It may not look it, but the top photo is of an apple tree. We had ordered 3 apple trees earlier this fall from Stark Bro’s Nursery and Orchards. They arrived last week and we got them into the ground just before snow started falling. Thankfully, just a very light snow that did not last long. We tend to have a large number of deer that roam through the place, which prompted the uber-protection that the trees have received. Their trunks…
answered prayers
November 13, 2016Today in Simple Abundance, Sarah references Oscar Wilde, who believed that there are only two tragedies in life: not getting what you pray for and getting it. She goes on to discuss prayers, with all their inherent uncertainties. Are we praying for the right thing? Why do we always seem to receive a “No”? Could we even handle it if we got a “Yes” instead? When I silently pray for peace, for universal freedom, for forgiveness, can I send out that…
cities of the dead
November 1, 2016We had the good fortune to spend this Halloween weekend in New Orleans. I took a bunch of garden photos to share with you later, but since this is Halloween, let’s look at something a little spookier. We walked through Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. According to www.saveourcemeteries.org, this is the oldest of the seven municipal, city-operated cemeteries in New Orleans. This is not the oldest cemetery I’ve visited, but might be the most interesting. The city is built on a swamp, so the…
seasonal changes
October 13, 2016Fall is progressing nicely here in Loveland, OH. We have had some unusually warm days, well into October. That is likely why there are still some peppers holding on. The average first frost date here is sometime in October, tending towards the latter part of the month. The garlic has been planted and covered with straw. I am hopeful for a good crop come next summer. I do have some lingering concerns about having planted it in containers, which sit…
fall gardens
September 29, 2016Fall has arrived. The temps are in the sixties, it is gray and rainy, and the leaves are coming down. The walnut tree in our front yard always seems to be among the first to start dropping them. That is the sure sign. This is not always the most fun time of year to be a gardener. There is the cleaning up and the putting away. This year, I am doing some new things to keep the garden going for…
art & spirituality
September 19, 2016Julia Cameron makes the statement “Art is a spiritual transaction.” In fact, it is the very first sentence in the introduction to the 10th anniversary edition of The Artist’s Way. I suppose that belief depends on one’s outlook, as do many things. She points out that artists throughout the centuries have spoken of inspiration coming through God or the angels. Steven Pressfield has some really cool things to say about this topic in The War of Art. He quotes Xenophon, an…
wait it out
August 31, 2016Have you ever found yourself in a creative drought? It seems as if these periods just come upon us. Maybe they are the result of simple fatigue, overwork, pressure, the desire to sit on the porch for five hours on a beautiful summer day, or…who knows what. With so many projects on the (literal) drawing table and in the sewing workshop, I am finding any reason to do something else these days. The most creative thing I’ve done in the…
twists and turns
August 24, 2016Like most of us, I have worn a number of hats in my life…I’ve flipped burgers (never again!), helped heal many dogs and cats as a vet assistant years ago, and performed laboratory tests to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of AIDS patients. I did a brief stint testing used motor oil and diesel fuel for abnormalities indicative of problems with the heavy equipment they were used in. I’ve cut many a yard of fabric while working part time…
failure?
August 15, 2016Today in Simple Abundance, Sarah tells us that sometimes ignorance is bliss. She says that it can be a protective blessing. If we knew our work would fail, would we still make the attempt? Yet, she points out that failure is vital to the creative process. We might even say that failure is necessary to be successful at anything we are trying to do. When I first planted my corn seeds and then lovingly nurtured the seedlings all those weeks, dreaming of…
creativity
August 8, 2016I’ve been reading a book called Body of Work by Pamela Slim this year. While I’ve read it only intermittently, a few pages here and a few pages the week before, and so on, it has been helping me gain a new perspective as I reflect on my life’s work and my creative vision. On page 99, she writes of an interview that Piers Morgan of CNN did with artist LL Cool J in 2012. Piers asked him what we needed to…
