26.

I'm still here. Haven't been able to compute for a while, which led to a lot of free time, which led to a lot of solitude and reflection. I was a bit bored at first but then...not. I caught up on all of my overdue library books. Cooked loaves of french bread and some amazing omelets. Have been rearranging the house, puttering around, shifting collections of seashells and crystals. Hayden and I really reconnected this week, playing one-on-one more. His self-expression through his drawings and doodles are completely amazing. I knew we'd hit a landmark when he came up to me unbidden and kissed me on my head for no reason at all. I'm still smiling after that one.

I'll be twenty-six on Monday. The husband brought me an early gift of yellow tulip bulbs and a bottle of wine. My mother is making me a lemon cake with black tea frosting. I don't think I need more than all that. Twenty-five was super-tough. I'm more than ready to move on.

Lazy, lazy Sunday. Watching the flowers do their thing, putting lots of spinach in my smoothies, and doing a little hand beading.

the warmth.

It's amazing what a little warmth, a little light, can do for your mind-set. Nothing else around here has changed...still struggling with a lot of tightness/soreness in my neck, still curbing Hayden's weird six-year-old tantrums and attitude, still trying to figure out how to run an entire house from top to bottom for the first time in my life.

But how great is it to do your work all day and then step outside to that skin-tingling warmth? It changes everything.

Today I will take the watercolor's out to the patio. I will eat my grapefruit and be bothered by bee's. Hopefully a sweaty run later.

Have a wonderful Wednesday. <3

the dye-vat.

There a few things I love more than dyeing fabric. You never truly know what gloriousness you'll end up with.

today.

Woke up and started painting.

Drank a green smoothie with banana, spinach, mango, brewer's yeast, and ginger.

Listened to a beautiful voice.

Made banana, apple, carrot muffins. Devoured three.

Threw a grapefruit into the mix to make up for that last muffin. (Shhh...)

Put up grapefruit vinegar with said grapefruit's peel.

Finished this little abstraction.

Drinking so much coffee.

Not pictured: four loads of laundry lying around, small child running around, showing off his rear for some reason, copious amounts of aged cheddar, sun-filled flurries, alternating between six or seven different novels.

What are you doing today?

a new dress.

I can't stop making dresses. It's pretty funny because I won't be able to wear this summery concoction for at least another three or four months.