Spring has nearly sprung...

... but not quite, just yet. In between some really nice days are the long, dreary, grey and rainy ones that make you go "bleccch!" 

 

But the robins have returned, the daffodils are blooming up in bunches everywhere, squirrels are busily gobbling up all the sunflower seeds and nuts I've left for them, and a few early froggies are singing beautiful nighttime arias outside our window (and you know how much I love that).

In a nutshell: I've started my new job, been workin', and loving it lots. Just what the doctor ordered!

Had some time in 'tween to undertake a few really big outdoor landscaping projects, including one that was needing immediate attention - the neglected Frog Pond out back. It had gotten overrun with the crabgrass from Hell and looked dreadful. I don't honestly think I genuinely *hate* anything, but I'm telling you, crabgrass comes awfully close to it. I mercilessly hacked my way through the tangled jungle and felt nary a pang of guilt. In fact it felt rather good!

So the Hubby and I got up early, and all day long, we dug, dug, dug... ripped weeds... rearranged the rocks surrounding the pond... laid down fresh weed preventer fabric (it says it lasts 10 years, and it BETTER cuz I don't plan on doing this again any time soon - my spine won't allow it!) .... put down about 250 square feet of brand new soil .... and voila'! 

All we need to do now is put down the rest of the rock border, add plants and flowers, and sit back to enjoy the hundreds of frogs and toads that come to stay here each summer. Can't wait!

Another huge project that took a few weekends was Stump Henge. It too had become a disorganized and overgrown mess, with bushes and weeds encroaching everywhere. We cleared out several hundred square feet of overgrowth, including something I'd never encountered before - this nasty, awful sticker vine that grows straight up from the ground like a thick barbed whip and intertwines into every bush and tree it comes into contact with. It was very alien and absolutely nightmarish! Even with thick leather work gloves, the huge thorns were able to pierce through, which was extremely unpleasant and painful. We had to be very careful about handling and disposing of it. 

                                                      Stump Henge before

But we successfully rid the immediate area of it, and created a wider, prettier area of Stump Henge, including a little shaded grotto area that you walk into through a natural tree arch. The beautiful cement bench we got from Ronnie Twist's statuary shop was moved further into the Henge under an overhanging tree branch. We sat there for a spell, enjoying the fruits of our labor, and were amazed at our creativity mixing so well with the natural landscape. The finishing touches will be added (more statuary, a bird bath, humming bird feeders, flowering plants, etc) and will look even better once the fresh grass seed we laid down grows in. It will be a shady, quiet little place to sit and meditate in.  

            Stump Henge after! You can now walk easily into and around it

The little potting shed table area behind the well house got a big cleanup as well, and so did the little brick wall around our ancient apple tree. Here are a couple before and after photos, with more pics in the coming weeks and months to show its progress. Right now, as it's still officially winter, there is not too much green, but seeing as this is middle Tennessee, that will soon change and all will be luxuriantly green beyond imagination.

 

              A calm and breezy Henge (L) and the revamped potting table (R)

One other project I'm working on is bringing my latest character to life. Here is the early rough drawing of him. Yes, he's a Viking, and his name is Snjarnl.

                                                    Isn't he cuddly?

Yeti is 15 years old, and while she's gotten just a bit slower, she's still very alert and active. Recently she made a new friend - a sweet West Highland terrier (or, "Westie" to those who love them) named Shelby, whose Mommy is my dear friend Linda. Shelby and Yeti got to have a play-date here at our home a few weeks ago. It was very cute!

                                Yeti and Shelby meet, as Linda watches

And yes. Yeti still loves to do the "water game" each and every night before I go to bed. She runs upstairs ahead of me, jumps on my bathroom counter, and not-so-patiently waits for me to turn the faucet on.

'Mommy! Hurry! Turn on the faucet, quick!' in her loud, yowly Siamese/Oriental  voice

*    *   *   *    *   *   *

Today is the 7th year anniversary since Everett passed away.

