Happy Monday, My Lovelies! I hope you've had a wonderful summer. Mine has been....busy. And not for a good reason.
My mother became ill in March, and she has been in two hospitals, two skilled nursing facilities, and one assisted living facility. It has been difficult because one moment she seems fine, and the next, she isn't.
Because I'm an only child, her care is solely on me. Mr. Bookish, and our daughters, and our son-in-law have been very helpful and supportive. I don't know what I'd do without my family.
We have only been to the lake twice all summer because we've spent a lot of time in my hometown settling her estate, selling her home, etc. She was released from the hospital Friday and sent to another SNF. I feel badly for her, and I'm hoping she can get the care she needs to improve her quality of life.
I miss being home because I'm such a home bird! My dogs have missed me a lot, and they have not been happy with my absence. I have missed working in our back garden, but fortunately for me, the annuals I planted haven't needed a lot of attention, and we've had so much rain.
This is my favorite time of year to be home, and the following is what I like most about it:
- getting in the back-to-school mode (i.e. back on a schedule) even though no one in our home is in school right now
- hearing the school buses driving up and down the hills early in the morning
- making lists for buying new art supplies, pencils, and planners
- planning trips to local art supply and stationary stores
- getting up earlier with the school buses and reading my lessons for my Bible study that starts in August
- cleaning out and organizing my menu/blogging desk in our kitchen
- reorganizing my art studio
Speaking of school and art supplies....In late spring I applied to be a member of the Koh-I-Noor Artist Team. Koh-I-Noor is a company from the Czech Republic known for manufacturing pencils. The company's founder Franz Hardtmuth defined a total of 8 types of soft and hard pencils, two medium hard and one type for natural graphite. He marked the soft ones from B to 8B, with 8B being the softest and the 9B mark is for natural graphite. The marks of soft gradations were based on the same principle as for hard gradations, just with the letter H. Later, a number of gradations H - H8 were extended by H9 and H10. According to the personal notes of Franz Hardtmuth, the marking of pencils using the letter H originates from the family surname Hardtmuth, B means Budweis, or Budějovice in Czech language (a Czech city), and F refers to his first name Franz. This 21-degree gradation marking system for graphite cores is still used by most pencil manufacturers around the world. Most of you have heard of the number 2 pencil: That one is actually a "2B."
I was accepted, and I wanted to share the projects I shared on Instagram.
I drew these peaches with Koh-I-Noor's Tri-Toned Colored Pencils. Each pencil has three different colors in it. I think It makes drawings very interesting because the artist can't control when the colors change from one to another.
I like to make bookmarks for my favorite books and place them in my reading tag journals.
I drew this one with the Mondeluz gray-toned colored pencils.
When I applied for the Artist Team I had no idea that my mother's condition would decline so rapidly. I have not drawn anything this month, and I'm feeling the pressure because I believe in honoring my commitments. If I had known that my mom would require another hospital and SNF stay, I would not have applied.
We have been planning different major projects around our home. I have met with a decorator and carpenter. We are postponing our planning meetings until after Labor Day because I have too much going on right now to meet with them. Because we are saving for these projects, I haven't been spending a lot of money "fluffing" the house this summer. I did purchase one thing during the MacKenzie-Childs Barn Sale, though, and I hope to use it soon.
This is the Piccadilly pie plate. I wanted to bake a tomato pie in it before summer ends.
I hope I can!
I would like to get back into blogging, but it's hard because I haven't been home much to blog. I have posted on Instagram because it's easier to do so on the run. If you would, please follow me on Instagram, and also please, if you do follow me, like and comment on the posts for Koh-I-Noor. They were so kind to send me beautiful pencils and paper for my art in exchange for posting on IG. I would really appreciate it. Click on the graphic below to follow me.
Below is a teaser of my Welcome Fall tablescape:
I hope you will come back next week and read these posts!
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
