was done in. the girls and I took our annual trip to Round Top to Festival Hill Herbal Forum. the Forum was a bit lacking. but the company divine.

we stayed here. a charming little house. filled with the reclaimed. the vintage. the antique.














we shopped here. a plant sale of plant sales. hosted by the local Master Gardener group. filled with the flowering. the aromatic. the succulant.














we talked. we ate. we drank. we were silly. serious. downright sensational.

'I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world.'

design inspiration

(image courtesy of More Design Please)

I love these staghorn ferns. the material. the arrangement. the composition.

green. architectural. organic. creative. simply beautiful.

'design is an opportunity to continue telling the story, not just to sum everything up.'

a rose is a rose

my girlfriends and I are about to take a trip. we carpool in the biggest car. pack our picnic baskets with goodies. visit the ATM. and set off to Festival Hill in Round Top for their annual Herbal Forum.

we are giddy with excitment. to spend the time together. to be amongst fellow gardeners. to surround ourselves with plants. to learn. to listen. to eat. drink. and be merry. to sit. and chat. and chat some more.

'each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive.'

color my world

I took a little day trip this week. ventured south looking for inspiration for my front garden project.

living in the great state definitely has it's advantages. spring has sprung (well, that is to say it HAD, for today is cold, rainy and blustery. but as my mama would say 'chilly today, hot tamale!'). the drab colors of winter have burst into a most colorful palate.

it was a delightful day. the sun on my face. the gentle wind at my back. and before me glorious plants just waiting for a good home.

a good time was had by all.




















'take thy plastic spade, it is thy pencil; take thy seeds, thy plants, they are thy colours.'

how do I love thee

yesterday the hubs and I went a bit north. on a bus trip with our local heritage society. to Waco. you might think this an odd choice for a field trip. believe you me, I certainly did. but, it turns out, this city is a wealth of history. and beauty.

my favorite stop was a visit to the Armstrong Browning Library on the Baylor campus. in this unassuming structure is housed the largest collection of work by Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. a testament to their talent. and their love. the building is adorned with 62 stained glass windows. most depicting scenes from their lyric poetry. many contain the image of a pomegranate - a symbol of love. there are mementos from their lives. congenial ornately hand-written letters from colleagues (including Charles Dickens). volumes of books. artwork-lined hallways. magnificent furniture from the Browning's own home. all totally accessible to the student population and the general public. treasures enough to fill the minds and hearts of generations.

all in all. a lovely day. oh let me count the ways. filled with discovery. and laughter. and friendship.

(an interesting point of conversation as we admired the letters was that the sad legacy of today's authors will be machine-printed emails and electronic kindle snapshots. perhaps equally brilliant in their work - but sorely lacking in their presentation.)

'my letters! all dead paper, mute and white! and yet they seem alive and quivering against my tremulous hands.'

green and growing

(image courtesy pinterest)

'every thought is a seed.'