On the last day of freedom before our sheltering-in-place began, Libby and I made our way over to Mount Vernon to soak in some sunshine—both the actual rays on this first spring Saturday of the year and the sunny, yellow fields of daffodils.

Sunny girl.

Surrounded by beauty.

Ruffly petals.

The farms weren’t open to the public, so we had a socially distant lunch on the dirt in the middle of the daffodil field. Heaven.

We also stopped by Christianson’s, one of the best local nurseries in the area, for some garden inspiration. There we greeted doves, walked lazily through greenhouse after greenhouse and purchased a few tiny pots to plant violets in.

My favorite propagation house.

Doves are also sheltering.

Inspiration for our violet pots.

The next day, having spent all that time soaking up beauty, we tackled some much needed weeding AND planted seeds—poppies and sweet peas direct-seeded outside, while a host of others, such as yarrow, hollyhocks, snapdragons, foxgloves, started indoors.

Just a few days later and already tiny sprouts are popping out of the soil!

Hollyhocks coming up.

In these days surrounded by deaths—now climbing into the hundreds in Washington state—it’s good to see life unfolding before my eyes.

Perhaps this pandemic will bring about one thing of beauty: everyone’s gardens will be lush this summer after days spent at home, in isolation, working the soil.