~Home Again ` Home Again ~ Jiggety Jig~

 

Hello again my friends and welcome back to my original blog which I started back in...oh my heavens, 2012...  This is where I should have stayed, rather than flittering off to other "lands" only to find they did not suit me.  This is so much more personal...easily worked and maintained and best of all, easily personalized for a look and feel that is all ...ME.  

As I go forward, I am not going to commit to being here at any given time ~ I will just pop in and post when I have something to say. The brief time "off" I have taken, over Christmas and New Years .... a bit of WINTERING if you will....has taught me an important lesson.  I need quiet!  In an age where we are constantly told to be ON, I need to turn myself OFF...or should I say away (as often as my work allows).  Away from schedules, daily to-do's...posting here, posting there, oh, and don't forget here.....  Keeping yourself in the public eye is A LOT OF WORK....finding the right photo, coming up with something to say....it all takes away from the process of actually creating.  You reach a point when keeping yourself ion everyone's radar becomes a full-time job and your window for quiet contemplation to come up with new ideas becomes smaller and smaller.  I need the day to day routine of tidying my house, while classical music plays, baking bread.... the kneading, stretching and folding so meditative that this is where my ideas form, my sketchbook and a cup of coffee in the afternoons, hearing the fire snap and pop, and stitching in the evenings.   I shall become a bit smaller in this online world ~ simply posting, updating, etc. etc.....when I truly have something to share.  

AT HOME TODAY ~ we have lovely sunshine and a mild 33* with a few snow showers on the way.  The last few days have been bizarre weather-wise, with 6" of snow falling on Sunday and then high winds and rain taking over Tuesday evening, stealing away most of our snow.  The winds were so bad in the wee hours Tuesday, neither Mark nor I slept.  They were bashing against the house with crazy force, coming from all directions (which was truly unsettling).  When the sun rose everything on the front porch was bashed about, chairs were on the ground, everything soaked through with rain, blankets, chair cushions and pine boughs littered the front lawn along with countless branches and a few limbs.  In our woods there are a couple tree's down and throughout our little village, many trees fell... power was out for thousands.  Oddly, our power remained on.  Quite unexpected as we have lost our power in far calmer storms.  We have another storm, of the same rain and wind, moving in Friday night into Saturday.... :(   Over the past several days, while this crazy weather bashed about, I have been busy baking and cooking.... Hamburger Soup, Peanut Butter Fudge (I should not make that again as I ate FAR too much of it), Baked Chicken, Sweet Potatoe Casserole and Cheddar Biscuits and last night, Chicken and Dumplings .... AS WELL AS, sketching, writing and stitching.  

I HAVE FINALLY begun the stitching on the project I will be teaching at the Big Blue House Spring Retreat in Tennessee.  CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS.  I am afraid I cannot share details or sneak peeks of this project.

Okay ~ I must be off.  I've a fire to tend and stitching to do.  Enjoy the day friends.  See you soon.  Doreen

Mondays, Aging, Stitching & Baking

 

I woke early this morning, earlier than I have woken since November.  As I grow older I find (or perhaps finally realize) my body naturally moves with the earth's rhythm and this year, I listened to my body's wish demand for "wintering."  I use to force myself away from these natural rhythms, keeping the same schedule for work, life, eating, etc., all year round. However, one of the luxuries of growing older is the ability to listen to your body more...often out of necessity because, as you grow older, the refusal to listen to your body begins to have consequences. **Please excuse me for a moment, I must give my focaccia dough a stretch and fold/slap and shape**   Alright, my dough is now tucked into its proofing container for its bulk rise, on to today's post.... My mind and body are still working together, thank goodness, to let me know what is needed before everything goes awry. Those little hints and pushes have always occurred but when we are younger, we think we have forever to ignore them!  Now that I have reached an age where doing what is best for my overall health is no longer a luxury, I have started paying attention!!!    I go to bed when my body commands I do so, I eat healthier, lighter, and more seasonally, and I keep my body moving....  Eating seasonally has become an important thing for us...more on that in another post. I could go on forever but I actually did not have the intention of this post being about aging...insert eye roll here :) oh, well, I shall put it in the heading and proceed ;)

....I woke early this morning...to cold rain, a cozy fire burning (thank you husband) and the cold winds making the newly open leaves dance.    It may be necessary to burn the fire all day today, rather than simply lighting a morning fire to take the chill off! I also woke to my head swimming with creative ideas.  This always seems to happen during "gazette week"...is it my mind looking to distract me or the process of writing and creating the gazette that brings about new ideas?  I'm choosing it to be the latter. :)    Once the gazette has donned its traveling clothes (a first-class stamp) and is on its way to my subscribers (by the end of the day) I will be free to bring all of these creative ideas to life...but first, I must begin stitching my primitive stool topper, which is part of what set these bubbling creative ideas in motion! I am still playing around with penny placement but I will have that settled and be ready to stitch tomorrow.  

