Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ One Word Theme of the Year

For years now I've enjoyed selecting a word or short phrase to be my auspicious theme of the year. In the past I've selected:

2013 ~ Joie de vivre (French for Joy of Life)

2014 ~ Service

2015 ~ Blessings

2016 ~ Adventure

2017 ~ Success

2018 ~ Beauty

2019 ~ Eudemonia (Greek for Human Flourishing)

And for 2020 I've considered many option and have chosen ~ Veriditas (the marriage of two Latin words: Green and Truth and is defined as the divine force found in nature, blooming life force, lushness, new growth, the ability to produce many new and fresh ideas)

Now to have it inscribed in a silver bracelet to wear and keep on my mind daily. I've heard others use their words as passwords, some make it part of their screen savers or add to vision boards, and others journal about their words. Words are powerful, and I want to keep mine close at hand.

Have you selected a Word of the Year? What word or phrase did you choose??

Note: To see the article on Veriditas from the September 6 issue of Bullet Point Blessings, click here.

♥ Man's Search for Meaning

Man's Search for Meaning is Viktor Frankl’s 1946 book chronicling his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and describing his psychotherapeutic method, which involved identifying a purpose in life or self-chosen goal to feel positive about, and then immersively imagining and working towards that outcome.

Frankl’s method is basically three steps:

Create a project that supports your Life’s Service or Mission. (Work)
Learn from your mistakes and forgive yourself. (Attitude)
Share your journey with your community. (Love)

Frankl was a contemporary of Sigmund Freud whose philosophy was based in Man’s search for Pleasure. Frankl received his MD and PhD degrees from the University of Vienna where he studied psychiatry and neurology, focusing on the areas of suicide and depression. As a medical student in the late 1920s, he was asked to work with a group of suicidal patients who were not improving using the Freudian approach. Frankl successfully implemented his method and eliminate suicide in the group he was counseling. Because of these accomplishments, he was asked to head the suicide prevention department of the General Hospital in Vienna.

My take-away from the book was to look at my life’s work and reframe it into a mission instead of just painting pretty pictures. With pen in hand acting as a conduit to inspiration, this is what I wrote:

Every person is born with a God-given creative spirit meant to be utilized and enjoyed, yet sadly many people don’t know it, or don’t believe it, or were told as a young person they are not creative and they have continually played these negative, though erroneous, tapes into adulthood.

My mission is to create beauty and introduce & develop the Creative Spirits in others so they can create beauty and experience the joy of creating.

Note: Raison d'etre is the French word, and Dharma is the Hindu word for Life's Mission or Purpose. To see the article to Raison d'etre from the November 15, 2019, issue of Bullet Point Blessings, click here.

For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment. ~ Viktor E. Frankl

♥ The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady Tea Set

In the immediate past issue of Bullet Point Blessings was a musing on one of my favorite books The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. While in Corinth, Mississippi, at Thanksgiving with friends and family, Anne Thompson shared with me she has the Country Diary bone china.

WHAH?? There's china?? We excused ourselves from the family gathering and sneaked off to her house to see these beautiful table toppers. As it turns out, there is a set for every season, decorated with the illustrations from the book.

I'm in love with it and as a treasure hunter, have added it to the list of things to look for when shopping antique shops and thrift stores. A lady can always use a new tea cup or bread plate.

Note: Even though I can't find it for sale anywhere, I've seen photos of talc, soap, and lotion called Wild Meadow that uses illustrations from this book in its packaging.

♥ Downton Abbey: the Motion Picture

I typically go to the movie theater about once every three years, however last spring when I heard the BBC's Downton Abbey TV series was being made into a feature film premiering in September 2019, I wrote it in my planner.... in all Caps.... in indelible ink.... LARGE. I love Downton Abbey!!!

So in anticipation for the movie, I re-watched all six seasons, pen and notebook in hand, and took notes. The Inspiration Muse selected me to create The Downton Abbey Lexicon Primer: For the Curious American Mind of a British Costume Drama Addict.

Even with all my friends in the dark movie theater, I brought my notebook and pen and attempted to take notes, writing down every archaic, foreign, or unknown word or anything that is unknown by most American viewers. Admittedly, I don't have any special knowledge but I have a computer, internet and dictionary and set out to define the unknown. The result was a 60-page glossary arranged in chronological order by season,

And just for fun I added a list of the British Nobility.... in order... including wives, sons, and daughters which went on for many pages, though the important thing to know is the Sovereign is at the top, then his/her family, then Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons. Knights and Bishops play in there, as well.

And if that isn't enough, added a list of my favorite historic, costume dramas in film and TV. Both the eBook and the Paperback are available on Amazon, but mark your calendar. On my birthday, February 5, you can download the book for FREE. My plan was to make it free all the time, but apparently Amazon is for-profit and won't allow that. You think I would have known that. HA!

Enjoy!!

"There is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents."

~ Thomas Jefferson

"For I Know The Plans I Have For You' Declares the Lord, 'Plans to Prosper You and Not to Harm You, Plans to Give You Hope and a Future."

~ Jeremiah 29:11

“Words can inspire. And words can destroy. Choose yours well.”

~Robin Sharma

A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life, I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth - that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire.

~ Viktor E. Frankl

"Live as if you were living a second time, and as though you had acted wrongly the first time."

~ Viktor E. Frankl

“I’m not a romantic, but even I concede that the heart does not exist solely for the purpose to pump blood.”

~ Violet, Dowager Countess, Downton Abbey, Season 2

Note and full disclosure:  
In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to a product on Amazon. 
As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. 
Originally the account was created years ago to benefit "Happy Tails" animal rescue, 
but now it benefits my pack of rescue dogs and assorted fosters at Windy Acre Cottage.
Thank you!

____________________________________________________

We have lots of Painting Classes coming up in January. Grab a friend or loved one and spend some time making masterpieces and making memories.

Creative Spirits Weekly Painting Class in Acrylics

Perfect for the artist who would like further instruction and designated painting time each week.

Adventure Awaits! Illustrated Travel Journaling Workshop in Columbia, TN

January 25, 2020, we will visit the Historic Polk Home in Columbia, Tennessee, the only standing residence besides the White House that was home to our 11th President James K. Polk. This is a fun, adventurous workshop for all skill levels.

To register for classes or workshops, please call me at 615-668-8263.

To see the supplies list, click here.

Acrylic Paint-Along Classes in Spring Hill, TN

Perfect for beginners and advanced students alike.

Watercolor Paint-Along Classes in Spring Hill, TN

Or book a PRIVATE PAINTING LESSON for Instant Clarity and Results

Please call me if you have additional questions or would like to purchase a gift certificate or register for a class:

615-668-8263

Public School Teachers have the hardest jobs. My friends who teach seem to love it, yet I still hear them complain that they are required to merely teach a set of facts so students will pass standardized tests. One even remarked that she felt like the system was designed to train students to be more like cogs for a big machine.

Like my friends, I love teaching, but my situation is much different. I enjoy the freedom to create my own curriculum and work individually with each student to help him or her discover their Creative Spirit, develop their own artist vision and sharpen the skills they need to bring their creativity to fruition. In other words, I teach the Creative Process and introduce young people to their own brilliance. Every person is a Creator, yet many never recognize the creative power they have inside of themselves.

A new Aspiring Masters painting class is starting January 23 at 4pm in Spring Hill. It's a 6-week class sponsored by Spring Hill,TN Parks & Recreation for ages 12-17. The class is limited to six in order to give each student the attention he or she deserves. A couple of spaces are currently available.

Call 615-668-8263 to reserve an easel for your artist. And please share this post.

No one is a cog.

New in 2020....

Aspiring Masters Painting Sessions I

The Aspiring Masters Painting Sessions are recommended for students ages 12-17 who have shown artistic ability and passion for learning creative concepts. We will be studying a variety of painting concepts, including:

Mixing colors from a limited palette,
Evaluating values,
Learning when to paint local color notes, highlights, and shadows,
Turning 2-D shapes in to 3-D forms
And completing multiple paintings using the 5-step process, all while having FUN!!!

The six-week fee of $150, payable in two installments, includes weekly class periods full of instruction and demonstrations, as well as individual attention with each student. We will be painting in acrylics and a supplies list will be provided upon registration.

Class meets Thursday afternoons from 4-5:15 pm January 23- February 27.

To reserve a place for your Aspiring Master, call 615-668-8263. Class fee is due at registration to reserve your child's easel. Checks, Cards and Venmo happily accepted. (Venmo @susan-jones-346). Aspiring Masters Class is sponsored by Spring Hill, TN Parks and Rec and is located at 563 Maury Hill Street, Spring Hill, Tennessee.

The Benefits of Art.

Kids naturally love art – painting, drawing, coloring. Unfortunately, when schools cut back on budgets, the arts are usually the first to go.

Physiologically, the human brain consists of two hemispheres. The left brain is used in logical thinking and analytical processes. The left brain is typically what is trained in school work consisting of math, reading and science. The right brain is used in emotional perception, intuition and creativity. It is the right brain that is mainly used when a person is involved in creative endeavors such as making art. It is this part of the brain that typical school environments neglect to train.

It is shown that when gifted kids solve problems in their areas of giftedness, there is increased electrical activity in both hemispheres. For the brain to be efficient, the two hemispheres of the brains must work together.

Art makes you smART. And it’s FUN!!

Links you may be interested in...

My ETSY Shops...

Colorful and Charming Art and Postcards from the Dimple of the Universe

Recommended Supplies lists...

Supplies List for Creative Spirits Classes,

Adventure Awaits Supplies List,

Back Issues of Bullet Point Blessings at Charm of the Carolines blog.

The Whole Kit & Kaboodle List of Lists

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ Do-Overs

Dawn breaks on the morning of January 1, and a feeling sweeps over me like no other day of the year. It's momentous, auspicious, full of hope, joy and possibilities. It is the Ultimate Day of Do-Overs, a clean slate, a fresh sheet of crisp, white paper on which to paint a colorful, new picture, or to write a new, glorious adventure.

I've always thought January 1 should be St. Patrick's Day. Patrick is best known as the Patron Saint of Ireland, but he is also the saint of Ultimate Do-Overs and Second Chances.

Patrick was born and raised in late 4th century Roman Britannia, now known as England, but was taken captive as a teenager by Irish pirates and sold into slavery for six hard, cold, hungry and lonely years...until he escaped.

Incredibly, he simply walked south and no one stopped him. He searched for a ship to take him back to England, but only found one willing to allow him to ride with them to their next port of call in France. Hearing England was desolated by war, Patrick continued south and eventually found refuge at a monastery on a small island in the Mediterranean Sea at the south of France near Cannes. It was here Patrick felt safe, and loved. He flourished reading the monks' books, learning Latin and growing in the scriptures daily. He was happy.

Yet in his dreams he heard voices calling him to return to Ireland. The dreams seemed so real. But of course he was scared to return, and he loved his life as a priest on the sunny, warm island of St. Honorat, eating citrus fruit all day and enjoying the aroma of blooming flowers year round. Yet one dream was so compelling he could not ignore it. Patrick heard in his dream the voice of a childhood friend begging him to come back to Ireland and "free us."

Leaving his friends, home, books, warmth, and beauty, Patrick faced his fears and returned to Ireland. He preached Christ and love and fearlessness and generosity to the Pagan nation. He fought against slavery. He helped to build loving, Christian communities which nurtured all people and prized freedom. The once young, scared, hungry slave boy had followed his dreams, his inner voice, and returned completely transformed, fulfilled his destiny, and freed enslaved people where he was once held captive.

Talk about a Do-Over!

There are people who will never follow their dreams. They think they are too old, too young, too scared, too weak, too poor, too timid, too uneducated, etc, etc. And then there are others who know their natural talents dwell in the shadows of their forgotten or ignored dreams, muster the courage to follow them, and change the course of a nation.

♥ Daydreaming

As 2020 breaks, I'm entering my 10th year of being self-employed. What a ride! I love the freedom, flexibility, amazing people I meet, and the fun, colorful creative work I do every day. Yet, I'm also the chief cook and bottle washer, literally and metaphorically. Days are not only spent painting and teaching, but also creating lesson plans, writing blog posts, working on social media marketing, networking, writing for newsletter, writing ad copy and designing ad layout, writing press releases, photographing work, designing and photographing creative flat-lay content for social media, blog posts and newsletters, creating reference paintings for future classes, collaborating with other professionals on different projects, laying out calendars, working on different art sales sites like Etsy, Fine Art America, Redbubble, or working on my website. And that doesn't even include work that needs to be done on a new eBook in the works, or Art Coaching curriculum or on-line course creation that keeps getting pushed off.

BUT every year, I do not schedule anything the week between Christmas and New Years Day to give me plenty of time to decompress, rest, and DAYDREAM. Truth be known, I probably daydream every day, but this week is particularly dedicated to detaching and drifting on wispy white clouds to 10,000 feet and looking down on the world I want to create. What does it look like? What are the steps to make it happen? What resources are needed? Who can I recruit to help?

Two elements are required: 1) Pen & Paper, and 2) Boredom. It's so tempting to take the week and make plans with friends to go shopping or to a movie or to meet for coffee or for lunch. And there is so much to be gained from those activities, as well. But that will have to be scheduled on another week. This week is dedicated to eavesdropping on the wisdom of the unconscious and furiously jotting notes like a reporter at the scene of the crime of the century. For me, it is a vital practice and powerful tool, not a silly waste of time.

(For more information, check out the July 5 issue of Bullet Point Blessings on the book The Artist Way.)

