A Green Winter Solstice
For all my writing about loving long days and how I would fight to the death to keep Daylight Savings Time legal, I have a confession to make:
I seriously love the Winter Solstice.
Perhaps it’s that I love (and maybe run at) extremes, and the celebration of an extra long night of stars (if it’s not perpetually raining here) is as enticing as a lingering twilight.
Perhaps it’s because everything in me is hankering to hunker down to a “long winter’s nap” under a fluffy, fake-fur blanket with a cup of tea, homemade cookies, and a book.
Whatever the reason, I’m full-on celebrating it this year by (drumroll, please)…
Taking 2.5 weeks off!
Yes, really.
Off.
Ok, well, I never take time off from my tangible creative work, but I am taking 2.5 weeks off from screens (except for reading and listening to who-done-its).
That means:
– No admin
– No back-end website stuff (please, oh please, dear Gods of the Internet, do not let my site break again until at least next year!!!)
– No social media (As if I ever did any…)
– No course prep, video editing, or uploading things to the class dashboard.
– No making Filigree Wire or Powdered Solder, tool prep, or packaging (You’ve got until Dec 16 to get those orders in!)
Just me, a paintbrush, and (occasionally) a hammer
Radical
Granted, this all hinges on my getting everything finished by my staycation date, but I seem to be on track…
…or have forgotten to put critical things on the list.
Either way, I’ve been intelligent enough to build time in January for the inescapable unforeseen tasks.
I do have some household projects in mind, but resting is at the top of my list. Seriously…And it starts with Winter Solstice prep.
The completion of my husband’s pottery studio and the more recent moving of his former kiln shed on our deck has freed up space for my tiny, dream greenhouse—a necessarily late birthday present from just before the Summer Solstice. My son has been putting it together in the brief breaks of the seemingly endless rain days. Expect more pictures.
I’ve never had the greenest thumb, but that’s never stopped me from taking inspiration from a world of plants. Here in ‘Hotlanta’ as I draft this post, it’s currently 64º F, and my geranium and coral bells are blooming wildly on my deck as a vivid reminder of climate collapse. Since it can just as easily become Snow-pocalypse come March, I’m slightly less hampered by weather and space to grow what I like (and what seems to like me).
Aspidistras abound!
Succulents surround!
As the stars peak through Old Friend Tree
Speaking of tool prep, class dashboards, course prep, and getting all one’s ducks in a row before the holidays…
The Early Bird Discount for my 2023 Extended Eastern Repoussé Online Course ends December 19th.
This new format features a much (much, much) longer period to access all the course content and get your questions answered. Even if your 2023 gets off to a hectic start (and don’t all New Years get off to a hectic start?!?), you’ll have plenty of time to work on your projects and level up your skill set.
The Extended Eastern Repoussé Online Course will not repeat again in 2023.
It’s also required as a prerequisite for my upcoming Eastern Repoussé Rings & Cuffs course (September 2023), so don’t wait!
Sign up before December 19th at 11:59PM and save $125 off full price!