Hello beautiful Souls!
What a summer it has been. I have had a joy-filled summer of painting with happy colors and making happy, joyful art. It just seemed to be that it was all about the flowers, flowers and color every time I put paint to brush and started a new project the flowers just wanted to dance across every surface.
I have displayed my art at several small shows this year, and it has been a good experience for me.
Floral Still Life Acrylic on wood
I started to write this post some time ago I never finished it, my computer died. Fast forward a few months and I finally have a computer again.
Autumn is upon us, with the golden colors and bronze light with long shadows that delight.
Frankie Roo, Iris and Frida their sister Violet, is shown below they are chicks I raised in the house this past spring, standing at the kitchen door asking to be let inside.
I opened an Etsy shop the first of October, it’s a bit of work, listing and promoting my art is something I don’t like. I closed the shop for a few weeks while we were away on vacation. In those few weeks without social media and not constantly working on promoting my artwork I found I was happier. I have met wonderful folks on Instagram that have become dear to me, I am glad for that space and those folks. However I have decided to intentionally not work so hard at promoting my art, while this is the time of year to have sales and advertise my small business I have decided my heart will be happier slowing down this season. I have one small local show I will be selling at in December and of course my paintings and other handmade items are available through Etsy.
I am looking forward to decorating for Christmas, baking cookies watching old movies and snuggling with the fur babies.
We celebrated Thanksgiving with much gratitude for another year. It was an especially wonderful time this day – being with my sister. We haven’t been able to celebrate this holiday together since we were kids.
Friday we headed out to a Christmas tree farm to cut our own tree.
We went to Claybrooke Farm in Mineral, VA. Cutting a tree is by reservation only, I made our appointment last week on their web site. It was a beautiful farm and there were many many folks there. Inside the shop where you paid was a line waiting to pay, everyone was masked up for safety. It was a wonderful outing. I met a young woman and her dog that have been cutting their tree there for 10 years. I hope to make this a tradition for us too.
This year we cut a Nordman Fir. It is a bit more open and not so perfectly cone shaped. It has softer needles and is supposed to be a good choice for people that suffer from allergies – like me, it is unscented. We usually have a Fraser fir, I do miss that scent. Last year with all the craziness we were trying to navigate, we didn’t have a tree. This year the tree feels especially magical. I put the lights on today, decorations to follow later.
I hope if you celebrate Thanksgiving that it was a day full of love and gratitude. Were you able to celebrate with family or loved ones?
Thank you for keeping me company,
xo, kim
Red Dirt Farm and Studio 
I love seeing photographs of your beautiful home and surroundings. They feel so warm and welcoming and authentic, and and quite reflective of who you are. Glad you are listening to what your body and heart are telling you this holiday season. Peace and hugs to you!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Judith for seeing and recognizing what is in my heart and who I am. Hugs to you and gratitude your way for your support this past year – I truly appreciate you. xo Kim
LikeLike
Until I was around 45, I lived in the country. When I was still at home, we went out in the woods and cut our own Christmas tree, and my first husband and I followed that tradition. A few years after he died at age 49 of a heart attack, I remarried and moved to the city with my present husband, who is a city boy. 🙂 Since then, it’s been an artificial tree. I still miss the real tree, just as I miss everything about my childhood.
I love the pictures and stories you share here, You have such a lovely, inviting home, Kim; I envy you.
I hope you had a marvelous Thanksgiving, and have an even better Christmas.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such wonderful memories that you share. These words really tug at my heart strings as we are thinking of our future and know that we will eventually have to leave this place behind. For me, living here is an honor – it really is my anchor and my heart and soul. Sigh. I would think that those memories of cutting your special tree each year must linger around your heart. Thank you for reminding me to hold tight to my time here and these precious memories. xo Kim
LikeLiked by 1 person
My older brother owns the farm/ranch of my childhood home, and it is getting too much for him and his wife to keep up. Soon, that place will only live in my memories.
