Ground Hog Day

I don’t draw or paint animals very well.  They always seem to look like people, especially in the area of the eyes and facial expressions.  Now it may be argued that dogs are practically people—at least that goes for Collies and Pembroke Welsh Corgis.  But Ground Hogs are definitely not people and I won’t try [...]

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Sparkling snow and seasonal ceremonies . . .

At last, winter has dumped its trademark on our Northern land.  The world around our country condo and quiet park is heaped in the quiet beauty of winter.  Our little patio is heaped.  I love the charming top hats on the bird feeder and saxophone-playing frog—leaning against the feeder as if he were a bit inebriated.  Against [...]

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And we were hoping for RAIN!

He (the infamous “weather man”) was wrong again.  According to yesterday’s TV map, a rainy belt ran through our Southern Wisconsin counties, with snow piling up in the north.  Joe and I have an entire day at home, with no clinic appointments.  This is a treat.  I’d planned to grab an umbrella, and walk in the rain.  Then [...]

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More indoor gardens, a paparazzi success, and other resident creatures!

Just inside the door from our snowy patio, more gardens thrive:  one on a vintage trunk which I decoupaged with wild west art and cattle brand-type symbols, and the other on a pie crust table.  Both trunk and table were unearthed at rummage sales in Price County, Wisconsin. The trunk features beloved African violets, overseen by a [...]

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Victory Sunday, Hiding the Uglies and Enhancing the Garden Decor

A lot of Wisconsin folks went to sleep happy last night!  Even those of us who are normally not rabid football fans are smiling today!  And yesterday made me smile for additional reasons. The success of the day began with my supermarket purchase of a magazine called Flea Market Gardens.  After our noon meal, I poured [...]

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Watching for the Lizards

“To think to know the country and not know The hillside on the day the sun lets go Ten million silver lizards out of snow!” Robert Frost, A Hillside Thaw Of all my many favorite poets, Robert Frost is probably my MOST BELOVED!  And undoubtedly, A Hillside Thaw ranks alongside Frost’s Reluctance in the category [...]

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A Tree Full of Grace

For weeks our home has been surrounded by silence—the silence of deep winter.  Only the whoosh of wind outside our windows, the whisper of sleet and snow, and the strident caw of hungry crows have broken the lifeless hush which set in around late November and continued through the darkest December days—into the new year. But suddenly, last week, the silence [...]

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Kitchen Sink Ambience

For several weeks I have wondered if I would ever blog again!  Swamped with medical issues and the realization that Joe and I will be managing some of these concerns “forever”—plus the fallout of Joe’s accident and my two major surgeries, all in less than three month’s time—have decimated my energy level. Throughout these past weeks there [...]

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Sandalwood and Rose

“But thanks be unto God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.”  2 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV) Our little Christmas tree sparkles in our east window and reflects the dawn.   Glints of sunlight are precious on these bitter cold, Wisconsin December days.  In just [...]

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Great is Thy Faithfulness

  Three weeks ago today, Joe and I drove to a nearby city anticipating a hearty breakfast at a favorite Greek owned restaurant.  After letting me off at the restaurant door Joe suffered a serious accident, which has impacted our lives in making each moment we have on earth more infinitely precious even than before!  Life was always [...]

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