Melody Lorraine

When good blogs go bad....

2012-01-23T16:08:00.000-08:00

Grrrrr, Why is it I can't comment on my own comments? Bad blog... Bad. Grrrr grumble, grumble. So then, let me take just a moment to respond here.....
My tree Henry is a "Harry Lauder's Walking Stick" ~ I believe it IS in the Hazel tree family... and in the name of fairness and full disclosure, my husband took the very nice photo.
The only picture I know of with Mummy Cat's toes is this one..... I will have to get one of her in the daylight, so her pretty blue eyes don't glow red!

The snow WAS magical..... but now it's raining all over it out there!

That results in the much dreaded "Slush".... yukky is what slush is.....soaks into you shoes, progresses into your socks..... and results in cold wet toes.

And finally, I would like to thank you for your comments, I appreciate you dropping by to see me!

Hopefully, my friend Blogger will be better behaved tomorrow and allow me to comment!

Winter has come at last!

2012-01-22T15:47:00.000-08:00

Finally ~ it looks like winter in New England!

I won't complain that it has been warmish... because bitter cold is hard on all the little animals... but if it's going to be around 30 degrees, then it may as well snow; it's a lot prettier that way!

It's been a little quiet in here I know... We've been dealing with some REALLY sick kitty issues since before Christmas, so we've been laying low, crafting quietly and hanging out with the animals.

Yesterday, we finally got some snow!

I don't know about the rest of you, but we immediately saddle up the critters and go for a walk so we can better appreciate it! The reward is some happy tired dogs/or horse and a cup of hot chocolate for the humans! It was a spectalar snow fall, not a lot of wind ~ just fluffy, light snow falling all day!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, makes a girl smile.

Walking back towards home....

Marley

Marley, Kippy and Ava

Just get out of the way when the BIG dogs play!

The sun thru my favorite tree, Henry.

He loves running with the big dogs, and seldom stays on the porch!

A brief pause in the play time...

He was so sure he saw grass there..... where did it go???

I found this sketch unfinished.... and so i sat by the fire and colored it last night!

Snow balls... or should I say "toe balls"?

This is our little New Year's miracle.... Her name is Tess, technically ~ but around here we call her Mummy Cat. She was on "hospice".... the vet said there was nothing more to do... she couldn't breath properly, and no medicine was working... She even went for the"the ride"... the vet said she had some fight left in her, and to wait a little longer. So she came home from the ride... and after another very long week of her wheezing for air and not eating ~ she started eating, and breathing normal... and purring. She is 14+ years old... and I don't know how long her remarkable turn around will last, but we are so delighted she's decided to stay! You can't see them here, but she has the biggest blue eyes ever, and double paws on all four feet. *sigh. I love a story with a happy ending, every once in a while....

Stay tuned... more arts and crafts to come.... and soon I'll show you my new Etsy store! It has been created, now it needs some merchandise.... It WAS my project for the weekend, but I got tied up playing in the snow! :))))

Winter ~ Being Creative December 2011

2012-01-02T15:15:00.000-08:00

So this is the last Being Creative theme for the year... and it is Winter. Traditionally one of my favorite seasons! This year our winter has felt more like early spring temperature wise, but I guess we still have January and February, to maybe get a fleck of snow or go ice skating?
These aren't "done" technically.... but I rather like them in their present black and white state, so I decided to share them as they are now. When they are completed, I'll post an updated picture!!

All the fun things mice find to do in winter.... (inspired by the cover of Yankee Magazine!)

A little snowy farm scene. (as I hope the real one will one day look. )

And this is what you do when you come in from a day of playing in the fresh air and snow... Make a cup of hot chocolate, and have a well deserved rest!

So there you have it Winter as it is in the windmills of my mind!

I confess, I'm a little nervous about the new "loose" Being Creative format for the new year... without a "deadline' of sorts to motivate me along, and topic to point me in a direction....*gulp*
Looking forward to another year of Being Creative!

Happy 2012!

2012-01-02T14:56:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe a new year has begun already ~ but according to my brand new Susan Branch calendar it has! 2011 had it's ups and downs, but I guess when you sit back and think on it, most years do. Some years are worse than others, but even the bad times and sad times are as my wise Uncle says, "All part of life's colorful pagentry." I suppose all the struggle makes us stronger for getting thru it?

Hopefully, 2012 will be filled with bright and happy things for all of us. A new Etsy store perhaps? Finding homes for all the homeless animals who need someone to love them? New opportunities to meet the right people and get your art "out there" ? More craft fairs? Stealing more time to create and feed our souls with what makes us tick.

So as we embark on a new journey into 2012 ~ I wish you all good health and much happiness; and more time to do what you love, whatever that may be.

Resolutions you ask? Well... no, not exactly ~ I prefer to think of them as strong suggestions, that way I won't feel so bad if I fail.

1. Open Etsy store.

2. Create MORE!

3. GET ORGANIZED!

4. Take time to appreciate the little moments more.

We don't "dress" our animals... except for picture taking ~ this little hat (and scarf) were just too cute!
No comments are necessary on my finely styled morning hair .... just laugh quietly to yourself. :)

This one was taken by the Husband, that's the "spice cabinet" on the kitchen counter reflecting our fireplace in the living room... and the little card with the chickadee is from a special lady.

Marley and Kippy sharing the blanket...

Kippy trying to figure out what is so fascinating about cat nip???

I truly appreciate all your comments and the thoughts that you share and look forward to spending another year in Blogland with you! All the very best to you! :)))))))))

Christmas 2011

2011-12-24T09:36:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all Peace and Happiness this Christmas, and always.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Where does time go?

2011-12-04T16:27:00.000-08:00

I feel like I went missing in November? That's not very fun....but that's how November was, just not very fun.

Poor little Kippy's eye infection (all better and just about as good as new now), of course just about the time he was about to be cleared from the vet and not needing any more "check ups"... our neighbors dog tried to eat him. Back to the vet. The dog grabbed him right down over his back, so he had matching bite marks on both sides. One side was a nice inch wide tear, which is pretty big when you only weigh 9 pounds!

He's pretty cute even in a cone!

This is how you eat while wearing a lampshade on your head, in case anyone was wondering.

He was down right miserable for about 5 days... they don't stitch bite wounds, so every move he made moved his "wound". He even got a little sympathy from my boss, who tolerates his presence at work, but doesn't really appreciate him much. Kippy's much better now, the hole is almost closed up and he's as happy as ever. I guess living with 2 St Bernards toughened him up at a young age! :)))))

Our latest drama, saga, mishap was a phone call from our neighbors saying there was a wobbly, staggering skunk in the pen with Cricket the Wonder Pony.

NOT what you want to hear on a Wednesday afternoon, or really any time.

By the time Scott got home the neighbors had herded Cricket into the barn and the animal control woman, and a police officer had finished the skunk off with their version of a wild west show in our back yard.

The poor skunk tested positive for rabies ~ so now Cricket, despite being up to date on his rabies vaccine, is under "house arrest"....

See what I mean about just no fun at all? *sigh.

On a bright note, Cricket seems to have gotten over the shock of gun shots going off in his pen; and the goats have been moved into the back barn to keep him company! (at this point the goats are not quite sure they are down with this move, and crying piteously, but hopefull they will adjust in the days ahead.)

I have been working on my Christmas cards, and few projects for the holiday season; so at least there will be some fun stuff to share soon.

I'm sorry to have been so absent, but it was a mentally draining November to say the least.
I'm am going to do my very best to embrace December, because as my hubby reminded me the other day, "It IS the most wonderful time of the year" (he's funny, it's just hard to tell sometimes) :)

We'll see you again soon,... honest!

Cricket riding up front in the van!

Big cuddly boys.

See how good I am? I hypnotized him! "you're getting sleeeeepy..."

Big dog? Or small couch? Or both?

p.s. the new header picture is my first attempt at "pastels".... How did I do Julie? :))))

Being Creative ~ Vintage

2011-12-04T15:15:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome! Yes... so I'm running a little behind, and I'm not sure if picture taking is cheating?

No, it's not really.... I know it's not... but still.... It's feels like I'm cheating.

I went with my collection of "vintage" office supplies. I'm not sure how it started that I began collecting them, I guess maybe it's because I've worked in an office for so long?

And my Grandmother worked in a office (the ledger books and glasses were hers)... and my mother had a plumbing business with my father way back when, before I was born..

(the Paymaster Check writer was hers..)

So perhaps we are drawn to what we know best?

I promise I will "make" something more fun for the December theme, winter is a favorite of mine after all; even though so far it's been oddly warm around here....

Keep being creative!

just for fun....

2011-11-08T16:43:00.000-08:00

Ye Old Suitcases

2011-11-03T09:58:00.000-07:00

I have a great affection for all things old, well loved, and etched with the battle scars that only time and use can produce. Well traveled old suitcases are no exception!

I have recently acquired my 3rd vintage case. This beauty came complete with it's original travel stickers from far flung places! Of course it also came with the "old suitcase funk"... closed up boxes seem to be a breeding ground this sort of smell. Sort of a mix of mustyness and stagnant air that's been locked up for way too long. Worry not, it doesn't diminish my love for the suitcase.

(and be thankful you can't smell it from where you're sitting!)

It's a well built affair.... and quite heavy, even empty!
I guess if you get your initials on your luggage you don't have to worry if your baggage tag falls off!

Nope, didn't come with the key.

Too bad some of the stickers are beyond being read.

This one is my favorite, it has retained it's lovely colors!

And here's the trio....

This one belonged to an elderly neighbor... and came complete with a selection of retro scarves!

This one i found on the street on "garbage day", parked next to a trash barrel!
I have turned it into my traveling art studio.
paints, clay, fabric, pencils, flocking, glitter glue, thread...
There's a little of everything in there; you can never be to prepared for a crafting emergency!!
(there's also a packet of potpourri to combat the funk!)

I wish they could speak... and tell me where they've been ~ what they've seen.

So many unanswered questions in life... mysteries to be solved.... or at least partially unraveled...

I guess all I can do is love them for who they are today.

Being Creative, Fire

2011-10-31T06:08:00.000-07:00

“Firelight will not let you read fine stories but its warm and you wont see the dust on the floor."

Had to think about this one a minute....

I found fire tough to draw.... so I went with glitter!

It's twinkly in the right light...

I do love a fireplace to cuddle up beside.... which always draws a warm cat to your lap.

Oh for the love of dog...

2011-10-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

We are presently going thru a bit of dog drama with our little Kippy. He's gotten an infection in his eye, from what the vet is not sure ~ but long story short he can either recover, be blind or lose the eye completely. While the last two aren't great options, they are better options than losing the whole dog.

I guess when you lose a dog or two... too young, to things that can't be cured ~ a one eyed dog sounds pretty good. Our standards have lowered accordingly over the years, death is a tough teacher.

At present, the medicine he's taking has made him feel much better, and he's got his 'happy' back; and that's a couple of steps in the right direction!

I didn't want a third dog... and I didn't want a tiny dog.... and now I don't want anything to happen to him! My, my what a difference a year makes....

He has become a wonderful little friend, despite his small stature. He's been raised with love and the same strict set of rules as the big dogs ~ and he's a great little boy. He gets along with everyone; people, dogs, the horse, the cats... he does sometimes like to do a drive by on the 3 skittery chickens when they are out pecking around ~ simply for the joy of watching them scatter, but there's no malice... just a little twinkle of fun in his eye. He does like to have fun... and preferably at top speed!

