Have yourself…

a merry little Christmas. Wishing you the best and brightest of this lovely season.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to put the finishing touches on a last minute angel costume (it just wouldn’t be Christmas without last minute sewing, would it?)

There I was…

minding my own business and looking at how pretty the snow was:

(I love that about living here. It may be snowing like crazy one minute and then sunny the next).

Only to turn around and spot this guy.

Let me just say how I love all of God’s creatures, and in all honesty I would never hurt one on purpose.

But really? Really?? I already feed you corn. Ungrateful little bastard. Happy Thanksgiving.

For the birds

I can cross #3 off my list. My sparrows came back this morning (at least I think that’s what they are). It’s ridiculous how happy this makes me.

The squirrels are not amused.

21 candles

In honor of Veteran’s Day…

Thank you to all those who have served, past and present.

Just an ordinary day

There’s just something sort of sad about the fall. Don’t get me wrong, I like fall a lot, but there’s no doubt that things are coming to an end. When I saw how dejected the sandbox was looking today, I had to document it. This might be because I need to get out there and rake up all the leaves.

It was an uneventful day. A rehearsal this morning that the dutchkid tagged along to. The dh went to the Army/Air Force game and I will confess to you that I was very glad I had a rehearsal to attend instead.

A few errands to get some compost and bulbs to plant. We took the dogs, just because. I’m sure it’s amusing to see us driving along, a child in a carseat and two big dogs in the backseat of my tiny little car. (I try to get one of the dogs up front with me, but they seem to like it back there. I think they enjoy licking someone who can’t escape). We planted crocus for the spring, which offsets how final fall feels to me sometimes.

This is definitely one of those posts you’re only getting because of NaBloPoMo, but after the mess at Ft. Hood, I think I’m more appreciative of the plain old normal-ness of today. A good reminder.

Going forth

(on the fourth).

Today was a low key day around here, and hence I don’t have much to tell you. We ran some errands and the dutchkid decided to be whiny and cry in public but sadly that’s becoming the norm. I’m convinced it’s because she’s getting ready to turn four.

Lately, I find myself really missing how much time we spent outdoors at our last house on Ft. Benning. We had to run to the post office this morning and the dutchkid asked me if she could ride her bike, “Since we always used to.” We walked everywhere there and it was a rare day that we didn’t play outside. Here it’s much easier to be a hermit and end up in the house all day or driving everywhere. I need to work on that.

I did, however, get outside for awhile with the camera. After her nap, the dutchkid rode her bike and we went down to the local park. It’s been beautiful here the last few days. We had such a cold and snowy October, it feels good to be outside.

I have homework calling me and a recital tomorrow (!) so I had better get a move on.

A little bit of summer left

Last week, Tressa wrote about how she took her kids berry picking and it made me sad that summer was passing us by and I never did get out there to pick anything. So when a friend here called to ask if I wanted to go pick some blackberries I jumped at the chance. Especially because I don’t remember ever having picked any, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries, yes, but not blackberries. Well, I can no longer say that!

It was a really fun farm (Happy Apple in Penrose for my local friends) and they also grow raspberries, apples and pumpkins as well as the blackberries we picked today.

Do you think they were good?

A view like this

Is enough to make even the grumpiest of campers (ie, me) glad we went. I was apprehensive for lots of reasons… we were camping with people we didn’t know well. We were at a site where we had to walk in, instead of just drive up and pitch the tent. Rain was forecasted for the weekend. I was fully prepared to not have a good time at all. Luckily, while I was busy procrastinating before we left, I read a really great post by Renee, about how camping builds character. I decided I should look at the experience as an opportunity to grow, and at least try to make the best of it.

We ended up having a really good time. Other than a few sprinkles the first night, the weather was great. The other couple also has a 3 year old, so that leveled the playing field right there. And it was just a really pretty place.

We were at a large reservoir not too far from here. The combination of being able to hike through the woods and being near water was great. The dutchkid had a blast playing along the shore.

Swimming is not allowed, but fishing and boating are. I would love to have our own canoe someday, which is the outdoorsy-est thought I’ve had for a good long while.

There’s a few more pictures on flickr. Hope you had a good weekend.

Gulp

I’m having some sort of photography block lately. So I finally sat down at the computer and went through the last pictures from Benning. On our last evening there, while poor dh was doing I-can’t-remember-what, I put the dutchkid and the cameras into the car and drove around post.

Of course I had the Holga too:

Sigh. And I realized that I am way too focused on what was instead of what is. I have barely touched any cameras since we got here. And we even got a new, teeny tiny point and shoot. And I live in Colorado now, for heaven’s sake. I mean, have you seen those mountains?! Gah!

So with this post I vow I AM NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT IT ANYMORE. I promise.

I’m just going to wallow in my Flickr stream, instead.

Rituals

I like them.

Now wait a minute, not the scary creepy kind, but those routines that are part of your everyday. I live a rather, well, helter skelter existence, so I need the structure of such things. I try to think about what makes up my days, otherwise I find myself scrambling around without ever feeling like I’ve done anything worthwhile. Maybe that’s a stay-at-home mom thing, I don’t know. Leya of Curious Bird is starting a weekly photo project featuring daily rituals and I’ve decided to join in.

My photo for today features my piano, of course. It is an unusual day where I don’t sit down and play at least a little. I would like to say that it’s all for enjoyment, but as many of you know it’s mostly because I am actively preparing to audition for a school of music. Not that there’s not enjoyment there. Many people find satisfaction in the act of creating beautiful things with their hands… the knitters, sewers, painters and photographers out there come to mind. And while I like to dabble in a few of those things from time to time, playing the piano is really what my hands do the best.

You can visit the Flickr pool if you would like to see what other people’s daily rituals are.