♥ The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady

For those who have attended "Adventure Awaits" Illustrated Travel Journaling Workshops, you are already very familiar with this Edith Holden book. The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady is one of my prized possessions, encapsulating gardening notes through the changing seasons, creative writing, 1906 history, classic poetry, and colorful illustrations of flowers, fruit, birds, sheep, horses, bees, and butterflies in one, beautiful and delightful book.

The book was my muse for creating my first Illustrated Nature Journal which morphed into an Illustrated Travel Journal. Honestly, it's hard to separate the two. Even writing these words, I'm tempted to layer up and grab my travel watercolor kit and journal and set out on an adventure to find beauty in nature. Granted, it's not the best time of year to discover a hidden, glorious garden, but just this morning I spied bushy-tailed squirrels chasing each other in the back garden, collecting acorns that had fallen from my neighbors oak tree, and saw a ruby red cardinal on the back fence. And although I didn't see them, I could hear geese cavorting down by the Duck River.

♥ Komorebi - Dappled Sunlight Through Trees

Words are the building blocks to creating a mental picture as much as color is to building a physical one. I love words! And none are more fascinating than the words found in other languages that don't exist in English. Komorebi is such a word. It is Japanese for "dappled sunlight leaking through a canopy of trees."

Beautiful!

Our God is a God of second chances.

~ Job 33:29

I have a Creator who knew all things, even before they were made - even me, his poor little child.

~ Saint Patrick

We're given second chances every day of our life. We don't usually take them, but they're there for the taking.

~Andrew M. Greeley

Visualization is daydreaming with a purpose.

~ Bo Bennett

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.

~ Christopher Reeve

Daydream, imagine, and reflect. It's the source of infinite creativity.

~ Deepak Chopra

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.

~Cicero

Note and full disclosure:  
In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to a product on Amazon. 
As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. 
Originally the account was created years ago to benefit "Happy Tails" animal rescue, 
but now it benefits my pack of rescue dogs and assorted fosters at Windy Acre Cottage.
Thank you!

____________________________________________________

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ Very Ralph Lauren

One of my very favorite people on the planet, let alone designer, is the iconic Ralph Lauren. He is the perfect example of the success that comes with authenticity.... knowing yourself and being yourself and if that fails, creating yourself. This man created a brand, a lifestyle, and became a social influencer long before the phrase was coined.

Is there any question why I adore him? His brand conjures images of the American flag and African Safari, faded flannel and old Hollywood glamour, vintage trucks and rare classic automobiles, ivy league and the American West, cotton and cashmere, rugged denim jackets and silk smoking jackets, rough shod Cowboy boots and calfskin driving slippers, summer camp canoes on a lake and vintage wooden speed boats in New England, picnics and state dinners, elegance and casualness, fantasy and artistry, but most of all Style. It's like The Great Gatsby meets Sunday morning.

I don't love Ralph Lauren for his contradictions. I love Ralph Lauren for his timeless mood creation and iconic character creation and his optimistic narratives of being American. That's a lot to credit a fashion designer, but is he? Ralph Lauren never studied design, tailoring or fashion. He can't even sketch his own ideas. But he is no less an artist. He tells a story visually. And I can't get enough.

If you have access to HBO and are a Laurenphile like me, tune in to a new documentary Very Lauren. You'll learn that this man created his own market due to necessity. In the 1960s when menswear consisted of the same boring suits and skinny ties, think Mad Men, Ralph Lauren longed for the dapper, double-breasted suits and pleated slacks of the movie heart throbs of the 1930s and 1940s.... Fred Astaire, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable. He couldn't find the clothing he saw in the movies to purchase in any stores, so he started his own men's tie business creating wide ties made from quality fabrics and pitched his product to Bloomingdale's.

I don't want to spoil the documentary for you, but it's one that will inspire. And maybe even cast you in the starring role of the movie that is your life.

1 young_ralph_lauren for susan elizabeth jones artist 2 young_ralph_lauren for susan elizabeth jones artist

♥ Cooking with the First Ladies

A few weeks ago I was delighted to meet a new docent and fellow historophile at Rippavilla named Sarah. She is the most delightful lady who has studied each of the First Ladies and cooked a meal from that First Lady's recipes using the book First Ladies Cookbook. The day I met Sarah M, she was dressed as Jackie O.

If you would like to follow Sarah and her historic meals, she has documented everything on her Instagram account Cooking with the First Ladies(@cookingwiththefirstladies). If you'd like to purchase your own copy of First Ladies Cookbook, it is out of print but several used copies are available.

One of the Kennedy recipes that caught my eye is Boula-Boula (American Soup)

Boula-Boula (American Soup)

Ingredients

2 cups freshly shelled green peas
2 cups canned green turtle soup
1 cup sherry
1/2 cup whipped cream
1 tablespoon sweet butter

Directions:

Cook the green peas in boiling, salted water and strain through a fine sieve or an electric blender to get a puree. Reheat. Add 1 tablespoon sweet butter, salt, and white pepper to taste. Blend with the green turtle soup and 1 cup sherry. Heat to just under the boiling point. Put the soup into serving cups. Cover each cup with a spoonful of unsweetened whipped cream and put the cups under the broiler to brown the topping. Serve immediately.

Now where does one find canned green turtle soup? Does it really contain turtle??

♥ Inglenooks

Only recently has this word even made my radar screen, and now I daydream about an inglenook of my own. If you don't know, as I didn't, an inglenook is a recessed sitting area that adjoins a hearth and fireplace. Inglenooks are not common in my neck of the woods or to this century really, but they do exist or can be created, and the world needs more of them.

Aren't they cozy? Inglenooks bring to mind intimate, cubbyhole hide-aways to enjoy the warmth of the fire, drink a cuppa tea, and read a good book. I don't know if they were written into the plot of Little Women or A Christmas Carol, but I can clearly see Jo March and Ebeneezer Scrooge sitting in one.

♥ Hudson's Bay Point Blanket Stripe

Lately the Hudson's Bay Blanket iconic red, yellow, green, and blue stripe has been catching my eye. I love it! But will be the first to admit I don't own anything with this stripe. Hopefully I can rectify this situation soon, but only in a small way. I'm not really in need of a $600 wool blanket, and I don't think I cold pull off an off-white wool coat with bands of bold, horizontal stripes. But it might be fun to sport a tote bag, or mittens, or socks, or cell phone kickstand. It's not the item I'm in love with, it's the history of the design.

The Hudson's Bay Company may be the oldest company in North America, with roots dating back to 1670.

According to an article in the magazine Mental Floss,

"The Hudson's Bay Company was once under royal charter from England, operated as a fur trading business, pioneering the exploration and settling of Canada. In many of the farther regions, the Hudson’s Bay Company was the effective government of the vast territory, and was at one point the largest land owner in the world, controlling approximately 15 percent of North America."

The iconic striped pattern of the Hudson's Bay Blanket was commissioned in 1779 of the English textile mill of Thomas Empson in Oxfordshire. The blanket was not only prized at that time by the fur traders and miners in Canada, but also by the native tribes who found the wool to be warmer, easier to sew, and easier to wash, dry, and maintain than their blankets of bison hides and seal skins. Moreover, it was the indigenous people who first fashioned the blankets into coats, called Capotes. The Hudson's Bay Company didn't start making coats until 1922.

I was pleased to discover the Pendleton brand makes several items in this classic pattern. In fact a couple of years ago, I purchased for my family, the Pendleton Trail Log which was designed to commemorate the centennial of America's National Parks Service.

I wonder if Ralph Lauren was ever inspired by this pattern?

“I don't design clothes, I design dreams.”

– Ralph Lauren

“My eyes are on my life. They are my private camera. I extend all the experience from my private life into my work because living is my library.”

- Ralph Lauren

"There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all."

- Jackie Kennedy

"I think imagination is one of the greatest blessings of life."

- Edith Roosevelt

Note and full disclosure:  
In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to a product on Amazon. 
As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. 
Originally the account was created years ago to benefit "Happy Tails" animal rescue, 
but now it benefits my pack of rescue dogs and assorted fosters at Windy Acre Cottage.
Thank you!

____________________________________________________

January 2020

Setting a Resolution to be more Creative in 2020? Have I got good news for you!

Many new weekly classes, workshops, and paint-along parties are in the works beginning January 2020, but they don't make you more creative unless you join. Call now to register! 615-668-8263

Creative Spirits Weekly Painting Classes, Supplies List for Creative Spirits Classes, Art Dates for Students of Creative Spirits Classes,

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ Eggnog Lattes

Eggnog Latte with susan elizabeth jones (4)

Monday evening my friend Beth Morrill and I walked up to the town square to watch the Columbia Main Street Christmas Parade. It was freezing!!! We were layered up to beat the cold, but for added warmth Beth treated me to hot Eggnog Latte. It was divine!

The barista used steam to froth a few ounces of eggnog and added it to a shot of espresso. Now I don't have a little steamer machine or an espresso maker, but that didn't stop me from attempting my own version at home.

Take a couple of ounces of store-bought Eggnog (or make your own) and heat it in the microwave for 60 seconds. Using an immersion blender (or blender or hand-mixer on high) beat the Eggnog to get it to froth. Using an AeroPress, make a strong, pressed coffee and gently add it to the frothed Eggnog. Add 1/2 teaspoon Swerve or other sweetener.

Heaven in a cup!

Did you know George Washington had his own Eggnog Recipe? According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, it was a very boozy one...

GEORGE WASHINGTON’S CHRISTMAS EGGNOG RECIPE

“One quart cream, one quart milk, one dozen tablespoons sugar, one pint brandy, ½ pint rye whiskey, ½ pint Jamaica rum, ¼ pint sherry —mix liquor first,
then separate yolks and whites of 12 eggs,
add sugar to beaten yolks,
mix well.

Add milk and cream, slowly beating.
Beat whites of eggs until stiff and fold slowly into mixture.
Let set in cool place for several days.
Taste frequently.”

♥ Christmas Parades

I love a parade... Mule Day, Easter, Rodeo, Independence Day, Veterans Day, Homecoming, Macy's Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, Tournament of Roses, every day is a good day for a parade. The Columbia Christmas parade is always the first Monday evening in December at 7pm. Having a hometown Christmas parade in the evening makes me feel like I'm living in A Christmas Story.

Christmas-story-with susan elizabeth jones

You may have missed the downtown Columbia Parade, but there are several more in the area you may want to catch.

Nashville Christmas Parade Saturday, December 7, at 8:30am beginning at North 1st Avenue and Brandon Street

FUN FACT:
The Nashville Christmas Parade has been a staple of Middle Tennessee’s holiday festivities since November 28, 1927.

Franklin Christmas Parade Saturday, December 7, at 2pm Starting at Jim Warren Park down Boyd Mill and to Main Street.

Leiper's Fork Christmas Parade Saturday, December 14, at 2pm down Old Hillsboro Road starting at Southall Road. Kid Rock is the Grand Marshall this year.

Spring Hill Christmas Parade Saturday, December 14, at 5pm beginning at the Tennessee Children's Home to Beechcroft and then through Evan's Park back to the Children's Home. Come see me! I'll be at the Winchester building, lower level, in Evan's Park volunteering at the free Coffee, Hot Chocolate, and Cookie bar during the parade. (Donations happily accepted to benefit Friends of Spring Hill Parks.)

To see a schedule of all the middle Tennessee area Christmas parades, click here.

♥ Cock-a-Leekie Pie

Saturday was St. Andrew's Day in Scotland, their national flag day and a day celebrated with parties serving traditional Scottish fare. I celebrated in my own way making a scrumptious traditional meal called Cock-a-Leekie Pie, honoring the souls of dead ancestors and reminiscing about my trip to Dundee a couple of decades ago.

It was scrumptious!!

Follow the link about for the recipe with photos. I got the recipe from my book A Year in a Scot's Kitchen, but then modified it with items I had in the pantry.

♥ Scotch Plaid

Ok, technically it's not called plaid. It's called Tartan, and the history of Tartan goes back three thousand years. Tartan's history is rich, being used to differentiate the Scottish clans who wore them. And it makes sense. People of a remote area would buy their cloth from the local weaver who made cloth in a standard pattern using vegetable dies available in that region.

Over time, these local patterns became synonymous with the regional clans of Scotland who wore them.

I recently treated myself to a vintage-inspired, red plaid, Aladdin thermos. I've always wanted one but didn't trust the cleanliness of a truly vintage one found in antique stores, so was thrilled to find this one on-line. You could say it was a "kilty" pleasure.

““If ye like the nut, crack it.”

– Old Scots proverb

“I feel a sort of reverence in going over these scenes in this most beautiful country, which I am proud to call my own, where there was such devoted loyalty to the family of my ancestors – for Stuart blood is in my veins.”

- Queen Victoria, journal entry in 1873

Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.

- Albert Einstein

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.

- Gilbert Chesterton

Note and full disclosure:  
In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to a product on Amazon. 
As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. 
Originally the account was created years ago to benefit "Happy Tales" animal rescue, 
but now it benefits my pack of rescue dogs and assorted fosters at Windy Acre Cottage.
Thank you!

____________________________________________________

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ The Durrells in Corfu

This post may be a little late, because the final episode ending four seasons with the Durrell family aired this past Sunday on PBS. If you aren't familiar with The Durrells in Corfu, it is a British drama based on the book by the youngest Durrell, Gerald, titled My Family and Other Animals about his family's four years living on the enchanting Greek Island.

Gerald's father died at 42 and left his wife and four children with very little. Their prospects in England weren't good, so Louisa, Gerald's mother, moved the family to the Greek island of Corfu where they could live more economically. They rented a large, beautiful house on the Ionian Sea, though it was a bit ramshackled and lacked electricity. Yet, she made it into a home and comedy and drama naturally occurred as they tried several ways to earn a living, live peaceably with their new neighbors, and pursue their passions as a very non-conventional family in the 1930s.

