The first real snow of the year.

We had the first true snow of the year. It was about 3 and a half inches, and I fell asleep to the sound of snow plows. Thus starts the song of winter here.

I love taking pictures. I go through phases where I can't put my camera down. I love sharing what I feel is the everyday wonder and beauty of the things that surround me every day. Stunning mountain views and action shots are great, but the things that make each one of us who we are- the support structure of the things around where we live- THAT'S the stuff real life is made of, and we all see something different.

Fall is fallin'.

I rolled out of bed about 6:30am this morning, and feed the hungry passel of cats, made coffee and watched the sky lighten. It's a cold morning, but no frost is on the car windows. We have had our first snow already. It was a week ago, and it was more hail-ish then snow, but it made white patches on the ground. I will be getting my car winterized Monday, and then I can just settle in and enjoy the ride. The last 2 days have been rain, rain, rain. It's like being back home. My cat, Smudge, is stubbornly denying the change in weather. She insist on being out. I have created 3 insulated shelters. around the house for her to snuggle up in, and am trying to let her enjoy the outside as long as the weather permits. I am a nervous cat mom. Lesseee...what else? Oh! They started playing Christmas music in the store on November 1st. Pleh! It is officially full-blown Christmas in retail land. I will also be selling a few of my crafts this November and December in an indoor site at a friends home. They are open every weekend from Thanksgiving thru Christmas, and I will help out where I can. I don't have to, but figure that since they are providing the space, why not? They apparently get quite the turn out every year, so I might have found my first outlet for disposing of the things I like to make. We will see how it goes. Work hours are finally going up. It feels weird knowing I won't be home for Christmas this year. last year, with all the 'new' it was okay. now I am settled in a bit more, and it already feels a little off. Not bad, just off. I have a feeling I shall spend my tax return on a ticket home next year. Maybe have Christmas in March. LOL! I added a couple of shelves in my bedroom next to my bed to accommodate my every expanding stack-o-library books. I am also starting to get back into books on cd, so I can work on stuff without 'missing' anything like I do when watching DVDs. Well, off to start on the day. But first, a pretty pic of the fall here for you. Almost all the leaves are gone. The wind around here doesn't allow them to show off for long, but it's is very pretty while it lasts.

In my wanderings about the internet tonight, I followed a trail to Stephen Fry's official blog site. I read this entry: In it he says, "It’s not that I want a sexual partner, a long-term partner, someone to share a bed and a snuggle on the sofa with – although perhaps I do and in the past I have had and it has been joyful. But the fact is I value my privacy too. It’s a lose-lose matter. I don’t want to be alone, but I want to be left alone." THIS is how I have always felt. I understand exactly what he is saying. I feel the words from the inside out. It is a frustrating place to be, but I cannot be anywhere else because it makes me miserable. Thank you, Mr. Fry, for putting it together so simply and clearly for me.

Winter activities made of squee.

I need to try this!

I am getting ready to go for my morning walk-a-bout in the yard with my kitty friends, but just wanted to say MY PARENTS COME HOME TODAY!!!!! Okay, so I may be way far away from them, but we call and kill monsters on a regularly, and I have missed them much! They have been living it up is Europe, celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary for 5 weeks, and having a blast. I have gotten postcards, emails and a phone call, but it's not the same as talking about Burger Master visits while slaying Goblins. Just sayin'.

