Sometimes the cure for being scared is waiting just outside your window. Sometimes it’s the unexpected. Nature has a way of making everything better, if only for a moment. It doesn’t always take bright colored, beautiful flowers. And it doesn’t have to be a warm spring breeze. Sometimes all it takes is a quick, cheeky look from a small bird who’s meal has been interrupted by your gaze. Sometimes that is enough to banish the fear and inspire strength.

This color palette is traditional, yet strong. We take our cues from nature and mix and match them for the perfect look every time.

Shhhh. Be still and listen. She has a story to tell. A tale of days long gone. A story of lazy days and adventure. A story of how she came to sit in this place, forgotten and falling apart. She’s been waiting to be found. Waiting for someone to see the possibilities and the beauty that could be. She’s waiting for someone to take that first step and return her to the life she once knew. Her bones are good but she needs someone to care.

Even now, her colors are soft and subtle. They’re at the same time cool, but also warm and inviting. They can inspire dreams. She’s just an old wood boat. But she’s waiting for the dust to be blown off and the new adventure to begin.

Sometimes you come across a scene that seems to have so much organization and structure compared to the rest of the chaos that surrounds us. It seems like the perfect watercolor painting; one color expertly blended into the next. And the perfect painting is accompanied by the melodic sounds of soft, gentle moos from the cows in the field below. They’re calling their calves to their sides for protection from the night. Oh, to be able to paint a feeling, a sound, a moment in time.

Although we can’t always live in a painting, we can go back to that feeling. We can color the world around us with reminders of that scene. And it doesn’t take much to do that. Just tiny splashes from a master’s palette will take use back to that perfect watercolor sky.

These days we’re all looking for comfort. And that comfort comes in all different forms. For some people, it’s the smell of cookies or bread filling the house. For others it’s curling up with a pet or loved one. And for some, it’s hobbies forgotten long ago but recently rediscovered.

Comfort can be found in colors, textures, and patterns. And color doesn’t have to be boring to be comforting. Sometimes we think neutrals are comfortable because it’s what we’re used to. But these blues, greens, and pale lavender can seem neutral when used in just the right way.

This soft yarn, with it’s pale green color, was crocheted into a warm pair of mittens. And although the season for this type of thing may be over, they can still bring comfort. There is a sense that no matter how bad things may seem, we can still create something beautiful, learn new things, feel a sense of accomplishment, and be comforted by the simple things.

This photo is from up north where this small shed (Mom’s “potting shed”) and old water pump sits in the middle of nowhere. It’s always intriguing to see how nature reclaims the spaces we once thought belonged to us. Given just a bit of time, balance and harmony are restored. The new life blends away into the old.

That is where we find ourselves. The new way of life blends into the old. More time for family and our favorite past times.

These colors mimic life. The tans and beiges that have always been staple colors are given a spark of new life with the infusion of spring green. The new blends into the old and a new story is created. And that can be comforting because although it’s new, it’s also very familiar.

This is a photo taken last spring. This year is very different. But for all the ways this spring isn’t the same, it will still be so much like every other spring. Sunny, sweet smelling flowers will still bloom. The colors they bring will infuse light into the gray world. The sun will shine when the rain stops. And warm days will replace the chilly ones.

Gray is a great backdrop for these brighter colors. Like these flowers, the colors are meant to be accents. They’re meant to give new life to a space. The green is calming, while the splashes of yellow and pink bring warmth and smiles.