It's a true story. It's full of tropical scenes, vintage fashions, adorable animals. It's history. And it's poised on the brink of World War II. Can you see why I love it? You will love it, too.

Seasons 1-3 are available on DVD, and Season 4 will be released soon. However, for $5 you can become a PBS Passport member for a month and binge all the episodes plus the follow up special that tells the story after the family awakened and realized their island paradise was not immune to the growing dangers the Nazi's posed only 2 mile away by water in Albania, and fled back to their native England.

♥ Raison d'etre

The French expression raison d'etre simply means "reason for being" or a person's "reason for living or purpose." I love this expression and it's meaning. It reminds me of a Hindu expression Dharma. In the early 1990's I remember watching Deepak Chopra on a PBS special where he spoke about his book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. In the book, the seventh spiritual law is the Law of Dharma which he explained is a person's purpose in life... a unique gift or special talent to give to others. And he explained, when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal.

I've often wondered why there is no English equivalent to these expressions? And are there similar expressions in other languages? I happen to know it's meaning is real.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

♥ Butternut Squash Soup

One of my favorite soups to make is Butternut Squash Soup. For the years I grew a vegetable garden, at least four Butternut Squash plants were included. Butternut Squash plants are hearty, easy to grow, and the winter squash stays fresh throughout most of the winter if kept in a cool, dry place. And it tastes like creamy, cheesy, autumn, and hint.... it doesn't contain cream or cheese, but it is all autumn!

It's impossible to peel a raw butternut, so roast it first. Preheat the oven to 350*. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, set one large or two small squash on the sheet and vent with a paring knife. Roast for an hour, then remove from the oven and allow it to cool completely.

In a stock pot or dutch oven, add a little olive oil and set over medium heat. Add one chopped white onion and cook until the onion is soft and translucent. Meanwhile, peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and cut the squash flesh into 1 inch cubes. Add to the pot of cooked onion.

Add one block of cream cheese (or Coconut Cream if you are vegan or Greek Yogurt if you are on Weight Watchers and want a zero point soup) and four cups of chicken broth. Stir over medium heat until the cream cheese is melted.

Use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the pot. Before I owned an immersion blender, I had to work in small batches moving the soup to a traditional blender to puree. It's worth the price of the immersion blender to make the investment. Just saying.

Once the soup is blended, it will be creamy, savory and delicious. Add a little salt, if you like. It's my favorite way to prepare butternut.

Now there are many recipes out there and several call for maple syrup or baked apples, but no! Sweet soup is a travesty! Soups are meant to be savory. Save the sweets for dessert.

♥ The 12 Week Year

While listening to podcast on MasterMind groups, the host said that before the facilitator of his MasterMind group takes anyone new into the group, they must read The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran. What? I've never heard of this book, yet it's so foundational to the success of achievers in the group, it's a required read? Where have I been?? I ordered the book.

I'm not sure I fully embrace everything that it teaches, but at it's core it makes sense. And get ready, it's a complete paradigm shift for those of us who spent any time in the corporate world. In business, as with many other industries and professions, its players work on an annual cycle, breaking down goals and statistics by quarters.

"First Quarter Sales," "Third Quarter Profit," it's so deeply ingrained in the business psyche it never occurred to me there may be a better way to plan, strategize, execute, or keep score. At the beginning of the year, moral is high, energy is high, bonuses are paid from the profits of the previous year. It's a party! We all work for this amazing company! Yay, us!

And then the slump hits. The routine takes over, and the apathy. We won't be judged until the end of the year, and there is plenty of time to accomplish what we have to do later. Until it's later and the end of year is looming, and we all work frantically to meet goals we laid out a year ago, even if they don't really apply anymore.

The 12 Week Year lays out a framework to change all that. Instead of planning and goal setting on an annual basis, you work in 12 week increments and take the 13th week off to celebrate and plan the next 12 weeks. That way you yield higher energy, higher performance and can more easily pivot with changes in the marketplace. With a sense of urgency, you remain accountable and committed. And best of all, your productivity increases 4 times over. This is good news for a solo entrepreneur.

♥ Aeropress

Last week in Bullet Point Blessings I spoke about the BEST cup of coffee I ever had under the bullet point Little Sips. This week, I have a additional information to answer your questions.

Yes, I know what kind of coffee it was... Cafe Special Medium Dark Roast by Community Coffee. Do I believe that particular coffee is what made this cup so good? No, I don't.

In Natchez, everyone drinks Community Coffee. It's a local brand from just over the border in Louisiana. I've been purchasing Community Coffee ever since I returned from that trip to Kitty's house where she served Little Sips but my version never tasted the same.

Do I believe brewing coffee at a lower temperature makes for better coffee, i.e. lower water temperature doesn't leech out the bitterness in the beans? Maybe. I purchased a French Press to brew my coffee at the lower temperature as recommended by Kitty, and although the coffee was delicious, it wasn't the same.

Was the deliciousness do to the plastic French press gizmo with a paper filter? Possibly. It's called an Aeropress, and just this week I purchased one. Was the coffee made with the Aeropress as delicious as it was at Kitty's house in Natchez? Absolutely!

Yet before you go purchase one for yourself, please know this. I made the coffee just like Kitty made it years ago which happens to be the directions that come with the Aeropress. However, it WAS making espresso, not coffee. For American coffee, you use the enclosed ladle to scoop out 2 ounces of the liquid goodness and add 4-6 ounces of hot water. For Cafe au Lait, you add 4 ounces of hot milk.

What I thought I was drinking was coffee, when in fact it was a potion 4 times as strong!!

Now that I'm addicted to this concentrated, Super Fuel coffee and exercising high performance strategies by condensing a year's worth of work into 12 weeks, I'm either going to be uber successful come the dawn of the new decade or flat out exhausted.

“The speed of the leader is the speed of the team.”

– Lee Iacocca

“A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”

– George Patton

A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting.

~Abraham Maslow

“Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it,

I must listen to my life telling me who I am.”

~Parker J. Palmer

“The Universe contains three things that cannot be destroyed;

Being, Awareness and LOVE.”

~Deepak Chopra

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

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♥ S'Mores

And just like that, we go from 90* temps in early October to closing the month with flurries on Halloween. (And I hate to break it to you, but I think I heard the "s" word in the weather forecast for next week. Yep, snow!) Instead of mourning the close of autumn weather, I'm embracing the chill with new boots, new hat, and a new-to-me hand-me-down Ralph Lauren coat with a faux fur collar from my sister-in-law Beth. Thank you Beth!!

One other cold weather surprise Beth treated me to was a delicious, oven-toasted treat her father used to make for her when the weather turned chilly. Beth's father was raised by depression-era parents, and they made their "candy" with simple ingredients from the pantry... saltine crackers, peanut butter, and marshmallows. Beth made this treat for me and I've been dreaming about it ever since.

She turned her oven to broil, set a few saltines on a baking sheet and spread peanut butter on each, topped with a large marshmallow. She set the baking sheet in the oven and watched as the top of the marshmallow browned and melted. You have to watch this part or they will burn quickly, she warned.

What came out of the oven was delicious! I've only known Beth 30 years, why didn't she share this tasty treat sooner? What other amazing recipes does she have tucked away?

I should have been documenting her process with photos, but I was too busy enjoying Halloween, but days later I'm dreaming about it and decided to make it for myself. Drats! No saltines. Double Drats! No peanut butter. No worries. Resolving to create with what was in the cupboard, I used graham crackers, almond butter and marshmallows... and then couldn't keep myself from adding a little piece of dark chocolate. S'Mores Amplified!!

Breakfast of Champions!

♥ Paris Letters

Last week when the temps dipped for the first time and the house was chilly, I went to bed early to snuggle beneath the covers and pulled a book from the pile that has accumulated on the bedside table. I had no idea what I was about to read, only it was on top of the pile.

By the next morning I was contacting the author. At this point I had only read the first four chapters, but they read directly from my life... marketing professional climbing the corporate ladder only to find it's leaning against the wrong wall wants to scream, chuck it all, and be an artist. I tossed a short email out into the ether telling the author I couldn't wait to read more to see if our lives have more similarities and if not, to see what treats may lay in store for my future.

What I learned in the next few chapters blew me away!

In her book Paris Letters, Janice McLeod did leave her marketing/copy writing job and immediately took a long vacation to Europe. While on the trip, she discovered, quite by accident, the artist Percy Kelly. When visiting her cousin's cottage in Kirby Lonsdale, England, she was admiring all the delicate teacups and volumes of books and walls lined with artwork. It was the artwork that really caught her eye. They were actually letters of correspondence that were illustrated, and they were all addressed to Joan, the owner of the house.

In the 1980's, Joan and Percy Kelly became pen pals after she wrote to him regarding his watercolor paintings. He responded with a painted letter, and she kept it. As would I, if any wonderful artist sent me an watercolor illustrated letter. Joan wrote him back, and in response came ANOTHER watercolor illustrated letter. A friendship developed, and ten years of illustrated letters arrived in Joan's mailbox.

His letters were illustrated from his home, his travels, and nature. (Can you see why I got excited? Kindred spirits we.)

I don't want to spoil the book for you, but I recommend it. And if you are curious, Percy Kelly''s letters to Joan have been published in the book The Illustrated Letters of Percy Kelly to Joan David, as well as his illustrated letters to Norman Nicholson in Brother Cumbrians.

♥ Enthusiasm

Once a supervisor told me to never lose my enthusiasm. "It serves you," he said,"It will be part of what makes you a success."

Admittedly, I thought his comments were a bit odd, but now that I think about it, I understand better what he meant. Who would you rather follow Tigger or Eeyore?

Ok, well, Tigger may be an extreme, but he's got to be more encouraging, positive and fun to work with than the doomsday donkey. (Sorry, braying buddy, you still have lots of great qualities... like that cute, little, tacked-on tail.)

The dictionary definition of Enthusiasm is 'intense and eager enjoyment, interest, or approval.' Yet it comes from the Greek enthousiasmos which means "having God in us" or "inspired."

Madame de Stael, the brilliant author of novels and travel literature during the 18th century who entertained with her witty conversation at the salons of Paris, described enthusiasm as "the love of beauty." Her quotes are legendary... "Of all human sentiments," she attests,"enthusiasm creates the most happiness; it is the only sentiment in fact which gives real happiness."

♥ Little Sips

While visiting my friend Kitty in Natchez, MS, with my friend Scott, she made us the best cup of coffee I have ever had. The trick, she tells me, is in heating the water to the right temperature. If the water is too hot, it leaches out bitterness in the ground coffee beans.

Kitty made what looked like an average size cup of coffee using what I can only describe as a plastic French press (but with a paper filter) and a lot of coffee. But then she did something curious. She used a little ladle and divided the prepared into three cups, one for each of us. We each added sugar to our liking (I even requested cream), and we enjoyed a third of a cup of coffee. Yes, it was heavenly. And yes, I asked for more.

Later I mentioned to Scott how delicious Kitty's coffee was. "It's the best I've ever tasted," I told him,"and I loved watching her fastidiousness while making it." All the while I'm imitating the ladling two ounces of coffee into our three cups.

"Those are 'little sips' he explained. Women in Natchez will invite you over for a chat and a 'little sip."

I believe him. Scott knows Natchez. However, I'm unable to research 'little sip' in print anywhere to elaborate more. Was Kitty serving us espresso? Possibly. It wasn't served in a demitasse. I just know it was a third of a cup of heaven.

However in my research I did discover an article on the Art of Demitasse and its etiquette. According to the author from the McFaddin-Ward House Museum in Texas,

"Certain rules of etiquette are followed for after-dinner demitasse serving and drinking. The coffee is strong and always served black. Cream is not offered and should not be requested. Sugar, however, is permissible. Demitasse cups are always used. These are placed on a matching saucer and accompanied by a demitasse spoon. Only one cup of coffee is served, and it is not polite to ask for a second."

Oops! I still have a lot to learn.

♥ Demitasse

And speaking of demitasse, recently I was gifted with a box of various patterned, vintage teacups from a friend who was down-sizing her home. My heart skipped a beat with each precious piece of china I unwrapped. You can imagine the joy to see the beauties lined up in a row atop their matching saucers.

Much to my delight, also included were a few demitasse cups and saucers. Diminutive and delicate, I imagined the lives these charming beauties must have lived. Did they serve after-dinner coffee in Parisian dining rooms? Were they privy to the secrets of two friends gossiping in New Orleans? Did they serve a foreigner inexperienced in demitasse etiquette? We may never know.

"Love is admiring with the heart. And admiring is loving with the mind.."

~Madame de Stael

"The more I see of man, the more I like dogs."

~Madame de Stael

"Love, supreme power of the heart, mysterious enthusiasm that encloses in itself all poetry, all heroism, all religion!"

~Madame de Stael

Note and full disclosure:  
In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to the product on Amazon. 
As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. 
Originally the account was created years ago to benefit "Happy Tails" animal rescue, 
but now it benefits my pack of rescue dogs and assorted fosters at Windy Acre Cottage.
Thank you!

____________________________________________________

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ Secret Listeners of WWII

In her new book The Walls Have Ears, author and historian Helen Fry describes MI-9 and the greatest Intelligence Operation of WWII. It is INGENIOUS, and makes me proud of the Allied Forces.

Most people have heard of MI-5 which is the British Secret Service, but MI-9 was the British Directorate of Military Intelligence between 1939 and 1945. Only a little has really been known about its inner workings until the early 2000s when many of its documents became unclassified.

