AROUND THE YARD: February Snow!

This past weekend the most beautiful snowstorm hit the Pacific Northwest. It approached slowly, with no attendant winds, no wet gloppy flakes, no power outages, no trees down. Nope. Just soft, dry, slow-falling snowflakes. Slow, but constant. And we awoke to pristine, footprint-free, acres of snow. Well, there were a few footprints where a couple of deer had walked through, but that just added to the charm.

Low temperatures froze the water in the rain chain. I stood warm and dry on the front porch and simply admired the view.

Looking out the back windows, there was nothing but beautiful trees (and a few rhododendrons), all covered with snow. So pretty.

And then I focused on just two tree trunks, one seemingly wearing a snowy skirt, for sheer simplicity.

All photos shot with a cellphone.

©Copyright 2021 Carol Leigh

 

Giving care and remaining sane . . .

When someone you love needs your care, of course you help. To make their situation as good as it can be. No question.

In my case, it means suddenly doing things I've not done with any regularity (if at all) in the past 30+ years.

Things he was better at than I, things he enjoyed doing (grocery shopping, for instance) that I loathed.

And it also means being less selfish, being more other-directed. A novel concept for me.

I am getting better at it. Step by small step. One task at a time.

My big achievements this past week? Cooking meals.

In a previous life I cooked a lot. Was decent at it. Until I married someone who managed restaurants and loved to cook. It became easy to take a back seat. Good food magically appeared.

Poor guy. Now I'm in charge of grocery shopping, food prep, and cleanup.

I call him from the grocery store. "Where's the pesto we like?" Or "I can't find Hunt's canned tomatoes. Is Signature brand okay?" 

And he knows. And I learn. 

So here are the ingredients I prepped for a quiche last week. (Broccoli, onions, zucchini, multicolored new potatoes, mushrooms, etc.) And he allegedly liked it. A few too many veggies for his taste, but there's a new sheriff in town (me), and these things are gonna happen!

Photo copyright ©2021 Carol Leigh

This makes me happy!

I sell prints of my work through Fine Art America/Pixels and usually never know who purchases my pictures. I get announcements from FAA letting me know what's just sold, the size, and the city/state in which the buyers lives. So when a buyer leaves feedback like this, it's always welcome, giving me a small connection with an actual person as well as insight regarding what they liked.

Here's a screenshot I took of these two reviews that were posted on FAA a couple days ago.

 If the print is too small for you to read, here's what each one said:

"When I saw this piece, I fell in love with it and knew it was 'the piece' I was looking for, to add to my kitchen wall. It's so beautiful and I will be back for more of Carol's work. (I purchased two already!) Thank you"

"Beautiful work! I love it! It goes so perfectly with a few other pieces on my wall. I love the look and feel of the wood, as well. I'm for sure a new fan of Carol Leigh! Thank you!"

Here are the links to these two images on FAA, which can be seen in high resolution.

"Burnt Orange Collage"
"Seasonal Shift"

As an artist, it doesn't get much better than this! Woo hoo!

Images copyright ©2021 Carol Leigh