Back to work!

Monday, Monday! It was a fine weekend, but I am ready to get back to work. (Remember that inner border collie?) I am just not good at sitting still for very long.

Granted, I was forced to sit still more than once the past few days, owing to the feats of culinary prowess demonstrated in the Brush and Baren kitchen and to the long digestion period required post-meal. The DM outdid himself this time, perhaps because his prep cook was so adept. (That would be me, of course.) Or not. He's just darn good at this cooking stuff.

Christmas Eve it was mild enough to fire up the grill. (What? In the mountains? In DECEMBER? 'Fraid so.) The last time we visited The City we picked up a Moroccan Tan Tan spice blend from our favorite purveyor of aromatic bliss, Savory Spice Shop, so grilled Tan Tan we had. Yum.

But Christmas Day was REALLY over the top. We procured a large package of lamb meat from a local purveyor, enough to make two different stews simultaneously. The rest of this week we'll be dining on alternating meals of Moroccan stew (with apricots and prunes) and a more "traditional" veggies-and-potatoes variety. Yeah. I'll be hiking straight up mountains for the next three months as penance for gluttony, but OOOOH... it's so yummy.

This morning, however, it's a tad chilly to start that hike, so attention is turned to practical matters. Last week I mentioned an illustration project that will have me carving linocut icons for wayside maps. In all the project has 20 new images to carve! Yikes! Better get moving. Towards the end of last week I worked up a few drawings and trimmed down some lino... carving will probably start tomorrow. (Today I have to work up sketches for a different project.) Should be fun to work on these icons, though. I get to carve things I wouldn't ordinarily choose: a 1920s school bus, a grain elevator, an outhouse!

Next week I'll be off to Colorado Springs for a day or two to hang an exhibition and get the new year started right! This first little show will be at the Penrose Library in downtown Colorado Springs, part of the Pikes Peak Library District's public art program. The work will be up January 4-31, so if you're in the neighborhood, stop on by.