Catching Up on This and That

I seem to have lost my blogging rhythm.  Where did it go?  Well, I will settle back in at some point.  Perhaps I need to set myself a schedule. Or not.  See? I can't even commit to the idea of a schedule.  I figure that this period of my life is about finding New Normal, so you'll just have to bear with me.

So far, New Normal has involved reconnecting with some friends, which has been lovely.  I've picked up my ink pen and paintbrush and I'm getting reacquainted with how it feels to look and see and draw and paint. Online classes with Jane LaFazio and Val Webb have provided great inspiration and instruction -- not to mention some deadlines to push me forward.

New Normal meant getting back into my sewing room to make a new art quilt too.  Yee haw!  That felt good!  I'm afraid I can't show it to you, as it is for an exhibit which prevents publication before a certain point, but here's one of the several inspiration photos that led to the piece I made.
 

I've been reading a lot, too -- we've had some gray rainy days that required just curling up on the couch with the novel du jour. Some of the better books I've read are:

 

Families and Other Nonreturnable Gifts, by Claire LaZebnik,

 

Cover of Snow by Jenny Milchman, and

The Tragedy of Arthur, by Arthur Phillips. 

Of course, there has been real life work, and household stuff, and the homeschooling adventure... but I feel like I'm starting to feel like ME again.