April seems to be slipping by. Almost at an end, I thought I'd share a little of it with you.
It's my birthday month. Yesterday, in fact was my birthday. We had just arrived home from Boston the night before. We'd visited to see my sister, Ilisa, run the Boston Marathon, completing all six world major marathons. She ran in memory of our mother. We all came. My brother, two sisters and my dad along with my husband and Ilisa's husband. It was a joyous time that we all desperately needed after all the sorrow of last year. Below, a photo of my sisters and me on the beach on Cape Cod where we went after the marathon for a day.
I had a lovely birthday. It was really uneventful, and I don't mind that much. My husband returned from Boston with a cold. I, thus, exempted him from a celebration. I woke early yesterday and went down to the garden to feed the birds. I'd heard their songs from bed, and I was wondering what the excitement was all about. There was a party going on on the deck with a family of House Finches. They seemed to be deep in conversation about something very interesting when I got there. I wish I could know what they were saying. Surely something very important. Or maybe they were gossiping about the squirrels.
I filled their feeders and then found that that the peonies had bloomed while I was away in Boston. Stinkers. I had checked on those buds every morning all month (They're my favorites ,and I wait all year for them!). Wouldn't you know it! They fully had their bloom time while I was away for just five days. There was only one left not fully bloomed with it's petals dropping in defeat to the soil. I cut it and brought it in along with a single rose and a dahlia to enjoy in a vase. At least a few petals put on a good show in the house. Better news, the foxglove I planted from seed last year started blooming for the first time. And the climbing rose bush is full of buds.
In the weeks prior to the Boston trip, I did lots of sewing and making art. I'm getting a new fabric collection ready for Spring 2026 while simultaneously preparing projects for the lookbook for Anthology, Storied Stripes and Legacy Fabrics. The collection for next year is inspired by the neighborhood I live in. We truly live in a fairy tale of a neighborhood. This collection will be filled with cute houses, birds, flowers, and scenes of nature. I cannot wait to share it with you. (Some of the raw images of art for the collection are here.)
How April is nearly complete, I cannot even fathom. These days, weeks and months seem to evaporate in front of me. Time moves even faster since my mother passed. I'm guessing that's what deep loss does to you. It gives you a sense that there's simply not enough time. Never enough time.