So it is with dogs on my mind, that I'd like to share the following tribute, a favorite of mine since the first time I read it 20+ years ago... and it still gets me every time... anyone who has ever had occasion to love a dog should probably get a tissue now... to save time.

George Graham Vest

Tribute to the dog

George Graham Vest (1830-1904) served as U.S. Senator from Missouri from 1879 to 1903 and became one of the leading orators and debaters of his time. This delightful speech is from an earlier period in his life when he practiced law in a small Missouri town. It was given in court while representing a man who sued another for the killing of his dog. During the trial, Vest ignored the testimony, and when his turn came to present a summation to the jury, he made the following speech and won the case.

Gentlemen of the Jury: The best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us, may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads.

The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog. A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer. He will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings, and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.

If fortune drives the master forth, an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him, to guard him against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes his master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by the graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad, but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even in death.

George Graham Vest - c. 1855

This is me with my very first dog, Buffy Ruffles circa 1975

And then, many years later, I got to have a dog again!

Bonnie the crazy dog, 1990

Krystal when we were living in California, 1991 (She was Scott's dog when we met...)

Then I moved back to the East Coast, and Cheyenne was my free parting gift....a few years later, when we all reunited ~ we liked to play at the beach!

After we lost Cheyenne at 9..... Our handsome Luke came along.

My Luke at the farm, 2006

Then came the little fluff balls.....

Awwwwww, they were so little! February 2008

and then little Kippy.

Kippy, napping on his big sister Ava's tail, October of 2010

I leave you with this... another quote I came across just recently and enjoyed.

It came to me that every time I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart with them.

And every dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart.

If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be dog, and I will become

as generous and loving as they are.

Someplace in October

2011-10-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

Autumn may be creeping in slowly here.... but time seems to scurry off before I can even catch a glimpse of it! I must say I'm shocked it's past the middle of October. It seems like it was yesterday that I was taking these pictures; when in reality it was a MONTH ago already!

I feel like I've missed so much in Blogland.... it has just simply been a busy time, and I still can't seem to catch up! I attempted to get up to speed with all the posts I've missed on my favorite blogs, but it overwhelmed me! So I am taking a deep breath, and I'm going to go forward, and not glance back too much!

and now (drum roll)... I am going to share "yesterday's news" with you now.

Better than not at all right?

First we have the horse drawn wagon ride we went on.... It was a mobile history lesson on a farming community that was "removed" in the interest of progress and creating jobs, back in the late 1930's in a small Maine town. They had marked the sites where buildings, and people used to reside. All that is left today is foundations, old apple trees... and cemetaries. It was like a glimpse back in time, and hard to believe all that once was as you looked into the woods that have grown up in place of the fields and school houses that once dotted the landscape.

The horses were gorgeous, and the ride was great ~ if you've never been "off roading" in a wagon, you really should try it! (if that sort of thing appeals to you of course.... personally, I am HUGE fan!)

This was our team, Ben and Bill

After our wagon ride, we took our own mighty stead for a walk with the dogs. Down a rough trail thru the woods... we should have brought a picnic lunch, Cricket could have carried it!

We now have proof, it's true what they say, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink".
You can't.

This was a large stone in the middle of the trail... I looked down and there was a heart looking up at me!

This is my freind Finnigan O'Squeak

Here I am making apple turn overs.
Good thing he got a picture, even I hardly believe I baked something all on my own.

But look, there they are! I did, I did bake!

I spent a little more time creeping out of my comfort zone that week in September! I sewed the little hearts all on my own too! (recyclers rejoice; the fabric is left over scraps from the lovely banner my Mum made for our Fair booths!)
They are as tiny as they appear... the locket was a test for some "mini" art.... and the little tag was attached to an apple turnover we delivered to a friend. (she got a little heart too!)

It was a great week. We even went shopping a bit in some of the fun stores I love, and that was before we went to the Common Ground Fair! (I found out that I can get away a lot when I play the "it's my birthday, and I want to...." card...) (I highly recommend this tactic... very satisfying.)

Of course we are all back to reality now.... and have been for a while but it's nice to reminisce a bit!

I am currently working some Christmas card designs... and a fun fall design, just because... and I am also working on the October theme for Being Creative ~ which is FIRE.. I took me a minute to work out what I wanted to do for this one.... but I think I've got it now! You will have to wait patiently to see the results of course.... (If you are one of my poor deprived pen pals, you will have had lots of experience with the patience theory... and let me formally apologize for echoey silence in your mail boxes...)

I need to redesign my days some how, to make more "me" time... course it could be my life that's gone off kilter, and needs redesigning.... the days are the same still, 24 hours each, 7 per week...

I want more art, writing, reading and crafting in my world...and I also want to learn to bake and sew better (at least so it's not such a struggle, or remarkable that i made a little pie!), and a "store" on Etsy... or something like it, let's not forget that. *phewwww.

I think I've worn myself out.
I'll be seeing you around Blogland; and thanks so much for dropping in!!

Being Creative ~ September 2011 ~ "Autumn"

2011-10-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

*huff* *puff* *huff* puff*

Here I am!
My favorite month and my favorite time of year and look, I'm still running late!

This drawing sort of embodies all that I hold dear about Autumn...

It is my imaginary farm stand....

This was actually drawn in my sketchbook last fall and never finished....

So I outlined it, and copied it out of the book, and colored it finally!

As drawings go, I think it's a new favoriteof mine!

I think the rabbit is trotting off to make me an apple pie. Mmmmmmm

A Hare raising tale....

2011-09-08T16:50:00.000-07:00

As promised.... I thought it would be fun to chat about rabbits. (well, for me anyway...ha ha ) I notice everyone in Europe refers to "hares"... Here in New England we do have a Snow Shoe Hare (though i've never seen one in person, more a northern New England thing I guess?)... but down here, we have your basic Cottontail Rabbit... small and without the lanky legs; much more abundant in our area. We have a resident one who has been frequenting our yard since the spring... I suspect he or she probably knows what became of my strawberries....

I was told recently by a lovely friend, that I am "prone to rabbits". I never really thought about it like that... but I suppose perhaps I am. It looks like this started young, and has continued...

In the photo below, I am with my first rabbit, Hoppity. I was happy to find that my Mother had provided some information on the back of the photo.

Snappy pants huh?
I wonder if my finger is in his cage and if he bit it?

Yeah to people who take the time to write on photos so you know what's going on many years later!

Just a guess, but I"m thinking that this book (yes, I still have my childhood books..) is where the inspiration came from for the name... Apparently 3 years olds don't go for orginality. :)))

Hoppity, from what i recall didn't like being captured and put back in his cage... why would he I suppose... We had him for many years....and i think he started to think of it like game of keep away. Hiding in the rhubarb, and circling the shed, just out of reach waiting to see which way she was coming from next. I wonder if she still has scars from the scratches once she got hold of him....

Here we are gardening together.....

These are amoung my favorite things...
The one on the left is of course brandy new to the rabbit fleet, he has no name yet.
Beside him is "blue bunny" ~ found all alone on the floor at the "Bargineer" (a discount store back in the 1970's) when I was probably a 5, 6, 7 ? He's been with me a long time....
Next we have "Pewter Rabbit".... he was purchased from the Thornton Burgess Museum in Sandwich, MA ... he came along a few years after Blue Bunny.
and beside him is "Peter". He is from the National Trust shop at Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's house in England. He is fairly new in the scheme of things, 1998 ~ but treasured none the less. :))))

And this is from this summer. My beautiful sweet Sophie.
I am reading about Beatrix Potter, and as you can see she is enthralled with the story.
(the cage and the fencing save the chasing and the scratching...:))))

Of course we have lots of other creatures now... including a new mouse named Finnigan O'Squeak. (I am a bit prone to mice also... but that's a story for some other day....)

There is just something about the rabbits I guess.

They inspire art in the form of drawings as well as clay... and now in silver....

We certainly don't need any more rabbits, or any more anything for that matter... but I still look every year in the 4-H tent at the Common Ground Fair; just in case there is a big, soft golden colored rabbit there...

a modern day Hoppity perhaps?

Foray into Silver 'Art Clay'

2011-09-07T08:31:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to try "silver clay" for a while now.... It is (from what I have read), 99% silver, in some sort of binder that makes it look and act like clay. It reminded me of "paperclay" when working with it... it starts to dry in the wink of an eye and if you add water to "rehydrate it" a bit, it turns to smoosh!

I found it very stressful to work with, not physically, but mentally.

It's sold by the gram, and I had to mortgage a small dog to get a miniscule amount of the stuff.

It's not like you can say, this isn't going well.... I don't want to play anymore when you have $5.00 worth of clay under your finger nails alone!

So... here we go.

This is what I made, they look just like paper clay right?
What you see there used about half of my 10 grams.
(For those of you not in the US, a dime is 17.91 mm across, or .705 of an inch.)
(* measurements according to wikipedia, I'm not really that smart....)

The directions said to make sure the clay was dry before "firing" it. Apparently, if it's not completely dry, you run the risk of it exploding ~ and sending metal bits flying about the place...Didn't sound like much fun. So they sat in my oven for 24 hours. (it's got a pilot light always going that keeps the oven at a gentle 100 degrees or so. (may I note that when we loose power for some reason ~ the oven still works, unlike those stoves with electronic ignition, which is why i insisted on going "old school"....*cough* but i digresss) Once dry (it was noticibly heavier when dry), the stainless steel mesh was put directly on the gas stove burner.

It burns the binder off, and makes a small flame for a few seconds..and then i sort of waited and watched. It said that it would glow a peachy orange from the inside... and when i saw that glow to start timing my "firing". (When I use the other half of the package I will be firing it at night, with the lights off. Daylight makes it near impossible to see the glow or lack there of.) It said you couldn't fire it too long (unless it started to sweat or melt...) so I just waited... after what seemed like forever, I could see it start to look almost gray (like a charcoal briquette)... and sense a glow. When I couldn't stand it anymore, and my face felt sun burned from my near constant inspections of it's glow... I shut the stove off, and this is what I had.

It looks just like it did when I started? Where the heck is the silver???

Then the bunny when on the hot seat....
Same drill; much waiting and more watching; the bunny was bigger and thicker.

So there they are, in their shiny splendor!

As you can see, I found the silver. You have to use sandpaper, or a wire brush of some sort to remove the white clay residue (or whatever it is).... and then I used my silver jewelry polishing cloth to make them shiny. I can see now how making them smoother to begin with would be helpful.

Teeny little heart! Lopsided, just like I like them!!

And the bunny, nestled into a blossom of my lovely Geranium!

I am ridiculously proud of them.... and I don't usually say I'm proud of much I do...

But it is just SO COOOOL that I made a little silver rabbit.

He's not perfect, but who is?

I know his ears are a bit wonky.. and his feet are a bit small; but he mostly looks like a baby bunny right?

Next post we can chat about all rabbits ~ both real and imaginary....

Being Creative ~ "Travel"

2011-09-02T07:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome back!

The theme for Being Creative, for August was Travel.

Our little friend here is at the Parker Mills. station in Wareham.
A leather suitcase in hand, worn a bit from all the places it's seen... she's heading to the station at dusk for a night time ride thru sleeping villages and dark woods in south eastern Massachusetts.
Once on the train, she will traveled to Boston on the Old Colony Railroad, and then on to Portland, Maine on the Maine Central Rail Road~ to Burnham Junction. From there she will get on the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railway to get to her final destination; a small farm, in a small town in the hills of Maine.

