Chilly

A bit of a blustery day to sweep out the old and in the new.  Enjoying the dancing leaves each tumbling and skipping according to its shape and form, winter sprites after the snow melt.

Ending and beginning

Scurrying to undecorate for Christmas and redecorate for New Year's birthday.  Some returns, some new purchases.  Laying to rest for new launching.

Cooking

Banana, coconut, pecan muffins to start.  Chicken corn soup with spinach salad for lunch.  And for dinner, hot roast beef and gravy with mashed potatoes and fresh asparagus.

Sunny and warmer

A lovely bright morning to slowly organize for the new year. 

Time to kick back and relax

 

Christmas is leaving us...

...in a flurry of new fallen snow this morning.
Wishing everyone a happy day after Christmas.

Merry Christmas

                                      May your Christmas be happy and bright!

Christmas Eve

Wishing everyone a happy Christmas Eve.

Rain, rain, rain

Sure glad it isn't snow, snow, snow.  Still mild, the grass is green, lovely after a few weeks of snow on the ground.  Snow possible tomorrow, but the respite has been lovely.

Second day of winter

Even stranger than the first, a foot of snow has melted over the past couple of days.  Warm winds are blowing, feels like March. 68 degrees at midnight.  Dandelions blooming under the snow. 

Ahh - the sunrise

Through the longest night to a new day, a new year, a fresh start, hooray!

A pre-Christmas finish

Not much to show lately, finished this quilt and have been knitting, knitting, knitting, but not too much to show just yet.

Friday eve

The moon's almost full,
B in AC
T home soon,
cat lying about
refuses to go out
Provisions laid in
Supper is cooking.
Early to our beds
Covers up to our heads
Books piled nearby..
let the snow fly!

The snow is piling up

Another 6 plus inches of snow today, cozy in.  Mansfield Park today, Room with a View yesterday to keep the blankness of the outside balanced by the richness in these movies.  The knitting and quilting are coming along, the new Christmas quilt should be ready for the holidays, the sweater may be completed for the New Year's birthday.

Snow and ice

4 inches of snow with a crust of ice this morning, more due tonite. But the house is cozy and warm and ready for the holidays, big pots of food on the stove and cake in the oven. 
Friends to visit with and songs to sing.  Piano music to soothe the foggy, icy night away. 

60 and 4 days

Phew almost a week of celebrating, lunch and gifts with friends today, wow.
I am honored.  So far shaping up to be a good year, fingers crossed.

60 and 2 days

A sunny morning, with a saucy pair of blue jays sporting their flashy winter attire among the brown sparrows this morning.  The singing bowl was subdued but still stirring this morning, opening up dialogues of healing.  The cat is settled down for her morning nap under the desk shelf and my breakfast awaits.

A delightful birthday

It began with an artful card, a piano rendition, a birthday song, and a word game with the day sleeper in the house. My new sage candle refreshed the morning air.
 Then off to brunch at Cafe St. Armand, croque madame pour moi and a mug of sinfully delicious hot chocolate.  Then off for a book browse, to find sumi and watercolor books.  After that on to the exotica store, where a singing bowl sang to me along with an array of Plato's crystals and a hand-tooled journal among other treasures.  Home for a rest and then a intimate dinner for 2 at our favorite Japanese restaurant for gyoza, haru maki and hibachi.  The day was topped off with specialty cupcakes a lovely larkspur locket, a packet of artfully inspirational cards, a sinful box of Sees and a merry heart.
A day well enjoyed. 

A lovely pre-birthday excursion

A little yarn browsing at Uncommon Threads, 2 lovely skeins of mohair for lace knitting were procured.  A lingering browse at New Visions, leaving with some fragrant rose otto, a sri yantra and chakra banner and a bit of fortune enhancing aventurine, along with 2 gorgeous stamped journals.  All topped off with a lovely lunch at the historic Roosevelt Tavern, which was a speakeasy from 1919-1933, but now is a respectable and delicious dining venue.
Our little excursion was such a success that another is in the planning for the big day tomorrow.

Brass and pewter dawn

The patina of the sunrise is lovely brass and pewter on this cold morning.  Memories and leftovers from the bountiful feast day are here, pumpkin muffins and scones, quiche lorraine, turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, butternut squash and brussel sprouts, peas and pearl onions, dried corn casserole, cranberries and gravy and rolls, sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie ice cream. 

Thanksgiving morning

Slim sharp scimitar moon
Shining at dawn's zenith
Crow's hoarse - caw-caw-caw.

Icy Tuesday

Ice is sprouting on the trees like spring buds.  The sparrows hunch on the lilac above the spread of seed.  A day of icy rain with the remaining leaves being crystallized and preserved today. 

Sacred Sunday

Cold winds are blowing, 8 windchill first thing, but sunny and bright!  Cozy in out little house.  Baking pumpkin muffins studded with pepitas, candied ginger, currants and apples to start the day.
Meatloaf from last nite in sandies today.  A big pot of shrimp and clam chowder simmering on the stove for dinner. 
A fun Globe Trekker on PBS going from Istanbul to Vienna via Dubrovnik and Split while I started knitting a wool and silk sweater for Lainey.  Hubby busy as a bee being Santa's helper and my tech support.  The kids doing their things and the cat warming my lap.  Add a touch of qigong, a nice dose of meditations and affirmations, some mandala studying, several cups of tea and a chat with friends and a hilarious read and voila - Lovely!

Autumn fields

 

Gorgeous, thank you!

 

Remembrance

 

Autumn skies

 

It's that kind of season

Nudge the heat up, nudge the heat down, socks on, socks off, sweaters for morning too hot for afternoon. Some trees are changing colors, others still green.  It is a changing time of year.

Gluten and soy free vegan delight

 

Halloween

A bit gloomy and dreary, just right for a Halloween night. Wind and rain are to usher in All Saints Day after all the souls of our dear departed come for a last visit. Okay it is a bit spooky.

Hubby's birthday

So far he has shared a glorious autumn countryside drive, malts and fries, organ fugues, tasty, tempting treats, cranberry-orange marmalade,  salted caramel cheesecake and pumpkin cream cheese roll, breakfast sandwiches and Thai dinners. Full moon and super Venus, custom lattes and more to come.

Another page from the sketchbook

 

In honor of super Venus

 

From the backyard

 

Sketchbook play

 

Sweet blue feathers

 

Bounty of the season

 

Need to take photos

Lots to share but haven't gotten photos taken.  Not today either, maybe tomorrow.

Too busy

Been ignoring my poor blog, tree trimming, house remodeling, pr and outreach work, classes, taking and teaching, etc.  Busy time of year and the blog has suffered, hopefully things will calm down and I can do a bit more here again soon.

Soo fun!

 

Sunchokes abound

 

Autumn morning

The gourd wreath is quite the sight
in the pewter morning light
the fall quilts are hung,
this day has begun
with stirrings above
bumps and thumps
the paper is in
my toes are wriggling
ahhh morning!

Early fall

Beautiful purple, gold and green of early fall-
goldenrod and asters,
butterfly bush and sunchokes,
exuberant and lovely in fall's green-gold light.

All charged up

 

Brush your teeth

 

Class work

 

Memories of the bay

 

Autumn begins

Almost full moon,
ghostly ground fog,
Orion spangling the sky.

It all keeps spinning around and around

 

oodles of doodles

 

Equinox approaches

Full moon, almost first frost, lost Clay this week.

Seasonal shift

From 90 to 40 in the course of a couple of days, phew, from sweating to sweatshirts.
Fall is in the air.  Gorgeous clear, cool mornings of golden light after pastel dawns.

Bridge for T