This is Florida.  Upper 70′s, sunshine, with lizards scampering across the sidewalk.  The upside to this cursed balminess?  Broccoli!

My broccoli is actually making…broccoli!  Last year the broccoli shot up several feet tall, but never made anything but leaves until mid-July, when it was eaten by snails.

These flowerets are so beautiful.  So utterly perfect.  Someday I’ll write a sonnet to broccoli in my garden.

The sketch for “Fáed Fíada” or “The Hart’s Cry.”  Once when St Patrick and his Christian followers were journeying across Ireland, they were attacked by druids seeking their blood.  St Patrick said the following prayer, and he and his followers were turned into deer and thus escaped the druids:

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom…

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.
Christ shield me today…

(Read the entire prayer here.)

The Lorica will probably sound familiar to anyone who has read Madeleine L’Engle’s book A Swiftly Tilting Planet, because she used it as inspiration for the “rune” recited against the forces of evil:

At Tara in this fateful hour,
I place all Heaven with its power,
And the sun with its brightness,
And the snow with its whiteness…
All these I place
By God’s almighty help and grace
Between myself and the powers of darkness.

PS.  Thank goodness Wikipedia’s not blacked out anymore.

The diameter and texture of my yarn is becoming slightly more consistent.

Watercolor on illustration board. 11″ x 16″.

A commissioned portrait of a couple sitting in a heavenly garden, full of sunlight and birdsong.

Because all the batts of fiber in my Spindies sampler kit weigh only an ounce or two, when spun they make a ball of yarn a little larger than a golf ball.   This is enough yarn for (maybe) half a glove.  So I thought, what can I make with lots of little balls of purple yarn?

I like knitting things with lots of complicated cables, twists, and loops, but I know from experience that my unplied yarn fuzzes like crazy when knitted, and the fuzziness hides any cables or fancy decoration.   So I would need to make something simple.

What about a blanket?

Like little Emma’s baby blanket in Once Upon a Time.  It looks as if the blanket is a simple garter stitch with ribbed edges.  And a ribbon woven in.  Did I mention I love the ribbon?  And the little embroidered name patch?  And the scene where Prince Charming cradles his newborn daughter in one arm while wielding a sword with the other?

Practicing with my hand spindle with the help of afranquemont’s “Introduction to Spinning” video, which is fascinating to watch even if you don’t have a spindle.  (I can’t really do the whole draft-while-the-spindle-spins thing yet.) The lovely white & pink fiber is “Wisteria Merino” by Wooliebullie.

A hand spindle!  I have an antique spinning wheel, but in spite of various repairs, I can’t get it to work.   Yet.  I’m not giving up on the wheel, but in the meanwhile, I thought I should get some experience with the hand spindle.   Now I can finally spin the bundle of beautiful fiber I got -last- Christmas.

Did I mention I love the show Once Upon a Time?  And that Rumpelstiltskin is my favourite character?  And that he’s famous for spinning?

I caught the Golden Snitch!  I love this necklace, made by VadeMecum1984.  The snitch and the chain are dense, sturdy metal.  Now, this is a large “statement necklace,” the statement being: “I’M A HARRY POTTER FAN.”  Not exactly subtle.  Probably not ideal for job interviews, unless you’re interviewing for work at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

These were a Christmas gift to myself.  I LOVE THESE SHOES: made by Olsenboye for JC Penney.  I just discovered via Google that Olsenboye is the design label of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.  (Oh well.  I love the shoes anyway.)  At the moment I have to lean on a wall/cane/nearest male shoulder in order to stay upright in heels this high.  And I have to admit that pointe shoes are more comfortable than these killer heels.

New Year’s Resolutions:

• Blog more.  Because that’s what you’re supposed to do if you have a blog.
• Finish my novel & start sending it to agents.  It’s almost done.  I just need to make that last push.
• Paint more.  Start sending my portfolio to agents.
• Keep my bird from destroying everything (including light fixtures, glass figurines, fake flowers, computers, and the Christmas tree).
• Read more Dickens.

Last year I resolved to celebrate obscure holidays, like Epiphany, the Feast of St. George, and All Saint’s Day.  I managed to celebrate Epiphany.  So…

• Celebrate MORE obscure holidays, and wheedle my family into celebrating them with me.  Because no one can eat a Twelfth Night Cake alone.

And:

• Redesign my blog.  Because it needs to be prettier.

And I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

Apparently this video doesn’t like being embedded, but it’s worth watching.

(I’ve always adored the dress that Marjorie Reynolds wears in this scene.  At the age of five I thought it was the most beautiful dress in the world.  Twenty years later I haven’t changed my opinion.)

“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,” faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.

“Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again.  “Mankind was my business.  The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were all my business.”

-A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

If you have a chance, stop by a Salvation Army Angel Tree this Christmas.