The fork in the road....

Sometimes you come to a fork in the road ...literally. We were rather surprised to find this fork in Red Hook, NY.


There are not too many covered bridges left in Connecticut like other New England states. (As far as I know there are only three.)

The West Cornwall bridge is a rather famous and a popular tourist destination in the summer. As you can see, it's one lane wide. There can be a real traffic jam at times as people are in line waiting for turns to cross it. It looked a little sad and lonely yesterday on a wintry day.



Despite the fact it snowed in the morning, it was actually 50 degrees int he afternoon and there was a hint...a dash...a whisper...a promise of spring.

Enjoy your day...and the coming weekend...and perhaps you will find a fork in a road!

Winter continues...

This morning it is 18 degrees and quite windy. My dolls are still in their winter coats and so am I. I love winter but this has been an long, cold snowy winter so far. It will be nice to go outside without so many layers of clothes on when spring arrives.

Not that I look as good as these dolls...I don't. But, winter coats are occupying a lot of space in our house as well other accouterments like boots, hats, mittens, gloves and scarves so I am always looking at them. And...I always look forward to the day this stuff gets put away until the next winter.

If you live where it is very cold in the winter and the weather is really unpredictable, every family member will have a dress coat, a parka, an early spring coat, a raincoat, gloves, hats, mittens, scarves and boots. Fashionistas will have more than one of each kind and teen aged girls will have an assortment of winter footwear that defies description. All of this stuff needs to be lugged out around Halloween and hopefully returned to storage around Easter.

We will not even go into sweaters, sweatshirts, winter sleepwear, and any clothes one might need for winter sports. Yes, it would be nice to have some warmer weather soon.

The winter continues...enjoy your day!

New England Felting Supply

Front window entrance

Gallery

Supplies for wet felting and needle felting

Vanessa modeling a scarf

A sea of color

Bolts of felt

Beautiful colors

Display area

Cobweb felt

Worth the trip from anywhere...

New England Felting Supply, Easthampton, MA...

A picture tells a thousand words. I hope these photos convey how really wonderful a visit to this store can be. If you love felting, this is a must-see place. If you cannot visit in person, drop by the website.

Owned by Christine White, the author of Uniquely Felt, the shop is in a converted movie theater. The ceiling is really high and the store has so much artistic appeal, it is hard to take it in all at once. (I think I will need to visit again.) Vanessa, whom you see modeling a scarf, was really patient and helpful. She showed me around and graciously explained all the different types of wool available. The majority of beautiful felted items you see were made by Christine White herself. Her work is exquisite.

There are classes available and many places to stay nearby. Very coincidentally, I had taken a photo quite near the store last summer and never knew the shop was there. There are shops on the left side of the photo to the left of the trees.

Did I buy anything? Of course! Hopefully, I will be able to needle felt something this week with my new batting and needles.

Hope you enjoyed this visit and enjoy your day!

Hodgepodge lodge.....

Above is stuff I made this week between doing a myriad of other things.

I am entranced with old fashioned ornaments, but don't really know how to make them. The rabbits are my attempts at trying to work with cotton and pipe cleaners. I have actually ordered one by a real folk artist to quell my desire and to use a variety of these for Easter. It won't be here for a week, so I started fooling around with trying my own. Have you ever been impatient and done that?

See the shopping bag? Evidence of how a cluttered mind put stuff together. That bag was sitting there for a week, I think. The cow is a just a wooden figure from a craft store. I just cannot get those belted Galloway cattle out of my head and needed to paint one for a companion.

The little circus book is made from paper bags and has lots of pockets with stuff inside it. My friend and I are trading paper bag books this week. I used smaller bags meant for party favors so the book is about 4 inches square. Eagle eyed readers might recognize the clown on the cover for Edith Flack Ackley's marionette book.

So that's it. Nearly the end of the week and a hodgepodge of stuff in my hodgepodge lodge!

Tomorrow we are starting the weekend early. I think we just might go to the location of the painting in the last post...or somewhere nearby it.

So, happy weekend early!

"Arty thingz".....all with red!

In an earlier post I mentioned purchasing a painting. It's a rendition of Motif #1 by the artist Charles Stupele. He passed away a few years ago at age 96 and was painter in the Gloucester /Cape Ann area. I took the photo in the shop where we bought it. We are framing it with a newer smaller frame. Every time we look at it we will be whisked away to a summer day out on Bearskin Neck, Cape Ann, where we frequently visit.

A few weeks ago I made a Valentine wall hanging to swap with my paper artist friend. It was hard to get a good photo due to the fact it was so many shades of red and had metallic paper that bounced light. I photographed it for reference for future paper art.



