After a misty, drizzly morning, the sun is finally shining after over two days of clouds and rain! I won’t be getting out into the garden today because the easel and writing projects need my attention, but I’m looking forward to getting back into it this weekend.
My four things for this week – A return to an author I enjoyed, a treasure hunt, the season of effort, and another annoying project day.
what I’m reading
I was a little sad when I reached the end of Van Gogh has a Broken Heart, so I was delighted to find the author had written another book about art history mingled with lessons of faith – Rembrandt is in the Wind.
I started reading it earlier this week, and it’s just as enjoyable so far. I’m trying to limit myself to a chapter a day, so I don’t fly through it too quickly. I haven’t gotten to the chapter yet, but this book also features a lesser-known artist, Lilias Trotter. She was a missionary and kept beautiful sketchbooks filled with drawings and watercolor paintings. I have a book of her artwork, but I’m looking forward to hearing more about her in this book.
what I’m watching
Jeff and I just finished Gold & Greed: The Hunt for Fenn’s Treasure on Netflix, and it was such an interesting show! Not only does it follow a wild modern-day treasure hunt, but it highlights deeper, more interesting themes like our need for adventure and purpose, our desire to be a part of a bigger story. It’s also a good example of unintended consequences.
what I’m loving
Winter has always been my favorite season. I love feather comforters, soup, dressing in layers, decorating for Christmas, and snow. I enjoy the slower pace and the cooler temperatures. But, early spring is rapidly rising in the ranks as my second favorite time of year. My friend Stephanie put it well – it’s a season of effort.
“I come alive this time of year. Even with all the ailments that come with my aliveness…achey bones, allergies, sore + sandpaper hands. Oh, the joys of being obsessed with the vision of a summer garden that consumes a fourth of my land, half the sky, and all of my adoration.”
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what I’m working on
Rain and life have interrupted my mulching and planting, but I’ll pick it up again this weekend. (And yes, I’ll move that one boxwood bush a couple of inches to the right even though I don’t want to!) I’m hoping I can get the front bed finished by early next week, so I can start working on some painting projects on the back of the house and cleaning up the side garden bed. In addition to the gardening work, I filled in the holes and painted the kitchen wall where the shelves used to hang, and painted trim and doors in Calvin’s room. My mom and I removed wallpaper and painted his walls and trim last Spring, and I left the doors undone since I’d be able to do them quickly and without moving the furniture. Well, wouldn’t you know it, but they stayed unprimed and unpainted for almost a year!
Last Friday was a rainy day, which was unfortunate because I was ready to do some hard work. Since I couldn’t work outside, I put that energy into annoying projects that needed to be finished. I was able to cross two projects off my list in one morning and, as usual, I was kicking myself for thinking these projects would take more time and effort than they actually did.
The wall is still blank at this point until I decide what to put there. I have found it’s nice to live with a change for a while before rushing into the next thing. Just because I’m used to seeing something there doesn’t mean something needs to be there.
What have you been reading, watching, loving, or working on this week?
2 Responses
Oh, I am welcoming these gray but only slightly rainy days here at my house in order to take a break from gardening and tackle getting ready for my upcoming garage sale instead. My latest layer of the “onion” that is our house is about to be shed as I have been ruthlessly decluttering and hopefully I will make a little gardening money in the process. I have been reminded to always look through each and every book and paper because I have found a $50 bill and three $20s in the past week that were being used for bookmarks??? I’m not even sure who put those in there, but it wasn’t me! So I am getting paid before I even have a sale!
I was surprised to see your reference about Lillias Trotter and her book. I have one that a friend gifted to me when I retired. I had never heard of her, but a church friend also mentioned her later. Amazing!