I think of him frequently ... and know he's busy doing his next job, which consists of helping animals. I don't profess to know all the answers when it comes to wherever it is we go to when we die, but I feel in my heart and soul that he's in a much better place, where he is happier than he was here on Earth. Anne Marie (his mother) is coming out to stay with us in a few weeks. I'm so thankful that she and Cynthia, his sister, are still in my life.

Fog, Frogs, Hawks and Winter

We've been given a reprieve here in middle Tennessee. After enduring several straight weeks of freezing winter, we had a little peek of spring before the weather turned yucky again. The clouds were absolutely amazing; huge feathery and puffy barges that drifted across the blue sky.

For a while, though, it seemed that the weather could not make up its mind - for a few days we had the thickest fog ever, which rendered our acreage with an otherworldly look, like the spooky Moors in England. I loved it! We need our  next  Halloween party to have this weather. 

I half-expected to hear the cries of a werewolf out there in the grey mists. Perhaps I shall set up a motion-activated sound system for those who come visit me and ask to see our forest....

Then... the sun came out and shone brightly, bringing the birds and squirrels out to romp and search for food. And, joyously, the temperatures stayed in the 50 to 60 degree range. A heat wave in January, whew! As I walked outside in the sun to absorb a little vitamin D, and passed the frog pond, I saw a small frog jump off a rock into the water. Wow! A froggie in the winter time! He must be a hardy little soul who was woken up from his winter slumber by the temporary warm days. Don't get too comfie with it, little fella, it won't last long.

During these few nice sunny days, I got more photography in. I love disparate imagery in the winter, especially with the abundance of dead leaves everywhere against the few bits of green, like how this old stump in our Stump Henge area looks, all mossy against the brown leaves.

 

On a hike in our woods, we found the stag skull and various bones half-buried in the autumn leaves on the forest floor. I would never, ever kill a deer (or any other animal for that matter), but since the skull was already there, we brought it back to our home and put it in a place to honor the magnificent, fallen creature. 


A few days ago, I stood in my best vantage point (being the upstairs bedroom which overlooks the entire back yardage) with my camera at the ready, and was soon rewarded: a young red-tailed hawk had been staking out the yard for prey. It sat motionless and camouflaged in a tangle of low tree branches for a while, then flew across the yard to another tree near the pasture, before flying back to the opposite side where it blended in with the speckles of shadows and bark. I got a few photos of it, but nothing spectacular - rather blurry. Note to Self: Must get a good tripod.

 Left: Can you see the hawk in the trees? 
Right: A somewhat blurry closeup

But, alas, the sun and warmth was not to stay for long. Now it's grey and chilly once again. Sigh. Not to fret, that means one thing for certain: time to stay inside and do some more creative projects. I did get some of my bird and winter photos published on two different sites. One was our local channel 4 news, WSMV, and the other, a magazine I subscribe to called Birds and Blooms. Well, hurray for me!

I recently joined a very cool artist's collective, called "Creative Souls." Now, I'm really *not* a club-joiner, per se, but I genuinely love theirs. It's a very low-key yet highly imaginative and interactive site. Once I figure out how to maneuver it a little better, I'll link this blog to it. The artists there are simply amazing, as is the diversity. I posted several paintings I'd done over the years, all different genres from about 1985 up through 1996 or so. Having joined them motivates me to get more stuff done, as I'd put my creativity on temporary hold for months while Mark and I did various ongoing repairs and decor to the house. But  now I'm itchin' to get painting and sculpting again, and have some fun new ideas to share here in the weeks to come.

You can check out Creative Souls by clicking on the colorful little badge here on the right side.

Hello, 2010. What brings thou here for us?

Wow. What a great intro to a new year indeed. We have our first snowfall of the winter season - about an inch or so of softly-packed powder has blanketed the area. Up here in the hills, we got hit a little harder than the lowlanders down in the city, but that's okay because I have a very warm and happy home to live in and don't need to leave the house for anything right now.

Most of yesterday, as the snow fell in furiously flurrying swirls all around, I spent at the window capturing photos of the birds that came in to gobble up the seeds I put out. From the bright red cardinals to a pack of boisterous blue jays to a red-headed woodpecker, the action never stopped. I even had to bundle up and trudge outside to add more seeds to the feeders to make sure every one of my feathered friends was well-fed. This photo on the right is the same view as the one from my previous post (Shiny, Bright and New) if you want to see the drastic seasonal comparison.

