Drawing Challenge #1
The view from Richmond Hill over Petersham Meadow…
A year in my English garden: February 2023
The garden is revving its engines; it is in the starting blocks and it will explode into full bloom soon. There is so much stored energy that is waiting to be released by the slightest touch of warm sunshine.
The garden is full of buds that are ready to bust!
However, it looks like snow is in the forecast again! After our cold, cold winter, spring might be a little delayed.
Last autumn I planted crocuses in the lawn.
Then, I promptly forgot that I had ever done it.
So, when they popped out of the grass this spring it was like finding money in an old jacket pocket. What a delightful surprise! We almost stepped on them before we realized!
Now there are white and purple shoots popping up all over the lawn. It is so wonderful to look down on them from my studio window and see a rainbow of colour.
Can you spot the arc of white crocus buds in the grass? They start at the base of the bird bath and arc towards the rose bushes. The purple ones are to the left, but I think I need to plant more white and yellow ones next autumn, as the darker buds get lost in the dark green grass from far away. We need bright colours in February! (Note to self for October 2023! Order more yellow and white crocuses!)
They will have died back by the time we want to run around on the grass, and will reappear next February and March.
More of these bright ones please!
Are you tired of cyclamen pictures yet? No? Good.
They are a pop of colour all winter long.
This snowdrop flower popped up by itself. I love volunteer flowers. They are like surprise presents from the garden.
The sweet-box hedging planted by our front door smells like honey-vanilla every afternoon. It fills the air with joy.
Two brave daffodils have emerged despite the cold, and a muscari (grape hyacinth) bud.
The camellia is ready to yawn and stretch after a winter sleep. The buds are just emerging from their tight covers and showing blushes of pink.
Winter heathers still going strong…
I love the burgundy leaves of new rose growth. Hopefully we’ll have an abundance of blooms in May and June.
The purple plum tree is looking like a Japanese painting. It is exactly the height of our house, so we can watch the trunk and canopy from all our windows. There are birds that live at each level, as if it were a multiplex apartment block. Scandinavian Redwings are on the top branches, nearest the low grey clouds. They will move out soon and start their long journey back to their arctic nesting grounds. Tits and goldfinches live in the middle layer, swooping down to the feeder in acrobatic leaps. And a shy woodpecker sometimes creeps along the bark of the lower trunk, looking for seeds and insects.
The viburnum has blush pink buds, ready to pop and deep glossy aubergine berries.
A year in my English Garden: January 2023
A few weeks ago we had a snap of frost and a light dusting of snow accompanied by ice-fog. The world turned completely white for a few hours. The garden looked like it had been touched by fairy wands.
This winter I lost my favourite geraniums to those vicious frosts. These geraniums (apricot and burgundy coloured) had bravely survived 4 milder winters in the sheltered corners of the garden. This year the hard frosts left no corner untouched. I will have to remember which garden centre I bought those favourite geranium colours from, so that I can get them again. Next year, I will prevent the loss by taking cuttings before the December and January frosts.
We have had some lovely winter visitors to our garden. Yesterday morning I counted seven Icelandic Red Wings sitting in the top of our purple plum tree. They are here, escaping the unforgiving cold nearer the arctic circle. I’m glad our garden can be a refuge for them.
The cyclamen, my favourite winter flowers, are happily blooming no matter how cold it is. A frost might make them look sad for a day, but they perk up with a little winter sunshine.
A few of the spring bulbs, which I planted in pots in the autumn, are poking leaf shoots out of the frozen earth. The camellia has bright green flower buds nestled between the dark waxy leaves.
There is hope. Spring is coming. The tulips, daffodils and camellias will arrive eventually.
Cyclamen bravely blooming no matter the weather…
Strawberry leaves covered in frost.
The Thames becomes Swan Lake…
Plus the Christmas cacti bloomed in January! The indoor garden thrived while it was freezing outside.
My week in Drawings 13 January 2023
It has been a quiet week. We are slowly resuming our school and work routines. I can’t wait to get back to my big writing project! Let’s open those notebooks!
Books I read in 2022
Happy New Year, dear friends!
I have kept a record of every book I read since I was a teenager. (Read more about that HERE) Sometimes I have scribbled down the titles and author names in notebooks, sometimes I have kept a digital note in my phone and added a book every time I’ve finished. The only consistent thing is that I have consistently kept the list going.
Below is my list for 2022.
I read a lot. I haunt my local library.
Whenever a see an interesting book mentioned online or one is recommended to me, I check if my library has it, and if not, I order it in via the interlibrary loan service. I also use the Libby library app to read ebooks.
This means that I have a book to read any time, either in paper copy or on my phone.
When looking through this list, I realized that I read a lot of non-fiction this year. I think it is because I read non-fiction quite quickly. I get to the point, I learn something new, and then I move to the next book. Whereas, I read fiction very slowly; I savour the plot and characters; I reread portions when I want to figure out how the author constructed a chapter, or a plot twist, or just wrote something particularly beautiful.
I sip fiction. I gulp non-fiction.
And also, we still read every evening to our daughter. I have read loads of classic chapter books to her, and I don’t include those in my list. Though perhaps I should?
This list also doesn’t include the multitude of books I’ve read as reference or research for various writing projects.
Maybe I should include sub-lists?
In 2023, I am resolving to read more poetry.
Please comment with your favourite books of 2022. Are there any that I should read?
“Please comment with your favourite books of 2022. Are there any I should read? ”
Here is the list….
