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# Polly Castor

Fostering a new renaissance through creativity, authenticity, spirituality, and art

## Sitemaps

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## Posts

- [Chinese Cabbage Salad (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/08/22/chinese-cabbage-salad-recipe/) - I've tried all sorts of ways of cooking Chinese Cabbage and have decided I prefer it raw in a salad like this.
- [Small Art Kit I'm Taking Abroad](https://pollycastor.com/2023/08/01/small-art-kit-im-taking-abroad/) - Packing light for a trip to Europe, these are the art materials I'm taking.
- [Bit and Clips for July 2023](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/31/bit-and-clips-for-july-2023/) - I hope you find something here that inspires, educates, motivates, reassures, or interests you:
- [Some Favorite Board Books (Our Niece's Baby's Present)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/30/some-favorite-board-books-our-neices-babys-present/) - Those of you looking for great board books, those in this post are wonderful suggestions.
- [How to Avoid Mixing Your Metaphors (Poem by Brian Bilston)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/29/how-to-avoid-mixing-your-metaphors-poem-by-brian-bilston/) - It's as easy as falling off a piece of cake.
- [Eat That Frog (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/28/eat-that-frog-book-review/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] I have heard about Eat that Frog for years, and have finally now read this classic. It focuses on practical steps for prioritizing your goals and getting you to execute them swiftly and thoroughly.
- [Finale (New Conceptual Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/27/finale-new-conceptual-painting-in-pastel/) - When you think of finale, do you think of music or fireworks?
- [Lemon Posset (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/26/lemon-posset-recipe/) - This dessert is light and delicious and easy to make.
- [Recent Black & White Photographs](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/25/recent-black-white-photographs-6/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Always interested in compositional and value studies, here are the black and white photos I've taken recently. I love the textures and the shapes, the shadows and reflections. I hope you are seeing something
- [Riparian Soul (poem by Rosemerry Wathola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/24/riparian-soul-poem-by-rosemerry-wathola-trommer/) - Some people are rivers— always moving, always in flow.
- [The Children of Israel had PTSD](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/23/the-children-of-isreal-had-ptsd/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Don't you love when you get a new perspective on something? It happened because I was listening to someone spiraling down, hovering over a cavernous abyss. Over the time I had been praying for
- [Hike Photos from Huntington State Park (Summer 2023)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/22/hike-photos-from-huntington-state-park-summer-2023/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Between rain and bad air quality due to Canadian smoke, we haven't hiked as much as I would like so far this summer. It is a delight to have our youngest working from here
- [Quotidian Illumination (Quote by Holly Bridges Elliot)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/21/quotidian-illumination-quote-by-holly-bridges-elliot/) - I remember this illumination happening to me one noontime as I stood in the kitchen...
- [Examples of Interesting Drawings (Sketchbook Ideas #9)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/20/examples-of-interesting-drawings-sketchbook-ideas-9/) - Drawings I like flaunt an abbreviated short hand that is an approximation of the artist's experience or view, hopefully with a little creativity thrown in.
- [Ode to Popcorn (Poem by Peter Harris)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/19/ode-to-popcorn-poem-by-peter-harris/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Ode to PopcornI pour the shape-shifters out of the old mason jar into the pan. The color of honey, sleek in their pile of streamlined sibs, not one of them cares if they're on
- [Reasons for Procrastination and How to Overcome Them](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/17/reasons-for-procrastination-and-how-to-overcome-them/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] There are several reasons for procrastination. Here are some and how to overcome them: We avoid tasks where we have performed poorly in the past. Instead of rationalizing, defending, or justifying your areas of
- [Spiritual Thoughts to Support Harmonious Travel](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/16/spiritual-thoughts-to-support-harmonious-travel/) - Let's let travel expand our thought to include more good!
- [Cheddar Arugula Casserole (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/15/cheddar-arugula-casserole-recipe/) - How do you get through a bumper crop of arugula?
- [Polly Answers your Questions (#5)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/14/polly-answers-your-questions-5/) - it is when seeing error, evil, limitation, or lack, that I distrust what the material senses, and turn my thought to focus what God, good, is doing instead.
- [Getting Ready to Bloom (New Large Plein Air Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/13/getting-ready-to-bloom-new-large-plein-air-painting-in-astel/) - Are you blooming for getting ready to?
- [Bananagrams (Summer 2023)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/12/bananagrams-summer-2023/) - I recommend this game for a companionably engaging good time.
- [Grace Notes (#48 with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/11/grace-notes-48-with-photos/) - I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good.
- [The Golden Spoon (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/10/the-golden-spoon-book-review/) - If you are a fan of cozy mysteries, don't miss this one.
- [Stop, Look, and Listen (Quote by Frederick Buechner)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/09/stop-look-and-listen-quote-by-frederick-buechner/) - From the simplest lyric to the most complex novel and densest drama, literature is asking us to pay attention…
- [Jam Streusel Cookies (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/08/jam-streusel-cookies-recipe/) - Looking for reasons to use wonderful jam?
- [Black and White Photos from an Estate Sale](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/07/black-and-white-photos-from-an-estate-sale/) - While our daughter shopped tools in earnest, I took these photos, seeing compositions everywhere.
- [Exchanging Things into Thoughts (New Large Conceptual Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/06/exchanging-things-into-thoughts-new-large-conceptual-painting-in-pastel/) - This painting is inspired by a favorite quote.
- [Our New Raised Beds](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/05/our-new-raised-beds/) - I love our new metal raised beds.
- [Let America Be America Again (Poem by Langston Hughes)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/04/let-america-be-america-again-poem-by-langston-hughes/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Let America Be America AgainLet America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free.
- [Camden Gallery Visits](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/03/camden-gallery-visits/) - Here are the pieces I liked from the galleries in Camden, Maine.
- [The Healing  (Poem by Alfred K. Lamotte)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/02/the-healing-poem-by-alfred-k-lamotte/) - This planet will not be healed by powerful politicians in big cities...
- [Bits and Clips for June 2023](https://pollycastor.com/2023/06/30/bits-and-clips-for-june-2023/) - I hope you find something here that inspires, educates, motivates, reassures, or interests you...
- [The Puma Years (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/07/01/the-puma-years-book-review/) - Ever thought of volunteering at a wildlife sanctuary in Bolivia?
- [June Flowers (Photos 2023)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/06/29/june-flowers-photos-2023/) - Oh the variety, the color, the shapes, and the close-up glory!
- [Stuck in the Valley of Indecision (New Conceptual Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/06/28/stuck-in-the-valley-of-indecision-new-conceptual-painting-in-pastel/) - If you've got something to work out, I recommend painting your way past the impasse.
- [Focused Morning Journaling Prompts](https://pollycastor.com/2023/06/27/focused-morning-journaling-prompts/) - I hope you give these journaling prompts a try.
- [I Bought my First Piece of Original Art](https://pollycastor.com/2023/06/26/i-bought-my-first-piece-of-original-art/) - I'm keeping it framed in my office/studio to remind me of my friends in Maine and the good times we have.
- [Recent Pages in my Bible Lesson Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2023/06/25/recent-pages-in-my-bible-lesson-journal-6/) - Check out my Bible study notes below from the last couple months.
- [The Five Plein Air Landscapes I Painted at the Retreat](https://pollycastor.com/2023/06/23/the-five-plein-air-landscapes-i-painted-at-the-retreat/) - Which one do you like best?
- [Food I Prepared for the Retreat (with Recipe Links)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/06/24/food-i-prepared-for-the-retreat-with-recipe-links/) - What would you feed 14 people for three dinners and two lunches?
- [PSME Plein Air Retreat Day 3 (2023)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/06/22/psme-plein-air-retreat-day-3-2023/) - Our plein air retreat culminated in a joyous sharing as we discussed each others’ paintings on our last afternoon together.
- [Overcoming Difficulties (Quote from Samuel Greenwood)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/06/11/overcoming-difficulties-quote-from-samuel-greenwood/) - Without one’s consent, nothing outside of his own thoughts can prevent his prosperity or bar his progress.
- [PSME Plein Air Retreat Day 2 (2023)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/06/21/psme-plein-air-retreat-day-2-photos/) - Fellowship continues be outstanding; I'm so grateful to have been amongst these women.
- [PSME Plein Air Retreat Day 1 (2023)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/06/20/psme-plein-air-retreat-day-1-2023/) - I can’t say enough good things about being with these people.
- [I'm in a Small Show in the Offices at the Maine Capital](https://pollycastor.com/2023/06/19/im-in-a-small-show-in-the-offices-at-the-maine-capital/) - This was a lovely opportunity that doesn't come along often.
- [Oh America (Poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/07/04/oh-america-poem-by-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/) - Perhaps this is what we are doing now with democracy.
- [Recent Food Around Here (Photos with Recipe Links)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/07/03/recent-food-around-here-photos-with-recipe-links-4/) - I hope this inspires you to make something good for you and yours. Maybe you'll find something here you want to make?
- [Warm Sunbeam in the Garden (New Painting in Oil)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/07/02/warm-sunbeam-in-the-garden-new-painting-in-oil/) - I've been painting in the garden lately in oil. I've got several on the go, but this is the first one finished.
- [Drawing Brings Connectedness (Quote by by Frederick Franck)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/07/01/drawing-brings-connectedness-quote-by-frederick-franck/) - I have learned that what I have not drawn, I have not seen
- [Bits and Clips for June 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/30/bits-and-clips-for-june-2026/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, informs, inspires, supports, educates, encourages or motivates you.
- [Grace Notes #63 (with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/29/grace-notes-63-with-photos/) - I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good.
- [Invent Your Own Life (Quote by Bill Watterson)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/28/invent-your-own-life-quote-by-bill-watterson/) - Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive
- [Go Gentle (Book Review with Quotes)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/27/go-gentle-book-review-with-quotes/) - You might enjoy this novel too; it is clever on various levels. I give it 4 stars.
- [Elizabeth Cummings (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/26/elizabeth-cummings-featured-artist/) - Elizabeth Cummings is an Australian artist, whose work I just recently became acquainted with. I thought you might like to see it too.
- [Two Drawings from our Garden (Sketchbook Ideas #23)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/25/two-drawings-from-our-garden-sketchbook-ideas-23/) - I'll be doing more of this. Maybe you want to give it a try too.
- [Bliss (poem by Henry Miller)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/24/bliss-poem-by-henry-miller/) - It's good to be just plain happy, it's a little better to know that you're happy;
- [I am in the IAPS Pastel World International Show 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/23/i-am-in-the-iaps-pastel-world-international-show-2026/) - It is a superb honor to be juried into the top pastel show in the world, which is taking place now in Albuquerque. More than that, however, is that it is my fifth time to get into this show, which is the benchmark for becoming what is known as a "Master Pastellist."
- [Every Child Should Know a Hill (Poem by Edna Casler Joll)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/22/every-child-should-know-a-hill-poem-by-edna-casler-joll/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"][/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Every child should know a hill, And the clean joy of running down its long slope With the wind in his hair. He should know a tree— The comfort of its cool lap of shade,
- [Seizure of Happiness (Quote by Mary Oliver)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/21/seizure-of-happiness-quote-by-mary-oliver/) - As I stepped from under the trees into the mild, pouring-down sunlight I experienced a sudden impact, a seizure of happiness. It was not the drowning sort of happiness, rather the floating sort.
- [Nature Photos from Maine (June 2026)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/20/nature-photos-from-maine-june-2026/) - Here are the rest of my photos from my recent trip to Maine. The flowers, trees, grasses, ferns, and reflections were all wonderful.
- [PSME Plein Air Retreat (Paintings by me and Others)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/19/psme-plein-air-retreat-paintings-by-me-and-others/) - In this post is most of what was painted in our four day pastel plein air painting retreat in Cushing, Maine.
- [Food I Made for the PSME Plein Air Retreat 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/18/food-i-made-for-the-psme-plein-air-retreat-2026/) - This is my fifth year cooking for this retreat, and participants are both helpful and appreciative.
- [PSME Plein Air Retreat 2026 (Place and People)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/17/psme-plein-air-retreat-2026-place-and-people/) - Our time flew by so fast, but was cherished by all as both community building and resuscitating in many ways. So grateful for this group!
- [Out on a Limb into the Next Fifteen Feet](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/14/out-on-a-limb-into-the-next-fifteen-feet/) - This all feels miracle to me, and I'm so very grateful for the shepherding and care I've the whole way.
- [Rhubarb Salad Dressing (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/10/rhubarb-salad-dressing-recipe/) - This is yummy. I like it with roasted beets and strawberries with candied nuts on my husband's beautiful homegrown lettuce!
- [Sun (Poem by Ted Kooser)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/15/sun-poem-by-ted-kooser/) - I have been sitting here resting after my morning stroll, and the sun in its soft yellow work gloves
- [Dress Ourselves in Gentleness (Quote by Henri Nouwen)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/13/dress-ourselves-in-gentleness-quote-by-henri-nouwen/) - Once in a while we meet a gentle person. Gentleness is a virtue hard to find in a society that admires toughness and roughness. We are encouraged to get things done and to get them done fast, even when people get hurt in the process. Success, accomplishment, and productivity count. But the cost is high. There is no place for gentleness in such a milieu
- [Annual Meeting 2026 (Highlights and Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/09/annual-meeting-2026-highlights-and-photos/) - We should not hide our light under the bushel, where it will suffocate and go out. We are not protecting it there. The safest place for your light is on a candlestick where it thrives in lots of oxygen,
- [A Sand County Almanac (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/12/a-sand-county-almanac-book-review/) - This is a lovely little book of well observed nature writing. In a time where the environment is in peril from bad policy and practices, it was refreshing to read a beautifully written book about cherishing nature, which didn't have such threatening overtones.
- [Celebrating Soil Life (New Abstract Painting in Oil)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/11/celebrating-soil-life-new-abstract-painting-in-oil/) - Most people think of soil as a brown decaying place, but actually it should be full of life! I read recently a whole chapter on soil life in a book called Regenesis, which prompted my thoughts on this subject, which led to this painting.
- [Incline Toward the Big Questions (George Saunders quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/06/incline-toward-the-big-questions-george-saunders-quote/) - Err in the direction of kindness nd avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial.
- [Photos of our Peonies with links to Peony Poetry](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/08/photos-of-our-peonies-with-links-to-peony-poetry/) - Loving our peonies! Check out these new photos of them from our yard, as well as these peony poems
- [Recent Pages in my Bible Lesson Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/07/recent-pages-in-my-bible-lesson-journal-20/) - Since some of you have found seeing these pages useful, I occasionally post them here.
- [Hike Photos from Huntinton State Park (Early June 2026)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/05/hike-photos-from-huntinton-state-park-early-june-2026/) - There are some blossoms, and the air smells pungently amazing, but most it is just green, green green!
- [Four Abstract Charcoal Drawings](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/04/four-abstract-charcoal-drawings/) - I recommend playing with charcoal: vine, compressed, and pencil, to get a range of marks and values. Maybe try it in your sketchbook?
- [I'm in this New Haven Paint and Clay Show](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/02/im-in-this-new-haven-paint-and-clay-show/) - I'm in this lovely New Haven Paint and Clay show at the Guilford Art Center Gallery in Connecticut. It will be up until June 20, if you'd like to visit,
- [Trees (Poem by Mary Oliver)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/03/trees-poem-by-mary-oliver/) - Heaven knows how many trees I’ve climbed when my body was still in a climbing way...
- [Crab Mac & Cheese (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/06/01/crab-mac-cheese-recipe/) - This is so sumptuously delicious it is hard to explain. It is rich but packed with protein, and superbly satisfying.
- [Twelve Small Collages in my Grid Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/28/twelve-small-collages-in-my-grid-journal/) - I'm prepping to tackle my 48"x48" boards outside this summer! The weather is finally conducive!
- [Bits and Clips for May 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/31/bits-and-clips-for-may-2026/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, informs, inspires, supports, educates, encourages or motivates you.
- [Yesteryear (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/30/yesteryear-book-review/) - Yesteryear packs a punch and is different than anything you've ever read. It merges many different themes – Christian evangelism, politics, feminism, online influencers, exposure of children on the internet, delusion, and idealism of the traditionalism of the past– in a compulsively readable story, that left me sad in end.
- [A Bouquet for You (New Large Floral in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/29/a-bouquet-for-you-new-large-floral-in-pastel/) - I love the exuberance and cheer of this piece. I made this for the PSME Monthly challenge for May to paint "a bouquet of flowers."
- [Halibut with Chives in Parchment (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/26/halibut-with-chives-in-parchment-recipe/) - This is incredibly delicious, and is especially fun if you have chive flowers in your garden you can use. It is not hard to do, but is a top-of-the-line company meal, even though I just made it for the two of us last weekend.
- [Love Lessons (poem by Rosemerry Watola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/27/love-lessons-poem-by-rosemerry-watola-trommer/) - There were thousands of wild iris in the wide, damp meadow. Forty years later I remember it, still, the pale purple petals fluttering in the morning breeze.
- [Flowers in our Yard Right Now (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/25/flowers-in-our-yard-right-now-photos/) - This is the best time of year in our little third of an acre. It is bursting out in bloom right now, with many iris, peonies, baptista, allium, virbernum, quince, azalea, poppy, and even lemons.
- [Listen (Poem by Barbara Crooker)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/24/listen-poem-by-barbara-crooker/) - I want to tell you something. This morning is bright after all the steady rain, and every iris, peony, rose, opens its mouth, rejoicing.
- [The Summer Seekers (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/23/the-summer-seekers-book-review/) - I enjoyed this chick lit beach read about an 80 year old woman, Kathleen, who doesn't want to give up on life. She decides to go on a road trip...
- [Pasta Salad with Asparagus, Corn and Snap Peas (recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/22/pasta-salad-with-asparagus-corn-and-snap-peas-recipe/) - This salad is a good side, packed with veggies, and mixed with delicious basil dressing. It is perfect for the spring when the asparagus ans snap peas are in season.
- [Road Trip (New Abstract Landscape in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/21/road-trip-new-abstract-landscape-in-pastel/) - Don't you love a road trip? I've been on many! Here is a abstract painting of one.
- [Black and White Photos from Brimfield](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/20/black-and-white-photos-from-brimfield/) - Here are some of the other things we saw, where color was not the feature.
- [Audition Your Thoughts (New poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/19/audition-your-thoughts-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - You are not your thoughts, and not all thoughts are true or helpful, or even your own. You are not their originator but rather, their arbiter.
- [Brimfield Antique Flea Market (Photos and Finds)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/18/brimfield-antique-flea-market-photos-and-finds/) - We were there walking from booth to booth from 10 am until 4pm– over 10,000 steps– and my husband doesn't even think we saw half of it. There were probably literally a thousand vendors.
- [Asparagus Scallion Crustless Quiche (recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/15/asparagus-scallion-crustless-quiche-recipe/) - This is delicious, easy to do, serves four, and makes great leftovers. It is perfect for the spring when asparagus and scallions are abundant and gorgeous.
- [Neither Hot Nor Cold (Spiritual Short about Indifference)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/17/neither-hot-nor-cold-spiritual-short-about-indifference/) - We usually think of hate as the opposite of love, or fear as the opposite of love, but recently my sister mentioned indifference as the opposite of love.
- [I'm in this PSME "Pastels Only" National Show](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/07/im-in-this-psme-pastels-only-national-show/) - These shows tend to be highly representational, but I doggedly keep submitting abstraction. My work sticks out as a bit alien, painting ideas instead of things, but I hope to make room for others to be more adventurous and creative.
- [Permission to be Imperfect (Louis Noble quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/13/permission-to-be-imperfect-louis-noble-quote/) - When you make a mark that doesn’t look right, every instinct says fix it. Wipe it off. Paint over it. Get it right.
- [I've Decided Not to Go to Creative Arts Camp this Year](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/14/ive-decided-not-to-go-to-creative-arts-camp-this-year/) - You long time blog readers know I adore Creative Arts Camp on the shores of Long Lake in Maine. I've gone consecutively every end of August for 19 years...
- [Moral Courage (New Abstract Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/12/moral-courage-new-abstract-painting-in-pastel/) - What do we need more of these days? Moral courage. So I decided to paint it.
- [Just as Saplings (Poem by Lyn Asselta)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/16/just-as-saplings-poem-by-lyn-asselta/) - Just as saplings will grow from the crevices in a great boulder, splitting the stone with persistence and the gentle passage of time...
- [Hearts of Horses (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/09/hearts-of-horses-book-review/) - The term "horse whisperer," but it wasn't always a thing. Up until this time men generally beat horses into submission, hobbling them and bucking them until they "broke" them. During the First World War, when women began to do this job, things changed, and a more empathetic approach proved much more successful.
- [Strawberry Rhubarb Overnight Oats (Vegan Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/11/strawberry-rhubarb-overnight-oats-vegan-recipe/) - It is not too sweet, and has a pleasant texture. Plus, it is all ready to go, right out of the fridge.
- [Motherhood a Gift (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/10/motherhood-a-gift-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - I am so very grateful for this gift that keeps on giving. Festooned with so many ribbons...
- [Do We Perceive Everything? (Alan Kay Quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/06/do-we-perceive-everything-alan-kay-quote/) - A frog's brain is set up to recognize food as moving objects that are oblong in shape. So if we take a frog's normal food -- flies -- paralyze them with a little chloroform and put them in front of the frog, it will not notice them or try to eat them.
- [Gardens at Hill Stead Museum (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/08/gardens-at-hill-stead-museum-photos/) - In this post, you can follow along and appreciate with me all this cultivated beauty.
- [Hans Hofmann Show at the Yale Art Gallery](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/05/hans-hofmann-show-at-the-yale-art-gallery/) - I have long appreciated Hans Hofmann's work as both an artist and an influential teacher to an early generation of abstractionists.
- [Blue Zone Minestrone Soup (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/04/blue-zone-minestrone-soup-recipe/) - This has a lot of ingredients but comes together quickly and easily, and you'll have lots of leftovers for your effort.
- [The Devil Wears Prada 2 (Movie Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/03/the-devil-wears-prada-2-movie-review/) - Andy (the writer played by the likable Anne Hathaway), who at the end of the first movie left the fashion magazine to write real news, returns to the magazine, this time to write features. She and Miranda Priestly (played by the incomparable Meryl Streep) face down several crises together.
- [Goal Achieved: Master Pastellist Status!](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/01/goal-achieved-master-pastellist-status/) - I am delighted to report that since I have just gotten my fifth painting juried into the elite IAPS Pastel World Show, I will now receive "Master Pastellist" status.
- [The Perfect Loaf (Cookbook Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/05/02/the-perfect-loaf-cookbook-review/) - After reading the rather extensive explanations in this book, my husband made the best bread I've ever eaten.
- [Bits and Clips for April 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/30/bits-and-clips-for-april-2026/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, informs, inspires, supports, educates, encourages or motivates you.
- [Maximum Strength (Poem by Rosemerry Whatola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/29/maximum-strength-poem-by-rosemerry-whatola-trommer/) - Starting the long drive home, I do not turn on the radio to hear news of the broken world...
- [Grace Notes #62 (with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/28/grace-notes-62-with-photos/) - I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good.
- [In the Fairy Wood (New Pastel Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/27/in-the-fairy-wood-new-pastel-painting/) - This painting is of early spring in Huntington, in a different color way that makes it look like out of a fairy tale.
- [Hike Photos from Huntington State Park (April 2026)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/25/hike-photos-from-huntington-state-park-april-2026/) - I am so grateful to live so close to this wonderful place and to have gotten to know it intimately over many years.
- [All Around Us is Holy (Quote by Teilhard de Chardin)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/26/all-around-us-is-holy-quote-by-teilhard-de-chardin/) - By means of all created things, without exception, the divine assails us, penetrates us and molds us. We imagined it as distant and inaccessible, whereas in fact we live steeped in its burning layers.
- [Poblano, Potato, & Corn Stew (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/24/poblano-potato-corn-stew-recipe/) - This is satisfyingly delicious, and since I got the recipe from the Blue Zone Kitchen Cookbook shown below from folks who live to over 100, I can say it's healthy too.
- [I Was Interviewed in this Magazine About Mental Health](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/23/i-was-interviewed-in-this-magazine-about-mental-health/) - I was interviewed by St. Louis' Gateway to Dreams magazine Be the Change edition about a spiritual approach to mental health and healing.
- [Earth Day Thought from Ron Garan](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/22/earth-day-thought-from-ron-garan/) - After spending 178 days aboard the International Space Station, astronaut Ron Garan returned to Earth carrying something far heavier than space equipment or mission data.
- [Stablish, Strengthen, and Settle You (New Abstract Pastel Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/21/stablish-strengthen-and-settle-you-new-abstract-pastel-painting/) - The title of this conceptual painting is a quote from a snippet I like from the King James version of the Bible in I Peter 5:10. Don't we all want that?
- [Our Weeping Cherry Tree (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/20/our-weeping-cherry-tree-photos/) - My parents gave us this tree as a housewarming present 35 years ago. It is going strong and is such a lovely addition to our life!
- [Recent Pages in my Bible Lesson Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/19/recent-pages-in-my-bible-lesson-journal-19/) - I've started in a new journal, having filled several before, and I'm really liking this new green one, since the paper is thicker and whiter.
- [Swordfish Marinade (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/18/swordfish-marinade-recipe/) - This is delicious, and quick and easy to do with pantry ingredients. This makes two servings but can be multiplied for more.
- [Spring Pointillism (New Poem by Polly Castor with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/17/spring-pointillism-new-poem-by-polly-castor-with-photos/) - Dotted buds, tight fisted but yielding; scattered pecks of blossoms on trees; efflorescent dabs of white or blush pink done with a vigorous, percussive hand
- [Stone Yard Devotional (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/15/stone-yard-devotional-book-review/) - This book is desolate and rather devastating. This is not so much a recommendation as a review; it is me needing to talk about it, not you needing to read it.
- [Dancing Seed Pods (New Abstract Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/16/dancing-seed-pods-new-abstract-painting-in-pastel/) - I've been brewing and marinating on this idea since the fall when I did my painting titled "Bracken" (see here), and I finally took the time to do it. I love the result, with its overall complexity, intense color, and the strong swirling design of the pods.
- [Commemoration of Yom HaShoah](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/14/commemoration-of-yom-hashoah/) - Commemoration of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust observance) matters because it forces Jews and Christians alike to confront what happens when hatred is allowed to grow unchecked and when human being stop seeing one another as bearers of dignity.
- [I’m in this Connecticut Women Artists Juried Show 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/13/im-in-this-connecticut-women-artists-juried-show-2026/) - I'm pleased to be in this juried show with Connecticut women, and that they used my image (shown first below) as their promotion for their opening reception, which was last Saturday.
- [Peter Joyce (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/11/peter-joyce-featured-artist/) - I like Peter Joyce's artwork, even though it has less value contract than I prefer. He makes me want to use more white tones in my paintings, which I definitely don't usually gravitate to.
- [How I go to the Woods (Poem by Mary Oliver)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/12/how-i-go-to-the-woods-poem-by-mary-oliver/) - Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore unsuitable.
- [Holy Envy (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/10/holy-envy-book-review/) - This is written by a former Religion 101 professor about how teaching college kids about the diversity of world religions really help her admire parts of each of them.
- [April Hope (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/09/april-hope-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Devastation recedes as compassion surges, while blooms ever so silently unfold, unnoticeable, until flagrantly and gorgeously displayed.
- [Almost Home (New Abstract Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/07/almost-home-new-abstract-painting-in-pastel/) - The idea for this painting germinated from the intro to a favorite show All Creatures Great and Small, which traverses winding, hilly roads toward town and home. Here too in Connecticut roads are undulating and indirect, surrounded too by foliage and fields
- [Secular Easter Photos 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/06/secular-easter-photos-2026/) - Everyone enjoyed being together so much that we sat at that brunch table for five hours, but it felt like only two. So grateful.
- [Project Hail Mary (Movie Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/04/project-hail-mary-movie-review/) - We just saw this in the movie theater and I absolutely loved it. A lot of people I know have recommended the book as well as the movie, and I'm glad we saw it out on the big screen.
- [On Becoming a Good Instrument (Quote by Cecil Touchon)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/08/on-becoming-a-good-instrument-quote-by-cecil-touchon/) - The task is not to force meaning into the world. The task is to become a clear place where meaning can take form.
- [Happy Easter 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/05/happy-easter-2026/) - May you have a blessed day, reassured, inspired, and filled with awe. May renewal be blooming right where you are!
- [Still Life with Pattern (New Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/02/still-life-with-pattern-new-painting-in-pastel/) - The March the challenge was to paint a still life with a pattern in it. In this post you can see the one I did that was shared yesterday. It is 19"x25" and done in pastel. I had fun doing it– especially the technical background
- [The Sisters (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/01/the-sisters-book-review/) - This is a novel about second-generation Tunisian immigrants living in Sweden, and their challenges of cultural duality, where they do not fit in, either in their country of ethnic origin nor in their resident birth country.
- [Bits and Clips for March 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/31/bits-and-clips-for-march-2026/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, informs, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [What Cross Will We Hang From? (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/04/03/what-cross-will-we-hang-from-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Jesus aligned with God's consciousness and was raised from the dead to show us we could live forever. Now, please, can God raise our collective consciousnesses
- [Sourdough Everything Crackers (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/30/sourdough-everything-crackers-recipe/) - These are amazingly good, and have eclipsed anything I'd ever want to buy at the store. They are cheesy and full bodied in flavor, easy to make and downright fabulous.
- [Prayer for No Kings Rallies with Bits and Clips of Concern](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/28/prayer-for-no-kings-rallies-with-bits-and-clips-of-concern/) - May our love of each other and our earth bring peace to our country and our planet, health to our systems, guardrails to our public officials, and liberty and justice to all.
- [Easy Homemade Caesar Dressing (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/27/easy-homemade-caesar-dressing-recipe/) - Sometimes you want a Caesar dressing that doesn't have an egg or anchovies in it, even though I love it that way. This dressing is really easy and relies pretty heavily on good parmesan.
- [Spring's Heartbeat (New Pastel Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/26/springs-heartbeat-new-pastel-painting/) - Isn't spring palpable, so pulsing with life? This painting tries to capture that nascent emergence out of dormancy.
- [Be Transparent (Quote by Joan Halifax)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/29/be-transparent-quote-by-joan-halifax/) - All too often our so-called strength comes from fear, not love. Instead of having a strong back, many of us have a defended front, shielding a weak spine. In other words,
- [The Spellshop (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/25/the-spellshop-book-review/) - The Spellshop is a great diversion, and it was perfect as a "palette cleanser" between other books that promise greater edification. You might find that you enjoy the reprieve too.
- [Defining Lagom (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/24/defining-lagom-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Be content in your sufficiency, avoiding any binge or bust cycle, with only tiny conscious moves,
- [A Tip I Learned from Earnest Hemingway](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/23/ernest-hemingways-7-tips-for-writing/) - I find it enormously helpful, especially in long, many-stepped projects, or when there is inconsistent time in which to work.
- [Manual (Poem by by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/22/manual-poem-by-by-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/) - To pour water over the aloe, the cyclamen, the jade plant, the cactus, this, too, is prayer.
- [Nonnas (Movie Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/21/nonnas-movie-review/) - I love movies about food, family, breaking limitations, second chances, and dreams coming true. This movie is all that, plus it is based on a true story. We really enjoyed it, and I thought you might too.
- [The Hardest Part of my Job (Polly Answers #19)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/20/the-hardest-part-of-my-job-polly-answers-19/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"][/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] What is the hardest part of your job?Since 1997, I've held a full-time, public, day job as a Christian Science Practitioner (a spiritual healer), doing art and family in the in-between times. "Day job," is
- [Constraint is a Catalyst for Creativity (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/19/constraint-is-a-catalyst-for-creativity-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Endless possibilities bewilder while narrowed options focus fresh opportunities. Limit yourself to just do a painting
- [Recent Food Around Here (Photos with Recipe Links)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/18/recent-food-around-here-photos-with-recipe-links-3/) - There are some oft-repeated tried and true recipes here as well as a bunch of recipe-testing on new stuff that is not yet what we call "blog worthy."
- [Recent Black and White Photos](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/17/recent-black-and-white-photos-19/) - These photos have been collected since the beginning of January. I hope you enjoy their value contrasts, composition, light, shadows, shapes, and mood.
- [Reverse our Feeble Flutterings (Spiritual Short #3)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/15/reverse-our-feeble-flutterings-spiritual-short-3/) - When you do a major overhaul of limiting beliefs, reversing them, you'll thrive, and be a peace, fulled with joy, and in consonance with the "absolute center and circumference of your being."
- [Theo of Golden (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/16/theo-of-golden-book-review/) - It is about kindness, about an artist and art appreciation, about deeply listening to others about what is on their heart, encouraging others to see their value, appreciating nature, music, walking, and community, all with Christian overtones.
- [Just Around the House, Early in the Morning (Poem by Mary Oliver)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/14/just-around-the-house-early-in-the-morning-poem-by-mary-oliver/) - Though I have been scorned for it let me never be afraid to use the world beautiful.
- [Zucchini Noodles with Tomato Cream Sauce (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/13/zucchini-noodles-with-tomato-cream-sauce-recipe/) - This is a quick and versatile recipe, which is a good, light base for any protein, or a welcome side dish.
- [Zaria Forman (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/12/zaria-forman-featured-artist/) - I had the privilege of being in a group chat with Zaria Forman this week. I have long known about her incredible large scale pastels of icebergs, but I was delighted to find out she's a wonderful person too– very real and forthcoming.
- [Three Good Books about Making Art Materials](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/11/three-good-books-about-making-art-materials/) - Making the art materials yourself is an art in itself. By being creative about the elements you use, you can achieve the unique results you are after.
- [Summary of Facts, Concerns, and Links about AI](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/10/summary-of-facts-concerns-and-links-about-ai/) - All this is troubling, and snowballing very quickly. I advocate trying not to use AI, or at least switching to Claude, which as a company seems to have more of a conscience.
- [I'm in this Connecticut Pastel Society Show](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/09/im-in-this-connecticut-pastel-society-show-3/) - In this post you can see my favorites in the show. I particularly like the two abstracted rock paintings.
- [Consider Yourself Kissed (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/07/consider-yourself-kissed-book-review/) - This book depicts the average struggles families go through to give everyone what they need. This is particularly true for women and mothers...
- [Halibut with Saffron Tomatoes and Fennel (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/06/halibut-with-saffron-tomatoes-and-fennel-recipe/) - This is quick and easy and good enough for company.
- [Are You Using What You Already Know? (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/05/are-you-using-what-you-already-know-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Doing more is way more potent than knowing more or obtaining more.
- [A Blessing (by John O'Donohue)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/08/a-blessing-by-john-odonohue/) - May the light of your soul guide you. May the light of your soul bless the work you do with the secret love and warmth of your heart.
- [My Notes from the Better Together Conference](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/04/my-notes-from-the-better-together-conference/) - Non-violence in a love-centered way to thinking, acting and engaging that leads to personal, cultural, and societal transformation.
- [Principles of Nonviolence](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/03/principles-of-nonviolence/) - Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. It is active nonviolent resistance to evil. It is assertive spiritually, mentally and emotionally.
- [Multicultural Golden Rule](https://pollycastor.com/2016/05/25/multicultural-golden-rule/) - The Golden Rule is universal wisdom that we all could apply more seriously for our mutual benefit.
- [Bits and Clips for February 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/28/bits-and-clips-for-february-2026/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, informs, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [Hot Buttered Shrimp (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/27/hot-buttered-shrimp-recipe/) - This recipe is very quick, couldn't be easier, and is both delicious and nutritious! I serve it three different ways, because you'll want this repeatedly in your rotation,
- [I'm in this Pastel Plus Show 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/02/im-in-this-pastel-plus-show-2026/) - I was pleased to be included in the 2026 Pastel Plus show, which is a show focusing on works that utilize pastel along with other mixed media.
- [Polly Answers #18 (about what happens after death)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/26/polly-answers-18-about-what-happens-after-death/) - My first obvious thought is I don't know any more than you do because I've never gone through it.
- [Lessons from Alysa Liu (Women's Gold Medal Figure Skater 2026)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/25/lessons-from-alysa-liu-womens-gold-medal-figure-skater-2026/) - Alysa Liu opted out of pressuring herself in favor of feeling joy and having fun performing at the Olympics, and it totally worked for her. I find myself referring to her example this week when trying to help out stressed people.
- [Grace Notes #61](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/24/grace-notes-61/) - My hope is that this practice will make me and you more aware of the constant flow of amazing good we are perpetually steeped in, which we are surrounded by all the time.
- [The Sound of the Genuine (Howard Thurman Quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/03/01/the-sound-of-the-genuine-howard-thurman-quote/) - The sound of the genuine is flowing through you. Don't be deceived and thrown off by all the noises that are a part even of your dreams (and) your ambitions that you don't hear the sound of the genuine in you.
- [Recent Pages in my Bible Lesson Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/22/recent-pages-in-my-bible-lesson-journal-18/) - Lately, I’ve been writing the action items– the imperatives– I need to do in the right hand column, with everything else on the left hand side. I am really loving paying attention to this distinction, as well as focusing on implementing those injunctions.
- [Whole Red Onion and Carrot Soup (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/21/whole-red-onion-and-carrot-soup-recipe/) - This is inexpensive, low calorie (41 calories a bowl), healthy, and surprisingly good. I was skeptical, but now I'm a believer, and for a bonus, the soup only get better as leftovers. It takes a little time simmering, but is not difficult to do.
