Five little things that have brought me joy this fortnight...
1. My orchid is finally blooming after two years of dormancy, and she's looking spectacular!
Orchids are my favourite flower, but for some reason I always forget to water my orchid plants. While they're remarkably tolerant of my sporadic watering schedule it has been a struggle to get them to bloom again (for obvious reasons!).
This orchid threw up a new flower spike last year and started budding, but all the buds shrivelled up and died before they could bloom. After that I vowed to start watering the orchids properly, and it looks like it's paying off! My other orchid is still bloomless, but it is growing new leaves so that has to be a good sign. I'd love to get it to bloom since it was a Valentine's gift from Graeme.
I'm hoping my streak of orchid luck continues - my Mum recently gifted me a huge Dendrobium orchid and it would be wonderful to see it bloom in February! Watch this space...
2. The smell of rain and wet earth.
Rain has been in short supply this summer (not that I'm complaining!), so the stormy, rainy days that broke the heatwave have felt particularly rejuvenating. Watching the scorched grass come alive with green again has been so magical, and thunder and lightning always puts on a good show! I love a good lightning storm.
3. Last weekend I spent an afternoon filling up a palette with some of my tube paints and having a go at painting two of my Summer of Basics projects.
My painting and drawing skills are pretty mediocre at best, but I read something recently, and it really resonated with me:
A myth exists that when we paint, we have to produce something worth seeing, and there is a weird notion tht we have to be worthy of holding a paintbrush. It sounds crazy, but I meet people who tell me, with the greatest of conviction, that they aren't good enough to paint. The question is - good enough for whom?
So in light of that, I'm painting just for the sheer fun of it and to explore something new. I had such an enjoyable and meditative few hours with my brushes, and I'm looking forward to incorporating a little more painting time into my days.
A bit of a fangirl moment, but it feels so lovely for the designer to have noticed my little project.
5. A new cast on.
I've started swatching for the Carbeth cardigan in this beautiful green. The Cascade Eco+ yarn comes in enormous 250g skeins, and I wasn't sure if my little old ball winder would cope, but it surprised me! I now have a gloriously fat yarn cake, and am eager to get the swatching over with (it's a necessary evil in my book!) so that I can properly start.
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