Morning Lamb
Photo finalist in the Canadian Federation of Agriculture's 75th Anniversary Photo Contest

I hope all of you have had a fantastic Christmas and are preparing for the New Year with great anticipation and joy.

We had a great Christmas here and as usual I have a story to tell about it.

As the family grows larger (in physical size...I could never do the baby thing again!!LOL) and everyone has demands that must be met. One scare commodity is the computer. Apparently my family has decided that my time on this wretched machine far exceeds the families approved time lines and so for a present this year my family bought me my very own lap top.

Nothing fancy, just a basic piece of equipment that I can gleefully fill with my photos and paintings and write my stories on. Something I can take on my travels through out the house and beyond on my whim.

My whim apparently is very irritating to family members so with great joy to the receiver and from the givers my new lap top began the lengthy process of rebuilding. For those of you who know me or have read this blog you will all note that I am not the most computer literate person on the planet and my husband is quite adept at it. Most of the time.

He likes to install new hard drives and usually this results in lengthy durations where I have no contact with the outside world. A horrible fate for someone who has a set routine and can not fulfil it. In that way I am very much like The Big Bangs Sheldon. The world is not quite right if my routine is disrupted.

And so I puttered around the house Christmas morn as Dave installed program after program.

We had Christmas dinner complete with all the trimmings and had scented candles placed upon the table to add a festive air to the event. I went to the studio to work on several new commissions and several hours later returned to the kitchen to note an odd glow from my new laptop. Wondering what program could ever do that I sidestepped David as he raced to my side babbling about "the candles, the damn candles"

My screen had an odd configuration on it slightly resembling a lighted skull with rays coming from it. When I ventured to looked at the back I nearly suffered a stroke. The illumination on the screen was caused by a huge hole about 3 inches by 2 inches in my lap tops cover! David had left the never been touched by me laptop too near the candle and after several hours of inattendence it melted a gaping hole in it!! My new baby was now horribly mangled!!!

My children in the past , who have sat at the computer thoroughly focused on the screen totally oblivious to the outside world have missed the fire departments arrival at our home. I always wondered how a person could so totally tune out the world around them and I always wonder, always suspected which side of the gene pool THAT darling trait came from. It would appear it comes from the male side. As David had sat at the computer, as it melted away without once realizing this event was literally occurring under his nose!

And men wonder why women call men "Dumb asses!"

I will be the only person on the planet (including the Pope) who has an actual HOLY computer!

Happy Holidays Folks

Blue Bird of Happiness- Needle felted

Chickadees Hat and Mittens- Needle felted

"Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring except.. for the parents"

We are trying to finalize the great mans arrival and as par for the course, we are once again on a frantic search for "the" gift that was purchased with glee and hidden with hopes that it would not be found by the multiple little fingers that are linked to a curious mind.

I had hoped that we could avoid a repeat of past Christmas' that had a habit of continuous giving. You know what I am talking about, where you find gifts squirreled away only to be located during the summer months. Doesn't bode well for food stuffs or sledding equipment and trust me when I say there is no disappointment quite like that of a child who receives the ammo for his "special" Nerf gun but doesn't actually get the gun until August of the following year!

This year I made a pact with myself not to lose a single gift. I hid everything in plain sight with the knowledge that they would be easily accessible for prying minds but also easily found for aging ones as well! I also cut down on the amount of gifts and put a Nix on anything that required "assembly" or "batteries not included" gifts.

The plan was to remove those confused looks that pass between parents during the mornings festivities where each of you tries in vain to send mental images and discussion topics while looking like you planned the Barbie clothes to arrive without the Barbie! Searching through cluttered garages and crawling over rabbit hutches in a futile attempt to find the module that goes with that new xBox gets mighty embarrassing when you have an anxious audience.

I love Christmas!

A good story now. A true story.

I was at the bus station yesterday to mail of one last painting and as I stood in line awaiting my turn I watched the exchange between the clerk and the bus driver who was trying to explain why she was on the phone and not behind the wheel of her bus and travelling down the highway. I was listening half heartedly as my focus was drawn to the parked bus as a timid elderly woman slowly exited the vehicle. She looked confused and uncertain and lost.

"You'll wait? Great, I'm leaving right now."

The driver explained to her coworkers and the rest of us that an elderly passenger did not get off the bus in Antigonish (about 90 minutes away from us and the opposite direction she needed to be going in!) and was now in danger of missing any buses to get her to her final destination of Sydney. This woman bus driver was taking her over to New Glasgow to be able to catch a bus that would be waiting, courtesy of another kind person, so that she could make home before nightfall.

One last look at the frail older woman had me sending a silent prayer to God thanking him for the bus driver and her kindness. The cynical part of me that I do try to remove from my character wondered what would have become of this poor woman if the driver had of been callus and cold. Would she have been able to find lodging for the evening in a strange town as everyone bustled past her without regard for her plight?

This kind act had me becoming more aware of those around me. I smiled a bit brighter and wished the clerks through out the day a Merry Christmas not just because it was polite conversation but because I actually wished them good tidings. The response was wonderful.

And so I extend my warmest regards and hopes that you enjoy the Holiday season and all it has to offer. Perhaps the feeling of good will toward all men will stay with us all a Little bit longer than these few days in December. Maybe it won't get lost like my Christmas gifts.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year one and all!

Crystal Butterfly
(which promptly fell off the railing 1 second after this photo was taken thus proving that crystal butterflies can not fly and will become mangled when they hit the ground 15 feet below them!)

