It’s almost Valentine’s Day and if you’ve been around a while you know I love it. Not for the commercial aspects (though I’m a fan of both chocolate and flowers) but because the idea of a day devoted to LOVE makes me happy.

I’m deep into creating my next class for Skillshare. This one is about blogging, a topic you know I love. As part of the class, I talk about coming up with ideas for blog posts. One of my suggestions is to write a series of posts based on reader questions.

Wednesday morning I woke up and checked the temperature. Negative 19 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of negative thirty-two. It was our second day in a row of bitter cold.

The sun is shining, warm and bright. The garden is humming with bees and I catch the scent of roses, mint and spicy tulsi. I step among the blooms with my scissors at the ready,

When I think about the word EASE, I imagine serenity and calm. I picture being able to do hard things with confidence. I see myself flowing through my days with lightness, finesse, grace.

Wednesday morning dawned with a blowy, snowy storm. Most mornings after breakfast and coffee I start my day with a walk.

One of the first things I noticed in the oncology waiting room were two huge Christmas cactuses filled with blooms, even though it was late January.

Sometimes a project comes along which is a complete joy. My collaboration with Kickapoo Meadery was one of those projects. This fall I worked with Roots and Refuge Farm on another.

I cut handfuls of dead flowers from my garden this week. Their shapes are interesting. Petals twisted. Leaves furled as if frozen in motion.

“Thanksgiving is not just a day, it’s a lifestyle.”

In Wisconsin by the time November rolls around, we’ve usually had our first frost. Sometimes we’ve already had our first snow, too.

In April I wrote about stepping away from Instagram. It felt right for me. Energizing. Freeing.

In June I wandered back.

Last month I wrote about how creating a tea towel calendar has become a yearly tradition for me*, but it’s not the only tradition for my art.

This is the 9th year I’ve created a desk calendar with my seasonal watercolor paintings.

It’s almost November, two more months left in 2021. At this time last year, many of us were ready for 2020 to be over. Ready to have a fresh start with a new year.

A few times over the summer I mentioned working on a big commission. I even shared a sneak peek of one of the paintings.

Today I want to share the full story.

I’m never certain if I’ll have flowers blooming in my garden in October or not.

When’s the last time you noticed something that made you pause to look, to think, to wonder? A little moment seemingly outside of time?

Designing a tea towel calendar each year has become a tradition for me. This is the 6th year I’ve created one.

This week I finished filling up my 16th sketchbook.

In September in Wisconsin, the gardening season is winding down.