Dad and Tipsy

This is one of my favorite pictures of my Dad.

It is from an old slide that was probably taken by my Mom.

The fine feline is Tipsy, she was my first cat.

This photo was taken at some point in the late 60's or early 70's.

Kat

Looking for some green

Christmas is over for yet another year. Now we get into the dark part of the year. Days are short, the wind is cold, and it can be just a little depressing. Not for me though, I can find a little bit of green to cheer me up anytime.Trivial Pursuit's game board has green squares. There are several versions of the game, what the green squares stand for depends on which version you are playing. My Sweet Hubby won this one by the way.
You can find green outside year round too.
See, this cute little Toyota is a lovely shade if green.

If all else fails, see if you can talk someone into making you a Guacamole Omelet.

My Sweet Hubby makes the best!

This is Mitsy Mewable Monkey Face. She lives with my Sister in Law.

Doesn't she have the sweetest green eyes?

Then there is always "the Green Man" You see a lot more of this fellow over in the UK.

This one is the sign for "Jack of the Woods" a British style pub in Ashville N.C., full of atmosphere.

What? You say you want to see some thing that is green and growing?

How about this moss. Lovely, but, yes, that is snow in the bottom right corner. Brr.

How about this guy? Are we getting a little warmer?

Or, maybe his friend, the Katy Did who visited our corolla earlier this year.
Still not quite what you were looking for?

How about this one? This is the view from the back steps in the summer time.

Maybe this will do the trick. Hope it warms you.

Work is still in progress on the house so no "after" photos yet.

Christmas might be over, but not the Holidays.

See you soon, I have some goofing off to do.

Kat

Tombstones and a Special Treat

Tombstones in old churchyards can be so moody and romantic. One of the most peaceful places I have ever been is this church yard for the Unitarian Universalist's Church in Charleston. It really is a garden. There are plenty of shady benches where you can sit and contemplate mortality. Edgar Allen Poe used to do just that. This was one of his favorite places to visit in Charleston.

There is usually at least one cat in residence. I have shown you this picture before, but it is one of my favorites.

This tombstone would be interesting even if it didn't have a tree growing over it.
Ephraim Seabrook Mikell

Died after a short illness
May 5, 1896
A favorite with all who knew him

Moody and atmospheric even in bright sunshine with birds singing. Do you see the little guy perched on the tombstone.

These old tombstones are works of art in themselves and really should be appreciated. This one is so lovely, even the kitty is interested. (OK, so maybe she sees something in the flowers, but it is cute)
This lonely little graveyard is high on a hill in the Smokey Mountains. The path up to them is barely marked, we would not have found it except another hiker pointed the way. There are only a few graves and the stones are so old, they are illegible. Very spooky.
This is another old church yard without a church. These graves sit quietly out in the forest. Some stones lean a little but all are still standing. Most of the graves are from the Civil War era and shortly after. There are some beautiful carvings and sweet sentiments. I wonder who these people were, what were they like. Do they know their monuments are still standing? Do they care?
You can't really talk about Grave Yards without at least a few examples from the Necropolises of New Orleans. Their graveyards are all above ground crypts, quite literally cities of the dead.
Some of the tombs have been in use for a very long time. You can almost feel the spirits looking over your shoulder as you wander through the quiet "streets".
Lafayette Cemetery is one of the most famous.
I am a little behind with my posting, this photo of the dogwood is from the 26Th. Some days it seems to change between morning and night.

If you are looking for interesting bits to add to your Halloween cards and Scrapbook pages, Karen from The Graphics Fairy blog, has the front cover of an antique French tombstone catalog you can use at http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/2009/10/free-antique-clip-art-french-tombstone.html



Last and best of all my treat, a wonderful friend, Rhiannon from Random Spyder, http://www.randomspyder.com/ has been visiting us this week and she has gifted me with this lovely little doll. She says it is a "Pseudo Folk Art Pancake Rocker"

I say, "Rock On!"

