Impression - Spring?

Dear Diary,

My mind has been fully preoccupied with autumn and preparations for winter but as I walked up the garden steps this caught my attention. The sunlight was dappling the Stonecrop sedum (such a tough sounding name for such a delicate pink and white flower!). The colors just said "spring" to me...an impressionistic reminder that all this work will result in a beautiful spring-time garden.

I was inspired to convert the image into a painterly version. The first time I've used this feature. This is something Monet would have rendered so beautifully with brush and canvas. I visited Giverny in France in 2012 and I think it has inspired me to create a garden where I can find daily wonder and enjoyment. Perhaps not on the scale of Monet's garden but my own little version.

It also made me think of Ceilia Thaxter, the famous 19th century poet, whose house on Appledore Island was just a stone's throw from Star Island. She was equally famous for her garden and the artists who gathered there. I sat in the potting shed at my little desk yesterday and poured over a book I have about her and her garden. I don't think I could live without some form of garden, even if it was just a window box.

The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration.

- Claude Monet

p.s. This also reminds me to buy some bulbs to plant for spring blooms!