Mary DuLude, Author at PaolaPrints

Bringing Glad Tidings

December 3, 2020

Our socially distant Thanksgiving 2020 has come to a close. And, the last hosta leaf has fallen- dramatic as ever in its subdued and soft hues. I love the colors every season.Next up, glad tidings and holiday colors for Christmas. What WILL that look like this year? Although Larry and I are hunkered down alone in our house, I took advantage over several days to bake up a storm. I take comfort in that. Still, I missed my kids company. Christmas together? One can’t count on it. Lately, I’ve been dreaming about my Mom who died last year. It feels
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New Scarf!

October 28, 2020

Last fall I debuted a scarf called Watermelon, printed on chiffon at 2 yards x 18”- the size of most of my scarves to date. A couple months ago, a family member reached out with a request for a scarf she needed for an event in October. She very much liked Watermelon as the colors matched her sweater, but she needed a scarf that was a lot smaller..and square! Always up for a challenge, I was itching to get started this fall. Sooty mold is a fungus that grows on leaves sometimes infected by aphids. After feeding, insects leave behind a
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I Can’t Believe They Took the Whole Tree

October 5, 2020

Well, they didn’t. Most of the huge tree standing high above the garden was cut down last week. We retained 24” for planting. We knew that for all its height and leafy crown, the tree had lots of rot and had been serving as a home for crowds of chipmunks eating the garden underground. Can you see the stump on the hill? Pruning is sometimes an opportunity for new things. I wait all summer for prices to drop at local nurseries when autumn planting begins! Let’s Hear it For Music! Musicians are suffering the lack of opportunity to share their
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A COVID Baby Shower

August 30, 2020

Following my mom‘s death in the middle of May, life quickly began motoring ahead, almost without missing a beat. Since May, life moved so fast in Spring I almost couldn’t keep up. Most immediately, front and center was planning for the arrival of my first grandchild in mid-September. I’d promised them a shower! I gathered names from family and released my first party invite the week after my mom’s death, scheduling it for July 25- Thinking the pandemic would allow us the opportunity for a multi-generational extravaganza. Not so fast. Pretty quickly, I had to hammer down guest invites to less than
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On the Seventh Day- Pest Control

June 30, 2020

I sprayed the boxwoods. And every week thereafter. Like many, I’ve had some difficulty during COVID remembering what day of the week it is. You know you do too. This blog post will focus on pest control in the time of COVID. I’m grateful for the time to do some long-needed maintenance. I schedule treatments on my phone and have gotten quite involved in managing plant care. Reminder times for certain annual events like pruning are scheduled on my phone. I just finished pruning the miniature lilac- A lilac sets next year’s flowers quickly after the flowers pass. Sometimes, you can
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Memorial Day 2020

May 25, 2020

See the White Feather Hosta I bought a few years ago. I’ve moved it several times as it failed to thrive. I was so committed to having such an exotic looking hosta, I never gave up. This Spring it re-appeared and I waited to see if once again it might wilt and turn green but guess what? It’s happy and growing this year. Nestled into some dark green and rock neighbors, it really gets to strut its stuff. New garden memories being made. My mother died May 14, in the midst of the COVID 19 outbreak but not from it. She
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Serenity Now

May 12, 2020

Sheltering at home for those of us able to do so has its blessings. Projects that have gone begging for months have re-appeared with a vengeance here in Litchfield. Are YOU bored? Give me a call, I’ll take care of that for you. One big project is repair to our god of the garden – Serenity. Serenity is the wooden Thai Buddha we bought in Brimfield MA. He’s been sitting on his throne for almost ten years now. We move him into the barn in winter, but the weather and rain have overcome him. Once again, this is the year to
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Florida: Where Art Meets Nature

May 4, 2020

Florida is many things. Boring is not one of them. Our recent trip on the eve of Spring break, drove that point home. Do you recognize any of the wanton Phalaenopsis orchids in the photo, thriving on the tree trunks? ( I’ve killed several attempting to raise them a dry New England home). They’re at home in Florida. One thing that jumped out in Miami was how intensely nature informs art. I’ve never been to the south of Florida before. As with many temperate places, warmth creates an enduring sense of wellbeing in the out-of-doors. As a plant lover, I totally appreciated
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Celebrating Beauty

April 8, 2020

Beautiful people bring the sunshine. Getting together with others is on hold and will be until the pandemic passes. And when will that be? Social distancing makes one realize what we had. And will we learn to be kinder and more patient in the interim? I hope so. I’ve once again dug into sewing and shooting scarves for Spring 2020. It’s been tedious as my hand is still not 100% after December surgery. Beautiful colors keep one going in crazy times. See more scarves here. Photo Shoot First, There Was Florida I took so many photos in Florida during our March
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Sunshine in St. Pete’s

March 26, 2020

Nothing quite says sunshine like the close up of a white angel trumpet lily. Truthfully, this gorgeous flower did not bloom in my March garden. Since we REALLY needed a little sunshine in our lives – we happily headed south just before Spring Break. And, we left there literally the day before the youthful crazies descended to pack the streets. Social distancing was not yet in vogue. Mother Nature has a way of washing cares away. There are many places in the country I haven’t yet visited, but this year I was determined to visit southern Florida. Larry did not
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