life lately

Peonies in Bloom

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large pink peony blooms fading in colour around the edges

This is slowly and unintentionally turning into a flower blog…. there are just so many beautiful flowers in my mom’s garden all bursting into glorious colour, though, and I can’t resist indulging myself in taking tons of photos of them! And then, of course, cutting some of the blooms and bringing them indoors to enjoy. Peonies are probably my favourite flowers (if I had to choose just one), but the bad part about them is the bugs also love them. So, you always have to shake all of them off otherwise you inadvertently bring a million tiny beetles into the house. But that extra work is worth it, because they smell heavenly!

pink peony blooms, one cut and placed on a windowsill in a tiny vase

I love these dark pink ones, since they fade to light pink as they open. They are almost all gone now: short lived, but so enjoyable.

pink peony bloom from the side, dark pink fading to light pink at the tips

White peonies aren’t my favourite variety, but this variety with the dark magenta centre is so vibrant that I do enjoy them. They are difficult to take pictures of, though.

single white peony bloom opening with a dark magenta pink splash in the centre

a white pink peony bloom with a dark pink centre

We have several more peony blooms that haven’t opened yet- one new variety called “Raspberry Sundae” that I’m so excited to see. I’ll try to get some photos to post here…and then photos of all of the other flowers that are blooming right now too.

What flowers are blooming where you live? What is your favourite flower?

small pink peony bloom in various shades of pink

masses of pink peony blooms

a single peony bloom in a vase on a windowsill with a lace curtain

Social Saturday | May 28

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three red tulip blooms

Hello and happy Saturday Dear Readers! How was your week?

Here is a round up of some of things I’ve been enjoying lately, paired with some photos I’ve take over the past month. I love all the tiny leaves and cheerful flowers at this time of the year, don’t you? It’s been lovely watching all the flowers and leaves slowly open, the birdsong floating through the air, rain showers and the quiet and busy hum of the bumblebees as they go from bloom to bloom…

red tulip blooms and blossoms

  • What I’ve been working on: a sewing project that I’ve had in the works for several years… I finished it and will be sharing it next week. It’s nice to finally be able to check that one off the “to do” list!
  • As I’ve been sewing in the evenings, I have been listening to the audiobook of “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens. It’s one of my favourite books- I listened to a recording of it a few years ago, and decided it was time for a re-read/listen: I’m about 2/3 of the way through now. I don’t particularly love reading Dickens, but I absolutely love listening to his stories! If you decide to read or listen to it, just make sure you don’t start the final 1/4 of the book in the evening, otherwise you’ll have to stay up until 3 AM to find out the ending! (That’s what I did the first time I listened to it- I was very tired the next day, but it was worth it!)

green sedum plant

  • I’ve also just finished reading “Facepaint: The History of Makeup” by Lisa Eldridge. It was such an interesting and in depth look at the history of makeup from ancient times to the present day. I enjoyed not only the text but also the photography, and the photos of all her vintage makeup collection. Why don’t more makeup brands today make pretty packaging? There’s so much boring plastic out there…

    tiny leaves growing on the trees

    • I have also been borrowing some more decorating books from the library, and “For the Love of White” by Chrissie Rucker was another good one. Most of the homes in the book are too modern for my own taste, but I think it can be inspiring to look at decorating styles that fall outside of our niches. Sometimes we can get in a rut, with home decor, fashion… anything really, if we focus too narrowly on what we already know we like. Curated Instagram feeds and Pinterest boards with suggestions of photos “you might like” can, over time, stifle creativity, whereas seeing new things, styled in ways different than we normally would, can be extremely inspiring. I’ve always grown up in homes full of colour, and it’s taken me a while to realize that I actually really like White as a colour, not just a neutral, so this book (full of homes from England) was particularly calming and lovely!

    peony plants coming up

    • This blog post, from Farmhouse on Boone, taught me something new. Before the days of refrigeration people had so many ingenious methods of food preservation, and water glassing eggs is one of them. My mom has chickens, so maybe we’ll try this in the future? I love discovering new-old ways of preserving food!

