Getting Back to Work

No ... that doesn't mean I'm clocking into a 9-to-5 job somewhere. Sadly, my legs are no longer up to that. But it does mean that I'm back to painting and writing! This book is finished now:

If you'd enjoy a read-aloud of "The Thanksgiving Mice," here's a youtube video I did today. However, my nice camera acted up, and the video ends at page 23. So you'll just have to wonder how it ends, haha! 

As with my other little book, this one will be for sale. But I have to get it printed first, which is always the trickiest part for me. It will cost $10, just like the last one (same number of pages), which includes shipping inside the U.S.

What am I painting now, you ask? Well, Philip and Kara gave me those lovely paints and that lovely watercolor paper for my birthday. He told me, when I complained about lacking ideas to paint, that I should paint something to hang on the wall in the nursery someday, when they have their first baby, which is not happening yet. I don't want to start any false rumors. But still, I thought that was a pretty fun idea!

Immediately I thought how neat it would be to have a framed collage of characters from my little children's books, for my grandbabies to look at. It would remind them of all the farm animals they love from Nana's (that's me) books! I started with a rough preliminary sketch.

I'm sorry it's so pale. I didn't want to launch straight onto that high-quality watercolor paper without first roughing it out. Six blocks, five containing farm animals, and the sixth one saying "Red Robin Farm."

I started with Bernie. I know, I chopped his tail off. Well, it's for grandbabies, and they are forgiving, right?

 I proceeded on to Priscilla the Squirrel. (I haven't thought up her last name yet.) She figures in a love story I'm writing now, a somewhat one-sided love story.

 And Ned. He is in love with Priscilla, you see. An ill-fated attachment.

I have Punkin and Mrs. Mouse yet to paint, but they will be easy. Then I'll do some touching-up and finishing with backgrounds and probably some rick-rack to divide the boxes. Should be fun!

We exited wedding weekend straight into a death and funeral in our church, our oldest member and much-beloved. Plus many other excitements to keep us from settling back into our calm lives. I remind myself, as so many of you often remind yourselves on your blogs, that God has it all in hand, and all will be well. I need that reminder. Thank you for stopping by and putting up with my yappitiness!

Never a Dull Moment --

(I finished reading The Solitary Summer. I'm still working on Touring Through France, reading it in between other books.)

My mother's mantel. She still had little Christmas decorations up, when I was there for Daddy's funeral. The beautiful clock belonged to Daddy's mother. Adam put a new mechanism in it a few years ago, so Daddy wouldn't have to keep winding it.

I'm painting away on my next story about the Thanksgiving Mice. 

The farm wife is up very early on Thanksgiving Day.

Mrs. Mouse takes notes on the farm wife's cooking.

I'm working on the dining room picture.

I've had very sweet responses from friends regarding my "Punkin" story - thank you! It was fun. I'm now assembling and mailing out the second printing. (If you asked for one, please send your money. If you want one, please leave a comment.) Instead of copying from the originals at Staples, Adam scanned them onto the computer and cleaned them up. Some of the backgrounds I am not pleased with, and I am retouching some images in each book as I send them out. I still have not found a printing option that I am totally happy with. I may need to rethink and start again.

The woes of the spinning wheel!!! I have struggled with the treadle, the wheel, and especially the bobbin. I told Adam it was time I had a real wooden footman, instead of a string. A yard stick is actually just the right thickness. (I may paint it later.)

 The treadling and spinning were immediately better. I'm able to pedal slower, without the band coming off. This means I won't overtwist my yarn. It's just too complicated for words. Will I ever conquer it?
Then, just as the footman was done, this leather bearing broke.

 Goodness! I can't complain, however, because it's probably original to the wheel, and therefore nearly 200 years old. If I'd been spinning a bobbin that long, I'd be ready to be done too. The leather bearing fits in here:

 Adam made one new bearing for me (on the right below), so now he's making me another. They are so stiff when they're new. 

I have much to learn. 

Our weather is warmer. We worked outside today. My baby chicks are doing just fine.

This was from yesterday. Today I removed all adult birds from the coop for 30 minutes to give the babies a chance to eat. The mamas love the babies' food, the crumbly, dusty stuff you see there. Poor babies. Their little tails are starting to fluff. Before I know it, they will be big fluffy hens like their mothers.

Oh! Remember these two?

