Home is where the heart is!

We've got a long weekend off, so we headed up to the north country to enjoy some of the beautiful colors and just a relaxing time away from the city area. It's glorious up here; the smells, the fresh air, the gorgeous forests. We've been having a lot of fun helping around with the farm and gardening, cooking with wholesome ingredients, and, of course, beading!

We're in the guestroom, where no animals are allowed and no people really intrude. So I set up shop, a little studio away from home. I love this room because there's tons of light with the two windows, and the color (a pastel yellow) is so bright and happy. Our little owlies watch over my materials. I make jewelry just before bed, and work on it again first thing in the morning with a cup of coffee. This keeps me on task and producing, since my first big show is coming up so quickly. (Yipes!)

The first big snow is coming up quickly, too. Unfortunately, the fall season doesn't last very long in the north coutry. The nights here are so cold. I even caught the sky snowing just a little bit last night, and the heat is already on. It's a little sad, but we are used to such things. By the way, if you want a delicious treat to get you through your jewelry making, or whatever craft on a cold evening, I've found the following sweet little recipe to be quite wonderful. Add 1 tablespoon of Amaretto liquor and 2 tablespoons of eggnog to a mug of hot coffee, and... voila! A wonderful, warming toddy. You can bet I'll be drinking these once the ground is white and the rivers are freezing over.

For now, though, the gorgeous colors are taking my breath away.

Click on the thumbnails below for two more from the trails along the river.

I love this area, especially at this time of the year. And that helps. It really does; to be in an inspiring place really does help with your art or craft or whatever it is you do. This is something that your work transfers to others. I hope that I can capture some of this magnificence to share.

Tomorrow is the big Michael's beads challenge blog hop at Lorelei's blog. I'm very excited to show my work, but nervous, too. It will be a lot of fun, regardless, so I hope you will all join us in clicking around and looking at some beautiful jewelry work. :)

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