Day 18 – My son, Zach dabbles in blacksmithing and he made a hair pin. I liked the shape and thought I’d paint it. Day 19 – After the complicated shape of the hair pin, I decided to paint something simpler. I read a while ago that painting an apple over and over is a great way to work on… Read More »Strada Easel Challenge, Days 18-25
There were quite a few days during this part of the challenge that I didn’t think I’d be able to paint. Painting at night is a big challenge; in seeing details, in dealing with multiple light sources and the multiple shadows they cast, mixing accurate colors when everything takes on a duller and more yellowish tone, and then trying to… Read More »Strada Easel Challenge, Days 11-17
I decided I needed to force myself to paint. Unless it’s a priority, creative time always gets pushed to the end of the list. And it’s been a very long list lately. The last half of the year was dedicate entirely to fighting the transmission line project that threatened eminent domain. I won’t bore you with all the details, but… Read More »Strada Easel Challenge Days 1-10
I was just thinking about how life can change in just a moment. We’ve had more than a few of those moments in our lives over the years. On June 29, not quite one month ago, one of those life changing moments came when I checked our mail. An innocent looking letter that looked like another solicitation to choose a… Read More »Fighting for our land
Our home is surrounded by beautiful flower gardens but my husband has a favorite.
A quick update to a garden planter made a big difference!
Living in Maine, we expect long and cold winters. Our first snowfall usually arrives by early November, and many years we don’t see the ground again until late March or April. We didn’t get multiple feet of snow this year, but it has been typically cold. Even though January is our coldest month, February is the hardest for me to… Read More »Surviving February
Some weeks are so full and busy that it seems one day speeds into the next and time gets jumbled and days get lost in my mind. The best way for me to remember a full week is to write it out, and it’s been a full week! We’ve had two significant weather events – ice on Monday and snow… Read More »A Week in Review
We recently returned fro a trip to Berks County, Pennsylvania. In the last weeks of 2022, my grandmother passed away. She lived for 99 years. It’s pretty hard to sum up 99 years, what she meant to our family, and the legacy she left behind. For all but the last 10 years of her life, she lived in Berks County,… Read More »Away – Berks County, Pa.
I’ve had quite a few friends ask for details about one of our family’s favorite Christmas traditions. We haven’t always done this, but it’s a favorite tradition for 15 years now and any time I’ve hinted at possibly not continuing to do it my children send me looks of horror at the thought. It all started when we moved into… Read More »The Christmas Code