Happy Birthday to.....

ME!!

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Yes...today is my birthday and no I won't tell you how old I am. OK, I will I guess. Basically this will be my last year in the 30's. Sniff, sniff.... I feel like I have finally come into myself in my 30's. I have grown into a person that I am reasonably happy with. I have a wonderful son and husband a person could only ask for.

My life is pretty darn good!

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So today consists of waking up early, making myself a small pot of coffee, painting some stuff that needs to be in the kiln TODAY, and at 11:00 I am going for a long deep tissue massage! As far as this afternoon goes, I will most likely head to the studio, load a kiln of green ware (unfired pottery) and then head home. I think tonight will be spent with wonderful friends with lots of food and drinks.

Sounds GREAT to me.

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Have a wonderful day everyone!

This is our friend the llama. Graydon and I have been going out to this farm near us to visit all the animals. The first time we went, this llama was pacing the fence. Knowing what llamas can do (spit, yuck!) I sort of staying my distance from him.
Here is Graydon feeding the animals with his cup of food.

He sparingly gave each one food.

Isn't this sheep so cute.

He/she is a miniature sheep and it has 4 horns.

Two that go straight up and two that curl around.

They're for sale.......:)

So back to our llama friend. So after staying my distance from him I decided to venture closer. And closer and closer yet. This adorable llama kept putting his nose on mine and just staring at me. He wouldn't do it with Graydon and forget about Todd, he was definitely staying his distance. Knowing me I just had to get a pic of it and Graydon did a great job taking it.

I was in the kitchen this morning and heard all this noise outside. I grabbed the camera and shot this photo of all the starlings flying over our house.

Hundreds of them....can you imagine if they all pooped at once. :)

So here is some fall pics of trees near our house.

This one was taken this past weekend,

which was gorgeous I might add.

And this one was taken this morning.

It is raining out and the leaves look so vibrant.

Say goodbye to the leaves Upstate New York.

They are going fast!

I am sending this web Birthday out to my brother-in-law Scott!!

Hope you had a great day!!!

Happy Anniversary to US!

Well today is our 12th, yes 12th anniversary! The day is turning out (weather wise) exactly like the day we got married. A little chilly but the leaves and sun are all out in their glory. How has 12 years gone by? The first 3 were spent traveling and playing with our house. Then Graydon came by before our 3rd anniversary. Typically now our anniversary consists of the 3 of us having dinner somewhere...but we wouldn't have it any other way.

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The photos were taken out in our field by our house. The bottom photo was a fluke. We were all serious getting photos taken when my brother-in-law drove our friend Brian's truck out into the field. The photographer really did not want to take the pic but we made him

and I do have to say it is one of my favorites!

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So...Happy Anniversary to Us!!

OK, so now thanks to http://therabbitmuse.blogspot.com I am now TAGGED.

So now it's my turn to tag some of you and to share some not so interesting things about myself. If you've been tagged by me check out the rules below and play along if you so desire.
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here it goes...

1. I compulsively eat peanut butter everyday. I love it!! I just take a huge spoonful and pop it into my mouth. Sometimes I add chocolate chips to the spoonful and create my own Reese's cup. I just wish it weren't so darn fattening!
2. I love FALL. The smell of the crunchy leaves and cool air just makes me want to run through my yard naked and roll in a leaf pile. I would if I didn't have neighbors and also if leaves didn't get stuck places ;)
3. I hate my hair! I wish it either was pin straight or kinky curly, not this wild woman hair. Nancy...I love your hair!
4. My favorite ice cream is.....drum roll please. VANILLA! Boring I know
5. I am obsessed with little tiny things. Little vases, animals, doll house stuff. So cute!! I still have my doll house and right now it is in my dining room. No it's not set up but...hummm maybe! What do you think Todd would say?
6. I am a huge animal lover. Words pop into my head when I look at their faces and it is almost like I can read what they are thinking. OOOOOOoooo psychic?????? No just dorky!
7. OK so I am struggling here. I guess the last one is....I wish I could just hit the lottery and retire from what I am currently doing, then Todd could retire and I could create all day long. No wait...he might be bored, and then bug me...oh no, he would stand over me with his hands in his pockets and stare. And then keep on telling me he was bored and then I wouldn't get anything accomplished. But our bills would be paid off and we could just sit home and stare at each other....hehehe...

It still would be nice though.............................................................

1. http://www.hodgepodge-michelle.blogspot.com

2. http://www.bikerchic11.blogspot.com

3. www.lorimarie.com

4. http://www.hollyhocks.typepad.com

I have been a little absent this weekend. I was so busy working on things that I neglected my blog. Friday night was spent running errands and having dinner with Todd and Graydon at Moe's (Mexican...yumm!) I picked up a huge bucket of plaster at AC Moore for the above project. I had an idea in my head all week long and finally on Saturday I was able to sit down and work on it. If you can't tell, it is a tree of life. I used that as a focal point in the design and under that I did write welcome. Everything is hand carved and it took me over 4 hours to do. I was obsessed with it. I would leave it for a while and then come back to it. It really turned out great and the only downside of it, is the original is lost in the mold making process. I did cast it in plaster and hopefully by this afternoon I will be able to make my first plaque. Stay tuned for the finished project.

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Needless to say I have been making a bunch of pottery, a little obsessed with it now. I went to bed thinking about what I was going to make today and it did indeed keep me up for quite a long time. On top of the pottery keeping me up, my hands hurt like crazy! They are so dry, split and sore! My palms (carpal tunnel area) hurt so bad. I need a deep tissue massage just on my hands. Maybe, I'll use a gift certificate that I have on Wednesday and treat myself to a hour long massage. Sounds good huh! I have never experienced this problem due to throwing before. I'm sure the 4 hours long carving session didn't help matters.

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Well, I'm off to throw. Wish me success!

So today has been the first day I have been home the WHOLE day in quite a while. After Graydon got onto the bus I proceeded in making myself another, yes another small pot of coffee and heading to the basement to throw. I ended up doing fairly well despite the lack of throwing I have been doing lately. Of course it is crunch time again, that is what we "artists" do. Wait til the last minute for everything, actually that is in my libra-ness. Is that even a word?

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Any-who, I did end up making a small colander and a bunch of smaller low pots for a project I am working on. I got an idea from someone else and I am clay stealing from them. I will not post them on esty as this person is on there and out of respect I feel it is only fair. I will show them here when they are completed and if anyone here wants one, just convo me.

You'll just have to wait and see!! They are going to be cute!

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So, I'm off to pick Graydon up from school and then later tonight, back to school for open house. Hopefully the basement will be beckoning me to visit again tonight.

My hands are just itching to throw more.