A garden worthy of a magazine. We, people with dirty hands, all long for it. The problem is we also have to pay for food, music lessons, sports, college, ballet shoes.... Most of us can't afford the magazine garden. This website is designed to help you get that look and feel without feeling guilty about how much money you are spending. It also provides spiritual and personal musings about the garden. People often write to me and share their own spiritual journey of the garden or their ideas. Hopefully, their thoughts will help you as well. Please share yours on the Contact Us page so others can benefit.
Glen Ellyn Bookfest - June 19th
10:00- 2:00p.m. Mom and I will be joining other local authors for this signing event in downtown Glen Ellyn. This is your opportunity to meet a variety of local authors, talk to them about their work and purchase signed copies of their books. We will be in different stores all over the downtown area each with balloons out front. Maps and author's locations provided by The Bookstore or go to:
Garden Walks - At a recent brunch party at our house a few younger moms with very young children asked me, "How do you get started with a garden? It seems so overwhelming."
One of the best places to start is to attend an upcoming garden walk. Going to one a year with journal in hand brings a wealth of ideas! An excellent one is the Glen Ellyn Garden Walk on June 19th from 10:00 - 4:00. Tickets can be purchased at McChesney and Miller Grocery store in Glen Ellyn for $20.00. Make sure you write down your favorite plant names and sketch a few garden layouts that speak to your soul.
Flowers Help the Homeless
Journeying out into the country this week for a walk with an old friend brought this Hawaiian Peony and Coral Bells into view. As I bumbled out of the car, tied up in the dog's leash, my friend greeted me with this gift. What a peony! The scent is one of many exotic fruits combined, kind of a visual smoothie. She made my day. While heading back home I saw a couple of homeless men with a brown cardboard sign,"Need money for food. Anything will help. God bless you." I drove by. As I thought about the Joy that this bouquet brought me I decided to pass it on. I drove back. Pulling together all the change in my car I gave them some Coral Bells because everyone needs a touch of beauty in their day. I'm not sure which they appreciated more, the flowers or the money. They told me their story, both casualties of our harsh economic downturn. Use your garden to bless someone unexpectedly today and you might be surprised who God puts in front of you. The little bouquet on the windowsill next to this is Anna's lavender which is described below. Contact me and tell me how your garden is blessing others!
Anna's Lavender - Every week I have the delight of tutoring a very young and excellent writer. She recently brought me a bouquet of freshly picked Munstead Lavender which was just beginning to emerge green from its silvery remainders of last season. The small bunch was tied in a bow by a single blade of grass. An elegant and unusual gift from someone so young. When I was Anna's age I picked as many dandelions as I could gather for my mom, always annoyed by their unwanted closing up once she received them. The artists group that I am a part of suggested I share the poem with all of you. May this inspire your own poetic heart to create some artistic expression of a lovely moment that comes into your day.
Out of
silvery grey chards
crisp as death
comes forth freshly
formed green shoots
thrust forward by a
white hand of innocence.
A hand held bouquet,
without flowers
who will gladly wait for June.
Five crude stems
lovingly tied together by a single
blade of new fescue.
"This is for you,"
Anna chimes.
All hope exchanged in a
single handing over of
Winter to Spring.
A story yet to be told.
April Crabapple Showers Bring May Flowers - A few years ago our home was on a local garden walk so we had our pastor and his wife come over and pray a blessing over our garden. Just last fall a good friend died and I was invited to go over to her home and pick out a few things to take as a remembrance of her. She loved being outside so this gardening angel statue would serve as a reminder of our times together and the inscription speaks a blessing today. While gardening, I noticed she was standing in a shower of petals so deep it was truly a spring snow with a sweet scent. If you don't have a blessing upon your garden find a little gnome or statuary to preside over your hard work and see what might happen.
Early April Forsythia is a wonder this year. An abundance of cool weather has allowed the Forsythia a prolonged bloom. This Forsythia on our patio is in its first year. Our old crochetly Lilac was overcome by the towering Gingko on the right in photo below. The elegant fountain needed an equally elegant backdrop so in a feverish hunger for digging, I found myself at Home Depot. What a wonderfully reasonable place to satisfy your early Spring cravings for color. This enormous bush was $17.99 and has been blooming for two weeks. She has already paid for her presence in our yard!
SPRING IS HERE! - Early March - Early Spring. Every year the Winter Aconite is the first one on our street to announce, "Spring is here!" These little bulbs bloom as early as Christmas in more southern regions, but here in the Midwest they are always two weeks before the Snowdrops and this year they are right on schedule. From this bloom on, Spring streams in. A frequent lament heard in Chicago is, "What happened to Spring? We jumped right into Summer." These people are not looking and seeing spring bloom until mid-May with the Magnolias. They are not gardeners. About this time gardeners are looking for flower catalogues in the mail. Their eyes are checking on bulbs coming up. They are watching the melting snow to see how the grass looks beneath.
