Update 9/21/09

Tomorrow is officially the first day of fall. Summer was wild. Work was so busy, the garden needed constant attention, etc, etc. Where did it go? A couple of weeks ago I noticed that I finally felt like I came up for air and was able to take some deep breaths. I got some long-overdue reading done, some craft projects checked off the list, practiced yoga. I am hoping that with fall I will find more time to slow down. I spent the part of this weekend that I wasn't working actively trying not to think about anything important. Mostly, I spent some quality time playing in the wood shop.

Oh, the joys of the scroll saw! I wasn't planning on learning to use it just yet, but I found myself jigging away like a little elf.

There is something really healing about sawing through a hunk of wood. It's all about the feel and the smell. Working with natural materials is always special.

By the afternoon, I already had a few forest friends cut and smoothed out. I can tell this is going to be a new obsession. I am seeing some really beautiful things done with watercolors and wood online and I'm really excited to give it a go.

Speaking of forest friends, as a cheer-up gift (we all need one of those once in awhile, don't we?) my friend Joan gave me a set of just about the cutest things I've ever seen:
Forest Fairies, just in time for autumn. They are so precious! I keep setting them up and rearranging them. They're just too perfect. I really want to try this as a craft project. Oh, there are so many things to make! I can't imagine why anyone would ever be bored.