To Cut, To Cut The Christmas Tree

Yesterday, despite the very cold weather, we ventured on our annual Christmas tree cutting expedition. This is a family tradition that extends to my own childhood. The tree farm we have gone to for the past three years is about an hour's drive from home. This farm actually sell cut trees at a location very near to our house but somehow going to a lot isn't the same as choosing your own tree in the middle of a snow-covered field.

Meeko is always very excited to go anywhere in the car even if he doesn't know where he is going to end up. A tree farm is much better than the vet!

This is Emma and Chloé standing in front of our chosen tree just before it was cut. It was so cold that they actually went back to the car and let Mama and Papa Lumberjack cut it down. There are many goofy photos of the junior lumberjacks that I would have loved to have included but unfortunately I was not given permission.

Here's the tree with its lights on. That's my job. Chloé and Emma then added the decorations. (If you squint a little, you can see one of Geninne's beautiful bird prints on the wall to the left of the tree. We have five of them in our family room.)

Even Meeko is getting excited about Christmas. Actually, I'm not sure he was all that joyful about having reindeer antlers on his head but he was a very good sport about it.

There was a lovely snowfall last night as we were decorating our tree. It's amazing how a little snow makes everything feel more Christmassy. For those of you living in places where snowflakes are rare or non-existant, I'll try to share more snowy photos in the days ahead. Good luck with all of your holiday preparations.

Snow-covered clematis seed heads in our garden last night

Dream in Color

Do you dream in color? I'm not sure if I do. Meeko might though. He woofs in his sleep which makes me think that he must have very nice dreams.

I just bought this t-shirt for myself. I saw it on a woman at the MOMA in New York in July. I went up to her and asked where she got it! Maybe it will inspire me if I wear it when I'm painting. Hope so. I bought it here.

And speaking of dreaming in color, last night I ordered my iMac. Do you ever have moments when your fingers hovers over the 'enter' key. Should I? Should I not? I took a deep, deep breath and did it! It is my Christmas present from my husband (and then some). I wonder if I should wrap it up and look surprised when I open it on Christmas day? I have a feeling that I won't be able to resist using it before that. It's expected sometime next week. I can't wait.

Sweet dreams!

The Joy of Paper

Do you have something that makes your heart go 'weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee', as if you were a young child flying through the air on a swing? That's the feeling I got as I opened this package full of paper.

I finally had a quiet moment to sit and open my order that arrived well over a week ago. It was full of beautiful handmade Twinrocker watercolour paper. Both Geninne and Diana had mentioned how much they liked it. I placed a small order a few months ago to give it a try and loved working with it. I did my painting of the French radish from my garden on it earlier this summer. I also did the painting of the serviceberry branch that was in my last post on Twinrocker paper.

This time, I ordered some round paper (oh, the delicious possibilities) and three different rectangular sizes. I love the feathered edges.

I am wearing my new copper ginkgo ring. It just arrived yesterday. I had forgotten that I had birthday money to spend (my birthday was way back in July). That's even better than finding some change in a jacket pocket. I wear it the opposite way to how the Tattooed Tinker model wears it in the photo and absolutely adore it. And I still have some money left over. :)

Here's a closer look at the ring. Excuse my non-model's hands. :)

If you have an artist on your Christmas gift list, beautiful paper is certainly a lovely idea. You can check out the inventory offered by Twinrocker here.

*  *  *  *  * 

Pssssst! All of my holiday cards are currently 25% off in my Etsy shop.