Time out for dreaming, Girlfriends. One of the things I’ve learned over time is to listen to my inner voice when it tells me I’ll do better work if I take some time to dream and just be. So that’s exactly what I am going to do, but first a new post ~ I’ll show you what I have in mind . . . MUSICA 

 I actually started yesterday ~ I don’t think I’ve ever felt it as strongly as I do right now, I think it’s trying to tell me something ~ all the way out on the walk this morning I was in some sort of nature trance, I could feel the movement of every leaf and the drift of every cloud ~ it was sending me to the moon.

Our walk lends itself to that kind of dreaming. Looking at the sky through a canopy of leaves and of course staring at the sea is an excellent exercise for dreaming.

You’re all dressed up to go dreaming, mind if I come along . . .

I love reading old cookbooks too, especially this time of the year, it takes my mind to another world . . .

. . . and makes me want to bake something . . .

Because there is nothing quite as inspiring as coming in from a chilly fall day and smelling something baking in the oven. It makes a person feel good about herself, don’t you agree?

Another good one is getting under a blanket your grandma knit for you, totally guilt free, not a care in the world, with a kitty on your tummy, to watch a wonderful old movie like Random Harvest.

Also, making dinner with the birds at the feeders and no noise at all, just the clanging of the measuring spoons, the clanking of the spoon against the bowl.

Filling the little vases with whatever is drifting around the garden . . .bringing nature indoors. And I don’t have a photograph of this but I have to report an aphrodisiac alert!  Joe just walked by my studio window carrying our new storm door for the front door! I love a man in the yard in the fall!  So inspiring!♥

I love wrapping up in a cozy shawl and lighting candles and reading or just staring at the fire as the days grow shorter.

. . . and hanging clean dishtowels on the stove . . . is perfectly inspiring to me.

Of course writing in my dairy . . . extra squiggles are tucked in the back of my diaries, everything from greeting cards to ticket stubs — this is one of them (on the right), totally and completely meaningless . . . I have no idea why I did it.  I think I’m thinking about clothes!

This was me just starting out on a lifetime of dreaming.  In those days it was the noises of the neighborhood from my bedroom window that sent me off to la-la-land. I could lay on my bed and listen to that all day. I recreate that every chance I get.

This is just a little wonderful art (which I did, of course, NOT paint!)

Back then my dreams had no edges, no solid lines, they were unformed, I didn’t even know I was doing it.  After I grew up I learned about Beatrix Potter and always wondered what her dreams were like as a child.  She has always seemed so grounded to me, I wonder if she had flights of fancy. ♥

 But she definitely helped me to form my grown-up dreams.

She gave me places to go and people to see . . .

Dreaming taught me this . . .

Every once in a while I forget, but then I remember.

Of course, the fastest way to fill my heart with inspiration is to imagine myself back in England, for example here, in Ellen Terry’s garden.  I can still smell the fresh green-ness of this place, and feel the breeze and remember that it is actually poetry in motion.

I sat in that garden, with her lilac, writing our book, having tea AND Peah-Ci-da, listening to lambs baaah, all senses on high alert.  Deep breath, ahhhh, now that was a beautiful day.

An empire of imagination.♥  I am SO HAPPY Scotland, with it’s lovely men in kilts and the entire ecosystem of fairy magic, chose to remain as part of England. I was so happy to hear the news this morning, it made me cry!  It would have been very sad to see them break up after so many years. MUSICA  And I’m sure it will be better now! Heres to the future!

Here’s a bit of English charm I know you will love, also from Ellen Terry’s garden.

And this?  This is my first glimpse of Wray Castle, the place the Potter family rented on their first stay in the Lake District when Beatrix was sixteen.  I took this photo while on a boat crossing Lake Windermere, the egret was a gift. 

I wrote about the Waterhead Hotel in Ambleside (across from where you get the boats) where there was magic in the bathroom! This is the place!  I didn’t have room for a picture in A Fine Romance, but here it is! If you haven’t read it, you can (if you squint) below.

Like a basket of drinkable kittens . . . ♥

This stone cottage in Tetbury belonged to our friends Siobhan and John.  There is a river running just below the windows, it is raining and grey outside; just behind where I am working there is a woodstove with a little crackling fire.

Dreaming . . .

Isn’t it adorable ~ a perfect storybook cottage.  I wrote and watercolored these pages while we were there:

I was channeling Beatrix Potter when I did it. I had to.  I couldn’t help myself by that time.  I’d fallen head over heels in love with everything around me.  She must have painted and drawn on many rainy English days just like mine. 

Lambie Pie.

When a picture makes me cry, I know I’m on the right track.  This is the Yorkshire Dales and the grand sweep of it is beyond my words to describe.  But the sound of those wildflowers blowing against each other was enough to do a person in.  Permanently and forever.

Oh.  I’m sorry.  I’m losing it, right Girl Kitty?  Sorry. 

 Another thing that encourages my dream state, which I need right now for growth, is piddling around.  Putting away my summer books and putting out my red winter books. . .

 . . . filling vases and cups with flowers ~ because  I need nurturing, Joe needs nurturing, kitties need nurturing, our house needs it too, and I’m assigning me the job of doing it. For the sake of my dreams. ♥

Some people hang clothes on the line because they want to dry them.  I hang them on the line so I can go outside, smell the fall air ~ and watch them fly. 

Time to pull out the hooked rugs for the kitchen floor and put the draft stop at the door.  This draft stop is one of my favorite decorations for my kitchen in the fall.  I love it because it’s useful, it does a very good job of keeping the air out, plus, “Home Sweet Home” just says it all. ♥ The design isn’t stamped on, it’s embroidered!  It’s filled with Balsam needles and smells like Christmas.  Kellee says our Goat Barn at the studio (where these are kept) smells WONDERFUL.  Why? Because we just got a bunch of them in!  Are you excited?  Because I am! I’ve been trying for two years!

My guy, this morning, on our walk where all the trees were talking to me, making me cry from how beautiful it is out there. Beatrix Potter had her beloved Lakeland, and I have my wonderful island, and especially this little corner of it right here, with that guy on it, right there.♥

And one last thing before I go and do as much more-of-the-above as possible for as long as it takes . . . this↑.  Several of you have asked for Count your Blessings to be made into a print.  And Kellee listened and did it! From us to you with love.  XOXO  Have a wonderful day Everyone, be sure to take a moment for dreaming. ♥