The weather is just glorious here today in the UK, lovely sunshine...

So inspired by this mini heatwave, summer vibes and the artist Cat Coq's  recent challenge here is my version of an orange tree in a pot.

A few fun facts that you may or may not know...

• Spain has over 35 million Orange Trees apparently...
• However Brazil grows more oranges than anywhere else in the world.
• It is said that there are more than 600 varieties of Oranges, some of which are not actually Orange in colour, being green on the outside, orange inside...

If though you are like me and you love the colour Orange, (I know it can be a bit divisive), but on the whole it has connotations of joy, warmth, energy and youthfulness, why not check out more colour inspiration on my Pinterest board here...

I recently came across a post on Instagram, which made me think twice about the power of branding...

With images of lovely food, country lanes and beautiful branding ...it had me hooked, I wanted to find out more!  So, with a little  research,  I found out that sadly this project is not reality - not yet anyway!  Michael @thewinfieldestate is living the dream, by posting images of locally sourced food whilst learning about what is needed in order to fulfil a way of life that he hopes to achieve - one that is rooted in sustainable food and farming.  I thought this was great, we all know that telling stories through the medium of social media, can be a powerful one, and I'm sure we are all aware that social media is not always based in everyday reality with only the best bits on display, but I hadn't really given much thought to how social media, Instagram in this case, can be used like a vision board in real time to build a brand that doesn't actually exist except in someone's imagination. So, I'm looking forward and curious to find out how this story unfolds and whether the dream becomes a reality.  I really hope it does...
The relevance of the pear illustration? Well, it was a post about maple-baked pears with toasted granola and Mascarpone which first caught my attention... I maybe need to work on a more realistic example of pears, but for now, you could say I'm living the dream creating something from nothing!

It's so important to celebrate the little wins in life, as well as the bigger ones don't you think?  

Success can mean many things...as Jo at Firain says in her blog post it's important to go at your own pace, set goals that are meaningful to you...and then celebrate when you achieve them, that doesn't mean you have to go all out with popping the champagne corks, but simply acknowledge that you have done what you have set out to do...so now I'm off to celebrate with a lovely cup of tea!  What small wins can you celebrate today?

Illustration available for commercial license from the creative stock library Arcangel