The Ripening of Spring

Today is the final day of Spring.  It’s also Friday, time for a peek into the week review with The Scattered Life Collective. 

out the window:

Well peony season has ended and my new rose tree is only just beginning to pop the tiniest hints of leaves, but I am very very happy to report my clematis broke into bloom this week.  I love this picture I took from the second story enclosed porch which is my studio.  The image looks slightly surreal and like I used the Waterlogue app, but no, this is simply a far-away through a window shot.  Which delights me.

on the menu:   I made these Quinoa and Chickpea Burgers with Cilantro Lime Mayonnaise tonight and thought they were delish.   I’m not a fan of cilantro though so I substituted mint.

good things:

• Strawberries!   The local strawberries are now available and my weekly CSA box included a huge basket of them.  I’m in heaven!  

• I’ve also been on a nut butter and jam sandwich kick this week.  Could be because I have the most wonder pecan butter and my very favoritest jam – blueberry lavender.   My mouth has been doing happy dances.

• Progress is being made with needle felted flowers to decorate the wet felted bag I made back in May.  I’m now contemplating handles and once I’ve found the perfect ones I’ll be unveiling my masterpiece.  I’m having such fun with this.

• I’m working on a rather elaborate aromatherapy project which is delighting me.  It’s sure to be a many-months project and such things require elaborate and careful notes in addition to lots of creative mindmapping.  I’m using a large 18×24 inch sketchbook to keep track of this project and this week I found a wonderful addition – jumbo sized post it notes 15×15 and 11×11.  Who knew?!  But these make me very happy.

• Celebrating recovery from a wobble with a group of women I adore –  I feel so blessed to be connected to them. 

reading:  I’m in a serious reading slump.  Not because I don’t have a kajillion tomes piled up eagerly awaiting my eyeballs.  Oh the towering piles!  But these last couple of weeks I’ve really thrown myself into awakening early to the gorgeous light and birdsongs and staying up late.  And then falling into bed with eyes too heavy to last more than a paragraph.  I may need summer’s equivalent of a snow day or two to totally immerse myself in some catch up reading.   But I did spend time perusing a wonderful magazine/publication from England called Wrap, dedicated to celebrating contemporary illustration.  Each issues contains the work of five illustrators who are asked to design an artwork based on a selected them, and then Wrap prints it up and includes it in the magazine as pull out sheets of wrapping paper.  It’s a pricy proposition so I’m limiting myself to an occasional issue rather than a subscription, but it is fun.  And this latest issue is entitled Into The Wild and dedicated to plants.

listening:  I’ve had one of those week where I just feel so in love with the world and all of us living our lives the in the best ways we know how.  So it’s only appropriate I’ve been drawn to spin this tune a lot this week: This World by Zero 7

out and about:

• This makes me laugh in delight.  My kitties so need these just so I can take adorable pictures of them. 

• I really love hand images.  I have a rather large collection of them and my fascination is ever increasing.  I stumbled upon artist Ankush Samant and his blog this week and was delighted with what I saw.  And poking around turned up this image and story which I love.

•  I love this post by Kelly Barton.  I’ve really enjoyed playing around in some fun energy this week, and one of the things I’m trying to really embrace in an expansive, conscious, fun way is that every day really IS a new start.  What if we actually approached it as though we were capable of creating an entirely new reality each and every day?  No back stories needed.  Clean slate.  Fresh new adventures.  So Kelly’s post feels like there are more players secretly playing on this playground with me, and that makes it all the more delightful.  Won’t you join us?

• I so want a pair of wings! 

What about you?  What’s your week been like?  Have any berries or flowers to rave about?  Love office supplies like I do?  Want a pair of wings too?  Have a summer project you’re working on?  What’s lighting your life up in joy?  Do tell – you know I love to hear.