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My sister recently relocated to our town, a fact that both thrills and frightens me. She and I haven't lived within shouting distance of each other since our teenage years, and those years were passed mostly, um, shouting at each other. And now, two decades later, we attend the same public library. In fact, my kids and I were at the library when Auntie K registered for her FIRST EVER library card.

My sister rocks.

So does my library.

Bigelow Tavern is another West Boylston landmark. It was built in the 1770s and has served as an inn, a private dwelling, a turkey farm, and, most recently, home of our Historical Society. As I was attempting a straightforward shot of the place yesterday, I spotted a darling sparrow singing atop the street sign you see in the image. (The sparrow is there, too, if you look closely. Can you see him?) I instinctually lifted my camera to catch him on film and the image you see here is what I saw in my viewfinder. Something about it satisfies me more than the starightforward building shots I took. This is where I live, folks. A place that is home to old taverns and old churches and young sparrows and spent lilac bushes ... and me.





You can read more about Bigelow Tavern here, where you'll also see some (straightforward!) then-and-now images of the building itself.

I was so excited when Mike R Baker told me that I'd "Made his day" via my blog. This is a great compliment as I frequent his blogs myself. He is a fantastic illustrator and always surprises me with his illustration friday contributions which are often completed in gouache at lightening speed! Mike also designed this wonderful new logo for the award which I find adorable (I couldn't resist passing it on...)

So, here I am passing the award on to five wonderful people who's blogs I check everyday (I'm not kidding, I'm rather addicted). Thank you to:

• Dani Draws (this blog is incredible. Dani is talented and has detailed tutorials... so CHECK IT OUT!)
• Amanda Woodward (A tremendous source of inspiration both from her life and her art. I consider her a good friend and am lucky to have met her - she's from my home town as well. Actually, to be perfectly honest, Amanda helped inspire me to quit my full time job to illustrate for a living and I've never looked back!)
•Chrissy Fanslau (Her perseverance and dedication is ultra inspiring!)
• The Daily Coyote (Just check it out, it's awesome!)
• CutewithChris.com (um, yeah, Cute with Chris is so darn funny)