It will probably will be a long ride.

Not to worry, she's brought along a good book.

Had I been around in the early 1900's, this tiny little station would have been at the rail road crossing near our home. The train still goes by, but it no longer carries passengers, only trash on its way to be incinerated.

The little station is long, long gone.

I like the "romance" of travel... I like the planning and the dreaming. I imagine going across bits of Europe on a train... not one of the new rocket fast trains... an old fashioned train with character and charm.

I harken back to our two trips across the pond... it seems like a million years ago.

With our "zoo" now a days.... real travel has lost a bit of its appeal. The reality of having to leave our furry/feathery/finned family sort of clouds the thoughts.

So I travel in my mind.... and from my corner of the couch, watching to see where Rick Steves and the "Globe Trekkers" take me next...

Sometimes i get out my collection of Beatrix Potter books and head off to the Lake District.

I also travel via my wonderful Pen Friends, and all the great Blogger Girls I have the pleasure of meeting here in BlogLand!

Trying to catch up!

2011-08-31T06:40:00.000-07:00

Where does time go? I really need to know how I can get behind with so much, so often? I can't even keep up with reading my favorite blogs lately? Of course if I stopped adding more to my blog roll that might help... but it's not likely; I might miss something really good out there is the blogosphere!
I think the best thing would be for the addition of a few more hours in each day. I'd like to start this retoroactive to June 1st. Wonder who I speak to about that.....???
Let's get caught up on the month of August shall we?

He's saying fair # 2 !! :))

We'll go back to the middle of August. This is where fair number two takes place. The Rochester Country Fair was on Sunday, August 21st and we were there! (I was MUCH calmer mentally with this one.) We once again did sell a few things, and thanks to the heavy buckets of cat litter (new/clean) lashed to the legs of our tent, it didn't blow away in the wind ~ lucky, it WAS a windy day! Nice people, nice atmosphere ~ much more "fair" like. They didn't have much in the way of animals (though there were a few greyhounds from a rescue group ~ beautiful animals!) ~ but they make up for the lack of animals in tractors of every shape and size and they have a parade with them!

I love it that woman drive big tractors!

If you squint behind the tractor line up, you can see our tent!

This one was retrofitted with wings and a gun ~ driven by Snoopy, I mean the Red Baron!

A VERY large woodchuck.....in shorts.

Center of operations for M&S Creations!

and our view out across was the bee keepers tent!

A windblown me!

Chain saw carver guy....

This was my favorite one! They were raffled off at the end of the day; sadly i didn't win him. :(

And then in more recent news.... we had a visit from "Irene". If t

Now normally I like a nice stormy day to hunker in at home and do "inside" things.

It was NOT nice at all... While we got no rain from this weather event, we more than made up for it with wind. We had waves and white caps in the river out front. The direction of the wind sent it straight up the river. Our poor tree just couldn't take it. The first "arm" that broke off landed in the new neighbors yard. It settled down amoungst his fleet of small boats he had parked there, neatly slicing one of them in half.

It did miss his antique car however.

Then the willow tree on his own lawn broke off... and covered the rest of his front yard.

He emerged out onto his front steps, bathrobe flapping in the howling wind and said,

"I guess it's "gone with the wind".....

This is what's left of what was about a 100' tall tree.... and over the fence you can see the remains of the willow tree.

You can make out one of boats there.... That's the husband weilding his chain saw. Chainsaws seem to be a theme this post.... though i haven't seen him make anything that resembles a big green worm yet...

Two baby squirrels were also rendered homeless in the willow tree crash. The neighbor is now running a squirrel nursery, in addition to woodlot if anyone has need of either.

All and all we were lucky. The death toll for the "Tropical Storm Irene" is up to 44 souls, and it seems a lot of Vermont has literally been washed away... ~ and there are STILL hundreds of thousands of people without power... they are hoping it will all be restored by this coming Monday. That's a long time in this modern world without electric, and for anyone with a private well, in many case this means no water either.
August has had it's ups and downs...

Let's see what September brings.... it's my favorite month.

Coming soon to a blog near you; the "travel" theme for Being Creative!

Stay tuned!

Summer continues.

2011-08-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

I have no new art to share at the moment... so why don't we wander around a bit and see what's been going on here!

Our little Kippy turned a year old on August 9th!

The tea is for us... in case you were concerned. ;)

Ava seems to have one too many treats...

In the great outdoors... we have our little duck friend. She has an injured leg, but she still manages to get around pretty well... She had a boyfriend who was very attentive and protected her from all the other males vying for her attentions this spring. Sadly he's not been seen in weeks...
She's very shy.... so we have to leave the food and walk away.
This was taken from across the yard, zoomed in. :))

She flies in one or twice a day and we treat her like a Queen (as you can see she's holding court with the sparrows).

We had a big storm cloud move in one night last week....

Complete with lightening and rumblings from the north.

Isnt' that a beautiful color blue?

But when you turned around, the sky was clear and sporting a soon to be full Sturgeon Moon!
Oddly we never got one drop of rain that night....

but a few days later.....

Cricket.... after a bit of head scratching, came to a new conclusion about rain.

Smart horses stand inside when it rains.

Other than that... not a lot of news to report at present.

It was only 64 degrees this morning... almost had a hint of "fall" in the air....

Being Creative ~ Summer !

2011-08-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

Brandy new art for the Summer theme!

My favorite summer treats, and theirs too I say!

Fairy house in the garden.... so far no fairy footprints....

Flora and Lucy Rat going on a joy ride!

Eary stages of bloom!

Happy toes in my FAVORITE flops!

Mmmmmmmm, ice cream!

Volunteer sweet peas!

Burger anyone?

Mornings…

2011-07-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

This time of year the morning is still dark at 4:30… and for the most part enveloped in quiet. The light creeps up slowly from over the little hill behind our house… until the back yard slowly comes into focus. For a short time between dark and light, it almost appears to glow softly. The birds start to chirp; I rather imagine them yawning a stretching out their wings someplace inside the shrubs. Were we not the caretakers for so many, I would like to stand outside with a steaming hot cup of tea and watch the spectacle of morning unfold. Instead I keep half watch out the kitchen window while getting breakfast for everyone. It’s only when all the creatures great and small have what they need that I can eventually settle into a cup of tea… and by then dawn has officially broken and the quiet has turned to the sounds that come with daylight.

I’ve never been a “morning person”. That being said, I do like them; I just don’t want to have to talk. I like to shuffle around silently doing what needs doing, and work into the talking bit gradually. Of course growing up living with my effervescent, cheerful Mother this was not to be. She wakes up happy, while I simply wake up and am satisfied with that. Some of my most vivid childhood memories are filled with her endless, happy prattle about breakfast, and all its wonderment. Meanwhile… I was literally curled in a ball inside my robe propped in the corner on my chair mumbling. She, on the other hand was delightedly pushing a toasted English muffin under my nose, telling me about how beautiful and lovely it was… with the butter melted into the nooks and crannies… This was usually followed by a lengthy speech extolling the virtues of the prettiest glass of orange juice on earth; which was BURSTING with vitamin C and would make me the healthiest girl around. The cup of hot tea was extraordinary and just perfect for warming a chilly snout. Speaking of snouts… There is a picture of my young self sitting on the floor with a drawer of my dresser pulled out…exposing a jumble of clothes. The worst part about the picture is I’m actually sort of hanging there with one nostril hooked onto the corner of the drawer, which appears to be what is holding me up. Making decisions, such as what to wear are not my strong suit in the a.m. She found great delight in snapping my picture… and I’m sure would have a good guffaw over it if I were to put it under her snout right now.

Way back when, my Grandmother used to rent a cottage beside the ocean for the family come to stay. There were always lots of people staying, things going on; and meals were quite a scene, (but that’s a story for another time.) I found that most everyone “slept in” a bit in the morning. Everyone except my Grandfather that was. He worked in a shoe factory until he was 82 ~ so he got up very early each morning and had his breakfast quietly so as to not wake up my Grandmother, and went to work. When he finally retired he still got up early, old habits I suppose. My Grandfather was at the top on my very short list of favorite people. I discovered that if I got out of bed verrrry quietly and slipped down the stairs that I could have breakfast with him ~ just the two of us, and enjoy the quiet of morning. After toast, and an egg for him; we would sit out on the porch side by side in companionable silence and drink our tea while the rest of the world slept. I will always count that as a favorite morning memory.

These days, mornings are filled with furry and feathery creatures milling about my ankles making various little squeaks and purrs, and wimpery noises, cackles floating in the windows; encouraging me to put something into their dishes. Most of my morning can be accomplished in silence. Just how I like it. I am very lucky to be married to a wonderful guy who gets that I simply have nothing to say in the morning. If he does have a question, he is generally smart enough to phrase it so that I can respond with a head shake or a “Mmmm.” For yes, or “Uh hmmm” for no. Oh course my Mother does live right next door... and has been known to whip open the window at 5:30 a.m. when I'm outside delivering breakfast to the flock; to wish me an exhuberant good morning. I usually glance up and give her a "Mmm." and carry on feeding things while she talks. I think she realizes at this point that if she wants cheerful banter in the morning... I'm NOT the girl.

I"m sure you have all been wondering what morning was like in my world; and now you needn't wonder any longer!

This was Christmas morning.... back when it was cool and snowy.... and not humid and stuffy. *sigh.

Swan Festival 2011

2011-07-12T06:21:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it!!! And lived to tell the tale!

I wasn't so sure i wanted to go anymore on Saturday morning.... but once we got unloaded and started getting our little mobile store set up... I started to feel a little better.

It's an odd thing to have complete strangers mentally judging your "things"... Everyone was kind with their comments ~ and we begged to differ when one man said to his wife, "it's all girly stuff".... We quickly pointed out Scott "manly" carvings!! :)))))

Lots of people stopped by and looked around ~ and thank you to everyone who did!

It almost starts to feel like a secure little hideaway under the "safety" of the tent.

This was taken by my Mum, from back home on our front lawn. If you squint into the middle of the picture at the water's edge, you can pretend you see me waving from under one of the tents in the row. Scott says we should get there via canoe of we go again next year!

This is my window with a view! Lined up properly you watch the swans thru it!

I didn't count them, but there were a bunch!

We had nice neighbors too, the kind man on the left (seasoned fair goer) had some very good tips and good advice..... Like don't put on the side panels or we'll all be cooked!! (he was right, we would have been "well done" by about 11:00 !!

I love my fun fabrics! (as you can probably tell....) though the wind kept them blowing up over the goodies for sale all day!!

So there it is. Now he's talking about going to another fair in August....

We'll see what happens, the next one has tractors and lawn mower races....

Being Creative ~ June ~ "Ocean"

2011-07-07T08:11:00.000-07:00

This happy little fellow has gone to play beside the ocean!

Never having been a much of a swimmer... more of a "sinker" actually... i decided to interpert the theme a wee bit different... things very NEAR the ocean....

I am a little bit late in my posting, but hopefully it still counts....

This little project has been in the back of my mind for years... but i never had a good enough "excuse" to execute it! Now I have TWO; to share it with the Being Creative Group and I will bring it with us to the fair this weekend as part of the display!

