Since I was traveling this week, my four things list is a little different. I think that’s what I like about sharing some favorites in this format. Each week will be different depending on the season and what I’m up to. It’ll capture a snapshot of what I’m up to. My four things for this week include periodicals, a Holocaust story, beaching, dining, and planning. Enjoy!
what I’m reading
Although I brought a bag of books with me (naturally), I haven’t been reading any of them this week. We’ve been busy going to the beach, driving through coastal towns, sightseeing, and eating all the good food around Hilton Head Island. I brought along some sketchbooks, paints, and other ort supplies and I haven’t even opened the bag! We usually have more time sitting around in the beach house, but this trip has been about exploration. So, the reading I have done has been in short snippets. We stopped at the Barnes & Noble on Hilton Head Island, which was a treat since we don’t have one close to us any longer, and I found a couple of delightful art books (one on Turner and one on making pigments and dyes out of mushrooms) and picked up a short stack of magazines. I got Where Women Create, In Her Studio, and Plein Air.
what I’m watching
I’ve had We Were the Lucky Ones sitting on my watchlist on Hulu for a while and finally started watching it. The series is based on the novel by Georgia Hunter and, five episodes in, I am enjoying it. It is well-made and tells a more sweeping, overarching story of a Jewish family during WWII than other books I’ve read and movies/series I’ve watched on the subject. Through limited options and force, they are scattered around the world trying to survive, to find a safe place, to build a life, and to help others.
what I’m loving
Of course, I am loving exploring new beaches, trying highly rated and recommended restaurants, and spending the day in Savannah walking miles around the city, touring an early 1800s mansion, and visiting an art gallery. I am going to write a few posts about my time on Hilton Head Island and the surrounding areas for those who are interested.
what I’m working on
Creative work is always on my brain even when I’m on vacation. It’s not like other work that I want to turn off and set aside when I’m traveling. I’ll set aside staying on top of my e-mail, reconciling accounts, and mundane tasks that are a part of running a business. But being in a new place heightens observation and so much inspiration can be discovered. I don’t want to unplug from that! I want to lean into it and see what I can bring back home.
Since we’re almost in November, I have been giving a lot of thought about 2025 and what I want to focus on. Where do I want to grow? What do I want to accomplish? I don’t have a complete picture, yet, but opportunities on the horizon are guiding me to focus more attention on writing and art. On the art side, I’ve received an invitation to present my work in an art show, more requests to sell my art in retail spaces and for commissioned pieces, as well as new possibilities for licensing my work for prints. On the writing side, I’ve been working on a proposal as well as some other potential future books. It might sound like writing and art is what I already do, and it is, but I have focused more on gardening and home projects this year as well as launching Artist Reference Photos and taking on more blog sponsorship opportunities. While I’ll still do those things, I want the amount of time I spend on writing and painting (as well as making art videos) to increase. It might not even be a shift my blog readers notice but something that means more to me behind the scenes.
For now, it’s just pondering, thinking, taking notes, and the beginnings of a plan.
Until then, the dining room mural and carpet glue on the basement floor are awaiting my return…
18 Responses
Sounds like a wonderful time….but I have to giggle and ask—“manshion” ???
Haha! That was a typo on a quickly-written post! 😂
Sounds like you two are taking advantage of this nice gift! Enjoy to the fullest.
You are at my happy place. HHI is my favorite place in the whole world. We vacationed there for 20 years. Some of my very favorite memories were made there. My hubs and kids love it just as much. It’s been a few years since we’ve been back but hopefully we find our way down there sooner rather than later. Enjoy every minute.
I loved We were the Lucky Ones! Another extremely good mini series (only 4 episodes I think), is All the Light We Cannot See. It is one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time! The book won a Pulitzer so it’s certainly based on a quality novel. Please watch it! Happy to hear you’re enjoying your time away!
There’s a huge Barnes and Noble at the mall in Frederick. I could spend hours there!
I’m glad you enjoyed your trip. We thoroughly loved our visit there!
FYI you’ll be happy to learn is a Barnes & Nobles in the Francis Scott Key mall in Frederick. I was just there two days ago. It was lovely!
I love your high/low! From an art show and writing books to scraping basement carpet glue!
I highly recommend the book “The Girl in the Green Sweater” by Krystyna Chiger. It is the story of how her family lived through the Nazi occupation of Lviv Poland during WWII. Everyone should read it. I gave it to my neighbor to read a few years ago. She is Portuguese and escaped with her family from Angola during the Revolution. They barely escaped with their lives. After reading “The Girl in the Green Sweater”, she said her experience paled in comparison.
I have never been to HH but would love to. Loved Savannah and would love to return.
Thank you for sharing your travels and such. Always fun to learn what you are up to doing.
Website is still very jumpy making it difficult to read your posts without the text skipping around. I’ve tried rebooting and closing out and coming back in but it’s not on my end. I subscribe to several blogs and none of the others do this.
Enjoy your trip.
Diana,
There are 3 dots at the top of the blog page (when you click the link to the blog). Click on the 3 dots. Choose “open in the external browser” and read the blog post on your external browser. The page does not go blank and you are able to read the blog to the end. There will still be ads, but you won’t have the problem you described. Best of luck!
We recently became snowbirds to a winter home in the Savannah area and are slowly getting to know the city. Hilton Head is definitely on our list and I look forward to reading what you’ll write about it.
I’ve really enjoyed the gardening and home projects that you’ve shared on your blog this year so please keep those areas in the rotation in addition to your art and writing!
You inspired me with your brush bouquet at your kitchen sink. I’ve been using an ironstone pitcher I had, but it’s just too small. I’ve been searching for another container, but keep finding ones that have the same diameter opening. Do you mind sharing the diameter of the opening in your jar? (I have resorted to carrying my brushes around with me when I know I’m antiquing, and that’s not the best strategy😂.) Do you mind sharing the height of it too? Thanks so much!
It’s an ironstone sugar bowl with the lid removed if that helps! It measures 5″ high and the opening is 3.5″ wide with a rim that extends to 4.5″.
I always use my summer “relaxing vacation” (as opposed to a traveling vacation), to contemplate next moves. This year I made a big decision to close down my twice-yearly vintage barn sales after a successful decade. I want to focus on art (I’m a retired graphic designer who wants to do assemblages with all the junk I have collected over the past 20 yrs) and writing (must finish novel I have been working on for 10 yrs!)
I, too, am always at work on my house—a 200+ year old farmhouse (in Maryland, btw)—and am easily distracted by new projects.
I recently signed up for a Writers Retreat, and am attending a monthly social gathering of local artists, both at a local arts center. It’s a start! I will be following you for inspiration in accomplishing this feat!
I’m glad to hear that you want your painting time to increase. I would like more prints of your work so I’m also glad to hear that you may be finding new ways to provide those. You are a true artist so I think gardening will always be a part of you. You can “paint” in the garden when you choose plant colors, textures, shapes and heights and create compositions in your borders. It’s a different kind of creativity, but one I think you will always enjoy. It can provide a break from the brush when you are experiencing a block, and then you can come back to your canvas feeling renewed. Thank you for sharing all you do!