Dear friend,

I ordered some dried lavender wreaths from Pottery Barn last week, and when the postman brought them to my door yesterday I was practically knocked over by the scent of the boxes, fully packaged and sealed. Can you think of anything in the whole wide world more delicious smelling than lavender?

It reminds me of my other life, the pretend one where I live on a lavender farm in Avignon.

It's the same one where I mostly wear linen dresses and eat homemade buckwheat pasta in chipped porcelain bowls, and barter with my neighbor who raises goats and makes fresh cheese and tells stories of questionable believability when he's had a glass or two of wine. That my husband made. From the other half of our farm, which is, conveniently, a vineyard.

In other, non-imaginary news, I hired an assistant! This, literally, is the most exciting thing that's happened to me since...I don't know...since I got married probably.  The truth is, I've been terribly overwhelmed with work lately. I have a waiting list for house portraits that's almost three hundred (!) folks long and I was starting to worry that I couldn't possibly get to everybody. And I really want to! So I met with this adorable girl who is a student at one of the local art schools, and she's going to help me this summer...ship and package orders, cut watercolor paper, edit files...I am so excited. Oh, and the best part? Her name is Ily, which is an acronym for "I Love You". Isn't that ADORABLE?

I am really hoping for a sweet summer...one filled with productive days, long and lazy evenings, and space to dream and breathe. I'm hoping that for all of us.

Love,

Rebekka

Dear friend,

Hot coffee on a gray morning. The birds start twittering here at approximately 3:30am. I know this because yesterday morning I bolted out of bed at 2am (for no reason I can conjure yet) and spent the early hours on the sofa, with tea and my ripple afghan and The Secret Life of Bees. It's like my brain, bless it, will just not stop! I settled in to a very long day of painting after that, with a jam-making break sometime yesterday afternoon. It was totally the most relaxing thing in the universe. Crushed strawberries boiling on the stovetop with honey and ribbons of basil. Steam from the waterbath condensing on the kitchen windows, already misty from the outer bands of a brooding afternoon thunderstorm. I think just saying the word waterbath has a tranquilizing effect. It's so soothing.

On Sunday, my friend Hannah and I drove 90 miles south of here to Valley Home Farm for strawberry picking. I always forget how thrilling the Tennessee countryside is...it's lush and hilly, and the roads wind through it like corkscrews. You have to drive slowly or you feel like you're on a roller coaster. Valley Home Farm is a dream. It's exactly what you'd want a berry-picking farm in rural Tennessee to look like...a sprawling, white plantation home covered in tangly roses, a little farm store filled with honey popsicles and strawberry cakes, and rows of berry plants that stretch to the horizon. Oh, and bees and chickens too! Just when I thought it couldn't get any better. 

Hannah made the most scrumptious cupcakes I've ever tasted...browned-butter strawberry cake with basil ricotta FROSTING! I think she's going to post the recipe tomorrow on her blog. I LOVE strawberry and basil together. Hannah is so talented. Yum.

Love,

Rebekka