It suppose to be a "Dune Shack"... found in dunes of Cape Cod, which look out upon the great big Atlantic Ocean! I put in a link below to give a little history and back ground on them. I have never actually seen one in person myself...only photos... but their history includes artists using them... which of course intrigues me greatly, and makes me want to race to the dunes!!!

This, ideally would have been shot at the beach... not on our rocky, slag covered river shore... but you can see the scale this way. The shack is about 8 inches wide... The oars leaning on the house were hand carved by my husband Scott... He also made the house for me, which i then decorated with reclaimed wood from our favorite old farm house. The sand is "sand paper" (also donated by the husband...) as using real sand makes it hard to put glass lid down over the scene!

He has collected a basket of periwinkles for dinner perhaps?... and seems to collect sea glass as well!

The mouse is made of paper clay, as are the fishing floats. His planters are made from shells...

He's a very resourceful little fellow. He probably has more to his story... I'll have to work on that.

Perhaps his wife sells sea salt and Rose Hip jelly?.....Yes, yes... I believe she does.

And finally, below is the link to history, etc. of the Dune Shacks of the lower Cape Cod area!

Hope you have enjoyed your visit! :)))))))

http://www.guidebookamerica.com/gb/ma/cape_cod/area_guides/provincetown.htm

As June draws to a close...

2011-06-29T06:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, so where did June go?

This means we are that much closer to July 9th right?

We have been amping up production in the workshop and dutifully putting our collective noses to the grindstone.

This is one of my decoupaged bottles...
The bottles are recycled (actually dug up from our back yard when we were doing construction on our house a few years ago ~ presumably from a time when people were still burning and burying their trash in their yard), cleaned, and then covered in colorful tissues and then snippets of my art as well as reproductions of my Grandmother's old letters, and postcards.

Next we have a mirror, painted, then decoupaged with a selection of my rabbit drawings, and some hand painted vines added...

This in one of my little clay creations. I made the mushrooms and the mouse from polymer clay, the husband gets credit for cutting out the wooden circle base.... and my Mum gets credit for eating all the sugar free jam and saving the empty jars for me! (jar sets down over the scene, thus keeping it dust free!)

More little clay friends ~ the snail has a real shell from a periwinkle, and the rabbit is growing a pepper plant!

A tiny clay gourd, that my mouse friend has turned into a little home. Some moss and glass beads for decoration. This is hung on a piece of black cord and can be a necklace, or just a decoration???

Here we have some of the necklaces featuring Scott's carved wooden hearts, and dog bones. Some earrings also along the top row. Some are beaded, some just on black cord.

This is what the little jars look like closed up. Inside is a little rabbit offering his mouse friend a flower! :))

This is just a sample of our wares of course... There will be cards, and book marks and pretty little wooden boxes, and letter openers.... and some magnets too.
Should be interesting.
Can someone pester me until I REALLY do figure it out and open an Etsy shop???

Meanwhile, in the midst of all the crafting... we are getting to know our newest family member Cricket the Wonder Pony (who for technical purpose is actually a miniature horse).... We are learning to walk three dogs and horse at the same time, it's been interesting to say the least.

The gardens (that weren't dug up for the corral) are blooming nicely. This rose belonged to my great Grandmother, it was given to her as a Mother's Day gift back in the early 1940's. The rose bush, and the Grandmother are/were named Agnes. We dug it up and took it with us when my Mum sold my Grandparents home a few years ago.
If we move again one day, she will again be coming with us.

This is just a happy little pansy, cuz it makes me smile. :)))))

This is the last thing my poor peony saw.... before it.. *gulp* disappeared.

Or perhaps it was this.....

Look at him, he looks sort of pleased with himself doesn't he?
I think he's smirking.

So there you have it. That's where we stand at the moment.
Stay tuned, you just never know what's next.
Signing out from The Funny Farm.
(You don't have to be crazy to live here, but it helps.)

ticktick*tick

2011-06-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

The days are ticking away..... just about 3 weeks to the Swan Festival. It's starting to crowd my every thought... I realize it's not a major trade show and that Hallmark is not scouting for new artists at it... but it is still quite an undertaking for those of us who haven't done this before.
My mind wants to make my Imaginary Store fit under a 10 x 10 tent, and create magic... Meanwhile, my logical side knows this is not the time or place for it.
I admit I am starting to get a little stressed.... and the Husband is busy playing with his new pony when I want him to finish (or start in some cases) the items he will have for sale.... This only bothers me of course. He brushes of my concerns and tells me about the cool thing the pony did. *sigh. Those of us who don't function well in a panic at the last minute can't grasp this devil may care attitude. He says he does better under pressure; perhaps I'm not apply enough pressure. hmmmm. Perhaps a nice vise is in order.

Ooooooo, just look at our stunning selves!!!

Miniature Horse 101

2011-06-07T08:29:00.000-07:00

Yup... it has happened. I tried for almost 3 years to not have a horse in the back yard. I had lots of good reasons why not.... (in many ways having a husband is like having a 10 year old boy... "but i waannnnt one, he won't eat much, I'll take care of him, he won't take up much space, we can teach him to pull a cart!)

Oh "yeah" right? Are you as convinced as I am?

O.K., don't answer that... and really, stop shaking your head.

But alas I gave up.

Like water over stone, eventually my resolve was worn away.

I stopped fighting the inevitable... I guess I simply got tired of repeating myself. (and I suppose i should just be thankful that he's not the giant draft horse he orginally wanted).

I spent the Saturday digging up my vegetable garden... to be relocated to the far front lawn... far far from the nearest hose spigot. My potatoes were carted away on a piece of (very heavy) plywood. (Which i might add the husband found so funny he had to leave me to run and get the camera). Why am I hauling produce?

I thougth the magic pony was gonna do that on his cart?

My strawberry plants, dripping with tiny berries were plucked forth from the earth and toted away in the blazing sun.

I was an exhausted pile of person on Saturday, and that was before Cricket the tiny horse was delivered and the tiny horse wrestling began.

He wasn't so excited about going in the barn...

As luck would have it, the lovely lady who watches our goats when we are away (who has a horse of her own) came by to meet Cricket. She showed us how to

"man handle" our 300 pound horse and convince him to comply with our polite request to go inside. He has since discovered it's much easy to just walk on in than to be pushed!

We have a lot to learn now. See how I say "we". I have decided to do my best to embrace the darling little creature now that he's ensconced in my former veggie plot.

If we keep this up the town will eventually kick us clean out.

Of course, that might not be the worst thing that could happen.

If you squint, you can see the outline of my four (former) raised beds there in the earth.

Please don't think i have anything against horses, I love horses. Took lessons growing up... went riding...

However, when I pictured the horse I'd one day own back then.... I admit i pictured one I could actually ride, without my feet touching the ground on both sides...

He looks like a wild thing from a forgotten hillside in England someplace...

with this shaggy flowing mane!

Ahhhh a boy and his little horse.

What could be better right?

Welcome to the Funny Farm Cricket; you don't have to be crazy to live here... but it helps.

Home ~ Being Creative

2011-05-31T10:04:00.000-07:00

The theme/word for May's Being Creative is "Home"....

Home is where the heart is they say....

as you can see below, home is where quite a lot is in my wierd little world.

I can't really say I've live a whole bunch of places as compared to some.... but I remember my Mother asking each time we did move, "Is it Home yet?"....

A good question of course, it takes a moment to become one with a new house. You have to get comfortable with the place, work thru it's quirks ~ you and your place of dwelling have to get to know each other a bit.
Once you do, it can become home.

It may be a tiny trailer, a rented apartment, or even a gutted sailboat on dry land... you never know.

Home is where you are welcome to be yourself and you feel safe;

or you can feel sorry for yourself quietly, or you can leap about with wild abandon.

It isn't supposed to be about "things" ~ as they say things can be replaced.... but at least in my case "things", including but not limited to, books are part of what makes it home. Too many books, too many craft supplies, too many plants, too many animals; it's how I know I'm home. Some peoples houses are spotless and echo from the silence and lack of "things".... that makes me uncomfortable.

In our house, you just never know what you'll find in the tub... If you were to thumb back thru the posts I bet you could find quite a few species who have graced it's inside. All I can say is it's different at our home... and it's not for just anyone ~ and I like it that way.

A hot cup of tea, a new magazine and good sturdy cat that doesn't move around much to hold it up.

All the creatures and comforts of home....

A gray day in May.

2011-05-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

It is yet another gray day here in New England... it's been this color alot lately. It's sort of growing on me... or maybe that's mold; I can't be sure. All this mist and drizzle makes the garden happy and grass green, and there's no worries about sun burn for sure; I guess that's the "bright side" to this rather drab weather. All part of the program here I guess. I don't mind too much about the basic weather; sun, rain, snow, thunderstorms..... if the sun is out I want to play in the gardens, if it's precipitating I want to play in my art supplies and lets face it, either way i'm happy. Rain/snow also brings the possibilty of good books, extra cups of tea... those sorts of things. What's not to like about that? (Of course I take it all back it the "rain" is in the form of a hurricane... I surely don't wish for that ~ brrrr, that's never a good thing. )

"I say kind Sir, 'ave you seen my sheep?"

I suppose walking soggy dogs in the rain can be a bit much sometimes... Actually, the aftermath in the house is worse than the getting soaked part.... Nothing quite like O'De Wet Dog on a damp day....and the gritting of muddy foot prints all over the floor, and apparently the couch too when you have short, wet canine who prefers to dry himself thank you... Towel? Why bother, the couch will do....
I sound a bit like the weather girl don't I? Though i've never heard her say "partly cloudy today, whith a chance of muddy sand on your furniture"...

I want to catch up a bit here (not just to give you a weather report)... it seems like it's been a while. I've been doing lots of little craft projects, which keeps my fingers away from the keyboard. We (the hubby and I) have signed up to be vendors at the Swan Festival in town (in July). As we've never done anything like this before, it has a fairly strong hold on my brain... I'm a mixed bag of emotions.... fear of course is heading the list... with a touch of excitement and curiosity. I guess we'll see what happens when it happens. In the mean time I'm trying to prepare the goodies we wish to try and sell ~ which reminds me, I'm a terrible sales person ~ and figure out how to best display them under our 10 x 10 white tent... (I'd have prefered the adorable shepards hut, but the tent will be just lovely I'm sure...) I do so love to decorate....so I'm sure it will all come together before July and be just fine.... I hope.

I'm also working on my contribution for Being Creative's "home" theme... sorry no glimpses yet...

I really think we need to install some more hours in each day... preferably during the day, since my eye lids seem to go down with the setting sun... which causes me to wake up on the couch with a big kink in my neck and that just makes a girl cranky. That's not fun for anyone.

Any how.... I must go now, and sit by the fire a moment and get the damp out of me bones.
But don't worry ~ I'll be back again, cuz I just can't stay away!!

"i'm not a sheep"....

Spring Continues

2011-05-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

That's the roof of old part of the hospital lit up.... looking up the river into town.

Tulip.

Squeaky the sweet little duck, blissfully unaware of the dark clouds approaching...

A Nantucket Light Ship, docked in the center of town.

Holding sunshine in my hand.... :)

Harbor scene zoomed out a bit....

The inside of a tulip....

Thanks for dropping by ~ let's do it again soon!

Being Creative April

2011-05-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

Happy bunny ~ his cup runneth over with goodies!

I have joined a great new group called "Being Creative"! Every month there is a theme, and you can contribute something that represents that theme ~ any media goes. So here is what I put up for the Flikr group.... plus a few extra.
You can never have too much dessert right?

