More Summer flowers have been pressed, and new woodland pendants have found their way to the shop. I'm so amazed by the wonderful plants and flowers that can be found in these woods.

Bloom

Dress: Thrifted | Harvesting bag: Vintage sisal | Shoes: H&M (old) 

In less than a week or so, everything started blooming like crazy in here. This year, I promised myself to take advantage of this gorgeous season as much as I can.  Last year was pretty busy with my studies and my daily job. And the year before I was in China. There's only a few weeks to enjoy the beauties of Spring before Summer knocks are our doorstep. But this year, I have a lot of time for myself, so I shamelessly indulge in more frequent walks & pictures taking. I've never been so enthusiastic with the arrival of Spring to be honest - well not as much compare to how excited I am when the fall season approches. But now that everything is in bloom, I truly embrace it.  Each new week brings a new addition to the blooming painting: a new delicate flower appears in the trees, adding a new touch of color in the landscape and a new smell to perfume the streets.

I'm so ecstatic to spend my time outside, with the harvesting basket on my shoulder. I always make sure to carry a pair of scissors to bring flowers back home, a little notebook to press some botanicals, my knitting and enough space for all the flowers that will fill the vases and jars in my kitchen (and the bedroom, and the studio).I wonder how many different flowers I will bring back home in the next coming weeks. I already had some maple tree and apple tree flowers, and this week it was lilac.

Make sure to stop by Liesl recent articles (Spring in New Jersey & her stunning hand dyed yarn).

Azalea, Botanical garden Riga

Some pictures from yesterday morning at the botanical garden here, in Riga. I waited for a long time to see this exhibition about azalea. It was really beautiful, and I didn't know that so many varieties of the same plant existed.

The greenhouse was such a nice little refuge from the snowstorm that hit us during the week-end. When eveything was completely white and cold outside, the greenhouse was so luxuriant and warm. I not only managed to snap some pictures of this glorious morning, but also collected some already fallen flowers for my botanical diary.

Now I'm patiently waiting for them to dry between some pages. 

Heather & Tulips

I realised that since my cardigan's finished, I found myself browsing ravelry pages persistently, for sweater patterns. I selected a few, and set them on the side to knit them later. But there's one cardigan that really caught my eye during my investigation. This sweater is not only perfect in appearance, but I also find its name so appealing. It's called "Heathered", and is pretty in so many ways (Heather is probably my most favourite flower). This top down cardigan is very simple, yet its details make it so elegant.

Once I knew which cardigan I wanted to knit, I had to find a yarn that would be the perfect match. At first I thought that I would use merino or alpaca. But I realised then that Spring is just around the corner, and I would have plenty of time later this year to get ready for the colder months, and knit with warmer fibers. Instead, I decided to give a try to something new for me: plants fibers.

This cardigan is going to match two of the knitting goals that I set this year - knit another cardigan, and try another fiber. So the yarn that I chose for this project is a beautiful mix of linen and cotton - the perfect match for a Spring/Summer garment.

* I have a new packaging for the snoods in my shop - simple paper bags that are made here in Latvia, by people with disabilities. I really like how they turned out!

** I found pretty vintage soviet boxes the other day. I use them to store my wooden pearls/ threads and other tiny little things that didn't have a nice place to rest yet.

Lately, flowers, lovely mail, tea & bath

I've been so grateful lately. Especially for the lovely mail that I received from my friend Liesl. Her packaging is the most precious one. I've been grateful for the beautiful tulips that I bought at the market and stayed in my kitchen for a week. I've been grateful for short quotes that I had everyday on my yogi tea bags. I've been grateful for the delicious natural soaps that I bought yesterday: honey and tea tree leaves.

Not pictured: My second batch of ginger beer. I had to wait for five minutes before being able to open the bottle. The bubbles were so crazy inside! But it was worth it. That was the best sparkling beverage that I have ever drank. My kombucha is doing very fine. I gave my friend Kristin the first baby that I had, so she could make her own drinks. I've been re watching the Edible garden. This show is so inspiring. And I've been grateful for the friendships that I made in here. I'm always so excited before seeing my latvian/german girlfriends on Thursday evening.

I'm so grateful for the little pleasures that I can find in simple things. They make me so happy.

Little greenhouse

Everytime that I come back to France, I love to see all of these beautiful flowers in my old house. My mom has always loved to surroung herself with a profusion of flowers and plants.  Since she owns more orchids and plants than saucepans and dishes, I like to call her kitchen "the greenhouse".  There's no doubt that my own kitchen in Latvia, is going to look like hers very soon.

Do you like to surround yourself with flowers and plants at home too? What's your favourite plant?

Ps {Thank you for you sweet comments in my previous articles. I hope that you're spending very nice holidays.} {There's a lovely lady that lives on a beautiful island in the Pacific Northwest, both her words and pictures are magical}.