November Comes with Yellow, Russett, and Gray.

"Everywhen"

10" x 10" hand painted collage papers and graphite

Tomorrow is November 1.  It is my birthday month...Thanksgiving Day and in the "olden" days it would be parent teacher conferences.  A month of muted colors following October's wild autumn bowing out.  November's pale faded golden corn left in the field rustles in the wind sounding (if you walk down the farm road) like a kind of orchestra of brushes.  Forests and grass turn yellow and brown and along with some dusty blue-grays of the last grasses and with dark hulls and black/blue seeds flying in the wind.  Everything is muted.  You smell woodsmoke.  You search for your mittens.  A fuzzy robe feels super in the morning with your hot coffee.  

 

We streamed church AGAIN today but are going to be in-person for communion for the first time in I cannot even remember when come next Sunday! After church Zoom coffee discussion group today we talked about "thin" places in our lives.  Ya know thin places?  

 

After  a busy week  we'll head down to Lemont, Ill on Friday after my class to see our 16 year old grandson, Pat, perform in his school play that evening.  A radio play adaption of It's a Wonderful Life.  What a nice way to start the holiday season.  Just a quick trip down (about 3 hour drive) and my daughter, Julie, is coming too.  We'll stay over and come back Saturday morning after brunch.  I am bringing my mom's favorite coffee cake for the brunch.  We'll be celebrating Mike and Marie's October birthdays too.

 

Next week Julie and Mark are taking us out out to dinner to celebrate MY birthday.  The restaurant is called The Old Fashion.  I love an old fashioned brandy sweet (once in awhile).  Come to find out that was mom's favorite cocktail too (my sister tells me).   

 

 

First Frost Thoughts

I know, I know.  The 31 days of October are not yet over. But it always happens that when I am within 6-8 days of the end...I can't stop and I just keep on going.  

This year was not my favorite group of tangles.  Or maybe I just was not "in the mood" as normal.  But Stephanie just didn't pick very fascinating tangles, to my mind.  There are probably 3 that I would draw again.  

Julie and I have been rock painting on and off this month.  These are about 4" across.  

I've been doing a lot of reading this month too...which uses up my time as well.  I need to get back to my journals which I am missing.  

Greg and I got our booster shots and flu shots this week.  We had no reaction (other than a little sore arm).  But that just last one day and we were back to normal.  Now I wish this for everyone!   I am just SO tired tired tired of this pandemic.  I am sad for the losses.  Sad for those who can't seem to see the need to help this get done.  

We had our first frost this week in Madison.

Time for the baked apples and the pumpkin pie.  

 

Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig

One of my favorite fall sketches (so far) was a walk along the road sides up north near the cabin on the 28th of September along Tippecanoe Lake.  Autumn comes early in the north woods and sometimes almost 2 weeks ahead of central and southern Wisconsin.  The pines lose needles too and there is a soft layer of yellow pine needles on the roads.  We had such fantastic weather all week prior to the closing on Monday, Oct 4.  A lot of hard work the last few days but my step-son appeared and helped out.  

Then, just before we left, Julie and I took one more talk and I found a Solomon's Plume that had striped itself in a way I'd never seen before.  One berry left and two minuscule berries.  

Then a couple quick little tiny sketches in my carry-in-my-purse notebook at two of the evening concerts here this week at University Woods.