Happy February!

I'm so glad it's February--a fresh new month and lots of things to look forward to.  I've been experiencing a little bit of restlessness & what I think are the winter blues.  I still love the snow though, as evidenced by my many unrelenting pictures of it ;)

We had a great Writer's Guild meeting this week.  I'm moving forward on some writing projects--editing my poetry and short story portfolios.  My copy of Writer's Market 2018 arrived today, and I'm excited to mine it for resources and start submitting my stuff.  And now that I've given my Nano novel time to "settle," I want to start editing that as well :)

But I've also got a few new story ideas brewing--one is about a woman I just met yesterday--Florence Griswold (1850 – 1937), who repurposed her family home as a boarding house for artists.  Every summer they'd arrive, pay $7 a week for food and lodging, and spend their days wandering around the gardens, painting the beautiful local scenery, and talking about life & art.

The home is now set up as it would've looked in 1910, at the height of the art colony.  Walking into the house is like stepping back in time.

This is where she'd set the lanterns for the men to take up to their rooms at night.

Some of the artists were invited to paint panels on the doors.  Also, apparently at one time she had like 30 cats.  #singlelife...

This was her room--and standing there I felt a sort of kinship with her.  She lived in a boarding house, I live in a B&B, we both love art, and we both like to escape to our own little space sometimes. 

Probably the coolest room was the dining room--which is filled with panels and panels of art.

Above the fireplace is a long, narrow mural depicting a parodied version of a foxhunt, and all of the figures are famous artists that summered at the house.

Below it is their motto, which basically means "do as you please."

The upstairs is now a gallery, full of paintings by artists unique to the colony and the area.

The other art gallery was closed b/c they were changing the exhibits, and the gardens are all covered in snow, so I didn't stay much longer.  Definitely going back though.  In fact, the docent told me that they have a whole collection of her writing and correspondence with the artists, which would be amazing to check out.  

I drove around a bit to check out Old Lyme, but it was getting dark too fast.  Went home, did some prep for the first of our Valentine Brunches, and had some lovely ladies over.

Looking forward to meeting lots of new people this month, and checking out even more unique places.  But most of all, I'm looking forward to buckling down and getting some serious writing done.  Wish me luck!