This little guy is brand new!
No calories in a paper cake... which isn't a problem anyway if you're a paper mouse.

Wanna a bite of cupcake?

Have some sense when "desserting" ~ if the cake is bigger than you are, phone a friend for help!

The theme for May is "Home" ~ why don't you come and join in the fun?

http://juliacrossland.blogspot.com/p/being-creative.html

Happy Easter !

2011-04-24T06:14:00.000-07:00

Earth Day 2011!

2011-04-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

Update on Spring in New England 2011

2011-04-13T05:30:00.000-07:00

Spring comes sooner to some parts of New England than others....

Which is fine, some of us prefer the snow anyway. ;)

The brilliant blue sky looked really good.

The warmth of the sun with the snow still under foot is a treat!

Weeeeee, Happy Doggy!

Runnin' and runnin!

Awwww, Marley Munchkin...

Miss Ava lovin' spring in Maine!

Meanwhile, back home on the Wankinco the swans have started to return.

Last spring we had a head count of 40.

Pretty little critters huh?

And this one... I'm not sure what it is, but it's got a mohawk hair do and bright red eyes!

A little blurry as it was getting dusky while i was taking it's picture, and as you can see it's buzzing along like a little motor boat!

2011-04-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

Well HELLLLLOOOO my friends! Happy Monday Night ~ No, don't worry, it's not a Holiday you forgot, I'm just happy it's Monday night, and that the next few hours of this day are finally mine!

I think I'll make this into two posts ~ one on my array of crafting over the weekend, and one on the delightful weekend in Maine.... perfect time of year up there this early spring season. (post 2 coming soon...)

Firstly, may I present to you the worlds lumpyest Granny Square! No, no, stop..... hold the applause....
It's a bit uneven.... and I don't really know how to join two colors together,still even now, but I did somehow. I probably should have taken the photo from across the room so you can't see just how bad it really is! (I have been inspired by the totally cool and really neat crocheted things I've seen recently on some really amazing blogs!) My orginal intent was to make a teeny one for my little clay bunnies, then I realized quite quickly that I couldn't even make a teeny chain ~ my thread kept strangling my hook! So I went forth to my Mother's side of the house and begged a refresher course. This is my third attempt at the Granny in recent days (the first two I do not dare to expose to public scrutiny)... I think I was crocheting "tense"... which makes tense stitches...and then loose wobbly ones when I tried to relax... I even gave myself a finger cramp or two. Way back when I was shorter (yes, I was, hard to believe I know....) we (the whole family, mostly ) made and afghan of Granny Squares one summer ~ we made loads of squares, and then my Mother sewed them all together. Since then, my craft endeavors have strayed far and wide from needle crafts. Most things that involve an actual needle leave me bleeding from the finger tips, cursing and frustrated quite quickly. There it is, I made one. Such as it is. We'll see if I can manage a set.... no promises.

At some point, I moved onto something that makes more sense to me.... paper, scissors... that sort of thing. This became a little Happy Spring card for a lovely neighbor...

But I wasn't done yet! I had to make a new rubber stamp too! He's for my snail mail friends.... If you wonder why i'm not writing back to you, it's because i'm over here carving rubber stamps... :))) I hope you forgive me ~ I think of you often and I really will write soon! Really.... Think of how cool your envelope is going to look when it arrives!!! Yeahhhhh!!

And this? It's a lovely pile of pretty scraps! It's larger friends are going to become yet another project; which in the interest of personal safety I have talked my mother into doing the tricky bits with the sharp needles and pointy pins and other other scary sewing things... You just have to be patient and see what it becomes.

Don't you just love a bit of mystery on a Monday night?

The PBS Materpiece classics got nothin' on me! :))))

March 31, 2011

2011-03-31T17:13:00.000-07:00

Taken tonight after work... Doesn't this just SCREAM Happy Spring? :))))))

Back on the inside; we seem to have a rabbit infestation in our bath tub.....

You never know what you'll find when you live in a zoo. :)))))

Home Sweet Home, and lovin' the snow!

Early spring days...

2011-03-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

Spring comes in fits and starts to New England... more so the further north you go I'm sure... The pussy willows are out, some crocuses are blooming and the noses of my day lillies are poking up. On Wednesday evening I was taking a picture of my snowdrops in the back yard, Thursday morning it was snowing softly, making it look like a winter post card... it all melted before the end of the day and was replaced with a chilly wind, and peeks of sun. I suppose this is why they say if you don't like the weather in New England, just wait a minute. This is also why I'd never want to live anyplace else. I like the changes of season, and having something to look forward to... weather it's apple season, spring sprouts, or snow... there's never a dull moment. I thrive on having something to look forward to.
We had quite a little scare yesterday afternoon... I'd opened the door to the duck's pen (he's got wobbly legs and doesn't walk good ~ a "real" farmer would have eaten him long ago I'm sure, we however just coddle him and keep him safe in a cage.... except when I leave the door open so he can have a walk about the yard...) My mistake. Scott looked out and started stammering, "what's that?" and the biggest hawk I've even seen was standing a foot from the duck looking in his pen! I went out the door in a flurry, talk about your "sitting duck".... when i got down there he flew into a tree across the street... he'd gotten our duck in the nose! (He's a muscovy, so he has a big red fleshy face/nose about his beak) Other than a hole in his nose he seems to be o.k.... We then went looking for Fran the little black chicken who'd been out loose with us while we were raking the yard.... we found her hiding under the rabbit cage... Scott saw the hawk sitting in the oak tree behind my car this morning.... *gulp. He was big... real big. I think Kippy would be a snack for him. I will continue with more cheerful things ~ although the story had a happy ending anyway, that IS cheerful I guess. I can't decide if i want to show you some art or some animals and flowers.... maybe a little of both then?

The Snowdrops.

The witch hazel is blooming too!

The present window sill scape in the early morning light, it's snowing out there.

The oysters being put to work... the lucky bunny found a pearl it seems!

What a nice little house you have!

The beginning of some new drawings... he's got a firefly in the jar!
Don't worry, he'll let him go again.

This little mouse found a raspberry.

This is what i saw in my mind after enjoying the comments on Drawing a Line in Time's blog about reading....and the effects it has on one's house keeping.

I'm making lots of little magnets with bits and pieces of my extra cards!

A sample.

This will eventually become a book mark me thinks!!

The corner in my "studio"..... :)

One of the many book shelves upstairs...

Just in case you ever think YOU are having a bad hair day...

Little crocuses smiling in the sun... with a stray duck feather amongst them.

Well now... this ended up being a bit of a jumble of all sorts of things.... but I guess it's sort of like glimpse into my mind; that's usually a bit of a jumble too... and I forgot to take pictures of a few of the things i wanted to share with you... but i guess that will just guarantee you another post! :)))

Tempest Knob

2011-03-12T16:07:00.000-08:00

We went on a beach walk with the dogs today.... I wanted to find some oyster shells for a little project i have in mind, and Scott wanted the dogs to swim to help with their hot spots that blossom as soon as the first bit of warm weather arrives ~ so it was a win for everyone! Well, with the exception of Kippy who couldn't run, or play or get wet as he just had "surgery" the other day... It was a bit blustery, but with sun shining, not to bad at all! I like the beach better this time of year; there's noone on it! :)))
I chose Tempest Knob for it's proximity to a lot of oyster beds that run along that side of the water near the center of town. It's not a long beach, and it's lined with houses; but it's pretty in it's own little way.

Looking across to the center of town.

We started our walk at the pier at the end.

From a piece of seeweeds perspective....

Kippy toes on the left, Ava toes on the right.

Mussels growing in the beach grass.

I paused for a moments reflection.

We walked down to where the beach goes out of sight.

I love the purple bits of quahog shells...
The Native Americans called it wampum and used pieces of it for currency, "back in the day" ....

awwwww, baby quahog!

a piece of a conk shell, i like the spirally part!

a mussel, also enjoyed for the purpley parts! (oysters in the background)

There you have it, a nice little March walk on the beach! I'm glad you could join me!

England 1998

2011-03-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

I was delighted to read the recent post by Robin and the Sage about her upcoming trip to England! It brought back such fond memories, and inspired me to get out my photo album and travel journal and take a little stroll down memory lane... which I will share with you!
Oh how I loved being in England. *sigh* It was the much dreamed of trip; I suppose I didn't think I'd really ever get there. Growing up in the "trailerhood", some dreams seem as unlikely as a trip to the moon. As you will see in the "clip" from my journal, I can go on with my life in peace now ~ as I have walked on the same floor as Beatrix Potter. She's my hero; or one of them anyway. I have some really big plans if they ever manage to work out how to "time travel" ~ places to go and people to see; I'll be first into the DeLorean if they are offering rides! (you all saw the movie Back to the Future right?) Of course you did.....

So this is when the journey took place...

My very first English Room with a view; the Star Inn, in Woodstock.

The view. I could have gazed out that window all day....

I had no idea how big hedgehogs were? This was at the World of Beatrix Potter place, custom made for tourist like me who long to get in touch with our childhood dreams... supersized! :)))

Ahhh, here it is. Me leaning in the same doorway at Hill Top as Beatrix; does it get any better than this?

The view across the street from Hill Top.... Mmmmmm, England. :)

AHGHGHG!!! A giant in the village; run for your lives!! O.K., so it was a "model village" in Bourton in theWater... or Bourton on something.... such complicated names... either way I just LOVED this little mini village!
I'll spare you the other 2 dozen photos i took of it!

This is from my travel journal... a sketch of the fire place in the converted stable we stayed in...

As you can probably tell, i really enjoyed getting to see Hill Top...

I don't know if you can read it properly, but we were fascinated by the sheep dunking process that was going on.
I'm sure sheep farmers the world over will laugh at this, but we'd never seen anything quite like it.
I DON'T think the sheep were laughing though....

This is me and the bunny holes. Again, probably only fascinating to me (surely that's how Scott felt at least) to the rest of England; most likely a menace to livestocks' ankles and humans' alike...
(those are stickers of rabbits, they did not actually want to pose for a picture with the silly American girl. :)

This is of course only a small glimpse into my photo album... but my, my how much i enjoyed the visit.

I don't know if we'll ever go back.... or go any place outside the country again for that matter. Travel is even scarier to me these days; not to mention how hard it would be to leave behind our furry family.
If we do travel again, it would awfully hard to choose where to go... i have made so many wonderful friends I'd love to meet in person (thru the magic of penpals).... it would surely need to be a world tour!
Only time will tell I guess...

Home alone

2011-02-27T16:09:00.000-08:00

I went to a baby shower for my cousin today... and this left Scott home alone for a few hours. He's a big boy, no worries right? I was picturing him vacuuming away... cleaning some animal cages, polishing my tea pots, folding laundry; you know.
This is what was really going on.....

Yes, there is definately a chicken on my kitchen table....

She seems to be quite a hit with the cats... I must check to see if the kitties have all their eyeballs still.

The coordinator of art class.

The goats got into the act too it seems!

Who knew how talented they all are?

Admiring her handy work.

So now you know which print is Marley's.

Ava in green...

This he has titled this "outside the box" ~ which it seems is where we dwell. :)

Missy looks particulary pleased with "art"....

He tells me that all the animals (excluding the fish, as it would clog their gills, and the rabbits as paint makes them angry, and Sqeaky the duck who is missing a few toes from an old frostbite injury and is rather sensitive about her feet) are included in this work of art. He also would like to state that no animals were harmed in the making of this art. The paint is non toxic, washable paint intended for children to play with.

