And now we wait. We could get up to 20 inches of snow tomorrow. We pray for everyone in the path of this storm; for safe harbor, for heat and power, for no property damage.

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I was watching some videos on YouTube this morning focusing on artist studios. I was reminded of the fact that I have always managed to carve out some sort of creative space, no matter where or how I lived. In a tiny one room apartment, in my bedroom, on the kitchen table – you name it.  So has every creative artist.

Early in this blog’s history, I put together a studio space at the top of our stairs, situated in a little nook under the skylight. I created a quilt or two there, assembled Don’s mini music studio there, and a host of other projects. For those of you who might not have been reading the blog in those days, here are some photos. (By the way, this space was featured in a magazine!) We were still using the second bedroom as a bedroom in those days.

A short walk down memory lane:

My sewing table was tucked into this niche (where my husband’s dresser is today.) Fabric was on the shelf unit. The mantel held my growing egg cup collection.

Boy, have phone cameras improved since these pictures were taken!

The framed piece of vintage art on the top left is now in the downstairs bathroom. Everything else is now in our shared studio space.

This cabinet was just behind my sewing niche, as you turn toward the second bedroom. It was painted khaki and blue when I purchased it. On the right of the cabinet were pin boards attached to the wall. I assembled quilt squares there. And displayed embroidery projects, as you can see here.

I framed the article about the space (from Studios magazine) as well as a little mention about the blog in Romantic Homes. You can see the original colors of the cabinet in the framed piece on the right.

Lord, I looked so much younger then!

I’m pretty sure I wrote the text, as well. I have copies of the magazines I was feature in. They’re in the pink cabinet. Hummingbird Cottage was featured in two miniature magazines.

That sewing machine is broken at the moment. And my little Featherweight has some tension problems that I have to figure out. The Featherweight lives under the big work table in the current studio. I have some patching to do on our bedspread, so I need to get to that soon.

I thought you might enjoy this look at the way things used to be.

Now, if Don would just vacate the shared office space, I’d be free to expand! But where would he put his musical instruments??? Actually, he has offered to do that, but my response was “absolutely not!” He deserves his own space as well. And let’s face it, most of the stuff in that room is mine.

Stay safe and send a little prayer our way for safe passage through this storm.

Happy Saturday.

This puzzle is surprisingly difficult. I’m also distracted a lot lately, so I work on it sporadically.

Well, on top of the god-awful news we are dealing with on an hourly basis, we are a part of the huge storm that will be crossing the country dumping 12 – 18 inches of snow on Sunday and Monday. What the heck? The last two or three winters have been relatively mild. But winter is back with a vengeance. In addition to the snow, we will be dealing with single digit temperatures.

Yesterday, I did a lot of chores around the house, as well as outside. Sort of a whirlwind of activity. So was Don. He ran errands, bought groceries and salt for the driveway. Now, he’s going to our recycling center and buying a few more things that we need.

We are most definitely in the midst of storm prep.

I finished my 4th reading of A Gentleman in Moscow. It just gets better with each reading. One of yesterday’s errands was a trip to the library, where I picked up two books that I’d had on hold. First, Michael Connelly’s newest, The Proving Ground. I was waiting in the queue for 4 months. And Robert Macfarlane’s newest: Is a River Alive?  Macfarlane is one of my favorite nonfiction writers. He writes about nature.

We’re not quite battening down the hatches yet. That will be at the end of the day tomorrow.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

This is the sky the morning after the last snow. We were out early shoveling and snowblowing, The one saving grace? The spectacular sun and clear blue skies. No filters on this pic – this is exactly how it looked that morning.

Like much of the country, we are in the middle of extremely frigid temperatures and this trend doesn’t look like it’s going to end anytime soon. My hands are still ice cold as I type this. And there’s talk of another storm that’s going to be spreading across the country – west to east – which might bring lots of snow on Sunday into Monday.

No, thank you, Mother Nature. We have enough on the ground.

I keep telling Don that this winter is starting to remind me of the “Boston Winter.” That’s the winter Don was away in Boston and I was holding down the fort here. I had to buy a rake for the roof because there was so much snow there. I shoveled a path for Scoutie that turned into a tunnel, it was so deep. The day I remember most was when we had yet another heavy snowfall and I had to shovel the driveway because I had to be in Hartford with Scout the next day. After working and working and seeing hardly any results I just stood there and cried. It seemed so hopeless. I waved the white flag of surrender and asked my neighbors for help. They came to my rescue.

I’ve been thinking of Scout a lot lately. It doesn’t seem possible, but she left us in February of 2016. She’s been gone 10 years. I miss her every day.

That means my Dad has been gone 10 years as well. And mom? 11 years. And Riley, 14 years.

The years go by so quickly, something I am reminded of all the time as I realize how limited our time here is.

I can’t write about the horrors in this country. It’s too hard. And I’m desperately trying to cling on to some semblance of hope.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.