HerbnArts

    Such a busy week!  Only a few more days until Christmas, and I am only starting to get into the mood of the holiday.  After thumbing through some of my craft books looking for inspiration, I dusted off the memory of creating cinnamon ornaments.  The aroma of the cinnamon definitely stirs holiday memories for me.  I still have a lot of cinnamon left from the huge jug I bought several years ago.  It doesn't take much of a recipe to create the ornaments.  For every cup of ground cinnamon add about a 1/4 cup of applesauce to the spice.  I managed to buy my quantity of cinnamon at a bulk wholesale pricing, but if you purchase it in small quantities, it can be a bit pricey.  The cinnamon dough should be worked into the consistancy of any cookie dough.  If it's too dry, add a little more applesauce, too wet, add more cinnamon.  Roll the dough out at about a 1/8 th of an inch thick.  Use any holiday cookie cutters to cut out the ornament cookie shapes.  Set the oven temperature to

    ...It's snowing today!  Nothing heavy, but it's a light dusting that could stack up eventually.  It has been tough to think of Christmas without snow.  Growing up here in Ohio, an integral part of the holiday was the addition of snow.  With no snow, what is a person to do with a new sled under the old Christmas tree?  I can remember getting to go with my cousins to one of the local parks sledding on Christmas day.  My childhood home had a yard that was terraced and that made for good sledding, too.  But I do remember one snowless Christmas in particular when I received my first 2-wheeler bicycle from Santa.  Sharp Christmas cookie that I was, I remarked to my dad that I noticed that there was a little mud on the tires.  Not to be thrown by that observation my dad told me that due to not having any snow that year Santa had to roll the bike in from the driveway instead of bringing it by the usual rooftop sleigh method.  It sounded a little fishy to me, but if my dad said so,

    ...Still terrifically warm here in Ohio for December.  Today was partially sunny, and that was enough to lure me outdoors for a walk with the camera at the Seiberling Nature Realm.  Trees were devoid of leaves for the most part which allowed other special treasures to be found.  Most of the colors were that of dark bark on bare trees and with that neutral background the bright green mosses on logs jumped out at me.  I couldn't resist that soft carpet gently draping over the otherwise dreary logs.  Bright red was the next striking color in the scenery as I encountered winterberry shrubs.  Red from the ornamental crabapple trees decorated some of the higher tree areas located near the dove cotes at the nature realm.  As I walked along the trail I was amazed to find one last dandelion still sporting a modest yellow blossom.  I'm convinced that long after the world ends there will still be cockroaches and dandelions outlasting all humanity.  Amongst the textures of dried weeds

    ...So, the sun is shining today in Ohio.  My mood is a bit brighter, too, for it.  Lately I have felt like I am free-falling through the season.  Yes, I can hear Christmas music everywhere, but so far there is no snow.  There is something about snow that jump starts the holiday season in Ohio.  I've been having trouble getting in sync with the rapidly approaching day of celebration and gift giving.  Personally, I feel like I'm running two months behind.  One thing that helped me get more into the holiday mood was a "fun and discovery" day I shared with a friend.  We travelled to local small shops just to see what treasures of the season we could find.  I grow weary of seeing the same old stuff in some of the retail chain stores.  Small boutiques and galleries usually offer a bit more uniqueness to potential gifting.  We were not disappointed.  Lately I have begun to collect mercury glass objects.  One recent find was a lamp which I snatched up with great glee.  On