Crystal Angel

Crystal Christmas Ornaments

We are now beginning to feel the effects of a brutal Nor'easter here. The sheep and the horse are all hiding out in their sheds and Rex the rooster is learning that crowing in a wind storm leads to instant flight!

Poor Rex, being the rooster that he is in all his glory has become airborne several times already and being a typical stubborn males has decided that he can not take refuge in the shed until his quota of crowing has been filled. I am quite certain one of my neighbors will become the new owners of an aged Ameracauna Rooster! I imagine the scene will resemble that one in Twister where Helen Hunt sees a cow fly by their truck, only in our case it will be the truck driving school down the road witnessing Rex's first long haul flight!!

I am hoping the storm will be gentle on us. I love my concrete house. The only thing I usually hear in a storm like this is the sound of slapping shingles. It is a very horrid sound. There is no rhythm and it I swear it sounds like money. Money leaving my bank account as each and everyone hurtles to the ground in an effort to dent one of my vehicles! I have found the use of ear plugs to be very comforting in a case such as this.

I suppose we should be glad it is not 10 feet of snow!

The pictures today are of a recent project the kids and I have under taken. It has been great fun to create sculptures out of pipe cleaners and then let them soak in a solution of Borax and water where crystal form and the end result is fantastic. It is easy and your imagination is the only limiting factor.

Imagination is a great thing...unless you are the mother of an imaginative 11 year daughter. I was out one evening and when I returned a few hours later I was stunned to find my beautiful kitchen in complete disarray. I have a large kitchen. There are 40+ feet of counter space and each and every inch of it was covered in "stuff". Anna was bounding around like a kid on a sugar high busily writing out orders and placards informing people not to touch her experiments. :(

It seems she decided the Internet was a wondrous fount of information and one the should be utilized to its maximum. Not content with our earlier Borax creations she decided to see what else she could create crystals out of. It seems that all food stuffs are fair game. Sugar, salt and spices were all combined in various concoctions with food colouring and vinegar. The next day involved a long expensive visit to the grocery store.

Being 11 also means that clean up is NOT one of your required priorities. Creating a vast mess and coating every inch of Moms huge counter top ...do-able and DONE!

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So in true MOM fashion I lectured as I cleaned and taught Anna a new skill... multitasking. She can now clean and apologize at the same time!!

Merry Christmas Folks.

Charlie 7x5 Oil Portrait Sold

The Holiday season is now upon us and my kids are home for the holidays and buzzing around the house fueled by Christmas bonbons. Any attempts to get them to use this excess energy in a positive way ie doing laundry is as futile as Borg assimilation!

There are more social gatherings in these last two weeks than there have been for the rest of the year and the burst of activity has us all sleeping very well at night. The chance to visit and enjoy the company of new and old friends has been a blessing in more ways than one and I for one enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of this season as compared to other years.

The studio is hopping busy and I presently have 4 commissions in various stages of development propped up on easels and tables. They are all smaller in nature which makes them rather fun to play with as opposed to the larger canvas' which can be daunting in a tight time frame.

So between the Holiday festivities, herding sugar crazed kids to various events and refueling my 13 year old sons insatiable appetite with something half way nutritious I hope to hide out in my studio. Maybe I'll sneak an eggnog or two up with me!!

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Roamin the Wildman 4x5 oil portrait SOLD

It is hard to believe it is so close the Christmas. Up until yesterday we still had a few die hard Rubeckia and Dandelions blooming on our property. Those who think global warming is not happening in Canada has not been on my property. I am still watering my animals out of the trough which has been going on since early March! I have had animals for over 25 years and this is the first time I have had almost 10 months of uninterrupted trough use.

It has been a blessing to my back but I see the effects on my animals and in my pastures. The sheep are prepared for cooler temps and their heavy wool fleeces has them in some discomfort. My pastures must be sectioned off earlier or else the animals will chew the vegetative growth to the root stocks and kill the plants.

For those of you who live in Northern climates look around and you'll see these effects however minor you perceive them and take note. You do not have to live in an island nation like the Maldives to be acutely aware of the impacts of our changing climates.

We built a ICF concrete house with solar in floor heating and south ward facing exterior that houses the best thermal windows money could buy. Sound excessive? Our construction people thought so. They claimed on more than one occasion that our home was excessive. I suppose if you think global warming will never affect you then yes this is true.

With the time of day heating rate installed and the thermal capacity of our home it is not uncommon to have the power go off for 6 or more hours and our home only loses 1 degree of temperature. When you compare the heating rates of our home which is 3600 square feet to a stick built home of 12oo square feet our electric bills (which includes heat) is less than theirs. Yet our ways are too expensive?

The sad fact about this is we did it without government support. While our federal and provincial governments tout that we should take environmental issue seriously , the programs they have in effect such as the Energuide and rating system is not programmed to handle newer houses such as ours. This is a grievous error on their part for there are almost 12 ICF homes in my immediate area but the government will only aid people in building traditional non efficient homes and the retro fit of heritage homes. Why is there an incentive for people who do not believe our actions are destroying the planet?

As I listen to the news this morning and heard of the newest price increase for gas all I could think of was the reason I built this home. While attending my mothers funeral I talked with many of her peers and they all remarked that they could not afford to heat their homes. They had resorted to closing off sections of their homes and layering their clothing to stay warm. I was so shaken by this that I told my husband that I do not want to be elderly or retired and unable to heat my home. Thus the ICF house with its "extreme" modifications. While my neighbors eat less and stop donating to charities in order to keep their families warm I will sit in warmth and wonderment at what it will take to change their attitudes towards this global issue.