Signs of life.

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It's almost March, and signs of life are all around. The red hammock is ready to hold a reader with a book on a warm spring day. "Volunteer" herbs sprout in unlikely, unplanned places, a forgotten Tiger Lily surfaces from a hidden bulb. Spring is pushing forth. Remember me? she says.

At this moment, I'm thankful to have a sunny spot in the back yard to spend my lunch break. I stare hopefully at my wildflower bed, willing those seeds to start sprouting by Saturday. The packet said 7 days....

Meanwhile, it seems that everything, including my body, wants to shed the heaviness of winter. Sweet potato soup for lunch seemed too dense, too filling. I ate a few bites and turned instead to a bowl of fresh, juicy grapefruit, with a drizzle of agave nectar, a sprinkle of sea salt, and a few scoops of coconut cream. {Remember when I learned to love grapefruit?} Tomorrow, it might be mango for breakfast.

Spring beckons you to both speed up and slow down: Get up, get out, start moving again. Start putting your hands in the soil or your feet on the sidewalk. And then stop long enough to see what's becoming all around you. I hope I never forget to see the changing of the seasons or how our bodies and souls coincide with it. I hope I never stop reminding myself.

So let's take a walk around the yard, and see what we can find.

Thyme - it pretty much survives anything. I haven't as much as touched it all winter, and here it is, growing new leaves with a vengeance.


Some Forget-Me-Not's in an old tin pail-turned-planter...


Red Leaf Lettuce growing out of a crack in the patio - oh, why not?


One of my favorites - the vanilla-scented Sweet Alyssum...coming up already from last year's seeds!


Oak-Leaf Hydrangea beginning to bud...


And a surprise...the Tiger Lily that I thought died last year - apparently not!

Whimsical mermaid stones.

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I recently discovered the whimsical art of McCabe of Dancing Mermaid and after viewing her Etsy shop, I knew I had to have some of her lovely painted stones. I needed herb markers for my garden so I asked if she would paint some for me. I received them today, and they are so lovely! They are perfectly charming, colorful, and unique!






She even included a lovely scented votive candle and 3 extra inspirational stones. The words could not have been more perfect...




I'm not sure where I'm going to put them yet...any ideas? Perhaps lay them in a bed of sand in a glass bowl? Or add them to another flowerpot in my garden?

To me, they are little treasures. Others have supported me as an artist, and I know that this quote is true...

“Throughout the world sounds one long cry from the heart of the artist:
Give me the chance to do my very best.”
~ Babette’s Feast

Rewards of the simple life.

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"To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter...to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the rewards of the simple life."
~John Burroughs

Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking and being thankful for my simple life. It's amazing what having a garden - big or small - can do for your spirit. Sometimes you need to be quiet in nature, in a secret, covered place. And I've not only found this in my backyard, but also at the Cedar Ridge Nature Preserve, which is only 25 minutes from my house.

When I left Nashville, I never thought I'd find another place like Radnor Lake, with its glass-like lake that was a centerpiece for the mulch-covered trails that winded around it. It was my haven in the city (a city that seems like little more than a town now, compared to Dallas…). I've lived in Dallas for almost 4 years, and not until 2 months ago did I discover what I was missing nearby. Cedar Ridge Preserve is like Radnor times ten - with multiple trails and prairie flowers and exotic succulents and birds and cattails and rocky paths winding down cliffs to lead you to bridges over the clearest creeks filled with sandy stones. My friend Bonnie took me there the first time, and we did a trail run that left me practically crippled for a few days but after that, I could not get enough. I've gone back 4 or 5 times now, mostly just by myself to have some quiet, simple time alone in nature.


Sometimes I walk; sometimes I run. On a running day recently, I needed to let off steam and went barreling down the hills at full speed, leaping on my toes down the railroad-tie steps and dodging rocks that could twist an ankle if I wasn't careful. And then, almost involuntarily, I suddenly came to halt when I saw a brilliant flash of blue just ahead on the trail. A bluejay. Fluttering from one tree limb to the other, he welcomed me to his little neck of the woods. I started walking ahead again, slowly, and he was gone.

I continued to meander down the mulch path between the towering trees with limbs that through the years have bent and crisscrossed one another as if to form a cathedral ceiling. The light crept through the "windows" and covered me and the ground with dots of light. It was the best church I had experienced in awhile...



I walked on, and came upon a clearing in the trees, a space where everything opened up to blue sky and the cool breeze hit my face as I found a pocket of sun. I stopped. I stood there with my face pointed upward, letting the sun wash over me. I breathed in deeply to the scent of evergreens and fragrant jasmine. I listened…and there were no sounds from people or cars or interstates. Just the trees peering down on me from up above, waving and showing off their new spring leaves with a swish-swish-swish. It was an August Rush moment.

Sweaty and happy, I finished the trail and made my way to the butterfly garden to cool off. I meandered the gravel path amongst the wildflowers and found a solitary bench in a back corner under a tree. I sat and held my knees to my chest, closed my eyes, and was thankful for a place like this so close to my concrete jungle. It was put here to be enjoyed. It was put here as a reward for those who stop long enough to see the beauty of simple life.

A little tour of my garden.

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View from the hammock

Here are some lovely things I discovered early yesterday morning in my own back yard, with a steaming cup of French press coffee in hand...

A sunflower! We wondered what this 4 ft. tall plant was going to be and it started blooming. Looks like the sunflower seed in that bird feeder decided to nestle in the soil and grow.


A red poppy bud

Papery-thin and lovely

Some micro-greens in our salad planter. Steven cut some of these for dinner and made a simple mix of cilantro, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and...what a burst of flavor! Pure, simple ingredients from our own back yard - you can't beat that.

Baby basil

More basil (an Italian girl can never have enough!) in my pail from the Nashville flea market

Random mushroom that looks like a daisy

Blackberries! They are Barbie-sized right now, and they grow out of the middle of a delicate white flower.


God is so creative!

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Lovely Sunday at the Dallas Arboretum. (see last year's pics here...)


"If I had my life to live over,
I would start barefoot earlier in the spring
and stay that way later in the fall.
I would go to more dances.
I would ride more merry-go-rounds.
I would pick more daisies."
~ Nadine Stair





Me & my mama...







Me, Jessica, Michelle...




Continuing to enjoy every minute of this glorious spring.

My wildflowers.

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Well, I can now cross one thing off my "37 by 37" list - "Grow a flower garden in my own yard." Just 3 months ago, on Christmas Day actually, we built wildflower beds all along the fence and sowed seeds that we crossed our fingers would actually grow into something. Over the last few months I've expectantly crept into the yard each day, first waiting for the slightest sprout of green....then examining new shoots to see whether they were real flowers or weeds...and now seeing which new beautiful flower has emerged overnight to grace my world.

"Look at the flowers - for no reason.

It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are." ~Osho

This was what they looked like on March 21st:


Pretty sparse, eh? Well this is March 27th!


And now, today...


So let me introduce a few of them, ok? First, these white ones are lovely and fragrant but I'm not positive yet what they are. Their scent is a combination of jasmine and vanilla. Mmmmm.


Here they are with some Blue Flax...


Peek-a-boo. This one was tucked away. Not yet sure what it is...


Then my purple Cosmos started to unfurl...



And this beautiful something...

My husband enjoying the morning...


And now, for my very favorite, so worth the wait. These adorable little cones...


Start to pop open...


And become beautiful California Poppies....




How can I not be happy...with all of this beauty outside my back door?