Moon*&*Stars Studio
No matter where i go...no matter how long (or short) i am away...
there is one thing i know for sure. When i come back home, i always have one or more of my best friends waiting for me at the back door.
The faces have changed and friends have come and gone over the years, but there is a comfort and joy in knowing that somebody is waiting at home for me, and very happy to see this old face.... 
While driving home last night, i realized how happy i am to be right here where i am now, and how Thankful i am for all the Blessings in my life. Thank you all for being my friend. 
I just joined an organization called The Toy Society......for two reasons....I LOVE presents for no reason, and i secretly have always wanted to be Santa Claus..... Check it out: http://www.thetoysociety.blogspot.com/
Little crocheted star ornaments made out of cotton yarn, stiffened with glue and water mixture, and sprinkled with stardust....i mean....glitter!
Thank you Leahdis for posting about these sweet little stars, and to
Two little garter stitch teddy bear friends headed out to a Holiday fundraiser later on today. They are wearing their newly crocheted scarves to keep them warm. They hope to find their new homes with a holiday shopper tonight!
I wanted to update you all and thank you for your prayers and good wishes. After nearly 3 weeks in ICU on life support, in a medically induced coma, my son in law Jeremie has recovered enough to be taken off the vent and brought back to consciousness. He still has a long way to go. After being so sick and laying still in bed so long he is very weak and will need rehabilitation. But he has definitely made a major recovery. And i KNOW that prayer, love and concern had a lot to do with helping him along. Thank you everyone for your kindness and love shown to my family!
With all that has been going on around here, it is always amazing to me how much crafting i do manage to get done. The floors and the furniture are dusty, and the laundry is piled high, but i make sure that whenever i sit still, i have a bag full of yarn and a crochet hook or knitting needles with me. 
Meet my new newborn model, Dorie. Her store bought name was Dora, but i decided to change it a bit so she would be named after the little pup we lost last week. Newborn sized hats fit her perfectly! And the hats are a new style i have been working with. Last Winter i focused on learning to knit, and this year i am teaching myself how to read and execute crochet patterns... I worked on the ear pattern on this hat and am calling them my teddybear beanies! They will be available in newborn and toddler sizes at The Paper Sparrow and in my Etsy shop real soon.
And underneath this pile is my kitchen table! I put my countless unfinished projects on the table this morning so they would be right in my face, and hopefully i will get some of them finished today. (This is just a fraction of the projects that need finishing) I have over a dozen pair of booties to be seamed, ears to sew on hats, scarves to be trimmed out, lovely hats started on looms, baby sweaters to be pieced together and trimmed, teddy bears that need to be stuffed and sewn together.... And that's not all. Time to finish up a few loose ends before starting another project....well....except for the next sweater i started last night and those new hat patterns i am working on........oh well, i am a work in progress!
Early morning, and fresh out of the crate for the night, Ruben is ready for some wrestling...
Even Gipetto joins in sometimes, tho he spends most of his time sleeping on the bed or chairs up high above the action. Gipetto will be 17 next June. He's had his share of welcoming puppies to this house. Now in his old age, he can do whatever he wants to do! 
Tag team action going on at the moment, and sometimes the big dogs lay down and let little Ruben win....I'm so glad they are all good friends already...
I have a special love for the moon...I tried to take some pictures of the Full Hunter's Moon the other night, but was unable to get a good shot. (It could be because all four dogs decided to jump and wrestle right under my feet, causing me to get some very blurry shots)
So when i came out early this morning with the dogs and saw this, i thought i would give it a try... The moon was only visible for a short while as the sun was coming up
and right before my eyes it blended in with the wispy clouds 
and disappeared...just for a little while... 
My son in law, and Seth and Lola's daddy, Jeremie, is in the local hospital, and has been for over a week now. He has had a lifelong battle with asthma, and has been in and out of hospitals all his life with this problem. Two weeks ago he caught a cold or flu that was going thru the family, and last Sunday my daughter brought him to the ER with shortness of breath. He has developed a very strong bacterial pneumonia that has so far been very resistant to antibiotics. He is now in ICU, on a respirator, in a medically induced deep sleep.... Jeremie is a very private person so i have resisted posting about this. But as we enter into the second week in ICU with no improvements so far, i am hopeful that extra prayers and positive thoughts might just help him out. I am a lifelong believer in the Power of Prayer and Love, and i thank you all in advance for sending a little Love and Light our way....
You enter the park by crossing this bridge
That leads to this overlook
to see this.... The Cohoes Falls. And on this day, after a few days of hard rains, they were very impressive!
This is the far side of the falls 
The foliage was a little past peak, but still beautiful
the far side
from a distance 
The water was rushing so hard that the spray was creating the perfect environment for rainbows...
and more rainbows
and more rainbows
and more
another shot of the cliffs and the foliage...
You know, i got halfway down and got so dizzy! (I get dizzy just looking at this picture!) This is a very steep stairway
But it does give you a whole new way to experience the falls
You get so close you get sprayed with the mist from the falls and you can feel the water pounding the ground thru your body
This is a shot of the river just below the falls 
I stood and looked at the water and felt the spray and the pounding and crashing and couldn't get this silly smile off my face. It was Awesome!
another rainbow 
Ok, so it was chilly, the sun was going down, and i was getting wet and i turned around and this is what i had in front of me ~ a zig zagged pathway and the steep staircase again. And let me tell you, it is more work to get up the stairs than it is to get down!
almost all the way up....
The rapids before the falls
Another view of the lookout
and the rusty colored hills across the river
As you leave the park you face the old Erie Canal that has always run thru our city 
and cross the bridge over the canal to the parking area. The park will be closed for the season in another week. But it will reopen in Spring during the Spring thaw, when the falls are really magnificent. I hope you enjoyed this little "tour" of one of the more magical places in my city. I know i did!