In just one of their operations, the British housed prisoners of war who were high ranking German officers on a grand estate, fed them the best food, sent them Christmas gifts "from Hitler" and appealed to their ego, arrogance and vanity. They also intentionally interrogated them in a way that made them feel the British were inept at interrogations, lowering their resistance and encouraging them to chat among themselves when they thought they were in private.

Little did they know the entire castle was bugged, and not just their bedrooms. Every room was filled with microphones picking up everything. Native German speaking immigrants, many Jews and others who fled Nazi Germany before 1939 were hired to listen and transcribe everything they heard. And they heard a lot!

To listen to her interview on the History Extra podcast, click here.

♥ Alfresco

Alfresco is the lovely word that simply means "Out in the Fresh Air."

The 99* temps have hung on so long, it was such a welcomed relief to wake up to a definite chill in the air this week. I want to spend every day of autumn outdoors...Alfresco as they Italians say... all two weeks of it we seem to get between summer and winter here in middle Tennessee.

Dining on the patio at home or at a restaurant is so much more informal than under a roof with four walls. You are outside. You can be as loud as you want to be. All the patio patrons are more jovial and have a sense of camaraderie with the other outdoor patio patrons. It's like we are on the fun side of the island and know something the indoor dining room patrons don't. It's autumn! It's lovely! Let's enjoy!

I'm reminded of the loose and breezy invitation Jo March received in Little Women.

"Dear Jo, What ho! Some English boys and girls are coming to see me tomorrow, and I want to have a jolly time. If it's fine, I'm going to pitch my tent at Longmeadow and row up the whole crew to lunch and croquet, to have a fire, make messes, gypsy fashion, and all sorts of larks."

Doesn't that sound like fun? Now I'm craving S'mores, a bonfire, flannel, and a hay ride. Oh heck, why not make messes and throw in all sorts of larks, too?!

♥ Faux Pearls

Jeb Bush said of his mother first lady Barbara Bush in his eulogy at her funeral in 2018, "We learned to strive and be genuine and authentic, by the best role model in the world. She was authentic right down to her plastic pearls."

Oh, a southern girl loves her pearls. I know I do!

Historically they have stood for purity, femininity and wealth; strands of pearls are a classic coming-of-age gift. I received small, real pearl earrings for my 16th birthday. And I promptly lost one. Lesson learned. Go faux!

Barbara Bush wore the 3-strand style of faux pearls by Kenneth Jay Lane. It became her signature style. I prefer the one-strand faux pearls that typically come from Kohl's, but I'm not picky. I've purchased them at Target, too. Elegant, but not fussy. But more importantly, they are lovely. Isn't that what we are all striving for?

To see Jeb Bush's eulogy, click here.

♥ Bon Chretien Pear

The most commonly grown variety of pear in the Western world is the Bon Chretien.

To me a Bon Chretien Pear is simply a pear, and I love them! But not necessarily for the taste. Pears to me are elegant. They are femininely and elegantly shaped, a sophisticated symbol of autumn, my favorite season, and well, special.

In both my Creative Spirits and Creative Horizons classes this month we are painting nothing but pears. It's the one thing you can paint that you can compare to almost every other artists' work for the past 500 years.

The Bon Chretien was brought by Saint Francis of Paola from Calabria to the sickbed of Louis XI in France in 1491, and was nicknamed "the Good Christian" in the saint's honor. We know it by its more common name, the Bartlett, named after the distributors who brought it to England and eventually the United States.

"One must agree that nature has not given us anything as beautiful and as noble to see as the pear," said Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, royal gardener to Versailles in the 17th century. And I must agree. Coincidentally, Versailles gardeners reintroduced the Bon Chretien pear to the Potager du Roi (Royal Garden) in 1996.

♥ Gardening Month by Month

While perusing the shelves of beautiful books at the Davis Kidd Booksellers in 1991, I came across a Martha Stewart book titled Martha Stewart Gardening Month by Month. It was heaven! It was also $50, and to that grad school student barely scraping by on a graduate assistant stipend of $500/month, purchasing it was not possible. But I never forgot about it.

First of all it has delightful and custom designed endpapers depicting an illustration of Martha Stewart's garden at Turkey Hill, her home in Connecticut for 30 years. Besides that garden, it also depicts the house, the studio kitchen, the barn, the old chicken coop, the new chicken coop named the Palais des Poulets, the orchards, antique brick garden walls, antique brick walks, the croquet lawn, a smoke house, the herb garden, the pool, and then the crocus and daffodil borders, the berry border, the rose garden, the sweet pea garden, and more. I can daydream about this place for hours!

In addition to gardening, the book also has menus and recipes using produce grown at Turkey Hill. One photo was so eye catching, it really made an impression on me. The photo was of the dessert course and consisted of Pears with Gorgonzola Cheese. That's it. And the pears weren't even sliced!

What I didn't notice at the time, but did just now is the dessert place is set on the seat of an upholstered chair. That's weird. But isn't it lovely?

And just so you know, Martha advises the simple dessert of fruit and cheese is a perfect finale for the rich Osso Buco main course.

While watching an episode of the first season of Downton Abbey several years ago, the cook Mrs. Patmore mistakenly used salt instead of sugar in the Raspberry Meringue. The dinner guest Anthony Strallan took one bite and spit it out at the formal meal seated among men in white tie and women in tiaras. Lady Grantham told everyone to put down their forks and directed Carson, the butler, and the two footmen, Thomas and William, to remove the dessert plates immediately and to go to the kitchen and bring back fruit and cheese. Lady Grantham knows an elegant dessert, too.

If you ever want to make Raspberry Meringue, the recipe is here.

"Coming eyeball to eyeball with a hummingbird on my terrace is as exciting to me as any celebrity I've met as a result of Downton Abbey."

~Lesley Nicol, actor who portrays Mrs. Patmore on Downton Abbey

All the things I love is what my business is all about.

~Martha Stewart

When bounteous autumn rears her head, he joys to pull the ripened pear.

~John Dryden

“Pearls are always appropriate.”

~ Jackie Kennedy


"Give me books, French wine, fruit, 
fine weather and a little music 
out of doors, 
played by somebody 
I do not know."
                 ~ John Keats

Note and full disclosure:  In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to the product on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

____________________________________________________

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ Vintage "Paint by Numbers" Paintings

Growing up in old Franklin where Main Street was a real Main Street with Lunn and Garner Shoes, Ben Franklin Five and Dime, McClure's Dress Shop, Standard Farm, and Draper & Darwin Dry Goods, I used to love to empty my Piggy Bank and purchase a "Paint by Numbers" Kit. Just the thought of this memory brings a smile to my face. I was very young at the time, because I felt I had completely outgrown them by the time I was in 5th grade. That is until Dwayne Dunnevant drew my name in our class Secret Santa game, and he purchased a paint by number set for me. The joy was still there.

That was the last Paint by Number I ever painted. And I have no idea what happened to all of them. I don't have a single one anymore. Yet, I love to peruse antique malls and thrift stores to see them.

If you want to try your hand at this simple pleasure, I found these kits available online. Simply click on the photo to get the details.

♥ Low Country Fare

Last week I was gifted with a wonderful trip to Charleston, South Carolina. It was awesome! I loved spending time with the friends who invited me. We took a carriage ride through historic, downtown Charleston,toured Fort Sumter, historic plantations, spent time on the beach, and enjoyed some of the most delicious meals I've ever eaten.

In Low Country Cuisine magazine are two recipes I must try. Just reading the recipe is enjoyable, so imagine how good they'll taste!

If you would like to receive a free, complementary copy of the magazine delivered anywhere in the US, click here.

Mama's New Corn Soup

Ingredients

10 ears of fresh corn
3 slices of bacon
1/2 quart whole milk
1/2 quart Half & Half
1/2 stick butter
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Preparation

Cut kernels from corn, cutting down twice to get corn and corn "milk." In a heavy pot over medium heat, brown bacon until crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain.

Stir cut corn kernels into reserved bacon drippings and fry for one minute. Add equal parts Milk and Half & Half, until corn is well covered.

Heat until hot, but do not allow to boil. Add butter.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir, Serve, Enjoy!

Suggestion: Serve in a shallow bowl over a split biscuit.

Or while heating soup, add a teaspoon of flour to thicken for more of a corn bisque consistency.

Frogmore Salad

Ingredients

Old Bay Seasoning
2 oz Olive Oil
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 oz rice wine vinegar
1 clove fresh garlic
1/4 diced red onion
3 inches smoked sausage, quartered and sliced
1/2 lb medium to large shrimp, shells on
1/2 head Bibb lettuce
2 ears corn, roasted and cut from the cob

Preparation

In a small bowl, which together 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning, olive oil, picked-fresh thyme, rice wine vinegar, and garlic to create vinaigrette.

Place onion and 2 teaspoons of Old Bay Seasoning in a pot of water. Bring to a boil, and add shrimp for 6 minutes with shells on. Chill, peel, and cut shrimp into pieces.

Chop Bibb lettuce and placed in a mixing bowl. Add smoked sausage, shrimp, roasted corn, and onions. Add Old Bay Vinaigrette and toss before serving.

♥ Dolce Far Niente

In the movie based on Elizabeth Gilbert's mega-hit novel Eat, Pray, Love I learned about the Italian phrase "La Dolce Far Niente" - the sweetness of doing nothing. Surprisingly, it's not easy to do. Is it the American culture? Being self-employed? Or in the case of my friends.... mother to many? running a consuming non-profit or two? chasing dreams, kicking butt, taking names?

Last week in Charleston we went non-stop all day long, but in the evenings - La Dolce Far Niente! We enjoyed leisurely dinners in water-side restaurants or enjoyed cooking at the condo, and most evenings we watched movies, some old and some not-so-old. It was wonderful!

Eat Pray Love susan elizabeth jones

To see the clip of Julia Roberts learning for herself in the movie, click here.

♥ Frida

The first evening in Charleston, we chose to watch the 2002 movie "Frida" about the life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, starring Salma Hayek in the title role. The uni-browed Hayek was stunningly beautiful and captivating as Frida. And I was pleasantly surprised to see home girl Ashley Judd in the movie, as well.

My students and I just this summer visited the Frist Museum on Art in Nashville to see an exhibit of the the Mexican Revolutionary Art from Frieda, her husband Diego Rivera, and others. Besides entertaining, this movie helped us understand better the events of her life that shaped her art.

To see the official movie trailer, click here.

♥ How to be a Wildflower

At the Adventure Awaits! Workshops every month, I bring my latest illustrated books collected to share with my students. This past month at the Columbia Athenaeum I shared one of the newest to my collection and one of my favorites How to be a Wildflower by Katie Daisy. I even purchased the matching colored pencil set to give-away as a door prize.

Congratulations Dianne!

Although I only purchased the book, it does have a companion workbook and stickers set.

This book is a joy to look at and a joy to read. I even learned a valuable lesson... when painting watercolor at the beach, the lake, by a creek in the country, gather the ocean-, lake-, creek-water to mix with your watercolors to literally capture your memories in your illustrations.

And so we did.

I love how they turned out!

And I got to try out my new watercolor set - Prima Marketing Tropical Confections. I love the name and packaging as much as I love the yummy colors and convenient miniature case.

"Can verbs be made up? I’ll tell you one. I heaven you, so my wings will open wide to love you boundlessly. I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.."

~Frida Kahlo

"The Universe is full of magical things."

~Eden Phillpotts

"Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?"

~Frida Kahlo

"There is pleasure in the pathless woods. There is rapture on the lonely shore. There is society where none intrudes by the deep sea and music in the roar. I love not man the less but Nature the more."

~Lord Byron

Note and full disclosure: In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to the product on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

____________________________________________________

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ Red Lipstick

In the fourth grade, we had a substitute Sunday School teacher at church, a very pious, spinster lady whom I never could decide was either Puritan or Victorian, warned us ten year-old girls of the evils of wearing red lipstick. This was her opinion and not the position of the church, but still I never forgot it. Or really cared, frankly. Red lipstick was simply not my shade. Or is it?

For those of you who know me well, know it is continually 1942 in my brain. And never before in the history of mankind have so many people stood defiant in favor of vanity, beauty, femininity, and red lipstick than the Allies of WWII. It may have even contributed to the outcome of the war.

England entered the war years before the US and were actively involved in the western front. With glycerin needed to make explosives and supply ships being sunk and factories being bombed, many items were rationed, if available at all. Lipstick was one of those items.

Yet, women on the homefront were encouraged to remain glamorous to raise morale among their menfolk and sweethearts serving in the war. Many resorted to beet juice to rouge their lips. Heaven forbid!!

The US Lipstick production continued uninterrupted during WWII, though polished cardboard replaced brass tubes since the metal was required for the war effort. It was the essential non-essential to keep women feeling confident and in their naturally vivacious spirits.

In a US Marine recruiting pamphlet, female recruits were told to match their lipstick and nail color to the scarlet cord on the hat of their uniforms. The Helena Rubenstein red lipstick was named "Regimental Red." The shade I wear is by Besame and named "Victory Red."

In Germany, however, the Nazi Party banned lipstick, preferring German girls prepare themselves to become the archetype Germanic mother. The news of the ban reached the US, but the media preferred to fixate on England's lack of lipstick, encouraging American women to include red lipstick in Care Packages to British women serving in the armed forces. For anything the Fuhrer disliked, Americans and Britons cherished. And so do I.

Remember ladies,"Beauty is a Duty."

