oh good lord am I behind on this...yikes!  honestly I have been focused a many other things and care of other people.  all good stuff.  all taking me away from this but led me into other areas that were and are creative.

so quickly, coming up is the paper bunnies Holiday Sale & Soiree on SUN DEC 15 from 1pm-5pm at my home.  see the invite below and i look forward to sharing inspiration with you all.

be well, marlo

yes, it is actually spring

and yes, it's been quite some time since my last post.  life had it's way with me and has finally chosen to give me a little reprieve to allow for some clear thinking.  just in time as we move through Spring - yes this is the season we are in, though many of you can't seem to let go of winters hold on your energy and thoughts.  it's time to move on and has been regardless of what Mother Nature has shown us.  

Spring is a time of renewal, cleansing, creating, activity, movement and growth all according to Chinese and Ayurvedic traditions.  it would be the way for Western thinking if folks could all get over the fact that due to climate change, all of the seasons have been pushed down about a 1.5 months over the last number of years.  so, everything starts later than when you remember it to which leads to the other thing that Spring is good for - releasing all that no longer serves us.  letting go of all things rooted in anger, frustration, resentment and fear.  make room for new ideas and projects by detoxifying your whole self inside and out.  it is also represented in the element Wood, which manifests in the Liver and Gallbladder, and are responsible for moving blood and bile to help support the Spleen & Lung health, keep the allergies low, tendons agile and support eye health.  

let's look at some of the creativity, inspiration and renewal that Spring brings us so we can implement that into our own lives shall we?

A great way to help you implement the actions of Spring is through a little stillness or adornment to attract the benefits of Hematite (cleanses the blood, increases circulation & energy, infuses the Chakra centers with new found strength while keeping you grounded) and Lapis Lazuli (also a blood purifier, lowers blood pressure and stress, is cooling and promotes self-expression).  yes, available on the-paper-bunnies etsy page.

eating is one of the best ways to help the body get the Spring cleaning it needs.  

garlic scapes or green garlic are what Hippocrates, known as the "father of Western medicine" prescribed for a wide range of uses including respiratory health, poor digestion and fatigue; all of which can take place during the transition from Winter to Spring because it is a damp time.  we are coming out of a very dry cold season into the wetness. our bodies and mind are trying to shed the lethargy and weight of Winter and that can lead to a Spring cold, congestion and allergies.   garlic is good for reducing inflammation, is antibacterial and decongesting.

dandelion greens, watercress, shard, lettuces, sprouts are all great ways to 

help the body detoxify the old energy and sludge hanging out.  

eat more salads and lighter broths to help stimulate this process.

ramps (with a nickname of Little Stinkers) are in the onion family and i do love them in Spring. they taste like a garlic onion.  they are great source of minerals, vitamins and compounds such as Vitamin C, Iron, Potassium and others. ramps are a blood cleansing, treat colds and are a tonic for the body promoting balance.

rhubarb, a childhood favorite and still one today, is fantastic for promoting better digestion for its fiber, increases metabolism and circulation in the body as well as supporting bone health with Vitamin K. it is packed with many vitamins, minerals and compounds such as B complex and protein.  it's very tart and most folks cook it with strawberries  for a pie but you could try roasting it lightly and serving it with beets which are another beautiful Spring delight.

beets provide valuable sources of Vitamin C, B6, folate, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium and fiber.  they are great for lowering blood pressure and inflammation and most importantly they support Liver health and balance. a great shot of juice in the morning is, and i did say shot not glass, beet & granny smith apple.  this wakes the liver up and stimulates cell turnover, growth and movement of blood.

just a sample of what you can cook for a Spring dish that includes lighter 
offerings to help with the aforementioned.  yes, it's on a puff pastry 
which in itself could be eaten alone for divine pleasure but the 
toppings of peas, ramps, zucchini, tarragon, lemon and eggs all make it rather tasty.

and don't forget the fruits about to come in though are available already.  blueberries and all berries are the best Spring fruit to be eating in abundance to help keep your body's energy light and purified.  having a berry bowl handy from the-paper-bunnies is always helpful to keep them clean and dry, ready to eat in a pretty little bowl.

this little fellow named Starsky, and his family, Hutch and Ringo, have been 

gracing our porch for a few weeks now.  they are White-Crowned Sparrows, 

with a lovely song to sing and a hearty appetite.  

this morning, they surprised me with their little offspring 

taking a bath in one of our pools.  Spring brings all the beautiful 

fledglings back to the forefront of life to enjoy and relish for the next many months.

some of the other beauties that Spring brings to us are ranunculus, 

poppies and peonies are shining so brightly for all to see.  the peonies are 

touch behind and that's ok.  no need to rush anything especially 

Mother Nature unfolding her splendor.

last, but most certainly not least is the hummingbird.  this is Buddy 

who graces our porch every year and just made his first 

appearance earlier this week.  that truly is a sign of great things to come.  

one should harness the fleeting creative energy of this little 

bundle of joy and get some new inspiring projects moving forward for yourself.

