My honest reality

 This is how I'm living these days. Seriously. My art room is symbolic of my whole life: personal, spiritual, literal.

I'm enjoying the online goodness about decorating, traditions, finished projects. But I haven't done one thing. Not one present bought, not one decoration hung, not one fruit cake baked. Ok, there won't really ever be fruitcake.

On a thankful note (gratitude still comes effortlessly to me - that must be a good sign), the Winter sun is so great in my art room. Considering how tall the ceilings are and how many windows I have up here, this space is dark-ish most months. But in these pre-holiday days, the sun shines extra brightly it seems, exactly when I need it. And that gives me hope. xo

Sweets 2012

Last garden post of the year! Promise! We had an hour and raced out to dig up our sweet potato harvest, having no idea what we'd find after such a hot summer. 

For the first time ever, the potatoes were peeking out of the ground waiting to be picked. We didn't have to hunt at all (which is good and bad...bad if you're eight and enjoy the digging-for-treasure part of this tradition).

 

Our pile kept growing...

and growing...

 

and growing!

 Look at this big bunch - again, they just kind of came out of the earth effortlessly. It was fascinating.

 Here's a closeup, because I'm weird about this stuff and delighted to show you a closeup.

It was a great harvest and we are very thankful! Potatoes are now laid out single file on newspapers in our basement.

Questions for next year include: Can I save a few of these to plant in the Spring? and Is one supposed to rotate potato crops around their yard/garden space? We've had three years of growing here now, the dirt is like black gold, and I'm tempted to just keep planting them here. Opinions? Answers?

Happy Thanksgiving week! xo

....and exhale...

Well, what a difference two months make! I have missed being here and if anyone is still here with me, welcome back. I have a lot to share, but first I'm going to simply recap my time away...

I started and finished a new after school art class for preschoolers called Art Outside.

 Our beautiful girl turned 14.

 

 

 Halloween came and went.

 

Joey and his friend were One Direction - get it?

 

 I participated in Craft Out Loud and sold 29 journals - a record for me in one sale!

 

 I also took a break from reading art blogs (details about that soon) and came back to discover the arrival of Ms. Amelia. Talk about making your heart sing (and keeping things in perspective - it was also election season as I was away)! Hooray hooray! 

So much to tell, so much to share! Happy happy November! xo