August Updates and Artistic Things

Oh my goodness – another month is just slipping by. I try to reflect back on each day and what I’m thankful for. But looking backwards over a month it seems like so many days.

Yet – filling our days. How do we fill our days? That is the question. Recently I just finished reading Decisive. <And omg – self confession that I apparently just feel compelled to tell you – I kept that book for way too long. I didn’t mean too. The librarians in Vermont are the nicest anywhere. I have to leave money in the conscious box because many of the VT libraries don’t have overdue fees. There is simply a conscious box so you can make a donation if you’ve been bad and keep your books too long.>

Anyway. I was reading Decisive, which as the title implies is about making decisions. One of the examples and tools the book suggests to do is to make an Un-Doing list or Do Not Do List. I have been catching onto that idea and trying to think of the things I want to eliminate. So far I’ve got: browse less Yahoo and Facebook and instead sit outside and watch the hummingbirds. For me it feels like slowly, like over the course of 10+ years I am finding the freedom in finding things to say no too.

There are also some wonderful updates to share with you! Many of you might already know this because so many of you in this tribe are just so wonderful and being encouraging to us. But here’s a little list:

Got two works accepted into the juried art show at the T.W. Art Gallery in Montpelier.

Thank you to everyone for all your kind thoughts on this.

Won a round of the National Recreation and Parks Association #Parks4Pollinators contest! Yes! Guys – keep your eyes on their socials. They run some really great contests!

Went to the Townshend Fair Day and exhibited at the art show. We sold a framed photography print and a bunch of cards! Next year we’ll have an even better idea of good items for the fair.

I also interviewed Lisa Niver from We Said Go Travel. Lisa’s has been an online blogging friend and person I have corresponded with for years. I have written a bunch of articles for her site from climbing the kari trees in Australia to showcasing some of our favorite animals in Australia. I have also won a round of the writing contest she used to run with this piece. Now she’s running a photo contest (with no fee!) and this years entry is now open. Lisa is such an inspiration to me. I hope you will read her interview and check out all her amazing work.

Then there’s the whole working in the cutest park ever side of things too. I could go on for a long time and there’s so many pictures I want to share. For now, I will just share this one about the epic battles that have been going on in our basement. Hehe. Not really. One day this salamander was out and Chris just wanted to show perspective so he put down one of our little knights. We thought the pictures had it seem like the salamander was going to slay the night.

And it did – haha! It just plowed right through. Now please note, also, we have a long lens and we didn’t do anything to alter the behavior. We have a fairly wet basement and the salamanders being out and walking around is a normal thing in our park living.

We’re getting to the point where we are needing to make a plan of what to do next. We anticipate going to Central or South America. Where to go and what to do?!
We also have a few next phase of goals we are working on. Can you believe we are working on lining up some gallery displays for 2019 and perhaps even into 2020!? Crazy! But so proud of ourselves because it finally feels (like just a tiny bit) that we are starting to think ahead and actively work toward creating a more artistic future.

Ok. So that was a lot. What about you? What have you all been up to this summer? Have you been doing any fun things? Making any headway on your goals?