Rainbow Jasper Necklace by Tammy Vitale

Yes, Southern Maryland got snow today.  How early!  How delightful! How quickly it passed.  And how glad am I that there isn’t enough that I need to shovel!

Things to do:

Watch the bird feeder

Play in the studio

Make jewelry

The birds and squirrels came and ate seeds all day.  We have red-breasted nuthatches this year – always a special treat.  They do not come every year, so when they show up, usually in pairs, it’s always a treat.  Much like wrens, they are small, nosy, noisy and funny to watch.  No woodpeckers yet but that could be because I haven’t put up any suet.  They’re kind of picky, except the Flickers (we get Hairy and Downy too)will definitely eat seeds if the suet feeder is empty or too many other woodpeckers or titmouses (titmice?) are around the suet.

Into the studio for a 2nd good day of it.  I have 3 torsos:  1 Kwan Yen with mask for Sacred, a male torso, and the back of a female torso which I think I’ll paint.  Or maybe I’ll try underglaze.  Who knows.  It felt really good to really play and take my time with making these. 

My latest necklace and earrings.  Someday I’m going to get how to wrap well, but in the meantime I’m satisfied with this latest round of jewelry making.  I have enough stones for a bracelet too, but haven’t made that yet.  It takes me a month of Sundays to make jewelry compared to say, Tricia, who owns the Bead Boutique, but perhaps with more and more practice, I’ll get better and better.  And be way overstocked, so I’m guessing I’ll be looking for outlets for jewelry sooner or later (Tricia invites her customers to come sell outside her shop from time to time).

Other things to do:  stand outside and listen to the quiet.  Snow makes everything silent except for the flakes falling and hitting surfaces.  I love that!  Or stand in the woodfire warm living room with hot coffee in hand and gaze out the bay window as everything gets whiter and white. 

I was just out – I thought it was finished but there are big flakes coming down now, so perhaps we are in for yet more.  The ground is not completely covered, yet is has been a surprise treat for me this day to have snow. 

thought for the day:  When you hold someone responsible for what you experience, you lose power.  You cannot know what another person will do.  therefore, when you depend upon another person for the experiences that you think are necessary to your well-being, you live continually in the fear that they will not deliver.  The perception that someone else is responsible for what you experience underlies the idea that forgiveness is something that one person does for another.  How can you forgive another person for the fact that you have chosen to step out of your power?  when you forgive you release critical judgment of yourself as well as of others.  Gary Zukav, The Seat of the Soul