The opportunistic blue jays swooped in abundance to grab all the free food they could. I loved the juxtaposition of birds on a cat here! The cement cat statue was bought at Ronnie Lee Twist's awesome statuary shop in nearby Kingston Springs. If you live in the area or in Nashville in general, go visit him and his beautiful wife Nikki, they are the nicest people ever! The statuary they have for sale is amazing, but their art gallery is exquisite, full of handmade art by local artists. 

Our "StumpHenge" area by the old apple tree was frosted with a pristine coating of sparkly white snow. The lovely ornate cement bench in the center was also bought at Ronnie Lee Twist's statuary.A few of my photos were even used on our local TV channel's website (including the cardinal and house sparrow in the snowstorm here). How cool is that! 

(And another round of thanks to dear Mark Poopy Hubby for the awesome new camera he bought me. You see, babe, I am putting it to very good use!)

So much has already happened... where to start? Well let's see. I succumbed to a rotten chest cold that left me extremely hoarse. Sounding like Harvey Firestein has been a very interesting experience for me, to say the least. "I just wanna be loved. Is that so wrooooong?"
Ha ha. My head and chest were quite congested and the last thing I felt like doing was sitting at my computer, attempting to type an intelligent sentence as I continuously blasted snot into a never ending bunch of Kleenex... thus, my absence from the Internet. 

New Year's Eve was a very special occasion, as Mark and I spent it with a group of great friends over in east Nashville, at our friend Troy's home. It was a potluck dinner with lots of delicious food and drink. I was the designated driver, and let my dear Poopy have his turn to imbibe a few beers. Thank the heavens for these wonderful people! An artistic, eccentric and intelligent bunch of kooks with much kindness abounding.

We've come to love them dearly (thank you, Linda, Ethan, John, Gwen, Troy, Amanda, Carl, and the rest - y'all know who you are!) and are so thankful for all the niceness they've shown us. Isn't that what life is all about? Being good and kind to others is simple and should come easily. Why does drama and bullshit have to happen with some people? My theory is, they're addicted to it and can't function without it. 


I'm glad I don't have any of that in my existence. I've learned to embrace joy instead of clinging to strife, and have long espoused the elements of "the laws of attraction" which have worked marvelously for me over the years. Once you rid yourself of the negative baggage you drag around, magical things happen, and that's a fact.

Have you seen AVATAR yet? Your thoughts?

I truly enjoyed it. We saw the 3-D version and were blown away. Visually, it was stunning, and James Cameron's technical CGI wizardry will likely be rewarded come Academy Awards time. The story itself is basic (greedy humans trying to steal away from a native race who live as one with the land) and, sadly and embarrassingly, holds close to many parallels of the white European settlers coming to the US and taking away the land and lives of the native Americans. 

Okay - a mini rant here. I promise to make it short and as sweet as possible. Why do humans have to be selfish and greedy? Why do they trample over things that are sacred all for the sake of acquisition (often in the name of their particular god)? My Hubby, in his infinite wisdom, calls it "the bug in the human software," meaning, they are flawed and have that horribly misplaced sense of entitlement and just take, take, take. Greed is an awful thing, and when you add unlimited, uncontrolled power in to that, you have a truly poisonous mixture that removes all traces of the good and pure human element. 

But back to AVATAR. My typical morning ritual consists of reading a particular website (Crystalinks.com, a really cool and informative science/metaphysical one I've been reading for over ten years, and have learned a lot from) whilst gulping down my vat of coffee as I aim to get my brain kicked in gear. This morning, I noticed an image on her site from the movie that sparked something in me. The main character, and overall theme of the movie, bore a lot of similarities to a painting I had done way back in 1995 when I was still living in Hollywood. I put the images side by side to compare and was more than a little struck by those similarities. From the background imagery of the high-reaching world tree and connective web, to the character's overall look with ear piercings, dreadlocked hair and bejeweled decor, I venture my humble opinion: Very, very interesting indeed! Cameron must've tapped into the same general well of Universal consciousness as I. 

