November Before I Knew It

 October flew away, and now we are into the fast downhill race to Christmas. Can we slow it down? I'm spending my days mostly at home, doing my artistic work and household chores. Taking the dogs outside and resting when I need to. This does seem to slow things ... a little bit.

Julia now has a kitten called Leo. She found him in our yard. He was about 3 - 4 weeks old, and desperately looking for someone to take care of him. She is delighted!

Last week I enjoyed lunch with a group of dear friends from church. What a gathering of beautiful souls is our church! I may be the pastor's wife, but these women are all GOOD FRIENDS, and I'm so thankful for them.

I don't think I posted about my trip to West Virginia a few weeks ago. In addition to seeing my mother and other precious family members, I also got to see my grandbaby, John. He's grown so much and is so much fun! 

After canceling our church's community Thanksgiving Day dinner last year because of Covid-19, we are eating together again this year! Adam and I are so excited to enjoy this day again, even if our crowd may be a little smaller.

I participated in an Art Walk in Oriental last week! I felt like a real artist for the evening, haha. It was so much fun, and I sold quite a few cards. Adam and Julia came along for moral support and to help me haul my stuff. I set up by the waterfront and the Tiki Bar. Delightful!

It's downright chilly here now. The low last night was around 40. Brrr! I'm finally settling in to my new routine since Adam took a second job as a middle school science teacher (which he absolutely LOVES). My days are my own, and the house is mostly quiet. I'm making a loose schedule to keep myself accountable to get at least 2 things done each day. It helps. Yesterday was "painting in the morning and resting in the afternoon." (I only do "resting" once each week!) Today is "soap-making in the morning and yard mulch in the afternoon." We'll see if I get that done.

Here are some of my recent youtube videos, if you want to come along with my daily doings:

Making my first beeswax candle:

Making pumpkin bread:

My West Virginia trip (part two):

One more? Just toodling around outside in the autumn and inside my studio:

And here are a few cards I've painted recently:

Enjoy the season! Cherish and savor every day! Soon it will be January with plenty of time to rest and ponder. Now is the season for joy.

Far Away From Home

 I'm over here, a stone's throw from the Mississippi River. Mississippi feels vaguely familiar still - a memory of a home -- but it's not home anymore. Still, I'm enjoying my time here so much. The pandemic makes it so that I pretty much stay in the house, a comfortable place for us introverts. 

On my way to Mississippi, I stopped in Tennessee to see another sweet grandbaby boy who I had not yet seen (because of the pandemic). I spent a whole DAY with him myself, and what a dear, precious blessing he is. This is John:

He is just as sweet and even-tempered as he can be. Don't you love that little shirt they bought for him? (MELT....)

Anna had her baby this weekend, little Ellie Kate. We are all pleased as punch! She has a head full of very dark brown hair like her mommy did all those years ago. She needed a little extra time in the nursery at first, but is coming along nicely. Right now I'm at home with Isaac by myself because Gramm is not allowed to go in-and-out at the hospital, of course. Covid makes everything just that little bit more difficult!

I've been cooking like mad, and I'll throw those photos in here somewhere. I spend hours playing with Isaac, or watching him entertain himself with his toys, which he is masterful at. He's a good sleeper, a good eater, a good player, a generally happy little boy -- just like John! I'm so thankful to have this time with them, real one-on-one time. They won't remember this particular visit, but it still goes into the whole pot of soup that will be our relationship. They will remember me each time they sees me, and at some point they won't remember life without me. Isn't it supposed to be thus, with a grandmother?

We've gone on several walks with Isaac. (I walk; he's in the stroller.) That always calms him down. He loves the outdoors. He loves objects, handling them, figuring out how they work. He concentrates well. 

I've cooked: beef stew, chicken and dumplings, spaghetti, chicken and rice (twice), Clementine Chicken, chocolate chip cookies, and peanut butter cookies. 

And lest I forget, Anna and Gramm have a gorgeous rag doll cat, Chauncey.

I don't know when I'll go back home. Nanas stay where they are needed 😀 Blessings to all you dear friends out in blog land. Keep heart! Stay safe and keep hope in your hearts.

Prayer Cards

A familiar and beloved Episcopal prayer has been used before our family meals for years:

Bless, O Lord, this food to our use,

and us to thy service,

and keep us ever mindful of the needs of others.

In Christ's name, Amen.

Then Adam found a new meal prayer that I loved so  much, and he and I memorized it. While  we were learning it, I wrote little prayer cards to keep on the dinner table, to help us.

On Sunday, he put a new prayer in the church bulletin that I thought would make a lovely addition to our meal prayers, so I made some new cards.

Isn't that a lovely prayer? 

Hurricane Isaias comes through tonight. I wonder if our household will sleep much? Beau is staying pretty close to me.

We have moved Ned inside for the storm. He's scared of storms. Tricky is happy to have him for company. Beau is not much company for a silly girl dog.

