Light on the Heart, Easy on the Eyes

And heavy on the inspiration. Hold the mushrooms, add some diced green chilies and a side of fresh fruit if you can. And if I could get another cuppa... Please and thanks and why don'cha pull up a chair and grab a mug?

Hello Monday.

I'm pleased to see you too. The skies have held thick and damp for days, casting unexpected shadows and flipping all the normal colors on their heads. I'm not sure if it's the briskness of the ocean air or the wheatgrass I've been taking every afternoon but something has electrified me down to my toes. I've got 10,000 volts running through my veins and the current just won't let me sit still. Inspiration runs rampant, flashing little sparks at the tip of my hair and zinging forked lightning under my fingertips. I really couldn't tell you what the original catalyst was, but I'd DELIGHT to show some of the fuel that has kept it alive.

1. THISTLES

It's a full-blown obsession. Between those sumptuous curves and deadly spikes they have me mesmerized, crouching down in empty fields to study their dangerous elegance, turning them delicately over and over in my mind, as if by rotating them five times to the left and three to the right I'll be able to unlock their secrets. I can't stop drawing them, in my sketchbook, on old envelopes, on the palm of my hand. And stitching, curving them around in rich black thread (it's a secret but I'll let it slip - I'm sewing again with abandon). Don't even try to stop me. I'm a woman addicted.

2. Twig Hutchinson

It's a strange sort of preoccupation I'm having with this website. I keep slowly pouring over the pages, soaking in those washed colors, delighting in the paint splatters, golden sunlight, and that lone sleeping [Velveteen] rabbit. I'm going to need to buy a pair of creamy cabled socks just so I can plop my bread and jam on the floor and tiptoe around it.

3. Miss 7391

(I KNOW! A jersey maid AND thistles? It's a wonder I didn't spontaneously combust with sheer delight)

I can't help it. I've gotten attached to the cows. One of my favorite evening runs takes me between sprawling pastures with crumbling barns, up and over the Mad River and to my favorite herd of moozers. I always stop to chat with them, and in return they crowd around to nuzzle my hand and bat those huge brown eyes at me. I feel as if I could pour out my heart to those ladies and they would treat it kindly, patiently, knowing that the perfect thing to say was nothing at all.

sigggggggggggggggh.

It's true love I tell you.

4. Interview with Malin Elmlid

This may appear perfectly random (which is how I stumbled across this site) but I can't stop myself from falling in love with the Scandinavian simplicity of these photos. I think it's my Finnish blood crying out for white walls and rustic breads. I crave hundred year old buildings with lumpy wooden floors and I must confess to pouring one full pitcher of raspberry mint water JUST because hers looked so delightful (Do you ever fall victim like that? Watching a movie, reading a book, flipping through a magazine and see something edible and before you know it, you just HAVE TO HAVE IT?).

5. My Happy Anniversary / I am Healed Necklace

Oh BC. Really there hardly need be words describing how I feel about this piece, nor the way it rests upon my chest. Oh Jillian. It's beyond perfect. It needed to live with me as much as I needed to wear it. You BOTH bring me to joy. And love. Thank you.

:::::

Well!

I hope inspiration alights on your shoulders today and lifts you right up out of that chair. Stretch up, open your eyes wide, breathe deep, and shake those tail feathers!

With a zing and a zip,

over and out.

- Umber