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5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures

Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures
Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures

In between our homeschool lessons, an influx of doctor’s appointments, work, renovating, and gardening, we find it necessary to plan little pleasures to calm, rejuvenate, and excite our greening up spirits.  The trees and plants unfurl and awaken this week, as we unwind our senses with:

  1. If an appointment is quick, but we have to drive far for it, we’ll plan a visit to a nearby nursery, or an art store like we did yesterday.  Wandering around, finding beads and ribbons for our Fine Arts class is a fun way to lessen the previously serious mood and get excited about tomorrow’s crafts.  On occasion, I will find something for my atelier… but just seeing all the hues all lined up relaxes me.  New oil paintings list soon!  (Listening to a favourite audiobook also somehow shortens the drive and distracts me from wishing that Maine would clean up more.  It does sadden me that with so much natural beauty here, people choose to pollute their yards…where gardens and even wildflowers could sing.  We focus on our garden…planting as much green air as we can each year.  Perennials are my thing.  I like building up a family of plants.  We take care of them, and they take care of us.)
  2. Sewing up doll clothes is a baby favourite here, and this week I’m joining in to stitch up some creamy soft organic cotton shorts for summer.  They are a little bigger than doll size, but not much…  This is where ironed lace and new shining beads come into the sitting room and library to play with us.
  3. Reading rainy day May poems and Spring Stories with a cup of tea is cosy and embraces the season.  I wrote about forty such tales this week…  We keep a 365 day poetry book on the rug.  It’s massive, but turning the page to read each morning’s poem gives us insight into another’s senses of this day and a different place.  We write our own observations of THIS moment.  Let go of yesterday, and feel today.
  4. Meditating, and a gentle massage of the head, neck, feet, and hands using light pressure on certain points, releases strifes and struggles, leaving space for movement and growth.  Guided mystical musical tracks are very helpful for setting a short, yet effective, time and space for this daily practice.  Stress stores itself in the body…let it go.
  5. When life feels externally unsatisfying, one can control the little things like the week’s flavours.  Yesterday, I baked up some clove-spiced chocolate walnut pastries, our weekly bread, and a spring greens teatime tart with asparagus, green beans, and darling mushrooms.  I love photographing everything from tulips to dishes around our table for my upcoming cookbook (vegan, organic, sugar-free).  Today, we’re planting up some seeds in the garden for more fresh plant foods to enjoy!

A tiny yellow cardigan waits on the back of a chair.  An open sewing box invites nimble fingers to experiment.  All of these little things smile up the mind.  Release and fall into the poetry of the positives that live inside our day.  Love, ~ Amor Milagre

Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures
Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures

Soon, the apples will PINK with soft creamy blossoms…and bees…

Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures
Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures

The raindrops deepen and saturate all the colours…I love rainy and snowy days the most.  Mermaids love healing waters.

Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures
Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures

Tactile pleasures satisfy the senses.  Smell the spices, roll out floury dough.  Synesthesia can feel beautiful.

Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures
Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures

Old tools of stone to crush up beautiful owl-like walnuts connects us to all times.  This is quieter than machines.  There is tact involved and little sounds, but the whirring -pound -trickle- put-put-put is a song I like.

Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures
Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures

Dripping translucent petals soothe…instantly.  Breathe in fresh oxygen.

Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures
Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures

Soft sleepy pajamas…soon…  Oversized for when little legs kick off quilts.  Pleats are needed for now, but are then removed in a few years, and all the while there is a soft, flat, smooth waistline for comfort.  Rest easily, and sleep well.

Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures
Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures

A carpet of petals.

Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures
Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures
Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures
Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures

Inhabiting Mrs. Crustybread’s world for an afternoon…

Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures
Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures
Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures
Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures

Teatime…mangiamo…

Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures
Amor Milagre 5 Spring Rainy Day Pleasures

Puffs of air out in the garden fill up our world…

 

Music of the Moment:  Chopin, Prelude Op. 28 No. 15 Raindrop

while you’re waiting…listen to the rain…

 

Also, new song by Fiona Apple-Pretrial  (Let Her Go Home)

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Atelier Amor Milagre: Spring Oil Paintings of White Daffodils

Atelier Amor Milagre, Shop the Art Gallery, Spring Daffodil Oil Paintings, Originals, Fine Art Prints, Stationery
Atelier Amor Milagre, Shop the Art Gallery, Spring Daffodil Oil Paintings, Originals, Fine Art Prints, Stationery

Fresh white daffodils from the garden sit prettily for me as I warm up with my first oil paintings of the season.  I will finish these sweet darlings later on this week, along with some beautiful stories of love and lush gardens.  Visit my art gallery to shop eternal blooms.  New originals, fine art prints, and stationery will  sprout up soon.  Happy gardening art lovers!  Love, ~Amor Milagre

Atelier Amor Milagre, Shop the Art Gallery, Spring Daffodil Oil Paintings, Originals, Fine Art Prints, Stationery
Atelier Amor Milagre, Shop the Art Gallery, Spring Daffodil Oil Paintings, Originals, Fine Art Prints, Stationery

A season of flowers…what could be more sculpturally interesting to behold?

