There's a big old blue jacaranda tree just outside our backyard that shades us almost year round.

I adore her.

And if you've been with me for a while, you've probably heard me talk about this tree and share pictures before.

Isn't she gorgeous!?

Photographs don't do her justice, of course.

Here's a picture from a previous year, when the blooms were exceptionally lush:

The flowers some years fall so thick from her branches that the grass is carpeted with them.

It's pretty amazing.

Some straggler daisies are in that one, too!

I've felt pretty lucky to live underneath this magnificent tree for the last three years. I'm not really much of a purple gal, but she she sure has inspired me!

In fact, I couldn't resist just one more spin here in Hawaii, using a perfectly matched braid of Polwarth wool, black bamboo, and silk from Greenwood Fibers called Shades of Violet.

I don't plan on adding it to my Etsy shop, but it IS available for purchase — you just have to email me that you want it ASAP! Because all physical items in the shop will be deactivated by May 5th, which is when the packers arrive. (Psst, I've got lots of cards that would be great for Mother's Day and Graduation, by the way!) Digital pattern downloads will remain available on Etsy as well as Ravelry.

Taking pictures of this skein of handspun yarn today felt like closing a really good book.

She is, after all, the very last one to have been spun and air dried in the fresh breeze and warm sun of Hawaii. I'm so glad I got to make her!

And, with that, my e-spinner has officially been packed into a box.

Though I AM going to mail it ahead so that I can do some spinning instead of just sitting in an empty house until our stuff makes it across the ocean!

I wonder what kinds of flowers I'll discover in Georgia to inspire the next chapter of creativity?

-Connie

P.S. Another bird photo from the archives, this is one of the rose-ringed parakeets hanging out in the jacaranda tree when it first began blooming one year. They like to nibble on the flowers!