Since I was a girl I have loved English things, books, art, toys, Victorians, and home-making. I never thought of putting all this together anywhere else but my home. Then last year I dreamed that one day when I was old I had a little shop downtown. It was called “Ginger & Pickles,” just like the shoppe in Beatrix Potter’s book of the same name. In my dream I saw the front of the building with its many-paned windows and its sign in the shape of Peter Rabbit. I went inside and there were all my favorite things on beautiful shelves for other people to love, discover, and buy too. The dream was so real that when I woke up I grabbed my sketchbook journal and put it all down on paper. Here it is:
Later, I was reading Susan Branch’s blog when I got my next wave of inspiration. Susan is a writer who combines all her loves into books. Once upon a time she had a little shop called “Heart of the Home” which inspired me too. Here it is so you can see it.
Then I dreamed again just this summer that I was in my store and looking around. I woke up so excited that I knew I couldn’t wait until I was retired in 25 more years to have my Ginger & Pickles. I started to think about what I could do instead of a shoppe. So I drew and drew and drew. In the end, I Ginger & Pickle-ized everything from my classroom to our campsite and even changed the house a bit. I loved doing the drawings and thinking about the details that communicated to others how wonderful it had been in that very first dream.
The next post I have for you is all about my DD and I camping this last weekend! Did we manage to inject any G&P magic into a rainy camping trip? You’ll see!
-With wishes for dreams of your bright future to you,
Jaime
Life on Kansas Street 