I am sitting on the sun porch, enjoying the cool early morning air, and the gunshots for the hunters. It's Fall, folks, and I have to say, that for the first time, I feel jilted because it is already here. This summer started late in the North Country, and I can feel it still in my souls battery. I am not ready to 'wind down' for the long, cold winter ahead. I just ain't. But, you deal with it. I have been spending almost all my free time on the crappy days holed up in my room doing art, watching West Wing, and reading. Today is going to be beautiful, so Diana and I will be doing the garage/shed shuffle. The summer stuff will be moved out of the garage, and the winter stuff in- like the snow blower, which I guess I will have to learn to use this year, since I will be the only one getting up early in the mornings. I am not fond of the snow blower. Maybe that will change. Who knows. I have finished everything I wanted to do to the yard this year. I am thrilled, because for a while it was looking dicey. Weather rarely changes softly here. It's usually a pretty quick and violent thing. The last few weeks summer has been wrestling with fall. Every now and again I hear fall screaming "Just give it up already! Jeeeez!!!", and summer grunting, huffing and struggling to get out from under fall's bulk and dish him out some serious whoop ass. Or maybe that's just me. So, I cherish every damn sunny day I get, and find some excuse to be outside for at least some of it. My entourage of kitties follows me around the yard, keeping me out of trouble and stopping with me to pay respects to Misty, who is quietly resting in the back yard in the cool shade of Autumn. Soon the snow will keep me from wandering, and I will plug in the treadmill and look out the window at the birds at the feeder. Till then, I will suck up every little bit I can.

I won! I won!!!!

So, Henderson had a logo contest. I was made aware of it by the lovely Ms. Diana, and I submitted an entry- WHICH WON!!!! Of course, it is a tiny-weenie town I live in, so I only won bragging rights, fame, and $100 to the local restaurant of my choice. However, it sounds like someday there will be mugs and t-shirts, so if they print 'em before Christmas, don't bother sending me a wish list, ya know what I mean?!!

I do believe summer has stomped on us but good!

Well, it's 8:30am and almost 80 F. The humidity is also very high. You can see the moisture in the air all day. It's like having dirty glasses, but no matter how much you wipe them clean, everything is still a little hazy. I finally found someone who is willing to help me with my yard work in exchange for help in his. I went over and helped him mow his lawn. This meant I got to ride around on a lawn mower really, really fast. I love me a riding lawn mower! We took a walk around his yard, and he chatted about the things he needs to do. This will mostly involve hooking trees and shrubs to the tractor and pulling them out, filling the hole with dirt, and reseeding. So, I will get to play with a tractor, too! In exchange, he is helping me with my projects. He brought his trailer over the other day, and we went to The Big Rock Pile and filed it up. My rock work is now finished! One load and it is done. The amount of work he has saved me is amazing!. He also brought his chain saw, and we finished cutting tree stumps out of the lilacs, and removing the dead branches. At this point I only have 2 big projects left; power wash and paint the 3 entryways into the house, and finish weeding the garden. The rest is maintenance. At least for this year. I want to live with what I have done and do a few tiny things, and call it a summer. It looks really sharp out in the yard now. I am extremely happy. I went to Boldt Castle a few weeks ago with people from the Henderson Historical Society. That was fun! Very different from the castles and fancy houses I have seen in Switzerland. Boldt Castle is a self guided tour, and I might just go back for a day and hang out on the grounds. Nothing like enjoying the wealth of others! Henderson is having a contest for a new town logo. I submitted an entry, and once they have voted, I will post a picture of it here(you all need to remind me, please). Diana pointed out the contest, and I thought it looked like fun. On todays agenda; I am heading North about an hour to Tom and Dawn's house. Tom is going to teach me to weld. I have a project picked out, and am excited! I have wanted to try my hand at welding for a long time, and he has the set up. He is also a blacksmith, so I will get to try my hand at that, too! Yeah! Other than that, nothing much is going on. We have heat, my plants are growing, and I am being all domestic. The summer is here, and we are staying cool with fans and ice cream. Life is good!

