Where on earth has Sojourner been?

Sojourner has been one busy little person these days. No posts in six weeks, and I haven't read any blogs in at least 2 weeks. "My life has been rich and full" is how a former 12-step friend of mine used to put it. And that is true.

The crafty Sojourner has had tables at 3 different shows in 3 different cities over the last 4 weeks. Didn't make a lot of money, but it was fun. I love meeting new people, seeing the work of other artists/crafters, and feeling the love. Even when people don't buy, just having them stand there and ooh and aah over my work is very rewarding, and encouraging. It is especially encouraging to have other artists come and ooh and aah. I do my share of that, as well. And unfortunately, I sometimes spend the profits on other artists' work. It is hard to resist.

I have, also, had a number of custom orders, recently. I love this- it stretches my creativity to try to come up with something to fit another person's expectations. One of those custom orders is on its way half way around the world, to Japan, as we speak. One of our fellow bloggers over at Etc., Etc., Etc. ordered a bracelet that really made me stretch. Hopefully, when she gets it, you will get to see it. I won't post photos of my own, here, because I think that should be Deb's priveledge.

Autumn is upon us, and with it the great tomato harvest. So, between running to shows, making stuff, and working I just made a huge pot of lovely tomato sauce. I froze 3 quarts of the stuff- cause I don't know how to can it. It is VERY tasty! There are many more tomatoes to work with, but we have to wait for them to ripen now. Have to get the rest of them in as we had a slight frost last night and more is expected.

Last week, the Jen girl's kids arranged a lovely birthday gift for their mom. We all went and sat for a family portrait. The photos are beautiful and I will try to post some of them, here. The event was quite entertaining and made for a fun family evening at the mall. Teenage son needed a good deal of cajoling to wear a button down shirt- and he refused to put it on until we were in the studio- as he was mortified by the idea that someone might see him dressed the same as his whole family! Really, it was a lot of fun, and we had dinner together in the food court and giggled and laughed the rest of the evening. At least until it was time to go home, and Jen discovered some 20 minutes after the kids left the mall, that she left her car keys in one of the girls' purse. Yay Jen!! The mall closed, so we had to stand outside on a very brisk and windy night, to wait for daughter #2 to return with the errant keys. But I was good- sooo good. I just smiled patiently and said- oh well, honey, @$%* happens! (Well, I did this after a few choice words, expressing my displeasure.)