Our friend, Joel, gave us a clump of echinacea for our garden. I love the spikiness of the flowers.

And the form suggests more french knots to my mind.

A poster-sized print of this will be displayed at Dartmouth College’s ArtWorks festival tomorrow.

Inspired by broccoli… really!

Last spring, Andy & I planted asparagus.

This morning, these tasty looking shoots greeted me in the garden…

Do I let them grow, for future plant health? Or eat them now?

Hmmm…

This is the view I have coming downstairs in the morning.

Cheerful, eh?

I love our old house.

Canaan just got another couple inches of snow yesterday. But I am dreaming of spring flowers.

This beautiful iris grew in front of our house last year, coming along after the crocuses, daffodils and tulips.

My mother died of a heart attack on August 11, 2008. It was a terrible shock for all of us.

However, getting the chance to look through her old photos again was wonderful.

Especially finding ones like this, showing Mom at her spunkiest, just after she married Dad, and before any of us kids came along.

I want to remember her like this.

The craftsmanship of this 1860′s staircase leading to the John Dix Social Room at the Balsams delighted me from any angle.

Last week, I returned to Dixville Notch as a Visiting Artisan at the Balsams.

There are many wonderful things at the Balsams Grand Resort… not least of which is this 1860′s staircase with its mismatched balusters descending into the John Dix Social Room.

A sight that delighted me at any hour!

In October 2001, Andy & I spent part of our honeymoon in British Columbia.

After checking out the ship’s cabinetry school on Gabriola Island, we explored Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Provincial Park on Vancouver Island.

Surrounded by giant Douglas Fir trees (some over 800 years old), we perched a while on this ancient willow, feeling a druidic reverence for trees.