Red Dirt Farm and Studio

What happened to the snow?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The snow never came but the freezing rain did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A dreary day indeed, perfect for snuggling inside with the critters, watching old movies, and catching up on the blog.

 

I have a batch of split peas with ham and onion, and garlic slow cooking in the oven, that will be our meal for tonight.  Mr. Red Dirt recently won an Instant Pot.  Lovely people have shared their recipes with me.  The thing is, I rather enjoy cooking, even though this year I have found it to be somewhat tedious.  I enjoy the process, and to me, instant and food just shouldn’t be in the same sentence.  Now, if I was a young working outside the home mom, I could see where such a device would be very handy.  Me, I’ll stick to the old fashioned way of slow cooking.  I enjoy the aroma of my dutch oven heating with a special meal inside slow cooking all day.  Yep, I pretty much don’t even use the crockpot too much, except in summer when I don’t want the extra heat in the house.  How about you?

 

I recently became fascinated with the idea of making clay sculpture thingies.  I went on-line ordered the clay and started crafting, of course with no idea what I was doing.  So far I have made mushrooms and acorns and sweet blue Robin’s eggs that fit just inside wire nests, which I made.

 A local teacher offered a beginner ceramics class, a whole different thing, but I decided I was going to take that class.  It is just me and one other student and the teacher.  We are all in isolation pods with good air circulation, wearing our masks.  We meet once a week for an hour and a half for four weeks.  Let me just say, I rather stink at it.  Yes, the first piece I made was beyond a hot mess.  I’m not discouraged though, because this is for fun. Hopefully, I will get better with practice.  I think the second piece I made which is a wall pocket will turn out better.  We haven’t glazed or fired our pieces yet.  I’m anxious to see the results.

 

We are so far, healthy and getting through this year.  Like many folks it is a struggle in many ways, we have to remember to count our blessings.  Sometimes, I get mad at having to be thankful for the good little things and I just want to say why all this?  Yes, I did hit a particularly bad patch a few weeks ago.  The heaviness of this year and too much personal stuff on my plate and then I got blindsided by an ugly hateful demeaning encounter that took me to my knees. It was as they say the final straw. I rolled in self-pity and anger for a while.

This week I closed down my farm stand art wagon.  Chasing this dream was no longer enjoyable and had become a tremendous burden.  I’m resting and planning for my next adventure, whatever it may be.  Meanwhile, my walls are plastered with my un-sold paintings, and they are bringing me joy.

 

I am heading to the pantry to gather ingredients to make Christmas sugar cookies, Mr. Red Dirt’s favorite.

Things are very low-key this year, just a few decorations and two Charlie Brown-style trees, which we cut down from our property.  Not buying a tree was a way of us cutting costs, and quite frankly, I am really enjoying the simplicity of them.  It may just be a new tradition.

 

Until next time,  Be well and safe!

xo, Kim