I saved the best for last! See the photos with the white mouse in them? That is Blanche Souris, a mouse I needle felted recently. Blanche is no bigger than a real mouse. In her hand is a very TINY Valentine!. On the table is a wee envelope. Both were made by the talented Mrs. Staggs . Some of her readers traded Valentine's with her. What she made is just plain wonderful! Thank you, Lena!


I just noticed the painting of a girl in red behind the doll house. (The doll house is really a CD holder that I painted.) I have always enjoyed the many variations on the girl paintings and bought this artist's rendition at an auction a while ago. The original painter of these girls was Ammi Phillips who was from CT and painted them in the early 1800's.

Do you have any color themes going on in your life right now? I didn't realize there was so much red around here lately. I have mentioned this before that I don't live in a baby pink and blue world. Deep earth tones abound here.

Have a colorful day!

Click on us and see how cute we are!

Of cows and things....

Say hello to the cow that looks like an Oreo cookie. The first time we saw one lone cow at a distance in a lush green field, we immediately thought of a lumbering panda bear. This weekend, we saw them again in the snow.

We have found out that they are Belted Galloway cattle. Sometimes they are referred to as Dutch belted or "Belties." There are many web sites about these lovable looking creatures. Aside from their fabulous markings, they have somewhat longish coats and manage to look cuddly despite the fact that bulls can tip the scales at 1800-2000 pounds. They are frequently bought just to graze and add an ambiance to rural landscapes. Google them in images and you will see how delightful they are against the green of summer.

The weather was cooperative this past weekend and we popped into several New England states. Last week we saw a painting we admired and this week we went back and bought it. It had many attributes that called to us and we decided to make it our Valentine's gift to each other. Look for more about it here later this week.

It is always fun to see something you haven't seen before. Seeing these belties last summer was such a treat. Finding them in snow covered terrain with nothing but our memories was an adventure. They are on a farm in an obscure valley somewhere near Shelburne, MA.

Enjoy your day and I hope you will see something totally unexpected!

Have a loverly day!

Valentine's Day is almost here...I hope that yours will be a happy one.

I read somewhere that Americans are the only group of people who give Valentine cards and gifts to friends and family. In other cultures that celebrate the day it is purely a romantic holiday and one only sends cards to a romantic partner.

I am glad that we like to celebrate it in a broader sense. It is my favorite holiday! Sandwiched between the winter holidays and spring holidays, it provides a prefect excuse to buy flowers and/or eat chocolate. When my kids were young, I liked to bake heart shaped sugar cookies sprinkled with colored sugar. We cut out construction paper hearts and paper doilies creating homemade Valentines.

Romance is not required to enjoy the day although it is certainly nice if it exists. I like to think of Valentine's Day as unexpected flowers blooming in the snow.

I love all flowers and would be hard pressed to say which flowers I like best on this day. A bouquet of mixed carnations would be quite fragrant for the weekend. What's your favorite flower for Valentine's Day? I suspect that roses are the most popular flower most associated with the day.

Happy Valentine's day and enjoy your weekend!

So... where are the dollz?

Well, the art dolls are here

and here

and here.

Every so often I remember to write about dolls. I seem to write more about things...and places. But dolls do occupy a large space in my life, literally and figuratively.

The above dolls are art dolls I created in the past few years. Only the Frida dolls still live here. The other have moved on.

I seem to fluctuate between traditional and art dolls and have not really settled on a favorite form. One of the dolls was inspired by a painting that I did which is in the background behind the doll--whom I named Cloris. There is crocheted garden in front of Cloris. That is an on-going project that I am thinking of turning into a wall hanging soon.

Today I was thinking about what type of doll I want to make next. I looked at the above photos and lots of photos of traditional dolls like these I made over the years. Most of these dolls below still live here.

I have not reached a conclusion yet as to what style I like best and should pursue. In the meantime, I started another 4 inch Edith Flack Ackley pattern doll. Right now, I think small is best as I fight winter clutter! I feel spring cleaning is just around the corner.

What are you working on? I think some of you are painting and some are quilting. There are a few amazing photographers and writers that drop by here, too.

Whatever you create, enjoy the day! And, I would love to hear about your creative endeavors.

Beautiful churches and meeting houses....

One of the things you will notice when you travel through New England is an abundance of very old churches and meeting houses. You will see steeples and spires rising through the woods long before you get to them when traveling through New England hills and valleys.

In the winter, they stand so stately. In the summer, they appear like cool sanctuaries against lush green forest backgrounds. Indeed, there are several majestic churches just a few blocks from our home that I pass every day, but here are some we passed on country roads this past weekend.

These churches are located from a little north of Brattleboro, VT, south to historical Deerfield, MA. There is at least one old church in nearly every New England town and all are beautiful. I could cheerfully photograph every one I see if I had the time. You can click on all the above photos to see them in a larger format.