♥ QuiverSmiths

I have discovered members of our tribe halfway around the world in the Philippines. Iana, Avie, and Louis are Filipino artists who love to travel and bring with them the tools of their craft to collect their memories in photographs, words and paint. I love them already!!

Every plein air and illustrated travel journalist knows how important packing light can be, so these three have created a line of small to miniature journals and watercolor supplies for their own use and offer them to other artists like us through their website QuiverSmiths.

Their small and lightweight journals and watercolor sets are ideal for carrying around in your pocket or purse every single day, not just while traveling. This way when the creative pulse beats at an odd time or location, you will be prepared to chase your whims, paint in your journal and write the words that have come to you that you don't want to lose. Every idea your daydreams throw at you will have a charming place to reside.

Do you not love them, too??

They even have miniature cabinets to house your miniature journals.

♥ The Watercolors of John Singer Sargent

One of the joys of being an art instructor (or Creative Awakener, as I prefer to call it) is introducing my students to the artists, both contemporary and those who've gone before, whose work I love and admire. High on the list is the work of John Singer Sargent.

Last year my Creative Spirits students and I toured the Frist Museum of Art to see an exhibit of art of WWI, including the Gassed, John Singer Sargent's 9 foot by 21 foot oil painting depicting the aftermath of a mustard gas attack on WWI soldiers. It was poignant, beautiful and disturbing at the same time, and masterfully painted.

As familiar as I am with his Sargent's oil paintings, I didn't even know until recently that he also painted in watercolor.

The Watercolors of John Singer Sargent arrived just this week, and I find the photos of his work utterly enchanting.

John Singer Sargent watercolors - susan elizabeth jones artist 4

I found his collection painted in Florida especially lovely. Without a doubt, it is because of his ability to capture the warm light.

♥ Viriditas

In the last issue of Bullet Point Blessings, I shared how fascinated I am by both rich colors and lush words, phrases and expressions. They are the building blocks for creativity in my world full of painting and writing.

One word I discovered is already slated to be my "Word of the Year" for 2020. It's the word Viriditas, meaning "blooming life force." Isn't that scrumptious??

The Latin word Viriditas means "greenness" or "greening" but more poetically, it means "all of the goodness Life has to offer that is fresh, budding, and vital."

According to Wikipedia, Viriditas is particularly associated with the German abbess Hildegard von Bingen from the Rhineland convent, who used it to refer to or symbolize spiritual and physical health, often as a reflection of the divine word or as an aspect of the divine nature.

"I can not make my days longer,

So I strive to make them better."

~Henry David Thoreau

"Sometimes the smallest things

take up the most room in your heart."

~Winnie the Pooh

"There is nothing that makes its way

more directly into the soul than beauty."

~Joseph Addison

Note and full disclosure: In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to the product on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

____________________________________________________

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

"An Artist gives:

gives visually, gives through workshops or with free advice,

through generosity of spirit and through the need to share."

~Veronica Roth

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ The Exception

Available on Netflix is a romantic war drama set in the WWII era, and based on the novel The Kaiser's Last Kiss. It's not one I would have readily watch based on the description, the trailer, or the publicity photos. The only reason I turned it on Friday evening was because I adore the actress Lily James. You may know her best as Cousin Rose on Downton Abbey or as the young Donna Sheridan in Momma Mia 2 - Here We Go Again.

Although this film is historical fiction, it did open my eyes to a couple of things: 1) Not every soldier serving the Reich was a Nazi, and 2) Kaiser Wilhelm II was a king. Not sure how I completely missed that fact or that Prussia was ruled by kings up until Wilhelm II. Now I want to learn more about the history of Germany.

In addition to Lily James, the film stars Christopher Plummer as Kaiser Wilhelm. The fact that the only other role I've known him to play was another high ranking military official threatened by the Nazi regime was not lost on me.

This film is so well written, the scenes so beautifully set, and the actors so attractive, I can't believe I've never heard of it before. And the plot nuances were so subtle, I found myself watching the movie again to pick up on clues I didn't catch the first time. Yet beware, it is rated R deservedly for violence, language, sex, nudity and adult themes.

♥ Figs!

It's fig season at Windy Acre Cottage and the one fig tree that stands on the property is prolific!

Our Heavenly Father, revered in his majestic glory for creator of the universe and author of salvation, kindly winks at me and smiles on a daily basis. His sense of humor is subtle at times, but when you get the joke, it's not only funny, but ingeniously creative. For example, the fig. It's not a fruit. It's a flower... an inverted flower. So how in heaven's name can the butterflies and bees pollinate it for reproduction? They can't. The process requires a fig wasp. I kid you not!

The female fig wasp descends into the hard, green, inverted fig flower and lays her eggs, but this only works if she has chosen a male fig which is perfectly suitable for her wasp egg nursery. During this process, she picks up the pollen located inside the male fig and shares it with other figs. If by chance she has entered a female fig, the pollen is still deposited, but the environment is not suitable for a nursery and she dies from either starvation or exhaustion.

Back to the male fig... the eggs hatch, first the male wasps who bore holes to help the females leave when they are hatched, and then later the female wasp babies emerge and fly out through the holes created by their brothers. And with them they take pollen to the next tree of figs. The fig wasps can not survive without the fig tree and the fig tree can not survive without the wasps. It is a totally symbiotic relationship.

The relationship between the figs and the wasps is vital to producing figs... you need both. This is the reason I grow my figs organically. I don't want to chance killing the wasps vital to the process. So if you visit Windy Acre Cottage and want to pick a few figs, wear long sleeves and boots. You may get bitten by a bug or two.

P.S. Yes, the dead female wasp's body remains in the female fig, but the fig will digest it. You will not find her in her original form in your fruit. Circle of life.

♥ Southern Living Cookbooks

Figs 8-susan elizabeth jones

Depending on your age and location, you, too, may have been raised with the latest edition of Southern Living magazine atop the family's living room coffee table. I was. Today, there are many magazines celebrating the southern lifestyle, but for decades none compared to Southern Living.

Admittedly I don't subscribe to Southern Living or any magazines at the moment, though thoughtful and generous friends, family, and students have gifted me with several, various subscriptions. However, I never fail to purchase old Southern Living cookbooks when I run across them. They have the BEST recipes.

My sister-in-law wants to make Fig Preserves from the abundance of figs being harvested daily, so I hoped to find a good recipe in these pages.

I wasn't disappointed.

Directions:

Coarsely chop figs and place in dutch oven. Add water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Drain figs and set aside.

Combine sugar, lemon juice, and 6 cups water in Dutch oven. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Add figs, return to a boil and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add thin lemon slices and boil 30 minutes until figs are tender and clear.

Carefully remove figs and lemon slices with a slotted spoon and set aside. Boil syrup 15 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and skim off foam with a metal spoon. Return figs to syrup.

Pack figs and hot syrup into hot sterilized jars close to the rim. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims. Cover immediately with lids and screw on bands.

With this much sugar used, it should be safe to simply store in a cool, dark place until used or gifted. However you may want to process in a water bath for 5 minutes for added assurance the jam is preserved.

Yields: 8 half-pints

♥ Goods for the Study

The bucket list has a new line item. The destination is a little stationery store in New York with one location on Mulberry Street in Soho and the other in the West Village on W. 50th Street. It is the Fatherland for the pen obsessed!

I love writing as much as I love painting, but with colored pens you can do either! They also carry exquisite writing instruments, leather carrying cases, interesting notebooks, and custom stationery. They even have a fountain pen club!!

Allow me to thank friend and student Carol Hearne for the gift of a Blackwing pencil. I love it! And they carry Blackwings here, too.

And thank you to friend and student Judy Davies for sharing with me the treasure her son-in-law inherited, a handmade wooden box filled with WWII Medals and a collection of fountain pens, pens, and mechanical pencils from the 1920s-1950s. I was in heaven!!

Goods for the Study Photo Credits: Deedee DeGelia

♥ Jolie Laide

I am fascinated by rich colors and lush words, phrases and expressions. They are the building blocks for creativity in my world full of painting and writing.

The french expression "Jolie Laide" is one I had not heard of until recently, and I'm haunted by it's meaning. Literally translated it means "Beautiful Ugly," but the connotation is much deeper. It's basically a woman who is unconventionally beautiful or attractive despite possessing physically "imperfect" or ugly features.

Say what you will about the French, but I applaud a culture that embraces beauty in all it's forms, even the unconventional ones. In the 1980s, Cindy Crawford showed amazing courage and self-confidence by refusing to have her upper lip mole removed when a modeling agency insisted. Apparently they didn't find her asymmetrical face perfect enough to grace the covers of magazines. Boy, were they wrong!

Barbara Streisand didn't have her nose surgically altered, and Freddy Mercury didn't have his teeth fixed even though they were both scrutinized in the public spotlight and had the financial means to do so. Both more interested in perfecting their art, than their faces.

Vive la difference!

"Love is a great beautifier."

~Louisa May Alcott

"Beauty is Truth."
~John Keats

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful,

for beauty is God's handwriting."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Beauty is not in the face: beauty is a light in the heart."

~ Kahlil Gibran

Note and full disclosure: In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to the product on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

____________________________________________________

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

Each Friday, I'll share with you a few beautiful, delicious, intriguing treasures I'm grateful to have discovered.

Or simply things I'm just grateful for... Period.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ Cotton Paper, Deckle-edge Illustration Journal

All summer students, friends, followers on social media, have been asking me where I got my green, cotton paper, deckle-edged illustration journal, and I knew I purchased it on-line, but couldn't remember where. Finally, I found it!! Click the link to be taken to Amazon to see the details (and full disclosure, if you purchase one I'll get 3/10th of a penny and in twenty years when the pennies add up to $10, I'll get a check).

It's true. I love this journal. Maybe a little too much. It's so precious to me, I rarely use it for the purpose intended. It gets saved for special occasions and on a more regular basis I paint in my Michael's Sale Rack perfect bound, hard back sketch journal.

If you want to start your own Illustrated Travel or Nature Journal, you simply need a sketchpad or sketchbook, pencil, and watercolor set. I have a dozen or more watercolor sets ranging in quality and price, but my Winsor Newton Travel Watercolor set is still my favorite. Compact, light, fitted with paints, well, brush, palette, it's really all I need. Just wish I could find a short, mechanical pencil to fit in the case and then it would be perfect.

♥ Mrs. Wilson

I'm a huge fan of PBS and subscribe to the PBS Passport whereby I can watch virtually any PBS program at any time through my ROKU. But even if you aren't a PBS Passport subscriber, you can catch the encore presentation of this amazing, "fact-is-indeed-stranger-than-fiction" story of Ruth Wilson's grandmother during the 1940s. Ruth Wilson is the actress in the photo portraying her own grandmother.

It's a three-episode series that will be re-aired Sunday evening, September 1, starting at 7pm central on NPT, the PBS Nashville affiliate. You may need to consult the schedule of your local affiliate if your station is not NPT.

♥ Fleur de Rocaille

One thing that never changes is my love for all things 1940s. I can't explain it, but I know what I love.... patriotism, clothes lines, aprons, vintage radios, Big Band Swing, dreamy box office stars, traveling by train, it's an unreal, romantic notion of a time in which I wasn't born, and if I had to live through it, I don't know if I would cherish it so dearly. I'm not blind to the Nazi atrocities, threat of fascism, communism, and invasion, war, racial discrimination, gender inequality, lack of medical care as we know it, the internet, even TV. Still, it's a happy place in my head and lived every day at Windy Acre Cottage.

In this world, I collect perfume from the 1940s (or slightly before and still available in the '40s), and my absolute favorite is Fleur de Rocaille

I learned about this perfume watching Bomb Girls on Netflix, and thrilled to learn it's still in production. And if you haven't see Bomb Girls, you are in for a treat.

♥ Bomb Girls

The BBC created a series on PBS called "Land Girls" which I dearly, dearly loved. After watching this series I wanted more and went searching for anything similar, and found the Canadian production "Bomb Girls." Regretfully, there were only two seasons, but thank goodness, the fans revolted and the producers created a made-for-TV movie to give us closure.

Set near the Canadian Coast during WWII, it's the fictitious stories of four young woman and their shift matron (played by American actress Meg Tilly) who risk their lives every day working in a munitions factory building bombs. But just as with any piece of historical fiction, there are pieces of truth spun throughout. For example, one episode deals with the AMAZING story of Dunkirk. I can't believe I had never heard of this before. (Since the airing of this show, a major motion picture was produced to tell the tale.)

For those of you not familiar with the story of Dunkirk, it took place before the US entered WWII. It was the only battle I am aware of that was neither lost nor won officially; it was simply a miracle. And the way I remember it told, was the the British forces began a retreat across France that backed them up to the English Channel to the north and the German army to the south. There was no way out. With them were other allied forces from France, Belgium, Poland, and possibly others.

The decision was made to evacuate the soldiers, but how? Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were stranded and in need of evacuation off a beach. Big ships can't even get close. And German forces were quickly moving in.

Many improvised piers from tanks, trucks, whatever they could find. Would it work? Was there time? Would the ships arrive safely? Would they make it home alive?

And then it happened. The miracle. A civilian navy made up of fishing boats, sail boats, tug boats, trawlers, yachts, a flotilla of privately-owned watercraft manned by civilians who knew how to steer towards France was drafted at the last minute to rescue more than 400,000 troops stuck on the beaches. The idea was sheer madness. Or necessity. Or genius. It happened for real.

And I had never heard this story until I watched a campy, soap-opera style serial set in the 1940s.

I am forever grateful to the Greatest Generation.

