Allo (Sorta) Spring!

Winter-like skies dotted with robins. Take heart! It will be here soon enough.

Impressions

In one of my high school art classes, I struggled miserably with the impressionism portion of the curriculum. I watched as friends put feminine twists on their dreamy works, while I slogged through with too heavy a hand and too realistic an eye. A clodhopper among the ethereal.

There are many things dotting our land lately that are reminiscent of what drew impressionist painters to their easels. Sweet william and buttercups contrasted by greens and blues with larger landscapes looming in the background. They lure me just the same as the work of Childe Hassam or Claude Monet.

It is nice to capture these with a medium I understand a bit more these days - photography. And with different lenses and exposures, I can take another crack at that impressionism thing. Clumsy brushstrokes are swapped out for countless takes with a digital camera. And I'm there.

Other things on the brain:

Broken Bells. Over and over and over. Thankfully I wear headphones at work - or I think my co-workers would throttle me for the constant play and replay of this album.

Sewing and Netflix streaming old 80s movies like Footloose and The Breakfast Club. My sewing is zippier and happier with these familiar favorites in the background.

Speaking of impressionism and sewing - this fabric is calling to me for place mats.

Our Sugar Hollow Community Garden is bursting with collards and mustard greens and potato sprouts! And ready to do battle with the creatures who are nibbling certain crops down to nubbins. More on that soon . . .

Visiting tiny happy.

Pink and Blue E'erywhere

Spring In Triplicate

An Afternoon Following The Mountains

Friday Print Giveaway (and Etsy's Front Page!)

I was all ready to leave Etsy behind and focus on other things, when I found out my quince photo made the front page last weekend (top row, middle photo). Talk about an injection of inspiration!

So, the shop has been re-opened and I am going to start offering the 8 x 10 sizes of my through-the-viewfinder prints - to make for easier framing. There will be white borders at the top and bottom of each print.*Also,* the 8 X 8 viewfinder prints are on sale for $15 through November 15th.

And, let's do a giveaway of my chives print, Morning Yearning. I'll spin the random number generator next Friday (November 6th) at noon! Visit my shop and then leave a comment here to enter. And don't forget to leave your email - so I can contact the winner!

*********
We have a winner - #15 - va. I will email you shortly to get your address. Thanks for playing, everyone!

Summer :: Michigan Lakes

Queen Anne's Lace

The Colors of August

Our garden .::. The county fair

Early Morning in the Cosmos Patch

I get a little restless when I don't have some decent time with my cameras.

But getting that time these days involves some planning and rising with the sun.

Happy Fourth!

Dill flower fireworks!

While I Was Away . . .

A few things happened.

Quince Blossom Print Giveaway and Ciao!

"Stretch Out and Wait"

Leave a comment - win this 8" X 8" print! And leave your email address!

I will draw a random number on July 7th.

Willa and I are getting ready to take a train ride to see grandparents this morning. LOTS of packing that I still need to do . . . so cheers and more gardening talk when I return . . . !

The Pinks and Reds of Memorial Day

Our Memorial Day celebrations were caught in bits and pieces.
In between naps and fret-filled calls to the pediatrician, house and garden projects and tired parents trying to catch a break here and there.

Living in Sugar Hollow doesn't leave us with much of an urge for going. Staying put more often than not is what makes us happiest.

From the top:
Rhubarb soda. Recipe here. And if you are lucky enough to have liquor in the house, you can make the Rhubarb Cosmopolitan.

Strawberries from Chiles Orchard in Crozet. They make and sell strawberry donuts, too. Just sayin'.

Peonies from a neighbor's garden.

And Sweet William from our cutting flower patch. Patch is a stretch. But garden would be even more of a stretch.

Celebrating More Small Stuff

Life In Sugar Hollow photos made the front page of Etsy twice over the last month. My fern in a teacup photo "I'll Be Arriving" is at the top - in the upper left hand corner. And there's my quince branch "Stretch Out and Wait" photo in the second screen shot.

What else can I say but "Eeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Okay. So maybe not so small for me.

*New in the shop - 8" X 8" inch prints and metallic paper as a photo paper option. Oh, yes and gift certificates!

Foggy and Soggy

Moody and rainy and misty in Sugar Hollow these days.

But nature has taken one of my garden chores, watering, off of my hands. Freeing them up to hold a beer and watch the spring show from the warmth and shelter of our home.

Readying myself for when the rain stops and the weeding begins!

It Done Sprung

A Wee Announcement

"Ethereal" - March 2009

I've been busy with my camera these days, too. And have opened a shop on Etsy - selling some of my photographs (see a glimpse on the Etsy Mini to the right). Some are new and some you will recognize from past posts on Life in Sugar Hollow. Fellow Etsy seller VintageEmbellishment included me in her dreamy Botanical Treasury yesterday - which is super cool.

This is all very exciting for me - I hope you can take a moment to visit my shop and let me know what you think . . . . I would be tickled if you did . . . and most appreciative.

I'll be back out in the garden this weekend. We had a soft, soaking rain yesterday, paired with cool weather. A good mix, I hope, for all my early spring crops and my sweet peas. The willow wattle fencing arrived and I am waiting on some daylilies that were shipped out yesterday . . . oh, the pace of spring . . .

Spring Sightings 2009

They are calling for cold and snow tonight and tomorrow, but I caught these two images yesterday out here in Sugar Hollow. To tuck away in my mind while the weather and wind whip at our windows and the woodstove cranks out mid-March coziness.