my daughter turned 24 years old yesterday~!~even though i took part in the whole process from the very beginning, i'm quite surprised by this event . . . i know that it's very trite and oversaid but, where oh where did the time go~!?!~ she spent her birthday discovering cloud forests in Honduras. i can't imagine it getting much better than that~!~you go girl~!!~ the late summer flowers are swaying in the hot summer sun now and once again, i wonder where the time went . . . around here, the fall season usually comes suddenly and with a vengeance, charging straight into a long cold winter so at any time we could wake up to killing frosts and ruined gardens and frozen flowers. i consider every day a gift from the summer gods and brace for the worst. every once in a great while we have a "real" warm extended fall season but it's rare. so it's hope for the best and expect the worst for us sun worshipers.

this year the strawberries that i planted did terribly. i got less than a handful of very tiny berries over the whole year. they were quite tasty and sweet but NOT in abundance. today i discovered the biggest cache yet~!~ three ripe berries~!!!~again, no bigger than my thumb nail but picture perfect anyway~!!~

earlier this summer i had an arborist tell me that the tree that i thought was a Japanese cherry tree is actually an ornamental crab apple. due to our fabulously unusual, virtually frost free spring, we have an abundance of fruit beginning to ripen. these are also very tiny and once the fall frosts have "cured" them the birds will come and feast all winter long. i'm looking forward to having an abundance of natural bird food right outside my front door and near a window from which i can watch this ongoing winter feast.

the bees know that time is of the essence and are busier than ever in their honey making endeavors.

so, between the cues given me by my garden and the local school year resuming, i have decided that it's time for me to get a bit more serious about my creative pursuits. i've been reading a book by Julia Cameron called "The Sound of Paper/Starting from Scratch" and it has become a helpful resource full of tools to get myself back on a (disciplined) creative path. i have been guilty in the past of thinking that creativity and discipline do not belong together in the same sentence but i'm quite certain i was wrong~!!~as there have been many a night that i have gone to bed feeling like, once again, i failed to catch the comet by the tail and fly simply because i don't think that i have the time or extended energy to do it. Julia councils me that i must be hyper aware of fleeting bits of time and use those productively rather than look for full days of extended energy to work with. i must consider my art important enough to set aside absolute blocks of time for. so i've begun to do just that; set aside specific scheduled time to work on various creative persuits. i've recognized and decided that not honoring these promises to myself is just as bad as not honoring promises that i've made to others. i have always considered myself careful with integrity and given to my full potential (often stretching beyond even that). at least that is how it goes when it's someone else other than myself that i've made the promises to . . . not so much when it comes down to being true to my self, particularly my artistic self.

the next few weeks will be all about re-organizing my schedules so that i can take better care of my creative side with much more loving attention than i have in the past. much easier said than done but i think i can claim a good start.

during this past week i managed to get back to my scrap management projects and finished eight tulips. i also worked on the ongoing Christmas card project for my daughter and card #4 is ready to finish and bind.

i put aside a bit of daily time to work on my sunday postcard art challenge. this is a sneak peek of what i'm working on for the fish theme that is coming up.

AND last but not least, i have uploaded my photoshop elements program. you know the one that i have been dancing around since last Christmas!?! i have acitvely begun tutorials and am making some progress in understanding all that this program will be able to add to my photography/digital art. i am getting excited~!!!~