- [Connecticut Women Artist's Member Gallery 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/23/blank-blog-post-6/) - In this post are my favorites from the Connecticut Women Artists Member Gallery for 2026. I enjoy being part of this talented and diverse group of artists.
- [Seven Most Recent Collages in my Artist Journals](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/20/seven-most-recent-collages-in-my-artist-journals/) - I love using my artist journals to try new ideas, but frankly they are also great for mental health. Are you playing in one yet?
- [Fresh Translation of the Lord's Prayer from Aramaic](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/18/fresh-translation-of-the-lords-prayer-from-aramaic/) - Create your reign of unity now- Your one desire then acts with ours, as in all light, so in all forms.
- [What to Do in Darkness (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/19/what-to-do-in-darkness-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Don't despair. Be more conscious and aware. Move carefully, cautiously. Lean on each other...
- [Don't Quit (Poem by Edgar A. Guest)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/15/dont-quit-poem-by-edgar-a-guest/) - Success is failure turned inside out. And you can never tell how close you are It may be near when it seems so far.
- [Take Two Artists with Art and Creativity Quotes](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/17/take-two-artists-with-art-and-creativity-quotes/) - Enjoy all this beauty, creativity, and heart shared in this post, focusing on fiber, mixed media, nature, and abstraction.
- [The Eights (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/16/the-eights-book-review/) - I enjoyed this book about the friendship that grows between four smart, strong women, who are assigned to lived together in their first year of Oxford in 1920.
- [You Know All This (Birthday Poem for our Youngest with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/13/you-know-all-this-birthday-poem-for-our-youngest-with-photos/) - Here's to another wonderful orbit around the sun together. May every perfect blessing be yours now and always.
- [Happy Valentine's Day!](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/14/happy-valentines-day-11/) - You are cherished, appreciated, and loved. I am grateful you exist and that we share time and eternity. May you be happy, feel fabulous, and know you are the absolute best!
- [Roots over Rocks in Cathedral Woods, Monhegan (New Large Pastel Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/12/roots-over-rocks-in-cathedral-woods-monhegan-new-large-pastel-painting/) - I loved these sinuous roots over the rocks in the Cathedral Woods on Monhegan and I have seen them in many different types of light
- [Mind the Gap (Quote by Tias Little)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/11/mind-the-gap-quote-by-tias-little/) - Outside the buzz, clatter and clang of your daily demands, find time to commune in magnificent space. When you realize that enduring space is always with you, and that the essential nature of your mind/heart is boundless,
- [Untethered (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/10/untethered-book-review/) - This a work of historical fiction about a woman who is the director of a "group home for negro boys" in Alabama during the Vietnam years.
- [Lessons in Chemistry (Movie Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/09/lessons-in-chemistry-movie-review/) - I always appreciate a female character owning her own intrinsic worth, and forging ahead regardless of impediments society (or life) puts in her way.
- [My Birthday 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/08/my-birthday-2026/) - I'm so grateful to be circling the sun with all of you. Thank you to the many well wishers on social media, through the mail, and via text. Let's have another terrific year together!
- [Recent Pages in my Artist Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/05/recent-pages-in-my-artist-journal/) - I can't recommend strongly enough keeping an artist journal as a means to mental health, a way to work things out, a way to de-stress and settle your thought, a way of release, and an outlet for some tinkering and some fun.
- [Atomic Habits (Book Review with Notes)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/04/atomic-habits-book-review-with-notes/) - If you actually put any of this into practice, this information can be incredible. I hope you leverage it to be who you want to be.
- [Kale, Tuna, White Bean, and Pecan Salad (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/06/kale-tuna-white-bean-and-pecan-salad-recipe/) - This is yummy and quick and easy to make. It keeps well in the refrigerator as leftovers to use as a quick side dish, but is hearty enough for a main dish.
- [Bits and Clips for January 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/31/bits-and-clips-for-january-2026/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, informs, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [The Moor (Poem by R.S. Thomas)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/07/the-moor-poem-by-r-s-thomas/) - It was like a church to me. I entered it on soft foot, Breath held like a cap in the hand. It was quiet.
- [What I Heard Her Say (Poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/02/what-i-heard-her-say-poem-by-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/) - It is true, you are too much for some— especially those who have not yet learned they carry the sea inside them.
- [Horsepower (New Conceptual Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/03/horsepower-new-conceptual-painting-in-pastel/) - The head is wagging back and forth while pushing forward with strength and tenacity.
- [Today's Scriptural Selection from the Message Version of the Bible](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/25/todays-scriptural-selection-from-the-message-version-of-the-bible/) - My scriptural Selection today from the Message version of the Bible for the lesson on Truth:
- [The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion (Series Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/29/the-unselected-journals-of-emma-m-lion-series-book-review/) - Compare this series to a cross between Pride and Prejudice and Anne of Green Gables; it is at once lighthearted and substancial.
- [Recalibrating (New Painting in Pastel and Ink)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/30/recalibrating-new-painting-in-pastel-and-ink/) - A swirl of making mental adjustments, adjusting to external factors, assessing and abstractly adapting. That's what's being expressed here.
- [More than the Slightest Ways (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/02/01/more-than-the-slightest-ways-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Words and thoughts may be only the slightest ways to pray.
- [Lentil Soup with Rosemary, Butternut Squash, and Chard (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/28/lentil-soup-with-rosemary-butternut-squash-and-chard-recipe/) - This soup has all the sustaining coziness of winter in a bowl.
- [Joy Cometh in the Morning (New Pastel Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/27/joy-cometh-in-the-morning-new-pastel-painting/) - To counter the oppressive darkness of the news, this new painting of mine refers to a phrase from Psalms 30:5: "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
- [Be the Light in the Darkness (New Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/15/expanding-opportunities-new-painting-in-pastel/) - I thought of expanding opportunities like the northern lights but more exaggerated and with complex light coming out of darkness. There are lots of reasons to believe in darkness and limitation these days, but light and effulgence always win out.
- [Snow Photos](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/26/snow-photos-3/) - The snow is up now over the wheel wells on our cars in the driveway, and shoveling out will commence later today.
- [Blog is Back Up After Technical Difficulties](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/24/blog-is-back-up-after-technical-difficulties/) - Thank God! The blog is back up! Yes, we are still alive and well over here! My absence was only a technical glitch!
- [Clementine Cake (Naturally Gluten Free Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/23/clementine-cake-naturally-gluten-free-recipe/) - This recipe was a hit – so moist, simple, and flavorful...
- [Flaky Biscuits (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/22/flaky-biscuits-recipe/) - This is your purely perfect, simple, no-skill required, straight-forward, always welcome, everyday but company worthy biscuit, especially delightful when eaten with our easy homemade jam...
- [Sunset Over the Gulf of Mexico (New Painting in Oil)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/20/sunset-over-the-gulf-of-mexico-new-painting-in-oil/) - While praying about Venezuela, I remembered this unusual sunset looking south over the gulf of Mexico from Corpus Christi after our nephew's wedding.
- [Janet Fish (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/18/janet-fish-featured-artist/) - I have long adored the artwork of Janet Fish. I was saddened to hear of her passing last December, but proud of what she accomplished, by being true to what she was interested in and making a name for herself, especially when the way there was so steep for women. She was tenacious in following her vision, and consistent in working toward it.
- [The One Recurring Response (Poem by Susan McBride Els)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/19/the-one-recurring-response-poem-by-susan-mcbride-els/) - All prayers– even the wild and savage ones– point to the one recurring response: Yes, its always love.
- [Don't Ruminate, Activate (James Clear Quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/17/dont-ruminate-activate-james-clear-quote/) - I find it is difficult to think my way into a better mood. When I sit and stew, the problem usually grows larger in my mind.
- [Time of the Child (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/16/time-of-the-child-book-review/) - It is a story about an unexpected baby arriving at Christmas time, and what a miracle that can be. It centers around the town doctor as the main character, as well as his unmarried daughter.
- [Grassroots Uprising (New Oil Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/13/grassroots-uprising-new-oil-painting/) - I painted this oil painting in my studio, even though I usually try to only paint oils outdoors. I'm loving some new oil painting stuff I bought with my Christmas money, and felt the urge, so I ventilated well and went for it anyway.
- [Lean on the Infinite (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/14/lean-on-the-infinite-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Let all that and infinitely more surge through you. Let that govern your being. Let that sustain you through it all. Let that determine your destiny.
- [The Cold (Poem by Wendell Berry)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/21/the-cold-poem-by-wendell-berry/) - How exactly good it is to know myself in the solitude of winter...
- [Gochujang Tomato Soup (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/12/gochujang-tomato-soup-recipe/) - This is a deliciously fresh take on tomato soup! Plus it is easy to make and made with canned (or jarred) tomatoes!
- [Joshua Miles (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/11/joshua-miles-featured-artist/) - I love the reduction prints of Joshua Miles, which are astonishing in their detail and complexity.
- [Interconnectedness (quote by Thich Nhat Hanh)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/10/interconnectedness-quote-by-thich-nhat-hanh/) - As thin as this sheet of paper is, it contains everything in the universe. So the one contains the all.
- [Polly Answers (#17)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/09/polly-answers-17/) - I hope this helps! This truly is a wonderful subject to explore!
- [White-Edged Ripped Elements in Collage (Sketchbook Ideas #21)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/08/white-edged-ripped-elements-in-collage-sketchbook-ideas-21/) - Give this a try; it is a great way to warm up our creative juices for a new year.
- [Between Aspiration and Realization (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/07/between-aspiration-and-realization-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - So dive in! The water is fine!
- [Brownie Edge Chocolate Cookies (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/06/brownie-edge-chocolate-cookies-recipe/) - Who doesn't love the edge of the brownie best? And this is the easiest one bowl and drop cookie recipe imaginable.
- [Joy is a Stubborn Courage (Maria Popova Quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/05/joy-is-a-stubborn-courage-maria-popova-quote/) - In this world heavy with robust reasons for despair, joy is a stubborn courage we must not surrender, a fulcrum of personal power we must not yield to cynicism, blame, or any other costume of helplessness.
- [Family Holiday Photos 2025 (with Recipe Links)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/04/family-holiday-photos-2025-with-recipe-links/) - We had a nice holiday with both daughters home, as well as our older daughter’s boyfriend.
- [Amaryllis Photos (with Growing Instructions)](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/03/amaryllis-photos-with-growing-instructions/) - If you have a bare bulb, plant it in a pot that is at least twice its diameter. Make sure there is a drainage hole in the pot. You may plant more than one bulb in a bigger pot if desired
- [Reading Challenge 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/02/reading-challenge-2026/) - I've printed this list off and put it in my journal. I hope you'll join in with us and do the same.
- [New Years Goals/Resolutions 2026](https://pollycastor.com/2026/01/01/new-years-goals-resolutions-2026/) - Both of these things seem huge, even daunting. I've been unsuccessful in these areas in the past. I'm going to break through that, so help me God.
- [Bits and Clips for December 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/31/bits-and-clips-for-december-2025/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [2025 Year End Goal Review](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/30/2025-year-end-goal-review/) - My resolutions/goals for 2025 are shown below, with my comments on whether they were met or not:
- [Anniversary Photos 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/29/anniversary-photos-2025/) - We are so grateful for all the joy support, opportunity, family time, progress, exploration, discovery, growth, and extension of purpose we’ve felt and experienced in the past year.
- [Paintings in Pastel by Others that I've Enjoyed this Year](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/28/paintings-in-pastel-by-others-that-ive-enjoyed-this-year/) - Here are some competition painting that I enjoyed this year. Which one is your favorite?
- [Breath (Poem by Luci Shaw)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/27/breath-poem-by-luci-shaw/) - When, in the cavern darkness, Jesus opened his small, bleating mouth (even before his eyes widened to the supple world his lungs had sighed into being), did he intuit how hungrily the lungs gasp?
- [Books We Got and Gave on Christmas](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/26/books-we-got-and-gave-on-christmas/) - This was a very richly endowed book exchange holiday for us. In this post you can see the books we got and gave– mostly non-fiction, and only one novel!
- [Merry Christmas 2025!](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/25/merry-christmas-2025/) - May all the qualities of the Christ be reborn in your heart!
- [Best Books of the Year (Reading Challenge Summary)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/22/best-books-of-the-year-reading-challenge-summary/) - I read 68 books this year, ten of which were art and cookbooks, 13 were other non-fiction, and the rest were novels. I listened 22 on audio. I gave 19 books five stars this year.
- [Still Flourishing (Conceptual Abstract Landscape Collage)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/16/still-flourishing-conceptual-abstract-landscape-collage/) - I was thinking about the autumnal season of life, and how it is still glorious, interesting, strong, and dynamic - just gorgeous.
- [Crispy Black Bean Tacos (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/18/crispy-black-bean-tacos-recipe/) - These are delicious and easy to make. It makes tacos enough for four people, and since we are only two over here, I make a full recipe of beans but only assemble and bake half of them. I refrigerate the rest of the beans and assemble the half later in the week.
- [Nice Board Book Gift Idea](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/17/nice-board-book-gift-idea/) - These are delightful in every way, with wonderful art and rhyme, as well as peek-a-boo holes to see through onto other pages. They would be a great gift for you little loved one.
- [Advent (quote by Alfred Delp)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/15/advent-quote-by-alfred-delp/) - It is time to waken from sleep. A waking up must begin somewhere. It is time to put things back where God intended them.
- [Sword Catcher (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/14/sword-catcher-book-review/) - This is the only book over 500 pages I read this year and I really enjoyed it. I'll be reading its sequel soon in the New Year.
- [Advent Visitation (Poem by Lucy Shaw)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/20/advent-visitation-poem-by-lucy-shaw/) - These still December mornings I fancy I live in a clear envelope of angels like a cellophane womb. Or a soap bubble, the colors drifting, curling.
- [Do Not Believe in Walls (Quote by Jörg Zink)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/23/do-not-believe-in-walls-quote-by-jorg-zink/) - If we open them and enter, we can unlock ourselves, too, and so await whatever is coming to free us and make us whole.
- [God Knows What You Need (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/13/god-knows-what-you-need-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - God is a joiner, like a carpenter, splicing together mitered corners, with flush, beautiful transitions, meeting together just right.
- [The Comforts of Pure Love (New Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/11/the-comforts-to-pure-love-new-painting-in-pastel/) - Love is comfortable and comforting, supportive, warm, exciting, fun, and divine. What a delightful thing to paint!
- [Henrik Simonsen (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/09/henrik-simonsen-featured-artist/) - These paintings by Scandinavian artist Henrik Simonsen are evocative of places I've been, while still being abstract, experimental, and thrilling.
- [What Comes Next (Poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/19/what-comes-next-poem-by-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer-2/) - Love relentlessly, she said, and I want to slip these two words into every cell in my body, not the sound of the words, but the truth of them...
- [Love a Dynamic Process (Quote by Maria Popova)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/12/love-a-dynamic-process-quote-by-maria-popova/) - Love is simply the breadth of the aperture through which you let in the reality of another and the quality of attention you pay...
- [Roasted Boursin Mashed Potatoes (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/10/roasted-boursin-mashed-potatoes-recipe/) - I happen to love regular mashed potatoes, but if you want to jazz it up for company or the holidays, this super easy dish is for you.
- [Giving Tuesday: Biannual Request for Donations](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/02/giving-tuesday-biannual-request-for-donations-3/) - Those of you new to this site may not know that it is crowd funded.
- [Buckeye (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/08/buckeye-book-review/) - Buckeye is a long, sweep of a book, taking place between two families in a small town in Ohio between WWII and Vietnam.
- [Listen (Quote by Bob Herbert)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/06/listen-quote-by-bob-herbert/) - That’s when your best thoughts take hold, and you become really you.
- [With Those for Whom There is No Room (Quote by Thomas Merton)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/24/with-those-for-whom-there-is-no-room-quote-by-thomas-merton/) - Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ comes uninvited.
- [Advent Darkness (quote by Fleming Rutledge)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/21/advent-darkness-quote-by-fleming-rutledge/) - Advent bids us to take a fearless inventory of the darkness: the darkness without and the darkness within.
- [Call to Action (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/07/call-to-action-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Let your feelings of inadequacy melt into adrenaline-charged obedience. Your convulsive little ego must not be given reign.
- [Thank You for Coming to See my One Woman Show!](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/05/thank-you-for-coming-to-see-my-one-woman-show/) - I am so very grateful to the Meetinghouse for hosting the show, and for all those that made the effort to come. Your interest and support are really appreciated!
- [Bracken (New Large Painting in Acrylic)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/04/bracken-new-large-painting-in-acrylic/) - I've been looking closely at the brambled thickets and bracken here in the late fall.
- [Run with the Horses (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/03/run-with-the-horses-book-review/) - It might make you want to be in a more constant relationship with God, in troubling times.
- [Thanksgiving Photos 2025 (with Recipe Links)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/12/01/thanksgiving-photos-2025-with-recipe-links/) - We had a lovely holiday weekend with our younger daughter visiting, as well a Texas cousin who is studying at Yale.
- [Bits and Clips for November 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/30/bits-and-clips-for-november-2025/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [Hike Photos of Huntington State Park (November 2025)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/29/hike-photos-of-huntington-state-park-november-2025/) - It has been lovely studying these colors for my next paintings.
- [Great Gift Ideas: Merchandise and Prints of Polly Castor's Art](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/28/great-gift-ideas-merchandise-and-prints-of-polly-castors-art-3/) - All sorts of prints and merchandise are available with of over a 1000 images.
- [Happy Thanksgiving!](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/27/happy-thanksgiving/) - What are you grateful for?
- [Adiron, Pomegranate, Mustard, and Straw (New Large Abstract Landscape in Oil)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/26/adiron-pomegranate-mustard-and-straw-new-large-abstract-landscape-in-oil/) - Will you give this process a try?
- [Three Large Mixed Media Studies in the Fall Landscape](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/25/three-large-mixed-media-studies-in-the-fall-landscape/) - I got into putting down gooey gouache and oil pastel and then going over it with soft pastels which stuck into it so nicely.
- [Sister Act 1 & 2 (Movie Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/24/sister-act-1-2-movie-review/) - If you are looking for a feel-good comedy, you might enjoy watching this too.
- [Practice (Quote by Alice Walker)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/23/practice-quote-by-alice-walker/) - What is steering this boat that is my fragile human life?
- [Thanksgiving Recipe Suggestions with Links 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/22/thanksgiving-recipe-suggestions-with-links-2025/) - I hope this round-up, as well as last year's, will help make your holidays especially delicious!
- [Nourishment (Poem by James Crews)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/21/nourishment-poem-by-james-crews/) - How have you nourished yourself today?
- [Raising Hare (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/20/raising-hare-book-review/) - Finding refuge in the appreciation of nature and agency in the desire to protect it can be resuscitating for us all.
- [Unity (Spiritual Shorts #2)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/19/unity-spiritual-shorts-2/) - Maybe we should give it a try?
- [Be Ready When the Luck Happens (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/02/be-ready-when-the-luck-happens-book-review/) - This is the story about how following what we love with curiosity and courage, as well as tenacity and hard work, creates our luck.
- [Pause at Home (Quote by Tias Little)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/18/pause-at-home-quote-by-tias-little/) - Slip into the great beyond where our temporal self and eternal self merge...
- [Alexandra Buckle (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/17/alexandra-buckle-featured-artist/) - I love her trees and reflections and seasons, and thought you might too.
- [We Need a New Mind (Quote by Jon Kabat-Zinn)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/16/we-need-a-new-mind-quote-by-jon-kabat-zinn/) - Embody this kind of universal understanding based on embodied wakefulness...
- [How to Write a Poem (Children's Picture Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/15/how-to-write-a-poem-childrens-picture-book-review/) - I was so excited by it, I thought you needed to know about it as well1
- [Brussels Sprouts with Black Garlic (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/14/brussels-sprouts-with-black-garlic-recipe/) - This is next level Brussels sprouts and is crazy good.
- [Collage of Light (Poem by Cecil Touchon)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/13/collage-of-light-poem-by-cecil-touchon/) - We said, what if makin’ was like light itself, Spreadin’ through the room, no shelf, no self.
- [My Mom Would Have Turned 100 Today](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/12/my-mom-would-have-turned-100-today/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] My mom would have turned 100 today. She was born on November 12, 1925, and I was her youngest child, born to her later in life. She was an amazing, creative, intuitive, loving person;
- [My Mom’s Abstract Watercolors](https://pollycastor.com/2013/10/14/my-moms-abstract-watercolors/) - Recently, I’ve taken the photos below of the abstract watercolor paintings by my mother that I own, and I thought you’d enjoy seeing them...
- [Prayer of Freedom](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/11/prayer-of-freedom/) - A friend shared that she found this prayer below helpful in parenting.
- [Marc Grandbois (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/10/marc-grandbois-featured-artist/) - I share an appreciation with him for nature’s brambles and water reflections, and agree he does an exceptionally good job at both.
- [You Can't Grow Old (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/09/you-cant-grow-old-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - The opposite of old is not young. The opposite of old is new.
- [Right Here (Poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/08/right-here-poem-by-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/) - Not easy to hear the soft chant of my breath with the rumble of river nearby.
- [2026 Polly Castor Art Calendars Available](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/07/2026-polly-castor-art-calendars-available/) - They make great gifts both for you and yours!
- [How to have a Quieter Thought and Silence Internal Chatter](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/06/how-to-have-a-quieter-thought-and-silence-internal-chatter/) - I've done the work to train myself to be tranquil, by conscious choice, and by continuous conditioning.
- [Herby Butternut Squash Medley with Lentils (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/05/herby-butternut-squash-medley-with-lentils-recipe/) - This is yummy, interesting, and easy to do. This is a perfect fall dish, and would be very welcome on a Thanksgiving table.
- [Leaf Litter on the Pond (New Collage)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/04/leaf-litter-on-the-pond-new-collage/) - I've spent a lot of time pondering (and taking photos of) leaves on the pond.
- [No Kings Does Have a Vision](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/03/no-kings-does-have-a-vision/) - What we need is an action plan.
- [The Joy of Painting Abstract Landscapes (Quote by Lewis Noble)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/11/01/the-joy-of-painting-abstract-landscapes-quote-by-lewis-noble/) - Painting isn’t just about creating something to hang on a wall, it’s about the joy of doing.
- [Bits and Clips for October 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/31/bits-and-clips-for-october-2025/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Turns 150 Years Old](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/30/science-and-health-with-key-to-the-scriptures-turns-150-years-old/) - Out of gratitude, I'm making free copies available if you don't have one!
- [Spicy Cornbread with Cheese (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/29/spicy-cornbread-with-cheese-recipe/) - This is delicious and hearty.
- [Morning Offering (Poem by John O’Donohue)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/28/morning-offering-poem-by-john-odonohue/) - All that is eternal in me welcomes the wonder of this day...
- [Hike Photos from Huntington State Park (October 2025)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/27/hike-photos-from-huntington-state-park-october-2025/) - I've been glorying in the bright blue skies and the leaves changing color.
- [The Household of God (Quote by M. Adelaide Holton)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/26/the-household-of-god-quote-by-m-adelaide-holton/) - In this real household of Spirit, all spiritual individualities, live, move, and have their being, now and forever.
- [Tuga Trilogy (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/25/tuga-trilogy-book-review/) - These books feel like an antidote to and a refuge from the bleak realities of our news cycle. I
- [Grace Notes #60 (with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/24/grace-notes-60-with-photos/) - I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good.
- [Believe in Connection & Believe in Yourself (Quote by Danna Faulds)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/23/believe-in-connection-believe-in-yourself-quote-by-danna-faulds/) - You know all that you need to know.
- [Quick Seafood Stew (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/22/quick-seafood-stew-recipe/) - This is yummy and nurturing. Once you get it all chopped up, it comes together quickly since it cooks for only 6 minutes.
- [Half-Past October (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/21/half-past-october-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Happy with this tantalizing foreplay called October.
- [My 2025 One Woman Art Show Opens](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/20/my-2025-one-woman-art-show-opens/) - Thank you to everyone that came to the opening of my one woman show!
- [The Correspondent (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/19/the-correspondent-book-review/) - I found this deeply engaging, and I recommend it to you. I give it 5 stars. Now I want to write more letters!
- [My Husband Made My One Woman Show Possible](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/18/my-husband-made-my-one-woman-show-possible/) - I'm excited for my new One Woman Show to open tomorrow, and I have my husband to thank for it, because it wouldn't have happened without him.
- [No Art Without the Maker! (Poem by Liz Murphy)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/17/no-art-without-the-maker-poem-by-liz-murphy/) - Some say there is no art without the maker, beauty cannot live without it’s shaper.
- [Thriving Pond (New Large Monoprint Collage)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/16/thriving-pond-new-large-monoprint-collage/) - took a while to tweak into full harmony and a complete sense of thrumming with life!
- [The Crux of the Good Life (Quote by Maria Popova)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/15/the-crux-of-the-good-life-quote-by-maria-popova/) - To be entirely oneself in every circumstance...
- [Winds of Change (New Large Monoprint Collage)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/14/winds-of-change-new-large-monoprint-collage/) - This monoprint collage captures a transition time.
- [Homemade Baked Apple Cider Donut Recipe](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/13/homemade-baked-apple-cider-donut-recipe/) - These were yummy– best hot, right out of the oven– and better for you than the fried ones available that are not homemade.
- [Polly Answers #16 (How to Help Heal Dark Times)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/12/polly-answers-16-how-to-help-heal-dark-times/) - What a great question!
- [I'm in this IAPS International Juried Show for Pastel](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/11/im-in-this-iaps-international-juried-show-for-pastel/) - I'm so grateful for this top level recognition of the value of my painting.
- [The Way Through (Poem by Lynn Unger)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/10/the-way-through-poem-by-lynn-unger/) - Maybe we can rely on miracles?
- [Mining (New Abstract Landscape in Oil)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/09/mining-new-abstract-landscape-in-oil/) - I’ve been thinking about our precious natural resources...
- [The Stolen Queen (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/08/the-stolen-queen-book-review/) - You too might enjoy this compulsively readable story by this highly capable writer.
- [Rocky Knoll ( New Landscape Painting in Oil and Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/07/rocky-knoll-new-landscape-painting-in-oil-and-pastel/) - I loved adding pastel to this oil painting. Don’t you love the result?
- [You are Invited to My New One Woman Show!](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/06/you-are-invited-to-my-new-one-woman-show/) - Hope to see you there!
- [Utilizing Principle Solves Problems (Spiritual Shorts #1)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/05/utilizing-principle-solves-problems-spiritual-shorts-1/) - Now it is the problem that is invisible.
- [River of the Gods (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/04/river-of-the-gods-book-review/) - This is a dramatic account of two egotistic British explorers' rivalry in searching for the source of the Nile.
- [Friendship a Witness (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/03/friendship-a-witness-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Have you done this for someone today?
- [Watching You Grow (New Large Abstraction in Oil)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/02/watching-you-grow-new-large-abstraction-in-oil/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] This new 20"x24" oil painting is titled Watching You Grow. You can see the whole painting above and close up details below. Click here to purchase the original oil painting. Click here to obtain
- [Black and White Photographs from Maine](https://pollycastor.com/2025/10/01/black-and-white-photographs-from-maine/) - These black and white photos highlight light, refraction, shadow, texture, and composition.
- [Bits and Clips for September 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/30/bits-and-clips-for-september-2025/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [I Painted Over What I Painted at Camp](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/29/i-painted-over-what-i-painted-at-camp/) - Do you agree the refreshed one is better?
- [The Journey (Poem by Mary Oliver)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/28/the-journey-poem-by-mary-oliver/) - One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began...
- [Recent Food Around Here (Photos with Recipe Links)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/27/recent-food-around-here-photos-with-recipe-links-2/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] As much fun as it is to travel and try new things, we really like our own food, a cuisine which has admittedly developed over many years of seeing food as an adventure. Lately,
- [The Briar Club (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/26/the-briar-club-book-review/) - I totally recommend reading this historical fiction set in the early 1950's and give it 5 stars.
- [Cathedral Woods (New Large Oil Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/25/cathedral-woods-new-large-oil-painting/) - This painting has the elements of the place in general, while no specific photo reference was used.
- [Our Primary Responsibility (David Abrams Quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/24/our-primary-responsibility-david-abrams-quote/) - Only by being deeply here, in and of this place, am I palpably connected to every other place.
- [I Don't Believe in Drudgery (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/23/i-dont-believe-in-drudgery-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - I do believe in hard work, and in the luminous beauty of ordinariness.
- [I'm in the Renaissance in Pastel National Juried Show](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/22/im-in-the-renaissance-in-pastel-national-juried-show/) - Glad to be in this show...
- [Recent Pages in My Bible Lesson Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/21/recent-pages-in-my-bible-lesson-journal-17/) - I find the process of journaling while I study really helpful for making it my own.
- [Featured Artist: Michael Vermette](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/20/featured-artist-michael-vermette/) - I admire how he handles the paint, the vigor of his colors, and the energy in his brushstrokes.
- [Tomato, Corn, and Avocado Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/19/tomato-corn-and-avocado-salad-with-honey-lime-vinaigrette-recipe/) - This is so easy and is absolutely wonderful, and the homemade dressing is fabulous!
- [What I Painted on Monhegan 2025 (Seven New Plein Air Paintings)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/18/what-i-painted-on-monhegan-2025/) - Here are the seven paintings I painted in plein air last week.
- [Confessions of a Grammar Queen (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/17/confessions-of-a-grammar-queen-book-review/) - May we also summon the courage to fight for what we deserve, which is nothing less than the best for everyone.
- [Art by Others on Monhegan](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/16/art-by-others-on-monhegan/) - It is interesting to see the endless variations represented of one small place, and fun to be part of such a long tradition of artist painting this subject.
- [Monhegan (Last Day and Leaving Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/15/monhegan-last-day-and-leaving-photos/) - We had a wonderful time.
- [Monhegan (Day 4: Cathedral Woods Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/14/monhegan-day-4-cathedral-woods-photos/) - Another perfect day on Monhegan, and I am so grateful!
- [Monhegan Island (Day 3 Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/13/monhegan-island-day-3-photos/) - Photos of another beautiful day on Monhegan Island.
- [Monhegan (Day 2: Town Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/12/monhegan-day-2-town-photos/) - Photos from a lovely day on Monhegan Island.
- [Monhegan Island (Day 1 Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/11/monhegan-island-day-1-photos/) - Seven of us arrived in the rain, looking forward to painting for a few days.
- [What I Painted at Camp 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/10/what-i-painted-at-camp-2025/) - I was only there for the beginning of this class, but here it what I did and what I thought.
- [Creative Arts Camp 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/09/blank-blog-post-5/) - See my photos in this post of an all too short time this year at camp.
- [Reading the Greatest Bargain (Quote by Gene Roddenberry)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/08/reading-the-greatest-bargain-quote-by-gene-roddenberry/) - Instead of experiencing just one life, the book-lover can experience hundreds or even thousands of lives.
- [Continue (Poem by Maya Angelou)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/07/continue-poem-by-maya-angelou/) - And by doing so you and your work will be able to continue eternally.
- [Summer's End (New Large Oil Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/06/summers-end-new-large-oil-painting/) - I'm feeling a little bittersweet that summer is almost over, and that's what this new oil painting of mine is about.
- [Scallion Oil Halibut (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/05/scallion-oil-halibut-recipe/) - This dish is called pa gireum in Korean, and it is super easy and very flavorful.
- [Odysseus' Return (New Abstract Painting in Acrylic Collage)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/04/odysseus-return-new-abstract-painting-in-acrylic-collage/) - I painted this acrylic collage after returning from also sailing the Aegean Sea.
- [My Friends (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/03/my-friends-book-review/) - This story is about a piece of art, and the story is art in itself.
- [Polly Answers #15](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/01/polly-answers-15/) - Questions about my travel sketchbooks, my black and white photography, and our recent travel bonanza.
- [Art Needs Friends (Quotes by Fredrik Backman)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/09/02/art-needs-friends-quotes-by-fredrik-backman/) - Tomorrow I'll review the book, My Friends, by Fredrik Backman, but first I wanted to capture some of the art quotes from it
- [Bits and Clips for August 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/31/bits-and-clips-for-august-2025/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [Rhapsody Part 7 (Poem by Mary Oliver)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/30/rhapsody-part-7-poem-by-mary-oliver/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Rhapsody Part 7If you are in the garden, I will dress myself in leaves. If you are in the sea I will slide into that smooth blue nest, I will talk fish, I will
- [Black and White Photographs from our California Trip](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/29/black-and-white-photographs-from-our-california-trip/) - Taking photos in black and white helps me focus on composition, texture, light and shadow.
- [What We Appreciate About Christian Science](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/28/what-we-appreciate-about-christian-science/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Last Saturday we had a church meeting where we started by going around and saying what we appreciated most about Christian Science. I thought you might like to see these thoughts whether you are
- [A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/27/a-ladys-guide-to-fortune-hunting-book-review/) - Read this if you need something light, entertaining, fast moving, and diverting. I loved it and give it five stars.
- [Other Photos from Our Visit to Sacramento](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/26/other-photos-from-our-visit-to-sacramento/) - We had a great time!
- [Sacramento Farmer's Market (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/25/sacramento-farmers-market-photos/) - Best Farmer's Market I've ever been to!
- [Slow Love (Quote by Dominique Browning)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/24/slow-love-quote-by-dominique-browning/) - Slow love is the most sustaining type of love.
- [Fully Belly Farm Dinner (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/23/fully-belly-farm-dinner-photos/) - This occasion was a delight.
- [Hiking and Dinner in Lake Tahoe (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/22/hiking-and-dinner-in-lake-tahoe-photos/) - What a perfect time with our older daughter!
- [Wild Dark Shore (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/21/wild-dark-shore-book-review/) - The environmental crisis described is very real, but so is love.
- [Tomato, Roasted Beet, Fruit, and Goat Cheese Salad](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/20/tomato-roasted-beet-fruit-and-goat-cheese-salad/) - Sometimes it is nice to have a salad that is not green!
- [What Comes Next (Poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/19/what-comes-next-poem-by-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/) - I want to believe there is in all of us a place where hate won’t grow.
- [Farmer's Market Photos](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/18/farmers-market-photos-2/) - I love this abundance of color and shape and flavor!
- [Their Lives Depend on Others (Quote by Neil DeGrasse Tyson)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/17/their-lives-depend-on-others-quote-by-neil-degrasse-tyson/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] “When a tree is cut down in the forest, other trees reach out to the victim with their root tips, and send lifesaving sustenance, water, sugar, and other nutrients via the mycelium. This continuous
- [Our New Turkish Rugs Arrive and are Installed](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/16/our-new-turkish-rugs-arrive-and-are-installed/) - We love them!
- [Home to our Garden (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/15/home-to-our-garden-photos/) - Time for some bouquets and tomatoes!
- [Pages in my Sardinia Sketchbook](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/14/pages-in-my-sardinia-sketchbook/) - I painted in Sardinia, of Cala Goloritze, Cala Luna, and Neptune’s Grotto, as well as two moods of their sumptuous water.
- [The Waters (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/13/the-waters-book-review/) - A difficult read that may be woth it in the end.
- [Black and White Photos of Sardinia](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/12/black-and-white-photos-of-sardinia/) - For a country featuring turquoise water, taking colorless photos was interesting!
- [An Unexpected Extra Day on the Way Home](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/11/an-unexpected-extra-day-on-the-way-home/) - Even delays can be blessings!
- [Visiting the Last Living Sea Silk Artisan (Our Last Day in Sardinia)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/10/last-day-in-sardinia-visiting-last-living-sea-silk-artisan/) - A most unique and unusual art form!
- [Neptune's Grotto in Sardinia](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/09/neptunes-grotto-in-sardinia/) - A huge cavern and the best gelato!
- [Hike to Cala Goloritzé in Sardinia (Named Best Beach in the World)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/08/hike-to-cala-goloritze-in-sardinia-named-best-beach-in-the-world/) - Absolutely stunning! What a workout! What a memorable day!
- [Emerald Coast and Cala Luna in Sardinia](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/07/emerald-coast-and-cala-luna-in-sardinia/) - This was a wonderful day!
- [Staying in the Mountainside Town of Baunei in Sardinia](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/05/staying-in-the-mountainside-town-of-baunei-in-sardinia/) - This is our home base for our next adventure.
- [Hiking Down into Canyon Gorropu (in Sardinia)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/06/hiking-down-into-canyon-gorropu-in-sardinia/) - So grateful to be able to do this!
- [Cappadocia and a Hot Air Balloon Ride](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/04/cappadocia-and-a-hot-air-balloon-ride/) - They had a great time!
- [My Sketchbook Pages from Turkey](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/03/my-sketchbook-pages-from-turkey/) - I highly recommend keeping a sketchbook or travel journal when you travel.
- [Black and White Photos from Turkey](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/02/black-and-white-photos-from-turkey/) - The colors of this country were so fabulous, that these photos highlight some of the other contrasts that were so engaging.
