First snow December 2009

The first snowfall has dumped tons of the white stuff out here at the lake. This photo was taken when I first went outside earlier this morning, around 8 AM. It has been snowing non-stop since the following photo was taken.

That is 11 inches on top of my picnic table. The drifts were up to my knees, approx. 18 in. Poor little Reese had to go outside but I had to sweep off the steps and clear a path and a little space out there in the yard for her to do her business. Once she was done she let me know that she had no love for the snow and wanted back inside her nice warm home LOL. I went for a walk up near the bathhouse at the lake and took some photos.

The following is a shot of the upper portion of the lake. You can see, just left of center, the floating raft on the lake, if you click on the photo to enlarge it.

Same position but slightly different angle. Again, you can see the floating raft.

This photo below is of the lower portion of the lake. You can definitely see the ice forming in this shot.

Then I headed back to my camper and tried to get some of the snow off the roof. The front awning over the hitch had almost closed up due to the weight of the snow and ice, so I closed it the rest of the way. Now I can't see out the long front window and my van is blocking my view from the side window. Oh well. I'll put the awning back up once it quits snowing this afternoon.

Home sweet home :-)

Stay warm, safe and dry!

*~*~*~*~*~*~* Happy holidays!!!! *~*~*~*~*~*~*

It's a blizzard out here

It's a blizzard out here at the lake. Our first snowfall of the season with any accumulation to speak of, and it's a downright blizzard. Seriously! A monstrous storm came up from Florida way and turned into a major snowstorm, and Virginia is right in the center of it. The local weatherman is predicting up to 18 in. in our area. I can't wait to get pictures tomorrow, it is gorgeous out here in the woods by the lake. It first started snowing around 3:30 this afternoon. I waited until about 4:30 and bundled up Reese in her red sweater and
covered my head with my hoodie and wore my coat over top it, boots on
the feet so as not to slip on the blacktop. I left my glasses on the table, knowing I'd need wipers before going around the first bend in the road, not to mention them fogging up in the cold. Off we went, I chatted with the neighbor who was grilling out, standing there with an umbrella over his head. I should have taken my camera, LOL, what a sight that was. Reese investigated under his truck while we chatted. Probably sniffing after a squirrel, we've got plenty of them around. Said bye to the neighbor and started past the well house. Ahead, in the driving snow I saw 4 turkeys, probably the same 4 that I saw last week. They were up in the driveway up the road past the dumpsters, same place I'd seen them last week. Reese didn't spot them thank goodness, or else she probably would have dragged me up the road after them. When we got to where we had spotted them on the road she had her nose working double-time. There were turkey tracks all over the road and Reese was sniffing everywhere, especially where they had been feeding on acorns.
The snow is about 8 in. deep on top of the picnic table at a little after 10 PM. Poor little Reese had to go out just a bit ago, but didn't want to go down the steps, I had to sweep them off for her of course. She walked down and hopefully did her business. I shut the door all but a crack so that her retractable lead would work through the doorway. No way was I going out there in that tonight. Tomorrow will be soon enough :-) I'll have to clean the snow off the roof. Not to worry, I have a long handled brush for that.

Anyway, I've been kind of missing from this blog lately, I think it was August that I wrote last. Work and house work and working on this camper to get it ready for winter has been keeping me busy. I backed away from my stores, no time to create let alone keep several stores open. Also, my muse seems to have left me. I can't get inspired enough to drag out my clay. Hopefully I'll get back into it soon. In the meantime I'll try to blog more often. Not as often as before perhaps, but at least hopefully no more long lapses in blog posts.

Hopefully I'll have some decent pictures of the lake in the snow to share with you tomorrow. Have a great night & stay warm & dry. If you're on the east coast stay safe and don't drive in this mess!!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Happy holidays!!!!!!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Memories For Life-Etsy Blogger for August

The featured Etsy Blogger for August is Memories For Life.  You can check out her blog HERE.
At the Etsy shop Memories For Life you will find beautiful handmade scrapbooks, notebooks and loads of other items.

I love this one

Baby Girl's Fir...
memoriesforl...	$25.00 USD

and this one

Summer Joy Scrapboo...
memoriesforl...	$20.00 USD

and this recipe book

Family Favorites Re...
memoriesforl...	$5.00 USD

and this flip-flop scrapbook would appeal to any Disney kid, even grown up ones.

Scrapbook Album-Mic...
memoriesforl...	$20.00 USD

You can also order custom made albums so check out her shop!

Etsy Bloggers August 31 Edition

Welcome to the August 31, 2009 edition of etsybloggers.

Elayne Teitelbaum presents ChezChani: Food For Thought posted at ChezChani.

Trina Baker presents Etsy Blog Carnival » gallery32 posted at gallery32.

Two Zany Zebras presents I love SUSHI posted at Two Zany Zebras.

Athena Workman presents August 28th Etsybloggers Blog Carnival: Ode to a Potato posted at the weblog of artist athena workman.

cindy devine presents Etsy bloggers-blog carnival-my favorite thing to cook posted at Devine Designs Jewelry.

Stormy Designs presents My favorite food is... posted at Stormy Designs.

