Let the Sun Shine In!

It's very cold today, steely grey and now it's snowing (yeah!). But on sunny days, my 'sunroom' is awash in sunshine. The walls are a sunny yellow which seem to just soak up the rays and make me feel warm. This room is not the warmest room in the house though because it has 3 walls of windows. These are the old style windows that crank out, with no screens and no storm windows. But this is my favorite room in the house, especially on winter days. I've laid claim to it as my office and jewelry making studio. The light slants in perfectly and I can look up in any direction and see beautiful views. Straight out is my veggie garden, put to rest for the winter but soon to be planted with early crops like potatoes, peas and greens. We've planted quite a few specialty trees in the last few years, sweetgum, flowering crab apple, sourwood, golden rain tree and they have thrived despite the droughts. For 20 years we kept this side field free of trees and bushes so our three boys could play lacrosse, soccer, baseball, and the adults could play volleyball and Ultimate frisbee. But now the boys are grown and the adults have grown beyond volleyball and ultimate, so it's now time for more trees. Out the left window (east) are rolling fields with a backdrop of woods, a pond just visible in the valley. I see crows out trying to eke some nibble out of the grass. To the right (west) is the large perennial garden (Forrest's Garden, planted when he was 1 week old, he's now nearly 20). I can sometimes see the sheep grazing or just laying about chewing their cud. (Which means chew the fat, meditate, mull something over. What the heck are they mulling over? What they're going to do today? "Hmm, I think I'll eat, then I'll take a nap, then I'll eat some more.")


I bought a 'dwarf' banana tree a few years back. It nearly reaches the ceiling. Banana trees grow to about 12' so maybe this is a dwarf, but it seems really tall to me. We move it out in warm weather, but it likes it here in the corner of my sunroom. We call it 'Banana, banana, Fo Fanna'.


I was given some paper whites at Christmas and they've blossomed into their lovely, sweet-smelling selves. I love the way they smell and they really cheer up the space.


I used to hate orange but now I really like it. It's cheery and great to look at on a cold wintry day.