Guess what? They got engaged over Christmas break! Everything got so crazy with my daddy's illness and death, and I'm not sure if I ever said it here. Gramm proposed to Anna in Clarksdale, Mississippi, his hometown. They'll be married here at our church in June. We are just thrilled! They are so well-suited for each other. Anna is busy, planning away in Japan. I'm sure there'll be lots of wedding news this spring.

See you gals (and any guys?) later! Remember ... spring is on its way!

The Cold Week

 Attempting to be more orderly in my work habits, I scoot the space heater into my studio each morning to warm the chilly room. At 9:00, I go to work -- writing, reading, researching, painting, maybe doing some yarn work. Always hot tea. It's pleasant there. Cold weather has made the house a little uncomfortable in the mornings, and the outdoors moreso. We bundle in sweaters and eat hot foods.

I finished the "rustic shimmer" shawl.

 

 

It will be for sale at the market ... whenever I get back to the market. I'm taking a break for at least January. It's no fun to stand shivering by the road on Saturday morning while all your customers are in their pajamas, sipping coffee in bed!

Adam has begun the arduous work of "cleaning up" my Punkin story -- he does all kinds of computer magic that I don't understand to get cleaner pages. The end result is that we'll have the story on a computer file for easier printing.

I'm lettering out my next story, "The Thanksgiving Mice," about a family of mice that have designs on the farm family's Thanksgiving dinner.

 Winter weather is perfect for a jigsaw puzzle. Max and Anne (brother and s-i-l) gave us this puzzle years ago. It's only 1000 pieces, and I don't think any are missing! It's called "Watchin' Barn Raising."

 A sweet friend sent me this lovely bag for Christmas -- isn't it wonderful? It's my new purse. There are no interior pockets, but I have lots of small wallets and zippered containers, and it opens so nice and wide, it works great! Plus, it holds lots of things - a pair of gloves, a loaf of bread ... without becoming the "black hole" that some purses do.

My daddy is rather ill and in the hospital right now. He is 89, and not in good health, but I do love him so dearly. Aren't our elderly loved ones very precious? To me, he is still just the same daddy he has always been -- I know that inside himself, he is that same strong, eminently-capable, dependable, caring 50 year old man who I could turn to for anything. I don't like aging much, but I truly dislike it for my parents. 

Trixie is trying hard to be a good puppy. In the evenings she snoozes with Daddy on the couch until she slides off.

Love to all - we're expecting 3-5" of snow tomorrow. Stay warm out there!

Punkin and Her Baby Mouse Are Ready!

They are back from the printers! The nice people at Staples wrangled with their color printer a bit, but we now have ten copies of "Punkin and the Littlest Mouse" here at the house, folded and stapled and ready to mail away. The cover is cardstock; the pages are on premium paper -- 31 color pages.

Of the ten copies, nine are already claimed. Here are the lovely ladies who have requested a copy:
Lisa R.
Henny Penny
Granny Marigold
my mother
Suzanne H.
Carolyn D.
Blair G.
Deborah M.
Karen S.

(I didn't include last names because some people don't want last names on the internet.)

The book is $10, and that includes shipping. If that's more than you want to pay, you may certainly back out, and I will not be in the least offended. If you would like the tenth copy, please leave a comment here or on facebook, and let me know. First come, first served. The tenth copy has now been sold. Thank you.

I will be making more copies. Adam and I will try our hand at scanning the original pages into a fancy computer and turning them into JPEG images so I can "scrub" them a little of a few ink blotches. Then we'll try submitting them to Staples online for copying, and I'm hoping to get slightly better copies. I told my mother that these first ones (like the original) have a few smudges here and there near the page numbers. And I ran some of the page numbers and one of the color pictures a bit close to the edges, and the copying sliced them just a little. But they are most definitely and adorably homemade, right? My mother compared it to "distressed" furniture, haha. I have written a distressed book :)

If you'd like to buy a copy of the next batch when they're ready, leave a comment here or on facebook.

There's even a Chicken Song of Victory at the end, with a Chicken Coat of Arms. I think you'll like it. 

If your name is on the list above, please send me a check for $10 (or cash) to
M.K. Christiansen
709 NC hwy. 304
Bayboro, NC 28515

Be sure to put your own address in there, and I will turn right around and send you your book.

Thanks!

Of Books and Happiness

I have loved books and reading all my life, but in recent years my reading habits have declined. I read voraciously as a child, avidly as a young adult, and sporadically in recent decades. I have lots of books I've loved.

