life of a georgia Artist

 Greetings all, Life has been challenging me lately so I apologize for being slack on my blog. My mom has been in and out of the hospitals, yes numerous ones. At the end of the day, we do not know how much time she has left, but do any of us know? This photo is in Clinton NJ. See NJ isn't all what exit are you from? Its water, its lakes, it is an old red historic mill. Clinton is a cute lil town. It has art galleries, mills, bridges, ice cream, the best subs on the planet, and coffee.  My mom used to live here and has since moved, but I am still drawn to this place. I love the area. I love exploring and this down is such a great place to wander around in. In and out of stores, and more stores. Candles, books, subs, coffee, bakery items, and the most adorable red mill.  To quote Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail, this town is Enchanting. It's fall time in this photo and full of mums and fall colors. Have a seat, sit with a friend, or make a new one. I miss this place and while I a

Autumn Season  The leaves are changing into vibrant rays of sunshine in reds, oranges, and yellows. The ground is carpeted with fallen leaves and the temperature is dropping. This is my favorite season. I love to sit under any tree as the wind blows and leaves fall all over me. It brings me joy. This is the season of coziness. As the temperature drops, the blankets are rewashed and brought out, and laid about the house for all to grab and use as needed. Candles are light again, lights are left off, and the earlier night darkness seeps into all the corners of our lives. Fall with its crisp air, its apple picking season, its hayrides, and corn mazes. Its birds flying south, its mornings spent listening to the owls hoot as they say a quick early good morning and then go off to sleep. It is a wind blowing by carrying leaves that had fallen. It is the crunch under your feet.  This is the season to travel. To chase colors across the state. To find the perfect fall spot to take photos, to cap

  Winter is filled with quiet nights snuggled up on the couch. It is staying warm under piles of blankets. It is dark by four pm and cocoa by the gallons to stay warm. It is game night, tv specials, and Christmas music playing on repeat. This year it is also my first grandbaby and my wedding. This year has been hard. So many of us have lost loved ones. It is the second year of a pandemic. It is trying to buy groceries and remain safe at the same time. It has been challenging at its best, devastating at its worse.  Winter is not my favorite season. It is usually mild in Georgia, but we still have those bitter days like today where the wind will whip through you. The cold seeps in every bone making everything ache. It is days like these that I wish this season did not exist, but yet it does. I make the best of tea and biscuits or make coffee slowly instead of using the machine. It is a time when I can sit and knit, sit and read, or just sit and game with my honey. Winter is a gift we are

 My apologies for being so late with this post. I am now a very proud grandma who got to spend the first five days of my granddaughter's life with her. I was able to help, but let us be clear, I was in it for the times I got to "help" by holding the baby for hours. This little one is so chill. I was so blessed to be there for days. The Christmas season is upon us. December 21 is the winter solstice, which means after that we are on our way back into the light. Shortly and slowly day by day we make it out of the long winter months. The candles of winter will be put away and forgotten till next year, the dreary long dark drives home from work will give way to some light as I drive. Little by little, we are reaching toward the light.  What is the winter solstice you ask? It is the first day of winter. It is the start of reaching for the light. It is a magical day, shorter than all the rest where you can sit outside, light the fire pit and enjoy the evening under the stars. W

 Greetings everyone. It is that time of year when time slips away. This past weekend I was decorating and it took a lot longer than I expected. I pray you are all well and safe.  This week as we approach the holidays I wanted to share something mental health-wise. As the seasons approach, I know deep melancholy washes over me. I also know seasonal depression is a real thing. My grandparents were the ones who made the holidays the holidays great, but they have long since left this earth, but each year around this time it hits me that again, they will not be with me. I have all their holiday decor out in my home and I am blessed to have it all. I see each piece and it makes me sad and happy at the same time. Missing loved ones' past is so hard at the holidays no matter when they passed.  Remember them fondly. Sit with your sadness and let it wash over you until it washes away. The seasons are full of the family we are not around daily, it is full of ups and downs constantly. It is a

