..........hmmm

THIS WAS ME...YESTERDAY....  Good gracious, I got NOTHING  done!  I did actually make an effort, as I spent several hours and wasted many sketch book pages, trying to sketch a house for our group applique project...I am thinking a house, is not going to happen.   I am not sure what my issue is with this..it should be easy, shouldn't it??? A house..how hard is that to draw and why am I worrying about a house looking to sterile and stiff???  I can add elements to it.....florals and such, to give it character....  I seem to be laser focused on the house being just right .... WHY???  UGH..... I think, perhaps, my muse is telling me to sketch a barn instead.....I'll give that a go and keep you posted :).  

This lack of urgency to my days....no pending deadlines to panic me....is trying to mess with head. I usually have a very busy flow to my work days, and though, I said I was going to embrace this more mellow time and take full advantage of it, to accomplish things I've wanted to accomplish for quite some time, yet never seem to have the chance to do, something in me is trying to hold me back!!  FAR too many "what ifs" were running around in my head yesterday and my logical-self was nowhere to be found. 

hmmmm....I do tend to feel quite burned out, for several days, after the rush of getting The Gazette out the door, and, this issue was particularly challenging....    Coupled with our current state of the world...made it considerably more exhausting.     Well, my goodness, look at that....I guess my logical self has returned and has figured out what my issue was!!!  Thank GOODNESS.... TODAY shall be different!!!  Here we go.....

:~) be well my friends, D

~The APRIL Issue of The Little Brown House Gazette~

Greetings one and all & a very merry April 1st to you.  I hope, with all of my heart, this little note finds you well & doing what you can to endure this trying time.  Currently, here in Vermont, the sun is shining, the air is warming, the Robins are singing, and a soft breeze brushes past my window.  At the moment the fattest Robin I have ever seen is hopping through the front yard....goodness, apparently her larder was full this winter!!!  

*THE APRIL ISSUE OF THE LITTLE BROWN HOUSE GAZETTE.**   This issue was a serious challenge & a joy all at once......  Exactly like the state of our world right now!!  Because of our stay at home orders, I was forced to redo & resize the entire issue & print it, here at home.   It was a challenge, to be sure, but a challenge I am grateful to have had because now, I know it's possible!  But my goodness, it was exhausting.   :~). 

The challenge and joy of it, really resonated with me.  After all, with everything that we do, and everything that happens to us, there are lessons to be learned, things to take from it, memories to be made and yes, even joy to be found, amidst the struggles and heartache.   For me, though our life is a slow and mellow one already...it has become slower still.   Some of it is good, some of it is challenging...Mark & I have time to sit together in the early evening with a cocktail or cup of coffee, chat about our day (and the state of the world) and cook dinner together.   Mark's 12 to 14 hour days are now 8 hour days. Yes, his paycheck will be smaller but, we have savings and we will be okay.  We will spend more carefully..... and, Mark will be able to have some much needed rest.  The kids are healthy and either working from home, off with pay or, still working at jobs that are taking very good care of them.  Our little man (1st grandson Kurt Evan) is getting lots of extra time with his Daddy who is now home.  We miss our children and grandson tremendously but we are doing what we must to stay healthy, and help to slow this out of control train, down before it wrecks.... in our neighborhood!!! 

Yes...cocktails help!!! :)

We are thankful for Video chatting, text and calls And..for all of us, out here in our internet neighborhoods and communities..... we have blogs and Facebook and community groups that keep us all linked to one another. :)  We are finding the good within the bad... I hope you all can find a little something goode to take from this difficult time.

 I  wanted to mention that.   I've lowered the cost of my Stitchery Guild (community of stitchers) to 1/2 price ($5.00 a month).  It is a lovely place filled with friendship, stitching, hooking, punching and whatnot. We are currently preparing to do a group wool applique project, together.

 If you would like to join us (it's free once you join the community), email me at Doreen@vermontharvestfolkart.com 

and I will send you an invitation.    **ps..you may create the group project any way you wish ~ you do not have to work in wool applique.**

One last thing before I go.... I saw this on facebook and thought..my goodness..how true is this...

~for me....I think it will be a mixture of both :)... lol.

~Maple Martini Recipe~

..show in my photo above.

2 Jiggers of Vodka (we like Tito's but any good vodka will work)

1 Jigger of pure Maple Syrup

good squeeze of fresh lemon juice. *I cut a thick slice of lemon & squeeze it all in.

Fill your shaker with ice and pour the vodka,  slowly over the ice.  Add the maple syrup and lemon juice, to the vodka and shake your little heart out (shake it for at least 60 second so it's really COLD).  Pour into a martini glass, add a bit of lemon peel and ENJOY!

Be well my friends ~ Doreen