Hanging out at the local Watering Hole...

 Safou takin a dip in the dog and cat's water bowl.

Brrrrr that water is cold!

Music for your Ears-Joni Mitchell, A Case of You.

Bunnies, Blankets and Birthdays

 It's hard to believe a whole year has gone by since our friends Randi and Mike welcomed their little girl Paige into this world. And when the birthday was coming up, Randi asked me to make Paige a Bunny Blanket. So, i got to work...

 Paige's new bunny blanket is made with a soft washable, easy care acrylic yarn that gets softer and softer as you wash it. This pattern and yarn has been tested out by my own granddaughter Zoey, who sleeps with her bunny blanket every nap and every night. So i know these little blanket buddies are made to last! I also included a little toddler sized crocheted bunny named Tilly, and tucked them all into a fabric basket i made of old recycled cotton fabric. I thought Randi could use the basket for toys or storage on top of Paige's dresser.

 Here's the bunny blanket all stretched out before i rolled it up and tucked it into the basket and brought it to the party.

And here is Paige opening her present (with a little help from her Mommy and friends) I hope she likes it as much as Zoey does. I started making another pink bunny blanket to put into my shop, but my daughter has requested a back up bunny blanket for when Zoey's bunny needs washing. She cries until the blanket is washed and dried and ready to go again! If i ever do get one or two of these in the shop, keep them in mind for a gift for a baby shower. Little ones really do love them and i charge them with Reiki and Love all while i am making them...Happy Birthday Little Paige! We Love You!!!

Poppy and Zoey

 and her stuffed owlet...

Computer whizkid

We're never too young OR too old to learn
My baby is growing up so fast....

Amaryllis

 I am afraid to say this out loud for fear of jinxing myself

 but this is the first time in a LONG time that i was able to have an amaryllis come to full bloom in the house. Last year the bulb threw greens but it never flowered, and the year before that the cats snapped the stalk/stem off just as the buds were starting to open....

 You can see it is pretty tall, the bulb perched inside a glass with water.

 Here is the amaryllis fully open

 In this picture you can see there are four blooms on the stalk.

Fingers crossed it will stay standing for a little while!

What's Bloomin Inside

 This is the only orchid blooming so far this Winter...No sign of flowering from the others as of yet...

 and one of my new Christmas cactuses is also blooming, with a brand new color for me!

 This one is a soft peachy yellow with some pink in the throat and a fuschia colored stamen. 

VERY pretty!

This is a new variety(for me) of aloe plant i bought at our local Food Co-Op.

It's very happy here and threw out a new stem of blooms right away!

More blooms to come!

Sweet Sleeper

 Hannah, sound asleep

What i did on Superbowl Sunday

 Another homemade apple pie, using up the last of the apples from the Farmer's market

 A big pot of tomato sauce using up the last of the tomatoes from our garden

Delishiousness!

A new artist

Zoey LOVES to draw and color...I think we have a budding artist on our hands!

Our Lady in Stained Glass

 My friend Kate and i stopped in at an art show this past Fall, and saw some lovely things for sale, offered by a wealth of local artists in the Sand Lake NY area. One of the offerings that i especially loved was this stained glass portrait of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

 The artist who created this piece was a lovely woman and i am currently searching for her very modest business card. I hope to see her back at another art festival so i can purchase more of her lovely work.

 The sunlight was glowing thru this piece when i woke on this freezing cold morning 

and i thought i would share it with you.

details of the work...

Love

You know it is love when you can't throw the box out that the gift came in, because it says this. I'll use it as a book mark and keep it forever.

Snowy Night

 It snowed again last night, so i took a few pictures of the front of our house. This is with the flash. You can see the snowflakes

and this is without flash...

Got High Hopes

A Pie in the Hand

 Bill and i went to the Farmer's Market this weekend to buy some homemade Empanadas from the Peruvian vendors. But when we got there, the vendor was completely sold out. We were very sad....

This morning, i got this recipe in my inbox, and i decided to try my hand at making my own Empanadas, or Hand Pies. This is my very first attempt. I was a little clumsy with the dough, but they sure tasted good, and weren't all that hard to make!

 The dough is a basic pie crust dough, and while most empanadas are fried, these were brushed with cream (i used half and half) and baked in the oven, so i am hoping they are also less fattening!

The filling was really easy to make. Kale, sweet sausage, apple, onion and golden raisins. De-Licious! For the recipe, click here.

Not yet......

 It's January 15th...We are already half way thru January

(does anybody else out there feel like time is speeding up?)

 Even so, we are still a LONG way from Spring.

 But with the thaw and all the rain we have gotten here these last 3 or 4 days, my herbs have been tricked into thinking it is Spring and time to wake up. I noticed this yesterday but it was too dark to take pictures. Above you can see my fancy Thyme, with a thin coating of frost on it.

My strawberry plants are frozen solid under a thick glaze of clear ice.

Very pretty...I know they are protected under there...

And this is my cat mint or cat nip, pushing up thru the old wilted growth. .

My indoor houseplants are responding more to the light coming into the windows and they are starting to put out new growth too, tho a bit early. Some of my smaller indoor trees lost most or all of their leaves this Fall and it will be nice to have them green again. Maybe we will have an early Spring.

January Thaw...

 We have been in a deep freeze and surrounded by thick layers of ice and snow since the Holidays. So this weekend when the temperatures got up to 57 degrees and we had lots of rain instead of snow, i grabbed my point and shoot camera and my umbrella, and headed down to the Cohoes Falls. 

 The city closes the Falls Park for the Winter months but there is another overlook near the old mill houses near the power plant, so i took these pictures from that point.

 At first there was so much fog and mist surrounding the falls it was hard to see the water flow, but i stood there for a while enjoying the energy there and eventually the fog and mist lifted a bit.

 

I included this little picture because i love that little lookout house on the edge of the wall there. Imagine what it would be like to be in there when the falls are like this!

Rosie

Thank you Faustin Baron for this beautiful portrait of our Rosie

Tiny Dancer

During this super cold spell we find ourselves in, i've noticed some pretty interesting ice and frost patterns form on our windows. I tried to take a picture of this one, which is blurry, but i think it is the best photo i got of it. It looked just like a little frost fairy, until the sun warmed it and it faded away... 

Precious Gifts

 I have always loved children's artwork and homemade gifts. I wanted to share with you a few cards Lola made for me for my birthday this year. 

This is a Garden Fairy, who lives in my garden

and here is the messge side.

And this drawing for me is priceless. It is a drawing of my three dogs who have passed. Zebedee, Amos Moses, and Gipetto. I think Lola would only remember Gipetto as the other two passed on before she would know them. The Beautiful Angel in the center is my Grandmother Mary.When telling me the story of this drawing,  Lola said my Grandmother and the three brothers(dogs) are all Angels and they are here,watching over me. Love, love, love....