  With the holidays barrelling down at us, we are starting to feel the stress of what all the seasons curtail.  We are frantically trying to find gifts for loved ones with a supply chain that is lacking all the things we feel we need, but do we? Maybe this is a gift we have been given. Perhaps this season we can focus on family, food, and spending time together. It is the season for sharing good times with family. Perhaps this is the year you buy books for all your family from a local book store. Maybe it's where you all cook together and share a special meal with the entire family at the table.  Think outside the box and come up with family scavenger hunts, hiking trails and see who can identify the most trees, who can find deer prints in the trail. I know I am guilty of wanting to buy buy buy at this time of year, but this year, after almost two years of this chaos known as covid, I've gotten smaller and smaller when it comes to presents. I want this year to give gifts that a

 Living in the South it takes Autumn a little extra time to reach me. We watch our friends post photos of red, yellow, and orange colors. We are a bit jealous of the colors of the north. I grew up in NJ and fall was something to be enjoyed slowly. It lasted for a few brief months and we ate apples, went to festivals, watched as the hot air balloons blew over our heads, and fill our skies with wonderful colorful hot air balloons. Mr. Peanut was always last to blow on by.  Leaves begin their turning up north and make their way down south. The color is worth waiting for.                                                   Leaves on a pond in NJ. Orange and Yellows starting. A pastry shop full of mums from Autumn's palette.                                      Fishing in a river surrounded by the beginning of the Autumn season.  Autumn is my favorite season. It feels magical to me. I mean I know scientifically why the leaves change color, but I like to think of it as the season of magic

  alliso n christine   September is here. I felt a jolt of joy in my heart as I flipped the calendar this morning. Autumn is nipping at Septembers heels. Cooler temperatures are coming soon. The seasons are shifting and I feel every flicker as they do. Yes, this is my fifty-second fall, but yes, this is my season. Cooler weathers, windows open, breezes dancing with my curtains. This is my season of Joy! Fall comes in like a whisper. It is soft and gentle with us. It nudges summer slowly out of the way and leaves us yearning for campfires, for lit candles, for snuggles under cozy blankets, and dreaming of hot cocoa. This is a season filled with excitement. Pumpkin spiced coffee, breezes blowing my hair, the cat jumping from window to open window, trying to tell off the squirrels. This is the season of changing leaves, of raking, of trimming bushes and burning the cut offs. It makes me feel loved. It is as if the season has reached out its outstretched branches and nuzzled me in for so

So with everyone having hard times, me included, I thought I would give you some ideas and tips for a holiday that wont break your bank. It is not the size of the gift, the money that went into it, it is your heart and showing you care that matters. I know Christmas/Holiday decorations have been out for weeks, do not even get me started on that with the stores. It is all about the bottom dollar to them. With all that said I share some great ideas for presents, decorating, and spreading love. These are my own ideas I have done and used over the years with my family. They have treasured all their gifts from me because they were made and not store bought. First: Pine cones. I gather them at a local park because I do not have them in my back yard. I leave mine natural but you can obviously paint them with spray paint if you want. You can find Michael store coupons on their app, or online, and get the paint really cheap. If not, do not paint them. You can get a eye hook and thread it in

So tis the holiday season and supposed to be peaceful. In all honesty it is anything other than peaceful. With running errands, trimming the tree, wrapping presents for everyone and cooking from Thanksgiving to Christmas, the season has become anything, but peaceful. I have been MIA from my normal routine, which is not a bad thing, but this holiday season I am not about the Norman Rockwell Christmas. I am about spending time with church family and friends. I am about Winter solstice. I am about helping,friendships, and being there for the people who mean the most to me. (yes you know who you are) Today was a tough day. A lot of serious items got discussed with a few people and while I usually blend it with humor. I have not. Last season I wrote a blog post about depression and the holidays. So many of you reached out to me. You all knew what I was going through. I think we all strive for that Rockwell Christmas and always fall short and it lets us down and we feel we let others dow

So I bring you some beauties from past Autumn's Enjoy the color and you can find me on: https://www.flickr.com/photos/debbsga/ http://society6.com/lovelylivelylifely http://www.roomtheagency.com/c/profile/3516/ Happy Autumn everyone!! Its my favorite season of the year. xo Debbie