We might lose our electricity, so I figured I should bake something ahead of time. I chose peach pandowdy.

I did a little hurricane painting this morning too, using a nice youtube tutorial as a guide. I'm not quite finished with it yet, but the flowers are a good start. It needs more dark/green on the bottom.

Adam is feeling a great deal of  relief from his P.V. symptoms lessening, although taking 60 mg of steroids daily is making him feel not-so-good in other ways. But it's such a relief to have a plan forward that could produce better health. He has an appointment on Thursday. By the next time you hear from me, we will have survived another hurricane!

Watercolor Take-Over

I find myself indifferent to soap-making now, lotion-making, knitting and crochet. Weaving too, and spinning ... even though they were both so cool. Not that I won't do any of that again. But they all have been driven out of my daily life by ... watercolor painting. And because I'm now on the dark end of my 50s, I'm gonna allow myself to do what I enjoy. That's a luxury, I know. I am blessed to be able to make that choice.

I painted a commission for a lady in South Dakota who I met on facebook. 

She asked for poppies. It was fun to communicate with her and paint her exactly what she wanted. Then today I went to New Bern and promptly spent half of that commission! A few new art supplies:

a micron .005 pen, olive green Grumbacher paint, four watercolor pencils that I can't wait to try out, and a dagger brush. Dagger brushes are hard to find. I want a much larger one. I'll have to get that online.

And I finally got two of my watercolors made into note cards. At last!

This is my mother's favorite card. I'll send her a pack for her belated birthday.

 I love these roses:

 The colors are quite vibrant, even darker than the original. The printer did a good job.

 I'll sell them in packs of however many are wanted, usually 5 or 10 in a pack. The cards are $2 each (with envelope, of course). Then I can mix-and-match the packs. I can't wait to have a lot of cards to pick from!

 On the back:

I will do more, but it's kind of expensive to have them made. However, friends have been asking.

I painted this little piece yesterday, and I do believe it is my very favorite watercolor I've done yet. I don't know why. I just love the looseness of the style, the orange/green scheme, and the pen work (why I got a new micron pen). 

This photo of it is too dark. 

Then I did one in a blue jar:

But I like the first one better.

Do you see what I mean about how watercolor has taken over? I'm not interested in doing much else, with my creative time. 

Let's end with doggo photos :)

 Trixie ... we call her Trickers ... is so dainty.
And Beau is so nervous!

Home, Sweet Home

Hello, friends. Adam and I went to Chattanooga for a visit with the kids (AND ISAAC, OF COURSE!!), and now we are home again. Like you, we're wondering how much "home" will play a part of our lives in the coming weeks, or even months. Coronavirus seems to have taken the mind of the world by storm. Some things seem certain though:
1) It will spread, and then it will decline.
2) Many of us will get ill. Very few will die.
3) We want to slow down the spread, for the sake of our hospitals and everyone.
4) We have to adjust our lives for a while.

For a while. This too shall pass. Life will go back to its usual: Hectic. Boring. Routine. Same old same old.

One thing's been bothering me -- why is it that I get the feeling that humans somehow like a good catastrophe? I don't mean we have a death wish, but just that we really want (enjoy?) the occasional massive disruption to our lives. The way we rush to shop. The way we seem to come alive for a disaster. It reminds me of Y2K. I knew a family, who had never before canned anything, but for Y2K they canned meat. Meat! They were united in their anticipation of a good hunkering down and were deflated when it came to naught. I remember the wife's dismay when she realized she'd be throwing out all that canned meat, because they weren't eating it -- it was nasty!

Of course, Covid-19 is already much worse than Y2K, and I think it is indeed a worldwide emergency. However, not all areas will be impacted. Every square inch of the U.S. is not going to be like Milan or Wuhan or Kirkland, WA. High-density populations will be hit harder. A certain percentage of the population -- 40%? 60% -- will get the viral illness. Some will end up being protected by herd immunity as it passes over us like the Angel of Death in Egypt. 

We've stocked up. We're hand-washing. But for now, we're also still going to our local eateries to support them at a time when some customers might avoid a restaurant, even one in a county with no virus cases where only 25 people can fit in the dining room. I never thought there would be an advantage to having a church with only 20 people on a good Sunday, but now I know -- it's a good number for a time like this. We'll have our service tomorrow and evaluate week by week. We'll wash hands. We'll pray.

Can we get all the sick people to stay home? Can we get testing and accurate information? Can our economy coast through the coming weeks? Will our hospitals be overwhelmed? I'm glad to be home. Here's some photos from lately -- I've been quite bad about posting on the blog!
A few cards:

 This one was for my mother for her birthday:

 Chattanooga:

 I love this photo of Kara and Isaac, looking at cars out the window.

 Beau was exhausted by his week with dog-cousins.

Y'all stay healthy. Wash those hands. 

Stay home within reason.