Flowers in the foreground are Snowdrops and Aconite is the yellow flower behind. A favorite personal tradition is to keep track of when this is first spotted every year and it is almost the same day each time, depending upon the amount of sun. If you want to try this, you'll need a gardening journal which is essential for the nature watcher and serious gardener.
Winter - Make an arrangement for the door by collecting things from your yard during the winter. This photo shows thistle (yes weeds) spray painted red, holly, some remaining fall Kale for the purple accent and a lantern. Guests love to come in by lantern light in the darkness of early evening. Use these months to have friends in for a cozy dinner by the fire. We have a tradition of getting together for dinner with the same two couples once a year during these months. A simple tradition like this makes winter a time to celebrate dear friends that you don't see often enough!
This arrangement is loaded with color symbolism. The evergreen of the holly is eternal, the prickly blood red thistle, the advent purple coupled with clean snow white, all illuminated in the darkness of night by the light of Christ. Also, beneath the snow is the remainder of last summer's Cosmos making a manger bed for this display of new life.
Our Book Tour
JOY, JOY, JOY - Our book tour is over! Mom and I had an enriching time together meeting so many people and hearing about how our book touched their hearts and brought them to see the Neapolitan Nativity in Geneva, Illinois. Our book sold very well and we must thank all of you from the depths of our hearts for supporting our effort. Dave Oberg from the History Center said they have had people come from all over to see the nativity because of the media surrounding the book and the book itself. The event pictured here is our signing at the Geneva History Center on December 4th, one of our favorite events. We even signed a book for our babysitter whom we haven't seen in 30 plus years! To read an article that ran in many newspapers just click this link
The Little Traveler in Geneva, IL, once the home of the Neapolitan Nativity which is the subject of our story, served as the most beautiful book signing location. Our friends at The Little Traveler really know how to leverage detail for maximum sales. They seated us in the exact location of one of mom's illustrations in the book, "the fancy room" and then decorated it just as she painted it. The book on the table stand is open to the specific illustration. It felt like signing books in the hall of mirrors in Versailles, with antique china reflecting the soft light illuminating us.
One of the joys of our book tour is seeing the faces of children as they come to learn the story for the first time. The story coupled with the fact that this nativity scene actually exists and we can go and see it in the Geneva History Center truly makes history come alive.
A school principal reads our story at Barnes and Noble
Texas and Oak Brook
Barnes and Noble in Oak Brook, IL and San Antonio, TX brought wonderful reconnection with old friends! Mom's life long friend Pat surprised her by showing up in Oak Brook and buying five books. Salt Creek Ballet dancers performed selections from The Nutcracker in the store so little pink tutus danced their way to our signing table.
Trinity University graciously allowed me to sign our book as part of Alumni Weekend. Pictured here are dear friends from Texas days. Once partners in the art of the Margarita, they have now joined me in juggling children's sports, folding laundry and seek-
ing sanity in a passion. For some it is serving children in their school library, one teaches ballet, a few pursue gourmet cooking, and another trains wild horses. Such a joy to see their healthy, smiling faces and hear them laugh again!
St. Louis, Missouri
November began with a very special stop on our book tour, Webster Groves Bookstore in St Louis, Missouri. Some bookstores appear to be cut from a cookie cutter, predictably comfy with the Starbucks right where you expect it. This bookstore smells of ink, fall leaves and pipe smoke. In the center towering over Madeline and The Bad Hat is a large, painted red twig tree with ornaments hanging on it, bookmark ornaments. Ann, pictured here at our signing, is a gracious host, providing sparkling cranberry punch and treats. Signing books by the light of a Tiffany lamp fits the setting. We are deeply thankful to friends like Ann and family who have encouraged us along our journey thus far!
Purchasing our book online is easy through our publisher's website, www.singingriverpublications.com If you live in the Midwest, you will be able to buy our book in local bookstores. Not only do we hope you buy our book, we want to hear from you. We have received our first great review of the book which you can read by clicking this link:
We learned as much if not more on our book tour as we had the opportunity to teach. Giving writing seminars, nativity art history power points and listening to mom explain how to paint those tiny oil paintings inspired others to pursue their own art and writing dreams.
Your Story
Our book was born out of a family tradition. Many friends along the way have shared their most precious family traditions with us which we will post throughout the year so others can benefit. If you have a tradition that is near and dear to your heart please go to the Contact Us page and tell us all about it!