As you can observe, the snow is getting dirty as we are now late into the winter. Warmer days this week and a little predicted rain may wash it clean again. However, there is still much time left for snow to happen again. March can be brutal with snow storms and snow storms in April are not unusual.

When we look around we can see what we take for granted is quite wonderful. I look at these churches differently these days and am inspired by their longevity and grace.

Enjoy the day and may you be inspired, too.

Good morning from a frozen tundra....

Well, not really. It is actually 5 degrees here with lots of snow and it is probably not nearly as bad as a tundra.

As my husband headed out into the dark for his commute to work, we lingered for a moment looking out the storm door and wished for some warmer weather to melt away the deep piles of snow that are piled up between sidewalk and cars. In some places, we cannot even see a car on the other side. Makes for exciting driving!

We live in the middle of an old New England town. The city streets are narrow and parking is only allowed on one side of the street at any time. With so much snow piled up, the streets have become so narrow that vehicles cannot get by each other as normal. Every intersection is a hazard with snow piles blocking the view. Forget walking...people cannot keep up with the amounts of ice and snow and the sidewalks are hardly passable. I walked yesterday but mostly in the street.

Thank you to all of you who wrote to me about Molly. We really appreciated your kind words. It is strange without her. We were talking about the fact that neither one of us has known a time without cats in many, many decades. Perhaps we will rescue one in the future but animals are a big commitment and we need to think about the commitment (vet bills, food, litter, etc.). Our last four cats lived from 16 to 20 years old.

This week is nearly over and the weekend is almost here. It will be a very cold one here but without snow. What are your plans? I often wonder how my readers spend their time.

Before the weekend arrives officially, I have many projects to tackle and should start right now.

Enjoy the day! Hope that you will have a happy, safe, weekend.

Celebrating Molly....

Last night, Molly, our gray cat passed away peacefully. She was an old gal and had not been ill at all. She was a feral cat who had been rescued from a wood pile many years before I arrived here and was part of a "blended cat" family. When my husband and I married, we had a total of four cats that we inherited from previous lives.

They are all gone now. The oldest lived to be over 20 and the youngest, Molly, must have been close to eighteen. The other had been ill at their end of their lives. One died from eating tainted cat food. We miss them all.

Molly was unusual. She had spent her life hiding and being skittish. The first year I lived here, I seldom saw her. She hid in a closet all day an only came out to use the litter box and eat at night. Her nervousness caused her to have compulsive-obsessive licking at times and she would develop bald spots.

After she became "the only cat," she blossomed into "Princess Cat." She had a total personality change and it was a great personality. (I will not regale you with Molly stories but know there were some good ones.) Her coat was extremely soft and luxurious and she lost her nervous habit of licking.

The above picture is not a good one photographically but this is how Molly and Hank enjoyed the cast iron furnace vent. We called it "hanging around the campfire." The blower is on and Hank's hair/fur is "blowing in the wind." We have to keep a "cage" over it or we will not get any heat from it in the room as they really loved "camping" on top of the vent and making for a very cold room!

This winter I have surrounded the vent area with rugs and pet beds. Some would consider this unsightly, but they both loved sleeping there. As you can see, Hank is quite small.....much smaller than any of our cats.

Yesterday she enjoyed a very good day. She had a treat ...a Swedish meatball finely chopped. She was getting very slow these past few weeks. We knew she was fading away.

We couldn't find her after dinner. It took a while because she had gone to a far corner of the house as animals are prone to do. Unlike our other cats, she had never been ill. She was simply old.

Today I celebrate Molly and all pets past and present in my life --and yours. They ask for so little, they give us so much. While it is sad when they leave us, they leave us with fond and happy memories of their small lives.

Eyes like a hawk...

I actually do have eyes like a hawk though seeing anything placed in front of me is a challenge.

I spotted these two in a tree as we were traveling along a country road. We are used to seeing singular, lone hawks in trees everywhere, particularly along highways. Hawks, eagles and falcons are abundant in Southern New England.

Those big white chests stood out like plastic grocery bags that have become stuck on tree branches. I had to look twice.

Seeing two hawks hanging out on a branch in the sun was exciting for this blogger who loves birds! I am reasonably certain these are goshawks due to the white streaks or "eyebrows" above their eyes. They can be as long as 26 inches and I have seen many this recently including one on a lawn on our street last fall. Click on the photos to see the details of their markings.


This has been a great winter for spotting wildlife, and I was happy to have my camera handy. There is so much snow on the ground, it was impossible to get to take a truly great photo and they were quite far away as well. Still, I am still happy to have captured a brief glimpse into their winter day. I will hold that image in my mind for a long time. They seemed quite regal to me.

Enjoy the day...and may you delight in seeing the unexpected!