Yes, Kim, hold tight as long as you can…then move on. In the end, that’s what we all have to do. ❤️
LikeLike
I am so sorry that your brother will have to leave that special place, I do understand. It isn’t easy. Thanks again for sharing this with me. Kim
LikeLiked by 1 person
SO happy to find your post, Kim, and love, love, everything… I will look for you on Etsy, I didn’t know about it! The photos are gorgeous and make me nostalgic for New England… one our first Christmas’s we lived in an ice house on a former farm in Coventry, CT (began in an apartment in the converted carriage house and the owner gave us first dibs on the ice house–we co-habited with mice and could see the sunlight between some of the clapboard exterior, but it was magical to us : ) We had a tree decorating party the first Xmas we were in it and everyone was asked to bring an ornament, we still have many 45+ years later. My husband had tagged a large, very tall tree at an xmas tree farm and when he went to cut it down, someone had moved his tag to a different tree, which he realized, but they had not cut down the tree he had selected, so it was meant to be ours… a special memory for us.
Look forward to more dispatches from Red Dirt Farm and wish you a lovely Christmas…your now grown chicks are so adorable at the front door : )
Debbie
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh Debbie what a lovely story you tell of your time in the ice house, it just sounds delightful, mice and all! To have those ornaments all these years later is so wonderful and bringing them out each year must bring you so much joy. When mistakes like getting the tree tagged wrong, I can’t help but think it happened as it was meant to be as you said. It is so nice to hear from you. I hope that you are getting along with yet another unusual year that we are all trying to navigate as best as we can.
My girls are what keep me sane in a world run amuck. All the very best to you, and thank you for leaving your lovely message.
Many hugs,
Kim
LikeLike
What started as a mere hobby has really morphed into much more Kim. Your talents that you’ve shown us in your posts which helped to make your home more creative, not to mention cozy and inviting, is now a fledgling career as well. Good luck to you with it. How I wish I was a country gal – I liked those rambling roses on the side of the house with the vintage thermometer stuck at 40 degrees.
LikeLike
Those rambling roses are many years old and there is something really special about them, they remind me of our early years here and of the dreams and plans we had – we have been very lucky to realize many of them. Sometimes it seems as though it were just yesterday that this young couple moved here and began our life together and then other times – well it seems like a long time ago! I am enjoying my creative time – that’s really what it is all about. Thank you for your kind words and for coming to this place and spending your time.
xo, Kim
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was in an old cemetery (about 150 years old) and I taking pictures and they had these pink rambling roses along a wrought-iron fence. I figured no one nurtures them there … the cemetery is cared for on a volunteer basis only, so no one is worrying about black spot or pruning. They were so lovely. That’s a nice story about the roses and your life together so far. It’s fun to indulge in creative time and discover new talents. Your site is special Kim – always so calming with the beautiful pictures inside and out.
LikeLike
I LOVE your art. And of course your photos are always jewel-like and especially beautiful. I hope all is well with the chiken folk. I love seeing them in your house! I’m getting out my Christmas movies too…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Sweet Friend, I miss you. I missed catching up on your beautiful world, I will be by to read along. I often think of your creative talent and try not to compare, but find myself wishing I had a wee bit of yours.
That beautiful painting you did of Stanley Roo is still my favorite and it gets so many compliments when visitors come to my house – though it has been very few these past two years with the world conditions as they are. All the very best to you – the girls say hello! xo Kim
LikeLike
I am so happy to see your recent entry and it has lifted me up in so many ways. Your booth is so inviting and colorful and shows such inspiration. I love your carnival glass and other beautiful glassware, so warm and cozy. The tree farm brings such memories of New England, my husband and I cut ours for many years and it was such a fun event. The bags of fresh cut greens is mouthwatering….such a blessed season. Merry Christmas to you both. Ginny
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am sending you so many warm hugs filled with many blessings. The tree farm outing was so wonderful and I hope we can do it again and again, although we know our time here on the farm is coming to end most likely and that’s very sad. But that’s for another time. Today we must be happy and fill our hearts with love and joy. Happy Holidays to you too. Thank you for writing, Ginny.
LikeLike