Well hello there! How are you? Fantastic!!! Just want to catch ya'all up a bit on the happenings here in Upstate New York. Spring has finally sprung. Only about 2 weeks ago. Plant life has greened up and fluffed out, flowers have splashed their colors around, and the sun has warmed the place up. Mostly. We went through a few days of 80 degree weather, then down to the 40s. Then up to 80s again, then down to 50s. It is still cold out today, but not as damp as the last 2 days. Maybe things will dry out enough so I can continue my yard work. We shall see. I have been wandering around the house almost daily, seeing what is growing, and thinking about how much yard work I really want to do. I was going to plant a garden this year, but I am going to wait. I want to take care of the yard around the house first. If I can get that down to low maintenance, then I can play in a garden next year. That also gives me a year to compost. The soil here isn't bad, but it could use some help. Cutting back on the 'needs to be weeded all the time' space is my main goal. So, I am cleaning up the left and right sides of the house, putting weed block paper down, and rocking over it. The rocks are free, but I have to drive to one of 2 places to get them, load up clothe bags, and then haul them to my trunk. When I get home it is the same thing, but backwards. Hard work, but worth it. Looks much nicer. Diana's mom started the process when she lived here, but she used edging stones and bark dust. Not a fan of bark dust, since fleas love it. It also puts slivers in my delicate little feet, and that makes me all 'Princess and the Pea' about life. Diana doesn't deserve that. I have been able to start getting out and exploring, an got my hands on a super atlas map of New York! Yeah! I drove to the Adirondacks last weekend- on accident. Really. I was looking for someplace else, got lost, and that was the end result. Had no idea where I had gone wrong until I got this atlas at a really neato general store that was the size of a small planet. Now I am informed and can go to the original destination soon. Yeah for maps! Dora and I have something in common! Diana is officially open for tourist season. We have the sign out now. Picked it up on Friday, and it looks pretty awesome. Soon we will be overrun with people who want to spend their money on high quality, original design jewelry! Three cheers for tourists!

I drove to Rochester yesterday, which is about 2.5 hours south east of Henderson. I drove along the lake because it is way prettier than doing I-81 (the equivalent of I-5 in Washington/Oregon). What a glorious day for it, too! Sunny and 58F. It felt like spring, and was just what my little brain needed. I went to Monroe Community College to see The Sketchbook Project Mobile Library. My friend, Shawn, turned me onto this organization a few years ago, but until this trip, I really didn't 'get it' as much as I could have. I guess I am one of those people who needs to feel something in her hands to truly understand it. Tactile learning anyone? So, this is a mobile library that travels the U.S., sharing sketchbooks made by people from around the world. They can use any medium, do any theme, make them as simple or complex as they want, and then send them in to be shown in that library. Brooklyn is the home of the entire collection, and the mobile trailer showcases only the books from the past year. I spent over 4 hours pouring over creations from all over the world, by people with zero to tons of art skills, in every medium imaginable. It. Was. Amazing. I walked away with a recharged creative battery, and a sketchbook of my own to do that will travel in next years tour. Of course, I want to make everyone I know do one now, too, but most of those people would be to afraid. They would think they were not good enough. But THAT is the beauty of this project. NO ONE is rejected, and NO ONE is judged, and there is always SOMEONE who will see what you have done and be inspired/touched/encouraged. I laughed. I cried. I even thought 'WTH???' a few times, but just seeing that anyone was willing to put whatever they wanted into these pages was enough to get respect and attention from me. In one book, the pages were filled with the same pattern, drawn in ink, but done in different colors. One was an elaborate art journal in bright colors and collage. One was a huge fold-out on a handmade paper, with seven continuous line drawings of what that person ate every day for seven days. The ideas were endless. I could go on and on. How this sort of thing makes me feel when I can actually touch it is harder to explain. When I went to Switzerland for the first time as a willing adult, I had the same two feelings. Both were unexpected. The first was a feeling of 'coming home'. This knocked me off my feet, since I had never, in any way, entertained the idea that anywhere but the USA could ever be 'home'. I don't know why I had it. I just felt so comfortable there; like I fit, even though I couldn't speak the language. The second was a feeling of awe that I have never gotten from any thing else except nature. That deep feeling of history; of meaning and life and purpose and stories. I really have no better way to explain it. Touching the side of a 1000 year old church, or hearing the church bells ring in a village that had been ringing for hundreds of years, and thinking, 'How many people, just like me, have stood here and heard this exact same sound or felt this exact same spot on this wall?' The sensation created through touch and sound made a deep connection to history that I had never felt in school, and never would have been able to feel because it is simply not taught. I found a connection through the thought of everyday people, doing everyday things in the same world I was now in. I guess what I found was wonder. Anyhow, I felt this again yesterday. I am going to post a few pictures, but they are flat compared to the 3-d experience I had. However, I encourage all of my reader to check out The Sketchbook Project website. They have great ideas everyone can participate in, and it really is a great organization with a great idea of community art. http://www.sketchbookproject.com/ And now for pictures. Just a couple or three.

