the gift of sight

We are by nature observers, and thereby learners.

That is our permanent state-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Much like William Blake's famed passage from the Marriage of Heaven and Hell

"to see the world in a grain of sand, heaven in a wildflower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour"

I saw many things in the ice crystals, prisms of color, reflections of the emerging sun and magic in the delicate nature of the fine bits of water preserved for mere moments in their lacy pattern, lucky me to have seen it before it was absorbed into the mass of snow as i shoveled the driveway

New Year Realizations

this shot was taken by the munchkin with his new digital camera the grandparents gave him for christmas....I cannot tell if it is him or me, I think it is me but then it looks alot like him today he woke up and was doing math without flashcards or paper or finger counting, he was negotiating his show watching with me and I said 2 shows, he said 5....then he said well it is only 3 more than you want, so I did every variation of 5, what is 5 minus 4, if you have 3 and add two how many do you have, he went back and forth with the correct answers and partials of 5 until he realized it was eating away at his show time before we went to the play group and off he went, later today i revisited the whole subtraction and addition and he was not even looking at me and said the right answer while rolling a truck on the floor......so he may not be 4 but he seems to understand the concept of addition and subtraction in some natural organic state with the correlation to numbers.

sporting and playing in the snow

We escaped the toy store that is our home for the wilds of Genoa, Nevada on the afternoon after Christmas Day. It was magical and mesmerizing to watch the deer, a few came right up to me and let me photograph them at close range, I then turned the camera and showed them the shot on the viewfinder.....they seemed unimpressed, but it was nice to talk to them and see the features so perfectly

I spent alot of time freezing in the cold photographing the wild deer and made the above video just from persistence, the bucks came close enough to photograph, my only missed shots were my attempts to get the deer jumping over the fence.....saving that for the next trip!

winter wonderland

May your winter be full of wonder and your land be full of peace

Happy Solstice

Merry Christmas

Happy New Year!

kids are noisy!

our smallish house full of 3 loud, rambunctious kids......headache inducing.....suffice to say outdoors is best!

I am proud of this trunk baby

Joyeux Noel!

lots of work, phenominal taste and made me realize I like using art and food together....this is more naturalistic than most cakes!!!!

Food as Art

I have been attempting to clear out the freezer and cupboards, too much going into a season that needs some room to store food, granted I canned lots this year but it needs to be eaten to be of value!

Why wait for the power outtage to clear it out? let's make room for the buche de noel and roast chestnuts I have in the offing!

Today for lunch I made this recipe from the pioneer woman! A perfectly crusted pork tenderloin with a cranberry onion glaze, I served it with some leftover gratin potatoes and fresh apple slices.

YUM perfectly tender and nice crust with some sour chutney......i think it looks beautiful on the plate!