About Our Common Hours

I am bound to praise the simple life, because I have lived it and found it good. I love a small house, plain clothes, simple living—direct and immediate contact with things, life with the false wrappings torn away. To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wild flower in spring—these are some of the rewards of the simple life.

— John Burroughs
from The Writings of John Burroughs, Vol. XV, Leaf and Tendril

michaelmas daisies

About the Author
My name is Kelli Ann Wilson (née Copeland) and this is my blog. I live in Walpole, New Hampshire with my husband, Damian, our two children, Lillia and Zane, and our two cats, Jeeves and Wooster. I enjoy reading, gardening, taking pictures, walking in the woods, and cultivating a faith-filled home (you can read more about that at my website Around the Year—a journey through the seasons of nature & the Christian year).

About the Blog
My blog takes its name from a quote by Henry David Thoreau, in which he praises the quest to find “unexpected success in common hours.” I am borrowing Mr. Thoreau’s phrasing and using it in a way that I hope describes what I’ve created here—a scrapbook of our everyday and shared experiences—our common hours.

I made the header in Adobe Photoshop using 86 individual pieces of watercolor clip art, mostly from ElleAquarelleDesign, but also a few images from LichuArtShop, EastFirePrints, IPurpleMoon, ONEshortdesign, AntelopeArt, SereneDoveDesign, and DigitalCurio.

About the Photos
From 2013-2020, I took all of my photos with a Nikon D5100 camera body, most often with a Nikon 35mm f/1.8G lens or a Nikon 50mm f/1.8G lens. In 2020, I received a new camera body for Christmas, the Nikon D810, my first full frame camera. I’m still learning how to use it, but so far I am loving it—the picture quality is spectacular.