Well, what have I been up to? Lessee... Not much, I guess. The weather has been snowy and cold for the most part. And by that I mean 99% of the time. Spring is apparently saying our neck of the woods for last. To busy everywhere else making her presence known. Since she is a big show-off, she will eventually have to mosey our way. So, I wait, like an antsy little kid trapped in that horrible place between after-service and being home. Com'on, Dad! Get the car already and lets get out of here! So, here is a great shot of the first day of spring. Glorious, right? People keep laughing and telling me we can get snow up through Mothers day- like that is even funny! Spring is going to have to put on one helluva speed performance if she keeps putting things off. Just saying. Diana and I have been concentrating on her shop. Here is a picture of the shelving assembled, and filled with pretties. The soft opening is April 20th, and she will open for summer business mid May. Should be fun! Lessee...I am up to the usual shenanigans and tomfoolery. Nothing new or exciting in my life, really. Probably why you don't hear from me much. I should have a burst of posting goodness when spring rears her pretty little head and gives me glorious things to take pictures of. Until then, I give you a picture of a cat. Note how The Queen of All That is Hers (Which is Everything) reclines on her pillow while snuggled up to her favorite heat source; the gas fireplace. No, the pillow doesn't get hot. Yes, she has melted the hair on her tail a few times getting comfy. But only a little.

Nothing much going on.

Not much going on other than wacky weather. Went through a spell of negative numbers, down into the teens. Because I am not used to this, I forgot to leave water running, and we had a small section of pipe freeze. No bursting that we can see. So, instead of a boring update about cats and toe lint, I bring you some cool pics of the freeze. A few shots of the lovely Lake Ontario. Shots were taken after I walked out on it about 30 feet. Guess I can scratch 'Walk on water' off my Bucket List!

This is one of the radiators in Dianas house. I do not know why, but I am in love visually with these things, and take lots of pictures which I do not torture you with. Your welcome.

A few days after my last post we had a warm spell. The snow melted quickly, and it was in the mid 40s to mid 50s for a while. It was strange to see grass again. Today it started snowing, and now it is white and beautiful out. We were not supposed to get an accumulation of the white stuff, but throw a lake into the mix and you never really know what is going to happen. Diana has moved her bedroom upstairs and the shop is taking shape. She has decided to go with her business full time, so her last day at work will be in April. We are working to get a shop/teaching space created and ready to roll by then. It's proving to be a lot of work, but it's gonna look sooooooo nice! Our bathroom is finally finished, as well.

It was ripped up for 5 weeks, and we are still making muppet arms every time we go into the finished space. Having Ugly Bathroom Syndrome sucks! I have decided that this month will be full of crafty goodness and fun. Beth found a great art gift for me. It's a book called "Wreck This Journal" and each page tells you something different you must do to it. I convinced my friend Sandra to get the same one, and we are doing it together and sending the pages to each other. Fun! I have another friend doing a 30 day photo challenge. one picture posted every day of something in the house. Just for fun. It is always fun to see how other view their environment. Not much going on other than that, but I think that is more than enough for the first month of 2013, hmmmm?

Drove along lake Ontario on the way home yesterday, through Henderson Bay so I could snap pictures of the lake frozen over.