IMG_9540elk good IMG_9548elk good IMG_9562elk goodOne of my Christmas gifts from Robert this year was paint!  He is currently out in my tremendously dismantled studio painting the walls for me.  Finally.  The metalsmithing side of the building was a truly awful mocha hue when we moved in and for whatever reason, I never took the time to change it.  Let me rephrase that, mocha isn’t an awful color, it can be very nice in some situations, but it is dark and dismal and sort of…grubby…in my studio space.  The room is being repainted in a feathery light grey (almost white) and one wall, the one that hosts my pellet stove, will be a deep, deep midnight blue.  Delicious.  Rob is also building me a new modular shelf unit for this wall to display all my inspirational bits and bobs I find whilst out on my rambles in the wild and wide open.  It’s going to be a sort of gallery wall for me and I look forward to it being finished, very much.

In the meanwhile, while the studio is down, and I’m in the throes of recovery from the jabberwocky of a cold I had last week, I have had plenty of time to set the entire house in order, purge a few cluttered corners, launder all that needs laundering and best of all, I’ve had time to slow down and read and sketch.  I’ve been doing so very much sketching, everything from blind contour drawings to more detailed sketches of beautiful tiny things, and rabbits, too, as always.

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Something I listened to last night.

A wonderful interview.

The book I have started to read.

The music we are hearing.

I’ve been meaning to mention Susannah Conway’s brilliant end of year workbook for weeks now.  We did not travel for Christmas this year.  It was our first year ever simply staying at home, by ourselves, having a quiet and relaxing time.  I had time to look back over the year past and lay some bricks for a path forward into the new year.  The hurtling speed of December usually results in me bellyflopping into January and simply keeping on keeping on.  Not this year!   This year I pinned the 2014 calendar to the wall with intention and momentum and managed to wave 2013 goodbye with a plenty of grace.  I don’t think it’s too late to take on this work book.  It’s basically a collection of writing prompts that help a gal look at the year past and prepare for the year coming.  Thanks Susannah.

Hope you are well, darlins.

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https://www.thenoisyplume.com/blog/2014/01/05/7476/

I have loved Hey Rosetta! for a long while now and am prepared to claim them as one of my all time favorite bands.  But here’s the truth, this music often makes me cry, and not because it’s quiet and pretty, though it is pretty and sometimes quiet.  If I cry, I cry when a song hits full zenith, when the guitars, drums and violin have crescendoed to the point of bursting.  I don’t know why.  I just do.  I know music is about personal taste — so much in life is.  But this band brings me home (and sometimes I feel so far from home), not just because they sound intrinsically Canadian to me (and yes, Canadian music has a sound to it, just like bands from the UK have a certain sound…or singers from Iceland…) but because those guitar chords whack away at something in me.  Like a whipper snipper!!!  No.  Not a whipper snapper.  A whipper snipper.  If you are Canadian, you know what I refer to.  I hope you like this.  It’s lovely, it’s beautiful and eventually it’s sad…and I can’t help but wonder where she went.

Aaaaaannnnddd, I owe you a real blog post.  I’ve been sick.  I’m getting better.  The blog post cometh, by and by, it cometh.

Happy New Year!

https://www.thenoisyplume.com/blog/2014/01/03/7471/

Wapiti

IMG_9276elk goodIMG_9280elk good

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Run on, boy!

IMG_9041elk goodI had a glorious skijor with the Tater Nation two mornings ago.  The wind was wild and whipping, Tate was running for the pure joy of speed — thrilled by his own power and cheered on by my calls to put his heart into it.  The chickadees were singing, the creeks tightly frozen and the world was a peaceful place, even when a pack of snow machines swarmed me like a flock of bees.  Sometimes the best way to wake up is to wake up in the cold, fresh, winter world.  I wish it could be winter always.  If I didn’t like gardening so much I would move to the Arctic.

The Majestics

IMG_9016 IMG_9021 IMG_9129 IMG_9143IMG_9211elk good[Images taken on the South Fork of Mink Creek Idaho, South Fork of the Snake River Idaho, and Teton National Park Wyoming.]

I’ve seen some beautiful things lately.  When I wasn’t gobsmacked with awe and utter thankfulness to the Creator, I remembered to retrieve my camera and snap a few shots for you.  Our world is such a beautiful place.  I am married to it, heart and soul, forever.  I hope your holidays have been nothing short of incredible.  More soon!

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