1. Holly, 2. Mistletoe, 3. Mistletoe berries, 4. Holly berries and new spring leaves

I am signing off for a couple days….but thought you could use a little holiday greenery to brighten up these dark days of winter.  Have a great Holiday and I will be back soon.

I have thrown my hat in the ring and I am hoping that you can help out.  Apartment Therapy is once again hosting the Homies awards for discovering, sharing and honoring the best in home design blogs.   It’s not so much a competition as a celebration of the richness and awesomeness of shelter bloggers around the world. There are so many great choices, but very few feature exclusively the part of a home that is outside of the four walls and the roof.  And isn’t this one of the best parts of a house? The main reason I chose to buy my current house is because I loved how it sat on the land.  Home is where the heart is, and my heart is in my garden.  So if you are like me and want to celebrate the outside as much as the inside, head on over to Apartment Therapy and vote for studio ‘g’ (it’s listed as studiog.greayer.com)  as well as your other favorite shelter blogs – there are some great ones out there and one visit to the list will surely help you discover some new treasures.  Voting Ends December 29.

Thanks for all of your support in 2009.

Such an odd day I had yesterday.  Yesterday was the solstice, making it the shortest day of year  – happily every new day will be a little bit brighter from now until June.  I think metaphorically, this change is just what I needed to exit a little funk I have been in for a least a month now.

I have been planning to sit down with myself and have a planning session before New Years – a time when I can review what I have been doing so that I can set out my new years resolutions, plans and goals.  I think that setting aside some time for this will spark me up.  But somehow as I moved through my day, I had this sensation that my new year really should start yesterday rather than January 1st.  Yesterday, I found myself suddenly energized and re-invigorated creatively, and I have no explanation for it at all.  I am thinking I might find the calendar of nature more relevant to my life than the Gregorian calendar.

As an aside, thinking about the solstice and a bit of cruising brought me to Serpent Mound near Peebles, Ohio.    Have you been to this place? It is the largest surviving example of a prehistoric effigy mound in the world.  It is in the shape of a huge serpent with the mouth oriented to the sunset of the summer solstice and the coils to the winter solstice sunrise.  I was so interested to read about its mysteries and realize that this fascinating ancient place, right here in the USA, is the landscape of an unknown people.   I must visit.  It is in the application stages of becoming a UNESCO world heritage site and you can help out.

The past year has brought so many changes to the landscape of all our lives.  For me, I feel most affected by the economy and the impacts it has on my design business, as well as personal changes and the natural evolution of my career.   My children are a year older and a little easier and I am starting to think about taking on projects I would have shied away from when they were younger.   I also had the opportunity to try projects I would like to do more of and some that I will never do again. Generally, I feel like I need to hone my focus.   I look forward to growing this site and it’s impact and I look forward to writing more and becoming a better writer.  I want to choose away from certain types of projects and clients and towards others.   I am interested in trying new things and continuing to evolve my career down new paths.   I still need to nail down some specifics but  I am certainly thinking in directions  that I would not have a year ago.  What about you?  Are you re-examining your life for 2010?  What are some of your resolutions?  Are you feeling more optimistic about 2010 that about 2009?  Are you making changes?  I would love to hear where you are.

The design by Shirley Watts is bee inspired, the papers arcs overhead mimic the the flight patterns of bees, the planting is bee-friendly, the concrete hexagon tables are honeycomb shaped and the candles behind amber glass are a beautiful honey color when lit in the evening. It is so elegant and livable and I love seeing how Shirley translated her bee inspiration.

You know what else is interesting to me…the dirt.  Is that really the color of the dirt in sonoma?  I saw some other pictures of Late Show Gardens and a few of them had the same.  Wow! that is beautiful…some one ought to bottle that up and sell it don’t you think?

All Images by Mitchell Maher

Artist Damien Weighill has inspired me to kick up my holiday (and post holiday) decor.  Using liquid chalk markers he created this easy to remove art.  He says he has to credit the wind for the fact that the snowman looks like he’s just been on a rampage kicking over chairs in the neighbor’s garden. I love the idea of combining art with what lies outside already. I think I might draw lots of pretty birdhouses to hang from a big oak branch that is outside of my living room window.   You can get a variety of liquid chalk markers here.

The Perrenial Plant Association named their plant of the year for the coming 2010 season.  This year the plant is Baptista australis, commonly known as False Blue Indigo.

I have never planted it, have you?  It looks like something I could find a use for though, it has a nice color and as a clump I think it could be quite striking.  What do you think?  You like it?  What have you planted it with that worked?