Sidebar: Both of my father's parents worked at the Arsenal in Milan, Tennessee, during the war, and how I dream of time travel to go back and see them as young people and the work they accomplished. Maybe that is why this show speaks to me. I've added a link to the DVDs on Amazon, but I think it's available on Netflix, too.

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues,

but the parent of all the others."

~Winston Churchill

Note and full disclosure: In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to the product on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

____________________________________________________

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

Each Friday, I'll share with you a few beautiful, delicious, intriguing treasures I'm grateful to have discovered.

Or simply things I'm just grateful for... Period.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ Tomato Art Festival, East Nashville

On the second Saturday of August for the past sixteen years, Meg MacFadyen and crew have celebrated the glorious and coveted summer, homegrown Tomato. Is it vegetable or fruit? It's both! (legally a veggie, but biologically a fruit... yes, it is. Look it up. *wink*) Considered a Uniter, and not a Divider, people of all walks of life gather in East Nashville for a day of celebrating our beautiful oneness and diversity.

Events kick off with a push - pull - walk parade dedicated to the juicy, red fruit. Blocks and blocks of vendors under tents are selling a wide variety of unique wares. Wading pools are set up for the comfort of the four-legged among us on one of the hottest days of the year. And bands play music all day long.

The real draw for me is perusing the myriad of Tomato-inspired art. Even the most classically trained artist may take this opportunity to show a little whimsy. Or not. As long as the art is Tomato-inspired or dedicated to any fruit or veggie of summer.

My entries this year are rather tame, but I like them. I hope you will, too.

Make your plans to visit the Tomato Art Fest on Saturday, August 10. Or better yet, purchase tickets to attend the Patron's Party on Friday evening, and get a sneak peak at all the wonderful art.

Location: Friday August 9th: Preview & Reserve your special 2019 tomato art piece before everyone else and without the long lines of Fest day by attending our Tomato Art Preview Party at 1106 Woodland Street (formally Art and Invention Gallery), Friday, Aug 9, 2019 from 6:00pm – 9:00pm.

Saturday August 10th: Visit 1106 Woodland Street (formally Art and Invention Gallery) between the hours of 9:00am - 6:00pm to view and purchase tomato art during the Fest.

♥ Persephone, goddess of New Beginnings

I love new beginnings.

For years I've purchased a new journal just in time for New Year's Day, and in it jot down plans, and goals, and resolutions, always looking for the next bit of fun, adventure, service, travel, painting, museum, workshop, and friends. Little did I know I was also doing the same thing every August, anticipating Back to School time and the new semester. Only in the past 5 years have I started purchasing a 17-month calendar beginning in August and starting my second New Year's Day of the year. Luckily for me, it's roughly mid-year and as an entrepreneur I need the mid-year reflection to make sure I'm on course for my business as well as personal goals or if I need to change course.

When I discovered Persephone in my middle school years studying Greek mythology, I learned she was the daughter of Zeus, King of the gods, and she was the goddess of springtime, gardens, and flowers. Only recently did I learn she is also the goddess of new beginnings.

Being a child of the divine Creator who wakes every morning with the refreshed knowledge the sunrise and God's love afford me another day to try to get it right, make the next right decision, and atone for the mistakes of yesterday, the metaphor was not lost one me.

♥ Choosing Keeping

I found my happy place. It's located at 21 Tower Street in London. And just in case you're in the neighborhood, the nearest tube is Covent Garden or Leicester Square. Regretfully, I've not been there in person, but I visit every day in my dreams. It is not only a happy place, it is a mecca for my tribe... the Artist*Writer*Gift-Giver*Make Everything Joyful*Lovely*Art of Slow Living*Smelling the Roses Tribe. Our coat of arms is bejeweled with quills, nibs, paintbrushes, watercolor, hearts, and flowers, and it's inscribed "Character, Service, Love, Creation."

This is the home of the English shop Choosing Keeping. They are purveyors of exquisite fountain pens, alluring deckle edge papers, delightful gift-wrapping supplies, and charming travel watercolor kits. Even half a world away, my heart races just thinking about visiting there one day.

Is your heart racing a little faster now? Mine is.

♥ Surprise Lilies

The Surprise Lilies at Windy Acre Cottage are resplendent this year!

For years they never appeared, except on my neighbor Suda's front lawn. And then one morning, Ta-da! Surprise Lilies were lining my back fence row. And it was immediate, overnight. One day nothing is there, and then *poof!* Surprise!

Also known as Naked Ladies, these lilies resemble an amaryllis with their funnel-shaped blossoms on a long stem. Their leaves sprout in early June, but wither, yellow, and die without much fanfare. Only in the sultriness of August do these long-legged, Naked Ladies appear.

Coincidentally, more have blossomed in my yards this year, in the flower beds along the picket fence and in the one on the west side of my cottage.

And if I'm lucky in a couple of weeks after the blushing pink variety is spent, the fiery red Spider Lily cousins will bloom. Fingers crossed.

“Success is not final. Failure is not fatal.

It’s the courage to continue that counts.”

— Winston Churchill

Note and full disclosure: In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to the product on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.____________________________________________________

Adventure Awaits! Illustrated Travel Journaling Workshop

To register, please call 615-668-8263.

And if you just can't get enough of famous quotes on New Beginnings, here are a few more of my favorites....

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

“It’s never too late to become who you want to be. I hope you live a life that you’re proud of, and if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start over.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

“There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth… not going all the way, and not starting.” –Buddha

“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.” – Lao Tzu

“Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” – Henry Ford

“Every moment is a fresh beginning.” —T.S. Eliot

“The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.” –Steve Jobs

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

Each Friday, I'll share with you a few beautiful, delicious, intriguing treasures I'm grateful to have discovered.

Or simply things I'm just grateful for... Period.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Without even trying the theme this week appears to be Pink...it embraces my soul like no other color can. My favorite color!!

“If hot red is for anger and rage, pink is the color of a soft burning – hot enough to light up the dark corners of sadness and grief, but cool enough to be tender, innocent, open.”

♥ National Watermelon Day ~ August 3

August 3 is one of my happiest days of the year. Because it's National Watermelon Day.

Happy National Watermelon Day!!! August 3

It's the faux holiday I created just for fun in 2010 and it went viral in 2016. Each year on August 3, I search the web and social media for #NationalWatermelonDay to see who is celebrating and I'm always pleasantly surprised to find large organizations, celebrities, zoos, kindergartens, retirement communities, fraternities and sororities all coming together, even DISNEYLAND, ARIANA HUFFINGTON, MAKER's MARK, HARPER's BAZAAR, REESE WITHERSPOON!! They came together, united, celebrating the blessed fruit of summer.

For the whole story, click here for my August Newsletter. For the syndicated radio show interview with Trent Loos, click here. For the Facebook page, click here.

♥ À la Rentrée

I love the French philosophy and expression "À la Rentrée!" Meaning, "Until the Return!" It's their version of the most wonderful time of the year, BACK TO SCHOOL!!!

Who else remembers this Staples commercial from 1996? It's one of my favorites!!

Let's face it, life takes a decidedly different, if not slower pace in summer. That would be June and July for many of us, and for some, August and others even September after Labor Day! But inevitably that time rolls around again and kids and kids at heart settle into a more structured routine... starting school or just mentally buckling down to more serious non-summer life.

I take this time for reflection and evaluation and checking in on my goals for the year and reaffirming or re-evaluating for the remainder of the year. It's my time for course correction or brand new journeys. I love to purchase new pens and a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils. I even want to go shoe shopping. I know that's silly, but growing up we always got a brand new pair of "school shoes" to start the new year.

♥ Lilly Pulitzer Planner with Stickers

You can set your clock by it. Every year at this time I purchase my new 17-month Lilly Pultizer Jumbo Agenda with stickers. It is fun, practical, and gives me lots of space to be organized. Even more than New Year's Eve, at Back to School time is the season of goals, plans, resolutions. And why not be cute and plan in a Lilly Pulitzer Flamingo Planner? I get the Jumbo size for lots of room, but it comes in a variety of sizes and prints. Sometimes I even splurge for extra stickers and matching pen.

Being self-employed, I have to document how I spend each hour of each day in order to maximize productivity and account for cost of production when it comes to creating and pricing paintings and lesson plans. It's not my most favorite activity, so the colorful, charming planner definitely makes it more fun. And it encourages daydreams of Palm Beach!

♥ Royal Albert Teacup, Saucer, Biscuit Plate

I heard a rumor Millennials don't care anything about Grandma's bone china or silverware. Did you just clutch your pearls? I did! Say it isn't so!! And then tell them to call me. I want them. I love bone china!! And not just one set, how boring!! I want a cup, saucer, and biscuit plate in every pattern...especially Royal Albert.

This delectable, enchanting "Blossom Time" ensemble was purchased for a mere song at Goodwill last week. I'm quite pleased with my purchase.

♥ Vintage Beauty Book

Oh, and if I'm to flash my southern belle card and go all girly-girl for the afternoon drinking tea from Royal Albert bone china and eating pink macarons, why not indulge in an hour of reading for the sheer pleasure of it? I purchased a vintage, British beauty book from 1953 called Jane Gordon's Beauty Book.

I'll add this one in with my collection of vintage etiquette books from the past century. Now those are a fun read!!

So far what I've learned about beauty in England in 1953 is that a lady's waist should be at least 8 inches smaller than her bust and at least 10 inches less than her hips. You should do 10 minutes of exercise each morning when you awake and many of the suggested exercises can be done in bed.

Remember successful slimming depends on three things: diet, exercise, and fresh air. And don't be surprised if your reducing diet fails you when you are stuck indoors all day. Your lungs will fail to be well aired.

And by all means, treat yourself to a new girdle!!

"I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink. I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and... I believe in miracles." ~Audrey Hepburn

Note and full disclosure: In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to the product on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

Each Friday, I'll share with you a few beautiful, delicious, intriguing treasures I'm grateful to have discovered.

Or simply things I'm just grateful for... Period.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ Zinnias

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers." ~Claude Monet

Claude Monet and I would have been best friends if we had ever met. Fresh flowers make me happy! And nothing says "summer" more than the Zinnia. I purchase Zinnia seeds in bulk. They winter-over well if you don't plant them all, are very hardy and easy to grow, and if planted after the last front at the end of April, will bloom All Summer Long, until the first frost.

Imagine bright, bold, beautiful colors of red, orange, apricot, yellow, white, lilac and bright pink in your sunny, summer garden and perfect for cutting and bringing in the cottage to your favorite vase or pitcher.

♥ P. Allen Smith Cookbook Seasonal Recipes from the Garden

P Allen Smith Cookbook6- susan elizabeth jones artist
One of my bucket list items is to visit Moss Mountain Farm, the home of gardener journalist P. Allen Smith on the Arkansas River just west of Little Rock. He occasionally offers a day-long visit that includes lunch and a tour of his home, farm animals, and gardens.... the English rose garden, the one-ace ornamental vegetable garden, and the terraced gardens. And no telling what else!

So far I haven't made it that far, but I did purchase his book Seasonal Recipes from the Garden. It doesn't satisfy the desire to travel, photograph, and experience his 3-level Jefferson-inspired home, chickens, and multiple gardens, but it is fun to read.

♥ The Transcendentalists

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I am grateful. My thanksgiving is perpetual."

~Henry David Thoreau

In high school I remember Dr. Offutt, our English teacher in both our junior and senior years, briefly touching on the poets, thinkers and authors of the New England Transcendentalist movement. And that is it. I don't recall learning anything other than they existed and loved nature. Now I've always loved quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, but only recently have I started studying them and their philosophy.

Who knew? I may be a Transcendentalist!

Some of the more famous Transcendentalists were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville. It was a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820's in New England and at its core was the belief that there is an inherent goodness in people and nature. It also emphasized being independent and valued personal freedom. Transcendentalists enjoy a deep gratitude and appreciation for nature. They also love to write! And think! And explore their intuition. They are life-long learners, and full of ideas. They are non-conformists.

Transcendentalism also has a religious component I don't necessarily subscribe to, but all in all, I find them fascinating and their teachings insightful...

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year." ~R.W. Emerson

"An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day." ~H.D. Thoreau

"Do anything, but let it produce joy." ~Walt Whitman

"That government is the best that governs the least because its people discipline themselves." ~H.D. Thoreau

"Today a reader, tomorrow a leader." ~Margaret Fuller

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting." ~R.W. Emerson

"To affect the quality of the day is the highest of the arts." ~H.D. Thoreau

"All beauty comes from a beautiful brain." ~Walt Whitman

"Artists are always young." ~Margaret Fuller

♥ Phone Alarms

"A man is what he thinks about all day long." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

If it's true, you are what you think about all day, wouldn't it be nice to have a reminder of those values or goals or prayers to help keep your mind aligned? So I simply set a daily alarm on my phone and rename the alarm the goal or the value or the prayer.

At 7:25am every morning Ray Charles pops on singing O Happy Day, and I love this song so much I sometimes just let it play over and over. When I do reach to turn off the alarm, I can see my daily prayer.

"LORD, make me an instrument of your love, peace, light, and inspiration."

At 10:25am every morning I hear the Starland Vocal Band sing their one hit from 1976 Afternoon Delight. The alarm reads,

"What will move the needle? Paint, Lesson Plans, Marketing?"

It's this reminder that makes me truly think about the most important tasks I can accomplish that day to move my painting career forward.

If you try this at home, limit your alarms to 2-3. I started out with a dozen, some daily and some weekly and some 2-3 times a week. The iPhone gives you many options... enough to drive yourself cuckoo. Make sure your alarms aren't set for when you are in church, teaching or have your attention otherwise committed.

And let me hear from you if you decide to try it.