- [Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and Meeting Our Boat](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/23/hagia-sophia-the-blue-mosque-and-meeting-our-boat/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"][/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] I was excited to see the Hagia Sophia since I wrote my first term paper about it in high school and never dreamed I'd be there. The reality is that its 1500 years of history
- [Just Back from Turkey, Greece, and Sardinia!](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/21/just-back-from-turkey-greece-and-sardinia/) - So grateful for this amazing opportunity!
- [Turkish Jammy Eggplant (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/08/01/turkish-jammy-eggplant-recipe/) - While not lovely on the plate, it sure is good. It is not difficult and is delicious
- [Bits and Clips for July 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/31/bits-and-clips-for-july-2025/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [Goodbye to our Boat, Turkey, and Each Other](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/30/goodbye-to-our-boat-turkey-and-each-other/) - We loved this trip and being together!
- [We Go up the River to Kaunos](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/29/we-go-up-the-river-to-kaunos/) - We've had a wonderful time!
- [Returning to Turkey for a Hike and a Party](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/28/returning-to-turkey-for-a-hike-and-a-party/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] We swam in another lovely cove early in the day and then went back through immigration in Marmaris. The water continues to be endlessly fascinating. Next, we settled in a lovely mountainous spot and
- [On to the Greek Island of Rhodes](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/27/on-to-the-greek-island-of-rhodes/) - Rhodes was fun; wish we had longer there.
- [Crossing to the Greek Island of Symi](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/26/crissing-to-the-greek-island-of-symi/) - The water is amazing!
- [Swimming, Touring Knidos, and an Evening Bike Ride](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/25/swimming-touring-knidos-and-an-evening-bike-ride/) - A lovely day enjoying being together.
- [Bodrum Castle, Halicarnassus, and Buying Turkish Rugs](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/24/bodrum-castle-halicarnassus-and-buying-turkish-rugs/) - We are finally all together!
- [Topkapi Palace Museum, Cistern, Bazaar, and Harbor in Istanbul (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/22/topkapi-palace-museum-cistern-bazaar-and-harbor-in-istanbul-photos/) - It was a wonderful but full day.
- [Build on What You've Been Given (Quote from the Message)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/20/build-on-what-youve-been-given-quote-from-the-message/) - With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward...
- [Broiled Halibut with Parmesan Dill Crust (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/18/broiled-halibut-with-parmesan-dill-crust-recipe/) - This is one of our favorite recipes and it is so easy...
- [Dorothy Ganek (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/19/dorothy-ganek-featured-artist/) - I like Dorothy Ganek's vibrant and engaging abstract work.
- [Two New Found Paper Collages](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/17/two-new-found-paper-collages/) - Here I have been experimenting with collage compositions made of found paper.
- [Love Breeds Love (Quote by Frank Ostaseski)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/16/love-breeds-love-quote-by-frank-ostaseski/) - Love is the very human quality that allows us to welcome everything, not just what we prefer most.
- [Recent Black and White Photos from Maine](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/15/recent-black-and-white-photos-from-maine/) - Try starting a discipline of taking things in black and white, for you will really start to see values everywhere and what a difference they make.
- [The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling (Book Review with Quotes)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/14/the-laws-guide-to-nature-drawing-and-journaling-book-review-with-quotes/) - The book is comprehensive and downright brilliant, while humble and helpful in tone. I endorse it with a hearty five stars.
- [Fertility and Conception (Deep Think #30)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/13/fertility-and-conception-deep-think-30/) - This post is for those that consider themselves creators, or those struggling with barrenness of any kind, or those trying to overcome infertility.
- [Oneness is Like (Quote by Michael Mooslin)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/11/oneness-is-like-quote-by-michael-mooslin/) - Oneness is like sticking a piece of metal to a magnet.
- [Collecting Good Thoughts (New Abstract Painting in Acrylic)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/10/collecting-good-thoughts-new-bstract-painting-in-acrylic/) - Take my Every Thought to Use is a line from a favorite hymn, and it is shown here with lots of thoughts and neural pathways, ready to jump forward and be of service.
- [Cookbooks I've Been Enjoying Lately](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/09/cookbooks-ive-been-enjoying-lately/) - Here are some good cookbooks to get you trying something different, improving your cooking skills, and getting you inspired to keep expanding your recipe portfolio.
- [Storygraph App](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/08/storygraph-app/) - I thought you might want to know about Storygraph, if you didn't already.
- [Judith Bergerson (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/07/judith-bergerson-featured-artist/) - I love this art by Minnesota artist Judith Bergerson, with her strong sense of composition and beautiful use of natural forms
- [Disinterest is a Spiritual Act (Quote by Cecil Touchon)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/06/disinterest-is-a-spiritual-act-quote-by-cecil-touchon/) - The practice of disinterest is about honoring your time, your life, and your gift by choosing to go where the light is, and leaving the rest behind.
- [Step by Step Drawing Guide (Sketchbook Ideas #20)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/05/step-by-step-drawing-guide-sketchbook-ideas-20/) - Follow this simple step by step process when you are trying to draw something
- [Cynicism and Hopefulness (Quote by Nick Cave)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/04/cynicism-and-hopefulness-quote-by-nick-cave/) - Unlike cynicism, hopefulness is hard-earned...
- [Two Recent Monoprint Collages in my Artist Journals](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/03/two-recent-monoprint-collages-in-my-artist-journals/) - I like these, their color, sense of movement and repetition of design elements.
- [Grain Free Blueberry Muffins (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/02/grain-free-blueberry-muffins-recipe/) - They are easy to make, and are lighter and healthier for you than most sugar-laden muffins.
- [Downstairs Girl (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/01/downstairs-girl-book-review/) - Downstairs Girl is very unique historical fiction story about a Chinese girl in reconstructionist Atlanta.
- [Bits and Clips for June 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/30/bits-and-clips-for-june-2025/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [The Joys of Silence (Quote by Thomas Merton)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/29/the-joys-of-silence-quote-by-thomas-merton/) - The peace of solitude is necessary, to some extent, for the fullness of human living.
- [Elements to Put on a Nature Journaling Page (Sketchbook Ideas #18)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/28/elements-to-put-on-a-nature-journaling-page-sketchbook-ideas-18/) - This thoughtful process is meditative, deeply calming, and gratifying.
- [U Pick (Poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/27/upick-poem-by-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/) - How simple to smile, thinking of nothing but finding the deepest red berries...
- [Once in a Blue Moon (New Mixed Media Abstract Landscape)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/26/once-in-a-blue-moon-new-mixed-media-abstract-landscape/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] This new abstract landscape is highly textural and is titled Once in a Blue Moon, for it is a rare sight. The painting is 20"x20" and done on an archival wood panel in mixed
- [She Let Go (Quote by Safire Rose)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/25/she-let-go-quote-by-safire-rose/) - She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.
- [I'm in this Show at the Lyme Art Association](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/24/im-in-this-show-at-the-lyme-art-association/) - When you walk in, my large monoprint collage is centered on the back wall, three rooms away, and you can see it from the front door, the minute you walk in, so that was fun.
- [Cheese Souffle (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/07/12/cheese-souffle-recipe/) - This sure is delicious, and after making it multiple times, it becomes easy.
- [Jade Fadojutimi (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/23/jade-fadojutimi-featured-artist/) - She paints large, and I love her gestural strokes, as well as her bold use of color.
- [News (Poem by Alfred Lamotte)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/22/news-poem-by-alfred-lamotte/) - And that’s the way it is this Sabbath morning.
- [The Trackers (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/21/the-trackers-book-review/) - I listened to this driving to and from Maine last week, and enjoyed it.
- [When the Sun (Poem by Juniper Klatt)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/20/when-the-sun-poem-by-juniper-klatt/) - Oh how lovely it feels to be alive; how magical to wake with the light and live...
- [What I Painted at the PSME Plein Air Retreat](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/19/what-i-painted-at-the-psme-plein-air-retreat/) - During our plein air retreat I did six paintings in three full days, two of flowers, two of rocks, and two of water.
- [Food I Prepared for the PSME Plein Air Retreat](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/18/food-i-prepared-for-the-psme-plein-air-retreat/) - It was fun to nurture people in this way, and I'm already thinking about what to make next year!
- [PSME Plein Air Retreat 2025 (People, Places, and Art by Others)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/17/psme-plein-air-retreat-2025-people-places-and-art-by-others/) - A great time was had by all.
- [Celery & Apple Salad with Blue Cheese (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/11/20/celery-apple-salad-with-blue-cheese-recipe/) - This is a delicious and different salad, that would make a great compliment to any meal.
- [Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (Flower Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/16/coastal-maine-botanical-gardens-flower-photos/) - This lovely spot is definitely worth the visit.
- [A Hymn for Father's Day](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/15/a-hymn-for-fathers-day/) - O Father, Thy kingdom is come upon earth
- [Broccoli Cucumber Salad (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/14/broccoli-cucumber-salad-recipe/) - This salad is easy to make, lots of crunch and texture, and the dressing is delicious.
- [Arden Bendler Browning (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/13/arden-bendler-browning-featured-artist/) - I like how Arden Bendler Browning's work straddles the line between abstraction and landscape painting.
- [Recent Black and White Photos](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/12/recent-black-and-white-photos-18/) - This is why I have a practice of taking photographs in black and white.
- [Making is the Message (Quote By Cecil Touchon)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/11/making-is-the-message-quote-by-cecil-touchon/) - Making is how I stay connected to something deeper than thinking.
- [Two New Monoprints](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/10/two-new-monoprints/) - I've been enjoying makng monoprints lately of many different layers.
- [Reading Challenge Update](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/09/reading-challenge-update/) - I read in a range of edifying and entertaining, a mixture of substantial stuff and fluff.
- [New Day's Lyric (Poem by Amanda Gorman)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/08/new-days-lyric-poem-by-amanda-gorman-2/) - May this be the day we come together.
- [I'm in the New Pond Farm Invitational Art Show](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/07/im-in-the-new-pond-farm-invitational-art-show-2/) - Stop by to see the show before June 15th.
- [Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Homemade Labneh (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/06/roasted-cherry-tomatoes-with-homemade-labneh-recipe/) - Served with the juices from these roasted cherry tomatoes, this labneh is magnificent.
- [Entwined (New Large Pastel Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/05/entwined-new-large-pastel-painting/) - Do you see how everything is entwined, held together by a single line?
- [My Name is Emilia Del Valle (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/04/my-name-is-emilia-del-valle-book-review/) - This is an immersive tale of an unusually plucky young woman's courage, her search for her heritage, and ultimately, her resilience.
- [Get Rid of "Personal Sense" (Deep Think #5)](https://pollycastor.com/2018/07/15/get-rid-of-personal-sense-deep-think-5/) - "Personal sense" is one of those great terms used in Christian Science that is so helpful once you understand it.
- [Annual Meeting Weekend 2025 (Highlights and Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/03/annual-meeting-weekend-2025-highlights-and-photos/) - My favorite part of all this is the people, and I love seeing all of them, loving on dear friends and meeting new ones.
- [I'm in a National Juried Show At the UConn Museum of Art](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/02/im-in-a-national-juried-show-at-the-uconn-museum-of-art/) - I'm so delighted to have my work selected to be in this lovely show at the William Benton Museum of Art at the University of Connecticut.
- [The Man of Integrity (Quote Mary Baker Eddy)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/06/01/the-man-of-integrity-quote-mary-baker-eddy/) - The man of integrity is one who does nothing but what is honorable.
- [Bits and Clips for May 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/31/bits-and-clips-for-may-2025/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [Spring at New Pond Farm (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/29/spring-at-new-pond-farm-photos-2/) - I was so glad to be again on these old stomping grounds, and thought you might like a photo tour too.
- [Jean Gumpper (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/30/jean-gumpper-featured-artist-2/) - Jean Gumpper's printmaking is soothing and comforting, while honoring those overlooked slices of life we would all do well to be more mindful of.
- [Tuscan Doors (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/28/tuscan-doors-photos/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] I found the doors in Tuscany fascinating, so varied and different than what we see here. I started collecting photos of the ones that caught my eye, and I've pulled them together to show
- [American Journey (Book Review with quotes by John Burroughs)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/27/american-journey-book-review-with-quotes-by-john-burroughs/) - American Journey gives an inside, personal look at the lives of Henry Ford, John Burroughs, and Thomas Edison. This is non-fiction about how they road-tripped together, camping along the way.
- [Grace Notes #59 (with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/26/grace-notes-59-with-photos/) - I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good.
- [Recent Pages in my Bible Lesson Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/25/recent-pages-in-my-bible-lesson-journal-16/) - I find the process of journaling while I study really helpful for making it my own. Plus it makes it more fun.
- [Asparagus and Feta Frittata with Za'atar (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/24/asparagus-and-feta-frittata-with-zaatar-recipe/) - This is yummy and easy!
- [Thoughts on Envy](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/23/thoughts-on-envy/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] One of you blog readers has asked me to write about envy. I'm not a very envious person, which I guess is why this hasn't come up. This I attribute mostly to my attitude,
- [I Have a lot Going On (New Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/22/i-have-a-lot-going-on-new-painting-in-pastel/) - I wanted to paint a feeling that was based on the happy juggle of disparate parts.
- [Spring Morning After Rain (New Poem by Polly Castor with Spring Flower Photos from our Yard)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/21/spring-morning-after-rain-new-poem-by-polly-castor-with-spring-flower-photos-from-our-yard/) - The air is moist, and the almost sultry breeze is laden with the fragrance of soil so scrumptious, it invites gestation...
- [Biannual Plea for Blog Donations](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/20/biannual-plea-for-blog-donations-4/) - Do you love this colorful, earnest corner of the internet?
- [Joy is an Act of Resistence (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/04/joy-is-an-act-of-resistence-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Resist by insisting on being happy, regardless.
- [Tuscan Textures (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/19/tuscan-textures-photos/) - I enjoy collecting images of textures, as well as incorporating some of them in my artwork.
- [Your Treasure in Heaven (Deep Think #29)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/18/your-treasure-in-heaven-deep-think-29/) - As we regularly seek and earnestly treasure only our spiritual status, as God's perfect creation, which is not included in any material selfhood, we'll experience heaven's blissful harmony right where we are.
- [Keep Your Paintings Simple (Lewis Nobel Quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/20/keep-your-paintings-simple-lewis-nobel-quote/) - So keep it simple, enjoy your painting, and don't fight with it.
- [Mushroom, Mustard, and Gruyere Omelet (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/12/mushroom-mustard-and-gruyere-omelet-recipe/) - This is savory and interesting, a very grown up way to serve eggs.
- [The Art of Stillness (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/17/the-art-of-stillness-book-review/) - Movement makes richest sense when set within a frame of stillness.
- [Old Age (Quote by Simone de Beauvoi)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/16/old-age-quote-by-simone-de-beauvoi/) - One’s life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation, compassion.
- [Five New Pages In my Quilted Bear Artist Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/15/five-new-pages-in-my-quilted-bear-artist-journal/) - Which one do you like best?
- [Cod Braised in Coconut Milk with Tomatoes and Chickpeas (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/14/cod-braised-in-coconut-milk-with-tomatoes-and-chickpeas-recipe/) - This is heartwarming and mostly made with pantry staples. It also comes together easily and fairly quickly, which is also a plus.
- [Don't Be a Beached Jellyfish (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/13/dont-be-a-beached-jellyfish-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - So many are thinking in terms of creative 100 day projects, but how about a lifetime one?
- [An Outing with Each Daughter (Mother's Day 2025)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/12/an-outing-with-each-daughter-mothers-day-2025/) - I'm so fortunate to have these wonderful women in my life.
- [Polly Answers #14](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/07/polly-answers-14/) - What experiences were pivotal and formative in your childhood?
- [Window Shopping in Tuscany](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/10/window-shopping-in-tuscany/) - Here is what I appreciated but didn’t buy...
- [To My Mother (Poem by Wendall Berry)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/11/to-my-mother-poem-by-wendall-berry/) - All is unentangled, and all is undismayed.
- [What We Ate in Tuscany](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/09/what-we-ate-in-tuscany/) - I'm so grateful for this culinary experience, and for all those who so graciously prepared this food.
- [Soul of an Old Olive Tree (New Large Pastel Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/08/soul-of-an-old-olive-tree-new-large-pastel-painting/) - This visceral painting is my first abstract response to those sage old souls I saw in Tuscany.
- [Noticing Good (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/06/noticing-good-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - If you are busy noticing good you cannot feel bad.
- [Peanut Soup (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/05/peanut-soup-recipe/) - This soup is delicious and quick and easy to make
- [What I know of Love When Times are Dark (Poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/04/what-i-know-of-love-when-times-are-dark-poem-by-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/) - Every prayer that has saved me, is a prayer that has found me instead of the other way round.
- [Echo Mountain (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/03/echo-mountain-book-review/) - I love a coming of age story, and this is a good one.
- [Black and White Photos of Tuscany](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/02/black-and-white-photos-of-tuscany/) - In these rather stark, but carefully composed images, you can get a whole feel for the seventeen day trip in one stripped down post.
- [First Pages Done in my New Italian Leather Artist Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2025/05/01/first-pages-done-in-my-new-italian-leather-artist-journal/) - These journals are a trial zone and an incubator for what I want to incorporate in my larger work.
- [Bits and Clips for April 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/30/bits-and-clips-for-april-2025/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [I'm the kind of person that...](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/29/im-the-kind-of-person-that/) - What positive opposite do you want claim to spur consistent improvement?
- [Nice Weekend in Portland Maine](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/28/nice-weekend-in-portland-maine/) - Keep these restaurants in mind if you ever visit Portland!
- [How to Treat the Stranger (Quotes from Prayerful Readings)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/27/how-to-treat-the-stranger-quotes-from-prayerful-readings/) - Here are some quotes we pondered during a church service recently, when focusing our prayer on deported immigrants:
- [Creamed Salmon Florentine (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/26/creamed-salmon-florentine-recipe/) - This recipe is delicious, nutritious, and easy. What a perfect combination!
- [The Frozen River (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/25/the-frozen-river-book-review/) - Several of you blog readers recommended I read this and you were right! It was terrific!
- [I'm in this Connecticut Women Artists Show](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/24/im-in-this-connecticut-women-artists-show/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] I'm in this Connecticut Women Artists juried show held in the Art League of New Britain through the month of April. It is a good show, if you can stop by to see it.
- [Duke Gardens (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/23/duke-gardens-photos/) - In this post, follow us around this beautiful spot as we took photos of flowers and each other. Spring is glorious, wherever it happens!
- [Easter in North Carolina (Family Photos 2025)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/22/easter-in-north-carolina-family-photos-2025/) - It was so wonderful to be together again, and I'm grateful for such a loving family, that genuinely cares about one another.
- [I'm in this Collage Artists of America National Show](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/21/im-in-this-collage-artists-of-america-national-show/) - I'm pleased to have two pieces in this national show whose theme is Unexpected Outcomes.
- [Happy Easter 2025!](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/20/happy-easter-2025/) - His resurrection is also our resurrection!
- [Climbing 463 Steps to the Top of the Duomo in Florence](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/18/climbing-463-steps-to-the-top-of-the-duomo-in-florence/) - We did it without a problem and it was fun!
- [Photos of Alps and Icebergs from the Air](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/19/photos-of-alps-and-icebergs-from-the-air/) - Yes, these remarkable photos were all taken with my iPhone.
- [15 Paintings I Did While Visiting Friends in Tuscany](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/17/15-paintings-i-while-visiting-friends-in-tuscany/) - A part of me remains in Italy!
- [Visiting Tuscan Towns Pontedera, Castelfalfi, and Luca](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/16/visiting-tuscan-towns-pontedera-castelfalfi-and-luca/) - We enjoyed satellite trips to the towns of Pontedare, Castelfalfi, and Luca.
- [Tuscan Villa Gardens and Flowers](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/15/tuscan-villa-gardens-and-flowers/) - Enjoy with us this early spring Tuscan beauty!
- [Guests at this Villa and Art Studio with Tuscan Views](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/14/guests-at-this-villa-and-art-studio-with-tuscan-views/) - We are so grateful for their magnanimous hospitality!
- [Pivoting our Trip in Florence at the Mercato Centrale](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/13/pivoting-our-trip-in-florence-at-the-mercato-centrale/) - We got back to Florence with friends that we were parting with, and to meet up with friends we were spending the rest of our stay with.
- [Artwork I did in Chiusi (Pastel and Mixed Media Sketchbook)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/12/artwork-i-did-in-chiusi-pastel-and-mixed-media-sketchbook/) - The Tuscan landscape is inspiring!
- [Art by Friends in Chiusi (Studio Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/11/art-by-friends-in-chiusi-studio-photos/) - Don't you love this beautiful space and the terrific work my friends did?
- [Visiting Cortona, Castiglione, and Panicale](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/10/visiting-cortona-castiglione-and-panicale/) - Enjoy these photos of some lovely locales!
- [Chiusi (Nature Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/09/chiusi-nature-photos/) - I loved the iconic cypress, the idiosyncratic pollarded trees, the ancient bark on olive trees, and especially the whimsically graceful umbrella pines.
- [Our Lodging and Art Studio in Chiusi](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/07/our-lodging-and-art-studio-in-chiusi/) - The art studio we worked in and the lodgings we stayed in were wonderful!
- [Chiusi (Tuscan Town, Architecture, & Views)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/08/chiusi-tuscan-town-architecture-views/) - This is the adorable town my friends and I got to paint in.
- [Arriving in Florence and Seeing Michelangelo's David](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/05/arriving-in-florence-and-seeing-michelangelos-david/) - Our adventure has begun!
- [Visiting the Uffizi Gallery in Florence](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/06/visiting-the-uffizi-gallery-in-florence/) - We had a nice rainy day in Florence, before taking the train to Chiusi.
- [Back from Three Weeks Painting in Tuscany!](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/04/back-from-three-weeks-painting-in-tuscany/) - This was a huge privilege! I'm so grateful to have been invited and for the kindness and generosity of our hosts.
- [I Got an Award in the Connecticut Pastel Society Members Show](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/03/i-got-an-award-in-the-connecticut-pastel-society-members-show/) - You can see some favorites from the 2025 show here.
- [An Altar in the World (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/02/an-altar-in-the-world-book-review/) - Her point is for us to notice and appreciate the holiness of right where we are, and I love that message.
- [The Luminous Web (Book Review with Quotes)](https://pollycastor.com/2021/02/21/the-luminous-web-book-review-with-quotes/) - In this wonderful book, an Episcopal priest explores the connections between science and religion.
- [Recent Pages in My English Artist Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2025/04/01/recent-pages-in-my-english-artist-journal/) - Here are the most recent pages I've done in the thick artist journal with the handmade paper I got last September when we were in England.
- [Bits and Clips for March 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/31/bits-and-clips-for-march-2025/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you
- [What Matters (Quote by Brian Doyle)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/30/what-matters-quote-by-brian-doyle/) - Which is to say everything alive; which is to say all prayers; which is what I am doing.
- [Chopped Kale Cabbage Salad with Mustard Dressing (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/29/chopped-kale-cabbage-salad-with-mustard-dressing-recipe/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] This was good and my husband, who loves mustard, especially enjoyed it. He happily slurped up all the leftovers. This recipe is modified slightly from one by Laura Wright. Chopped Kale Cabbage Salad with
- [John Wolseley (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/28/john-wolseley-featured-artist/) - John Wolseley is an Australian environmental artist, and quite a character, with a very interesting process.
- [I'm in this 2025 Connecticut Women Artist's Member's Gallery](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/27/im-in-this-2025-connecticut-women-artists-members-gallery/) - Connecticut Women Artists is a talented group that I am happy to be included in.
- [To Be of Use (Poem by Marge Piercy)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/26/to-be-of-use-poem-by-marge-piercy-3/) - The people I love the best jump into work head first without dallying in the shallows...
- [Brunelleschi's Dome (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/25/brunelleschis-dome-book-review/) - As a former structural engineer, it is only natural for me to geek out on the construction of the famous dome, just before our planned visit there.
- [Chez Panisse Apple and Frangipane Galette (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/24/chez-panisse-apple-and-frangipane-galette-recipe/) - This is subtle, delicious, and not overly sweet. I love frangipane!
- [Concerns to Pray About or Do Something About](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/23/concerns-to-pray-about-or-do-something-about/) - I hope posts such as this one help myself and you be part of the solution, which is a different, but very valid, form of amplifying good.
- [Comparison a Friend (Quote by Sam Boughton)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/22/comparison-a-friend-quote-by-sam-boughton/) - It is important to remember that there are also thousands of people behind you, eager to reach where you are now...
- [Gianni Notarianni (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/21/gianni-notarianni-featured-artist/) - These are done in oil, mostly with a very small brush.
- [New Pages in My New Large Art Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/20/new-pages-in-my-new-large-art-journal/) - Here are the first three pages in the large 11"x14" artist journal our younger daughter made me for my birthday.
- [Recent Food Around Here (Photos with Recipe Links)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/19/recent-food-around-here-photos-with-recipe-links/) - This post is to give you some ideas appropriate for this shoulder season, in case you want to liven up whatever you are serving right now, along with some my loving encouragement to try something new.
- [Patience Must Have Her Perfect Work (New Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/18/patience-must-have-her-perfect-work-new-painting-in-pastel/) - Patience can seem receding, and not very bright or exciting, however I've been realizing lately that it is not an inactive, idle quality, but a very quietly busy one, getting on with making whatever adjustments are necessary behind the scenes, tidying everything up.
- [A Velocity of Being (Book Review and Lots of Quotes about Reading)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/17/a-velocity-of-being-book-review-and-lots-of-quotes-about-reading/) - This is a compilation of notable people who wrote a letter to young readers, about why they should read.
- [Recent Pages in my Bible Lesson Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/16/recent-pages-in-my-bible-lesson-journal-15/) - I find the process of journaling while I study really helpful for making it my own. Plus it makes it more fun.
- [Walking (Quote by Paul Salopek)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/15/walking-quote-by-paul-salopek/) - You say, let’s go take a walk. So I think that this sense of well-being that comes with timelessness, the sense of being at peace—it must be very, very old.
- [Imogen Bone (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/14/imogen-bone-featured-artist/) - I like Imogen Bone's confident mark making and gestural color.
- [Grace Notes # 58  (with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/13/grace-notes-58-with-photos/) - I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good.
- [Sorcery of Thorns (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/12/sorcery-of-thorns-book-review/) - Sorcery of Thorns has more merit that a lot in this genre.
- [Iced Oatmeal Gingerbread Cookies (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/11/iced-oatmeal-gingerbread-cookies-recipe/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] These are delicious and satisfying, homey and yummy. We make the dough into balls and freeze them, first on a cookie sheet with parchment, and then transferred to a bag or container. Then we
- [I'm in the Lyme Art Association Show](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/10/im-in-the-lyme-art-association-show/) - The venue is beautiful, so if you'd like to stop by, the show will be up until the second week of April.
- [Love the Most Powerful Defense  (Keith Collins Quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/09/love-the-most-powerful-defense-keith-collins-quote/) - Be clear about who we are and what we want, where we’re going and how we’re thinking, and what and whom we worship.
- [Hike Photos from Huntington State Park (Late Winter 2025)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/08/hike-photos-from-huntington-state-park-late-winter-2025/) - I've been to Huntington precious little this winter, but the snow and ice have mostly melted, except for on the lakes and the most compacted parts of the trails.
- [Human Gap? (Quote by Katherine May)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/07/human-gap-quote-by-katherine-may/) - Good comes in an enormous spectrum, and don’t close yourself off to lots of it because you’ve got your blinders on in the name of accomplishment.
- [I'm in this "Pastels Plus" Show](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/06/im-in-this-pastels-plus-show/) - This is a strong show, and it is clear that pastel artists are much more innovative when encouraged to have a mixed media element in their work.
- [The Psychology of Money (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/05/the-psychology-of-money-book-review/) - How you manage your money is just as important as how much you make.
- [Spaghetti Squash with Mediterranean Lentils and Veggies](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/03/spaghetti-squash-with-mediterranean-lentils-and-veggies/) - This is really good, and these are leftovers we look forward to.
- [No Personality (Quote by Mary Baker Eddy)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/02/no-personality-quote-by-mary-baker-eddy/) - Your lifelong mistake has been your strong sense of personality.
- [Recent Black and White Photographs](https://pollycastor.com/2025/03/01/recent-black-and-white-photographs-11/) - Here is what winter has looked like around here for the last two months.
- [Bits and Clips for February 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/28/bits-and-clips-for-february-2025/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [The Road to Marrakesh (New Large Abstract Landscape in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/27/the-road-to-marrakesh-new-large-abstract-landscape-in-pastel/) - This is the first painting to come out of our travel to Morocco last December.
- [The Well-Gardened Mind (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/26/the-well-gardened-mind-book-review/) - I loved this book. It is hopeful, healing, and encouraging.
- [Tips on How to Say No to Others](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/25/tips-on-how-to-say-no-to-others/) - Get comfortable defining and defending your own priorities and boundaries, and avoid over extending yourself.
- [Angel Hair Pasta Bake (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/24/angel-hair-pasta-bake-recipe/) - You don't usually bake dry pasta, so that is something cool about this dish! Plus, it is filling and yummy, easy to make, and doesn't make many dirty dishes.
- [Courage (Quote by Edward Everett Norwood)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/23/courage-quote-by-edward-everett-norwood/) - It is foolish and sinful to doubt the goodness and power of God.All of good is everywhere, never divided nor limited, and enough for all.
- [No Excuse for Blind Hope (Quote from Keith Collins)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/22/no-excuse-for-blind-hope-quote-from-keith-collins/) - We are enough to make a difference if we maintain our integrity.
- [North Woods (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/21/north-woods-book-review/) - Only read this book if you want to suspend your disbelief and are ready for some really weird or heinous twists.
- [The Next Frontier(New Acrylic Painting with Collage)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/20/the-next-frontiernew-acrylic-painting-with-collage/) - Painting is certainly a great way of pondering the unknown.
- [Discipline (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/19/discipline-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Discipline is remembering what you want.
- [Be Blameless (Deep Think #28)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/16/be-blameless-deep-think-28/) - Blameless means to be innocent, without fault. How many of us feel that way?
- [Announcing My New Podcast: A Cup of Cold Water](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/18/announcing-my-new-podcast-a-cup-of-cold-water/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Exciting news! For years, many of you blog readers have requested to be able to hear my poetry and essays in my own voice– so I'm finally making that available! Thank you for all
- [Onion Frittata (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/17/onion-frittata-recipe/) - This is a simple, easy meal that satisfies.
- [Painting Advice (While Looking at Work by Jane Davies)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/15/painting-advice-while-looking-at-work-by-jane-davies/) - Through this process, you'll hone in on work that feels both authentic and good.
- [Happy Valentine's Day!](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/14/happy-valentines-day-10/) - You are loved and appreciated!
- [Our Youngest Turns 28 (New Poem with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/13/our-youngest-turns-28-new-poem-with-photos/) - May you have a special day today and may your whole next trip around the sun be an unfoldment of all sorts of joy...
- [Recent Pages in My Bible Lesson Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/12/recent-pages-in-my-bible-lesson-journal-14/) - I find the process of journaling while I study really helpful for making it my own. Plus it makes it more fun.
- [New Pages in my Artist Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/11/new-pages-in-my-artist-journal-2/) - Working in an artist journal is calming and beneficial to your mental health, as well as an outlet for your creativity, and a place to try out ideas.
- [Wolves and Women (Quote by Clarissa Pinkola Estes)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/10/wolves-and-women-quote-by-clarissa-pinkola-estes/) - Healthy wolves and healthy women share certain psychic characteristics: keen sensing, playful spirit, and a heightened capacity for devotion.
- [Red Curry Shrimp over Roasted Cauliflower Rice (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/09/red-curry-shrimp-over-roasted-cauliflower-rice-recipe/) - This is a yummy, easy, complete meal.
- [My Birthday 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/08/my-birthday-2025/) - While I don't count years, I certainly do count blessings and every trip around the sun is filled with countless ones of them, and each one of you is included in that.
- [Anita Reynolds (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/07/anita-reynolds-featured-artist/) - I love Anita Reynolds' artwork and its deep connection to the place in which she lives.
- [The Choice (Book Review With Quotes)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/06/the-choice-book-review-with-quotes/) - This is the best book I've ever read by a holocaust survivor. The lessons she learned were clearly explained and profoundly applicable to today, not only for those that have been through trauma, but for all of us.
- [Playful Experimentation (Quote by Lewis Noble)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/05/playful-experimentation-quote-by-lewis-noble/) - It's a life long exploration.
- [Water, Snow, & Air: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (New Conceptual Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/04/water-snow-air-diversity-equity-inclusion-new-conceptual-painting/) - Can we just embrace nature already, instead of fight against it out of human insecurity or hubris?
- [What You Can Do About the Biggest Security Breach](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/03/what-you-can-do-about-the-biggest-security-breach/) - Without a legal baseline– for both parties– we are in for serious trouble as a nation and world.
- [Get Through (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/02/get-through-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Simply and routinely give up and being perfect.
- [Acceptance (Poem by Kerry Hardie)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/02/01/acceptance-poem-by-kerry-hardie/) - I don’t know how else to explain the calm of this grey wetness with hardly a glimmer of light or life, only my car tyres swishing the lying water...
- [Bits and Clips January 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/31/bits-and-clips-january-2025/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [Getting Through (New Large Painting in Ink and Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/30/getting-through-new-large-painting-in-ink-and-pastel/) - this painting shows that we can flow on regardless of the ominous obstructions in the way. Also, if we can slow down enough to actually look closely at those obdurate impositions, they a can be interesting in themselves. But regardless, you can keep moving ahead, uninhibited, right on past.
- [Eggs Poached in Buttery Tomatoes (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/29/eggs-poached-in-buttery-tomatoes-recipe/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] We love my Chachouka (also known as Shashuka), but it is labor intensive, and somewhat oily and heavy feeling. This is a riff on that. Still yummy, this is lighter, not spicy, and so
- [Come to a Zoom I'm Giving Today Explaining Abstract Art](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/28/come-to-a-zoom-im-giving-today-explaining-abstract-art/) - I'm always interested in helping people understand and value abstraction.
- [Cold Comfort Farm (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/27/cold-comfort-farm-book-review/) - I'm not usually one for satire or parody, but this book was surprisingly entertaining, poking humorously at Jane Austin, the Brontes, and Thomas Hardy.
- [Imagination is a Noble Faculty (Quote by Ada Lovelace)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/25/imagination-is-a-nobel-faculty-quote-by-ada-lovelace/) - It conceives & brings into mental presences that which is far away, or invisible, or which in short does not exist within our physical & conscious cognizance. Hence is it especially the religious faculty; the ground-work of Faith. It is a God-like, a noble faculty. It renders earth tolerable (at least should do so); it teaches us to live, in the tone of the eternal.
- [Thoughts about Truth (A Few Short Quotes by Mary Baker Eddy)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/26/thoughts-about-truth-a-few-short-quotes-by-mary-baker-eddy/) - I think this is what we need right now.
- [I'm a Vehicle (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/24/im-a-vehicle-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - I feel like a vehicle waiting in the driveway sure that I’ll eventually be driven somewhere.
- [Our New Rug Came and is Installed](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/23/our-new-rug-came-and-is-installed/) - my home is warmed up with memories of our Morocco trip as we gallivant into the New Year.
- [Vaster Wilds (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/22/vaster-wilds-book-review/) - I do NOT recommend this intense book. Skip it and find something less so excruciating.
- [New Artist Journal Pages in my Square Sketchbook](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/21/new-artist-journal-pages-in-my-square-sketchbook/) - January seems to be a time to warm up this way, and I've been trying to get back into the daily habit of it, while I wait for larger, formal work to burst through onto the scene.
- [My Heart Goes Out to LA](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/20/my-heart-goes-out-to-la/) - I want you to know– especially you southern Californians that are experiencing the devastation of the recent fires– that I've been praying for you.
- [Black and White Photos of Morocco](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/19/black-and-white-photos-of-morocco/) - Our recent trip to Morocco was a feast of opportunities to take black and white photographs.
- [Morocco: Marrakesh Gardens, Museums, Shopping, and Goodbyes](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/18/morocco-marrakesh-gardens-museums-shopping-and-goodbyes/) - So grateful for this wonderful trip. It has been AMAZING!
- [Morocco: Bahia Palace and Walking Marrakesh](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/17/morocco-bahia-palace-and-walking-marrakesh/) - I loved the color and texture walking around Marrakech.
- [Morocco: Cooking Class and Buying a Rug](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/16/morocco-cooking-class-and-buying-a-rug/) - My heart heard the heart of the artist, and I knew unwaveringly that I was supposed to get it.
- [Morocco: The Todra Gorge and the Skoura Oasis](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/15/morocco-the-todra-gorge-and-the-skoura-oasis/) - The sheer cliffs of the Todra gorge were stunning and the Skoura Oasis recuperative.
- [Morocco: On Camels (and Glamping) in the Sahara Desert](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/14/morocco-on-camels-and-glamping-in-the-sahara-desert/) - The leggy camel shadows, together with the cadence of the ride, and the changing colors of the sand depending on how the light hit it, was the stuff memories are made of.
- [Morocco: Mountains, Oasis, and Fossils](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/13/morocco-mountains-oasis-and-fossils/) - During Pangaea, Morocco was connected to the American southwest at the Gulf of Mexico, and I was familiar with their rocks and fossils, which are similar to ours there.
- [Morocco: Monkeys, Nomads, and Date Palms in the Atlas Mountains](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/12/morocco-monkeys-nomads-and-date-palms-in-the-atlas-mountains/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Headed to the Sahara, we crossed the Atlas Mountains. On the way, in the cedar groves in the national park, we saw monkeys. Then we visited nomads in their cozy, makeshift home; they radiated
- [Morocco: Big Day in Fez](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/11/morocco-big-day-in-fez/) - Follow us around through this wonderful, full day in the photos below.
- [Morocco: Roman Ruins at Volubilis](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/10/morocco-roman-ruins-at-volubilis/) - See these photos of the well preserved 2000 year old Roman Ruins in Volubilis.
- [Morocco: Chefchaouen (the Blue City)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/09/morocco-chefchaouen-the-blue-city/) - Here are lots of photos of our day exploring Chefchaouen, the famous blue city.
- [Morocco: A Rainbow and the Mosque Craftsmanship](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/08/morocco-a-rainbow-and-the-mosque-craftsmanship/) - Check out in my photos this incredible space and its artisanship, as well as our rainbow blessing.
- [Morocco: Food Tour in Casablanca](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/07/morocco-food-tour-in-casablanca/) - Our adventure has begun!
- [We Went to Morocco in December!](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/06/we-went-to-morocco-in-december/) - Our older daughter invited me to go with her to Morocco in December and we had a great time.
- [Grace Notes #57 (with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/05/grace-notes-57-with-photos/) - I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good.
- [Creativity is Like a River (Quote by Louise Fletcher)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/04/creativity-is-like-a-river-quote-by-louise-fletcher/) - Sometimes creativity whispers and sometimes it shouts.
- [Unresolution (Poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/03/unresolution-poem-by-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] UnresolutionBecause after all these years of focusing on the goal as if happiness is a thing I attain or a place I might finally reach, now I thrill when I see through the myth
- [Reading Challenge 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/02/reading-challenge-2025/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Well, I heard from lots of you that you preferred my open ended Reading Challenge list from last year, so we'll do it again with a couple of requested slight revisions. We changed the
- [New Year's Resolution/Goals for 2025](https://pollycastor.com/2025/01/01/new-years-resolution-goals-for-2025/) - This what I'll be saying yes to:
- [Bits and Clips December 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/31/bits-and-clips-december-2024/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [I Know the Way You Can Get (Poem by Hafiz)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/30/i-know-the-way-you-can-get-poem-by-hafiz/) - All I care about Is quenching your thirst for freedom!
- [Some Basic Advice for Getting things Done](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/28/some-basic-advice-for-getting-things-done/) - Act, and it will lead to motivation.
- [Refugee (Post Christmas Poem by Malcolm Guite)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/27/refugee-post-christmas-poem-by-malcolm-guite/) - We think of him as safe beneath the steeple, or cosy in a crib beside the font, but he is with a million displaced people on the long road of weariness and want.
- [Christmas 2024 (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/26/christmas-2024-photos/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] We had a low key holiday, so much so, that the above candle sufficed as our tree. Christmas Eve dinner we had at my sister-in-law's (you can see our daughter with their daughter below).
- [Welcome (New Christmas Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/25/welcome-new-christmas-poem-by-polly-castor/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] WelcomeWhether you are spending your day surrounded by the hubbub of family, or in gaping isolation, or reverent solitude, nestled at home or ranging abroad, may you feel all the best of Life reborn
- [From a Christmas Eve Letter in 1513](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/24/from-a-christmas-eve-letter-in-1513/) - No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant.
- [My Best Reads of the Year ( Book Challenge Summary 2024)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/19/my-best-reads-of-the-year-book-challenge-summary-2024/) - Here are my three favorite non-fiction books, and two favorite novels.
- [Advent is the Name of that Moment (Quote by Frederick Buechner)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/23/advent-is-the-name-of-that-moment-quote-by-frederick-buechner/) - You can hear the world itself holding its breath.
- [The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Movie Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/22/the-best-christmas-pageant-ever-movie-review/) - This film delivers its seasonal message without being sanctimonious, preachy, or overly sweet.
- [Snowy Night (poem by Mary Oliver)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/21/snowy-night-poem-by-mary-oliver/) - Last night, an owl in the blue dark tossed an indeterminate number of carefully shaped sounds into the world...
- [Creativity is (Quote from James Clear)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/20/creativity-is-quote-from-james-clear/) - Creativity is the focused combination of unlikely things.
- [Things that Make us Grin and Bow (Quote by Brian Doyle)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/18/things-that-make-us-grin-and-bow-quote-by-brian-doyle/) - In short I believe in believing, which doesn't make sense, which gives me hope.
- [Experimental Mixed Media Landscape Paintings](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/17/experimental-mixed-media-landscape-paintings/) - Here are the smaller landscapes I've done this fall of experimental methods and media.
- [Playground (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/16/playground-book-review/) - This novel takes us on a deep dive into the wonders of the ocean, through themes of game playing, to contemplate the ramifications of AI, and the power of friendship.
- [For an Audience of One and Desire for Validation](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/15/for-an-audience-of-one-and-desire-for-validation/) - focus on what is intrinsically yours to do without fretting about how others will respond to your authenticity, and to stay humble as a faithful servant of supreme good.
- [On the Inner Life (Quote by Hans Hoffmann)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/14/on-the-inner-life-quote-by-hans-hoffmann/) - Everything must in the end come to expression through spirituality.
- [Two Edifying Picture Books that Make Great Gifts](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/13/two-edifying-picture-books-that-make-great-gifts/) - The messages are thought provoking and useful, but they are still fun.
- [Recent Black and White Photographs](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/12/recent-black-and-white-photographs-10/) - Here are my recent explorations into black and white.
- [The Truelove (Poem by David Whyte)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/11/the-truelove-poem-by-david-whyte/) - There is a faith in loving fiercely the one who is rightfully yours...
- [25 Life Lessons According to Polly](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/10/25-life-lessons/) - Doing these 25 things can be an enormous blessing in your life.
- [A Schedule is a Lifeboat (Anne Dillard Quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/09/a-schedule-is-a-lifeboat-anne-dillard-quote/) - A schedule defends from chaos and whim.
- [Recent Pages in my Bible Lesson Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/08/recent-pages-in-my-bible-lesson-journal-13/) - You can see in these pages what I think about spiritually and what I pray with during my weeks.
- [Our Anniversary 2023 (Year in Review Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/29/our-anniversary-2023-year-in-review-photos/) - My husband and I have been around the sun together again!
- [Hike Photos from Huntington State Park (November 2024)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/07/hike-photos-from-huntington-state-park-november-2024/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] It was a busy month, but I still went on some regular walks in my nearby Huntington State Park. In November, I was joined on my walks by a house guest who is a
- [A Work of Art is a Lighthouse (E.M. Forester Quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/06/a-work-of-art-is-a-lighthouse-e-m-forester-quote/) - Art is the cry of a thousand sentinels, the echo from a thousand labyrinths; it is the lighthouse which cannot be hidden.
- [150 Things to Do if You are Bored](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/05/150-things-to-do-if-you-are-bored/) - All these ideas were swirling around in my thought with the desire to encourage you to wave your ennui goodbye and seize an opportunity that floats your boat.
- [Antidote for Fear of Not Being Good Enough (Poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/04/antidote-for-fear-of-not-being-good-enough-poem-by-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/) - Nothing magical about it unless you count all the sunlight dribbling like praise down my chin.
- [Giving Tuesday: Biannual Request for Donations](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/03/giving-tuesday-biannual-request-for-donations-2/) - Those of you new to this site may not know that it is crowd funded.
- [Playing with Charcoal (Sketchbook Ideas #17)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/02/playing-with-charcoal-sketchbook-ideas-17/) - I found charcoal very satisfying to work with.
- [Photos from Thanksgiving Weekend 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/12/01/photos-from-thanksgiving-weekend-2024/) - We had a lovely long weekend with our younger daughter home.
- [Bits and Clips November 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/30/bits-and-clips-november-2024/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [Great Gift Ideas: Merchandise and Prints of Polly Castor's Art](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/29/great-gift-ideas-merchandise-and-prints-of-polly-castors-art-2/) - All sorts of prints and merchandise are available with of over a 1000 images.
- [Maimonides’ Eight Levels of Charity (Happy Thanksgiving!)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/28/maimonides-eight-levels-of-charity-happy-thanksgiving/) - On Thanksgiving, I usually wax on about gratitude and thankfulness, which I feel so much and so often, but this year I'm inspired to emphasize the giving part of the word Thanksgiving.
- [The World We Make (Poem by Alfred Grant Walton)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/27/the-world-we-make-poem-by-alfred-grant-walton-2/) - We make the world in which we live, by what we gather and what we give...
- [Fall Leaves over Water (New Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/26/fall-leaves-over-water-new-painting-in-pastel/) - Does this sum up a season for you too?
- [Scallion, Potato, Roasted Pepper Cheese Bake with Harissa](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/25/scallion-potato-roasted-pepper-cheese-bake-with-harissa/) - This is yummy as a vegetarian main or as a flavorful side dish. It is nourishing and satisfying.
- [Fully Submerge (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/24/fully-submerge-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Plunge deeply into your uniquely specific purpose.
- [Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/23/thanksgiving-recipe-ideas-2024/) - What sounds good to you? What are you making?
- [Website Upgrade with New Site to Sell Original Art](https://pollycastor.com/2019/06/03/website-upgrade-with-new-site-to-sell-original-art/) - The most major news is a new commercial website www.PollyCastorArt.com where you can buy my original art and ceramics online with a shopping cart!
- [I Gave My Talk on the Spiritual Roots of Abstraction](https://pollycastor.com/2020/02/19/i-gave-my-talk-on-the-spiritual-roots-of-abstraction/) - Last night's talk went well but now I have new ideas!
- [Come to my Abstraction in Pastel Workshop in Maine in September](https://pollycastor.com/2022/07/14/come-to-my-abstraction-in-pastel-workshop-in-maine-in-september/) - I hope you’ll sign up and come!
- [The Bookbinder (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/22/the-bookbinder-book-review/) - This is a story of women in England during World War 1.
- [Photos from our Quick Trip to Texas for the Funeral](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/21/photos-from-our-quick-trip-to-texas-for-the-funeral/) - Photos of a loving family on a couple sad days.
- [My Husband's Aunt Passes On at 95](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/20/my-husbands-aunt-passes-on-at-95/) - I was so fortunate to have known her.
- [Polly Castor Art 2025 Calendars Available (Order Soon!)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/19/polly-castor-art-2025-calendars-available-order-soon/) - They make great gifts, and are good quality...
- [I'm an Optimist (Nelson Mandela Quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/18/blank-blog-post-4/) - Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward.
- [Human Will (Deep Think #27)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/17/human-will-deep-think-27/) - Human will must be subjugated.
- [Still Trying (New Collage)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/16/still-trying-new-collage/) - I’m still in there trying, and hope you are too.
- [Trying to Understand (New Collage)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/13/trying-to-understand-new-collage/) - To communicate here the struggle to understand, I intentionally broke compositional "rules" to lend a more chaotic feel.
- [Against All Odds (Poem by Maureen Blake)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/15/against-all-odds-poem-by-maureen-blake/) - This seed will grow.
- [Humility is Love (Brian Doyle Quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/14/humility-is-love-brian-doyle-quote/) - All you can do is face the world with quiet grace and hope you make a sliver of difference.
- [The Earth is a Very Small Stage (Carl Sagan Quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/12/the-earth-is-a-very-small-stage-carl-sagan-quote/) - There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world.
- [The Dean's Watch (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/10/the-deans-watch-book-review/) - This is a Christian novel who's profundity creeps up on you.
- [Charlotte Kaplan (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/11/charlotte-kaplan-featured-artist/) - I love the collages made by Charlotte Kaplan, and wish she was better known.
- [Small Steps (Poem by Elena Mikhalkova)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/09/small-steps-poem-by-elena-mikhalkova/) - [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Small StepsMy grandmother once gave me a tip: In difficult times, you move forward in small steps. Do what you have to do, but little by little. Don't think about the future, or what
- [Post Election Bits and Clips 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/08/post-election-bits-and-clips-2024/) - It's time to stop being bewildered, and start rolling up our sleeves. It's not over until Love wins.
- [Wonder What Will Happen (New Abstract Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/07/wonder-what-will-happen-new-abstract-painting/) - This is the first painting I've sone in my new extra large artist journal that I purchased in England.
- [Choose Your Attitude and Magnify Good in Your Own Sphere of Influence](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/06/choose-your-attitude-and-magnify-good-in-your-own-sphere-of-influence/) - You vote every moment with your attitude, and with your dollar, with your love and generosity, your integrity, and how you consecrate your time.
- [Filling in the Bubble on the Ballot (Poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/05/filling-in-the-bubble-on-the-ballot-poem-by-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/) - I imagine the small oval a pupil widening in the dark...
- [Recent Black and White Photographs](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/04/recent-black-and-white-photographs-9/) - Here are black and white photographs from Maine and Texas, airplanes, airports, church and home.
- [Grace Notes #56 (with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/03/grace-notes-56-with-photos/) - I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good.
- [Flounder with Zucchini and Parmesan (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/02/flounder-with-zucchini-and-parmesan-recipe/) - It is good, plus it is easy, using one pan, and comes together quickly.
- [October Foliage Photos from Hikes at Huntington](https://pollycastor.com/2024/11/01/october-foliage-photos-from-hikes-at-huntington/) - I am so grateful for this place, the blue October skies, and all this color.
- [Happy Pumpkin Day (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/31/happy-pumpkin-day-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - I don't enjoy scary movies nor would I ever put a giant skeleton on my lawn. I wonder why people do.
- [Bits and Clips for October 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/30/bits-and-clips-for-october-2024/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [Contemplating Relevant History (New Abstract Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/29/contemplating-relevant-history-new-abstract-painting-in-pastel/) - I painted this sitting outside on a beautiful day in October, listening to history.
- [America Awakening (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/28/america-awakening-book-review/) - I can’t recommend this book highly enough, and only wish I read it sooner, so I could recommend it sooner.
- [Progressive or Conservative? (Quotes by Mary Baker Eddy)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/27/progressive-or-conservative-quotes-by-mary-baker-eddy/) - Let’s look at what Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, says about being either progressive or conservative.
- [Butter (Poem by Tony Hoagland)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/26/butter-poem-by-tony-hoagland/) - Why did I ever think that approval was gratuitous?
- [Bill Scott (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/25/bill-scott-featured-artist/) - His beautiful color sense and use of circles is very similar to my own, and since we are both painting out the essence of our being, I feel a kinship with him.
- [Contrasting Texas and Connecticut from the Air](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/24/contrasting-texas-and-connecticut-from-the-air/) - I am so glad to live among these fall trees!
- [Hike to the Cave in the Palo Duro Canyon (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/23/hike-to-the-cave-in-the-palo-duro-canyon-photos/) - The vistas, the rock formations, the very different color palette, and the company made for a special time.
- [Visiting Family in Texas (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/22/visiting-family-in-texas-photos/) - See in these photos a dear family, gathering around this beloved one, like moths to her flame.
- [The Living Sacred Whole (Quote by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/21/the-living-sacred-whole-quote-by-llewellyn-vaughan-lee/) - Remember what every animal, every insect, every plant knows...
- [Teaching Non-traditional Methods in Pastel (Day 3)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/12/teaching-non-traditional-methods-in-pastel-day-3/) - I adore teaching these classes and nudging people to blossom and thrive outside their comfort zone.
- [Follow the Shining Ones (Sayings in Verse by the Buddha)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/20/follow-the-shining-ones-sayings-in-verse-by-the-buddha/) - Follow them as the moon follows the path of the stars.
- [Be Still (Poem by Wendall Berry with Foliage Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/19/be-still-poem-by-wendall-berry/) - The wood is shining this morning.
- [It's the Little Things that Create Excellence (Quote by Daniel Chambliss)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/18/little-things-create-excellence-quote-by-daniel-chambliss/) - Superlative performance is really a confluence of dozens of small skills or activities, each one learned or stumbled upon, which have been carefully drilled into habit and then are fitted together in a synthesized whole.
- [Ten Recent Pages in my New Artist Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/17/ten-recent-pages-in-my-new-artist-journal/) - It is good to have a place where the marks for just for yourself, and the result doesn't matter.
- [Milkweed (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/14/milkweed-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - So round and round it goes each abundance a continuance from the last, uniquely beautiful and usefully contributing in every season– the cycle of life ongoing and ever-present.
- [How Far the Light Reaches (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/16/how-far-the-light-reaches-book-review/) - The lovely upshot is that in the process of examining all this wide ranging and unusual authenticity, we find permission to be unapologetically our own remarkably distinct selves.
- [Salty Buttermilk Biscuits (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/05/salty-buttermilk-biscuits-recipe/) - Finally, we have landed on a biscuit we can both agree on.
- [IAPS Webshow 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/15/blank-blog-post-3/) - I'd like to influence an increase of appreciation for purely abstract work in this fabulous medium.
- [October (poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/13/october-poem-by-paul-laurence-dunbar/) - She, with youthful lavishness, spends all her wealth in gaudy dress....
- [Teaching Non-traditional Methods in Pastel (Day 2)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/11/teaching-non-traditional-methods-in-pastel-day-2/) - I'm having such a good time nurturing these people.
- [Teaching Non-traditional Methods in Pastel (Day 1)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/10/teaching-non-traditional-methods-in-pastel-day-1/) - It was a total delight for me to open their eyes to a wider range of possibilities, set them free to make some of my ideas their own, and nurture them through the process.
- [Where Sheep May Safely Graze (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/04/where-sheep-may-safely-graze-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - What a metaphor they seem to me, of how to trust, how behave, how to allow yourself to be cared for.
- [Two Helpful Ideas When Making an Effort](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/09/two-helpful-ideas-when-making-an-effort/) - I am often asked how I do all I do.
- [I’m in this Renaissance in Pastel National Juried Exhibition](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/08/im-in-this-renaissance-in-pastel-national-juried-exhibition-2/) - It is always a pleasure to be juried into a national show, especially in this case with a piece as edgy as mine above.
- [Last House (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/07/last-house-book-review/) - This book was very different, spanning the 50's, 60's and 70's in America, right on through to the year 2026.
- [Sail Forth with no Despair (Quote by Clarissa Pinkola Estes)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/06/sail-forth-with-no-despair-quote-by-clarissa-pinkola-estes/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] "There will always be times in the midst of 'success right around the corner, but as yet still unseen' when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but
- [Two Honorable Mentions in the Guilford Arts League Show](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/03/two-honorable-mentions-in-the-guilford-arts-league-show/) - I was pleased to get two paintings into the Guilford Arts League Show, and delighted to receive honorable mentions for both of them.
- [Polly Answers #13](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/02/polly-answers-13/) - Using reference photos, my no-buy year, and speaking on Christian Science...
- [Black and White Photographs Taken in England](https://pollycastor.com/2024/10/01/black-and-white-photographs-taken-in-england/) - Here, once again, I am studying value, the range from black to white, and how it emphasizes texture, shape, light, and composition.
- [Bits and Clips for September 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/30/bits-and-clips-for-september-2024/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [Only You (Allegory by Pierre Pradervand)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/29/only-you-allegory-by-pierre-pradervand/) - See and feel God in everything.
- [Visiting Blog Readers in Cambridge and Flying Home](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/28/visiting-blog-readers-in-cambridge-and-flying-home/) - We were also glad to invest in this wonderful budding friendship, as well as some others in London, which like so many things, including the reason for the trip to begin with, was facilitated by our presence online.
- [Hike and Inn in North Yorkshire](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/27/hike-and-inn-in-north-yorkshire/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Heading homeward, we spent two nights and a full day in North Yorkshire. I mostly wanted to visit Yorkshire since I have loved the scenery in All Creatures Great and Small, but the place
- [Northumberland Day 2 (Hadrian's Wall, Vindolanda, and Misc Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/26/northumberland-day-2-hadrians-wall-vindolanda-and-misc-photos/) - Here we explore Northumberland and their history of occupation by the Romans.
- [Northumberland Day 1 (Lindisfarne Castle and Bamburgh Castle Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/25/northumberland-day-1-lindisfarne-castle-and-bamburgh-castle-photos/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] On our first full day in Northumberland, we visited two castles, Lindisfarne on Holy Island in the North Sea, which you can only get to at low tide, and Bamburgh, on the beach opposite.
- [A Visit to Unison Colour Pastels in Northumberland](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/24/a-visit-to-unison-colour-pastels-in-northumberland/) - The colors are vibrant and lightfast, and the texture is uniform over all the colors, which is not true of many brands.
- [English Lake District Day 2 (Hike to Castlerigg Standing Stones)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/23/english-lake-district-day-2-hike-to-castlerigg-standing-stones/) - In these photos, you can follow along on our walk out of Keswick into the fields and beyond to the standing stones
- [The Shepherd's Life (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/22/the-shepherds-life-book-review/) - This is one of the best and most unusual memoirs I’ve ever read.
- [English Lake District Day 1 (Photos of Hike Around Derwentwater Lake)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/21/english-lake-district-day-1-photos-of-hike-around-derwentwater-lake/) - Enjoy with us the views, the weather, the reflections, the amazing trees of the trail around Derwetwater Lake.
- [London Art Museum Photos (Tate Modern & Courthauld)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/20/london-art-museum-photos-tate-modern-courthauld/) - I was particularly inspired by Kandinsky's early work which I had not seen before.
- [London Photos (Borough Market)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/19/london-photos-borough-market/) - I also took a side trip to an art store established in 1855.
- [London Photos (Travel, Architecture, Friends and Family)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/18/london-photos-travel-architecture-friends-and-family/) - We are spending three days in London before renting a car and heading to more remote hiking in northern England.
- [Recent Black and White Photos](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/17/recent-black-and-white-photos-17/) - Within the format of each rectangle is a little world contained unto itself, isolated for examination.
- [Four Plein Air Paintings in Pastel from Monhegan 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/16/four-plein-air-paintings-in-pastel-from-monhegan-2024/) - I loved painting outside on Monhegan with friends.
- [Monhegan Island 2024 (Day 3 Through the Woods to Squeaker Cove)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/15/monhegan-island-2024-day-3-through-the-woods-to-squeaker-cove/) - It was fun to climb out on the rocks at Squeaker Cove!
- [Monhegan Island 2024 (Day 2: Hike and Museum Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/14/monhegan-island-2024-day-2-hike-and-museum-photos/) - This museum show of women artists is particularly wonderful.
- [Monhegan Island 2024 (Photos Day 1)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/13/monhegan-island-2024-photos-day-1/) - I enjoy this yearly trip with plein air friends.
- [Rembrant Landscape and Animal Drawings (Sketchbook Ideas #16)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/12/rembrant-landscape-and-animal-drawings-sketchbook-ideas-16/) - Give yourself permission to get out there and give it a go.
- [i thank You God for this amazing (Poem by e.e. cummings)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/11/i-thank-you-god-for-this-amazing-poem-by-e-e-cummings/) - i thank You for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes...
- [Recent Food Around Here (with Recipe Links)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/10/recent-food-around-here-with-recipe-links-3/) - Here are photos and recipe links to what we've been eating...
- [I was the Fine Art Judge the Glastonbury Art Show](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/09/i-was-the-fine-art-judge-the-glastonbury-art-show/) - I was an enjoyable privilege to judge his show.
- [My Loyalty is to the Inner Vision (quote by Mary Oliver with comment by me)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/08/my-loyalty-is-to-the-inner-vision-quote-by-mary-oliver/) - Does focus on one's inner vision compromise one's outward life?
- [Farmer's Market Flowers and Produce Photos](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/07/farmers-market-flowers-and-produce-photos/) - Eating and shopping local is best!
- [Think Again (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/06/think-again-book-review/) - Getting yourself to "think again" is one thing, but getting someone else to do so can be quite another...
- [Hike Photos from Huntington State Park (Late Summer 2024)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/05/hike-photos-from-huntington-state-park-late-summer-2024/) - We've had so much rain that many of the trails here are closed and washed away. The other result is that things are very GREEN!
- [Seasonal Chop Chop (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/04/seasonal-chop-chop-recipe/) - This is barely a recipe, merely something we like and often do. It is simple and delicious with fresh, seasonal veggies.
- [Grace Notes #55 (with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/03/grace-notes-55-with-photos/) - I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good.
- [Strays (Poem by Bonnie Thurston)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/02/strays-poem-by-bonnie-thurston/) - spiritual equivalent of a wet dog...
- [All Things Collaborate (Marcus Aurelius Quote with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/09/01/all-things-collaborate-marcus-aurelius-quote/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] "Think always of the universe as one living creature, made of one substance and one soul: how all is absorbed into this one consciousness; how a single impulse governs all its actions; how all
- [Bits and Clips for August 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/31/bits-and-clips-for-august-2024/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [A Healing at Camp](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/29/a-healing-at-camp/) - God is divine Love itself, and that is enough for whatever you need.
- [You Are Here (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/30/you-are-here-book-review/) - You too might like this story about a 10 day hike, which expands possibilities.
- [Creative Arts Camp 2024 (Last Day Student Showcase)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/28/creative-arts-camp-2024-last-day-student-showcase/) - Wow! What a full and terrific week.
- [Creative Arts Camp 2024 (Teaching Painted Paper Collage Day 4)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/26/creative-arts-camp-2024-teaching-painted-paper-collage-day-4/) - This was a lovely day.
- [Creative Arts Camp 2024 (Teaching Painted Paper Collage Day 5)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/27/creative-arts-camp-2024-teaching-painted-paper-collage-day-5/) - This group of artists have been particularly wonderful to work with!
- [Creative Arts Camp 2024 (Inspirational Bits and Cherry Island Swim Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/25/creative-arts-camp-2024-inspirational-bits-and-cherry-island-swim-photos/) - "There is no impact but Love."
- [Creative Arts Camp 2024 (Teaching Painted Paper Collage Day 3)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/24/creative-arts-camp-2024-teaching-painted-paper-collage-day-3/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] On day three, my class moved on to working with transparencies and layering. I introduced them to printing on a Gelli Plate, which is loads of fun. You can see my small, special class
- [Creative Arts Camp 2024 (Teaching Painted Paper Collage Day 2)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/23/creative-arts-camp-2024-teaching-painted-paper-collage-day-2/) - I overhead someone asking one of my students about my class, and the answer was "fun and exciting!" I can live with that.
- [Creative Arts Camp 2024 (Teaching Painted Paper Collage Day 1)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/22/creative-arts-camp-2024-teaching-painted-paper-collage-day-1/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Leaving a deluge behind (flooding with roads washed out) I headed to Creative Arts Camp to teach Painted Paper Collage with 35 categories of art supplies that took days to collect from all the
- [To Be Like a Tree (Poem by Carrie Newcomer)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/21/to-be-like-a-tree-poem-by-carrie-newcomer/) - See how the trees Reach up and outward As if their entire existence Were an elegant gesture of prayer.
- [What is a Friend? (Quote by C. Raymond Beran)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/20/what-is-a-friend-quote-by-c-raymond-beran/) - A friend? What is a friend? Just one, I repeat, with whom you dare to be yourself."
- [A Dark Thing Inside the Day ( Poem by Linda Gregg)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/19/a-dark-thing-inside-the-day-poem-by-linda-gregg/) - Everything desirable is here already in abundance.
- [To Not Love is More of a Risk](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/18/to-not-love-is-more-of-a-risk/) - Loving is the whole point of life, and to not love is the greatest risk of all.
- [Steam-fried Cabbage with Poached Salmon (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/17/steam-fried-cabbage-with-poached-salmon-recipe/) - Want a delicious, one-pan, stove-top dinner, which is quick and easy to make? This good dinner is on the table in under ten minutes.
- [Beyond Selfie Culture to Balanced Self-Expression](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/17/beyond-selfie-culture-to-balanced-self-expression/) - For a more balanced approach to self-expression, pay attention to the internal more than the external, keep your sense of validation between yourself and your own highest ideal...
- [Struggling: Up to or Out from ? (Deep Think #26)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/21/struggling-up-to-or-out-from-deep-think-26/) - Basically the choice is struggling to get something or accepting that spiritually you already have everything you need.
- [How to Deal with the Estrangement of an Offspring](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/09/how-to-deal-with-the-estrangement-of-an-offspring/) - Be patient with both them and yourself, taking blame fully out of the equation.
- [Duet (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/16/duet-book-review/) - A goldfinch and a boy learn Chopin, and discover a lot more in the process. A wonderful middle grade read.
- [Heaven's First Law ( New Abstract Collage)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/15/heavens-first-law-new-abstract-collage/) - All these papers have been handprinted, and meditatively arranged.
- [So Much Happiness (poem by Naomi Shihab Nye)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/14/so-much-happiness-poem-by-naomi-shihab-nye/) - Since there is no place large enough to contain so much happiness, you shrug, you raise your hands, and it flows out of you...
- [From Blossoms (Poem by Li-Young Lee)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/13/from-blossoms-poem-by-li-young-lee/) - O, to take what we love inside, to carry within us an orchard...
- [Give it Up! (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/10/give-it-up-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Surrender your addiction to sugar.
- [Recent Pages in my Bible Lesson Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/11/recent-pages-in-my-bible-lesson-journal-12/) - This is making a difference in me being able to make these lessons practical and transformative.
- [Chard with Tomatoes and Chickpeas (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/09/chard-with-tomatoes-and-chickpeas-recipe/) - Enjoy this nutritional boost!
- [Abundant Life (New Large Monoprint Collage)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/08/abundant-life-new-large-monoprint-collage/) - Don’t you also feel such joy and gratitude that life is so abundant?
- [Stillness is Un-Conflicted (Quote by Erich Schiffmann)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/07/stillness-is-un-conflicted-quote-by-erich-schiffmann/) - Stillness is not the absence or negation of energy, life, or movement. Stillness is dynamic.
- [Secret Garden (New Large Oil Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/06/secret-garden-new-large-oil-painting/) - This painting is about capturing that feeling of escaping into the reverie of a Secret Garden.
- [Hike Photos from Huntington State Park (July 2024)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/05/hike-photos-from-huntington-state-park-july-2024/) - These photos are mostly of green, or of images on water. I've also been watching the Canada geese raise their teenagers.
- [Seven Blunders of the World that Lead to Violence (Mahatma Gandhi quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/04/seven-blunders-of-the-world-that-lead-to-violence-mahatma-gandhi-quote/) - Here's how to avoid problems...
- [Homemade Salmon Burgers](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/03/homemade-salmon-burgers/) - These burgers are delicious and not hard to make.
- [Striving to Enter In (New Abstraction in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/02/striving-to-enter-in-new-abstraction-in-pastel/) - Are you striving to enter in?
- [The Last Chinese Chef (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/08/01/the-last-chinese-chef-book-review/) - I give it a breezy 5 stars; I slurped it up and licked the plate.
- [Bits and Clips for July 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/31/bits-and-clips-for-july-2024/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you
- [Awake to the Truth (New Abstract Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/30/awake-to-the-truth-new-abstract-painting-in-pastel/) - What does it look like to awake to the Truth?
- [The Work of Happiness (poem by May Sarton)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/29/the-work-of-happiness-poem-by-may-sarton-2/) - For what is happiness but growth in peace...
- [How is Your Heart? (Quote by Omid Safi)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/28/how-is-your-heart-quote-by-omid-safi/) - Tell me you remember you are still a human being, not just a human doing.
- [Cluny Brown (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/27/cluny-brown-book-review/) - You too may enjoy this delightful, witty, entertaining coming of age novel, with its subtle insights on social class, changing times, and human character.
- [Asian Smashed Cucumber Salad (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/26/asian-smashed-cucumber-salad-recipe/) - This is exceptionally delicious, and we'd be happy to eat a lot of it.
- [Giverny (New Large Abstract Landscape in OIl)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/25/giverny-new-large-abstract-landscape-in-oil/) - I am pretty pleased with it, since after all that work, it did come out as I envisioned.
- [Why I Should Hike Every Day No Matter What (Poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/24/why-i-should-hike-every-day-no-matter-what-poem-by-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/) - I long to find myself mid-hustle still linked to the gurgling stream, its waters so cold I can’t help but gasp.
- [Two New Collages on Panels](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/23/two-new-collages-on-panels/) - Which one do you like best?
- [Plum, Cherry and Fig Salad (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/22/plum-cherry-and-fig-salad-recipe/) - This is refreshingly different and deliciously welcome.
- [Popovers (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/11/popovers-recipe/) - These eggy popovers are great with butter and jam!
- [The River We Remember (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/19/the-river-we-remember-book-review/) - If you like a who-done-it that rings more about the people, place, and time than anything else, you might like this book.
- [Polly Answers Your Questions #12](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/08/polly-answers-your-questions-12/) - How to overcome a creative slump, grief of a parent's passing, advice for college freshmen, fires starters...
- [Under the Waterfall (New Large Oil Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/18/under-the-waterfall-new-large-oil-painting/) - It is a place at once with thundering energy and spontaneous effervescence, but also of prisms and refraction. It is a place that blots out all other white noise, leaving a soul cleansed, refreshed and calm.
- [Cold Cucumber Soup (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/16/cold-cucumber-soup-recipe/) - This soup is easy and very delicious, while being light, refreshing, and low in calorie.
- [A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/15/a-voice-crying-in-the-wilderness-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - I ask for You to help this country vote for a solution that we can all live with.
- [Not (Poem by Erin Hanson)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/14/not-poem-by-erin-hanson/) - Remember all that you are!
- [Still Life (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/13/still-life-book-review/) - The writing here was excellent, spacious, and full of dialogue. It slowed down my pace considerably, and not in a bad way
- [Objectively Examine Your Opinions or Beliefs](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/12/objectively-examine-your-opinions-or-beliefs/) - Are your opinions and beliefs just mindlessly following the crowd?
- [Grace Notes (#54 with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/10/grace-notes-54-with-photos/) - I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good.
- [Thinking as a Child of God Can Be Misleading (Deep Think #22)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/01/29/thinking-as-a-child-of-god-can-be-misleading-deep-think-22/) - The point here is that getting away from the child image, where disobedience, personal sense, or bad behavior is strong a possibility, try to stay with what is going on spiritually –that only what is Godlike is actually present or has power– since God (good) is ALL, and we, you, they, all of us, are always at one with that, inseparable forever from that. What a relief!
- ["Work, work work, watch, and pray." (Deep Think #25)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/12/work-work-work-watch-and-pray-deep-think-25/) - You need all five parts in the right ratio to make your calling and election sure.
- [Toward Peace (Poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/07/toward-peace-poem-by-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/) - Become the momentum that is the change...
- [Courage (Quote by David Whyte)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/06/courage-quote-by-david-whyte/) - To be courageous is to stay close to the way we are made.
- [Orchids for Mother's Day (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/12/orchids-for-mothers-day-photos/) - These little floral apostles only hint at how miraculously you are made and how unique and precious you are!
- [Blessing Those You Don't Know](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/16/blessing-those-you-dont-know/) - It is a wonderful way to engage in your world, feel connected with it and take nothing for granted.
- [Recent Black and White Photographs](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/05/recent-black-and-white-photographs-8/) - Value, shape, form, texture and light are what I'm exploring here, as well as how they contribute to composition.
- [Freedom From (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/04/freedom-from-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - This Fourth of July I want freedom from hubris and inadequacy...
- [Higher View (New Abstract Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/03/higher-view-new-abstract-painting-in-pastel/) - Might a higher view help you?
- [Recent Hikes with our Daughter (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/02/recent-hikes-with-our-daughter-photos/) - I hope you too are getting some rambles out in nature wherever you are!
- [Great Site to Pick Your Perfect Romance Reads](https://pollycastor.com/2024/07/01/great-site-to-pick-your-perfect-romance-reads/) - Some are too steamy, some are too dark, some are tropes you don’t enjoy. Turns out there is a solution!
- [Bits and Clips for June 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/30/bits-and-clips-for-june-2024/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, poetry, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [New Beginnings (New Abstraction in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/29/new-beginnings-new-abstraction-in-pastel/) - Are you experiencing some new beginnings too?
- [loss (Poem by Laura Early)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/28/loss-poem-by-laura-early/) - hope relinquished in silence...
- [The Creative Act: A Way of Being (Book Review with Quotes)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/27/the-creative-act-a-way-of-being-book-review-with-quotes/) - I give this book an enthusiastic five stars. It will probably be the best thing I read this year and is destined to become a classic.
- [No Title Required (Poem by Wislawa Szymborska)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/26/no-title-required-poem-by-wislawa-szymborska/) - I'm no longer sure that what's important is more important than what's not.
- [Mastery and Diligent Practice](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/25/mastery-and-diligent-practice/) - Take the time to be thorough, conscientious, and devoted to what you are practicing. Your progress will be your joy.
- [I'm in this Art Show in Rockland, Maine](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/24/im-in-this-art-show-in-rockland-maine/) - The show runs until August 14th; if you are in the area, it is worth going to see!
- [Recent Pages in my Bible Lesson Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/23/recent-pages-in-my-bible-lesson-journal-11/) - I occasionally post my notes on Bible Lesson topics because some of you have found them useful.
- [How to Know a Person (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/22/how-to-know-a-person-book-review/) - This book is a deep dive into human connection, and which you’ll agree is important.
- [Maine Flower Photos (Happy Solstice!)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/21/maine-flower-photos-happy-solstice/) - Enjoy this last glimpse of spring as we surge full steam into summer!
- [Two Plein Air Landscape Paintings Done on Retreat](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/20/two-plein-air-landscape-paintings-done-on-retreat/) - So wonderful to be there in lovely weather painting outside!
- [PSME Plein Air Retreat 2024 (Photos and Recipe Links)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/19/psme-plein-air-retreat-2024-photos-and-recipe-links/) - I look forward all year to the Pastel Society of Maine Plein Air Retreat, because these women are wonderful.
- [I’m in the IAPS Pastel World International Show 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/18/im-in-the-iaps-pastel-world-international-show-2024/) - It is a huge honor to be juried into the IAPS Pastel World show, which is the top international show for pastel artists.
- [Foolishness? No, It's Not (Poem by Mary Oliver)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/17/foolishness-no-its-not-poem-by-mary-oliver/) - Sometimes I spend all day trying to count the leaves on a single tree.
- [A Day in Marblehead](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/15/a-day-in-marblehead/) - A lovely slow day during a very busy season...
- [Rainbows Need You (Quote by Robert Lanza)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/14/rainbows-need-you-robert-lanza/) - As real as the rainbow looks, it requires your presence just as much as it requires sun and rain.
- [Flow Finds a Way (New Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/13/flow-finds-a-way-new-painting-in-pastel/) - Is the composition or color combo too unusual, or do you think that is fun?
- [Notice The Obvious (Quote by Joan Chittister)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/12/notice-the-obvious-quote-by-joan-chittister/) - Awareness of the power of the present is the essence of the contemplative life.
- [Architecture in our Daughter's New Town](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/11/architecture-in-our-daughters-new-town/) - What a dramatic difference from where she's been.
- [Shrimp Cabbage Pad Thai (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2020/02/05/shrimp-cabbage-pad-thai-recipe/) - This is a good alternative for making pad thai. We'll be returning to this a lot.
- [Helping Our Daughter Move to Upstate NY](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/10/helping-our-daughter-move-to-upstate-ny/) - We are all so very delighted by this new opportunity and this improvement in her local environment.
- [Like a Peony (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/09/like-a-peony-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - This is how I too want to embrace my being...
- [Collage with Four Pieces or Less (Sketchbook Ideas #15)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/08/collage-with-four-pieces-or-less-sketchbook-ideas-15/) - This kind of work in your sketchbook will feel like play, but actually primes your pump for good finished work.
- [Recent Black and White Photos](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/07/recent-black-and-white-photos-16/) - Shapes, large and small are important here, whether organic or manmade, but these collections are mostly about the light, which in turn highlights the various textures.
- [Abstract Photos Taken in the Reflecting Pool](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/06/abstract-photos-taken-in-the-reflecting-pool/) - How closely are you looking?
- [Date Night in Boston (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/05/other-photos-from-boston/) - It was such a convivial, wonderful time, I wanted to record it here.
- [Annual Meeting Weekend 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/04/annual-meeting-weekend-2024/) - I am so grateful for this church and its mission to bless all mankind with the embrace of Truth, Life, and Love!
- [Grace Notes (#53 with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/03/grace-notes-53-with-photos/) - I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good.
- [Flower Head (Poem by Luci Shaw with Rose Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/02/flower-head-poem-by-luci-shaw-with-rose-photos/) - Here God lives, burrowing among the petals...
- [Cloudscapes in Black and White (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/06/01/cloudscapes-in-black-and-white-photos/) - It was so interesting watching the clouds move, when at ground level all was still. I hope I captured some of that here.
- [Bits and Clips for May 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/31/bits-and-clips-for-may-2024/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, poetry, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [Diana Rogers (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/30/diana-rogers-featured-artist/) - These paintings thrum with vibrance, beauty and vitality.
- [Recent Food Around Here (with Recipe Links)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/29/recent-food-around-here-with-recipe-links-2/) - The point is great food doesn't have to be a major project, and many of these meals were ten minutes to prepare.
- [Strong Sun in the Garden (New Plein Air Floral)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/28/strong-sun-in-the-garden-new-plein-air-floral/) - Here is the result of painting outside recently in perfect weather.
- [Soul vs. Brawn](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/27/soul-vs-brawn/) - A pacifist's comment on Memorial Day.
- [Immortal Spring (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/26/immortal-spring-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Springing forward is inevitable, natural, vibrant, and fun.
- [Land Art (Book Review with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/25/land-art-book-review-with-photos/) - I put this forward as a way to inspire you to engage with someone you love, or a bunch of children this summer, to do something wonderful.
- [Luc André Marc Pierre (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/24/luc-andre-marc-pierre-featured-artist/) - Here are examples that doing what you want is not hubris, but essential. If you love your work that is sufficient to validate it.
- [Nostrand Preserve (Hike Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/23/nostrand-preserve-hike-photos/) - As usual I find myself appreciating an attitude of mindfulness, with attentiveness to nature and abstract composition.
- [Other Photos from Graduation Weekend](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/22/other-photos-from-graduation-weekend/) - I'm so grateful for such a lovely time!
- [Our Daughter's PhD Graduation (And She Has a Job!)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/21/our-daughters-phd-graduation-and-she-has-a-job/) - We are so proud of how she’s handled herself and for all her hard work in bringing forward the kind of life she’s hoped for.
- [Muddy Puddle or Leaky Ceiling? (Quote by James Clear)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/20/muddy-puddle-or-leaky-ceiling-quote-by-james-clear/) - I split problems into two groups: muddy puddles and leaky ceilings...
- [Two New Abstractions About Spring](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/19/two-new-abstractions-about-spring/) - Spring is so glorious!
- [Make Your Own Rules (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/18/make-your-own-rules-book-review/) - If you need a jumpstart to feel like anything is possible, listening to this memoir, is like cheerleading for the creative soul.
- [Let Silence Substitute Censure (quote by Mary Baker Eddy)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/17/let-silence-substitute-censure-quote-by-mary-baker-eddy/) - We should endeavor to be long-suffering, faithful, and charitable with all...
- [Biannual Plea for Blog Donations](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/16/biannual-plea-for-blog-donations-3/) - Do you love this colorful, earnest corner of the internet?
- [Say Less (Poem by Alfred K. Lamotte)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/15/say-less-poem-by-alfred-k-lamotte/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Say LessTrue listeners open the ear in the heart. They love the gossip of raindrops, the breaking news of Spring peepers. Say less than you mean. Grace is the gift of subtraction. The trembling
- [Getting Closure (New Abstract Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/14/getting-closure-new-abstract-painting-in-pastel/) - Getting Closure is such a needed feeling, and sometimes so hard to obtain.
- [Crispy Herbed Falafel (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/08/crispy-herbed-falafel-recipe/) - The secret to these fabulous vegan and flourless falafel is that they are made with soaked, dried chickpeas.
- [Where is Your Third Place? (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/13/where-is-your-third-place-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Reach out. Find your other places.
- [Susan J Lapham (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/11/susan-j-lapham-featured-artist/) - I love her use of color and design.
- [The Practice of Meditation (Poem by Danna Faulds)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/10/the-practice-of-meditation-poem-by-danna-faulds/) - It’s a practice, this choice to be still and know what I know while allowing the ocean of my unknowing to scour the mind’s shoreline until awareness is laid bare and the subtle sound of breath vies with silence for my attention.
- [Seaside Outcropping (New Pastel Painting by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/09/seaside-outcropping-new-pastel-painting-by-polly-castor/) - Gosh it feels good to paint again after all that time refurbishing my artist website!
- [Two New Small Landscape Paintings](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/04/two-new-small-landscape-paintings/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"][/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Here are two, small, recent landscapes. The one above, Happy Headlands was done in the new watercolors I got for my birthday, on scrumptious 300# handmade paper made by Two Rivers. I would love to
- [Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/07/vera-wongs-unsolicited-advice-for-murderers-book-review/) - I thoroughly enjoyed this cozy mystery, and listening as the main character blossomed into finding renewed purpose in her life.
- [Sketching the 360º View (Grid Journaling Idea #5)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/06/sketching-the-360o-view-grid-journaling-idea-5/) - I found this process very satisfying, and will do more of it, prepping some pages in advance, so I can just grab my journal and go, as the sketching opportunity arises.
- [Confidence (Poem by Agnes Florida Chalmers)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/05/confidence-poem-by-agnes-florida-chalmers/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] ConfidenceOur Father knows my need to-day; I do not, doubting, ask For happy hours or golden way, Or loving, helpful task; But, with all trust in Love, I pray : Our Father knows my
- [Recent Black & White Photography](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/03/recent-black-white-photography/) - Studying the world this way heightens my awareness, and is a good exercise in mindfulness, while also helping underpin my strongly colorist artwork.
- [Announcing: Polly's New Art Website is Live!](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/02/announcing-pollys-new-art-website-is-live/) - I've built a new art website over the last year and a half and it is finally up!
- [May Day Flowers](https://pollycastor.com/2024/05/01/may-day-flowers/) - Exult in all this color!
- [Bits and Clips for April 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/30/bits-and-clips-for-april-2024/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, poetry, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [The Need to Grow (Movie Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/29/the-need-to-grow-movie-review/) - It is an environmental film with some solutions to offer, so more hopeful than most on this topic.
- [Future of Christian Science in Connecticut Meeting](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/28/future-of-christian-science-in-connecticut-meeting/) - Church, after all in Christian Science is defined as, "that institution, which affords proof of its utility and is found elevating the race..." so let's get on with doing just that!
- [The Rest of my Photos from DC and Alexandria](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/27/the-rest-of-my-photos-from-dc-and-alexandria/) - Here are some of the other highlights from our recent trip, along with an itinerary summary.
- [Old Town Alexandria Farmer's Market (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/26/old-town-alexandria-farmers-market-photos/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] I'm not sure what it says about me, but you can take me to any amount of highbrow cultural events, but I'll like a farmer's market the best of all. There is something in
- [Starting A New Paragraph (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/25/starting-a-new-paragraph-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Starting A New ParagraphWhile we were gone, the leaves have begun to come out as the forsythia cadmium, which was so bright when we left, wanes. Our weeping cherry tree is in bloom and
- [Pierre Bonnard Exhibit at the Phillips Collection in DC](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/24/pierre-bonnard-exhibit-at-the-phillips-collection-in-dc/) - I love that he "sought to make art a language of personal expression rather than a transcription of the external world."
- [Our Daughter Successfully Defended her PhD Dissertation](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/23/our-daughter-successfully-defended-her-phd-dissertation/) - To say we are proud is an understatement.
- [United States Botanical Gardens (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/22/united-states-botanical-gardens-photos/) - What could be better to dwell on for Earth Day than a diversity of plants?
- [Recent Pages in my Bible Lesson Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/21/recent-pages-in-my-bible-lesson-journal-10/) - I find the process of journaling while I study really helpful in making it my own. Doing it also prompts me to put it into action, and not just learn about it.
- [Hillwood in DC (House and Garden Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/20/hillwood-in-dc-house-and-garden-photos/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] When I read and reviewed The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post, I said after reading the book I'd like to visit her last home, Hillwood, which is in DC, open to the public, and
- [International Spy Museum in DC](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/19/international-spy-museum-in-dc/) - I highly recommend visiting this museum if you find yourself in DC.
- [The Hirshhorn National Museum of Modern Art in DC](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/18/the-hirshhorn-national-museum-of-modern-art-in-dc/) - Check out the photos of my favorites from the permanent collection in the Hirshhorn National Museum of Modern Art...
- [Artechouse in DC](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/17/artechouse-in-dc/) - You can see some videos of this immersive digital art experience.
- [Planet Word Museum in DC](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/16/planet-word-museum-in-dc/) - This special place would be especially great to visit if you are traveling with kids, but we thoroughly enjoyed it ourselves.
- [Five Mixed Media Plein Air Sketches of Water](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/15/five-mixed-media-plein-air-sketches-of-water/) - These impressions were captured and recorded quickly.
- [River Farm, Alexandria (Spring Flower Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/15/river-farm-alexandria-spring-flower-photos/) - This is a the home of the American Horticultural Society, and is on a 25 acre plot of land on the Potomac, which was once owned by George Washington.
- [We went to the Gala at the National Museum of Women in the Arts](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/14/we-went-to-the-gala-at-the-national-museum-of-women-in-the-arts/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] I don't often get out in a long dress with rhinestones! We had the privilege on Friday night to go to the Spring Gala at the National Museum for Women in the Arts with
- [Painting as Poetry (Quote by Lewis Nobel)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/13/painting-as-poetry-quote-by-lewis-nobel/) - The painting is about the energy you are communicating rather than a picture of the things that create the energy.
- [Home Cooking (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/12/home-cooking-book-review/) - This is a book of essays, or a memoir of sorts, and not a cookbook, although it does have some recipes.
- [I'm in this Collage Artists of America Show](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/11/im-in-this-collage-artists-of-america-show/) - I am pleased to have my above monoprint collage juried into the Collage Artist’s of America annual show.
- [I am From (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/13/i-am-from-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - I am a merging of healing and art.
- [Remembrance (New Abstract Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/01/remembrance-new-abstract-painting-in-pastel/) - Shared memories and reminiscence fold and undulate around, etched in recurring patterns, with sparks of recognition and curiosity.
- [Student Work from a Recent Beginning Abstract Realism Class](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/05/student-work-from-a-recent-beginning-abstract-realism-class/) - I'm starting to think I should call these liberation classes.
- [Awesome Solar Eclipse Photos (By Others)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/10/awesome-solar-eclipse-photos-by-others/) - I've been enjoying the great photos taken by others. You can see my favorites below, the best of which were taken by places like NASA.
- [Polly Answers Your Questions (#11)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/09/polly-answers-your-questions-11/) - Where I talk about my "no-buy year, as well as air fryers.
- [Was there an Eclipse when Jesus was on the Cross?](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/08/was-there-an-eclipse-when-jesus-was-on-the-cross/) - We are talking about power so HUGE it is mind-boggling to contemplate.
- [Some bits from Waking Up to What You Do](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/07/some-bits-from-waking-up-to-what-you-do/) - While I only gave this book only three stars, I wanted to share with you some bits I felt worthy of continuing of pondering...
- [See it Through (Poem by Edgar A Guest)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/06/see-it-through-poem-by-edgar-a-guest/) - When you’re up against a trouble, meet it squarely, face to face...
- [My New Year's Resolution for 2024: Use What You Have](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/02/my-new-years-resolution-for-2024-use-what-you-have/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"][/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] I have so much! And I find having a yearly theme a helpful focus, not as a hard, self flagellation reformation tool, but as a gentle, purposeful guide toward intended progress, with plenty of forgiveness
- [Visual Memoir (15 Black and White Photos that Summarize Me)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/04/visual-memoir-15-black-and-white-photos-that-summarize-me/) - These 15 photos pretty well represent who I am right now, and is a self portrait of sorts.
- [Visual Memoir (15 Photos in Color that Summarize Me)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/03/visual-memoir-15-photos-in-color-that-summarize-me/) - These 15 photos pretty well represent who I am right now, and is a self portrait of sorts.
- [New Blog Delivery Option](https://pollycastor.com/2024/04/02/new-blog-delivery-option/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"][/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] I'm in my 16th year of posting this blog everyday, and the original idea was that everyone needed something good in their email each morning. A lot of people like it exactly that way. However,
- [Einkorn Snickerdoodles (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/06/14/einkorn-snickerdoodles-recipe/) - Way better than a regular snickerdoodle, these are wholesomely delicious; a perfect weekday cookie.
- [Every Healing a Resurrection (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/31/every-healing-a-resurrection-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Jesus practiced on others what he knew he needed to do for himself.
- [Bits and Clips for March 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/30/bits-and-clips-for-march-2024/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, poetry, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [Some of my Favorite Cruciforms](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/29/some-of-my-favorite-cruciforms/) - The cross is not only an enduring symbol throughout history, stemming from the dramatic events remembered on this day, but it is also a strong design motif as well in its own right
- [Hikes Photos from Huntington State Park (March 2024)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/28/hikes-photos-from-huntington-state-park-march-2024/) - We have been rejoicing in all things SPRING, and as usual, I've often focused in close on texture, color, and composition.
- [Grace Notes (#52 with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/27/grace-notes-52-with-photos/) - I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good.
- [Recent Black and White Photos](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/26/recent-black-and-white-photos-15/) - Lately I've been challenging myself to take more in black and white, and for me, who is such a colorist, this really means seeing the world with different eyes.
- [Fording the Stream (New Abstract Mixed Media Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/25/fording-the-stream-new-abstract-mixed-media-painting/) - This was painted from a memory of a tree fallen over a rushing stream with shapes on the trunk where branches had been removed… I was struck with the abstraction of it at the time.
- [Grace for Today (New Abstract Mixed Media Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/21/grace-for-today-new-abstract-mixed-media-painting/) - Done in many layered mixed media on wood panel, it is a bit of a departure for me.
- [Entering into Victory (New Palm Sunday Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/24/entering-into-victory-new-palm-sunday-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Live forever beyond the bounds of matter or fear.
- [Spicy Citrus Salmon (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/23/spicy-citrus-salmon-recipe/) - Wow, that's a lot of flavor!
- [Horse (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/22/horse-book-review/) - I give Horse a rousing 5 stars and encourage you to read it.
- [Your Moment to Shine (Poem by Danna Faulds)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/20/your-moment-to-shine-poem-by-danna-faulds/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Your Moment to ShineThe moment is here, the moment you step forward from fear into light, the moment that your soul takes flight. Burrow no more in darkness and despair. Dare to show your
- [Human Will Dethroned (Quote by Paul Stark Seeley)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/18/human-will-dethroned-quote-by-paul-stark-seeley/) - The human self must be lost in love, the human will dethroned...
- [Our Crocus are Blooming](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/17/our-crocus-are-blooming/) - Enjoy these beauties, which are right out our front door.
- [Iris Apfel: Accidental Icon (Book Review with Quotes)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/16/iris-apfel-accidental-icon-book-review-with-quotes/) - Can we all be as secure, vibrant, and seizing of our days?
- [New Abstract Landscapes (Plein Air, Crop, and Collage)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/15/new-abstract-landscapes-plein-air-crop-and-collage/) - Don't all these paintings feel like March?
- [How Long Did it Take You? (Quote by Dosia McKay)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/14/how-long-did-it-take-you-quote-by-dosia-mckay/) - It’s never about the length of time but about the depth and meaning of the experience.
- [Loving Bananagrams](https://pollycastor.com/2011/01/14/loving-bananagrams/) - I first played Bananagrams last fall at Creative Arts Camp and knew then that I’d be buying it as a gift to put in my husband’s stocking. Wow, this game has...
- [More Love (Poem by Joan Wolcott)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/11/more-love-poem-by-joan-wolcott/) - Let it wash over me and through me and just totally cleanse me and refresh and renew me...
- [Good Homemade Hummus Recipe](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/10/good-homemade-hummus-recipe/) - I've settled on this delicious recipe going forward as a staple in our home.
- [Beauty is Necessary (Quote by Toni Morrison with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/09/beauty-is-necessary-quote-by-toni-morrison-with-photos/) - I think of beauty as an absolute necessity.
- [First Plein Air Landscape Paintings of the Year](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/08/first-plein-air-landscape-paintings-of-the-year/) - The motive was seeing, as well as the experience of translating that to paper without even trying at all for it be literal.
- [Student Work from Workshop I Taught Yesterday](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/07/student-work-from-workshop-i-taught-yesterday/) - I taught Abstract Expressionism and Abstract Conceptualism to a small group of artists yesterday in Manchester Connecticut.
- [Following Jesus in a Warming World (Book Review with Quotes)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/06/following-jesus-in-a-warming-world-book-review-with-quotes/) - It is our Christian duty to remediate a problem like this that we have perpetrated, not only on the intricately amazing world of God's creating, but on our innocent neighbors as well.
- [Muddy (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/05/muddy-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Hopefully you are not wallowing in it...
- [Massaged Kale Date Salad (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/04/messaged-kale-date-salad-recipe/) - This salad has a mixture of sweet and sour, and a full range of textures. It is delicious and healthy.
- [Recent Pages in my Bible Lesson Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/03/recent-pages-in-my-bible-lesson-journal-9/) - I have occasionally posted my one page per week notes on Bible Lesson topics in the past, and some of you have found them useful.
- [Ephemeral Eurekas (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/01/ephemeral-eurekas-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Are you waiting around for a flash of lightning, a bolt of brilliant inspiration?
- [Perfect Days (Movie Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/03/02/perfect-days-movie-review/) - He is living in the present moment, feeling it and even enjoying it, no matter what it is.
- [Bits and Clips for February 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/29/bits-and-clips-for-february-2024/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, poetry, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you.
- [Blind Contour Self Portraits (Sketchbook Ideas #15)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/28/blind-contour-self-portraits-sketchbook-ideas-15/) - You see and experience by doing them that perfectionism does not always yield the most interesting results!
- [Hike Photos from Huntington State Park (February 2024)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/27/hike-photos-from-huntington-state-park-february-2024/) - Join me via these photos on my walks in our local park.
- [Two New Abstractions (Monotype with Pastel and Collage)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/26/two-new-abstractions-monotype-with-pastel-and-collage/) - This was wonderfully freeing.
- [Trust (Poem by Thomas R. Smith)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/11/trust-poem-by-thomas-r-smith/) - Sometimes you sense how faithfully your life is delivered...
- [Reframe that Broken Heart (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/25/reframe-that-broken-heart-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Reframe that Broken HeartI’d mentally reframe that broken heart. That is a dangerous identification that you do not want to actualize. Cherish them instead of miss them. Love them unconditionally, instead of being angry
- [Nick Aston (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/24/nick-aston-featured-artist/) - It's always nice to see another fellow artist unafraid of color!
- [The Power of Small Actions (Nick Cave Quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/23/the-power-of-small-actions-nick-cave-quote/) - What we do in this world means something!
- [Four Simple Collages of Flowers (Keeping an Art Practice Warm)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/22/four-simple-collages-of-flowers-keeping-an-art-practice-warm/) - Make something uncomplicated, keeping your art practice warm on the back burner, while considering your next, larger, creative moves.
- [Inspiration is Unnecessary (Chuck Close Quote)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/21/inspiration-is-unnecessary-chuck-close-quote/) - You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that’s almost never the case.
- [I'm Teaching Painted Paper Collage for a Week in Maine in August](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/20/im-teaching-painted-paper-collage-for-a-week-in-maine-in-august/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Every year on this blog (minus the pandemic) you've come with me to Creative Arts Camp at Newfound/Owatona, on the shores of Long Lake, in Maine, at the end of August. It is a
- [Polly Answers Your Questions (#10)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/19/polly-answers-your-questions-10/) - I think the key to stress free cooking, is low pressure: be creative, have fun, stay ahead of the game, and have a plan...
- [Soul Spreads its Wings (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/18/soul-spreads-its-wings-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Conveying you upward, outward and onward.
- [Tuscan Baked Beans (Vegan Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/17/tuscan-baked-beans-vegan-recipe/) - This is basically a three day process, but its worth it. It is not difficult, but it does take time.
- [Our Missing Hearts (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/16/our-missing-hearts-book-review/) - Let us rejoice in all our differences and celebrate all our uncomfortable disruptions, before they are outlawed.
- [Snow Photos in Black & White](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/15/snow-photos-in-black-white/) - All of these photos were taken from within our cosy home, looking out our windows.
- [Happy Valentine's Day!](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/14/happy-valentines-day-9/) - You are appreciated!
- [Our Youngest Turns 27 (New Poem by Polly Castor with photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/13/our-youngest-turns-27-new-poem-by-polly-castor-with-photos/) - Who else is so exacting, while so comfortable with fudging it?
- [Chenneville (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/12/chenneville-book-review/) - This is historical fiction that squarely puts you into that time and place, fascinated by who he meets up with and how he copes.
- [Swordfish Braised in Spiced Coconut Milk (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/10/swordfish-braised-in-spiced-coconut-milk-recipe/) - This is easy, quick, and delicious. The swordfish is succulent.
- [Blobs with Line (Sketchbook Ideas #14)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/09/blobs-with-line-sketchbook-ideas-14/) - Nothing like a tight parameter to bring on the creativity!
- [My Birthday 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/08/my-birthday-2024/) - Thank you for being in my life and making my days and my years so sweet.
- [Listen to Your Life (Quote by Frederick Buechner)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/07/listen-to-your-life-quote-by-frederick-buechner/) - Life itself is grace.
- [Random Compositions in Ink (Grid Journaling Idea #4)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/06/random-compositions-in-ink-grid-journaling-idea-4/) - Use these little compositions to make yourself explain why a composition works, and why it doesn’t.
- [Sam Boughton (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/05/sam-boughton-featured-artist/) - Sam Boughton is an abstract landscape painter whose spare work I admire. Her efficient, decisive mark making is luscious, and how she beautifully simplifies the landscape is wonderful.
- [Live Larger (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/04/live-larger-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Live LargerAre you thinking of self? Are you gazing at your navel, and wondering why you are so uninspired? Is your existence narrowing, becoming tight-fisted and defensive? Are your parameters closing in? Are you
- [Ask the Best Questions and then Live Them](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/03/ask-the-best-questions-and-then-live-them/) - I beg you to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves...
- [Grace Notes (#43 with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2022/10/11/grace-notes-43-with-photos/) - I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good.
- [Klara and the Sun (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2022/10/22/klara-and-the-sun-book-review/) - I think it is best to go into this book knowing little and patiently watch it unravel as it does.
- [Autumn Psalm (quote by Jacqueline Osherow )](https://pollycastor.com/2022/10/23/autumn-psalm-quote-by-jacqueline-osherow/) - Who knew God was an abstract expressionist?
- [Happy Halloween! (Pumpkin Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2022/10/31/happy-halloween-pumpkin-photos-2/) - Enjoy these beauties– their shapes, their expressive natures, the different varieties, colors, textures and stems, as well as how they contribute to a wholistic composition within the frame of a photograph.
- [Wingbeat (New Abstract Painting in Mixed Media)](https://pollycastor.com/2022/11/03/wingbeat-new-abstract-painting-in-mixed-media/) - The dominion and power that is in the wingbeat, the freedom and soaring intensity of it, the high contrast of the scaling of heights from the lowly depths, despite all obstacles, encapsulates this piece.
- [Simon Pooley (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2022/11/28/simon-pooley-featured-artist/) - I admire his use of open space, which is unlike so much of my work that is busier and maximized; maybe I’m wanting to emulate more of that evocative sense of quiet.
- [Hike Photos from Huntington State Park (November 2022)](https://pollycastor.com/2022/12/01/hike-photos-from-huntington-state-park-november-2022/) - I love the regular input of nature soothing my psyche, as well as the color and compositional studies the seasons provide.
- [Six Crimson Cranes (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/02/six-crimson-cranes-book-review/) - This novel might be a good gift for a young someone you know, or maybe, like me, you 'd like a wholesome, fantastical romp yourself.
- [Julie's Eggplant Parmesan (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/02/01/julies-eggplant-parmesan-recipe/) - This is one of the best renditions of Eggplant Parmesan you are ever likely to have.
- [Bits and Clips for January 2024](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/31/bits-and-clips-for-january-2024/) - I hope you find something among all this artwork, photography, poetry, memes, links, and quotes that spurs you on, inspires, supports, educates, or motivates you:
- [Polly Answers Your Questions #9](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/30/polly-answers-your-questions-9/) - Pen and ink recommendations, scheduling and balance questions, and church roles.
- [Two New Red Paintings in Pastel](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/29/two-new-red-paintings-in-pastel/) - People think pastels need to look chalky or light, and this is not the case!
- [This (Poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/28/this-poem-by-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/) - Replace, for this moment, your fear with awe.
- [Recent Food Around Here (with Recipe Links)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/25/recent-food-around-here-with-recipe-links/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Winter is such a good time for eating, and the food is totally different than summer. We've been relishing stove-top soups and things from the oven, with some simple protein thrown in. In the
- [Don't Prioritize Your Looks (Poem by Donna Ashworth)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/27/dont-prioritize-your-looks-poem-by-donna-ashworth/) - Don’t prioritize your looks my friend, as they won’t last the journey.
- [The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/26/the-heaven-and-earth-grocery-store-book-review/) - This book is mostly about the injustice of being different, the misnomer of being handicapped, and what real community is.
- [Recent Black & White Photos](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/11/recent-black-and-white-photos-14/) - Urban environment contrasted with the natural one... organic shapes and texture contrasted with geometric, built, and man made angles.
- [Others Playing with Red](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/24/others-playing-with-red/) - How thrilling is red!
- [Grace Notes (#51 with Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/23/grace-notes-51-with-photos/) - I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good.
- [Playing with Red (Sketchbook Ideas #13)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/22/playing-with-red-sketchbook-ideas-13/) - I've found that it's hard to get a red red that reads only red!
- [Recent Pages in my Bible Lesson Journal](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/21/recent-pages-in-my-bible-lesson-journal-8/) - I find the process of journaling while I study really helpful in making it my own. Doing so also prompts me to put it into action, and not just learn about it.
- [Barbara Rae (Featured Artist)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/20/barbara-rae-featured-artist/) - I love the bright, streamlined vibrancy of her work.
- [Self Portrait with Nothing (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/19/self-portrait-with-nothing-book-review/) - This is a very unique, bizarre, and ultimately satisfying read.
- [Small Talk is Too Small (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/18/small-talk-is-too-small-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Are you fully alive with overflowing gratitude and love?
- [Circles by Others](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/17/circles-by-others/) - Painting, drawing or collaging circles makes for a great meditation.
- [The Bible as a Verb (Listen to Me be Interviewed on the Podcast)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/16/the-bible-as-a-verb-listen-to-me-be-interviewed-on-the-podcast/) - You can listen in and hear some of what the Bible says we should be doing.
- [Exploring Circles (Sketchbook Ideas #12)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/15/exploring-circles-sketchbook-ideas-12/) - The purpose of a sketchbook is to use it. Fill it up with trials! Give some circles a go!
- [Intuition or Spiritual Sense? (Deep Think #24)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/14/intuition-or-spiritual-sense-deep-think-24/) - Cultivating spiritual sense is thrilling, and I wish more people would experience this exciting connection, instead explaining it away materially, or hiding it behind the term of intuition.
- [Boys in the Boat (Movie Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/13/boys-in-the-boat-movie-review/) - We all can use a story of pulling together right now.
- [Two New Abstract Figures (one of them Biblical)](https://pollycastor.com/2020/09/29/two-new-abstract-figures-one-of-them-biblical/) - These two figurative paintings are a bit outside of what I usually do, but I've been thinking about them for a while.
- [Hosanna Lyrics with Palm Sunday Paintings](https://pollycastor.com/2021/03/28/hosanna-lyrics-with-palm-sunday-paintings/) - Listen to this classic Palm Sunday song while revisiting last year's Palm Sunday paintings.
- [Two New Abstract Paintings About Immortality](https://pollycastor.com/2020/07/29/two-new-abstract-paintings-about-immortality/) - I just finished two new paintings in my immortality series.
- [New Cruciforms](https://pollycastor.com/2021/04/02/new-cruciforms/) - Pondering the cross...
- [New Day (Poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/12/new-day-poem-by-ralph-waldo-emerson/) - He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.
- [Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup with Gruyere (Recipe)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/05/wild-rice-and-mushroom-soup-with-gruyere-recipe/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"][/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] I got this recipe from Heidi Swanson, and have only altered it slightly. I'm grateful to this soup's perfect soul-warming goodness in my cooking repertoire. Everybody loved it. You can use whatever mushrooms you want
- [Layered Scribbles by Others](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/10/layered-scribbles-by-others/) - Approach scribbling with mindful noticing and inquisitiveness, and let one thing lead to the next by asking questions.
- [Layering Scribbles (Sketchbook Ideas #11)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/08/layering-scribbles-sketchbook-ideas-11/) - It is highly useful to practice scribbling and to know the idiosyncrasies of layering scribbles in different media.
- [Visual Thinking (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/09/visual-thinking-book-review/) - This book could hold a profound revelation for you.
- [My Symphony (Poem by William Ellery Channing)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/07/my-symphony-poem-by-william-ellery-channing/) - To live content with small means, to seek elegance rather than luxury...
- [Bringing Down the Duke (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/06/bringing-down-the-duke-book-review/) - If you want an intelligent, passionate romp, with both a cause and a woman’s virtue in the balance, read this one.
- [Four New Monoprints](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/04/four-new-monoprints/) - I've been working on monoprints lately, since it is a step by step process that I can do in short spurts of small steps, during a busy season.
- [Family Holiday Photos (with Food and Games)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/03/family-holiday-photos-with-food-and-games/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"][/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] We had a lovely holiday with both our daughter's home, as well as our older daughter's boyfriend. In the photos in this post you can see what we ate and what we played. Among us
- [Book Challenge 2024 (A Totally New Approach)](https://pollycastor.com/2024/01/01/book-challenge-2024-a-totally-new-approach/) - I've heard from many of you and your feedback was helpful in radically changing our Reading Challenge this year.
- [Bits and Clips for December 2023](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/31/bits-and-clips-for-december-2023/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] This bits and clips post is a monthly feature on this blog of the best that I’ve seen on the internet in the past month. I hope you find something among all this artwork,
- [Hike Photos from Huntington State Park (December 2023)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/30/hike-photos-from-huntington-state-park-december-2023/) - I’m still walking in the same place, trying to see it freshly every time.
- [Assessing Last Year's Resolution (2023)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/28/assessing-last-years-resolution-2023/) - I was only partially successful at my "tech" resolution for 2023.
- [Christmas in Connecticut (Movie Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/27/christmas-in-connecticut-movie-review/) - The black and white film from 1945 was silly and improbable, ridiculous and fun.
- [Books We Got for Christmas](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/26/books-we-got-for-christmas-3/) - Here are the books the five of us got for Christmas.
- [Merry Christmas from our House to Yours](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/25/merry-christmas-from-our-house-to-yours/) - I hope you have a very happy day and know you are deeply loved.
- [O Holy Night](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/24/o-holy-night/) - Fall on your knees; O hear the Angel voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born
- [Let the Angels Tell Them (Poem by Jane Murdock)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/23/let-the-angels-tell-them-poem-by-jane-murdock/) - Isaiah of old said, “Hear now, behold, a virgin, conceiving, shall bear a son.”
- [Solstice is (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/21/solstice-is-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - [spb_column width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/6" el_position="first"][/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="2/3"] Solstice is Solstice is like a seed, buried in the dark earth, potential, waiting, reaching, cresting the surface at last, discovering the yummy light. Solstice is like a bud, with tightly fisted, creased petals, tucked
- [Other Treasures from the MET (Photos)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/22/other-treasures-from-the-met-photos/) - Enjoy a moment of masterpiece in this busy season.
- [Global Warming 2023 (New Abstract Painting in Pastel)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/20/global-warming-2023-new-abstract-painting-in-pastel/) - This year, more concern is felt because climate change has been resulting in devastating fires and seasons of pervasively poor air quality; it is starting to effect us where we live
- [The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post (Book Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/19/the-magnificent-lives-of-marjorie-post-book-review/) - You'll enjoy this read if you appreciate strong, capable women, who don't shy away from what they have to contribute, have a great attitude, and who have a strongly ethical approach to life.
- [Holiday Snacking Granola with Dark Chocolate (Recipe for Gift Giving)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/18/holiday-snacking-granola-with-dark-chocolate-recipe-for-gift-giving/) - We are making this for little gifts and it is wonderful, flavored with molasses and ginger.
- [What I Don't Like about Christianity and Don't Think Jesus Would Either](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/17/what-i-dont-like-about-christianity-and-dont-think-jesus-would-either/) - I'm feeling a need to differentiate myself from things I do not accept or believe. And in these things, I think Jesus would agree with me.
- [This is Christmas (Movie Review)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/16/this-is-christmas-movie-review/) - Here is a sweet Christmas movie with a great message.
- [Mid December (New Poem by Polly Castor)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/15/mid-december-new-poem-by-polly-castor/) - Sun setting so early, meteor showers in the moonless night, cars with trees tied on their tops...
- [Snorkeling in Guadaloupe (New Large Pastel Painting)](https://pollycastor.com/2023/12/14/snorkeling-in-guadaloupe-new-large-pastel-painting/) - Have you snorkeled and studied what was deep below you in the water? It is fascinating, with the undulating plants, the shafts of light, the deep shadows and the darting schools of bright fish.

## Pages

- [Home](https://pollycastor.com/) - [spb_slider revslider_shortcode="home-slider" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_row wrap_type="content-width" row_bg_type="image" color_row_height="content-height" bg_type="cover" parallax_image_height="content-height" parallax_image_movement="fixed" parallax_image_speed="0.5" parallax_video_height="window-height" parallax_video_overlay="none" row_overlay_opacity="0" row_padding_vertical="10" row_padding_horizontal="0" row_margin_vertical="10" remove_element_spacing="no" inner_column_height="col-natural" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] A journal of art, photography, spirituality, ideas, books, movies, food, poetry & hope [/spb_text_block] [/spb_row] [spb_row wrap_type="content-width" row_bg_type="color" color_row_height="content-height" bg_type="cover" parallax_image_height="content-height" parallax_image_movement="fixed" parallax_image_speed="0.5" parallax_video_height="window-height" parallax_video_overlay="none"
- [Subscribe Form](https://pollycastor.com/subscribe-form/) - Do you want more creativity, authenticity, art, and spirituality in your life? Sign up for my daily blog! Enter your name and email below, choose whether you want it delivered daily or weekly, and then click the "Sign me up!" button. .
- [Homeschooling Links](https://pollycastor.com/links/homeschooling/) - [spb_single_image image="31714" image_size="full" frame="noframe" intro_animation="none" full_width="yes" lightbox="no" link_target="_self" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [fullwidth_text alt_background="none" width="1/2" el_position="first"] How-to Homeschooling Books The Well Trained Mind: we used this for the “what” of our homeschool; Classical Education A Charlotte Mason Education: we used this for the “how” of our homeschool: Living Books, short lessons, nature study, narration, etc. Educating
- [Thank You for Subscribing!](https://pollycastor.com/thankyou/) - Thanks for signing up for the Polly Castor blog. This is where you'll discover a whole new perspective on the infinite possibilities for good in your life.
- [Blogs I Read](https://pollycastor.com/links/blogs-i-read/) - [spb_single_image image="31697" image_size="large" frame="noframe" intro_animation="none" full_width="no" lightbox="no" link_target="_self" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [fullwidth_text alt_background="none" width="1/3" el_position="first"] Art Blogs Alain Picard Studio Rick Stevens Studio Blog The Helpful Art Teacher Jane Davies Collage Journeys How to Pastel [/fullwidth_text] [fullwidth_text alt_background="none" width="1/3"] Spirituality Blogs The Bible Speaks to You The Daily Lift Virginia Harris' blog Spiritual Perspectives Adventures
- [About Polly](https://pollycastor.com/about-me/) - As a creative, deep thinker, I am passionate about both color and Soul. I value freedom, discovery, education, wisdom, loyalty and love. I believe in striving for deep authenticity. I believe in working all sides off the middle, and that cross pollination across disciplines has many advantages. I do not believe in limitation or negativity. I
- [Prayer](https://pollycastor.com/prayer/) - [spb_single_image image="63327" image_size="full" frame="noframe" intro_animation="none" full_width="no" lightbox="yes" link_target="_self" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [fullwidth_text alt_background="none" width="1/6" el_position="first"] [/fullwidth_text] [fullwidth_text alt_background="none" width="2/3" el_position="last"] Most artists have a day job. Mine is a pastoral ministry where I get to love all over people when they need it most. I'm a Christian Science Practitioner and help people through prayer.
- [Christian Science Links](https://pollycastor.com/links/christian-science/) - [spb_single_image image="30744" image_size="full" frame="noframe" intro_animation="none" full_width="yes" lightbox="no" link_target="_self" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [fullwidth_text alt_background="none" width="1/3" el_position="first"] Christian Science What is Christian Science? Church Pastor in the Christian Science Church: the Bible and the Christian Science textbook Sunday Church Services and Wednesday Testimony Meetings: Find a local church community near you. Christian Science Sunday School: what to
- [Original Paintings for Sale](https://pollycastor.com/original-paintings-for-sale/) - [spb_single_image image="46572" image_size="full" frame="shadowframe" intro_animation="none" full_width="no" lightbox="yes" link_target="_self" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] The following original artwork is for sale. [/spb_text_block] [spb_column width="1/4" el_position="first"] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [/spb_text_block] [/spb_column] [spb_column width="1/4"] [/spb_column] [spb_column width="1/4"] [/spb_column] [spb_column width="1/4" el_position="last"] [/spb_column] [spb_column width="1/3" el_position="first"] [/spb_column] [spb_column width="1/3"] [/spb_column] [spb_column width="1/3"
- [Confidence: Original abstract pastel for sale](https://pollycastor.com/confidence-original-abstract-pastel-for-sale/) - Original abstract pastel for sale
- [GDInfo](https://pollycastor.com/gdinfo/)
- [Fix Posts](https://pollycastor.com/fix-posts/) - [fixposts]
- [Fix Links](https://pollycastor.com/fix-links/) - [fixexternallinks]
- [You Have Successfully Subscribed](https://pollycastor.com/you-have-successfully-subscribed/) - [spb_single_image image="31697" image_size="full" frame="noframe" intro_animation="none" full_width="yes" lightbox="no" link_target="_self" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [fullwidth_text alt_background="none" width="1/3" el_position="first"] [/fullwidth_text] [fullwidth_text alt_background="none" width="1/2"] Thanks so much for signing up! You should be getting a welcome email from me in the next few minutes. Then you will receive emails for each day's blog. xx Polly [/fullwidth_text] [fullwidth_text
- [Homeschooling](https://pollycastor.com/blog/homeschooling/) - [blog show_blog_aux="yes" blog_type="masonry" masonry_effect_type="effect-1" item_count="5" category="homeschooling" offset="0" posts_order="desc" show_title="yes" show_excerpt="yes" show_details="yes" excerpt_length="20" content_output="excerpt" show_read_more="yes" pagination="infinite-scroll" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]
- [Full Width Image Gallery](https://pollycastor.com/features/page-templates/full-width-image-gallery-2/)
- [Homepage](https://pollycastor.com/hybrid-blog-homepage/)
- [3 Column Portfolio](https://pollycastor.com/portfolio/3-column-portfolio/)
- [2 Column Portfolio](https://pollycastor.com/portfolio/2-column-portfolio/)
- [Image Gallery](https://pollycastor.com/features/page-templates/image-gallery-2/)
- [Starter Skins](https://pollycastor.com/features/starter-skins/) - The SuperSkeleton Theme comes pre-packaged with 3 starter skins: Light, Dark, and Clean, perfect for starting out your own project. Each starter skin is uncluttered, easy to modify, and well commented. Ready to get started? img.aligncenter{border: 0 !important;}
- [Contact](https://pollycastor.com/features/page-templates/contact/)
- [Full Width Template](https://pollycastor.com/features/page-templates/full-width-template/) - Aside Title Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aud est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
- [Portfolio](https://pollycastor.com/portfolio/)
- [4 Column Portfolio](https://pollycastor.com/portfolio/4-column-portfolio/)
- [Hybrid 3 Column Blog](https://pollycastor.com/blog/hybrid-3-column-blog/)
- [Page Templates](https://pollycastor.com/features/page-templates/)
- [Hybrid 2 Column Blog](https://pollycastor.com/blog/hybrid-2-column-blog/)
- [Dark](https://pollycastor.com/features/dark/) - [aside title="Responsive Wordpress!"]Super Skeleton is Fully Responsive! Try resizing your browser... Ready for Mobile Phones, Tablets, and more![/aside] Flexible, Responsive & Standards Compliant Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip
- [Sans-Serif](https://pollycastor.com/features/fontstacks/sans-serif/) - [aside title="Responsive Wordpress!"]Super Skeleton is Fully Responsive! Try resizing your browser... Ready for Mobile Phones, Tablets, and more![/aside] Flexible, Responsive & Standards Compliant Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip
- [Serif](https://pollycastor.com/features/fontstacks/serif/) - [aside title="Responsive Wordpress!"]Super Skeleton is Fully Responsive! Try resizing your browser... Ready for Mobile Phones, Tablets, and more![/aside] Flexible, Responsive & Standards Compliant Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip
- [Clean](https://pollycastor.com/features/clean/) - [aside title="Responsive Wordpress!"]Super Skeleton is Fully Responsive! Try resizing your browser... Ready for Mobile Phones, Tablets, and more![/aside] Flexible, Responsive & Standards Compliant Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip
- [Light](https://pollycastor.com/features/light/) - [aside title="Responsive Wordpress!"]Super Skeleton is Fully Responsive! Try resizing your browser... Ready for Mobile Phones, Tablets, and more![/aside] Flexible, Responsive & Standards Compliant Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip
- [Fontstacks](https://pollycastor.com/features/fontstacks/) - [aside title="Responsive Wordpress!"]Super Skeleton is Fully Responsive! Try resizing your browser... Ready for Mobile Phones, Tablets, and more![/aside] Flexible, Responsive & Standards Compliant Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip
- [Blog](https://pollycastor.com/blog/) - [blog show_blog_aux="no" blog_type="masonry" masonry_effect_type="effect-4" item_count="6" category="All" offset="0" posts_order="desc" show_title="yes" show_excerpt="yes" show_details="yes" excerpt_length="20" content_output="excerpt" show_read_more="yes" pagination="infinite-scroll" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]
- [About Reason](https://pollycastor.com/about-super-skeleton/) - [aside title="Responsive Wordpress!"]Super Skeleton is Fully Responsive! Try resizing your browser... Ready for Mobile Phones, Tablets, and more![/aside] Flexible, Responsive & Standards Compliant Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip
- [Theme Manager](https://pollycastor.com/about-super-skeleton/theme-manager/) - [aside title="OptionTree!"]Super Skeleton is managed by none other than OptionTree, the powerful open source theme options manager that let's basic theme users get setup in minutes, and advanced developers can extend it as far as they want![/aside] Up and Running in Minutes! Initial theme setup just takes a few minutes. Upload your logo, select the
- [Full Width Blog](https://pollycastor.com/blog/full-width-blog/)
- ["Big Image" Blog](https://pollycastor.com/blog/full-width-big-image-blog/)
- [Alternate Homepages](https://pollycastor.com/alternate-homepages/)
- [Portfolio Homepage](https://pollycastor.com/alternate-homepages/portfolio-homepage/)
- [Big Blog Homepage](https://pollycastor.com/alternate-homepages/big-blog-homepage/)
- [Art](https://pollycastor.com/blog/art/) - [blog show_blog_aux="yes" blog_type="masonry" masonry_effect_type="effect-1" item_count="5" category="art" offset="0" posts_order="desc" show_title="yes" show_excerpt="yes" show_details="yes" excerpt_length="20" content_output="excerpt" show_read_more="yes" pagination="infinite-scroll" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]
- [Hope](https://pollycastor.com/blog/hope/) - [blog show_blog_aux="yes" blog_type="masonry" masonry_effect_type="effect-1" item_count="5" category="hope" offset="0" posts_order="desc" show_title="yes" show_excerpt="yes" show_details="yes" excerpt_length="20" content_output="excerpt" show_read_more="yes" pagination="infinite-scroll" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]
- [Poetry](https://pollycastor.com/blog/poetry/) - [blog show_blog_aux="yes" blog_type="masonry" masonry_effect_type="effect-1" item_count="5" category="poetry" offset="0" posts_order="desc" show_title="yes" show_excerpt="yes" show_details="yes" excerpt_length="20" content_output="excerpt" show_read_more="yes" pagination="infinite-scroll" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]
- [Food](https://pollycastor.com/blog/food/) - [blog show_blog_aux="yes" blog_type="masonry" masonry_effect_type="effect-1" item_count="5" category="food" offset="0" posts_order="desc" show_title="yes" show_excerpt="yes" show_details="yes" excerpt_length="20" content_output="excerpt" show_read_more="yes" pagination="infinite-scroll" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]
- [Books](https://pollycastor.com/blog/books/) - [blog show_blog_aux="yes" blog_type="masonry" masonry_effect_type="effect-1" item_count="5" category="books" offset="0" posts_order="desc" show_title="yes" show_excerpt="yes" show_details="yes" excerpt_length="20" content_output="excerpt" show_read_more="yes" pagination="infinite-scroll" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]
- [Ideas](https://pollycastor.com/blog/ideas/) - [blog show_blog_aux="yes" blog_type="masonry" masonry_effect_type="effect-1" item_count="5" category="ideas" offset="0" posts_order="desc" show_title="yes" show_excerpt="yes" show_details="yes" excerpt_length="20" content_output="excerpt" show_read_more="yes" pagination="infinite-scroll" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]
- [Spirituality](https://pollycastor.com/blog/spirituality/) - [blog show_blog_aux="yes" blog_type="masonry" masonry_effect_type="effect-1" item_count="5" category="spirituality" offset="0" posts_order="desc" show_title="yes" show_excerpt="yes" show_details="yes" excerpt_length="20" content_output="excerpt" show_read_more="yes" pagination="infinite-scroll" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]
- [Movies](https://pollycastor.com/blog/movies/) - [blog show_blog_aux="yes" blog_type="masonry" masonry_effect_type="effect-1" item_count="5" category="movies" offset="0" posts_order="desc" show_title="yes" show_excerpt="yes" show_details="yes" excerpt_length="20" content_output="excerpt" show_read_more="yes" pagination="infinite-scroll" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]
- [Photography](https://pollycastor.com/blog/photography/) - [blog show_blog_aux="yes" blog_type="masonry" masonry_effect_type="effect-1" item_count="5" category="photography" offset="0" posts_order="desc" show_title="yes" show_excerpt="yes" show_details="yes" excerpt_length="20" content_output="excerpt" show_read_more="yes" pagination="infinite-scroll" width="1/1" el_position="first last"]
- [Contact Me](https://pollycastor.com/contact-me/)
- [Links](https://pollycastor.com/links/) - Here are some links to websites I enjoy: Christian Science Links Homeschooling Links Blogs I Read
- [Gallery](https://pollycastor.com/gallery/) - This page is currently under construction. Come back later for more!
- [Shop](https://pollycastor.com/shop/)
- [Whatever I'm interested in...](https://pollycastor.com/whatever-im-interested-in/) - Linnk link link link ok, you get the idea.
- [Photographer](https://pollycastor.com/photographer/)
- [Spiritual Healer](https://pollycastor.com/spiritual-healer/)
- [Sample Page](https://pollycastor.com/sample-page/) - This is an example page. It's different from a blog post because it will stay in one place and will show up in your site navigation (in most themes). Most people start with an About page that introduces them to potential site visitors. It might say something like this: Hi there! I'm a bike messenger

## Testimonials

- [what thousands think](https://pollycastor.com/?testimonials=what-thousands-think) - Polly, your piece says with abundant clarity what thousands upon thousands of thoughtful men and women think and believe. I appreciate you!!
- [thank you for flowers](https://pollycastor.com/?testimonials=thank-you-for-flowers) - Glorious! Thank you for tending these lovely flowers together, and for posting on your blog, Polly.
- [You empowered our freedom](https://pollycastor.com/?testimonials=you-empowered-our-freedom) - “I so enjoyed my time in your workshop. You were clear in your instruction, extremely well prepared and showed just the right amount of leadership strength. You empowered our freedom. As I continue to explore and investigate abstraction and figure out how to find my own voice, I will keep your exercises whispering in my
- [I feel energized](https://pollycastor.com/?testimonials=i-feel-energized) - “Thank you again for the wonderful workshop you gave this weekend. I just want you to know that I think you are a fabulous teacher! Your presentations were very organized and interesting. You kept us focused and motivated, while providing a safe, warm, and encouraging environment for exploration. I feel energized and look forward to
- [Terrific for my art and soul](https://pollycastor.com/?testimonials=terrific-for-my-art-and-soul) - “Your workshop was terrific for my art and soul. The critiques were wonderful. Polly has a great way of making people feel comfortable when discussing the art work pros and cons. I really enjoyed this class and it came at an important time for me in my life.” Kate Henderson
- [Above and beyond my expectations](https://pollycastor.com/?testimonials=above-and-beyond-my-expectations) - “This workshop went above and beyond my expectations. It was a great combination of lecture, production, and discussion. Polly was awesome! I’d love to take another one of her classes.” Rossella Pulit
- [Very freeing](https://pollycastor.com/?testimonials=very-freeing) - “Excellent! Everything about this workshop surpassed my expectations. It was very freeing! Polly was wonderful, the right balance of working hard and staying focused with no fear.”
- [I'd love to take another one of Polly's workshops](https://pollycastor.com/?testimonials=id-love-to-take-another-one-of-pollys-workshops) - “I started abstract painting a year ago and Polly has me even more motivated to continue on the abstract path. What I enjoyed most was Polly’s enthusiasm and painting knowledge as well as meeting fellow artists. I’d love to take another one of her workshops.” Lin Gotta
- [This workshop will stay with me forever](https://pollycastor.com/?testimonials=this-workshop-will-stay-with-me-forever) - “This workshop will stay with me forever. I have a new understanding. I wish it was longer.” Laura Kinlock
- [Loved being pushed out of my comfort zone](https://pollycastor.com/?testimonials=loved-being-pushed-out-of-my-comfort-zone) - “I give this workshop an A+. I loved being pushed out of my comfort zone. I feel empowered.” Sue Bosworth
- [Polly inspired creativity in painting](https://pollycastor.com/?testimonials=polly-inspired-creativity-in-painting) - “Very good workshop revisiting fundamentals as well as looking at abstract techniques. Polly provided good feedback and gave positive reinforcement, inspiring creativity in painting.”
- [I found something new within myself](https://pollycastor.com/?testimonials=i-found-something-new-within-myself) - "This workshop helped me find something new within myself. Polly is very generous and willing to teach what she knows, both in Power Point and individually. I learned so much. Working with other abstract artists helped me so much.” Ann Merriam

## Testimonials

- [helping me with a challenge](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/helping-me-with-a-challenge/) - I can’t tell you how helpful this has been to me today. I must’ve read it half a dozen times or more. It’s helping me with a great challenge. Thank you!
- [dynamic spiritual art](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/97390/) - This is such a beautiful and loving blog and feels much like your amazing dynamic spiritual art. You are proving and sharing truth in a precious, creative, encouraging, and heartfelt way. You inspire me!
- [superb](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/superb/) - Outstanding, superb and beyond all imagination.
- [blessing to many](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/blessing-to-many/) - These thoughts you shared are a keeper for me to revisit when in need. You are a blessing to many!
- [redirect thinking](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/redirect-thinking/) - Excellent. Thank you for sharing this welcome thought to redirect today’s thinking. I am grateful for this blog.
- [prayerful work](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/prayerful-work/) - Polly, I’m grateful for you, your prayerful work, your blog, your art, photos, words and colors.
- [hope filled](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/hope-filled/) - Really beautiful, very hope filled. I love this!
- [gratitude](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/gratitude/) - I’m new to your site and I love today’s post about being grateful!
- [little things](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/little-things/) - Thank you for focusing in on and capturing the little things we so often pass by and/or take for granted.
- [book recommendation](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/book-recommendation-2/) - I’ve just finished this book and I loved it! Thanks for recommending it.
- [amplifying good](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/amplifying-good/) - Polly, thanks for “amplifying good”. That’s what you really do!
- [great information](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/great-information/) - I appreciate the joy, inspiration, and great information you provide us in your blogs.
- [yummy and amazing](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/yummy-and-amazing/) - Yummy and beautiful! I love all the colors and this food looks amazing! The plates too!
- [clarity to stressful events](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/clarity-to-stressful-events/) - Thank you, Polly, for bringing clarity to the stressful events we’re experiencing. Your insights are thought-provoking and inspirational. I’m very thankful for your blog.
- [saying what needs to be said](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/saying-what-needs-to-be-said-2/) - Thank you Polly, for saying what needs to be said.
- [notice the shadows](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/notice-the-shadows/) - Thank you for bringing your beautiful great outdoors into my world. You do a great job taking pictures. The colors are so vibrant and I like that you notice shadows.
- [prolific](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/prolific/) - This blog is so prolific and original, inspiring and joy producing.
- [stimulating and motivating](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/stimulating-and-motivating/) - This blog is really stimulating and motivating.
- [elegant flowers](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/elegant-flowers/) - Thank you for introducing me to wonderful, amazing authors. Love the pictures of your elegant flowers.
- [love your husband](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/love-your-husband/) - I love your Blog, Polly!! Therefore, I love you! Your art, your poetry, your philosophy, your religion, your book reviews, your photography, your … husband!
- [visual communication](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/visual-communication/) - We are so blessed with your access to nature and your talent to communicate visually….
- [poem hit home](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/poem-hit-home/) - Polly, I love your poem “you were never unwanted”. This poem really hit home. Thank you for your words of wisdom
- [daily offerings](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/daily-offerings/) - I am so grateful for your generous sharing of ideas across so many different fields! Your colorful art, your beautiful photography, your tasty looking and well presented dishes, your uplifting ideas, your insightful book reviews, and your wonderful healing work! You truly are a polymath!! I so look forward to your daily offerings and rejoice
- [enjoy you forever](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/enjoy-you-forever/) - Polly, you have such a great feel for things. I will enjoy you forever.
- [wonderland](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/wonderland/) - Just a wonderland of possibilities and ideas and the materials to explore and discover. What a beautiful, exciting place! I’ve taken all this glory into my heart today and am grateful for it.
- [similar thoughts](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/similar-thoughts/) - I just had to comment on today’s blog. I LOVED it! I have had similar thoughts for some time.
- [fan club](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/fan-club/) - When you get famous, I need to be the president of your fan club.
- [artistic food](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/artistic-food/) - Your food is presented in such an artistic way that it looks beautiful, wholesome and totally delicious!!
- [buzzing with ideas](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/buzzing-with-ideas/) - Wow Polly!! You are buzzing with ideas.
- [Synesthesia](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/synesthesia/) - Synesthesia! I can taste the yellows and hear the oranges! A feast to the senses! Brava talented Polly
- [uninhibited joy](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/uninhibited-joy/) - I love the feeling of playfulness and of uninhibited joy.
- [exquisite colors](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/exquisite-colors/) - The colors are exquisite!!! Thanks for bringing so much beauty into our lives.
- [aching joy](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/aching-joy/) - It’s a rare inspiration that can uncover an aching joy — but those poems do that. Thanks for sharing this with us.
- [bible lesson](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/bible-lesson/) - Thank you! I enjoy reading your notes from the Bible Lesson. Your interpretation is helpful for my thought and I’m sure many others.
- [beautiful paintings](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/beautiful-paintings/) - Oh so beautiful! I keep coming back to look at the paintings again.
- [quotes](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/quotes/) - Excellent, meaningful, quotes. Thanks!
- [separating church from building](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/separating-church-from-building/) - Thank you for the insight. Especially separating church from a building or denomination. The passion and joy of color in your paintings is marvelous.
- [thank you for words of faith](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/thank-you-for-words-of-faith/) - Thank you for this. Read it. Gave me hope. Going through an “unsure” time. Thank you for these words of strength, hope, and faith.
- [refreshing direction](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/refreshing-direction/) - Outstanding message! And a sure “wake-up” call for me regarding mortal decline. I’m off on a refreshing direction. Thanks, Polly.
- [black and white contrasts](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/black-and-white-contrasts/) - Neat! Love the black and white contrasts enhanced by the light.
- [made my day](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/made-my-day/) - Wow! What a stunning collection of gorgeous images and though-provoking quotes. They made my day.
- [brilliant!](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/brilliant/) - Absolutely beautiful!!! I love these particular colors together and the different styles and techniques really give it a lot of depth and texture. Brilliant!!!!
- [sharing your joy](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/sharing-your-joy/) - That’s all very helpful for me today, Polly. Thanks for going deep on this. I’m sharing your joy in our Source.
- [something to contemplate](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/something-to-contemplate/) - Wow. Yes, quite something to contemplate. Thank you, Polly!!
- [exercise in balance](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/exercise-in-balance/) - Thank you for this exercise in balance, Polly. Helps a lot!
- [grateful](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/grateful-2/) - I’m so grateful for all you share with us.
- [myriad ways](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/myriad-ways/) - I am grateful for the myriad ways you celebrate Life in your art, activities and relationships. Your blog is inspiring in its magnification of Soulful goodness!
- [treasure in my email](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/treasure-in-my-email/) - Thankful every morning to see another treasure from you in my emails !
- [Edifying](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/edifying/) - This blog is colorful, beautiful, and edifying.
- [positive thoughts](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/positive-thoughts/) - Thank you for your efforts. I look forward to your positive thoughts and love.
- [blessed](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/blessed/) - How blessed we are to have someone like you on this Earth.
- [delightful imagery](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/delightful-imagery/) - Polly! I love this poem! Letting our true, authentic self come forth! Yes!! Thank you for all the delightful imagery!
- [deeply nourishing](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/deeply-nourishing/) - A wonderful poem Polly! Thank you. Deeply nourishing…. like a bird, natural and beautiful, just singing out truth in her special song on a fine winter morning.
- [so so much love](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/so-so-much-love/) - You share so freely, with so so so much love and joy and an open-open-heart...
- [book recommendation](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/book-recommendation/) - I loved this book, Polly. Thank you so much for the recommendation.
- [inspire impress amaze](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/inspire-impress-amaze/) - Thanks for the nudge! You continue to inspire, impress, and amaze me, Polly.
- [opened my eyes](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/opened-my-eyes/) - Your photos have opened my eyes to the beauty surrounding us everywhere.
- [expressing everything good](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/expressing-everything-good/) - I think one reason I enjoy your blog is that you Stand Forth In All Your God-given Glory, expressing everything Good!
- [better than Franenthaler](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/better-than-franenthaler/) - Helen Frankenthaler’s works were interesting, but I like your abstracts better.
- [Graciously and lovingly spoken](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/graciously-and-lovingly-spoken/) - Graciously and lovingly spoken, like a true friend to all. Thank you for your blog Polly.
- [limit ourselves less](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/limit-ourselves-less/) - Well said Polly! Life is so exciting we should limit ourselves less! Let’s all have a productive day and be joyful!
- [revelvant](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/revelvant/) - This is relevant and an excellent way for me to look at some situations I have been in recently. Thank you Polly. I will continue to benefit…
- [perspective is everything](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/perspective-is-everything/) - Wonderful words of wisdom, Polly! Perspective is everything – and choosing a liberating one blesses everyone, as you point out!
- [wish I had gotten this message 75 years ago](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/wish-i-had-gotten-this-message-75-years-ago/) - Wish I had gotten this message 75 years ago. It makes so much sense and would have saved me a lot of self criticism. I love your blog.
- [swirling universes](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/swirling-universes/) - I love your swirling universes, the spirals that draw one in and introduce us to ourselves.
- [I needed you today and you were there](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/i-needed-you-today-and-you-were-there/) - Polly, I needed you today and there you were and it was enough. Thank you for being a motivator.
- [wonderful and helpful](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/wonderful-and-helpful/) - This is absolutely wonderful and so helpful. Thank you dear Polly!
- [moving out of fear of covid](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/moving-out-of-fear-of-covid/) - This poem is what I needed to further focus on moving out of the fear of COVID.❤️
- [articulate book review](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/articulate-book-review/) - Thank you so much for this thoughtful, informative and articulate book review, Polly!
- [the blessing of community](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/the-blessing-of-community/) - I love your website, messages, poems and art. Thank you for the blessing of community that you provide.
- [a book I'd like to read](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/a-book-id-like-to-read/) - That definitely sounds like a book I’d like to read! Thanks Polly!
- [where does it end](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/where-does-it-end/) - These are awesome. You have such a gift for photography…and for pastels…and for cooking…and for finding interesting books…and, and, and. Where does it end?
- [all caps and exclamation points](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/all-caps-and-exclamation-points/) - I LOVE THIS BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- [all the ways you reveal good](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/all-the-ways-you-reveal-good/) - Thank you for sharing the joy of your trip with us. I feel blessed this morning to know you in all the ways you reveal good and magnify it.
- [enhance my days](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/enhance-my-days/) - I LOVE YOU!! You amuse-inspire-edify-entertain-inform-uplift-enhance-educate-color!-…my days!
- [Providing us](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/providing-us/) - Providing us with wonderful refreshment, enlightenment, peace, encouragement, joy, and a whole lot more. Thanks, Polly!
- [The Spirit at work](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/the-spirit-at-work/) - The Spirit at work is so well described here. In between the lines I read that our only true peace is in pleasing Our Creator! Thank you deeply, Polly!
- [slice of heaven](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/slice-of-heaven/) - What a stunning place! It is just a slice of heaven. Thank you for sharing its beauty.
- [We were wowed](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/we-were-wowed/) - Polly lets her spirituality into her art as you can see in the many abstract paintings she creates. We were wowed by her ability and her encouragement of others to express themselves artistically.
- [Capture the beauty of nature](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/capture-the-beauty-of-nature/) - You capture so vividly the beauty of nature. Thank you for bringing such beauty into my every day.
- [So beautiful I've shared it](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/so-beautiful-ive-shared-it/) - So beautiful and I have shared it with so many others. Thank you!
- [wonderful venture](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/wonderful-venture/) - Well Done! This is such a wonderful venture. Your work is just extraordinary!
- [such a joy in my inbox](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/such-a-joy-in-my-inbox/) - You are such an inspirational person Polly! I love everything you share with us – such a joy to have your daily input in my inbox! X x x
- [Love your blog](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/love-your-blog/) - I love your blog! I shared it with my mom, an artist, and she is impressed with your art. I’ve also spent time studying your paintings. Just listened to your interview, it was stellar! Thank you!!
- [Loved reading it](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/loved-reading-it/) - Thank you for this….I absolutely love reading it!
- [This is spectacular](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/this-is-spectacular/) - This is spectacular, Polly! I love it!
- [Brighten my life](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/brighten-my-life/) - You brighten my life with your thoughts, views, words, pictures….
- [You grow people](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/you-grow-people/) - I am one of your readers who definitely looks forward to a positive message from you every morning. You grow people.
- [You are who you are](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/you-are-who-you-are/) - Thank you for sharing this. Strange, nothing surprising here. You are who you are.
- [the balance between miracles and what I can do](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/the-balance-between-miracles-and-what-i-can-do/) - Polly always captures the balance between what I can do, and all the miracles I am given.
- [perfect corner of the internet](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/perfect-corner-of-the-internet/) - With its awesome art, recipes, book reviews, and really excellent writing, this blog is the perfect corner of the internet.
- [creative genius](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/creative-genius/) - Love the photos, as usual. You are a Creative Genius, Polly.
- [generously share](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/generously-share/) - I’m so grateful to be able to enjoy all you so generously share on your blog, the colorful photos, the recipes, the art works, the insights, the book reviews and so much more!
- [blessed beyond words](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/blessed-beyond-words/) - I have been blessed beyond words by your daily posts. I often quote you to others, saying I got the idea from a wonderful friend I’ve never actually met.
- [marvelously enriching](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/marvelously-enriching/) - Polly your blog is simply a marvelously enriching, thought provoking part of the daily wonders of life! I give thanks for you and the blog!
- [bright light](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/bright-light/) - Thank you very much, Polly. You are a bright light!
- [enriched and uplifted](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/enriched-and-uplifted/) - Without a doubt my life has been enriched and uplifted by my acquaintance with you through your blogs. Every day I look for the interesting ideas you amplify and the lovely arts you share with us. I am never disappointed.
- [fresh air, beauty and innovation](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/fresh-air-beauty-and-innovation/) - I appreciate your blog. It’s a breath of fresh air, beauty, and innovative thinking!
- [compelling essay](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/compelling-essay/) - This is so well thought out and written. Thank you for this compelling essay. I agree with you on all points, Polly.
- [Big treat](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/big-treat/) - The last day of the month on your blog is always a BIG treat . . . This morning I went from fasting to feasting . . .
- [Bits and Clips and Grace Notes are favorite](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/bits-and-clips-and-grace-notes-are-favorite/) - I really enjoy reading your blog – but I have to say that your monthly ‘Bits and Clips’ posts and your ‘Grace Notes’ posts are my favorite :)
- [creativity at its best](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/creativity-at-its-best/) - Amazing, Polly! A wonderful example of seeing the possibilities…creativity at its best.
- [love photos](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/love-photos/) - I just love your photos, Polly. Whether it’s food or art or nature . . . They are always so beautiful and interesting and full of life !
- [beautiful heart](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/beautiful-heart-2/) - This couldn’t possibly be more perfect, – so reassuring, and so fully expresses in every way what we all are praying for. Thank you for your a beautiful heart and generous giving of it!!
- [poem painting incredible](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/poem-painting-incredible/) - Love the poem so so much and the first painting with the trees is INCREDIBLE!!
- [](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/80564/) - Well done Polly, I love your book reviews! Please carry on the good work of guiding our book choices.
- [the beauty of patience](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/the-beauty-of-patience/) - So beautiful, Polly. Thank you for spelling out – through such artful means – the beauty of patience.
- [powerful and thought provoking](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/powerful-and-thought-provoking/) - Thank you for writing this opinion so eloquently, Polly. You have addressed many nuances that I have been espousing for years, and your words are powerful and thought-provoking.
- [sharing wise words](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/sharing-wise-words/) - Thank you Polly for sharing those wise words! I heartily agree with them all now I have a bigger perspective on life.
- [zest for good makes happy](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/zest-for-good-makes-happy/) - Your zest for the good things in life makes me feel happy too!
- [feels right and light and fun](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/feels-right-and-light-and-fun/) - Thank you for revealing this idea you’ve been following. I can tell when an angel has tapped me on the shoulder–it feels light and right and fun.
- [oh how I love this](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/oh-how-i-love-this/) - Oh how I love this! Thank you, thank you!
- [positive thoughts and love](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/positive-thoughts-and-love/) - Thank you for your efforts. I look forward to your positive thoughts and love.
- [clear and coherent thinking](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/clear-and-coherent-thinking/) - Once again, you have come through for us with such clear and coherent thinking and put into words the feelings in our hearts.
- [speak out for Truth and Justice](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/speak-out-for-truth-and-justice/) - What a breath of fresh air!! Thank you for your honesty, integrity and willingness to speak out for Truth and Justice!!!
- [hearth and home](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/hearth-and-home/) - I read and feel the security of the hearth and home. Many thanks...
- [poem empowers hope](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/poem-empowers-hope/) - Beautiful and profoundly perfect for pandemic season, your poem empowers hope for what’s next. I plan to read it at Sunday Devotional. Thank you!
- [Butter garlic lemon like a prayer](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/butter-garlic-lemon-like-a-prayer/) - Butter! Lemon! Garlic! It’s like a prayer!!!
- [undeniably important](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/undeniably-important/) - Thank you for bringing to light and sharing an undeniably important part of the one stupendous whole we all share…the countless ways beyond sight, and not to be missed, always at hand.
- [a lesson, a testimony, a love letter](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/a-lesson-a-testimony-a-love-letter/) - Your poem feels like a lesson, a treatment, and a love letter all rolled into one perfect package. Thank you, Polly.
- [speak volumes](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/speak-volumes/) - Deep and encompassing. Passionate and motherly. Loving and expansive. The photos speak volumes too…and I see the connections with the poem perfectly.
- [thanks for recommending book](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/thanks-for-recommending-book-2/) - I really enjoyed this book, thanks for recommending it.
- [color, texture, pattern](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/color-texture-pattern/) - Beautiful photos! All that color, texture & gorgeous pattern….
- [blessed on this Earth](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/blessed-on-this-earth/) - How blessed we are to have someone like you on this Earth.
- [vitality of city scenes](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/vitality-of-city-scenes/) - Gorgeous new work. I love the vitality of the city scenes and vibrant color palette.
- [eye and mind popping](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/eye-and-mind-popping/) - All of your work is eye and mind popping. I love it!
- [your slice of the world](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/your-slice-of-the-world/) - What a delight to experience the beauty of nature you shared of your slice of the world through these beautiful photos.
- [love your pastels!](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/love-your-pastels/) - Love your pastels!
- [authentic self come forth](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/authentic-self-come-forth/) - I love this poem! Letting our true, authentic self come forth! Yes!! Thank you for all the delightful imagery!
- [deeply nourishing poem](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/deeply-nourishing-poem/) - A wonderful poem Polly! Thank you. Deeply nourishing….
- [expanding ways to see](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/expanding-ways-to-see/) - Thank you for expanding my ways to see, Polly.
- [poem to lift thought to healing](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/poem-to-lift-thought-to-healing/) - I love this poem, Polly, and I shall read it often! I feel sure it will help lift my thought to healing.
- [goals and priorities](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/goals-and-priorities/) - I find the ideas you share on your blog very encouraging in having a sense of order when it comes to goals and priorities.
- [inspired me to get back into](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/inspired-me-to-get-back-into/) - Your blog has inspired me to get back into painting, cooking, prayer and meditation.
- [zest for good](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/zest-for-good/) - Thanks, Polly! Your zest for the good things in life makes me feel happy too!
- [soul-inspired insights](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/soul-inspired-insights/) - What lovely Soul-inspired insights! Thank you for these great ideas!
- [love of nature appreciated](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/love-of-nature-appreciated/) - Your inspiration and love of nature is appreciated!
- [generosity overflowing](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/generosity-overflowing/) - Thank you for your generosity and your overflowing sense of soul which you share so beautifully and articulately with everyone!!
- [reaches deep into my soul](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/reaches-deep-into-my-soul/) - Oh my goodness Polly, this is absolutely magnificent and reaches so far deep into my soul.
- [love your work](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/love-your-work/) - This speaks to me. Love your work, Polly.
- [liked Animal magnetism poem](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/liked-animal-magnetism-poem/) - Really enjoyed your poem on Animal magnetism. Very clear truths. Thank you. Your vibrant art work is superb.
- [best explanations of God](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/best-explanations-of-god/) - This is one of the BEST explanations of one’s understanding of God I have seen in a long time. The image paired with the text was spot on!
- [Resolve to flagging spirits](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/resolve-to-flagging-spirits/) - Your multiple images and vocabulary choices give energy and renewed resolve to flagging spirits. Thank you for sharing.
- [timely insight](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/timely-insight/) - Polly, what amazing and timely insight in these wise words! Thanks for sharing this wisdom.
- [Daily dose](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/daily-dose/) - This blog is a daily dose from an spiritually-oriented, artist, thinker, sage.
- [every way to be blessed](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/every-way-to-be-blessed/) - I think you have covered absolutely every way anyone would wish to be blessed
- [Gift from God](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/gift-from-god/) - Today’s post was a Gift from God. Opening your email this morning truly lifted my Spirit. Thank you.
- [absolute awe](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/absolute-awe/) - Oh my gosh how did you know I needed this today? I am in absolute awe of your thorough and articulate way you describe how all of this works.
- [commitment to reality](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/commitment-to-reality/) - Thank you for your commitment to reality and our true nature!
- [recommended in turn](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/recommended-in-turn/) - Thanks so much for this recommendation Polly. We watched in awe … and have recommended in turn.
- [happier because of you](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/happier-because-of-you/) - Polly….I’m happier because of you; I sure do thank you.
- [shining light](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/shining-light/) - Yes indeed! You are a shining light and you are definitely using all your wonderful talents
- [whatever form they take](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/whatever-form-they-take/) - Thank you for all your uplifting daily contributions, wherever form they take – photos, recipes, artwork, book reviews and smiley faces!
- [keep sharing these pages](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/keep-sharing-these-pages/) - Polly, please keep sharing these pages! I love seeing them. You inspired me to do the same thing.
- [closer to fall](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/closer-to-fall/) - I love the photos – such a gift which makes me feel closer to Fall, my favorite season.
- [colours in autumn sunshine](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/colours-in-autumn-sunshine/) - Wow! Love the abundance of exotic shapes and colours in the Autumn sunshine!
- [spiritual path through nature](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/spiritual-path-through-nature/) - I must find the higher spiritual path that nature often helps me see. Thank you for this beautiful poem.
- [Illuminating clear thoughts](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/illuminating-clear-thoughts/) - Illuminating thoughts, thank you for sharing them. Very clear.
- [today you are on top](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/76967/) - I enjoy your blog so much. But today you are on top. Every thought you expressed so lovingly…. some very funny but always with love. Thank you for all you bring to so many .
- [can't wait to try recipe](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/cant-wait-to-try-recipe/) - Wow!! I cannot wait to try this recipe! Thank you!
- [strong art work](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/strong-art-work/) - Thanks for your strong, bright and clear art work!
- [well thought out essay](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/well-thought-out-essay/) - I am touched by this well thought out, well written essay. You have put into words what so many of us have in our minds and hearts. Thank you!
- [Saying what needs to be said](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/saying-what-needs-to-be-said/) - Thank you for Saying So Well What Needs To Be SAID! Hoping others can/will read this...
- [beautiful wake up call](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/beautiful-wake-up-call/) - Thank you for sharing this quote. It is very appropriate for our times. A beautiful wake up call to change our thinking and focus on what is real and true.
- [What thousands think](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/what-thousands-think/) - Thank you so.much, Polly. It says with abundant clarity what thousands upon thousands of thoughtful men and women think and believe. I appreciate you!!
- [hydrangeas as special](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/hydrangeas-as-special/) - Thank you for bringing your hydrangeas into my home via the internet. Other flowers are lovely too, but hydrangeas are SPECIAL.
- [art thrilling blog a delight](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/art-thrilling-blog-a-delight/) - Your art is thrilling. Your blogs are a delight.
- [happy to have your blog in my life](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/happy-to-have-your-blog-in-my-life/) - Lovely Polly! You are an inspiration! I am so happy to have your blog in my life!
- [movie reviews appreciated](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/movie-reviews-appreciated/) - I always appreciate your reviews. Our fave film in 2019 was The Green Book – which we watched following your recommendation.
- [dissolve powerless baseless lies](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/dissolve-powerless-baseless-lies/) - This is a beautiful summary and reminder of how we can both individually and collectively dissolve the powerless, baseless lies with Truth. Thank you, Polly!!
- [spirited and inspirational](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/spirited-and-inspirational/) - Your work is always spirited and inspirational.
- [dynamite and very helpful](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/dynamite-and-very-helpful/) - Love your blog. Today’s is dynamite and very helpful to viewing our role as individuals at this time.
- [I will refer to it often](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/i-will-refer-to-it-often/) - Polly this is absolutely exquisite and so inspiring. I will refer to it often.
- [transparency of love](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/74106/) - Thank you for your transparency of love, your generous sharing of what you are pondering and doing.
- [a gem](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/a-gem/) - You are such a gem Polly- it is an incredible blessing to daily read your blog!
- [spreading positivity](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/spreading-positivity/) - Hi Polly, loved this poem. It radiates hope and feeling of calmness. I am glad I came across these beautiful words. Keep posting similar reads and spreading positivity.
- [opening my eyes to wonders](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/opening-my-eyes-to-wonders/) - I’m grateful for you opening my eyes to the wonders that surround us.
- [out-pouring of love](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/out-pouring-of-love/) - Thank you sincerely for your joyful out-pouring of love, light, color, comforting, inspiring words…
- [A powerful message](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/a-powerful-message/) - A powerful message. Thank you for getting it out there.
- [passing along wise words](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/passing-along-wise-words/) - Thank you for passing along such wise words.
- [blog doing its bit in a dreadful time](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/blog-doing-its-bit-in-a-dreadful-time/) - Polly, your wonderful blog is doing more than its bit in this dreadful time. Thanks, and keep on keeping on!
- [article on supply](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/article-on-supply/) - Thank you Polly for this article on supply! I cherish the healing thoughts therein very much, and they are very helpful.
- [specific ideas](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/specific-ideas/) - Very helpful in these seemingly uncertain times. I found a couple of specific ideas expressed here that apply to a specific situation in my life. Thank you!
- [out did yourself with bits and clips](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/out-did-yourself-with-bits-and-clips/) - Wow, you outdid yourself this month with your Bits and Clips. It was a wonderful mix of beauty, humor, and thoughtfulness.
- [tomato tart just perfect](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/tomato-tart-just-perfect/) - I did your tomato tart a few days ago, and it was fabulous! I am vegetarian and look for meals I can make that have lots of flavor. Your tart was just perfect!
- [platform for listening and learning](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/platform-for-listening-and-learning/) - Thank you for using this platform to share these references for listening & learning. Now the work required to make a lasting change is up to each of us! ❤️
- [warms the heart](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/warms-the-heart/) - These photos are so wonderful, it really warms the heart.
- [wow super powerful](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/wow-super-powerful/) - Wow, super powerful and definitely what I needed to hear today.
- [fantastic article](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/fantastic-article/) - This is a fantastic article Polly…so much in it, I know I’ll have to re read it at least twice more!
- [clear thinker](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/clear-thinker/) - Thank you Polly–you are always such a clear thinker and always willing to share your God-given gifts.
- [permission to read](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/74087/) - Your reading challenge has inspired me and given me permission to read again, as previously I had just fitted reading round everything else. Now it is a legitimate activity in my life and I am enjoying it immensely!
- [Life the way it is meant to be](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/life-the-way-it-is-meant-to-be/) - Polly, you are a whiz at living life the way it’s meant to be. I’m fascinated by all you do!
- [this has needed to be said](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/this-has-needed-to-be-said/) - Thank you Polly!! This has needed to be said for a while!
- [seeds to sow in world thought](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/seeds-to-sow-in-world-thought/) - Thank you for your ultra positive, upbeat, cheering and cheerful expressions in so many forms. What great seeds to sow in world thought!
- [computers this beautiful](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/computers-this-beautiful/) - I never before found computers this beautiful….
- [flavor triggers](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/flavor-triggers/) - Yes, lots of good flavor triggers in there. I printed it out and will try it. Thanks so much!
- [such an active life](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/such-an-active-life/) - I love that you live such an active life, have so many interests, and share your insights with me. Your blog is like a conversation with a dear friend.
- [like a gift to unwrap](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/like-a-gift-to-unwrap/) - I look forward to your messages each day, like a delightful gift to unwrap.
- [Thank you for your insight](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/thank-you-for-your-insight/) - Thank you so much for this wonderful insight! You put into words what I have been grappling with for a long time. This is just what I needed today.
- [captures my sentiments exactly](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/captures-my-sentiments-exactly/) - Beautifully written, Polly … captures my sentiments exactly.❤️
- [thanks for recommending book](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/thanks-for-recommending-book/) - I have just started this book and am really loving it! Thank you so much for recommending it.
- [some marvelous work](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/some-marvelous-work/) - WOW! Polly! Some truly marvelous work there!!!
- [uplifting and inspiring painting](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/uplifting-and-inspiring-painting/) - What an inspiring and uplifting painting. Thanks for sharing your inspiration with the world!
- [I needed those fresh images](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/i-needed-those-fresh-images/) - Beautiful photos. It is uplifting and energizing to see such bright, cheerful, healthy and fresh images. Thanks, I needed that!
- [fabulous fish tacos](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/fabulous-fish-tacos/) - I made your fabulous Fish Tacos and they were BEYOND delicious!!
- [delicious and simple](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/delicious-and-simple/) - Sounds delicious and simple! Two of my favorite adjectives!
- [Colors and strong contrasts](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/colors-and-strong-contrasts/) - Love these colours and the strong contrasts Polly!
- [so timely for what I'm thinking about](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/so-timely-for-what-im-thinking-about/) - Love this– actually so “timely” for what I have been thinking about lately.
- [thank you for flowers](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/thank-you-for-flowers/) - Glorious! Thank you for tending these lovely flowers together, and for posting on your blog, Polly.
- [carrots sexy](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/carrots-sexy/) - Wow…you have made carrots sexy!
- [you exude grace](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/you-exude-grace/) - Grace is a beautiful quality and you exude it in spades – thanks so much for all you do and are! You are a treasure!
- [my mother loves your nuggets](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/my-mother-loves-your-nuggets/) - My mother adores your blog and speaks to me often about what recent nugget you shared which she thought was wonderful!
- [demonstrating radiance of Soul](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/demonstrating-radiance-of-soul/) - Such a complete radiance of Soul you are demonstrating. I find it very inspiring!
- [Treasure troves](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/treasure-troves/) - Your posts are treasure troves of your beautiful and giving heart.
- [You are so sweet](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/you-are-so-sweet/) - You are so incredibly sweet, gracious, kind, thoughtful, creative, generous, joyful, witty, courageous, tender, persistent, compassionate, brilliant, articulate, ad infinitum!
- [reflection of Soul's endless creativity](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/reflection-of-souls-endless-creativity/) - Polly, your reflection of Soul's endless creativity is truly wonderful! Thank you for letting the divine shine through you so brightly!
- [our role](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/our-role/) - Love your blog. Today’s was dynamite, and very helpful for understanding our role as individuals at this time.
- [healing](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/healing/) - Yes, healing does happen when we deeply and humbly pray. Thanks for keeping that idea alive.
- [multilayered colors](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/full-bore-sharing/) - Your blog is full of the wonderful, multilayered colors and textures that you play with, and share so unselfishly with the world.
- [feast](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/you/) - This blog is upbeat, progressive, sincere, colorful, metaphoric, and exploratory. Such a rich feast!
- [courage humility](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/courage-humility/) - Way to go on your artistic journey. You show great courage, humility, and such support for everyone around you.
- [audacious](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/audacious/) - AUDACIOUSLY GORGEOUS!!!!! (:
- [share joy](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/share-joy/) - Thank you for the joy you share. I look forward to reading your posts!
- [a blessing](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/a-blessing/) - You show us how God's love shines in all things. You are a blessing!
- [relatable](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/relatable/) - Excellent post, dear Polly! Thanks!! There is lots that I relate to in your comments!
- [deeply resonates](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/69713/) - This blog deeply resonates while being beautiful, delicious, inspiring, and fun. Not easy to do!
- [serious and light](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/serious-and-light/) - This blog is simultaneously simple and profound– a perfect, balanced combination of seriousness and light.
- [plain wonderful](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/salute/) - You are ... just plain wonderful, Polly! Your blog is bursting with poetry, art, writings, love of God, family, friends, all things great and wonderful and good!
- [YOU #2](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/you-2/) - I am so happy to have found your site and to be able to enjoy your expression of Spirit! Love your poetry, your photos, your ideas, your ...YOU! THANK you for sharing so abundantly!
- [dear friend](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/dear-friend/) - I recently I recommended your blog to a friend saying, "She's like a dear friend, she just doesn't know me." Thank you for all the delight you add to my days!
- [honest and uplifting](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/honest-and-uplifting/) - Just beautiful, Polly. So honest and uplifting. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and the helpful ones of others.
- [powerful week](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/powerful-week/) - Thank you so much for your fantastic, soulful images– your photos really capture the love, joy, camaraderie, power, and intensity of the present moment.
- [salute](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/salute-2/) - I salute you! And I sure do thank you for inspiring me to greater efforts along all lines of life!
- [variety](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/variety/) - You are such an inspiring person, Polly, and I love the variety of your activities you share with us all! Thank you so much.
- [divine choreography](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/divine-choreography/) - The phrase 'divine choreography' is resonating with me. Bless you for sharing your inspiration with us all.
- [range of media](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/range-of-media/) - Absolutely stunning, Polly. I love the infinite range of ideas, expression, and media in this BIG blog of yours.
- [beautiful heart](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/beautiful-heart/) - What an incredible blessing and inspiration you are. Thank you so much for your beautiful heart!
- [helpful](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/helpful/) - This is absolutely beautiful and so incredibly helpful and inspiring! Thank you so much! ❤️
- [soul sharing](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/soul-sharing/) - I just adore all of your wonderful posts and everything that you share so generously. ????? You have a beautiful sense of soul that you share - it blesses me and so many!
- [precious](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/precious/) - This is absolutely magnificent. Bless your precious and beautiful soul for sharing this.
- [trip blog](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/trip-blog/) - I so enjoyed your trip blog. The outstanding photos and the amazing narratives made me feel I was on vacation for a few minutes each day.
- [keen](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/keen/) - Your eyes are keen and your photographs dynamic.
- [true answers](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/true-answers/) - I want to express my gratitude to you for such a well thought out essay. I found it quite enriching and resonate with those true answers.
- [armchair adventurer](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/armchair-adventurer/) - I for one want to thank you so much for writing this blog. I started about a year ago and look forward to reading it every day. I feel like an armchair adventurer...
- [receptivity](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/receptivity/) - Polly, I just love your spirit, innovativeness, receptivity to beauty and to God's goodness expressed. Thank you for your blog.
- [listening](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/listening/) - Thanks, Polly, for listening so carefully and sharing so selflessly.
- [appreciation](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/appreciation/) - You are an inspiration to me, and I'm sure to many others. With appreciation for all you do to magnify good!
- [garden plenty](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/garden-plenty/) - Loved your plein air painting, the pictures of the garden plenty -- oh wow. Love opening your blog each day -- it is a treat that I save sometimes.
- [springboard](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/springboard/) - I have to tell you that your spiritual to-do list was the springboard for a great talk with my older daughter. We are going to check on each other, and progress.
- [dessert](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/dessert/) - When I open my email in the morning I read all the have-to emails first; I save yours to read as dessert. Thanks, Polly!
- [awe](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/awe/) - WONDERFUL blog, Polly! Thank you for your spiritual calm, support for each of us, uninhibited creativity, and amazing paintings. I am just left in awe !
- [eyes pop](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/eyes-pop/) - Oh yum, Polly... These gorgeous photos made my mouth water and my eyes pop!
- [imparting](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/imparting/) - Your blog captures a life well lived, constantly imparting good– truth, health and happiness– including beauty, harmony, art, science to the world.
- [much loved](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/much-loved/) - Love your blog's colour and joyfulness and the inspiring leads, Polly. Easy to see why you are much loved. Thank you.
- [many insights](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/many-insights/) - Keep up the good work. You are an inspiration! I love reading your blog with it's many insights.
- [share generously](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/share-generously/) - Thank you for all the inspiration you share so generously. I am deeply grateful!
- [amazing role model](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/amazing-role-model/) - Love all you do and express. You're an amazing role model!!
- [positive](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/positive/) - Thank you for your burst of sunshine reflected in your positivity this morning... I look forward to your blogs.
- [great eye](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/great-eye/) - You have a great eye for beauty Polly. I love your blog.
- [beauty of Soul](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/beauty-of-soul/) - Thank you Polly for your radiant joy and embrace of each of us, wrapping us in your color and beauty of Soul.
- [strong bold](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/strong-bold/) - I enjoy your strong, bold artwork– there is so much going on in them that my imagination takes off. I really appreciate your blog. It brings joy every day.
- [unique style](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/unique-style/) - Your abstracts are interesting and you have a unique style that is all your own. Original, demonstrating individuality and confidence! I see joy and love expressed.
- [book challenge](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/book-challenge/) - I did your 52 books challenge, and loved the structure that it provided to my selections. Doing it again this year too!
- [wonder fan](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/wonder-fan/) - I loved this post! It gave me much to think about. Thank you for being such a beautiful and prolific source of inspiration. You are a wonder! I'm a fan!
- [intermost openly](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/intermost-openly/) - I am simply amazed at the wealth of beauty, soul, and experience. Love it. Love you! Thank You for sharing your innermost so openly.
- [light shine](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/light-shine/) - I feel the joy and love of the color and thought in all your work! You are letting your light shine.
- [outstanding](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/outstanding/) - You are terrific and amazing. In many outstanding ways.
- [expressions of Spirit](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/expressions-of-spirit/) - I have so enjoyed your recent posts– about your garden, your reflections about parenting, your vibrant artwork– so many wonderful expressions of Spirit.
- [magnificent](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/magnificent/) - Magnificent poem. How blest you are to be a poet, photographer, artist, metaphysician, all wrapped up into One.
- [favorite artist](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/favorite-artist/) - You are my favorite artist. I just have to say it. Your paintings make me so happy.
- [grateful](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/grateful/) - I feel such gratitude for the beautiful way in which you express God. Thanks for blessing my life and being such a shining light in the world!
- [silent reader](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/silent-reader/) - I am a silent regular reader of your daily blog, and I'm finally in touch to tell you how much I like it. I love it!
- [constant good thoughts](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/constant-good-thoughts/) - Thank you for the constant good thoughts and beautiful expressions of love and joy that you share on your blog.
- [feel your heart](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/feel-your-heart/) - I get so happy when I see your paintings. I really do. They bring me such joy. I feel your heart when I see them.
- [refreshing](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/refreshing/) - It is always refreshing to see the loves, joys, challenges, and triumphs that you share on your blog.
- [bolstering](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/bolstering/) - Your site is bolstering my creative thoughts. I need to put them into action.
- [lovely contributions](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/lovely-contributions/) - You encourage me to grow with your everyday wisdom and your lovely contributions.
- [interesting and insightful](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/interesting-and-insightful/) - Your blog is very interesting and insightful.
- [praising God with talents](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/praising-god-with-talents/) - You are doing so wonderfully at praising God with your talents.
- [goodness contentedness](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/goodness-contentedness/) - You inspire goodness, wholeness, contentedness and joy.
- [inspired](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/inspired/) - I truly love and am inspired by your blog, including capturing the beauty of life in the moment, teaching by example, taking time with children, and spirituality.
- [humor, honesty, color](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/humor-honesty-color/) - I love your coffee cake recipe, I have a book list from your blog, I love the photos, the poems, the paintings, the movie reviews, the humor, the honesty, the color.
- [totally enjoyable](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/totally-enjoyable/) - I wanted you to know that I found the time I spent on your blog to be relaxing, refreshing, inspiring, and totally enjoyable.
- [seat of your soul](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/seat-of-your-soul/) - Thanks for sharing from the seat of your soul with generosity and openness.
- [made me smile](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/made-me-smile/) - LOVE it. Made me smile while I was reading it.
- [brussels sprouts healing](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/brussels-sprouts-healing/) - The Brussels sprouts were an exceptionally BIG hit here.... could you direct me to more literature on spiritual healing?
- [hope for the world](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/hope-for-the-world/) - I just want to say that I have really been enjoying your blog! It gives me hope for the world...
- [mouth watering](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/mouth-watering/) - Polly, I am absolutely amazed. My mouth was watering! I'll be thinking about it all night...and tomorrow we will break out the paints!
- [filled to the brim](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/filled-to-the-brim/) - I have tremendous admiration for your strength, your depth, your compassion, your passion and your love. You are a woman deeply filled to the brim...
- [vivid](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/vivid/) - Your photos are so vivid and expressive and inspiring and artistic and alive!
- [Uplifting and enlightening](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/uplifting-and-enlightening/) - Your blog is uplifting and enlightening, and seems to speak to me just when I need it most.
- [beautiful spirit](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/beautiful-spirit/) - What a beautiful spirit you have, shining right through your source.
- [encouraging me](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/encouraging-me/) - Every day I look forward to your blog. It's encouraging me to find ways to express what God reveals in me.
- [universal love of beauty](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/universal-love-of-beauty/) - Thank you for sharing such a personal, and at the same time, universal, love of beauty.
- [colorful spiritual alive](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/colorful-spiritual-alive/) - Everything on your site is so colorful, spiritual and alive!
- [transparent way](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/transparent-way/) - Thank you for sharing yourself and creativity in such a transparent way, it is very inspiring and humbling to me.
- [incredible talent](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/incredible-talent/) - I am so totally impressed with your photography, poetry, and painting. Your talent is incredible!!!
- [Shining example](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/shining-example/) - What a fine piece! You certainly are a shining example....[it] was uplifting and instructive.
- [Enlightening](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/enlightening/) - Quite unforgettable. You truly have a way with words: warm; strong; inviting; enlightening; so substantive, and more.
- [God's Gift](https://pollycastor.com/testimonial/gods-gift/) - Putting the art of poetry, photography and painting into your hands is God's gift to us who get to read it and see it. Thanks.

