Wishing you a Happy New Year that will bring great successes and happiness and hopes!
The belief that carrying a penny in your pocket on New Year’s Eve will bring good luck is indeed an old wives’ tale! However mycockney mum and Liverpudlian aunt kept a couple of English crown, three shilling and several tuppence for just for this purpose, along with some old American pennies. Every new year’s eve they stepped onto our front porch and turned these coins over in their pocket leaving the door open behind them, blowing in the fresh year’s luck with a full throated howl! It was quite a remarkable thing to watch when my sister and I were kids! Dad did not join the howling….but he would pour a glass of Sandeman port while mum mixed some brandy alexanders. The two of us us got small glasses of port too. All of us toasted the brand new year. Dad would set a small bowl and spoon on the table to remember all the past centuries of Moran’s that were before us! I realized in time, they all enjoyed their traditions, both from England and Ireland. This year I’ll be doing the same thing and be hoping all who read this have a healthy beginning for 2024!
Grit, patience, humility are my most constant comrades since experiencing an ischemic stroke on January 20, 2022. My three sons and husband are my anchor. Friends and acquaintances number many. Grateful for all.
This new year approaching presents a third year of painting, drawing and writing my name left-handed (I’m not!) and working on Intaglio and Engraving. Gardening is greatly improved from last year and music therapy is fun thus far. Brand new will be river kayaking on the Rappahanock and heading up to the lesser known and somewhat harder AT trails. This will another challenging year.
I’ve engraved so many plates over the years I’ve decided making some of them into 2nd and 3rd states.( adding artwork)) Pencil and pen are still my staple means of designing . Liking the discovery of casein several years ago. It’s very much like gouache, but a milk based mixture with pigment. With its opacity and matte finish I’ve found it reliably stable instead of watercolor. Oil paints, Gamblin and Classico Italian, are always my favorites with undercoat of casein. I love ampersand clayboard and Bristol paper heavy for finished work.
Gardening in the Wildlife Habitat at Central is harder than it was before but much more rewarding. There will be more additions and a concentration on a dozen or more native grasses, shade species and bulbs. I came across a new method of growing in sand and biochar in my GARDENS Illustrated. A pioneer of this technique is Swedish gardener, nurseryman and designer Peter Korn, from Southern Sweden. There was some mulching and organic soil too. All extremely thought provoking and less maintenance in the mix. Absolutely this February!
Making baby waves will be exhilarating this spring on my wonderful kayak, between gardening. I would love to put in at Fones Cliffs on the lower Rappahannock River, or the Pamunky River through the Cumberland Marsh Preserve They’re magical places. Birds galore, otters, slow moving reptiles, the land and water! More water!
Old friends; violin and viola. My dad made them, and I played in the HS Orchestra years ago. He was an electrical engineer with the military and made computers which led him to making violins. Though both instruments have mellowed, been repaired and been played lovingly and roughly, they sound even better each year. Some musical therapy with those two and my electric full piano have slowly provided finger strength, and definitely improved my hand and arm movement. Thanks dad, for making me learn. It’s not how I play now- but that I can!
picture-Cat Point Creek , Menokin , home of Francis Lightfoot Lee , 12/20/21
I’ll try to keep you updated with snippets of new works, the wildlife habitat, and my first put in on the river. This computer keyboard has been a super tool too, and provided one valuable element for me- Speed!
