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 ...

    ...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.  ...

    ...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 h...

    ...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....

    November is moving along into December mode here in Ohio.  Today it is blustery and gray.  Sporadic rain slaps against the windows.  I've had a few days of respite from the Black Friday madness.  Working in retail certainly takes the edge off of enjoying the holidays.  But yesterday, a  Monday, a friend and I made a pleasant discovery of a favorite art gallery that was open in the early evening.  We had both commented on how it seemed so late since it gets dark so early.  It was barely 6:30pm when we drove by the Don Drumm Studio in Akron, Ohio.  "Oh, look!  They're open!  Let's go in and check out their Christmas stuff!", I told my friend.  Shopping doesn't hold the appeal it did when I was younger, the lure of twinkly stuff in specialty shops is still a draw for me during the holidays.  I am a firm believer in shopping local and shopping small, as in shopping in the small boutique types of shops and ga...

    The air was lightly cool with little movement from any breeze that barely moved the last of the autumn leaves.  Finally I found the time to have a bonfire of the downed tree branches from all the storms during the spring and summer months.  I had been looking forward to the great burn off of decrepit wood.  We had so much rain lately that it was hard to find a time when the wood was dry enough to catch fire when it was lighted. The day's plans had not worked out and I found that I was not accomplishing many of the tasks I had hoped to before the weather forces a halt to outside work. The rising moon was nearly full as it passed through the overhead trees.  Sapphire blue with wisps of deep pink clouds were the evening colors.  Surprisingly, the wood burned immediately and the bonfire became a reality.  Pulling a chair up to the fire, I sat watching it, tending it with my trusty rake to be sure all the stray branches wer...

    November already!   This year is flying away at record speed!   It is hard to think about, but at my workplace the holiday music will be played throughout the store this weekend.  Really!  Can't we wait until Black Friday?  It's no wonder that by Christmas we are all so sick of rockin' around the Christmas tree and doing the reindeer stomp.  Here in Ohio we are enjoying a few days of late autumn bliss.  It is cool, but not cold.  Sweater weather.  It's not raining (yea!).  And there are still some trees sporting colorful leaves, hanging on until the next big rain wrestles them to the ground.  I've had a bit of fun shooting a senior portrait outdoors.  It has been a while since creating any portraits like that, so I am a bit rusty, but the results have still been pretty good.  Now I remember why I like doing portrait work.  Being outdoors is always wonderful for me.  Those photos are a...