I'm thinking of going off for a few hours next weekend.... just to see what happens.

Life's little annoyances...

2011-02-18T12:31:00.000-08:00

Usually we tend to wax poetic about all that we love and hold dear… but, it came up the other day that surely there were things that rubbed me the wrong way, and got under my skin; so why not mix it up a little and share the less loved side ~ the things I DON”T like!
So, without further adieu, and in no particular order, let’s see what I don’t like.

People who are fake and impressed with themselves… not to mention their cars, jewelery, etc.

Having to put my wet, sandy feet into shoes *eeeewww*

Hot Tuna (like tuna casserole).

Hot Dogs (I won’t creep you out with all the reasons why)

Leeches (both the slimy ones found in water and the human kind)

Mosquitoes, gnats, black flies and other blood sucking insects

Change ~ I function better with a predictable routine; and if it ain’t broke I don’t want to fix it!

Being in a hurry

Bugs touching me (dead or alive) As long as they don’t touch me, I’m fine with them.

Bowling

Team Sports

Loud noises

Scary movies (life can be scary enough, why add to it?)

Motorcycles (some of them are pretty to look at, but that’s it.)

Misplacing things (it keeps me awake at night!)

Flying (just not ever quite relaxed up there…)

Slush (the result of it raining when it should be snowing)

Having to repeat myself, repeatedly

Fingernails scraping across a chalkboard…

The sound of metal against metal (like the husband sharpening his scraper blade)
*GOOSEBUMPS* at the mere thought…

Hot, humid, airless weather

The smell of gasoline, or even worse ~ diesel fuel

Stupid questions
( I know they say there are no stupid questions, but let’s face it ~ that’s just not true.)

Close talkers (people who feel the need to sidle up to you to speak inches from your face; if my hair moves in the breeze from you speaking ~ be assured you are too close!)

I’m sure there are other things, but those are some of the major players.
I’ll leave you in peace now, to contemplate what’s been buggin’ you. 

On a Wednesday night in February

2011-02-16T16:25:00.000-08:00

Yup, just an ordinary Wednesday night in February. Coming to you from the corner of the kitchen; the pantry light is shining onto my right side, Mumford and Sons playing in the CD drive, husband working on his project behind me on the kitchen table, laundry whirling, dinner simmering... fire crackling in the fire place.
So now that you know where i'm coming from...
I decided to start with a few pages from my sketchbook, some newer, and a couple from back a few pages ~ mostly unseen by the world. And, if my patience holds out, i'll show you my gnomes and bunny cups too! So let me commence with the photo loading and see if i can wear down my last nerve....

This is my imaginary farm stand at Onion Patch Farm (that's Scott disguised as a rabbit).

I suppose this is me diguised as a mouse repotting my terrarium.

This one is done from one of Sandras beautiful photos, she can tell you what city...as i can never remember! I should leave the pen and ink city scapes to the lovely and talented Eve, but i figured what the heck, i'd share it anyway! :)

ideas, some real, some imaginary....

The gnew gnomes, and their rabbit friend.
Done in paperclay, instead of polymer clay.... just a slight learning curve.

teeny tea cups, because i love the ones that Julie Whitmore makes, and i wanted to have some for my tiny rabbits!

See how the bunny looks up longingly at the cups?

And some paper clay birds to perch on the twig arms of my snowmen...

So there you have it.... the pictures went pretty well tonight! Yeah. My nerves are even intact!
I will have to look up the pictures of the roots and stumps... those will need to be scanned in ~ as back in the cave days i didn't put them on CD's ! My good old Minolta X370 would be horrified if it new what i was doing now adays! I'm sure all you ladies would love a stroll down memory right??

and now; I bid you all adieu until we meet again here in Blogland...

Happy Valentines Day 2011

2011-02-13T15:53:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day to you all ~ near and far!

I pulled out all the culinary stops and made cupcakes!

(don't be silly, it's from a box of cake mix :) )

This is part of the card my Mum made for me..

Just a little Valentine art... :)

Even Mother Nature gets into the act! (sent to me by a lovely friend from England)

I have been far to quiet here in Blogland... I must get back into the swing of it post haste!

Topics to come?

Things I GREATLY dislike...(by special request)

A fasion show perhaps... (odd?)

My nest? (i.e. corner of the couch, and it's surrounding area)

Pages from a sketch book....

We'll see....

What do you think?

January 16th, 2011

2011-01-16T11:44:00.000-08:00

Today would have been my Grandmother's 102 birthday.... Scott's Gramma, born the same year WILL be 102 in May. Kind of remarkable to think of all that she's seen so far, the world has changed just a bit since 1909.
I don't have a lot to say today.... not in a good frame of mind at all lately.... so I figured i could share a few photos instead. Until my cup runneth over with creativity and my heart is filled with joy again ~ I'll just poke along - one foot in front of the other and do the best I can to juggle the dozen balls i've been tossed; and maybe I'll blog quietly in the twilight....

Happy 2011!

2011-01-07T16:12:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year my good readers! This was of course supposed to be written last weekend… which means I start the New Year already behind. Actually, I began the New Year wracked with anxiety over our cat Pete who’s been sick, and packin’ a nice cold for myself. It was suggested by a dear friend; that I’ve given all my “good energy” to Pete… leaving very little for me or the rest of life. I’d say she was right on. A week into the New Year; Pete is on antibiotics, my cold is better (I gave it to Scott ~ aren’t I generous?), and I’m starting to catch my breath a bit.
Why does the start of a new year always make us feel that we need to resolve to change something, or do better? What’s to stop us from making a life altering change on August 7th? Or May 19th? Whatever the reason, it’s the hot topic for the first 10 days of each new year, and then we can all forget about it and go back to what we were doing like nothing ever happened. 
Last year on January 1st, I started blogging on a (mostly) regular basis. I guess I’ve kept up fairly well… I can see that I’ve grown less talkative as the posts have marched on. Sort of silly since the pictures take about forever to upload, it would be a lot quicker to just talk/type!
As I reflect back over 2010 I can see a few things I would change… like keeping up with my letter writing. Not that I need to tell my pen friends worldwide that little tidbit… they’ve already worked that one out on their own. I need to find a balance between the things that I have to do, and the things I want to do, and make time for them. Life’s never going to be perfect or easy ~ at least that’s what I’ve found so far; though I’d love to be wrong about that. One has to work within the boundaries life has provided, and learn to find peace there. I read a saying recently, “what would you do, if you knew you could not fail?” Fear of the unknown is a VERY powerful force…at least in my life; that along with a feeling of responsibility. I’m not good at taking risks, chances or a leap of faith. I have always found myself looking forward to “someday”… rather than living in the now; I suppose it’s safer that way. It’s a bad habit. I’m staring down the barrel of 40 this year; it’s sort of a little jolt to my mind. Don’t’ get me wrong ~ I’m not saying 40 is old, or that it’s too late… it’s just time to get it figured out. I’m thinking that waiting until I can officially retire (according to the time line provided by my friends at social security administration ~ 72 years old) may not be the best plan in terms of me finally pursuing my dream of being more Artist; and less book keeper. If you put any stock into the whole, The End of the World is coming in 2012; then I’d really better hurry up and figure it out! Speaking of “Hurrying up”… I’m down right tired of being in a hurry; I should put resolving to stop that as top priority. I need to focus on the good, and the now. I’ve got a wonderful husband, beautiful animals, good family, good friends, a job, a cozy home ~ a good life.
I also recently came to realize I need to be more selective in who I give handmade items to… Perhaps this new realization will be the catalyst to push me towards a goal I failed to meet in 2010; to start a “store” on Etsy, or Big Cartel or the like… I can figure it out, thousands of other people clearly have. Perhaps if a complete stranger was willing to pay for something I’d made with my own little hands ~ it would be a good push for me in the right direction!
So there you have it, my musings for year end and year begin…
I intend to continue being me; but perhaps try to do it with more confidence going forward; and will also try extra hard to be more “present” in the present.
I wish you all the best health, happiness, good friends, good luck and much great success with YOUR goals for 2011~ whatever they may be!

Peace and quiet...

2010-12-26T14:53:00.000-08:00

As I type our little Blizzard is brewing outside... it's been snowing for a few hours already now. It looks like magic out there. It's days like this that make me glad I live in New England. I know not everyone agrees... don't like the cold, don't like to shovel... don't like frozen fingers and snow pelting your face; but for the trade off of looking out my living room window to all that "pretty" ~ I'll take it! There are birds on my feeders, the rabbits are tucked in with their hay... fire in the fire place ~ winter is finally upon us. :) Hibernation is not just for the bears.... now that Christmas has passed, and with it the shopping and wrapping and visiting ~ *Sighhhhh* I can settle in and embrace the season.

Christmas was nice.... I got my own hand made wooden sock to hang on the mantle with care!

Jack the rat really lucked out too ~ his own custom made sweater!

I got a beautiful pair of handmade wrist warmers ~ which i've been longing for, but never said out loud....

And a hand painted/decoupaged coaster for my tea cup ~ or as art only even!

Everytime I see pretty knit things... i start to think i want to knit too! I realize that this is not true of course, what i REALLY want is my own personal knitter ~ i pick out pretty yarn and point to what i want, and then it magically appears, that would really be better! I have come to realize that needle crafts of any kind are a strain on me.... sure i'll sew up an elf hat in a pinch... or cut out a hunk of fabric for a rabbit scarf ~ but lets face it beyond that it's more struggle then fun!
Hours have passed since I began this....the power just flickered....*eeek. We've gone for a walk in the snow with the dogs and come back again... and everyone is nestled in and fed.... :)))
Come on good people of blog land; lets stroll down Main Street in Wareham in a Noreasta' !!! Bundle up, it's startin' to blow! :)))))))

Piper Beau's

The Jug Shop.... well ~ you could read the sign without me telling you....

Minerva's Pizza House...

Main Street, Wareham USA

Are we there yet?

Just pretty....

Almost back home now....

We made it!
Time for dinner....

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T12:59:00.000-08:00

I wanted to take just a moment to wish you all a Super Merry Christmas! To old friends and new, near and far ~ around the world, and the next town over! Thanks for looking at my blog and being so supportive and funny and just plain great!

Christmas is creeping in....

2010-12-19T16:04:00.000-08:00

Here we are, less than a week from Christmas ~ It's really kind of hard to believe another year has gone by. So far we've had no measurable snow what so ever, while I read from my friends around the world they need a sled to get out of there houses... This is not helping my Christmas spirit, which has had it's ups and downs this season, but I think i have a good hold on it now.... and as I type there is a bit of sleetyness falling from the evening sky....

Dawn breaks over Swan Lane.

I've decorated the house, which is one of my favorite things to do... Twinkle lights make me happy... and fake snow, and setting up my silly scenes, and my new big glittered snowflakes that i was given last week.. I like to see what cards arrive in the mail ~ and of course to have a perfect excuse to craft! I really need a little store to expend my decorating energy ~ it would make the house look a little less out of control.... I want so badly to sit here and catch up on all my blog reading.... but if i do, then how can I share my twinkley little world with you? Fear not.... here it comes!

Some of my favorite things! :))))

The little elf I made a few years ago, outside his house.

The natural side of Christmas; my Mum painted the picture of the robins!