Before I go, I wanted to share a link to the wonderful focaccia recipe I am making.  Again, it is from my favorite sourdough book ~ Artisan Sourdough Made Simple by Emilie Raffa.  Emilie shares this recipe on her website and it is a FANTASTIC one. Here is the link;  Beginner's Guide to Sourdough Focaccia Bread - The Clever Carrot.  

What does this week hold for you, my friends?  

 Until next time, be well, be happy and...be creative :) Doreen

Creating A Spark

 

Goode day dear reader.  I hope this note finds you in goode health and grand spirits.  This week has been gazette week for me ~ the week I take all of the ideas, recipes, writings, quotes, and images which have been forming in my head, for this particular issue, and create something solid with them.  I typically "disappear" during this time as it takes over my days, needing concentration & focus to take the jumble of what is in my head and make it into something worth reading, timely, creative, and enjoyable (all of which I hope to accomplish with each issue).  It also takes flexibility as often what I have in my head refuses to come together in the way in which I had in mind.  Art ~ it does have a mind of its own.   I create the gazette in a manner most would likely find quite old-fashioned.  Building it like a scrapbook page..I start with a blank piece of paper then write my articles; stories, quotes, and recipes then begin cutting and pasting these onto the blank page along with my chosen graphics.  Without a doubt, there are simpler, and more efficient ways of doing this but it works for me and I enjoy it.  It is building something from various materials, much like my other artistic endeavors.  This week a nasty spring cold has added to the  "disappearing into my work" mode as once I "leave the studio for the day" at six, I find myself showering, putting on my pajamas, and falling into bed.  At 6:00 the next morning, I force myself out of bed and find myself wanting to go back to bed while having my morning coffee.  Spring colds....why must you be such a bother!!!

"To make art is to tend the light.  To serve as a kind of lighthouse keeper, for ourselves certainly, but also others who may be lost in the darkness" Anne  Brones.  I love this quote ~ it gives such meaning to creativity.

 Today, while Oliver and I took our morning wander through the yard and woods, I stopped by to visit my returning green friends, running my fingers through their delicate stems and leaves; early spring chives, garlic, rhubarb, Bee Balm, and wild Juniper.  "Hello little Bee Balm, how wonderful you look," Oh, Garlic, you look fantastic"  Our world makes an effort to please and create a spark within us, does it not?  We often take this for granted without ever giving it a thought.  The Bee Balm sparks creativity in my work as I think of a way to sketch their beautiful flowers.  Garlic and chives create a culinary spark and the wild Juniper, creates a spark of wonder as suddenly, we have it in our yard and woods ~ for the first time ever.  Where did it come from???    

This is what I hope to do with my Art... Create a spark of creativity through my creativity. :)

Tis chilly this morning, freezing the water in my favorite little coppery bird bath and leaving glittering frost in shady places.  The sun is warm however and soon, all will be warm and flowing once again.  Today, I must put the final touches on the gazette so that tomorrow I can head to the printers.  Later today, a bit more time working on another new design, a primitive stool topper :).  I am loving the rustic simplicity of it.

Enjoy the day my friends.  Until next time, Be Well, Be Joyful. Doreen

Tuesday, April 18, 2023 ~ Goode day friends

 Goode morning friends.  We wake to a gently falling rain here in Vermont.  The air is a little chilly as I sit by the fire, doing a little stitching and sipping my second cup of coffee.  A group of Robins scurry around the yard, plucking earthworms from the dirt, a job made much easier after yesterday's steady rain.  Mr. & Mrs. Bluebird (my word, the blue of their wings, when they fly by, is absolutely stunning) flutter back and forth as they move into their new home, a nesting box on our front porch, for the second year in a row.  I love watching them, they are shy but determined and seem to have gotten used to our routines and take care of their moving in & nest-building accordingly. :)

This morning, after tidying the house and planning tonight's dinner, I am working on the May issue of The Little Brown House Gazette.  This afternoon & evening, around dinner and yoga class, I will begin stitching a new design ~ a primitive stool topper made with some new hand dyed textures from Blackberry Primitives..they are gorgeous!  :).

What does this day hold for you?

Until next time my friends ~ be well, Doreen