Devotion. Patti Smith
The almost zero waste guide. Melanie Mannario
This is Marketing. Seth Godin.
Why I write. George Orwell
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street. Jeanne Birdsall.
Paris Match. John von Sothen.
Once upon a wardrobe. Patti Callahan.
Intimations. Zadie Smith.
The zero-waste lifestyle. Amy Korst
I didn’t do the thing today. Madeleine Dore.
Utterly Dark. Philip Reeve.
Down and out in London and Paris. George Orwell.
Hashtag Authentic. Sarah Tasker
God’s Joyful Surprise. Sue Monk Kidd.
War of Art. Steven Pressfield.
The rose garden. Susanna Kearsley.
The visual MBA. Jason Barron.
100 selected poems. E. E. Cummings.
State of Terror. Hilary Clinton and Louise Penny.
Write it all down. Cathy Rentzenbrink.
How we got to now. Steven Johnson.
Anything you want. Derek Sivers.
Practising Simplicity. Jodi Wilson.
My money my way. Kumiko Love
Better than before. Gretchen Rubin.
Love in an English garden. Victoria Connelly.
Dear reader. Cathy Rentzenbrink.
Make Time. Jake knapp and John Zeratzky.
Outer order inner calm. Gretchen Rubin.
The four tendencies. Gretchen Rubin.
Orcadia. Mark Edmonds
The girl who talked to trees. Natasha Farrant.
The search for wondla. Tony Diterlizzi
A hero for wondla. Tony Diterlizzi
When the war came home. Lesley Parr.
Kid gloves. Lucy Knisley.
How to raise successful people. Esther Wojcicki
The universe has your back. Gabrielle Bernstein.
Everything I learned about life I learned in dance class. Abby Lee Miller
Nevertell. Katharine Orton
Think like an artist. Will Gompertz.
Crusade. Elizabeth Laird.
Why we get fat. Gary Taubs.
Practising simplicity. Jodi Wilson
How to break up with your phone. Catherine Price.
Super attractor. Gabrielle Bernstein.
Apricots on the Nile. Colette Rossant.
Wanderland. Jini Reddy.
Light over London. Julia Kelly.
The divine matrix. Gregg Braden.
The field. Lynn Mctaggart.
The intention experiment. Lynne Mctaggart.
The great circle. Maggie Shipstead.
Flow. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
Pages and Co. Tilly and the book wanderers. Anna James.
Walking to the end of the world. Beth Jusino.
The Embroidered Book. Kate Heartfield.
Free. Lea Ypi.
Rich Dad Poor Dad. Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter.
Stolen Focus. Johann Hari
The Matrix. Lauren Groff.
The Vanished Days. Susannah Kearsley.
Ducks. Kate Beaton.
The Tea dragon society. K O’neill.
The tea dragon festival. K O’neill.
The russlander. Sandra Birdsell.
Writing as a way of healing. Louise de salvo.
Herself. Madeleine L’engle.
Every good boy does fine. Jeremy Denk.
Productivity Project. Chis Bailey.
Hyperfocus. Chris Bailey.
Je Ne Sais Quoi. Lucie Arnoux.
My week in drawings January 6 2023
A year in my English Garden: December 2022
Two weeks ago the roses were covered in snow (see photo at end of the post), and now there are still brave buds emerging for the New Year.
One of the things I love about living in Southern England is that I can have something blooming in my garden every month of the year. The winter garden is one of texture and details. One has to pause and look closely to find them. It isn’t the brash floribunda of the summer, but I like its quiet confidence.
The little winter plants continue bravely, despite the cold temperatures and storms; despite the lack of light.
They are an inspiration.
A brave rose bud.
My bonsai oak tree.
Lacy hydrangea flowerheads.
Heather blooming.
Skimmia.
The garden in the snow.
Writing in the car
I am a mom-chauffeur. But that’s ok. I write in the car while I’m parked at school pickup. Or clubs pickup. Or lessons. The car is another studio space for me.
My week in drawings
Prince of the park
Back to School
Sunset
Photons dazzle at dusk
Wavelengths stretched across the sky
Eyes lifted high
Academic badge ceremony
Academic badge ceremony.
End of school year!
So many emotions.
Her first school year with no home school.
It’s only up from here!
Almost summer
Two days left in my studio before summer holidays. Words are flying.
Buckle up and pack the trunk!
I have wonderful news!
CBC kids has listed Every Home Needs An Elephant as one of 7 of the best kids books for a road trip in the summer of 2022!
Sketching Midwinter
Every Home Needs An Elephant one of CBC Books best books!
Let’s Celebrate!
I’m so excited to tell you that my book "Every Home Needs An Elephant” has been included in CBC books list of the best picture books of 2021! This is a dream come true. The list is full of the most amazing Canadian books, and I am so honoured to have my book lists alongside them. Sarah and Mr Smith, the elephant, have such big hearts, and I’m so glad they’re making friends with so many children across the country.
You can see the entire list here: https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-best-canadian-picture-books-of-2021-1.6293446
Advent Drawings
It has been a quiet week. School is out for the holidays, and we have intentionally slowed down. We are reading books, doing crafts, and getting the house ready for Christmas. And taking lots of naps.
one dust ball at a time
Today has been a day for sorting, organizing and cleaning. I have made lists of things to do my studio. I have made lists of dreams for the coming year. And I have cleaned in preparation for a house guest. It’s amazing how putting things in order in the house can also help one’s mind feel more at ease as well!