 

Above are my favorite books. Below are the children's books I've collected.

 But for all of my love of books, how much do I actually read? Not much. I read for a few minutes before bed each night, perhaps a page or two. It's shameful! I claim to be a reader, a book-lover. I feel like someone who claims to love traveling but no longer owns a passport.

What happened? I'll tell you what happened. #1) I had children and began working. #2) The internet invaded my personal time. 

Reading takes mental energy; it is no passive activity. One must engage the story and retain information from the previous 220 pages in order to comprehend the remaining 156 pages.
Right now, that's where I am in Tolkien's The Silmarillion.

It's a thick read, compared to many. I spend much time thumbing through the Index of Names in the back, reminding myself where Dorthonion is, or who Finrod Felagund is. Tolkien's world is worth knowing, worth turning my brain on. But if I read it two pages at a time each evening, I'll finish sometime after 2020!
Under our Christmas tree are about a dozen books for me. (That's embarrassing.) I do love books, I love finding them, and buying them, and fingering them. I told myself, "These are my reading list for the next year." But truthfully, I did not finish my books from last year. Some still sit in their pile, under dust. 
I must get after it, discipline myself, and become a reader again. I must keep my brain engaged, stop scrolling Facebook, and make myself sit for more than five minutes at a time, and put pages between my fingers. Mustn't I?
Have I lost my love of books? Is it wishful thinking to want to be a reader again? Have I lost my ability to concentrate on a plot? Can my diminished brain only be entertained by a screen? Oh, I hope not.

I finished "Punkin and the Littlest Mouse." Here is the cover.

We will be making copies soon at Staples from this original. The cover will be card stock, and the pages will be regular paper. The illustrations will be in color. If you already told me you want a copy, I have your name on a list! If you haven't told me, do so. 

I want to return to books. Somehow, I must extricate my brain from my laptop and immerse myself again in a slower, more creative world, a happier world with less bickering, politics, medical advice, and national tragedy. Don't worry -- I'll still visit your blogs :)  But if I'm not here as often as before, you'll know ... I'm just reading. And being happy.

The Latest Punkin Illustrations/Story

My mother is enjoying my chicken story a lot and says she wants her own copy of it, when it's finished. I may take its pages to Staples and have a few colored copies made. (I only have a black-and-white printer at home.) Anyway, without further ado, here are the latest pages with illustrations:
[All the text, story, and illustrations are copyrighted by M.K. Christiansen.]

Here are a few close-ups of some illustrations. I'm enjoying the painting SO MUCH. It's relaxing and fun, especially as long as I don't mind whether it's perfect. 

 A drop of black ink fell on the page above. I'm still trying to figure out how to integrate that into the picture ....

I'm quickly getting to the exciting ending of the story. It will involve a battle in the hen house! If anybody else out there is interested in buying a copy of the book, let me know. I don't think it will cost much for the copying and the mailing. I'll let you know.

The Grandpuppy Came to Visit

This lovely spot is a horse farm in the county. The Bradford pears are stunning in fall and spring.

Look who came to visit grandmummy and grandpappy for Thanksgiving!!

He brought his parents too.

Philip and Kara swung by Julia's college and picked her up, so we had those three for Thanksgiving. We had the big dinner at church with a table full of friends. It was a very jovial, delicious afternoon!

Beyond dinner with all the trimmings ... this was all the trimmings and then tons of extras!

Julia got to see old friends ~

And Philip deep-friend the turkey!!

The moistest turkey I've ever tasted -- there were no leftovers.

Don't believe the deceptive calm of this photo; Charlie and Trixie wrestled and played and wore each other out straight for four days.

Yes, he is just as adorable and downright beautiful as he seems.

I pestered everybody until at last we drove down for Philip and Kara to see the Vandemere Waterfront Park. Charlie chased his frisbee.

This park is quiet, hardly used, and immaculately designed. It's Pamlico County's best kept secret.

I'd better add a photo of Trixie for my mother, who wants to see more of the newest pup. Mother, she has "Cleopatra eyes" like Katie the Dog used to have. She's getting taller.

At Philip's suggestion, Adam bought Trixie a set of bells. Charlie learned quickly to ring them when he needs to go outside. 

Will Trixie learn that fast?

I've slowly kept illustrating my story about Punkin and the baby mouse. Here are a few more pages.

That's the end of the first half of the story. Wait till you see what happens next!