it's always tea time...which is always better with ranunculus

isn't spring time lovely? the windows finally open, pages of books flutter in warm breezes,
birds chirp at each other as i sip my tea, ella sings to me as i clean, and my flowers turn toward the sun.

hopefully there will be lots of page-turning for me today. i need to get through this novel
so i can write, write, write, and then move on to my final novel for the semester: mansfield park.

spring is indeed lovely.

| nostalgia | : from the archives

i've been dreaming of the sea, of cool breezes, of salty air.

i've been dreaming of the non-existence of to-do lists.

i've been dreaming of just one night under the wild stars.

i took these polaroids almost four years ago while we were living in california.

every weekend we had a mini adventure out to the sea or up to the mountains.

we haven't had a mini adventure for over a month now...it seems so strange.

i love this busy and exciting time, but i know soon i will have to take a break

and exchange this productive life for an idle life--at least for a weekend.

hope your week has started off with a good mix of motivation and day-dreaming.

thinking about today : it's about gratitude, not anxiety

i get anxious about today: what's on my to-do list? are the little things going to effect the big things?

how is today going to change my tomorrow, my future?

lately i've been better about such anxieties, reminding myself that today is simply that, today.

i'm happy to get one thing done on my checklist. i'm happy if i get one thing done that wasn't on my list either. my checklist has grown to an impressive length, and, honestly, i usually get more done than i give myself credit for. i just think it helps to have the expectation of completing one big task. 

so i go about my list as realistically as i can, and i remind myself that my reality is not someone else's reality. i get to choose what's important and what's not. today it wasn't that important to make the bed.

tomorrow i will probably feel differently as i eventually need more order and cleanliness to concentrate on my studies and other tasks.

but, it's true. today is here. tomorrow, never. it's nice to get a lot done today. it's nice to be motivated today. it's also nice to take a nap today, or take time to sit with my little herb garden while the sun is out.

it also helps to have friends willing to take breaks from their busy lives to meet up with you to chat.

this morning i was lucky to have a skype date with my dear norwegian friend, marte {le voyage creatif}.

she's fabulously creative as she is writing, shooting photographs, designing, traveling, studying.

we've both been anxious about a project we're working on together. we never seem to have enough time today, and we worry that today will slip away from us.

but after our morning chat i am quite confident that today is always here. it will never leave us.

if it doesn't happen today, it will eventually happen today.

meanwhile we're both on happy paths to where we want to be. exciting paths. challenging paths. unknown paths. 

i for one am grateful for today, exactly as it is, incomplete checklist and all.

because i have completed part of my list, and have truly enjoyed this day.

onward to another today.

happy spring weekend

hope you have lots of lovely spring activities planned for the weekend.
we will be attending the symphony tonight to hear and see rachmaninoff's piano concerto no. three.
this weekend will be an easy weekend at home: reading, picnicking, walking, patio eating, biking.

thank you, readers, for all of your support on this blog.
it makes my heart happy to know you're out there.

in my little garden...and how i avoided homework all day to be in the sunshine with plants

my original goal yesterday was to read 150 pages from an assigned novel from the 18th century.

i got to page 17. all this sunshine tempts me to clean the house inside and play in the dirt outside.

so i'm a day behind in my studies. but it was totally worth it. 

i now have a little herb garden of lavender, rosemary, thyme, and cilantro.

there are plans to add more and more herbs to my collection as the lovely weather continues.

last year my little herb garden became victim to an aphid extravaganza.

so this year i will try to remember to shield my little plants with the proper repellents. 

i so wish that we could have a larger garden with all sorts of delicious veggies

and a little patch of strawberries. but we live in a rental home that has never

had the luxury of a gardener. thus, the soil is terrible, and i don't have 

the time or money to give it the love it needs to produce the crop that i dream of.

i think the most i could do is make a couple of planter boxes...if i get the time...

and there's that little glitch in a summer garden where i leave home for six weeks

every summer to go to school. if i could find the right care-taker while i'm gone it might just work.

do you garden? what have you planted so far? any signs of life peeking out of the soil?

spring : the trees outside are budding

i've been nostalgically looking through photos of past springs

as i am ready for spring to come for the first time in years.

i really do love spring with its sunny days and blossoms popping up everywhere,

bike rides and picnics, and farmers' markets just around the corner.

usually spring has me a bit anxious because i know the heat of the summer will follow.

i'm a baby when it comes to heat. i can't handle it. at. all.

but i'm so ready for spring. hoping our buds will soon blossom.

the lake district :: film

the lovely thing about film is that i don't usually develop it for moths,

which makes for a lovely surprise when i finally do.

i took these images while on a little hike in the lake district last summer.

i could really go for some fog and green pastures about now.

we're off for a little spring break trip down south to the desert,

not exactly a place of green pastures and fog,

but beautiful and healing nonetheless.

do you have any plans for the weekend? celebrating st. patrick's day?

i think we might write some limericks.

happy weekend.

{more photos of england here}

moab : a short hike to see a view of this vast wilderness

the desert has been good to us this winter--although i worry our lack of snow will lead to draught.

i've probably mentioned my worries about this pitiful winter here in our mountains a few times,

but i am really, truly worried. i'm hoping that we will get the message, and change our energy-using ways of old. here's to riding bikes more, keeping the heat/ac down, buying/consuming less,

and spending more time in the great outdoors on our own two feet. there. there's my rant.

back to the beauty. i think i will always be a westerner at heart. there is something quite liberating

and awe-some about having the ability to see for miles and miles and miles,

the grand red-rock cliffs against an open blue sky, with night skies that will truly make you wonder and your heart will soften to a pace that allows you to worry no more. this is life. this is the earth.

currently our local government is trying to obtain ALL federal land for their own use--

that federal land is all of ours, even if you live outside of the state. we're fighting to keep it federally managed/owned so that these lands can stay open to public use.

so what do i do? i go and sign up to be a delegate in my local precinct in hopes my voice will make a difference. long live wilderness!

it's spring break and a little peek at what we've been up to...

just wanted to stop in for a quick hello. and it has to be quick.

it's spring break, and i'm dying to go play outside, but i have thousands of pages to read...

if it warms up enough perhaps i can read comfortably out in the back yard at least.

we've been enjoying lots of gatherings with friends and family,

making lots of perfectly tasty meals, building bonfires,

and riding our bikes to the grocery store and to the park.

i have lots more moab photos to share with you

as well as some film images from my trip to england last summer.

happy spring!