  

take care of yourself.  be well, marlo.

a little piece in a big show

well i got one of my hair pots accepted into the Evanston + Vicinity Biennial 2018 Art Show.  it's the first show i have attempted to get into and i think it's pretty cool regardless of "little" size that the hair pot is.  i am grateful.  be well.

https://www.facebook.com/events/785985898257782/

unsung heroes

so as i visit the Chicago Botanic Gardens weekly, or almost weekly, to be in my temple called, "Mother Nature's Beauty", i always give special attention to a couple groups that i refer to as the Unsung Heroes - conifers/evergreens and roses.  yes i know, two very different items.

i say Unsung Heroes because my perception over time as i have watched many folks at the garden is such that they don't really appreciate the true beauty of these two categories.  of course you are saying, "marlo, you are so wrong and you have a really distorted perception!  everyone loves roses!  every garden in my neighborhood has an evergreen tree!"  

well. on the contrary.  let's start with the first group. when you climb up through the dwarf conifer & evergreen part of the garden, it's magical.  you are surrounded by all shades of green, from blue-green to citrus green to deep forest green and many in between.  you have the traditional tall stoic evergreens towering up either side of you but the majority of what you are distracted by are the low crawling ones over steps, or the droopy Adams Family-like spindly tree, or the small very compact, keeping to itself shrub pine.  each of them with a different texture, color and feel to their needles.  i run my hands over almost every one and over every plant or flower to help me remember it and to smell its distinctive scent.

conifers, evergreens and pines are used in gardens to add structure, to help ease erosion and to add color all year long - hence their name ever-green.

this next info from THE SPRUCE website:
"conifer" is an arboricultural term meaning, literally, a cone-bearer (such English words as "refer" and "aquifer" also use the FER Latin root, meaning "to bear"). Trees and shrubs that fall into this category reproduce by forming a cone rather than a flower as a container for their seeds. It is this fact regarding reproduction that points us to the difference between evergreens and conifers (see below). The corresponding adjective is "coniferous." Most conifers are evergreens, but not all of them are.

again, do not confuse "conifer" with "evergreen." While there is overlap between these two botanical classifications, they do not signify the same thing. As you can see from the above, the former pertains to means of reproduction (the cone); the latter, by contrast, pertains to the nature of a tree's leaves (or "needles")...

many people get frustrated with the cones that conifers bear or that they make soil acidic for planting and others just think Christmas trees for evergreens.  this group of trees are so very unique with their shapes and colors and feel.  when one decides to place them in their home garden, i hope that they do so with the intent to compliment with even more color from spring to winter.

 

I ADDED THE BONSAI EVERGREENS AS THAT IS ALWAYS AN OPTION TO CREATE IN YOUR GARDEN AS WELL.

and now for the roses.

i have enjoyed roses all my life.  my mother grew them like it was the easiest thing to do.  my grandma, the same.  of course i didn't really appreciate them during my childhood because i had to water them and the rest of garden when i would have much rather been playing in the alley with my friends.  those were called chores, which is also a topic for another day.

the roses in the stores for a few decades now are bred for color, shape and showmanship. they are not the roses of old which are sturdy, more disease resistant (though new breeding technology is helping with that without sacrificing anything else), and they were full of aroma.  beautiful aroma.  not every kind and some so subtle, only one with an acute sense of smell would notice.  thankfully, i am one such person.  

my reason for including them in the Unsung Heroes is that again, I don't feel that there's real appreciation for the variety, depth and subtlety of this group.  when i walk through one of two rose gardens that i frequent, one much larger than the other, not one person outside myself, & the person i may be with during that visit, bends down to smell the roses.  not one.  isn't that a saying from many wise sage folks?? they just stroll on by chatting on their phones or to each other oblivious of the sheer beauty, color and aroma that they are passing.  every single time it's the same. 

wait.  i, apologize.  the only other kind of person who is paying attention to the color and shape only (not the scent) are the photographers with their foot long lens trying to capture just the right image, never stepping back long enough to simply look at the beauty that stands right in front of them.  remember, this is how i view things, not how anyone else views this scenario.  

all i am saying is that, the world of roses is stunning if you really want to include that kind of beauty, patience and commitment into your life.  there are so many varieties available to each region and so many colors.  talk about the complexity of Mother Natures hand.  wow.  from the tiniest blossom on a crawling shrub to the tall stems holding the sexiest of buds bursting with voluptuousness, teasing you as they open petal after petal after petal.  their scents range from subtle green to light vanilla to citrus with vanilla to the sweetest peach to the grand traditional deep floral that will forever remind me of Lorraine, my grandma, and the rose soaps in her bathroom.  always.  

think about bringing an Unsung Hero into your life.  it's worth it.

be well.  marlo.