A Gift for the Gourmand and Gardener

I've posted about my friend Roanne's magic in the garden before. If you're looking for a beautiful, inspiring and informative book on seasonal container gardens, her book Continuous Container Gardens, is the one to pick up. The book is full of projects that are manageable for the weekend gardener, using and reusing your favorite vessels through each season.
But this winter Roanne has focussed her impeccable eye and palette on her kitchen. Using the organic harvest from her newly established HoneyField Flowers based in Harvard Mass, she's put together a gift box of treats that will make you very popular with both your gardening and gourmand friends.
She dropped off a little sample box for me and well, it was very hard to share.  But I am now and this is the gift a few of my lucky friends are finding under their tree. You can purchase the HoneyField Box of garden/kitchen treats on etsy, here. Continuous Container Gardens here. Be warned, I may have to start a support group just to stay away from her lavender brittle.

Pinterest Obsession

So my dear friend Sandy at Beehive Kitchenware happened to confess a month ago she was into this thing called "Pinterest" An online way to keep track of visual inspirations with a community slant. She said this in a half whisper and a giggle. She couldn't stop. Always a good sign. It's actually turned into a nice way to share and clarify some ideas with clients and creative partners. There's now a button on my blog to get you there and see what I've been pinning. Don't say I didn't warn you. Here are a few recent pins from my color inspiration board-

geometric print by melanie mikecz found on etsy

from the brilliant Roanne Robbins' Honeyfield Flowers

lovely makes me moan a little color study by Courtney Price

Edward Steichen photo

Poem for Monday

Sweet Darkness

When your eyes are tired

the world is tired also.

When your vision has gone

no part of the world can find you.

Time to go into the dark

where the night has eyes

to recognize its own.

There you can be sure 

you are not beyond love.

The dark will be your womb

tonight.

The night will give you a horizon

further than you can see.

You must learn one thing:

the world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds 

except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet

confinement of your aloneness

to learn

anything or anyone

that does not bring you alive

is too small for you.

-David Whyte 
Image by Paul Clancy for Mole Hollow Candles

Nature Contained in a Book

My friend, Roanne Robbins is a wonderful force of nature, with mother nature's sometimes overlooked lovelies. She can take the lowliest twigs, bit of moss, whisper of shard and make an arrangement that will stop you, draw you closer, and catch your breathe. Ro does it all very casually with a little yeah, whatever twinkle. I love walking around my yard or any little patch of green with her. The trickle of information and inspiring possibilities she shares is genius. And I very rarely throw the overused "G" word around. She's written a book with Sara Begg Townsend for Storey Press that guides you through 4 seasons of container gardening. Beautifully executed, with photos by John Gruen, the book gives practical information that is a starting point for your own creativity. I keep sneaking peeks inside to remind myself Spring will come again and there's still a lot of beauty to be found outside my frozen door step. For more Roanne inspiration go to her blog, Nature Contained here.