Atelier Amor Milagre, Shop the Art Gallery, Spring Daffodil Oil Paintings, Originals, Fine Art Prints, Stationery
Atelier Amor Milagre, Shop the Art Gallery, Spring Daffodil Oil Paintings, Originals, Fine Art Prints, Stationery

A new background, a fine floral upholstery tapestry fabric, will be featured in various ways this year.

Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening

Painting the earth with plants is my favourite way to paint!

Atelier Amor Milagre, Shop the Art Gallery, Spring Daffodil Oil Paintings, Originals, Fine Art Prints, Stationery
Atelier Amor Milagre, Shop the Art Gallery, Spring Daffodil Oil Paintings, Originals, Fine Art Prints, Stationery

A clean new palette and setup for spring.

Atelier Amor Milagre, Shop the Art Gallery, Spring Daffodil Oil Paintings, Originals, Fine Art Prints, Stationery
Atelier Amor Milagre, Shop the Art Gallery, Spring Daffodil Oil Paintings, Originals, Fine Art Prints, Stationery

One of my favourite moments in a painting emerges at the very beginning…so exciting!  Delicious…like storytelling or a song….letting it unfold naturally…and then you sense what it wants to be.

Atelier Amor Milagre, Shop the Art Gallery, Spring Daffodil Oil Paintings, Originals, Fine Art Prints, Stationery
Atelier Amor Milagre, Shop the Art Gallery, Spring Daffodil Oil Paintings, Originals, Fine Art Prints, Stationery
Atelier Amor Milagre, Shop the Art Gallery, Spring Daffodil Oil Paintings, Originals, Fine Art Prints, Stationery
Atelier Amor Milagre, Shop the Art Gallery, Spring Daffodil Oil Paintings, Originals, Fine Art Prints, Stationery

Many more paintings soon…

 

Music of the Moment:  Butterfly Mornings, Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions

 

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Five Things I’m Grateful for Today

Amor Milagre Vegan Organic Homemade Pasta
Amor Milagre Vegan Organic Homemade Pasta

Oh, for the love of a real weekend!  Here are some happy things we enjoyed today:

  1. Fresh rainfall to nourish our organic garden, which we have been working in all week.  (New garden renovation posts are growing.)
  2. A gifted nurse who helped us to have a quick visit today.
  3. A lake which provided us with peace, wishing stones, and sand races.
  4. Time together to catch up on our spring to do list.  (We are the king and queen of odd little jobs about the house.)
  5. Cooking a cosy dinner of homemade noodles together.  (I have included this pasta dough and various sauce recipes in my upcoming cookbook!)
Amor Milagre Vegan Organic Homemade Pasta
Amor Milagre Vegan Organic Homemade Pasta

I also began my first oil paintings of the season, with our garden daffodils as my warm up subject.

Visit my shop for new originals, fine art prints, and stationery cards.

Amor Milagre Vegan Organic Homemade Pasta
Amor Milagre Vegan Organic Homemade Pasta

What kind of simple pleasures greeted you today?

Love, ~ Amor Milagre

 

Music of the Moment:  Boogie Shoes, KC and the Sunshine Band

 

 

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Organic Gardening: Spring Daffodil Flowers

Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening

As our new flower bulb patches have doubled over winter, we delight in our lush cheerful daffodils.  A return to the piano is just as refreshing.  New songwriters explore their soul.  It is always a season for learning.  Unforgotten shapes of petals and notes fill the warming air.  We plant seeds.  I scribble away…tulips soon.

New books are growing.  Happy May!  Love, ~ Amor Milagre

Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening

New Flower Fine Art Photography Prints will be added to my shop this season.

Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening

Our new evergreen additions add more structure and texture to the bulbs beds.

Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Organic Gardening, Tulips soon…
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Spring Daffodils Organic Gardening
Amor Milagre Custom Kitchen Pantry, Coming soon...
Amor Milagre Custom Kitchen Pantry, Coming soon…

 

Music of the Moment:

Little Players Practicing their Own Songs to Birds Singing in the Garden

 

 

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Organic Gardening: Evergreen Spring Planting Additions

Amor Milagre Organic Gardening, Evergreens
Amor Milagre Organic Gardening, Evergreens

This snowy, rainy, hailing week of spring, we added some structure to our newly hand-renovated organic garden.  A line of five baby Dwarf Mugo Pines was spaced out into the front border.  They will grow up with three Japanese boxwoods, daffodils, tulips, and a spreading carpet of bee-loving thyme and alba periwinkle flowers.  More lavender will dot in here later.  These candle cone cuties are slow growing and can be annually shaped or left wild to sprawl.  We’re excited for these pretty pines to be a layered part of our cosy winter garden.  They will bolster up summer blooms as well.  After the snow melts down, enhancing the soil, we’ll be doing our big spring garden tidy up, editing, pruning, and more planting.  I’ll add some archival garden-themed fine art photography prints to my shop this year, too!

A plan for more drought-tolerant evergreens is on our list of homey to do’s for our sustainably re-designed Rose Cottage.  I will post about all the changes we’ve made to the gardens.  It was a massively overgrown mess before we enacted the ‘right plant right place’ practice here, taking it all down first.  Always do your research before planting.  What is your zone?  What is the expected size the plant could grow to?  Colours?  Textures? Number? Layers? Pollinators & wildlife?  There are many things to consider.  How far from the house is a good distance?  You want to be able to age gracefully with your garden, making it as effortless as possible to care for, while enjoying the biggest amount of relaxation from your patch of healing earth.

Amor Milagre Organic Gardening, Evergreens
Amor Milagre Organic Gardening, Evergreens

These are mad expensive times, so it will take more time to build up privacy screening with taller plants, such as junipers, Italian cypress, thujas, and more spruce trees.  These more deer-resistant types reduce the gamble of plant care.  There is so much less green in the world for wildlife to roam through now.  We love animals to visit us, but we also care for our plants and don’t wish for branches to be nibbled right up come springtime.  We have been covering our new shrubs in burlap, which helps to protect them as they grow.  The long drive home from the nearest nursery is odd when one is seeing so many trees, just there…and our pockets feel skint.  We understand the care and cost involved with growing, but still…it’s mad times for buying plants, or anything really.  We recently divided up our house plants and more than doubled the potted plant amounts.  We plan to take lots of cuttings to get started on growing more green air for our property, especially with our Mediterranean plants.  Lavender and pollinators everywhere, please!

Happy Spring Gardening whether on your windowsill, balcony, yard, or field.  Love, ~ Amor Milagre

Amor Milagre Organic Gardening, Evergreens
Amor Milagre Organic Gardening, Evergreens.  This row will layer up soon with more boxwood, thyme, and lavender.

Pollution Awareness:

We added three of the Dwarf Mugo Pines to this little front stone bed, recently designed to be a mini potager, a kitchen herb garden, as we have just finished our new kitchen in this area of the house.  The new terribly smokey/loud unrelenting pollutive neighbours have poisoned this possibility.  We’ll soon have to move the herbs, such as a thriving rocky row of sage, into the less sunny back garden soon.  It is most upsetting not to be able to fully finish, work on, sit with, study in, paint, muse over, and enjoy the massive scale garden renovation we began five years ago when we moved in (whilst also renovating our entire Rose Cottage interior).

*Give everyone peace, especially on their own property.  This easily preventable pollution needs to be illegal. If you smoke and listen to music, do it inside your own house.  Our food in the front garden is polluted and now inedible.  Organic gardening, and farming, only works if what is neighbouring you is not polluting your plants, soil, air, and water.  We cannot go out, open windows, breathe, run, be…or even have peace inside.  How…is this allowed?  We need exercise and air.  Their pollution has directly caused devastating health issues for our family.  Change laws to save lives.  Make sense.  Care.  Be kind.  Keep your own life in your own house.  Dreaming and working towards a home and garden of one’s own needs to be allowed to be enjoyed.  It’s hard work and expensive, every year.  I’ll post our garden before and after photos soon.  The changes have been great indeed.  We fight for our right to live every day, just as our neglectful world must.  Protest pollution on every scale.  Our earth needs protection and freedom to be.

We’re trying to grow healing peace for us…and for the bees here.  When in the garden, one desires to think of nothing, no one, but only nature.  That is healing, instantly.  Let go of what controls and pollutes you and everyone.  Live peace.  Preserve & grow goodness for all…this is true equality.