beatrix potter Archives

It's True. I Feel like the Luckiest Girl in the World. — Existing perennial garden spruced up with a few new plants and chocolate mulch

As I write you today, I’m listening to Pandora radio, station of Doris Day.

Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century or perhaps I lived another life. I love this type of music, nostalgia, vintage and old things. I think it’s perhaps why reading Susan Branch’s trilogy memoir recently resonated with me. So much so, I can’t get the books, her house on Martha’s Vineyard, and her way of life out of my head!

It’s a good thing though. There is something so comforting in her writing and how she lives a simple life.

And her gardens, well, I was so jealous (a good jealous!) when I saw photos on her blog.

And then I realized (terrible me!) that I posted photos on Facebook earlier this week of our new landscaping, but didn’t share here on my blog for you, my dear readers, as I had promised. I’m going to blame it on all the excitement and menopausal brain. Grin.

But since our landscaping has been complete I’m feeling like Susan Branch with a bit of Tasha Tudor and Beatrix Potter rolled in. In fact, John has been calling me Tasha Jr. as I work on keeping up with the watering (tee hee!).

But every morning, I can hardly wait to open the blinds and look outside. And sometimes I just want to cry – happy tears, of course.

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I’ve always been a homebody and I can’t help but think back to when times were tough with the economy crash in 2008. We were scared of losing John’s construction business and our home. But we hunkered down and knew we could ride the storm out and live frugally. And we did.

And in many ways we still do. But having landscaping done has been all the more sweeter when we think about the tough times. We are appreciating it and enjoying it even more now.

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I keep pinching myself when I walk around my writing cottage each day as I take in all the beauty of the sweet little shrubs and the perennials that will bloom in the near future. When we built my little space in 2007 we had planned to add plants, but then had to buckle down with the bad economy.

I’m especially tickled pink at the rock hill that leads down to the egress window of our lower level (well, okay, also known as a basement – but it does not feel that way because it is all fixed up).

Downstairs is where I hold my SoulCollage(r) workshops and the view out the window now is stunning! Here is the view below looking out from lower level.

It feels like the outside is part of the inside, and I couldn’t be happier!

When my friend, Shannon stopped over the other night, I gave her a tour around the house. She said, “I remember when we got new landscaping at our house up north. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world!”

And you know what? That is exactly it! I, too, feel like the luckiest girl in the world!

Thank you again to Willow Wood Acres and Land Steward for a beautiful design and job well done!

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You Know Your Husband Knows You When… (and photos from our field trip day!) — Milwaukee Domes

I mentioned on my blog Monday that John and I were going on what I dubbed, “a field trip date” on Tuesday. We had so much fun and hope to do this quarterly. There is so much to see in our area that really only requires a hour or two drive.

And after having such a fantastic day, I’m wondering why kids should only have field trips—adults surely need this even more!

We visited the Milwaukee Domes and with the temperature only reaching 15 degrees yesterday it was a smart choice…and a welcome one to be in the overly large greenhouses of tropical, desert, and floral themes where it was warm and lush with greenery and vibrant colors.

I share photos below, so you can take a five minute visual field trip. But before I do, I just had to chuckle after shopping in the gift shop and what John said to me afterwards.

We browsed around the garden themed gift shop for a few moments before John meandered out into the hallway to wait for me. I was having somewhat of a hard time deciding what I wanted to purchase.

My heart jumped a bit in my chest when I spotted this book by Marta McDowell, Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life. But I had to make sure I wasn’t “missing” out on anything else and looked around for a bit longer.

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I should have known better, because within moments I was back starring at this book. I ran my hand over the cover. I knew this was the treasure I had to take home with me. I could hardly even stand the wait to open it and start reading it!

I met John out in the hallway. He said, “So what did you get?”

I slowly slid the book out of the brown paper bag, as if holding a piece of gold. I smiled.

He said, “I knew you were going to get that book.”

I was surprised he said this. “How did you know?”

With a grin on his face as big as the Cheshire cat he said, “Because it has an old lady on the front.”

This is when I knew he does pay attention to me now and then. I played along to make sure my assumption was correct. “And I bought this book because Beatrix Potter reminds me of….”

“Tasha Tudor, of course!” He said.

As you may know, if you follow me here on my blog, I’m a bit enamored with Tasha Tudor – which I go in streaks about – and have been on a kick with her again lately. I now have all her hardcover books about her life that I bought second hand. I’ll never, ever tire of them. I’m sure of it.

Tasha had a huge, beautiful garden also and was a writer/illustrator. And someone, like Beatrix Potter, who absolutely lived her life on her own terms. Something I continually strive to do and likely why I’m so attracted to fellow creatives such as Tasha and Beatrix.

It certainly isn’t that I’m a good gardener, as I’m far from that. But there is something about how they weaved this into their creative lives that fascinates me, too.

But I digress. Back to John’s comments… it was in that moment, I felt so loved and so understood. It was really the highlight of my field trip date with him.

A memory I now hold as something quite special in my heart. Now onto the photos – enjoy!