Could it Possibly Be... Spring?!

If you live in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, you come to expect rain, especially in April. So, when the sun shines in April, it is a Big Deal indeed!

We opened the door to the outside for the weaned calves -- this is the first time in their lives these little girls have been out of the barn, and most were staying quite firmly inside, thank you very much. A few were a bit more adventurous. These calves have it figured out. Don't they look happy?

These particular tulips are volunteers in the window box on the back porch. My mother-in-law never planted any but red and yellow tulips when she lived here. Even though tulips are one of my favorite flowers of all time, I am so burned out on gardening by the time the fall rolls around that I have never gotten around to planting bulbs ever... Who knows where these beauties came from -- but they are a special gift from life to my garden and I just love looking at them. Fortunately, from this angle you can't see the mass of weeds that is taking over the flower bed in the background!

This is "Fili", Alice's favorite barn cat. He doesn't like me much because I never bring him food. This is about as close as he ever lets me get to him -- I think he was just curious to see what the heck I was doing (taking photos of the calves) and came up close in spite of his better judgement! I know this is a horridly lit photo, but hey! he was gone 2 seconds later so I am lucky to have caught him at all! He isn't much to look at -- none of the barn cats are except for Pretty Momma -- but he is a nice little boy.

This is what I grabbed to work on while waiting for the apoxy clay to harden on my Water Spirit

In my ongoing effort to FINISH a few of the major projects I have underway, I decided to pick up and do the hand sewing on the Baba Yaga mask of my Smallworks topsy turvy doll. The mask is made in 3 pieces (upper face, lower face, and nose)using an interesting and unique trapunto technique; it took some fussy work, but it wasn't difficult and the results are fantastic. I still want to sharpen up the detail around the eye area and add a few more "age spots".

The next step will be her headdress, which will give her head a more finished look, and perhaps make her seem a touch more human -- this view is just scary! I doubt I will get to it this week -- I want to keep going on my Water Spirit figure -- and working on her in bits and pieces is the only way to keep my sanity on this project. This doll has already taken a HUGE investment in time and energy, but she will be worth it in the end I think.