My garden wakes up and I move forward

How do you spell joyful? How do you spell happy? How do you spell uplifted spirits? I believe they are all spelled G-A-R-D-E-N.

These photos were taken this morning on a little stroll through my back and front gardens. I mention the backyard first because that's usually where my walks begin--out the back door with Meeko by my side. This time of year is bursting with daily changes. I do regular inspections of shoots and buds knowing that more and more blossoms are on their way. The anticipation is delicious. The birds have been so loud (in a good way) the past few days. They are my marker that spring has truly arrived. There was a little song sparrow earlier today singing his little heart out. He perches in the neighbour's tree and I always like to imagine from year to year that it is the same little fellow. 

Spring. So much activity. So much life. So much to look forward to.

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the beautiful words of encouragement that you wrote for me after my last post. I had tears in my eyes as I read them--not of sadness, more of amazement and gratitude for the wonderful, eloquent, big-hearted bunch of people who gather here. Thank you as well for the honesty that you spoke of your own art and struggles.  There is enormous strength in knowing that we are not alone in our worries and challenges.

Many of my posts are about ordinary things on ordinary days, but I have to say that when I have spoken up about deeper and more difficult things, the response has always been quite amazing. I find it extraordinary that we are able to make connections and establish friendships in what could be a cold and impersonal forum. I was thinking that the only thing missing at times like that is a big pot of tea or coffee or a bottle of wine in the middle of the table as we share our opinions and experiences.

I've put my setback behind me and have been painting this week and finding joy and satisfaction in it. I hope you are able to find time for creative pleasures this week whatever your medium. A big, big hug to you all.

A Little Giveaway

This is a little ACEO-sized watercolour I did last year. I loved the way the dried Queen Anne's Lace had cupped the new fallen snow. Nature's own little snowballs. This Queen Anne's Lace grows just at the edge of the forest pathway where I walk with Meeko in the winter.

I am giving away this original watercolor just because. Well, there are actually lots of becauses. Because I appreciate all of the support I receive from my online friends, here and on Facebook and Twitter. Because I have the nicest customers on Etsy. Because I feel happy when I paint. Because sharing is a good thing. Because snow is beautiful. Because spring is coming. Because...

All you need to do is leave a comment below. Please make sure that your comment links back to your own blog or that you provide an email address, so that I have a way of contacting you if you are the lucky person.

I would also appreciate it very much if you would like my Facebook page (if you haven't already) although that is optional.

So please leave a comment below. I will choose a winner on Friday, February 15th at 6:00 p.m. EST. ❤

Hearts, Sirens and Hugs

My week began in an ambulance with the siren blaring. Surreal. It still feels like it might have been a dream.

I woke up very early Monday morning feeling ill. I had a pain in my chest. I thought it might be heartburn and took something for it but I couldn't get comfortable. I changed positions many times. Sat up. Laid down. My heart was beating strangely and I could feel a sharp pain under my left shoulder blade. I felt dizzy. I knew that women's heart attack symptoms were different than men's. I hesitated but, in the end, I called 911.

First time ever in an ambulance. The last time I was admitted to a hospital was when Chloé was born over 13 years ago.

It is a scary story with a happy ending.  After several cardiograms, blood tests and a lung x-ray, I was told that my heart was fine as was everything else. All of the tests came back normal. What I had felt that morning was a cluster of symptoms that could be explained by other things (indigestion, palpitations probably due to coffee and hormones, muscular aches, topped off by more than a bit of anxiety).

I spent nine hours staring at a hospital ceiling on Monday. I traced the pattern of those drop ceiling tiles about a million times. No book. No music. Not even my shoes or a coat. What did I think about? My family, my friends, my painting, Meeko. About how caring everyone was with me that day: the ambulance paramedics, the doctor and nurses, my husband and my two girls. I thought about how my husband had left a meeting and rushed home as soon as he heard. I thought about how brave and grownup Emma and Chloé were that morning. I wanted to go home and hug all of them including Meeko. I wasn't worrying about returning emails, making Etsy treasuries or new blog posts, checking my Facebook and Twitter accounts, increasing sales or churning out more prints on my temperamental printer. I was just thinking about what was important.

Amaryllis - work in progress (a mere beginning)

Yesterday when I woke up I felt so different. Lighter. Calmer. More centered. I felt thankful. I felt lucky. I took Meeko for an extra happy walk. I tried to breathe more slowly and deeply as I moved. I appreciated the powdery snow that had fallen the previous day. I got in touch with my relatives. I started a new painting of my beautiful amaryllis. I drank herbal tea in the late afternoon. I bought a pot of fresh basil to make pasta with pesto, potatoes and green beans. I revelled in the basil's beautiful colour and pungent smell as I picked the sprigs and thought about how my garden will be waking up not that long from now.

Maybe we all need a scary story every now and then so that we can put everything else in perspective. Today, nothing is different and yet somehow everything is.

Winter Wonderland

I was feeling a lot of pre-holiday stress yesterday and decided to take a short walk with Meeko in the forest at the end of our street. We can't walk there except in wintertime because it is very swampy.  So it was our first walk there this winter. There wasn't another footprint except for rabbit and deer tracks.  We weren't able to go the whole way because it's still not entirely frozen, but what we saw was magical and I wanted to share these photos with you.  The walk transformed the way I was feeling. I hope it helps you too.

This is where we had to stop. You can see Meeko is looking a little wistful.

This week has definitely included all kinds of stress. My Mom had surgery on Wednesday but is now home and is doing really well. If she is feeling up to it, our whole family will be travelling next week to have a late Christmas dinner with her. The mother of a very dear friend is also in hospital this week.  My heart is with her and her family. I know of other families dealing with difficult situations and I am thinking about them too.

I hope I say this right. I really didn't know what this blog would do for me when I started it.  I began it mainly as a way to make sure I kept painting.  I'm not sure that I expected so many visitors from around the world--really nice people. There have been encouraging words about my paintings, nice words about my developing photography skills, thoughtful words (and rainbows!) for my Mom, shared feelings and thoughts about gardens, dogs, food, art, children, music, computers, cameras, rocks, rain and snow...so many things.  I have visited many of your blogs and been inspired by your art, your photos, your homes and your lives.  Somehow this blogging experience that started out feeling scary, cold and impersonal has turned out to be quite the opposite. I have a sense of community with people that has nothing to do with where I live. I have friendships with people I've never met. It has given me a sense of the world being a smaller, kinder place and I like that very much.
Kathleen xx ♥