Happy Halloween

Kat

Early post for 5 Oct 08,

I am posting early this time as I am working this weekend. Remember I said I wanted to start doing at least one art project per week? Well this week's art project was a quick and easy photo manipulation for a Halloween card. This is actually three photos combined. The kitty, is of course my Grand Kitty, Spontaneous. This particular photo is one my hubby took of her playing. The original background is the floor right next to the computer desk. The new background is a combination of two photos taken in an old cemetery in the woods. The cemetery is one of the most peaceful places I have ever found. It is not very big and there are no churches or houses nearby. The gravestones are old and much more interesting than anything new. I converted it all to black and white then added my lettering. I love my Photoshop Elements 4.
I also love this next photo. It is so full of mystery and promise. Almost anything could be around the curve, but you just know it will be something wonderful. It reminds me of something Bilbo Baggins once said ( I think it was in "The Hobbit"), about all roads being one road and all roads start just outside your door. All you have to do is put your feet on the road and go. Doesn't it just make you want to grab a backpack? Another nice thing about this photo is that since it was taken here in the South last week, it isn't nearly as chilly as the photo looks. There was just enough chill to be cozy.
Speaking of cozy, this is our wood pile after last weekend. We loaded up a pickup and two corollas with pre-cut wood. It is safely tucked away out of the elements just waiting for the temp to drop a few more degrees. We also cut up a good sized stack of the wood that we gathered last spring. Hard work, but well worth it.
If you are not familiar with the climate in this part of the world, you may think, based on our preparations, that winter here is harsh. It is not. We do have occasional ice storms. Sometimes they knock out power for several days. It never lasts long, but occasionally we get some snow. It gets cool enough to make the fire place nice. I love being cozy, I do not like to be cold. Besides, there is something very comforting about knowing that we can heat the house without power if we have to and that heat is based directly on our labor. Isn't the wood pile a lovely site?
We have several old bricks that were part of the original construction on this place. They were hand
made from local clay and some have partial hand or finger prints. When we bought this house, the chimneys were leaning to the side in a most alarming fashion and most of the fireplaces were blocked up. during restoration of the fireplaces and chimneys, we had the bricklayer reuse some of these lovely old bricks as a visible feature. Now, if you sit in the library in front of the fireplace, you can place your hand in a partial print made by one of the people who built this house approximately 180 years ago. We used the little red wagon to transport some of the bricks to a new storage location. When I saw the color of the bricks and the wagon with the area around it, out came the camera. What do you think?
I could probably do a post just on the little red
wagon and all the things it has been used for over
the years. Should I?
The last two pictures are more seasonal ones. I am not sure what type leaf this is, but I like it. The mushroom, yes, yet another mushroom, is actually two or three grown together, once again, found in my woods. I call it the teacup mushroom for obvious reasons.
Speaking of tea cups, mine is empty and hubby says breakfast is ready. Have a great week.
Kat

Domesti-Kat

I do not know if it is the season, or what, but I have been wanting to bake. This is not the usual for me. I can bake and I used to do some home canning. I am quite good at both..... I do not cook. Not unless I absolutely have to. I enjoy baking and I generally bake something 3 or 4 times per year. Always for a special occasion. The other day, as far as I know, there was no special occasion, I just wanted to bake.

I rolled up my sleeves, gathered the equipment and ingredients, cleared a spot on the counter, got out the Ipod and proceeded to make a huge mess while listening to "Cher". I also made quite a good loaf of "Challa Bread". The recipe is from one of my
cookbooks, but I can't remember off the top of my
head which one. If anyone is interested, just leave a comment or email me and I will look it up. The top came out a little darker than I prefer but the family enjoyed it. Even Hubby and he is particular about such things.
One of the quirks that tends to go with lovely old houses, at least to start with, is that they tend to have funny old appliances. The oven here is not old enough to be remotely considered charming. It has become quite temperamental in it's old age. It does work and as my husband is used to catering to it's whims, it will produce the most delightful things for him. Maybe I should practice more often. I probably will.
I quite enjoyed my afternoon. There is a good deal of satisfaction in mixing various ingredients by hand and taking them from mess to what one family member said "Looks like an Artisan bread". The tactile sense of the kneading is therapeutic. My Mother taught me long ago that you can not stay in a bad mood while you are making bread. If you start out in a good mood like I did, it just gets better.

On a completely different note, I had to share some autumn color photos from our area. The first is a vine that has climbed into one of the local evergreens. Now that the leaves have changed color, it looks like a giant decorated Christmas tree. Next down is a photo of some leaves in the process of changing.

We went camping last night. Yes, I know, it is fall and sensible people don't camp out in the fall. We are not crazy, the temperatures were perfect. There were not as many bugs. The sky was awesome last night, we could see so many stars. We took our walk on the road near our campsite. We did not see another human being. This morning when we woke up there was mist all around us. I of course, whipped out my trusty little Fuji and took more photos.
The lovely tree in the field of yellow flowers lives on the road near where we camped. The tree looked amazing. Hubby stopped the van and I took several photos. I had a very hard time deciding which was the best. I finally decided on this one. Can you see why I love this tree? (third tree picture from top)

The marigolds and pumpkin greet us on the
side porch where we go in and out the most. The
colors are just right. I can't believe how well the
flowers are doing this late in the year.

Last, but not least, the cat. My grand kitty was being cute again. I came in to do some homework and who do you think was napping on the computer chair? Spontaneous. She had such a silly look on her face when I woke her up, I couldn't resist yet another photo.
Hope your week was as nice as mine was.
Kat
p.s. The kitty on the side bar is a temporary addition, just till halloween, tickle him with your cursor. He is borrowed from

http://hophopjingleboo.blogspot.com