Being self-employed as a freelancer, or as a basketmaker like Eric, is hard work. Sometimes you need to work over holidays, and some years you get no vacation at all, and sometimes you wish you could actually get more than 5 hours sleep in one night.
However, after you pay your dues, you invested the time and put in a lot of hard work, you can relax a little. And that’s where I’m at now. When I get some “down time” I embrace it completely.
So before all the leaves have completely fallen and we move into winter, I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather we have been getting in middle Tennessee during the month of October. When we left New Hampshire for Tennessee about one-and-a-half years ago, I thought I would really miss the Fall season in New England. But Tennessee has not let me down. It has an impressive fall color display as well, but it also has a much warmer climate during the days, especially this October.
The perks of being a freelancer is that when there is “down time” I don’t need to pretend “I’m busy” at my desk like I would if working in a corporate atmosphere. Those were always the worst! Instead, I can enjoy myself. So on one of those “slow days” I went out and sat in my Hawaiian Chair Swing (a grateful hand-me-down from basketmaker Joanne Howard).
So this is what I did on a slow work day in October: I grabbed an art book and went outside to enjoy the scenery before all the leaves fell to the ground and winter moved in.
Here’s me in my floating chair swing. It is soooo comfortable! (Thanks Joanne H.!) And the dogs love hanging around next to me as I “swing.” The image on the right shows the tree next to us that still has leaves and is providing the shade below. The other tree in the background has lost just about all it’s leaves!
This tree is next to me when I turn to the left. I love it. The texture is ever changing. And I stare at it quite often. Probably trying to remember the details so I can paint it later, from memory! I love tree textures. 
Here’s me with the camera pointing down. And then the next image is the camera pointing up. Same spot, just different angle. It’s really a peaceful spot. I love my little humble swing under these two trees.
And the dogs appear to agree as well. But Jackson seemed to be annoyed. I kept calling out his name so I could take a picture with him looking at me. But his expression conveyed “Why are you calling my name when you have no treat?” However, Chance, the camera ham of all time, instantly turned and started to smile, revealing the top row of teeth. He just loves the camera!
