Tag: weather

Pets

Beautiful Day

Shelly

It was pouring down rain early this morning, when the dogs got me up. It was so disgusting out that I went back to bed for a couple of hours, hoping it wouldn’t be as gross when I woke back up. My plan worked. This has been one of the most gorgeous days we’ve had, yet. The sun has been nice and bright and there has been a nice scattering of puffy little white clouds. I’m not looking forward to hot weather, but after a grey and gloomy winter, I’m enjoying the increasingly sunny days.

With all the rain we’ve gotten over the past week, the grass is starting to perk up. I love the contrast of the intense green against the still-brown trees and the golden grass of the fallow field next door. The dogs are enjoying the tender new grass, too. They both spent a good part of the afternoon grazing, like a miniature herd of baby cows.

Pets

Rainy Day

Shelly

After a stretch of almost too-gorgeous weather, today turned gross and rainy. Pandora is napping on top of the heat register. Leave it to a cat to suck up all the heat in the house. The dogs had a riotous game of biteyface in the mud and are now sacked out for their after dinner naps–Harriet on my bed (with her binkey) and Elliott on the couch.

Art, Bookarts, Pets, Photography

The Blustery Day

Shelly

It’s cold and snowy and windy today. The weather is supposed to clear up this afternoon, but in the meantime, it’s snowing sideways (30mph wind gusts) and the roads are icy. Yuck.

In arting news, I started on a new book last night. It’s an itty bitty (3/4″ x 7/8″) alphabet book, made out of left-over Cartiera Magnani paper (I just can’t stand to throw any of it away). Lord only knows how I’m going to manage to bind something that small, but I’m sure it’ll be an interesting experience. I’ll post pictures as I finish them.

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Oh, and yesterday was Elliott’s 11th birthday. That photo was taken earlier this winter. Harriet, ever the fashion plate, is modelling the latest in Metal-wear for dogs. Elliott, bless his little heart, is standing all penguin-footed. That’s my silly dork!

Photography

Another Crispy Saturday Morning

Shelly

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Another Crispy Saturday Morning

After days and days of rain, sleet, and snow, the sun came out to play yesterday. The sky this morning is hazy, but the sun is bright and sparkling. The frost was quickly burned away, leaving a muddy brown-green landscape behind. The dogs played for a couple of hours, chasing rabbit tracks and digging for moles. Harriet is still outside, sunbathing. Elliott came in to cool off and get a drink, and is now lying under my feet, sleeping the sleep of the well and truly tuckered out. Ah, puppy bliss.

The cats are enjoying the sun’s appearance, too. After making a pile of all the socks, washcloths, and various pieces of paper looted from my art trash bin, Pandora is sitting on her nest, basking in a sunbeam. I love the way she faces into the light, periodically squeezing her eyes half-shut.

Art, Collage, Photography

Snow Storms and Rituals and Beautiful Boys

Shelly

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The wind is howling like a banshee and the snow is blowing sideways. At what point does a snow storm officially become a blizzard? The snow has lightened up a bit since I took these photos. I can actually see the ridge to the east of me. I’m glad I don’t have to be out in this. Snow and cold are great, but high winds scare the bejeezus out of me. This is definitely a day to stay inside with a good fil-um or book and drink lots of hot cocoa.

Rituals
Rituals
collage in composition book

Despite my lack of motivation, I did manage to get some gluing done. The idea for the piece above came to me yesterday, at work. The person in the cubicle beside mine has a collection of vitamins and assorted medications that she takes every afternoon. Little rituals like that are comforting: shoes shed by the front door when you come home, brushing your teeth before bed, or stopping every morning for coffee before work; big rituals, as well: christenings, birthdays, weddings, honeymoons, funerals. These rituals remind us that there’s a rhythm to life and that, no matter what happens, the world will continue rotating on its axis and the sun will continue to rise and set.

Beautiful Boy
Beautiful Boy
collage in composition book

I was watching bad daytime TV earlier in the week and on some talk show, probably Oprah, Celine Dion did a gawdawful cover of John Lennon’s Beautiful Boy. I’ve had the song stuck in my head since then–not a bad thing, since it was thankfully the original version. So, I thought I’d do some arting on the subject. Sometimes art is silly.

Photography

Winter Sun

Shelly

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Winter Sun

It snowed last night and the sky is a serious shade of slate this morning. Back to yucky Indiana winter weather, I guess.

In art news, I’m hostessing this week’s An Art a Day theme: Dadaism. I’ve been cruising the web, looking for information and inspiration for folks. I was up way past my bedtime last night, working on it. I had trouble falling asleep because my brane was spinning round and round with ideas. That’s often when my best inspirations come to me, though. Hopefully, this won’t be an exception. I can’t wait to get to work!

Pets

The Sun Came Out to Play

Shelly

Capricorn Bash 2005 is over–great friends, great food, and great fun was enjoyed by all. I got a Kibological selection of DVDs from Mr. B (Romper Stomper & Never Cry Wolf) and groovy slippers and art supplies (including a set of hole punches and a butt-load of various glues) from Mrs. B. We then adjourned for a silly-fest at Ms. K’s house, where I laughed so hard I ended up with a sore throat. That sort of laughter is good for the soul.

And, guess what? The sky cleared up yesterday! It’s pale blue today, but there isn’t a cloud to be seen. We ended up getting a few more inches of rain on Wednesday night/Thursday, so the river is back up again. It’s not as bad as it was last time, though, thankfully. It’s supposed to crest Sunday, so I’m hoping I can get out and get some pictures. The poor folks in Spencer who live near the river haven’t takend down their sandbag barricades yet. That’s probably a good thing.

Froggie
Froggy Says: We Got 3″ of Rain

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The sun came out to play, so I took some pictures of the dogs enjoying the good weather. They both came inside afterward with their feets caked in mud and huge smiles on their faces. The wee critters were out and about, taking advantage of the good weather, too, and providing lots of entertainment for the dogs. Work on the Moon Crater continues.

Music, Photography

Let’s Build a Snowman!

Shelly

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Sometimes, the world is black. And tears run from your eyes.
And maybe we’ll all get really sick. Or maybe we’ll all diiiie.
Sooo, let’s build a snowman, we could make it our best friend.
We could name it Bob, or we could name it George.
We could make it tall, or we could make it not so tall!
A snowman!

from Cannibal!: the Musical (You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, it’s way better than Cats!)

Photography

Iron Weed in Snow

Shelly

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We got a few inches of snow last night, so I awoke to a winter paradise. Any excuse to take pictures, right?

I take lots of landscape photographs. I live in a beautiful valley, so most are taken from my front door. I’ve got wonderful views to the east and west, so I’m able to get sunrises and sunsets, as well as storm fronts moving through and various types of clouds and cloud formations.

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These are views to the east, taken from my front deck. The first was taken at sunset. I love the way light from the setting sun reflects off the top of the eastern ridge. The second photo was taken at sunrise, on a misty morning. The third was again taken at sunrise, after a hard frost. I love the way the sun makes all the icy bits sparkle and shimmer. The forth photo was taken after our first dusting of snow this winter, and the last two were taken this morning. The first five photos are all of the same view. The last one is of the back corner of the dog yard, where the snow on the raspberry canes was especially thick and pretty.