grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

The energy of Denver Street Art

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Denver Street Art…

Denver Street Art

Mural, 16th Street Mall, by @zehb_1

I spent an entire day last week walking around taking pictures of Denver street art. There’s so, so much! The beautiful day felt as though I’d downloaded it from a weather app, fairytale perfect—I was extremely fortunate in that regard. Denver. January. It could have been way different.

Street art is technically defined as “art developed in public places”. I consider street art as anything that stops me, draws my eye, makes me take a second look. In a good or interesting way, of course.

Something to note: Denver street art has been a real thing for decades. There are entire pockets of the city devoted to it. In the summer, Denver hosts a Chalk Art Festival. Each September, the Crush Street Art Festival showcases and celebrates a series of remarkable murals. The city even has its own society of crocheting street artists commissioned from time to time to crochet bomb large installations.  Continue Reading

Winter Reading: January 2017

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Winter reading January 2017

Winter Reading: January 2017…

Books have always provided great entertainment for me, as well as escape. I don’t know about you, but this January felt like the perfect time to climb into the pages of a book, hunker down, and hibernate. And I decided since my love for books extends far and wide and deep into my soul, I may as well share my thoughts right here. This won’t be a typical book review feature, though. Just a snippet of what I thought (or didn’t think) about whatever books made it to the top of my to-read heap.

I read seven books in January. Truth: Reading seven books in one month is not typical for me, so don’t expect February to be as productive. Unless I continue to hibernate. And I might.

About my “reading style”… 

  • I often read two or three books at a time. At any given time I have ten or so books on my bedside table.
  • Life’s too short to slog through books I don’t enjoy. If I really, really dislike it, I won’t finish it, and I won’t include it here.
  • I know what it takes to write a book, and because of that, I’m not going to give someone a completely terrible review. Different strokes for different folks, right? I can always find positive things to say about everything I read (unless I can’t and then I won’t include it here.)
  • Bookmarks make me happy. I don’t turn down the corners of my books to mark my spot (something I learned from Mr. Joyner, Rivercrest High School).
  • Sometimes I write in the margins (something Mr. Joyner would frown on).
  • I like to hold books (i.e. I rarely read electronic versions). I enjoy audio books, too, but miss holding the book and re-reading favorite passages.
  • I re-read favorites especially classics and Newbery Award winners.
  • I generally prefer the book over the movie. If the movie is coming out, I usually rush out and read the book first. But not always.

Here we go. My winter reading for January 2017…

Lillian Boxfish Takes A Walk, by Kathleen Rooney

From her vintage mink coat to the way she truly engages with the people she meets, I want to be exactly like Lillian Boxfish when I’m eighty-five-years-old. Once the highest paid advertising woman in the world (pre-Mad Men era), Lillian is charming, witty, and hip for her age. She tells her story in naturally occurring flashbacks and stream of consciousness type thoughts as she walks around her beloved Manhattan on New Year’s Eve 1984. What a great (and timely) reminder of how we shouldn’t judge people by appearances. I was completely captivated by this story, more than a little annoyed I didn’t write it, and can’t wait for the movie. I imagine Dame Maggie Smith in the lead role. Of course.

This Book Made Me: research Margaret Fishback (the lady Lillian Boxfish is based upon); research the author for other books and writings; commit to walking even more each day than I already do.

Favorite Line: “If you love something, know that it will leave on a day you are far from ready.”Continue Reading

Savoring January

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Savoring January 2017

Did you blink? Today is the last day of January! I’ve done my best throughout January to savor the moments. You may or may not know I chose SAVOR as my One Little Word for 2017. And dangnabbit I plan to do it, even amid all the chaos surrounding us. The photo above depicts my visual effort to savor the month—one picture taken each day in January.

Savor—to taste, smell, relish, delight in. Doing something slowly.

Savoring FLAVOR…

I’ll start with food because that’s the first thing I imagine when I think of savoring something. In January, I cooked at home, a lot. And I came up with several new recipes including an easy cauliflower soup I’m pretty excited about. Let me know if you’re interested, and I’ll share the recipe on a later post. Simple and healthy, it has become my go-to sustenance for January.  Continue Reading

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!