    Well, that’s all for this week. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, whatever you have planned!

    yellow wood tulips and white and peach daffodils

    miniature purpley blue johnny jump

    tiny green leaves unfurling on a branch

    White And Purple Tulips

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    a bouquet of 5 white and 5 purple tulips in a milk glass hobnail vase

    More tulips! ‘Tis the season for them, after all. They had them at the grocery store and we just couldn’t go home without a bunch. My mom and sister picked out these white and purple tulips because they were just barely starting to open..and they turned out to be perfect.

    purple and white tulips on the first day just opening

    tulip bouquet in front of a window with light shining through

    These photos above were from the second day, when they were just starting to open.

    tulip bouquet of white and purple flowers

    They opened fully without shrivelling and they’ve lasted over a week now. I put a penny in the vase to see if it would encourage them to stand upright (considering what happened with my last bunch…) and it worked. The purple ones, in particular, are incredibly pretty; as they’ve aged the tips have turned blue.

    purple tulip with blue tips on the edge

    Tulips always put me in the mood for spring. It will be a while before any of our spring flowers start to bloom in our garden, but in the meantime we have these cut blooms to enjoy.

    What is your favourite cut flower? Are you always tempted to bring home a bouquet when you see them at the grocery store?

    purple and white tulip bouquet in a milk glass vase

    white tulip fully open

    Social Saturday | March 5 (Winter Again!)

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    galvanized metal quanset surrounded by trees covered in white frost

    And here I am again with more winter photos even though I just posted some on Tuesday…however I woke up this morning and was greeting with this beautiful sight, so of course I had to take my camera out to capture it! I never tire of seeing a beautiful frost. Do you get frost where you live?

    a line of spruce trees covered in frost

    I haven’t done a “lately” post for a while, so here are some things I’ve been up to.

    What I’ve been reading– The “Daughters of Fortune” series by Judith Pella. I received this set for Christmas, though it took forever to arrive (bought from Thrift Books) so I just started reading it now. It’s one of my favourite book series, set in WWII.

    branches covered in large white snowflakes and frost silhouetted against a blue sky

    What I’ve been watching– I just found out about this movie “Sabina, Tortured For Christ: The Nazi Years”. I wasn’t familiar with Sabina Wurmbrand at all, so it was really fascinating to watch this part of her life. It is available to watch for free this weekend (March 4-6) here. All you have to do is register.

    row of graineries in different colours of grey, blue and red covered in snow

    What I’m thankful for– The fact that I am feeling much better after being sick for several weeks. It’s so nice to get back into the swing of things- work, sewing and other projects. Even just giving your bedroom a good sweep and dusting feels good when you haven’t been able to do it for a while. It’s crazy how much things pile up when you’re stuck in bed!

    seed cone and a pine tree covered in snow and silhouetted against the blue sky

    What I’ve been making– My mom and I started painting a storage cabinet in January, but then put it on hold once I got sick. It is our first time using milk paint, and I’ve been quite enjoying it. Now we just have to oil it and then we’re done. I am hoping to finally finish it today! Have you ever tried milk paint?

    snow covered road lined with frosty trees

    What I’ve been eating– This recipe went viral last year, so probably everyone has tried the Tomato Feta Pasta, but if you haven’t yet, you really should. I used this recipe from The Daily Connoisseur”. Since we didn’t have enough fresh tomatoes, I used some diced canned tomatoes, and it turned out just as good!

    branches covered in sparkling white frost against a blue sky

    What I’ve been working on: Adding a bunch of my artwork to my shops! I have started re-listing pieces on my Poshmark Shop, and some will make their way to my Art Shop too. I decided not to renew my contract with the art gallery in town, so all of the pieces that I was showing there will be making their way to the shops in the coming weeks.

    Well, that’s what I have going on right now. What plans do you have for this weekend? Whatever you do, I hope it is a good one!

    a view of a valley with trees and an old gas tank in the foreground covered with snow

    Social Saturday | January 15

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    gallery wall with a bunch of artwork hanging on it

    Hello and happy Saturday, dear Reader. How was your week? Mine has felt a bit hectic, with a big project at work that I’m trying to finish up today. (Plus all the other things of daily life mixed in!) Earlier this week I took some new pieces to my display at the gallery and I remembered to snap a picture of what it looks like right now.

    Some of the new illustrations are these three vintage dresses.

    framed dress illustrations

    I have also added this trio of dresses to my Society6 shop. They are available with or without words as greeting cards and I have prints too. I hope to do more of them, because vintage dress styles are just so fun to draw and paint!

    Well, that’s all for this post and I hope you have a wonderful weekend however you spend it.

    vintage style dress illustration

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