This morning I completed this painting of sailboats at anchor in Boothbay Harbor.

Next I want to paint one of the windjammers that  I photographed by walking out to the end of the pier off the footbridge.

In a search I found that the new spring shoots of pine trees are sometimes called “candles.” They point upward at first and are light-colored, before turning green and spreading outward. Is this where the idea came from for decorating a Christmas tree with candles?

This afternoon in mild sunny weather I cut my own Christmas tree at the Hummer Farm in West Bath. The tree now stands in our fireplace room ready for trimming. The photo shows a hillside at the tree farm and my felled tree at the lower left.

My porcelain teacher offered me mosses and partridge berry to transplant  from her land into small fluted glass jars. She made these as gifts several years ago and they are still alive. Mine sit in a row on the sunny south windowsill in the laundry room, with moisture collecting inside the glass.