wintertime is here...

the snowman has replaced the scarecrow as the guardian of the porch door. driving home from town, the canadian cascades had just a tiny bit of golden light gilding their peaks... yes, you are looking into canada from my road home from town. i lightened this picture up a bit so the details were easier to see but, DANG, it was a dark and gloomy day! the sky was leaden. the clouds spit a bit of rain on my windshield as i was driving home, but no snow... noticed my party lights are still on?! i need as much light as i can get! my cottage with the christmas tree in the window.. oh yes! i drag my feet for as long as i can before i take down the tree! here is the sun going down at about 4pm. that is so wrong! can't wait for the days to hurry up and lengthen again! it seemed to get above freezing today. like i said, it rained and didn't turn into snow, but here the cats and i were... standing on a frozen mud puddle. the days' last bit of light...one last burst of an effort to roll back the clouds... no last rosy glow for the bohemian mountains... just cloud and cold and the chill of nighttime falling... i am so thankful for the glow of my christmas lights, and for the memory of sunstruck days of spring and summer. because, for all the chill, life is very, very good.

bohemia after christmas...

the bohemian's mountain glistening with a reddish hue as the weak winter sun sets, heralding another night of heavy frost... if she can't enjoy snow, heavy frost is the next best thing to our bohemian... everything sparkling as the sun rises and melts the shining layers on the trees and bushes and grasses. one last nativity: this one belonged to the bohemian's Honey's grandmother (whose house our bohemian is blessed to live in). farewell to another christmas celebration, and hopeful greetings to the coming new year! (joy sign: remnants of our bohemian's tole painting days) wishing you the happiest new year's celebration yet and saying prayers for hope and peace as 2010 dawns...

wishing....

wishing you all the most wonderful new christmas memories to store away against the winter chill. stay warm (or cool) and don't forget to REVEL during this holiday season...

christmas painting bliss...

keeping with the spirit of christmas, the bohemian wishes everyone much comfort and joy... and another thing to decorate with... BELLS! this is an antique set of bronze bells which belonged to My Honey's grandmother. they have the loveliest rings! oh, i have been painting and painting and painting... painting journal pages... totally in love with COLOR!!! still keeping the days of christmas... day 11: ornaments. day 12: greetings.... day 13: HOME. day 14: family/neighbors.... and then my mask was fired and ready to paint. so i painted some more!!! i am so proud of this mask which i made all by myself from clay! my lake studio friend is a sculpture and she encouraged me to give it a try. and you know... i'm LIKING it! oh, yes!! there IS a santa and i've caught him sneaking around at my house!!!! and he has such a merry twinkle in his eye! santa, i've been very very good! wishing you brilliantly colored christmas dreaming and a face-full of sunshiny wishes...

BLUE christmas...

our bohemian awoke to depths of fluffy white outside and her pink windowsill angel giggling mischievously. and since our bohemian cowered in her cozy house, all the pictures she took of the lovely stuff through the cottage windows turned out BLUE! oh please don't go already...!!!! the ginkgo tree danced the shimmy in the wind once again but there were no twirling leaves this time! the songbird cafe was closed due to the weather...oh but it was all so lovely to look at!!!! here are some more of the christmas trees from the tree festival.... this purple and white tree was soooo beautiful... it took the bohemian's breath away and put a little ache in her heart. beauty always does that to her. and THIS tree was so over the top!!! a peacock tree! and a lovely teal and green tree with christmas birds perched in it...i'm sure they are love birds!! another nativity set...against a lovely white background. here's wishing you the joy that arrives like floating snowflakes and puts that quiet peace in your heart. may your coming days be merry and bright!

she's a runner...

she ran away again to the bay where her sister lives. she and her mother and sister crafted the day away and as the sun was beginning to sink down she took this picture out her sister's front window of the fairytale castle across the bay. okay, it's actually a refinery but at night with all the lights twinkling... it DOES look like a fairy castle! it DOES! our bohemian has kinda sorta lost track of what day of christmas she was on... but one of the days was a MEMORY DAY. this is an angel she made for her sister long, long ago when she tole painted... on such a blue day, a strip of red signalled the sun sinking away into the ocean... they made merry and popped popcorn and played scrabble with a holiday twist... only christmas words. ah hem. yes, some of them were quite a stretch. but they had so much fun! then they went to a nearby garden where there was a festival of trees. oh my gosh!!! peoples' imaginations are simply wild! LOVED this lime green one, with colored birds nesting in its branches. and a palm tree with a crab pot on top, complete with resident (stuffed) crab. and darling little flip flop ornaments...oooooo! a blue tree... a rustic tree with accompanying rusty truck. oh and this one in luuscious colors and woolly stockings... and even an oz tree!!! upside down with a sparkly tornado about to take it flying... our bohemian kinda wanted those purple and black tights the wicked witch was obviously done using... and a yummy candy tree in dr. suess colors with its little table on top... whew, that was such a lot of fun! and that is only half of the bohemian's tree pictures!!! more later, maybe.... meanwhile, back in bohemia... another of the bohemian's nativities. mary and joseph with baby jesus headed for egypt to escape the evil king.... and a glue dough ornament our bohemian made YEARS ago. oh, our bohemian is sooooo in the christmas mood now!!! merry, merry christmas bliss to you all! i hope your day is full of wonderful holiday memories that fill your heart with smiles and warm fuzzies....

three more days of christmas...

it is so cold here right now!!! see how the bohemian's mountain glistens in the darkening daylight.... another of the bohemian's nativities... this one sits beside the christmas tree. ( hand-carved in south america) day 8 of the advent calendar: MEMORIES the stemware is a special holiday item, collected from olden times. okay, it's just holiday glasses from Arby's... 99 cents with a drink. None of the Arby's near the bohemian's village even do this anymore. the bohemian and her kids used to pop in a couple of times at christmastime every year and collect them. her collection has shrunk from a dozen to 9 over the years but she's never afraid to let kids use 'em! fancy glasses the kids can drink from.... yeah, that was the whole idea! day 9: CANDLES okay, this isn't a candle but it IS a candle holder! and the star beside it pokes into the candles to "shine" over the nativity. cool, huh? day 10: CHRISTMAS TREE this is the bohemian's tree this year. ooooo! sparkly! (LOVE my LED lights!!!) another nativity on/in the bohemian's tree. it plugs into the light string and slowly turns different colors. ( i love this one) see how frozen the meadow is below the bohemian's kitchen windows!!! the bohemian thanks God for her woodstove and fuzzy blankets. here's wishing you toasty toes and warm woolen mittens... unless of course you live in the warm south! then you are wished twinkly lights and chirstmasy sunsets galore....