♥ Cherries

Mt Ranier Cherries -susan elizabeth jones artist

Recently I was visiting with my friends Carol and Dianne and enjoying a picnic of snack foods. Carol brought a bag of Mt. Rainier cherries she had purchased from Aldi's.

I have always loved the cherry motif, but I really don't remember ever eating a real cherry. My only experience with cherry flavor has been limited to Luden's cough drops, Life Savers candies, and well, Icees.

Let me just say it is now my favorite fruit! Aldi's has them right now for less than $3/lb. I purchased $15 worth just this evening and ate a bunch for supper. That's right, just cherries. They are that good.

Note and full disclosure: In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to the product on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

Each Friday, I'll share with you a few beautiful, delicious, intriguing treasures I'm grateful to have discovered.

Or simply things I'm just grateful for... Period.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ Summer of 1976

I am forever grateful for the summer of 1976.

My family went on our first week-long vacation to the far-away and exotic land of Florida. It was magical.

Afternoon Delight played on the radio. I saw the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. To this day I can't smell Florilinda Orange Blossom perfume without turning 12 years old again. It was the tiniest bottle in a nest of excelsior on half of a scallop shell in shrink wrap.

We watched a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral.

And we went to Disney World. Dad bought a brand new car just for the trip, a red 1976 Grand Prix, the first new car we ever had. And it took us two days to get there. We spent the night in Valdosta, GA, at the end of the first day, and drove over the Florida line early the next morning.

We visited an old fort and the first schoolhouse in America in St. Augustine. We even went to Marineland.

It was the year of our nation's Bi-Centennial. I believe the official colors of the year were Red, White and Blue. In the summer of 1976, I had just received my 5 year pin for being in the Girl Scouts all through the Brownie and Junior years, and the Cumberland Valley Girl Scout Council hosted all of the scouts for an epic day called the Dixie Bi-Doodle in the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.

On the 200th anniversary of our Nation's Birth, an Independence Day Parade ran through downtown Franklin and as Girl Scouts my friends and I were invited to march, either wearing our green uniforms or costumes from the American Revolution period.

It was this summer a Yankee Doodle Sweetheart was born.

♥ Ken Burns' National Parks documentary

About a month ago I turned off the TV. It slows down my productivity and quite frankly, there isn't much I'm even interested in watching. Now I watch TV by appointment, meaning Sunday evening at 8pm, you can set your watch to where I will be... in front of the telly watching PBS' Masterpiece Theater. On other evenings when I finally run out of steam, I'll spend an hour or 90 minutes watching an episode or movie or part of a documentary by choice and only after 7pm. This week it has been Ken Burns' National Parks documentary.

I haven't gotten very far into it yet, but I love the history, the stories of early pioneers, and the unbelievable beauty they discovered for the first time.

When the Cook Expedition of 1869 and the Washburn Expedition of 1870 returned to the east coast telling stories of the geysers in Wyoming, no one would believe them. In fact, both Cook and another man in his party, David E. Folsom, kept journals during the trip. After the expedition, Cook combined the two journals into a single version. This version was submitted to both the New York Tribune and Scribner's for publication. Both declined citing the unreliability and improbability of the information.

Thank goodness someone finally believed them and in 1872 Yellowstone became a preserved National Park.

One other interesting tidbit I learned is that you can purchase a National Parks "passport" and at any gift shop or ranger station in a National Park have your passport stamped with the date and place you visited. There is even a set of National Park stickers that you can purchase if you like a full color reminder of your trip. So many people are asking for these that now non-National Park attractions are offering the same stamp to visitors.

♥ The Artist's Way

The Artist Way is a book by Julia Cameron I've owned for decades, yet I've never finished it. The book outlines a 12-week course to reignite your inner artist, re-discover your creativity, and connect with the divine energy that flows through you when you create art.

It starts with "Morning Pages" and do this without fail every morning. It's very simple, yet powerful. Grab a notebook and pen (Ms Cameron offers a plethora of workbooks and journals, but they are not necessary) and write three pages first thing. The first two pages will be worthy of the trashcan. Just write your stream of consciousness.

What I call "the monkey brain" starts the writing. "Remember to buy more avocados. Do I need a haircut? Wish Max would stop whining. Gosh the coffee smells good, etc." And then when you think you can't write another word, a different brain takes over and astonishing wisdom comes pouring out. Keep writing. It may just be one nugget or pearl of wisdom or it may be a whole strand. Don't edit. Just keep writing.

It's amazing what solid gold is stored in your head, but unless you give it the opportunity to appear, you'll never discover it. Wonder if that is why the scripture reads, "Be still and know?"

♥ Ralph Waldo Emerson

One morning while writing my Morning Pages, a quote came to me that is attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson,

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."

Out of curiosity, I researched more quotes and was overwhelmed by what I discovered, a magnitude of wisdom and sound advice.

"Sprinkle Joy."

"Each man has his own vocation; his talent is his call. There is one direction in which all space is open to him.

"Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying."

"By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote."

♥ Happier with Gretchen Rubin

My all-time favorite podcast for the past four years has been Happier with Gretchen Rubin. It is simply a 30-minute chat between Gretchen and her sister, the sage, Liz Craft, about habits and tidbits to live a happier life. I love it! And I wish I'd thought of it.

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Note and full disclosure: In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to the product on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

Each Friday, I'll share with you a few beautiful, delicious, intriguing treasures I'm grateful to have discovered.

Or simply things I'm just grateful for... Period.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ Founding Fathers

With Independence Day right around the corner, I am in awe and appreciation of America's Founding Fathers. I am grateful for their vision, their courage, and their faith, and yet bewildered by some of their choices and decisions.

Have you read America's First Daughter? This book was loaned to me earlier this year, and it was a fascinating read. I highly recommend it. It's a historical fiction novel from the point of view of Patsy Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson's oldest child. I can't even fathom what she witnessed, not only with America's Revolution and the "Great American Experiment," but also lived through the French Revolution which, by the way, was fueled by the the American Revolution. That had never occurred to be before.

America's First Daughter with susan elizabeth jones artist

Her father, Thomas Jefferson, was a brilliant man, eloquent orator and prolific writer. He was highly educated, kept a multitude of journals, and commissioned the Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific ocean and had them keep illustrate diaries of their journey and discoveries. He was an architect, botanist, engineer, President of the United States. Yet he didn't claim his own children who were born into slavery to his wife's half-sister Sally Hemmings. He had the power to free them, claim them, love them, and didn't, his own children who were 87.5% Caucasian with red hair and looked remarkably like him. He must have been a very complicated and conflicted man, if not a hypocrite.

The Republic the founding fathers created, led by people elected democratically, may not have been perfect, but it was the best form of government ever created at the time. And a better one has not been created since.

♥ Amish Country

Today I am spending time with my students on an "Art Date" to Ethridge, Tennessee, to Amish country. We'll drive from farm to farm and select produce, jams, jellies, candies, breads, quilts, birdhouses, furniture, harnesses, and handmade and homemade items the families sell from their kiosks. The Amish lifestyle is something to see really. It's like stepping into a time machine and going back at least a century.

When I go I'm so tempted to photograph the adorable, barefoot children playing with chickens and rabbits or the men and older boys working the mules in the field, but out of respect I don't. The photos shown above are not mine. The Amish take the verse in the Bible seriously regarding "no graven images." They don't allow sketches, paintings, or photographs.

♥ Vintage Better Homes and Garden Cookbook

My mother had the red and white gingham Better Homes and Garden cookbook in her kitchen when I was a wee bairn, and I had my own junior version. Still do. I learned to make broiled hot dogs split down the middle with melted cheese by reading a recipe.

The original cookbooks are long gone, but I replaced the Junior Cookbook a few years ago and just found the first edition Better Homes and Garden book after years of treasure hunting looking for it.

My parents were visiting Sunday afternoon, and I showed the cookbook to my mother. She said that my father loved the recipe for Scalloped Eggplant. I must make him some next time we have a family meal. It's not one of my favorites, but if you want to taste 1953, try this recipe...

Scalloped Eggplant

1 medium eggplant
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup milk
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup buttered bread or cracker crumbs

Pare eggplant; cut in 1-inch cubes. Cook in boiling, salted water 8 minutes; drain. Add egg, milk, butter, onion, dry bread crumbs.

Place in greased 1-quart baking dish. Top with buttered crumbs; bake in moderate oven (350*) 30 minutes.

Did you get a chance to try the Oven Roasted Tomato recipe in last week's edition of Bullet Point Blessings? I did. It's crazy delicious!

♥ Diana Hollingsworth Gessler Illustrated Travel Journals

Diana Gessler Illustrated Travel Journals with susan elizabeth jones artist

I love Illustrated Travel Journals, my own as well as others. I've been collecting published journals for years, but only last week discovered the ones by Diana Hollingsworth Gessler. I purchased two: Very Charleston and Very New Orleans.

A couple of years ago a few friends and I went to New Orleans for a long weekend. It was so much fun!! And beautiful! I painted scenes from the area, but didn't take my travel journal. I can't wait to go back!

Dixieland Cafe du Monde
And I snapped loads of photos to use for reference for future paintings.

This year I've been invited by a friend to join her on vacation to Isle of Palms in the Charleston area, to sight-see, take photographic references, and to paint. This year I will take my illustrated travel journal, too.

And in the meantime I can enjoy the delightful illustrations of Mrs. Gessler.

(She did publish Very California, Very Washington, DC, but I haven't read these yet.)

♥ Poldark

Demelza Poldark with susan elizabeth jones artist
If you have never seen Poldark, you are running incredibly late to the party. The fifth and final season will air on PBS in a couple of months, but you are in luck. An encore presentation of Season 4 is being re-aired on Sunday evenings at 7pm in anticipation of the premier of Season 5. Luckily for PBS Passport members, you can watch all four previous seasons on demand, as well as all the other wonderful programming in their library. All that is required is a $5/month donation.

The main character, Ross Poldark, is a very handsome British Army officer who returns to his father's home in Cornwall after serving in the American Revolutionary War for Independence only to discover his beautiful fiancee Elizabeth Chynoweth believed him dead and is about to marry Ross' cousin Francis Poldark. Ross attempts to restore his own fortunes by reopening his deceased father's home and one of the family's derelict copper mines. After several years, he marries his scullery maid, Demelza Carne, and although he loves her, he still mourns the loss of Elizabeth's love. It's full of swashbuckling, handsome men fighting evil, injustice and cruelty and beautiful women who aren't above using their influence and feminine wiles. And there is a lot of swimming in the sea to clear one's head and doses by the handful of wistful, cliff gazing.

Is it me or does simply hearing the word "Cornwall" make your heart skip a beat? And this series was written in the 1940s, my favorite era.

Some of you may even remember the 1970s adaptation on PBS. I don't. But I've been told the actor who played Ross Poldark in the 1970s has a reoccurring role in the 21st century version.

And don't forget to listen to the podcast.

♥ Family, Friends, and the best Neighbors in the world!

In graduate school in the 1990s, we studied the priorities of the auto industry in the US vs. Japan. It was interesting to note that the US listed Quality as it's #1 priority and Quality didn't even make the Japan list, yet at the time Japanese cars were thought to be of superior quality and US cars did not have that same reputation.

Our professor commented that in Japan when a product is built, it is understood it will be made well, that it would be redundant to list it as a priority because Quality simply is part of the product.

I feel that way when listing my blessings each week. My family, friends, and neighbors are absolutely #1 on the list, but I don't list them because it should be understood. I don't ever want to take them for granted. And I couldn't have gotten through this crazy week without them. Thank you so much! I love you all!!

We make our friends; we make our enemies;

but God makes our next door neighbor.

~Gilbert K. Chesterton

Note and full disclosure: In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to the product on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

Each Friday, I'll share with you a few beautiful, delicious, intriguing treasures I'm grateful to have discovered.

Or simply things I'm just grateful for... Period.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ Yellow Day Lilies

Is it me or are the Yellow Day Lilies exceptionally gorgeous this year? I have tall ones and short ones at Windy Acre Cottage, and they are really showing off this summer.

♥ Charming Cookbooks

Farm fresh recipes with susan elizabeth jones artist

Back in my college days, I remember visiting the home of a friend's boyfriend. He lived with his parents next to the David Lipscomb University campus where we attended classes. In his mother's kitchen was one wall turned into a giant bookshelf filled with nothing by cookbooks she had collected over the years. I remember thinking to myself, "What's the point?"

The campus of DLU has expanded, and the whole block of 1940's houses where he lived has been demolished in order to build Bison Hall, so the bookshelf I remember no longer exists, but it does in my dreams. I love a charming cookbook and can read one like it's a thrilling spy novel. I would love to have a whole library full of charming cookbooks!

The newest to my collection is Farm Fresh Recipes from the Missing Goat Farm. I freely admit I purchased it because I judged the book by its cover. And what a cover! A Buff Orpington hen spying fresh strawberries in a vintage Pyrex bowl in the late afternoon sunshine. Every photo is worthy of painting and the recipes sound amazing though I haven't used one yet. It's basically a tasty fantasy. And don't you know I read it while in the porch swing while sipping on sweet tea or iced pink lemonade.

I can't wait to go to the Farmer's Market on Saturday and pick out some beautiful tomatoes. I want to try this recipe...

♥ Applewood Smoked Salt

A simple and inexpensive way I have found to make any meal seem a little more special is to add a little smoked salt. I use Applewood Smoked Salt that comes in it's own grinder. I purchased Hickory Smoked Salt for my parents. It's all good... especially in scrambled eggs.

