Category: Departures
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Mindfulness | Hermit Diary
While the world was in Covid shutdowns, I’d begun making blog posts I called ‘Hermit Journals‘. While I’m glad we’re not still in lockdown, I miss making those entries. So I’m going to start them up again as …
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My mind is on art, even while digging ditches, it seems
Even while doing sweat-inducing work totally unrelated to being creative, my mind is on art. Look at the color I found while I was digging a ditch 🙂 Needless to say, I had a pocket full of rocks by the …
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Tasks that Need Doing & Thinking of Market Days
We’re always pretty busy around here, but during market season it’s busier still. There’s products to package, and things to do around the homestead. Well, the task list of things to do around the homestead never ends, but some things …
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Rural Life in the Ozarks | Winter
I love our rural life in the Ozarks, where everything urban is at least 45 minutes away, and there’s a long dirt road to get to pavement. The wildlife and scenery inspire me on a daily basis. But it has …
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Running Errands, Preparing for Bad Weather
The approaching weekend and the week after has foreboding forecasts, so today I spent the day running errands. And preparing for bad weather. That usually means COLD weather out here. The only other thing we get during warmer months is …
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Cutting Firewood, an Endless Homestead Task
Today is Christmas day and the family festivities are over. I had taken some pictures the other day with the intention to write a blog post about firewood, an endless homestead task. But time got away from me and so …
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An Herbal Remedy for Winter Crud featuring Mullein, Beebalm, and Echinacea
Here’s my 2023 recipe for an herbal remedy I use every year to combat what we’ve come to call “Winter Crud”. We also take it at the first sign of anything that feels like trouble coming on. This year’s formula …
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My Real Name: Roxann Riedel
Today I went to the Madison County Sheriff’s office to get fingerprinted. I expected to have black finger tips all day, but they don’t do it with ink pads anymore. They use something like a scanner instead, so that was …
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Hiking up the Mountain
This morning I went hiking up the mountain to check on our water tank. It’s been very dry here for the whole summer, and the recent rains haven’t added anything to the creeks. The creeks are almost completely dry. Every …
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Making a Temporary Fix in the Morning, Painting in the Afternoon
I was mending fences with a temporary fix in the morning, painting in the afternoon, and keeping a close eye on Rob in between. Temporary Fix, Twice and a Dead Battery Thursday morning, when Rob took his morning walk, I …
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Stonework is Also Artwork
Aside from using the rocks around here for making my paints, I love using stonework to make my garden terraces and stairways to wind through those terraces. Today I added another step to the stairway on the front end of …
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When Life Throws a Curveball
Little things crop up unexpectedly from time to time, like a hailstorm in late May or squirrels eating all of the pears when they’re almost ripe. Sometimes life throws a big curveball, though. Such an event happened here at Wild …
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Long Dirt Road: Why it Takes me an Hour to Drive 12 Miles
This is a post from a few years ago that I love, so I’m reposting it. We live down a long dirt road. This little facet of our lives is the main thing that makes or breaks most newcomers to …
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A Yellow Paint Experiment | Lake pigment from thyme
Back when I made my very first set of paints, I had a really nice yellow. I’d made several yellows from various plants and did lightfast tests on them. All failed except for the one, gorgeous yellow. Not only did …
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Art Inspiration Moments on a Non-Art-Making Day
Even in a day full of non-art related tasks, there can be moments of art inspiration. Equine Escapees In the mornings after I get out of bed, I go outside on the porch to have my coffee and listen to …
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Musings from an Ozark nature artist
I’m at an ‘in between’ time at the moment. Between rain showers and rainy days, between things scheduled on my calendar. And since I just finished a painting, I’m between paintings, too. But this is a great time for …
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Plant Walk & Nature Journaling at Wild Ozark
There are other plant walks in Arkansas, but this one is probably a little different. The trails we’ll follow are deer trails and logging roads. The drive to get here is gorgeous. And the biodiversity here at Wild Ozark is …
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Ozark Winter Storm | Jan 24 2023
Progress on my painting of Kings River in winter came to a grinding halt a few days ago when we got our first Ozark winter storm of the season. We’ve had some freezes, and a little snow, but those little …
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Weesatche, Texas | Another Farmstead Painting
I’m working on a painting for my husband’s Christmas gift. It may not be finished in time, but it won’t be too long afterwards before I’m done. It’s the house where his aunts lived in Weesatche, Texas. It was a …
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Encroachment Goes Both Ways | Striking a Balance
Most of the time nature encroachment refers to human activities encroaching on nature. However, my post today deals with nature encroaching on human activity – specifically, OURS. The Setting I like to leave as much of our property open to …
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What to buy a Nature Lover? | A One-of-a-Kind Twisted Tree Painting!
You’ll never have to agonize over what to buy a nature lover again. Get them an original painting made from a rock. A new twist on commissions happened recently. The customer had a rock and wondered if I’d paint her …
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New Acceptance: Las Laguna Art Gallery | 2020 Portrait Exhibition
I woke up this morning to an email announcing that one of my paintings had been accepted to a show. It’s good there are portrait exhibitions that allow strange paintings to hop on board. It’s no secret that I am …
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Book Review | Celebrating Australia’s Magnificent Wildlife
Note: I was provided a free copy of this book (Celebrating Australia’s Magnificent Wildlife) so I could write an honest review. The Art of Daryl Dickson This is a beautiful book. From the cover jacket to every page inside, …
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Pivot to Online Art | Stocking the shelves | Art Prints for Sale
I’ve been hard at work behind the scenes here at the website stocking my online art shop. Artists everywhere are trying to develop a way to market online art. Here’s the update on my own effort to stock the Wild …
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Coronavirus Hermit| Fences, Gardens, Memories & Lilacs
Coronavirus getup for when I’m not being a hermit. One day I’ll change the title of this from ‘Coronavirus Hermit’ to plain old ‘Wild Ozark Hermit’ journal entries. I’m digging the staying at home deal, to tell you the truth. …