Marcmas, the lost days

I started designating the week between Christmas and New Year’s as the lost days, really starting a couple of days before Christmas, when we were working as the lost days because the few days before Christmas until the few days after New Year’s Day it was impossible to get any business accomplished so we generally just closed for the week plus. Even though we are retired, I still take this week to mostly do nothing. Wander the yard weather permitting, catch up on my reading, whatever else I find to do or not do with my time, no pressure. And so I wandered the yard and saw Brazilian button flower (above), bluebonnet (it’s been so dry I didn’t think we would get any next year but I counted at least 10), ball moss, toadstools.

I signed up for the next ‘advanced’ art journal workshop in January. I thought I should probably have more than the four pages we did in the first workshop so since I have this time I’ve been doing a few more after ignoring it all these months. I have limited supplies, permanent markers and water based markers, colored pencils, pencil, watercolors. I have a set of acrylics but so far haven’t used them. And I’m using my cheap Prang watercolor set with a limited (16) range of colors instead of my several sets of professional watercolors with way too many choices because I’m trying to keep these pages loose and quick, just studies instead of paintings. So far three new pages and the beginning of a fourth. The first one took me about four days to complete but the other two were quick and loose which is something I need to work on as I am not generally a spontaneous artist. 

I may not get time to work on the next page today because…

today is Marcmas! Marc’s birthday, 74 years old. We’re going out for a meal when our son, who is driving out from the city, and our daughter get here. This is the third? fourth? year we have done this. I love being around all my family; kids, grandkids, and now great grandkids and the chaos of my daughter’s house but it’s special to have just the four of us, our core family, for a few hours without the distraction of succeeding generations. Did I take pictures? No.

But I did take a few Christmas Day over at Sarah’s house. Harrison is 11 months and can stand but not yet walking. He found Paisleigh’s discarded apple that she took a few bites of and he spent the day gnawing on it with his one little tooth. Meanwhile Paisleigh was putting on all her new clothes, modeling them for me. I think she has on three layers here though the pajama shirt on top is on backwards.

Now that all the days of gathering are done for the year I’m ready for the empty lost days.