The other evening I used smoked salt to season my bison burgers. It was delicious but the bison meat is a bit strong. When I make them again, I plan to use half bison and half lean ground beef.

♥ Queen Victoria's Sketchbook

Queen Victorias Sketchbook with susan elizabeth jones artist

At the end of May I enjoyed teaching an Illustrated Watercolor Class at Rippavilla to benefit the Chestnut Group. In the initial presentation in the gazebo, I told about famous illustrated journalers like Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, Beatrix Potter, and Prince Charles, and showed a collection of books I've collected over the years of some of my favorite Illustrated Journals that have been published. One was even a collection of illustrations of Trout. A student commented, "I bet you would like the Queen Victoria Sketchbook." My heart skipped a beat.

Quite honestly I didn't know it existed, which is silly. I knew Queen Victoria sketched. Why wouldn't it be published?

And of course it's as charming and delightful as you would expect it to be. This book is out of print, but many used copies are available and reasonably priced.

♥ Vintage and Vintage-inspired Handkerchiefs

Vintage handkerchiefs- Susan Elizabeth Jones artist.JPG Vintage Girl Scout handkerchief- Susan Elizabeth Jones artist
When I was a wee bairn of three or four, my great-aunt Macy gave me a beautiful red handkerchief with a grey kitten in one corner playing with a ball of yarn. I loved that handkerchief! It's now framed to display and prevent from further aging. But I love these little, colorful pieces of batiste and have been collecting them for years, both vintage and vintage-inspired. When disposable facial tissue became widely available, no one except old men wanted to use the cloth variety. And old men used plain white handkerchiefs. You could buy these up at antique malls and flea markets for 50 cents each. Not any more.

I still love the hunt. The vintage Girl Scout handkerchief is a favorite. And I took two vintage ones of difference sizes and sewed a Dream Pillow, stuffing it with dried Mugwort to induce sound sleep and dreams. Honestly it just makes me dizzy, so soon it will be stuffed with dried lavender... a better choice should you want to try this at home.

Dream Pillow by Susan Elizabeth Jones artist

If you plan to use handkerchiefs, they simply need to be laundered to be ready to be used again. I don't use my vintage ones. They are too delicate. I purchase new, vintage-inspired versions. But if you don't plan to use them for the purpose they were created, keep an eye out for colorful and dainty, authentic vintage handkerchiefs in antique malls and flea markets. You can use them to make a pillow or displayed framed and under glass. I think they would be pretty bundled together and displayed in a vintage flower vase. Or simply on a shelf with treasured knickknacks on top.

Vintage Handkerchief with knickknacks- susan elizabeth jones artist

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.

It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend."

~Melody Beattie

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

Each Friday, I'll share with you a few beautiful, delicious, intriguing treasures I'm grateful to have discovered.

Or simply things I'm just grateful for... Period.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ "Old Glory," the American Flag

June 14 is Flag Day here in the US, but my home is dressed in it's Yankee Doodle Dandiest Stars and Strips from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and several other days throughout the year. Summer is patriotic, starting with Memorial Day, then Flag Day, then Independence Day and finally Labor Day. Then it comes back out for Veteran's Day and Columbus Day.

In my eclectic neighborhood where residents come from all walks of life, with differing nations of origin, religions, ethnicities, and cultures, you will find American flags proudly displayed. And when the neighborhood elementary school is in session, if you listen very closely or happen to be walking your dog at the right time, you'll here the Principal on the public address system lead the children in reciting the pledge of allegiance.

If you find yourself in Columbia, Tennessee, this June, stop by Square Market Cafe on the public square downtown to see a collection of my patriotic themed paintings honoring the emblem of the land I love.

♥ Tennessee Waterways

This week a few artist friends and I spent a couple of days painting the beautiful Caney Fork River near Rock Island, Tennessee. Our home state is full of amazingly beautiful lakes and rivers. To be a landlocked state, Tennessee has nearly 17,000 miles of clean, warm water streams and rivers just calling to be floated, fished, or painted.

"Nature is the Art of God."

~Dante Alighieri

♥ Outlander

For decades friends and acquaintances who learned how much I love the 1940s WWII era, have suggested I read the Diana Gabaldon book serious Outlander. When it was first suggested in the early 1990's, I was deep in studies at graduate school and worked two jobs, and reading for fun was not a luxury I could afford. Once I started reading for fun, I gravitated to non-fiction, and this is where I stayed.... until the Starz original series Outlander was produced for television. I'm hooked.

It's basically an epic adventure centered around a married couple deeply in love, living in the 18th century in Scotland. I visited Scotland years ago and fell in love with the country. I also have deep and wide Scottish heritage, so that was a draw. And little known to many people, I love history and dream of time travel.

The first two seasons of the Outlander series are being offered on Netflix. After watching these, you'll be compelled to either purchase all four seasons on DVD or invest in the Diana Gabaldon books. I purchased both.

As much as I love the TV series, it's not for all audiences... including me! I can't handle gore or violence, and there is a lot of that. I read the books so I would know what to expect and then fast forward through the scenes I can't watch. I also listen to the Official Outlander Podcast and learn all the post production magic, special effects, and gadgets from the art department on how torture or battle scenes are filmed. No actor was harmed in the filming of Outlander.

♥ Assorted Vintage Teacups

Love 'em. Can't get enough of 'em. And I scour thrift stores, yard sales, and antique malls for beautiful and unique teacups, saucers and salad plates. In my mother's generation, a newly engaged young lady would register for her china pattern... her one china pattern. How do you choose just one??? They are all so lovely.

(And what is lovelier than a vintage teacup, fresh flowers from the garden, and a good book?)

♥ Instagram

Being a visual learner and artist, I love a beautiful photograph. And that is all instagram is... a platform for people to share their beautiful photographs. If you aren't on Instagram, it's time you tried it. With a simple search using a hashtag, you can find whatever beautiful photos you want to see.

Here are some of my favorites...

#farmhouse #countrycottage #illustratedjournaling #vintagekitchen #1940sfashion

#chickens #historichomes #castlesofinstagram #coastalliving #heirloomgardens

#preppy #pyrex

And some of my favorite accounts are...

@goatsofanarchy @vintagebelly @americanlighthousefoundation @draperjames

@yourdailydoseofcows @littlebritishcottage @mayandberry @applefoxfarm @inslee

@theddaydarlings @shellys_bits_of_bliss @vivienofholloway @lillypulitzer @sugarpiefarmhouse

Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality.

~Alfred Painter

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

Each Friday, I'll share with you a few beautiful, delicious, intriguing treasures I'm grateful to have discovered.

Or simply things I'm just grateful for... Period.

______________________________________________________________________________________

♥ Old Dogs

Black jack2-susan elizabeth jones artist
I love all dogs, but especially old dogs. They are wise, compassionate, and turn napping into performance art. I have three. Well, this week I have five, but two of them are fosters who will be going to their new home soon. Dean Koontz tells us, "Once you have lived with a wonderful dog, a life without one is a life diminished."

Amen, Mr. Koontz. Amen!

Today I send warm healing thoughts to my friends who have lost their beloved, old canine companions, especially to those few friends who lost their old dogs this week.

You were well loved Charlie, Black Jack, and Fluffer, and you are already sorely missed.

“You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us.”

~ Robert Louise Stevenson

If you are interested in fostering through a middle Tennessee rescue, may I recommend Russell Rescue of Tennessee and Snooty Giggles.

♥ US Military Veterans

June 6 1944 Omaha Beach

June 6, 2019, marks the 75th anniversary of the WWII D-Day invasion, where 150,000+ troops from the US, Canada and Britain stormed the beaches of northern France, ultimately turning the tide of the war and leading to the unconditional surrender of Germany less than a year later.

I feel immense gratitude towards all US Veterans and their families and will never take for granted the sacrifices that were made for amazing life we enjoy daily here in the United States.

♥ Tiny, Travel Watercolor Kits

When it comes to painting, I love a tiny, travel watercolor set, and I'm a sucker for all of them. Seriously, it's an addiction. My oldest set is a Winsor & Newton. I love this one because it has gone with me everywhere, lasts forever, durable when you drop it, has professional grade pigments which can be refilled, includes brush, mixing space and wash water well. But I'm not faithful to this one. I have a dozen more, too.

The only other watercolors I'll recommend are the Uloochi watercolor pens. They are not as compact or lightweight as the travel watercolor set, but they are easier to manage with the water and pigment in the pen. I find myself sketching in the oddest of places balancing the sketchbook, watercolor set, wash water, paper towels, and pencil. It becomes a juggling act. The watercolor pens are easier to manage... even while riding in the car.

And I just discovered an assortment of handmade travel watercolor kits in tiny, decorative tins sold on Etsy and Ebay. I haven't purchased one yet, but they have captured my fascination.

Watercolor painting is a colorful, expressive joy.

♥ Blue Hydrangeas

Blue hydrangea 3 -susan elizabeth jones artist Blue hydrangea2-susan elizabeth jones artist

It's quite evident my hydrangeas are in dire need of water. The heat wave of 90+ degree days and no rain started mid-May, yet as I photograph these I see a thunderhead forming and hear the rattling of storms in the distance. A rainy weather pattern is in the forecast, so I'll wait to give them a drink.

I love a summer garden, but I especially love blue hydrangea. They possess such an old soul. I remember them planted at the corners of my grandmother's Victorian house in downtown Milan. Huge and glorious they were, and charming. Blue Hydrangeas are at the very least charming. Charming and welcoming all who drove down College Street.

ODE TO THE HYDRANGEA

by Phil Capitano, 2017

Misunderstood little Mophead,
They call her ‘Changing Rose’,
Her color comes from the soil
And the acidity in which she grows.

Chorus:	        Water in her name,
		Water in her veins.
		Blue Azorean stranger,
		Nothing rhymes with Hydrangea.

Graceful in the half-sun,
She turns pink with added lime.
At home in the Himalayas,
Found globally over time.

		Water in her name,
		Water in her veins.
		Blue Azorean stranger,
		Nothing rhymes with Hydrangea.

Not a flower but a shrub,
Grandiflora and Annabelle
Splash their petals radiant,
A most hardy perennial.

                Water in her name,
                Water in her veins.
                Blue Azorean stranger,
                Nothing rhymes with Hydrangea.

One of these days I'm going to get a Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea or a Strawberry Sundae Hydrangea. But not right away. Crepe Myrtle is the next garden purchase on the list.

Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea - susan elizabeth jones artist

♥ Doris Day

She may have lived to be 97, but I'll always remember Doris Day looking like the day she sang "Sentimental Journey" with Les Brown and his Orchestra in 1944. I was heartbroken to learn of her death last month, but forever grateful to the entertainer and founder of the Doris Day Animal Foundation. For her complete biography, click here.

My favorite movies she starred in were "On Moonlight Bay" and "By the Light of the Silvery Moon." Mom used to sing the theme song to me so much that my first words as a baby were, "By the Light."

Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.” – Karl Barth

Artists are different.

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.

I am such an artist.

Each Friday, I'll share with you a few beautiful, delicious, intriguing treasures I'm grateful to have discovered.

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♥ Voodoo Lilies

Look what grew up in my Azaleas- Voodoo Lilies. I love them! I just don't love them in the Azaleas. Praying for a bit of cooler weather to work in the garden and move these to a more appropriate spot.

♥ Fountain Pen

I started doing an exercise called "Morning Pages" as described in the book The Artist's Way and treated myself to a Lamy "Safari" Fountain Pen for daily routine. This is the lower end of their offerings at about $20 with 5 ink cartridges, but it's exactly what I wanted. And they aren't for everybody. You write with a nib. If feels very 1940s, just one generation away from a quill and ink pot.

♥ Partridges of Sloane Street

One of my students was painting with me en plein air, and she carried her supplies in this charming tote bag. I had to ask her about it. As it so happens, Partridges is an elegant grocery market in London where the Queen has her "good things for the larder" purchased. I was informed that everything at Partridges is wildly expensive, but just for fun wouldn't it be special to have tea just like the Queen's?

♥ Public Fitness Zone

Thank you City of Columbia and Columbia Breakfast Rotary! Just two blocks way, this charming, outdoor workout pad was constructed in Riverwalk Park near Riverside Elementary. I've been lamenting the lack of time and resources to workout and have resorted to walking and hiking the past year, and then BAM! A high-quality, conveniently located, cardio and weight-bearing playground was built along the path I was walking anyway. Did I manifest it?? Probably not, but that doesn't change the fact it is MUCH APPRECIATED.

Public Fitness Zone3 susan elizabeth jones aritst

♥ Free, On-line Book Summaries

Do you love to read? I do! Especially non-fiction. And I love books!! As a bibliophile the books are stacking up, and these are just the ones I can't part with. They are on shelves, stacked under lamps, piled on the hearth. My entire life I've dreamed of a home with a library, a library table, and a big globe.

You can imagine the heart-racing that occurred when I discovered many of desired books have been summarized by fans and posted for free on the internet. One site gives a 3-sentence summary. Influence Digest lists the top twenty best book summary sites. My favorite book summary site is Sam T. Davis.

Truth be known, I always summarized my books into a special journal, written by a favorite pen. It's the eternal student in me and a trick I used throughout my educational career... to summarize information into as few words as possible. My feeble brain can't remember lots of info, so I boil it down into a page or two. It was my only hope to pass classes and a habit that lasts until this day.

Of course, some summaries only pique my interest more and I'm compelled to purchase the book for the whole story.

The only intelligent response to the ongoing gift of life is gratitude. For all that is and has been, simply say, "Thank you." For all that is to come, enthusiastically exclaim, "Yes!"

~Sir Thomas Lemuel Hawke, Rules for a Knight