I’ve been pretty busy lately: applying to shows, working in the studio, shipping paintings, taking care of the farm animals, and just life in general. One thing that has been a real treat is taking some time for myself to study garden design with Lucy Hardiman. I signed up for a four week class, and I’m really starting to understand how much I don’t know! I’ve gotten so many good ideas, it’s hard to narrow them all down and focus on one area at a time. Today really feels like spring though, and I’m itching to get started. I have a huge spread of tracing paper with the outline of our home, the hard-scape, etc. and I’m ready to start putting the plants on paper. It is fun to learn new skills, but overwhelming at the same time!

Sometimes it just seems like a person could use a personal assistant to do all the organizing, laundry and ‘household manager’ type of stuff! One of my favorite commercials is posted below… so you can share my dream of an assistant named ‘Sven’. It such a potent fantasy that I have nicknamed the workout trainer on our new Wii gaming system Sven! He & I have been sweating in the basement four or five mornings a week for the past month, and I’m starting to see some results. I think I may have acquired a new habit! Sometimes we all need a little help…

I had a nice surprise this morning when I stopped by Donna Zagotta’s blog… my little slice of the web was nominated as one of 29 blogs to watch in 2011! I’m on the list with some heavy hitters in the blog world, including Carol Marine, Katherine Cartwright, Donna Watson and Robert Genn. You can see the full list, and check out some very fine writing and art at Donna’s Blog.