Summer is speeding past and before it’s gone I want to make sure I savor all the things I love about it.

To remind me to slow down and savor the days, I’m devoting the month of August to gratitude and joy.

Piles of fabric line a shelf in my studio closet. Sewing patterns fill a drawer. I love wearing handmade clothing. I love to sew. Most of my fabric has been matched up with sewing patterns — some bought especially for specific projects — but it’s been a year or more since I’ve done any sewing.

The purple poppies have been stealing the show around here lately.

The days are flying past faster and faster. I can’t believe June has already come and gone. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’m trying to slow down and enjoy summer’s magic and yet, time still flies.

Yesterday Matthias and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.

Two weeks ago nights were in the 30s and there was danger of frost. Summer weather quickly arrived and today heat index values could reach 105.

How can it be a month already since my first garden tour?

I recently purchased Sarah Greenman’s Oracle Deck and this is the first card I pulled: “Prioritize Your Big Work.”

My main intention with my blog is to encourage and inspire you. To discover beauty. To look for joy. To embrace your creativity.

Back in November I vowed to fall in love with winter. And I did, for a while.

When I was 16, a newly-minted driver’s license in my wallet, where did I go on my first solo drive?

Back in December Abby Glassenberg interviewed me for the Craft Industry Alliance Podcast. Our conversation aired this week.

I sit at my table with a steaming mug of earl grey beside me. The table is strewn with notebooks and lists and calendars. My pen is poised to write, but I’m having trouble adding anything to the page.

I just got back from my long morning walk with Clara. It feels good. To be out in the winter mornings. To notice the changing landscape.

I stumbled into my shoes, pulling on my hat and coat before rushing two wagging dogs out the door.

I was still wearing my nightshirt.

I wasn’t wearing any socks.

I hadn’t even put on my glasses.

Bright sunshine and warm breezes. Clear blue skies and crisp snow. Cold, dark, wet days. This month I’ve tried to be present for it all.

November has been a gift. A strange month, but a gift, too.

I’ve been giddily anticipating posting it and I’m so happy to finally be able to announce this month’s guest: Dana Barbieri.

My heart raced and I held my breath. I felt a flutter in my stomach as I sat down with a set of watercolors, some paper and a brush to paint for the first time.

This year I’ve gone to more vet appointments than I can count. I guess I could count them, flip back through calendar pages and tally up appointments for tests and surgery and treatments and more tests.

This week has been beautiful. Bright sunshine. The bluest skies.

There’s no mistaking that autumn is here, but it’s my favorite kind of autumn. And my garden is still blooming.