I would like to introduce myself

My name is Beth and I am The Mossy Maven.  
Maven is defined on Wikipedia as:
A trusted expert in a particular field, who seeks to pass knowledge onto others, one who understands based on an accumulation of knowledge.  
Well I have been described worse that is for sure.  The word maven is a perfect description of where I am today and describes the journey I am on today. 

Lots has happened or changed in the past year or so; for me it seems these changes have been the best and the worst experiences to date. 

I am in my 50th year, so it goes without saying that death of a parent is imminent.  My Dad was an amazing influence on who I am today.  He tempered my selfish side and fostered my over achieving tendencies.  He guided me through my athletic explorations and encouraged me to experience every opportunity that came my way.  He said, "travel now while you are young and don't have any responsibilities".  I took his advice and traveled the world.  He gently guided me with positive parenting advice, he said, "Beth you should probably seek out some parenting classes" when I shared I was pregnant at 22.  Yeah Dad you were right, glad I found the perfect cooperative preschool that offered parenting support.  My Dad passed last year and I think of him often and miss my dad's advice. 

My kids amaze me daily they are so successful and independent.  My daughter is an awesome mom of our 2 grandchildren, she is so lucky to be able to stay home and parent them thanks to the hard work of an amazing young man from Connecticut.  He loves his family and works hard to provide for them, very inspiring.  My son and his wife are career oriented and fun motivated people.  They live life to the fullest every day and it is exciting to hear where their next adventure will take them. 

 My coping mechanism was to create, man did I go crazy creating.  My medium of choice was concrete, it was cheap and I had some experience playing with it.  It fascinated me.  I
started by making concrete leaf castings.  I used rhubarb leaves and gunnera, then moved to smaller leaves like raspberry, hosta, ginko and anything else that offered great veins. I am constantly experimenting and the results keep me thinking it is Christmas every day.
This brings me to The Mossy Maven, I don't know where it will lead but I am going to follow the mossy trail.