October Inktober 2020

Hello, November 1^st let me tell you about October before this election in two days, before things get potentially weird. (weirder)

Yellow leaves on a foggy day in our garden. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Autumn is here, the leaves that are still hanging on are showing their colors and the rest are sitting unraked in our yard. I should hashtag that. We are the #unraked! Compost, that’s what we’re all about ha ha.

We’ve had two cold Fall nights, both of which we had another couple over for drinks on the deck. We get creative by adding blankets and more candles to deck décor. Andreas hung red Christmas lights from the arbor for Halloween night and they will stay there through the Valentine’s Day.

Andreas tries to stay warm during a socially distanced dinner.

Cooking smores over the fire. For my German friends a smore is two graham crackers, a piece of chocolate and burnt, melted marshmallows. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Personally, this was a productive month. I completed the Inktober challenge https://inktober.com/ where everyday a different word prompt is given online and it must be illustrated in ink. I translated most prompts to German to grow my vocabulary. Sometimes the words are very difficult to illustrate, sometimes the image comes to mind immediately. That was challenging, fun and I’m glad it was only for thirty-one days.

I’ve also been working in Stained Glass and mosaic. I completed the windows due for the Delaware Special Olympics and have been trying to use up smaller pieces of glass in the studio by creating hearts in different colors. I hope to have some in stock for Christmas.

Six window for Special Olympics Delaware. Stained glass and photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

White Clay Creek waterfall. Stained glass and photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

I finished a commission for a local Brewery creating three different beer labels. I’ll be able to share those images when the beer is available for sale in the next year or so.

I’m filling mosaic stepping stone orders. It’s much easier to work outside in cooler weather because there are less mosquitoes.

Mosaic cement stepping stones. Mosaics and photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

October is all about Halloween and we tried to make it fun for the neighbor’s kids. We decorated the garden with a big spider web and carved pumpkins. I waited by the door to give candy, but not many showed up. Sadly, many of the kids and parents weren’t wearing masks. It’s Halloween, the only day of the year when masks are cool!

The best thing about carving pumpkins is roasting the seeds. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Scary Garden! Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Social distance tongs for safe candy delivery. I hope most of the leftover candy goes to Andreas’ office. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

The election is two days away. Andreas has chosen to work at the polls again. He has been very busy with class preparations and other work demands, often working through the evening and weekends. He is still trying out new recipes, but less often.

Andreas experimenting with new spices. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

We would like to travel somewhere for a weekend or so but Covid numbers continue to climb.

Current Covid-19 graph (October 31, 2020 numbers) by https://icyseas.org/ Andreas Muenchow

I hope to report next month that the election went smoothly, that the horrible subhuman currently in office is in prison and the Covid numbers are much lower here and around the world.

Weekly dining out/outside at Sinclair’s Cafe with Mr. Bones. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum