Fall Time Update

I've been sick the past two (almost 3) weeks, the main bad part has passed but I'm left with a cough. It's very frustrating for me when I get sick, I like to stay active and have tons of projects I want to do. When I do get sick, it's usually longer than most people around me. I have asthma that thankfully doesn't give me asthma attacks, but it leaves me vulnerable to respiratory infections.
I tend to after a while being sick just try to pretend it isn't there and "work" it away. I don't know if it helps or makes it worse, but after 3 days of doing nothing I can't stand it anymore.

Our first frost is coming up soon (eventually, maybe) so I had to get some things planted I had bought. In the fall I always find really good deals on plants nurseries want to offload before the winter season. So between coughing and breaks I planted some elderberries, hydrangeas, an apple tree, a fig bush, and some arrowwood viburnum. I still have a witch hazel tree to plant.

I'm pretty burnt out on everything around here, but I want to push really hard as early as I can to plant things, build things, etc. It pays off in the long run when on year 2 or 3 you already see a tree fruiting or a bush making a beautiful border. I've waited so long to have a place I can make my own and I want to make my efforts count.

Aside from planting I have been trying to do more painting. I have been wanting to do more "real" pieces, but wonder sometimes if my sketchbook pieces are the real pieces.

I want to at least try and translate them to separate pieces of paper or make them larger. When they are all in a sketchbook they don't feel so real to me. But regardless, I just need to make more. I get so distracted with chores, farm projects, and youtube I make excuses not to make time for creating or doing other things I love. It's hard not to feel guilty, but I forget nobody is really holding me to some magical art making or horse riding quota but me.

A part of breaking out of my weird art block/avoidance cycle is rediscovering what I enjoy drawing. I made a list of 50 things I know I like and just pick something from that and slap it down. I've latched on to hound dog imagery, it has sparked a small creative burst. It reminds me of my dad, who used to go coonhound hunting as a kid. Our relationship has been fraught, but I can't deny I'm mostly like him. I think by analyzing him I can kind of study myself in a way. Idk, parents are weird.

Here are some fall moments around the farm