Recharging

A weeklong vacation to Vermont, good for recharging drained batteries. Food, drink, family merriment, walks. Is it possible to store a reserve of relaxation within one's core, to be drawn on while barrel-assing through the next six-month-long to-do list? Hoping so.

That last picture is Rosalita, but you can call her Petey-Pot-Pie. I do.

Patterns and light

Every year, November coincides with my word bank running empty. Three sentences. That's all I got.

Owls and fiends. Oh my.

I don't think screech owls would gather together all in one tree, in nature. But if I had my way, they would. Each backyard would have a tree for roosting owls and a tree that grows croissants on its branches, and all the leafblowers in the world would be sucked into a dark vortex, and all the people who used to have leafblowers would be punished by having to rake leaves. Ha! Owls, baked goods, and just deserts, those would be my three priorities.

New owls-in-the-snow holiday cards are available in my shop. Also, Fiends of the Kitchen Garden prints!

Happenings

It's been a whirlwind of a week! It was a huge thrill, last Thursday, to have my work featured on Design Sponge, a fantastic blog that has introduced me to so many artists who I draw continual inspiration from. Wow! Thank you! It was also a huge thrill to wrap up a whole slew of packages and send them out into the world - some went local, others as far as Ireland, England and Australia. I am still happily basking in the glow of that.

Then we got to spend some time in sunny, warm Virginia with dear friends (check them out here and here), who took us hiking, fed us awesome food, and told us funny stories. On top of all that, they tolerated our dog, who petrified their cats by her very presence, and did some disgusting things which I won't mention (and which a house guest should never do).

Today is a drawing day. Chickadees are involved. Chilly fingers call for hot tea, because if I continue to drink coffee, my head will explode.

Harvesting wild cranberries

Some things, like planting garlic in October or picking ramps in April, can only be done with icy-numb fingertips. There is always wind and snow and little whips of changing weather. Now I add picking wild cranberries to the list. Four of us went to our quiet little berry bog on Saturday, and filled our baskets. When we left, the lowest part of the landscape - sphagnum and wintergreen and briar - was still studded with a whole constellation of plump red berries. We didn't make a dent. The next morning, tart cranberry waffles + puddles of buttery maple syrup were deemed a success.

Anyone have a favorite cranberry preparation? I'm looking for ideas...

My Etsy shop is open!

Do you have ducks, chickens, raccoons, cats, rabbits, butterflies, moths and crows? If not, would you like some? I have them for sale in my brand new Etsy shop.

It doesn't seem possible that I've toiled over this shop all summer long, the amount of time it might have taken me to remodel a real bricks-and-mortar shop, but there it is. I've drawn and fussed and typed and photographed until my eyes have gone crossed and my buns have flattened in what could be an irreparable way.

The shop is open and stocked with prints and originals. More to come within the next couple weeks, including woodchucks, the sort of dog who pees on your Most Prized Plant, and notecards!

Zoe Tilley Poster on Etsy

Please do feed the wildlife

When farmers market and gardening season winds down, it's time to go on vacation! And that's where we've been. Matt was so pleased to be reunited with Lake Superior, he took off all his clothes and jumped in.

From Duluth, Minnesota, with Matt's dad and step mom, we drove to the end of the Gunflint Trail in the Boundary Waters, to wait out a night of wind and snow flurries at a lodge where Matt's friend works as a fishing guide. In the morning we had Close Encounters With Wild Foxes, which all revolved around buttered toast.

We paddled into Duncan Lake, and gathered firewood, and hiked on the Border Route Trail, overlooking Canada. I made acquaintance with the tiniest chipmunk I've ever seen, and offered him a small selection of mixed nuts and dried fruits, from which he chose two peanuts.

I'm pretty sure that Minnesotans don't normally haul along their winter tent when camping in the autumn, but if they are hosting a Pennsylvanian, they (very graciously) do. There is a little woodstove in the winter tent, which makes the whole experience deluxe. We kept cozy and cooked lots, and heard the sounds of the wild north country: owls, loons, wolves and wind.