The Lark Ascending -- Clearing the eyes, heart, mind, and spirit; making room for Spring
The world is an epic fairytale romance with nature, set in a semi-fictional ecosphere.
Easter Sunday, April 1 this year, came bearing enough sunshine and warmth to melt even the most sinister of doubts that I might be skipping spring and should consider resigning myself to the idea of a long, wet extended winter that might last until autumn. There is magic in the air and where there is magic, 3 Squares Cottage cannot be far away.
I decided to bring all of nature inside for the occasion—butterflies, bees, beetles, dragonflies, and other insects abound (of the ceramic, glass or metal variety, of course). The cottage is filled with plants and flowers, some live and some silk, a few fairies here and there, and I turned the palate to pink, green, and of course… black. April and May brought the opportunity to use two of my favorite decorating tactics—to offer the unexpected, and to set bright colors on a black background.
Living Room
Shop: Linon Lily Accent Chair, Kohls; Black botany pillows, Pottery Barn; couch throw, Smith’s Marketplace—actually a single panel curtain; Antique Slim Bunny Pillow, Ward and Child - a Garden Store; Floral Banner and Fans, Zurchers; Black Background Birds Placemats (china closet and shelf lining); Ward and Child- A Garden Store; and Black Background Bright Floral Chair, TJ Maxx. Candles with timers come on automatically from 6-10 PM each day, illuminating the fireplace and adding warmth to the room at day’s end.
Entry + Dining Room
Purchase fresh floral arrangements, greenery, and fruit/vegetable plants from local nurseries or greenhouses to bring spring inside.
Shop: plants, Quality Flowers; Black Background Birds Placemats (china closet and shelf lining), and Ward and Child- A Garden Store.
Bedrooms
The cottage rooms this April and May are a celebration of magic and nature. I worked to ensure that form did not overtake function, as the comfort and convenience of our guests must be priority.
Shop: Stuffed Bunny Rabbit, Katie Waltman Boutique; Butterfly Kite, Dancing Cranes Imports; Mosquito Netting, Amazon; Insect Pillow Covers; and Throw Pillows, SteinMart.
Sounds of Spring
To truly let spring in, I think there must be musical and literary elements. (One of the few ways humans can access the ineffable!) If you’re not in a place where you can the songbirds chirping their celebration of the return of sunshine and flowers, here are some suggestions for a spring soundtrack/wayfinders. My favorite, Lark Ascending tops the list and calls me to create an ethereal world in the little cottage we call 3 Squares.
favorite Musical Celebrations
- Lark Ascending (music) by Vaughan Williams
- Bach Cello Suite No.1 in G performed by Mischa Maisky
- Erik Satie - Once Upon A Time In Paris
Favorite literary Celebrations
Poems/Books:
- The Lark Ascending (poem) by George Meredith
- A Light Exists in Spring (poem) by Emily Dickinson
- There Will Come Soft Rains by Sara Teasdale (1918 Harper’s Magazine)
- Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver
- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver
Quotations:
- “Spring has returned. The earth is like a child that knows poems.” –Rainer Maria Rilke
- "I do believe that an intimacy with the world of crickets and their kind can be salutary - not for what they are likely to teach us about ourselves but because they remind us, if we will let them, that there are other voices, other rhythms, other strivings and fulfillments than our own." –Howard E. Evans
- "Just living is not enough," said the butterfly. "One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower." –Hans Christian Andersen
- "Give and Take... For to the bee a flower is a fountain if life; And to the flower a bee is a messenger of love; And to both, bee and flower, the giving and the receiving is a need and an ecstasy." –Kahlil Gibran