Let me be clear. There’d be no Paola Pillows if not for Mother Nature dishing up incredible flowers I get to shoot and share with you. I love this job! Ever heard the size of a flower described as a dinner plate? This dahlia doesn’t disappoint. She came from a farm in Cornwall, CT. You must visit or buy flowers there because there’s nothing quite like Amanda’s dahlias. Nothing.

My husband found a day lily farm last weekend that gave us a couple crazy beautiful hardy day lilies. This year, I’ve decided to give up on hybrid lilies because I just can’t keep them lily leaf beetle free. The hardy lilies like this beauty- are immune. (Yea!)This place is in Falls Village CT. Like Amanda’s farm, it’s tucked away and looks like an old fashioned backyard in rural CT- cuz it is. They dig them out for you too. Awesome. Look at this yard! Gorgeous lilies of all colors and types.

We live on a very shady piece of land here in northwest CT. This morning bright and early, the incredible tree men arrived. Shawn and Tony Sepples from Goshen rolled in to prune back the maples that have pretty much blocked out all the sun on one side of the house. Our venerable Japanese maple has been struggling with its weight- so glad they came. AND, we hope to be tearing apart that yard in a few weeks to put in some drainage- had to have the heavy equipment in and out first. Can’t grow anything there for poor soil and sitting water when it rains. We’ve had the Sepples here a couple times and they’re wonderful- got a bunch of cut wood for mid-winter fires and a ton of wood chips for next spring!

I’ve especially enjoyed the last couple days, as last week was chock full of computer, planning and quality control. Got a bunch of fabric in that looks great but it’s headed out to cut and sew in just a few days. Lots to figure out. Been working on my gallery too. Check out the pillow photos-Click on each single pillow image- I’ve added couch art! Still more to do but getting there. I figured you should see each pillow with her best side forward.

Next week Monday, we’re headed down to NY NOW for Market. I’ll keep you posted. Going to be a busy week.

At the end of the day, music is another one of those things that makes life worth living. This is a remake of an old song I first heard Solomon Burke sing- you might recognize it. A more than acceptable re-creation by British singer songwriter Sam Dean- half of a writing duo called Plum Nellie. Like the black and white too…http://youtu.be/MvmQJrUZ5ng

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