Creatures

Matt and I took a long hike yesterday on East Mountain. I like to go out into the woods on Sunday during hunting season - a day of quiet, no shooting allowed, and so I do not have slow-motion fear-visions of bullets ripping our bodies apart. We found a beautifully patterned fossil in some exposed rock - a few feet long and maybe six inches wide - which I declared a dinosaur tail, and Matt thought more likely to be tree bark. With help from google, Matt's ID was confirmed - a dinosaur-era, tree-like clubmoss (they were much bigger back then), and apparently a very common fossil in Pennsylvania. On our way home, we watched a beaver climb out of his pond onto his tiny mudpatch, fold his tail under and out in front of him, roll back on his little round butt, and give himself a good scratch - belly first, then behind the ears.

Still stuck in last week, but this week seems to have begun. I've added three new originals to my Etsy shop, all black foxes, some wilder than others... Happy Monday, everyone.

Black fox

Listening to the book Swamplandia! and dreaming of its dark magic Everglades landscape... This fox is not from the story, but my own gray December imagination.

For Illustration Friday.

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...