Heh heh.

I present here for your scrutinization. 

   

This is the painting in its entirety. 

Below is the image from AVATAR alongside a close-up of my painting. You can click on them to enlarge in a new window.

***UPDATE!***


I sent an email in to Ellie Crystal at Crystalinks.com and told her about my painting above. She was impressed enough that she used it on her site! Seems I indeed must have tapped into the same well, aka "The Grid" (what I earlier termed "The Universal Consciousness") as Cameron. Below is a screen capture taken from the pages of today's Crystalinks site (click on it to enlarge in a new window). http://www.crystalinks.com/avatar2010.html/

***UPDATE - 1/11/10***


There was another update there in regard to my painting/In The Grid posting - this one tying in the ancient Egyptian goddess, Hathor.

Shiny, bright and new

What a gorgeous boy! I have bird feeders set up at strategic viewing areas throughout my home. I got this cardinal on my 12 MP Canon SX20 IS from my second floor bedroom window. His beak is full of birdseed and he's fat and sassy indeed. 

 Another shot taken from my bedroom window, overlooking most of the backyard area. I'm surprised we still have some green grass! All the trees are barren, save for a few evergreens on the property. My new garden and greenhouse will be set in the lower right side, just beyond the green bush. There is a nice large wide area there that's suitable, plus it's within easy reach of the garden hose and potting shed. It will be a lot of work to create but well worth it. We were originally going to use our pasture but decided against it, as the huge oak tree (on the far left above) casts too much shade there; plus, the hose does not reach close enough for irrigation. Instead, we're going to use the existing pasture area to build a chicken coop and a small enclosure against the barn for goats.
Yay! I'll be a farmer yet!

A super-zoom closeup of the tangled dead wood and trees in our forest. The Hubby and I bundled up and took a stroll there. We discovered a newly-fallen hickory tree that we'll go chop up for burning, and a completely frozen pond. Winter is undoubtedly here in a big way. I love this beauty in all its severity. 

The full Blue moon rose in a glorious way over our property. I ventured outside to grab a few shots before running inside, half-frozen to death (it was 17 degrees!) with fingers turned into icicles. Thankfully the Hubby had a nice toasty fire roaring in the living room. Brrr!

Moon rays reach out across the heavens.

 Filtered to show the reaching moon rays.

Post-Thanksgiving Renegade Turkeys

The big Tom kept a vigilant watch

Now this was amazing to behold!

I returned from grocery shopping yesterday on a very frigid, gray afternoon. The mercury never rose above 38 degrees, and I shivered miserably, begrudgingly acknowledging Old Man Winter at my doorstep. Lugging my bags in, as I set them on the kitchen counter I gazed out the glass door leading to the back yard and saw something move. In the span of about one second, I first thought they were big dogs in the yard, then wild boars, until one craned its long neck up to look around. The realization finally hit that they were a flock (or, a 'herd,' as I laughingly described them later to my husband) of free-roaming, wild turkeys.

And dear lord, they were HUUUGE. I mean, really. I had no idea that seeing them so close would render unto me the realization of their enormity. These are not dainty birds in the least, folks!

I froze, not wanting them to spot me lurking in the shadows and run off, so I waited until the leader lowered its head again to continue foraging. Then I very quietly grabbed the new camera that Mark bought me, and as stealthily as I could, crept into our little downstairs bathroom to aim the lens out the window, whereupon I took a few quick shots of these magnificent birds. I counted at least nine of them. Though in my childlike fascination I yearned greatly to walk with them and toss out some grain and stale bread crumbs to supplement their meager lawn foraging, I knew that was not to be, so instead I remained silently watching as they purposefully made their way down the back slope of the yard to the entrance of our woods, where they trotted down the path until, at last, were gone from my sight.

Sigh... an awesome show 'twas!

So far, I've spotted an abundance of deer and fawns, red foxes, moles, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, and a wide variety of birds as either visitors or residents of our property. Let's add turkey to the list. How I hope they come back soon! Mark and I already have plans to lay out some feed for them (and of course for the rest of the animals) during the winter.