Some tags... sideways, because i don't know how to turn them right side to!

Our little Christmas tree, which Kipper is sleeping under at the moment!

One of my favorite tags this year. :)

This is the "pen pal" tree... with little things waiting to be unwrapped on Christmas morning! :))))

Oh good grief, I've even decorated the dog.... and I think he's actually rolling his eyes at me....???

Oh, there's more ~ Sure. But how much can you stand????? :))))))

Memories of summer....

2010-12-02T16:13:00.000-08:00

The husband inherited my previous camera.... to take pictures with at work....he wanted a picture printed from it tonight, and when I loaded them, I found a bunch of pictures I'd forgotten all about ~ lost and lonely trapped inside a camera.... that can't be right. So let's harken back to warmer days... just for a moment.
(But right after you have to shake it off and embrace winter, it's December now; time to get your jingle bells on and shake em!! :))))))

This was taken at the Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, right at one end of the Cape Cod Canal.

This is looking the other way. That's the train bridge, with the Bourne Bridge in the distance.

This is was happens when you put big dogs in a small car.... they ooze out the sides!

He doesn't seem to mind too much!

This is up the road from our house, it's a light house, but i cut off it's top, it's not easy to take pictures and drive at the same time you know!

O.K. then.... that's it for now.....
Back to reality.

Snow Bunnies have arrived!!!

2010-11-28T07:09:00.000-08:00

So here it is.... they may decorate for Christmas later, but for now they are just too busy playing in the snow and roasting their carrots on a open fire! (rabbits don't eat chestnuts right?)

See how fabulous a slightly used styrofoam cooler can be?
Recyle Reuse right???

A little closer now....

Who doesn't love sledding?

Lucky bunny camping out in the snow!

Roasting carrots on a open fire, jack frost nipping at his nose!

WwwwwEeeeeEEeeeeeee!!!!

Ready for take off!

There's carrot cake for later... if the little mouse doesn't get it first...

Crafty Sunday

2010-11-21T15:17:00.000-08:00

A bit of a chill has settled upon us this weekend... not bad; but I was more than happy to have my hat on today for our walks... As I type there is chicken roasting in the oven and a fire crackling in the fire place. The very next thing i will do is snuggle into some pajamas and prepare for some couch nestling.

As you can see Jack Rat is ready for winter!

In the mean time, I though it only right to share my wee bit of craftiness with you. It's not easy here, I have to share the kitchen table, and when it's dinner time ~ I have to repack all my artistic accouterments back up and get out of the way!

I'm making a snow bunny scene... this is the beginning.
It's inside of a sStyrofoam cooler that someone was throwing away ~ I am "recycling" it! :))

This is one of the players, picture him on a sled.

Just in case you thought I was kidding about sharing the table....

This is the background painted in...

Work in progress...

The funny little heads from a previous post.

Are you getting the idea now? Stay tuned... there's more to come!

Dessert anyone?

A "crisp" Autumn day.

2010-11-01T16:12:00.000-07:00

O.K. so who gets to define what "crisp" is anyway? Snow on Halloween, it must be like a gift for the hobgoblins in honor of their special day!

I've never been known to turn down a good walk in the snow, so you can only imagine my delight upon looking out the window to find gigantic snowflakes falling from the heavens!!

How's that for an attractive photo? EEEkkkk!!!

Brrrrr cold little apple.

I love this... :)

When i wasn't out frolicking in the snow... i was creating odd little heads on pins.
(instructions are in Arful Blogging magazine if you want to play too!)

What's that little bunny? You want to go out and paly in the snow? Well alright then ~ if you insist! :)))))))

An unsolved mystery; just in time for Halloween....

2010-10-29T06:37:00.000-07:00

Recently, I had a chat with a friend about blogging... Is it still fun? What's the point? Does anyone even read them? All very good questions... perhaps someone can help answer them?

Let me begin by saying I am most grateful for my loyal followers; you make me smile ~ and i love knowing you're there! I enjoy seeing your faces peeping from those little teeny boxes ~ or your shadowy silhouette for those of you who don't have a picture!

What is it that makes you read a blog? Or not ~ as the case may be?
Are you an artist? A farmer? An animal lover? Have an old house with issues? Love miniatures?
What triggers you to become a follower?
Make a comment?
Come back and read a blog again?
Look forward to the next post?
Do you like to see pictures and no writing; or read about the people's real lives?
Do you want to know what I did last weekend? Or do you want to see art work and puppies?
Do you think it would be nice to receive a reply or acknowledgement if you do comment?
Some people give away a piece of art to their favorite comment/answer to a question... do you like that?

Maybe there's a really great person out there who could become an amazing new friend ~ if only they said, "hello, I liked your post this week!" -or "I'm curious about what goes on in your mind to make you draw silly pictures of mice and rabbits".. or "why do you give a rat's pitute about some stupid ole farmhouse?"

Human nature makes us curious.... and also to strive for recognition. Like athlete's in the Olympics... They do it for themselves, but also in hopes of winning the gold and the acknowledgement that they did a good job! The proverbial "pat on the back".
Some people have hundreds of followers (that always sounds strange doesn't it?); are they friends and family? Are they customers? Are they just random people who stumble over it by clicking "next blog"???

Other people must be curious too?

I'd love to meet other artists around the world... or animal lovers? Or old house restorers? People who love to write real letters? People who take too many pictures...

Can anyone shed some light? Offer some clues? Assist in solving this modern day mystery?
I could draw you one of those funny deerstalker hats like Sherlock Holmes wears, to inspire you? :)))))

Autumn Gold

2010-10-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

Nothing Gold Can Stay

by Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Nature's first green is gold.

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf''s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief.

So dawn goes down to day.

For nothing gold can stay.

A little autumnal poetry for my lovely readers!

An October weekend..

2010-10-27T06:02:00.000-07:00

Old sugar maples lining the edge of a cemetary.

We happened upon three teams of horses plowing a field.... just lucky. :)

Your basic Maine farm. The horses are off to the left way in back if you squint....

Cemetary Entrance

I decided to make some muffins, cuz why not; Right?

When your old farm house has really slopey floors, your muffins try to escape the pan!! Eeek!
I'm sure there is some "redneck" joke in the making there... about needing to put your toaster oven up on blocks...

Some drawing and couch time with the Kipper... he's adorable when he's sleepy!

The view from what is at present the "living room" window.

The way life SHOULD be....

2010-10-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

This is what creativity looks like at it's messiest! Who needs a kitchen table anyway?
It has come to my attention that making silly little things that serve no real purpose makes me happy. A deep down sort of *aaaahhhh* kind of happy. Paint under my nails... a jar of crazily colored water from washing my brushes, burning my clay goodies in the toaster oven creating toxic fumes ~ all of it... and three dogs asleep at my feet all the while.
I can't help but think that it's the way life should be.

A wee mouse and his acorn.

Queen of the pumpkin patch?

My attempt at recreating the drawing in clay...

He has mistaken the ceramic "pie bird" to vent the steam for a real and rather unfortunate little bird...

and again, the clay version. (and a really bad bird)

I found this little wooden case at the thrift shop for $2.00! It's like someone new it would be the perfect fit for my clay critters, etc. That little tourquoise ceramic dish was 99 cents... perfect for holding my nature finds.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my recent "thrifting expeditions".... so much fun stuff; and useful stuff too! Well, to me anyway, not so sure the husband see the joy and usefulness in my finds.

So there you have it..... see? I CAN be creative when the opportunity presents itself!! :)

Autumn in New England

2010-10-16T03:34:00.000-07:00

Banana? Or is it?.....

2010-10-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

Some people see faces and shapes in the clouds.... and some people see them in fruit.

You can see which kind of people we are.

The dogs of Onion Patch Farm

2010-10-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

Ava

Kip

Marley

It's good to have a friend....

Set to Music?

2010-10-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we were watching an "Equestrian Competition" on t.v. (not very creative or crafty i know, but i have a weakness for staring at horses, I always have.)....
The last event was horses "dancing"... or so it appeared. Complete with riders in the little black top hats and long shiny leather boots that they wear for such things... The horse's every fancy, prancy movement went in time with the music, if the music sped up the horse sped up ~ each step was to the beat.

So here's what I'm thinking. What if our lives were set to music? You know like in the movies; they play music to accentuate the scene... Picture it, your late for work and suddenly fast paced "car chase" music starts playing... as you weave in and out of traffic trying to get there quicker. You're in a really bad mood and some angry music well suited to a Matador doing the Paso Doble starts playing really loud.... You're getting into your car in a dark parking lot late at night, and the very tense spooky music that keeps building and building starts playing. (you know the kind; Susie Q (our fair heroine) runs to her car as Crazed Ax murder is chasing her, and she can't get the key in her car door and keeps dropping them and crazed guy is getting closer and closer ~ and you hide further behind your pillow) I think it could be a very entertaining thing for we humans. You could (just for fun) run a few steps to speed up the music, and stop. And then walk in slow motion, and then run really fast.... just to toy with the imaginary band responsible for playing the "music of your life".... Can you picture it? You are walking along in the grocery store and each foot fall elicits a beat ~ it could make it a lot more fun to shop for a gallon of milk! Come on, try it; even though the music is only in your head! :))))))))) Silly I suppose. But the thought of it makes me smile.
Just had to share the thought.. just cuz I can!

Kippa the Yippa

2010-09-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

I realize that we surely didn't need another dog.... but alas, I have no spine and he's here anyway.
We've never had a tiny dog before... so Scott says we can look at it as an experiment. Can a small dog, raised like he's a big dog, be a good dog? Do all ankle biters need to bark incessently? These and many other mysteries will be solved in the years to come.

It has been an interesting week... sleep deprivation, ear shattering crying all night.... good stuff. I think the human brain is programmed to forget "puppy hood" ~ or most people would never have another one if the memories stayed vivid. His older brother and sister (the St. Bernards) didn't cry all night when they were little, as they had each other.... Last night we called a truce. Scott slept on the couch a few feet from Kip's cage... and Kip didn't squeal like a wounded piglet, just a soft wimper from time to time. I slept, all snug in my bed... it was "a good thing", Martha Stewart would have been proud. I was starting to drool and walk around in a fog, not too cool when you work with tiny little numbers all day, not mention the driving a car to get to them. Too many days of not enough sleep makes for a CRANKY Mum... noone wants that.

People say, "Isn't he just about snack size for a St Bernard? Well, I guess since he fits so perfectly into there dishes, I suppose he could be! Luckily, everyone here is adjusting to the little imp, mostly taking it in stide and is good natured about it. Let's face it, a new family member coming home around here is hardly a new concept.

Alice doesn't seem to mind sharing her spot of floor with him....

As much as I was not really "down" with gettting a third dog right now... he is pretty darn cute.

It's fun to watch the little wheels turning in his tiny head as he slowly learns about us, and what we do. He's been walking like a trooper.... running on those tiny legs; until you add a leash. The brakes go on immediately, puppies resent leashes... and collars. They seem to find them very distasteful.

That funny husband of mine had me laughing again last night.

He said, "make sure you hold the leash out to the side between your finger and thumb; and you hold it like you are holding a butterfly by the scruff of its neck"... I"m still chuckling. Can you just see me now?

Oh good grief.

I have to get dinner.... i'm sure you can smell if burning around the world...

p.s. ~ the little ball of fluff is sleep under my feet as i type..... can i get an Awwwwwwwww?