## Categories

- [Art](https://pollycastor.com/category/art/)
- [Photography](https://pollycastor.com/category/photography/)
- [Spirituality](https://pollycastor.com/category/spirituality/)
- [Ideas](https://pollycastor.com/category/ideas/)
- [Books](https://pollycastor.com/category/books/)
- [Movies](https://pollycastor.com/category/movies/)
- [Food](https://pollycastor.com/category/food/)
- [Poetry](https://pollycastor.com/category/poetry/)
- [Hope](https://pollycastor.com/category/hope/)
- [Homeschooling](https://pollycastor.com/category/homeschooling/)

## Tags

- [Writing](https://pollycastor.com/tag/writing/)
- [black & white photographs](https://pollycastor.com/tag/black-white-photographs/)
- [New Pond Farm](https://pollycastor.com/tag/new-pond-farm/)
- [Connecticut CSA](https://pollycastor.com/tag/connecticut-csa/)
- [Box-a-day Art Journal](https://pollycastor.com/tag/box-a-day-art-journal/)
- [Church Flowers](https://pollycastor.com/tag/church-flowers/)
- [painting](https://pollycastor.com/tag/painting/)
- [Nature](https://pollycastor.com/tag/nature/)
- [book review](https://pollycastor.com/tag/book-review/)
- [pottery](https://pollycastor.com/tag/pottery/)
- [patience](https://pollycastor.com/tag/patience/)
- [Relationship with God](https://pollycastor.com/tag/relationship-with-god/)
- [life lessons](https://pollycastor.com/tag/life-lessons/)
- [water photography](https://pollycastor.com/tag/water-photography/)
- [spring](https://pollycastor.com/tag/spring/)
- [crocus](https://pollycastor.com/tag/crocus/)
- [seafood](https://pollycastor.com/tag/seafood/)
- [food politics](https://pollycastor.com/tag/food-politics/)
- [Flowers](https://pollycastor.com/tag/flowers/)
- [Recipes](https://pollycastor.com/tag/recipes/)
- [Family](https://pollycastor.com/tag/family/)
- [Roses](https://pollycastor.com/tag/roses/)
- [Amaryllis](https://pollycastor.com/tag/amaryllis/)
- [Weeping Cherry Tree](https://pollycastor.com/tag/weeping-cherry-tree/)
- [Sculpture](https://pollycastor.com/tag/sculpture/)
- [Huntington State Park](https://pollycastor.com/tag/huntington-state-park/)
- [reflections](https://pollycastor.com/tag/reflections/)
- [Tulips](https://pollycastor.com/tag/tulips/)
- [mixed media](https://pollycastor.com/tag/mixed-media/)
- [acrylic](https://pollycastor.com/tag/acrylic/)
- [Paintings](https://pollycastor.com/tag/paintings/)
- [Abstract Art](https://pollycastor.com/tag/abstract-art/)
- [5 Star Books](https://pollycastor.com/tag/5-star-books/)
- [Hollandia Nursery](https://pollycastor.com/tag/hollandia-nursery/)
- [Flowering Trees](https://pollycastor.com/tag/flowering-trees/)
- [metaphor](https://pollycastor.com/tag/metaphor/)
- [representational art](https://pollycastor.com/tag/representational-art/)
- [pastel](https://pollycastor.com/tag/pastel/)
- [movie review](https://pollycastor.com/tag/movie-review/)
- [Virtue](https://pollycastor.com/tag/virtue/)
- [Quotes](https://pollycastor.com/tag/quotes/)
- [Art by Others](https://pollycastor.com/tag/art-by-others/)
- [Salads](https://pollycastor.com/tag/salads/)
- [Doodles](https://pollycastor.com/tag/doodles/)
- [Oil Paintings](https://pollycastor.com/tag/oil-paintings/)
- [watercolor](https://pollycastor.com/tag/watercolor/)
- [Acrylic Paintings](https://pollycastor.com/tag/acrylic-paintings/)
- [Art Shows](https://pollycastor.com/tag/art-shows/)
- [Peonies](https://pollycastor.com/tag/peonies/)
- [poetry by others](https://pollycastor.com/tag/poetry-by-others/)
- [Hymns](https://pollycastor.com/tag/hymns/)
- [Movie Reviews](https://pollycastor.com/tag/movie-reviews/)
- [Chocolate](https://pollycastor.com/tag/chocolate/)
- [Essay](https://pollycastor.com/tag/essay/)
- [God](https://pollycastor.com/tag/god/)
- [Jesus](https://pollycastor.com/tag/jesus/)
- [Bible](https://pollycastor.com/tag/bible/)
- [Prayer](https://pollycastor.com/tag/prayer/)
- [Spiritual Healing](https://pollycastor.com/tag/spiritual-healing/)
- [Mary Baker Eddy](https://pollycastor.com/tag/mary-baker-eddy/)
- [creativity](https://pollycastor.com/tag/creativity/)
- [Theater](https://pollycastor.com/tag/theater/)
- [Abstract Landscapes](https://pollycastor.com/tag/abstract-landscapes/)
- [Featured Artists](https://pollycastor.com/tag/featured-artists/)
- [Four Star Movies](https://pollycastor.com/tag/four-star-movies/)
- [Holiday](https://pollycastor.com/tag/holiday/)
- [Restaurants](https://pollycastor.com/tag/restaurants/)
- [Special Occasions](https://pollycastor.com/tag/special-occasions/)
- [community](https://pollycastor.com/tag/community/)
- [Five Star Books](https://pollycastor.com/tag/five-star-books/)
- [Book Reviews](https://pollycastor.com/tag/book-reviews/)
- [Robotics](https://pollycastor.com/tag/robotics/)
- [representation art](https://pollycastor.com/tag/representation-art/)
- [Side Dish](https://pollycastor.com/tag/side-dish/)
- [Newspaper article](https://pollycastor.com/tag/newspaper-article/)
- [Christian Science](https://pollycastor.com/tag/christian-science/)
- [Four Star Books](https://pollycastor.com/tag/four-star-books/)
- [Art Books](https://pollycastor.com/tag/art-books/)
- [Travel](https://pollycastor.com/tag/travel/)
- [Main Dish](https://pollycastor.com/tag/main-dish/)
- [education](https://pollycastor.com/tag/education/)
- [parenting](https://pollycastor.com/tag/parenting/)
- [vegetarian](https://pollycastor.com/tag/vegetarian/)
- [Annapolis](https://pollycastor.com/tag/annapolis/)
- [Special Events](https://pollycastor.com/tag/special-events/)
- [Fiction](https://pollycastor.com/tag/fiction/)
- [5 Star Movies](https://pollycastor.com/tag/5-star-movies/)
- [Sunsets](https://pollycastor.com/tag/sunsets/)
- [Maine](https://pollycastor.com/tag/maine/)
- [Science](https://pollycastor.com/tag/science/)
- [Sustainability](https://pollycastor.com/tag/sustainability/)
- [homeschooling](https://pollycastor.com/tag/homeschooling-2/)
- [Irises](https://pollycastor.com/tag/irises/)
- [authenticity](https://pollycastor.com/tag/authenticity/)
- [Architecture](https://pollycastor.com/tag/architecture/)
- [Oil Painting](https://pollycastor.com/tag/oil-painting/)
- [Cars](https://pollycastor.com/tag/cars/)
- [Bits and Clips](https://pollycastor.com/tag/bits-and-clips/)
- [Summer](https://pollycastor.com/tag/summer/)
- [Organic food](https://pollycastor.com/tag/organic-food/)
- [sprouted flour](https://pollycastor.com/tag/sprouted-flour/)
- [Desserts](https://pollycastor.com/tag/desserts/)
- [children's books](https://pollycastor.com/tag/childrens-books/)
- [Newspaper Articles](https://pollycastor.com/tag/newspaper-articles/)
- [Christian Science Monitor](https://pollycastor.com/tag/christian-science-monitor/)
- [soup](https://pollycastor.com/tag/soup/)
- [snow](https://pollycastor.com/tag/snow/)
- [4 Star books](https://pollycastor.com/tag/4-star-books/)
- [dessert](https://pollycastor.com/tag/dessert/)
- [recipe](https://pollycastor.com/tag/recipe/)
- [Cookbooks](https://pollycastor.com/tag/cookbooks/)
- [creatures](https://pollycastor.com/tag/creatures/)
- [salad](https://pollycastor.com/tag/salad/)
- [Featured Artist](https://pollycastor.com/tag/featured-artist/)
- [Fun](https://pollycastor.com/tag/fun/)
- [Life Lesson](https://pollycastor.com/tag/life-lesson/)
- [5 Star Book](https://pollycastor.com/tag/5-star-book/)
- [Christ](https://pollycastor.com/tag/christ/)
- [essays](https://pollycastor.com/tag/essays/)
- [Amarillo](https://pollycastor.com/tag/amarillo/)
- [rocks](https://pollycastor.com/tag/rocks/)
- [acrylic painting](https://pollycastor.com/tag/acrylic-painting/)
- [peace](https://pollycastor.com/tag/peace/)
- [trust](https://pollycastor.com/tag/trust/)
- [gouache](https://pollycastor.com/tag/gouache/)
- [reformation](https://pollycastor.com/tag/reformation/)
- [Artist Journals](https://pollycastor.com/tag/artist-journals/)
- [Artist Journal](https://pollycastor.com/tag/artist-journal/)
- [4 Star book](https://pollycastor.com/tag/4-star-book/)
- [abundance](https://pollycastor.com/tag/abundance/)
- [Special Occasion](https://pollycastor.com/tag/special-occasion/)
- [non-fiction](https://pollycastor.com/tag/non-fiction/)
- [advice](https://pollycastor.com/tag/advice/)
- [spiring](https://pollycastor.com/tag/spiring/)
- [gratitude](https://pollycastor.com/tag/gratitude/)
- [happiness](https://pollycastor.com/tag/happiness/)
- [watercolors](https://pollycastor.com/tag/watercolors/)
- [Art Book](https://pollycastor.com/tag/art-book/)
- [abstract paintings](https://pollycastor.com/tag/abstract-paintings/)
- [Church](https://pollycastor.com/tag/church/)
- [Fall](https://pollycastor.com/tag/fall/)
- [Speical Occasions](https://pollycastor.com/tag/speical-occasions/)
- [Winter](https://pollycastor.com/tag/winter/)
- [4 Star Movie](https://pollycastor.com/tag/4-star-movie/)
- [4 Star Movies](https://pollycastor.com/tag/4-star-movies/)
- [Best Blog Posts of the Year](https://pollycastor.com/tag/best-blog-posts-of-the-year/)
- [Trees](https://pollycastor.com/tag/trees/)
- [Breakfast](https://pollycastor.com/tag/breakfast/)
- [Poetry by me](https://pollycastor.com/tag/poetry-by-me/)
- [Acrylic Art](https://pollycastor.com/tag/acrylic-art/)
- [Relationships](https://pollycastor.com/tag/relationships/)
- [Box-aDay Art Journal](https://pollycastor.com/tag/box-aday-art-journal/)
- [Christ Jesus](https://pollycastor.com/tag/christ-jesus/)
- [Life Learning](https://pollycastor.com/tag/life-learning/)
- [Non-iction](https://pollycastor.com/tag/non-iction/)
- [Abstract Lanndscapes](https://pollycastor.com/tag/abstract-lanndscapes/)
- [Childern's Books](https://pollycastor.com/tag/childerns-books/)
- [Comminuty](https://pollycastor.com/tag/comminuty/)
- [Christin Science](https://pollycastor.com/tag/christin-science/)
- [Main Dishes](https://pollycastor.com/tag/main-dishes/)
- [Life Lesons](https://pollycastor.com/tag/life-lesons/)
- [Featured Arttists](https://pollycastor.com/tag/featured-arttists/)
- [Creative Arts Camp](https://pollycastor.com/tag/creative-arts-camp/)
- [Homeshcooling](https://pollycastor.com/tag/homeshcooling/)
- [Relationship to God](https://pollycastor.com/tag/relationship-to-god/)
- [Digital Art](https://pollycastor.com/tag/digital-art/)
- [Collage](https://pollycastor.com/tag/collage/)
- [Connecticut](https://pollycastor.com/tag/connecticut/)
- [Shadows](https://pollycastor.com/tag/shadows/)
- [Water reflections](https://pollycastor.com/tag/water-reflections/)
- [Holidays](https://pollycastor.com/tag/holidays/)
- [Homleschooling](https://pollycastor.com/tag/homleschooling/)
- [Special Ocassions](https://pollycastor.com/tag/special-ocassions/)
- [Sustainaability](https://pollycastor.com/tag/sustainaability/)
- [Memoir](https://pollycastor.com/tag/memoir/)
- [Flowering Tress](https://pollycastor.com/tag/flowering-tress/)
- [Creativty](https://pollycastor.com/tag/creativty/)
- [People](https://pollycastor.com/tag/people/)
- [Chrisitan Science](https://pollycastor.com/tag/chrisitan-science/)
- [Drawing](https://pollycastor.com/tag/drawing/)
- [College](https://pollycastor.com/tag/college/)
- [Represntational Art](https://pollycastor.com/tag/represntational-art/)
- [Art by Other](https://pollycastor.com/tag/art-by-other/)
- [memoirs](https://pollycastor.com/tag/memoirs/)
- [Memes](https://pollycastor.com/tag/memes/)
- [Humor](https://pollycastor.com/tag/humor/)
- [Gardening](https://pollycastor.com/tag/gardening/)
- [Abstract Painting](https://pollycastor.com/tag/abstract-painting/)
- [Special Occassions](https://pollycastor.com/tag/special-occassions/)
- [5 Star Movie](https://pollycastor.com/tag/5-star-movie/)
- [Pastels](https://pollycastor.com/tag/pastels/)
- [sproutd flour](https://pollycastor.com/tag/sproutd-flour/)
- [Homeschooliong](https://pollycastor.com/tag/homeschooliong/)
- [Creative Art Camp](https://pollycastor.com/tag/creative-art-camp/)
- [Vegan](https://pollycastor.com/tag/vegan/)
- [Speical Occassions](https://pollycastor.com/tag/speical-occassions/)
- [Vegeterian](https://pollycastor.com/tag/vegeterian/)
- [Abstract Landscape](https://pollycastor.com/tag/abstract-landscape/)
- [Chrsitian Science](https://pollycastor.com/tag/chrsitian-science/)
- [spirituality](https://pollycastor.com/tag/spirituality/)
- [Sacramento](https://pollycastor.com/tag/sacramento/)
- [Newspaper Artilces](https://pollycastor.com/tag/newspaper-artilces/)
- [Newspaper Artciles](https://pollycastor.com/tag/newspaper-artciles/)
- [pen and ink](https://pollycastor.com/tag/pen-and-ink/)
- [Abatract Art](https://pollycastor.com/tag/abatract-art/)
- [Att by Others](https://pollycastor.com/tag/att-by-others/)
- [Mary Baker Edddy](https://pollycastor.com/tag/mary-baker-edddy/)
- [Black & White Photography](https://pollycastor.com/tag/black-white-photography/)
- [Holbrook Farm](https://pollycastor.com/tag/holbrook-farm/)
- [Floweres](https://pollycastor.com/tag/floweres/)
- [Realtionship with God](https://pollycastor.com/tag/realtionship-with-god/)
- [Gouaches](https://pollycastor.com/tag/gouaches/)
- [Arts Shows](https://pollycastor.com/tag/arts-shows/)
- [Plein Air painting](https://pollycastor.com/tag/plein-air-painting/)
- [Side Dishes](https://pollycastor.com/tag/side-dishes/)
- [Mindfulness](https://pollycastor.com/tag/mindfulness/)
- [Release](https://pollycastor.com/tag/release/)
- [Quote](https://pollycastor.com/tag/quote/)
- [Autheniticty](https://pollycastor.com/tag/autheniticty/)
- [gift idea](https://pollycastor.com/tag/gift-idea/)
- [Museums](https://pollycastor.com/tag/museums/)
- [Gift Ideas](https://pollycastor.com/tag/gift-ideas/)
- [From Blog Readers](https://pollycastor.com/tag/from-blog-readers/)
- [Reading Challenge](https://pollycastor.com/tag/reading-challenge/)
- [Monoprints](https://pollycastor.com/tag/monoprints/)
- [Qualities of Spirit](https://pollycastor.com/tag/qualities-of-spirit/)
- [Cook Books](https://pollycastor.com/tag/cook-books/)
- [Monoprint](https://pollycastor.com/tag/monoprint/)
- [Representational painting](https://pollycastor.com/tag/representational-painting/)
- [Artists Journals](https://pollycastor.com/tag/artists-journals/)
- [Movie Revies](https://pollycastor.com/tag/movie-revies/)
- [vehetarian](https://pollycastor.com/tag/vehetarian/)
- [Movoe Reviews](https://pollycastor.com/tag/movoe-reviews/)
- [water photographs](https://pollycastor.com/tag/water-photographs/)
- [Sunset](https://pollycastor.com/tag/sunset/)
- [Photography](https://pollycastor.com/tag/photography/)
- [Food](https://pollycastor.com/tag/food/)
- [garden](https://pollycastor.com/tag/garden/)
- [o](https://pollycastor.com/tag/o/)
- [Farmer's Market](https://pollycastor.com/tag/farmers-market/)
- [Christian](https://pollycastor.com/tag/christian/)
- [Reviews](https://pollycastor.com/tag/reviews/)
- [Acrylic Paint](https://pollycastor.com/tag/acrylic-paint/)
- [grateful](https://pollycastor.com/tag/grateful/)
- [clouds](https://pollycastor.com/tag/clouds/)
- [plein air](https://pollycastor.com/tag/plein-air/)
- [grace notes](https://pollycastor.com/tag/grace-notes/)
- [nonfiction](https://pollycastor.com/tag/nonfiction/)
- [#abstractlandscapes](https://pollycastor.com/tag/abstractlandscapes/)
- [Juniata](https://pollycastor.com/tag/juniata/)
- [New York City](https://pollycastor.com/tag/new-york-city/)
- [New York](https://pollycastor.com/tag/new-york/)
- [poem by me](https://pollycastor.com/tag/poem-by-me/)
- [novels](https://pollycastor.com/tag/novels/)
- [5 Star Book Reviews](https://pollycastor.com/tag/5-star-book-reviews/)
- [4 star book reviews](https://pollycastor.com/tag/4-star-book-reviews/)
- [representational paintings](https://pollycastor.com/tag/representational-paintings/)
- [Abstract landcapes](https://pollycastor.com/tag/abstract-landcapes/)
- [gratitide](https://pollycastor.com/tag/gratitide/)
- [Autumn](https://pollycastor.com/tag/autumn/)
- [vegetraian](https://pollycastor.com/tag/vegetraian/)
- [Prayer Nuggets](https://pollycastor.com/tag/prayer-nuggets/)
- [Deep Think](https://pollycastor.com/tag/deep-think/)
- [Whole30](https://pollycastor.com/tag/whole30/)
- [4 stars books](https://pollycastor.com/tag/4-stars-books/)
- [authencity](https://pollycastor.com/tag/authencity/)
- [teaching](https://pollycastor.com/tag/teaching/)
- [art museums](https://pollycastor.com/tag/art-museums/)
- [prayer nuggests](https://pollycastor.com/tag/prayer-nuggests/)
- [5star movies](https://pollycastor.com/tag/5star-movies/)
- [5 stars](https://pollycastor.com/tag/5-stars/)
- [Diary Reveal](https://pollycastor.com/tag/diary-reveal/)
- [Polly Preaching](https://pollycastor.com/tag/polly-preaching/)
- [Archives](https://pollycastor.com/tag/archives/)
- [landscape painting](https://pollycastor.com/tag/landscape-painting/)
- [educational](https://pollycastor.com/tag/educational/)
- [abstract Lanscapes](https://pollycastor.com/tag/abstract-lanscapes/)
- [organic produce](https://pollycastor.com/tag/organic-produce/)
- [art show](https://pollycastor.com/tag/art-show/)
- [cookbook](https://pollycastor.com/tag/cookbook/)
- [sea food](https://pollycastor.com/tag/sea-food/)
- [soups](https://pollycastor.com/tag/soups/)
- [weeping cherry trees](https://pollycastor.com/tag/weeping-cherry-trees/)
- [4 stars](https://pollycastor.com/tag/4-stars/)
- [spirituality and art](https://pollycastor.com/tag/spirituality-and-art/)
- [spirituality & art](https://pollycastor.com/tag/spirituality-art/)
- [food photography](https://pollycastor.com/tag/food-photography/)
- [Bible Lesson Journal](https://pollycastor.com/tag/bible-lesson-journal/)
- [Bible Lesson Jourmal](https://pollycastor.com/tag/bible-lesson-jourmal/)
- [quote by others](https://pollycastor.com/tag/quote-by-others/)
- [portraiture](https://pollycastor.com/tag/portraiture/)
- [graditude](https://pollycastor.com/tag/graditude/)
- [paintings by others](https://pollycastor.com/tag/paintings-by-others/)
- [sketchbook ideas](https://pollycastor.com/tag/sketchbook-ideas/)
- [advise](https://pollycastor.com/tag/advise/)
- [oil](https://pollycastor.com/tag/oil/)
- [sides](https://pollycastor.com/tag/sides/)
- [book challenge](https://pollycastor.com/tag/book-challenge/)
- [art journals](https://pollycastor.com/tag/art-journals/)
- [tree](https://pollycastor.com/tag/tree/)
- [Timelapse](https://pollycastor.com/tag/timelapse/)
- [painting by others](https://pollycastor.com/tag/painting-by-others/)
- [grid journaling](https://pollycastor.com/tag/grid-journaling/)
- [educarion](https://pollycastor.com/tag/educarion/)
- [Polly answers](https://pollycastor.com/tag/polly-answers/)
- [whole 30](https://pollycastor.com/tag/whole-30/)
- [4starbooks](https://pollycastor.com/tag/4starbooks/)
- [metaphors](https://pollycastor.com/tag/metaphors/)
- [Chirstian](https://pollycastor.com/tag/chirstian/)
- [life lesions](https://pollycastor.com/tag/life-lesions/)
- [4star books](https://pollycastor.com/tag/4star-books/)
- [5 star reviews](https://pollycastor.com/tag/5-star-reviews/)
- [process](https://pollycastor.com/tag/process/)
- [judging](https://pollycastor.com/tag/judging/)
- [Mane](https://pollycastor.com/tag/mane/)
- [Monhegan](https://pollycastor.com/tag/monhegan/)
- [Christian Sciemce](https://pollycastor.com/tag/christian-sciemce/)
- [ricks](https://pollycastor.com/tag/ricks/)
- [art but others](https://pollycastor.com/tag/art-but-others/)
- [spiritual shorts](https://pollycastor.com/tag/spiritual-shorts/)
- [special occastions](https://pollycastor.com/tag/special-occastions/)
- [4 star reads](https://pollycastor.com/tag/4-star-reads/)
- [grid journal](https://pollycastor.com/tag/grid-journal/)

## Gallery Categories

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