Lily Wrey presents etsyBloggers August 28th, 2009 Blog Carnival posted at TuLips Talking.

Lauren presents Back to School - EtsyBloggers Blog Carnival posted at Lost Mitten.

VeryVerdant presents Progress Report posted at Very Verdant.

agoodwitchtoo presents Back to School Drives Me Bananas! posted at The Copper Cauldron.

Linda B presents My Take on Back to School posted at Linda B's Blog.

Linda Wheelock presents Spotted Cow Soaps: Going Back to School posted at Spotted Cow Soaps.

Laurie Jackson presents The Trifle Recipe posted at Indulge Your Shelf.

SoBella Creations presents First Day of School posted at SoBella Creations.

Alicia Mae presents EtsyBloggers Carnival August 28- favorite food posted at Crafts and Cooking.

Lois presents Monday Morning Musings: I ♥ Kugel posted at Foxy G's Den of i-KNIT-quity.

Chrissy P. presents Good Morning!!! posted at The Felted Chicken

Vanessa presents Back To School posted at Designs by Vanessa.

PurrPrints presents My fave food, turned into a new fave find posted at PurrPrints: Art, Cats, and Randomness.

Elise presents Mock Apple Bars (or, is there anything you CAN’T do with zucchini?) posted at Inside Betani's Bureau.

Margaret Freije presents Summer Tomatoes posted at Splendid Little Stars

Kathy and Carrie presents It's back to school time..... posted at CalKat The Jewelry Junkie.

Sandy Simpson presents C H O C O L A T E . posted at Punky Jane.

Sandi Myers presents August 28 Blog Carnival Favorite Food – The T-Shirt Lady posted at The T-Shirt Lady

Karen aka MysticWynd presents My Favorite Foods From A-Z posted at Mystic Wynd.

sara presents Back to school: What does it mean to ME? posted at Momwithahook Crochet

Rose Works Jewelry presents Back to School - Etsy Bloggers Carnival posted at A Jedi's Musings.

Jimena presents Back to school: What does it mean to me? posted at Panoptica.

Ellen Behm presents Back to School posted at Down the Street Creations.

shellmitchell presents Back to School posted at Shell Mitchell Accessories and Design.

storybeader presents Etsybloggers Carnival - Aug. 28, 2009 posted at Stroll Through Storyland

Glorybe1024 presents Aug 28 Blog Carnival - Favorite Food posted at Lucky Ladybug Designs.

Julie Gazin presents School?s In?.Freedom! posted at Stitches by Julie.

Cheryl Patterson presents Do You Have a Favorite Food? posted at FeltSewGood.

Andrea presents Quick and Easy Recipes for Back-to-School posted at Rock-a-Baby Clothing Co..

Zertuchina presents Favorite Food posted at Zertuchina.

UberArt presents Back to School posted at UberArt Shop.

Brenda/Split Rock Ranch presents Etsy Bloggers Blog Carnival posted at Split Rock Ranch.

Alison DeCamp presents EtsyBloggers...Blog Carnival...Back to School posted at Glass Ali.

Rainy presents Favorite Food Blog Carnival posted at RainyDayArt.

Five O'Clock Somewhere presents Blog Carnival - My Favorite Food posted at Five O'Clock Somewhere.

Kathy Johnston (Cozy) presents That Time posted at A Cozy Life.

TiLTcreations presents Etsyblogger Carnival: Back to School posted at Crafts, kids, home and life.

Tammy presents tamdoll's workspace: Back to School = Getting Organized! posted at tamdoll's workspace.

Now let's go visit our teammates blogs and read this edition of the EtsyBloggers Blog Carnival!.

Technorati tags: etsybloggers, blog carnival.

Hummingbird photos

I have been trying off & on for a few weeks now, to get a few photos of the hummingbirds that frequent my feeders.  I have 2 feeders that hang under my awning that's outside my front window.  The photos that I took from inside came out blurry, due to the screen and glass in the way.
Well, today I filled my feeders back up, as they were nearly empty, and I sat outside with my chair and camera like I had a few days ago.  That time was unsuccessful, every time a bird came I had just turned my camera off to save the batteries.  Bad timing for sure!  Anyway, today I managed to snap a few photos of one little hummingbird that hung around long enough for me to turn my camera on & adjust to action photo setting.

Now, mind you, I'm sitting 8 feet away and using a 5.2 MP digital camera and not using the zoom.
Here's another one, the same bird.

It's keeping an eye on the yellow jacket that's on top of the feeder.  See it? 

I wasn't sure that I "got" this next photo until I uploaded the photos to my computer.  The hummingbird flew towards me and hovered for a few seconds as if to say hello.  They do this quite frequently.  Curious maybe?  Anyway, here it is, hovering.

See it there?  Just left of the center of the photo.  I snapped the photo and the bird flew off.  Then I sat for another half hour and didn't see any more hummingbirds.  But of course, within minutes of coming inside another bird came along.

Hopefully I'll be able to take some better photos soon.  I sure enjoy watching these little birds.

NEW Flowery Post Earrings

I finally have something new listed in my ArtFire store.

Flowery Post Ea...
Price: $6.00