2010-09-08T16:46:00.000-07:00

It getting dark now. The passing shower has given the air a cooler moist tinge.  The fish in my little lily pond like the rain, and they seem happy to see me when i go out to the garden to get a cucumber to go with dinner. An ordinary night at home. I do love home. I always have. I remember my mother asking when we moved into a new place (which wasn't all that often really), "Is it "homey" yet?"  It doesn't happen right away, you have to settle into the word. It represents what's familar... smells, sounds, comfort or just simple daily routine. Sometimes other people's houses are homey too. The ones you grow up with... the places where you are welcome and don't feel funny opening the cabinets to get a dish, cuz you know just where they are. These days the places I feel at home at are fewer... Life goes on and also changes. You can't get them back, you can only hope there are new places you will come to feel comfortable in.
Home contains much of  what I love in this world... it seems scary sometime that so much is under one roof.... like putting all your eggs in one basket...

How does home sound tonight? The radio is playing behind me on the kitchen counter, it's on the country station of course ~ the dial never moves.  A guinea pig is licking the water bottle, the gentle nighttime insect noises are drifting in the back door.... the husband is crashing around in the drawer looking for something... and right now ~ as i type the train is going by blowing it's whistle at the Elm Street crossing. On a night with heavy air, the whistle is very loud and presses on your senses more... it sounds like it's in the living room.
The computer box thingy is humming, and Jake the cat is purring on my lap; the timer for the rice just went off, and a cool wind just stirred thru the house.

Long, crazy weekend...

2010-09-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

Some times things don't turn out how you planned. Well, i guess that could describe a lot in life; but with out a crystal ball ~ it does leave us mere mortals at a distinct disadvantage for seeing the future. I figure i could solve a lot of the worlds mysteries with a nice sporty model with high speed internet connection (and the old fashioned rabbit ear antennas for power outages).

I suppose i should focus on my point... rather than being pointless.

We (we, being all of the eastern seaboard) were under threat of Hurricane Earl this past weekend... We (in this case, being the hubby and I) decided to trundle our little selves off to Maine at 5:00 a.m. Thursday morning anyway... Before we'd gotten 20 minutes from home; we'd talked ourselves into returning home on Friday ~ just in case. Hurricanes are funny things; you get a LOT of warning (unlike your random tornado), but a lot of warning also can lead to a lot of time to worry, or build up a lot of extra drama if you are in the media industry. Don't get me wrong, a hurricane is nothing to be trifled with; they can be very nasty and very destructive and leave big messes, houses floating out to sea, and boats parked on the street. The problem is, until they actually get to you, a lot can change ~ and the weather people, while they have a lot of technology at their disposal, also lack the crystal ball. Ole Earl sort of ran out of steam and drifted off to the right, we got some rain but that was it.... not complaining ~ very thankful.
We ended up getting to Maine Thursday... unloading some stuff.... doing a little work and driving back home that afternoon.... all this accomplished in stifling humid hot air. (except in the van where it is sub arctic from the air conditioning ~ i must the only person with frost bitten toes in August, got to keep the dogs comfy though....)

So we got to spend some time at home as it turned out.... to craft, to repot the plants.... work on projects... walk the dogs, take pictures.... why it was almost like a vacation???? That's odd.

that fake looking red ball is actually the sun ~ for real !!

I got the most adorable flippers in the mail! (flip flop + slippers)

snail mail.... how did you think it got delivered??? :))))

Beach bunny.

the rubber molds.... not the best results sadly.

O.K. it's doing it again.... it won't let me see the pictures i upload, or move them, or delete the extra ones...
(after 3 trys, and much waiting....)
I think I've had enough computer wrangling for one night....
Perhaps I can try again tomorrow?
p.s. the juice is fresh sqeezed apple juice from the Onion patch farm apples; and the little pendant i assembled just for fun.... (owl is made by Green Girl Studio) the twig he sits on is from my favorite apple tree! :)

Testing...

2010-08-31T08:11:00.000-07:00

Just a test... I don't know if it's blogger or my computer, and why i couldn't type on the last post last night... but I posted it anyway, cuz it just takes tooooo long for the pictures to load to waste them!!!
Seems to be O.K. now, or from here anyway??? Computers. :(

Our "photo shoot" last winter... ahhhh snow. ;)

a weekend at home.

2010-08-31T07:58:00.000-07:00

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Teeny baby snapping turtle found walking in our yard.

2010-08-21T07:53:00.000-07:00

Do you ever wonder just who you are.... and what exactly your purpose in the world is? Was there a manual written for your life? Are you on track, what page are you on, and just long this manual is anyway? (Obviously I've given it some thought....)

It's hard to put my finger who I am at this point; it would seem I'm quite a few "me's". Wife, mother to a menagerie of animals, daughter, friend, artist, photographer, keeper of memories, weeder of gardens, folder of laundry, getter of groceries, loyal employee... (and yet I'm only allotted 24 hours in a day? hhmmmm)

We all get the privilege of having our own unique perspective on the world and ourselves... and no one view is any more correct or better than the next person's, but it's all ours none the less! Sometimes I see a person and think, gee, I wish i could be more like them.... but alas, then I wouldn't be me, and really what fun would that be? The world should just be thankful there's only one of me!

I have my own set of quirks, I'm sarcastic, can hold a grudge fairly well, have a strong set of opinions... my own likes and dislikes (including some people I've had the misfortune of meeting). I'm not a "follower"... never have been. I'm not easily swayed once I make up my mind.... but marriage has taught me the art of compromise, and choosing my battles carefully. I think at this point i may be starting to lean towards eccentric even... but I don't think that's a bad thing completely... Having too much food in the refrigerator makes me crazy, (I don't like pressure of knowing it all needs eating....)I think hot tuna fish is disgusting... yet cold tuna as a sandwich is just dandy! (with some pickle relish mixed in, on a "gentle bed of lettuce" (as a crazy boss once requested, while looking up at me from the floor he was laying on laughing hysterically) and on an onion roll would be perfect. I prefer my chicken be served hot, and my ham? Well that can go either way. I have fond memories of eating liverwurst and onion sandwiches with my Grandfather, and grilled cream cheese and olive sandwiches with my Grandmother... On that theory it would seem that your family has the ability to help shape you are, what you like, dislike and who you become.... who you value and admire, and you never EVER want to be like... Our young impressionable minds must be taking notes while we are busy being kids.... I do digress a bit at times don't I?

I love books, and "things"... old things especially...tattered with age and grizzled with wisdom is right up my alley. (and it goes along nicely with my being the keeper of memories.... ) I've spent a large part of my life wondering about the past.... but that is a whole another topic.

I wish i was more of a free spirit... more open to taking risks and making a leap of faith from time to time... (maybe I used all that when i first met the husband, who just called me an "odd little french fry" moments ago....) It can be exhausting being the responsible one.... I am getting a little more scattered brained, starey eyed and distracted with age, so perhaps that will help loosen up my spirit?

I'm four leaf clovers, and old apple trees, and stone walls, soft green moss, and walks in the woods with big dogs.... colored pencils and bits of clay... and furry purry cats.... cupcakes and bunnies.... rats and ducks and goats and really ALL creatures great and small.... letters and papers and glitter... and lists, many many lists.... plants and miniatures.... cameras and cups of tea and comfy sweaters and clogs on my feet (flip flops in season).... apple pie, fall, pumpkin muffins ~ and snow... we mustn't forget snow.

Oh yes; and I talk to much once i get going. :)

Just another weekend in Maine.

2010-08-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

These things made me smile, a comfy little contented sort of smile... so I thought i would share them with you.

Brown Eyed Susans by the barn....

Belfast Harbor, and the fog.

The first (live) porcupine I've ever seen!

A school paper from beneath the floor boards.... last one is how to measure your farm.

The porcupine looks like a cute little bear up close... Weeds growing by the poor sadly falling over barn start to look quite striking in the afternoon light. I can hear the echo of children reciting how to measure their farm inside the school house.... and the fog ~ can you hear it? It comes on little cat feet....

Perhaps it's Magic.

Treasure from beneath the floor boards.

2010-07-26T16:54:00.000-07:00

I think one of the best things about an old house is finding little tidbits of the past, tucked into the most unlikely of places... Some times it's a bit of broken pottery... or the neck of a broken bottle ~ or it might just be a rusty spring.... or a button. The corner of a grocery list.... A receipt for the purchase of one sheet of music (for the old 1800's pump organ that came with the house perhaps?)... an empty mackeral can... To me, it's all just fascinating. It is a glimpse of who and what came before us. It does of course leave me overflowing with heaps of questions!
Who broke the dish? Did they look all over for the button that fell of the shirt and rolled off into the crack in the floor? Who spilled all the beads that keep turning up in the nooks and crannies??
And then once in a while you find a treasure...

Scott found a little tiny enameled pin (as in jewelery, not to sew with)... I think it's just charming! Now I can just sit back and wonder who it belonged to... and how long it's been under the floor boards!!!

May I also say, I am so very lucky to be married to a guy who can not only fix an old house that is in need of SO much repair, but also appreciate how much i love all this stuff... When he finds even the tiniest bead or button, he stops what he's doing and come to find me, and deliver my treasure! (you can see how this slows down progress too.....but I like to think that's just us slowing down and "savoring the good moments" in life...)

I am saving all the bits and pieces like a little Magpie... my stash of goodies is growing steadily ~ and I shall be the envy of alllllll the Magpies!!!

Pink

2010-07-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

Blue

2010-07-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July Weekend!!

2010-07-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

See, I've still got a little craftiness left in me!!! :)

The End. :)

Bottled Time?

2010-06-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

Wasn’t there a song about time in a bottle? Does that mean it’s for sale someplace? A few days ago, I decided to approach my “art creating” (or more to the point, the lack thereof) the same as I did the garden this spring. Just do it !!! This was spurred by a chat with a friend about all sorts of good craft ideas, just ripe for the creating; just the thought of it makes my fingers itchy to make things, draw things, and take their pictures!
Hmmmm, one problem. Well…. now let’s be honest, two. It’s a multi part issue. (and we all know my lack of skills at multitasking ~ is that dinner I smell burning?)

First, the big one is lack of confidence… Every time I look at the sites where budding artists can set up “Shop” I get totally intimidated. A list of instructions including but not limited to, “set up Paypal account”… phrases that include “HTML” and “link your whosie to your whatsit” leave me feeling bleak and defeated before I get thru reading the set up instructions. Dumb right? Obviously a bazillion people are already doing it! I can do book keeping, and use Excel, but not set up a shop? Then, my mind runs across, who would want my stuff anyway; with so many other talented artists to choose from? And imagine the frightening scene of being at a real live fair or talking to a shop keeper in person… *gulp*...

Then let’s say I get past all that…and we move on to problem #2. When exactly do I think I’m going to be making things to populate this (imagined) store anyway? Which brings me to; somehow I manage to make cards for Christmas every year…. Clearly it can be done. Can you see the all out warfare that is raging in my mind (constantly)? I simply want more ‘fun’ time in my life! Can you see me hopping up and down with my clenched fists at my sides like a bratty little kid, growling? I make myself CRAZY! (they say to do something you’re good at..)

Maybe a more important question then where can I buy time in a bottle; is where can you get confidence, follow thru and courage flowing freely from a spigot? I’ll take a barrel of each please.
Am I whining, or can I call it sharing my thoughts?

I should stop it… and study up on linking my whosies to the whatsists instead.