Snow-Covered Pots

All is quiet and white after another snowfall. Soon the snow plows will rumble along the street and the quiet will be punctuated by the rhythmic metallic scrapes of shovels against sidewalks. It’s hard to avoid the usual snow cliches; my ceramic pots are covered in soft white blankets of snow. No, it is crust---they are frosted. Choose your favorite analogy while I stand on the porch and admire the way the snow has transformed the perfect circularity of those pots into something more irregular, more organic and much more interesting.   

Neuhaus Chocolates

Valentine's Day is the height of Chocolate Season. The display at Neuhaus attests to the fact that creating fine chocolates requires skill and an artful eye. Carefully laid out within little window frames, each flavor is lined up or stacked just so. An orderly arrangement calls attention to their differences. Embellished with ripples, stripes, dots, sugared rose petals, coffee beans, these little bitty works of art hint at their deliciousness. 

Flowers Along a Stone Wall

We are only halfway through winter. How can that be? This is when I hunger for a bit of color among the brown leaves and bare branches. So I am sharing a bit of spring to come, in the form of a tiny garden, a strip less than two feet wide, running along a wall. Blossoms crowded together, tumbling over each other, the periwinkle scrambling up the Cotswold stones. I remember being able to FEEL their "aliveness," their eagerness to bloom and grow. When planting time comes this spring, I hope, in my own little patch of garden, to achieve such easy artlessness as this. 

Circle Gate

Here are the colors of midwinter. Some would say the non-colors. At this time of year, subtle tones of gray and brown make it easier to notice lines, textures, repeating designs. A modern gate contrasts with an old home. The disciplined circles of wrought iron acknowledge the gentle ripples over the windows, old and new working together.