I have featured things by the talented Figs & Ginger metal working studio before. I was so sad to learn today that Elijah Wyman, who along with Rhonda Wyman is the dynamic duo behind Figs & Ginger, is soon to undergo surgery for a kidney transplant.
If you believe in supporting artists, this would be a great time to show your love. Buy a lovely something through the Figs & Ginger website, or donate directly.
Hearts and flowers. Hearts and bones.
Valentine’s cards for the whole class.
A note just for you from your favorite rodeo clown.
A secret admirer. A secret loneliness.
Candy hearts with the kids. Drinks with the girls.
A kiss and a cuddle. A hotwater bottle and cold feet.
The love of your life. A call from your Mom.
Friends and chocolate.
Friends and basketball.
Friends and paste and glitter.
Gather round the campfire with a friendly stranger. Saddle up and ride alone across the prairie.
There are all kinds of Valentines. Be mine.
A woodsy owl card for your hip Valentine.
2 bucks from Rock Scissors Paper
From owls to Valentine’s in one fell swoop. Yes, that’s right. Our wise and feathered friends have been a fun distraction, but we have to get back to the serious business of Valentine’s Day. We must endeavor to love and be loved. We must toil to open out hearts. We must exert our romance and strive at our embracing.
And how are we to undertake these love-efforts? With a bit of quirky internet surfing and a few well-placed artsy curios, that’s how.
Who loves you? The Cowgirl does.
The Valentine’s love-fest will continue, but I thought we would take a break and enjoy a few OWLS. They are everywhere! Because I am not a field mouse, this makes me happy.
My Valentine is a world away.
My Valentine is by my side.
My Valentine is invisible to me.
My Valentine is the light of my life.
My Valentine drank all the whiskey and
ran off with a saloon dancer.
My Valentine is a barroom brawler.
My Valentine is a wallflower holding
the queen of hearts.
My Valentine sold me snake-oil. I bought a barrel.
In winter, my Valentine made my heart bloom like spring.
Who is your Valentine?
I recently discovered that there is a word missing from the English language. The Dutch have it, they call it gezellig and in Danish it is known as hygge. The closest we come to translating the word is cozy, but cozy is to hygge what fondness is to love. Cozy is to gezellig what skim milk is to cream.
What are we missing in translation? What constitutes this transcendent coziness? It starts with an intimate atmosphere: candlelight, a fire in the hearth, a gathering of old friends. It is any place or atmosphere which evokes a feeling of security, acceptance, well-being.
Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? This week I am exploring objects that will bring more hygge to our homes.
Yesterday I was obsessed with mushroom themed gifts and today I found pleasure in peapods. I think this fascination with all things vegetal is brought on by the cold . . .
Winter skies make me wish I’d loved summer better. Did I savor the sun and the sweetpeas in the garden?
Or when I pulled the thread to unstitch the pods, did I scatter the emeralds?
This longing for spring is one of the reasons I think we love winter holdays. On the the shortest days of the year, we bring light into our homes–in the form of Hannukah candles and Christmas lights–to remind ourselves that the sun will return.
–Cowgirl C.
