I know, i know...we haven't even gotten past Halloween yet and already thoughts of Christmas are dancing in our heads like the proverbial sugarplums.  That's really not such a bad thing because, as Dickens said about the spirit of Christmas, "I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year".

For instance, take baking.  Between you and me i absolutely hate cooking, but baking i kinda like.  Maybe it's because i'm really a dessert kind of person.  I'll take a cupcake over a chicken leg any day of the week.

So autumn and the impending holidays seem to be a time that even the least Julia Childs types among us pull out our old family recipes and try again.  Don't you just love those old handwritten cards with grandma's favorite cookie recipe, or those yellowed clippings from the women's section of the newspaper with the formula for the perfect white frosting?  Every time i see them a flood of childhood memories rushes over me.....the scents of baking from mom's kitchen, and her delight even at us kids grabbing most of what comes out of the oven. I supposed that's why she did so much baking after we went to bed!

 So, pull out that treasure trove of old family recipes, and enjoy the memories....even if it's not quite Halloween yet.  After all, those memories know no season....

original painting on vintage recipe box, with Christmas ornament! (available on Etsy)

hello october!!!  thanks for the Indian Summer weather, and i'll probably regret this when it snows on Halloween, but brisk autumn days would be much appreciated!  The leaves are changing fast and despite the ultra-dry summer, we have glorious color.  The sugar maples seem to give off their own light as their leaves are soooo golden, and the red maples are redder than i can remember them ever being.

Inspired by this change of seasons, here' what i've been working on!

a fun tray for breakfast in bed when it's too chilly to come out from under the covers!

and these kind of span  autumn through to Christmas!!!!

whooo hooo! we finally have a brisk autumn-type morning! the kind where you hunt for some socks to put on instead of flip-flops and i find the cats curled up on top of the stove or under a lamp light.  MY kind of weather!! I wilt in the heat but this cool weather gives me back some energy!!! maybe not enough energy to face Mount Laundry, but more than enough to paint!!

(ps - love the cooler temps but the snow can just stay put in my paintings!)

"MOONGLOW LAKE RESORT"

doesn't your soul just yearn to get away from it all sometimes? maybe your special getaway place is a seaside cottage, or maybe it's just a walk in the woods or drifting in a little boat on a calm lake...or maybe, just maybe, it's right there in your imagination.....

what brought on this touch of melancholy?  I'll tell you...it's grocery day tomorrow!  I will try to put myself into my happy-place mood!

"Nothing escaped Susan's decorative touch at Halloween"

I don't know about you, but have i told you i am way done with summer?  I am sooo ready to pack up the over-worn sundresses and raggedy shorts in favor of cuddly sweats.  I'm ready to quit with the sunflowers in vases and break out a pumpkin or two, maybe a ghost and some corn stalks on porch posts.  And if we get one more day in the upper 80's, honesty i am going to add a few fake snowmen to my decor just to fake myself into thinking it's cool out!

Sometimes it's just good for the soul to treat yourself.   It doesn't take much to make a heart smile...the sight of a perfect rose, the scent of autumn clematis in the air, time with a good book.

I'm thinking this tray would be a whimsical treat for yourself or guests.  Even a pop-tart set on a paper plate must taste better for putting on the ritz...just a little bit!

The thing is, ask anybody and they will tell you i have a super talent for being distracted. Like a Guiness Book of World Records talent.
Which explains my Mount Laundry. It's easy enough to be distracted from that, no talent neccesary really.   If i was truly brave i'd put a photo of it here, but it would probably give you nightmares.
Let me put it this way...our youngest son just turned 21.  The other week i thought maybe i'd work from the bottom up of the pile instead of the top down.  I found a size 4T shirt down there. What does that tell you?

So here's the laundry room of my dreams:

SOLD

And, yes, i painted it while i was supposed to be doing laundry.

Have i mentioned how ready i am for this summer heat to end (at least 3756973 times??).  Well, i can't do anything about the weather, but i can put myself in a cooler frame of mind which is probably why i'm drawn to cool season paintings right now!

"As the Guest Of Honor, Jack got the Best Seat in the House"

SOLD

I don't know if it's because there's a blue moon on Friday or what, but i seem to be on a moonlight tangent.  Last night i even stood outside for a half hour and just stared at our beautiful moon. It had a halo ... i'm sure mom was talking to me.  We always marveled at the moon together.

Or maybe it's because i seem to be hooked on that tv show "Dance Moms".  Before you go 'ugh', i'm not watching it for the momma drama, but because the talent of those kids just fascinates me!  I always wished i could dance.  I always wished i was graceful.  I'd even settle for not tripping over my own feet and bumping into my own walls

Whatever the inspiration, i had this urge to paint a tutu.  If i could dance, i'd want to be the Black Swan just to wear that costume.  Which means i'd be skinny enough to fit into it, too.

Well, one can dream upon a moon, anyway....

            "The Moonlight and the Black Swan"

the summer has been brutal on my gardens...between the excessive heat and unusual lack of rain, so many plants are begging to become houseplants.  They don't like this weather any better than i do!

Hints of Autumn and it's cooler temps appear once in a while, tho ...a few cool nights, the lowering of the dippers in the sky (cool nights are welcome, dark at 8pm is not!).  A good time for a walk in the woods to look for souvenirs of summer, inspired this painting  (S0LD)