Zen Cat Art

Snow in October - Take Two...

OK this is just plain silly!  I took this picture an hour ago and there is another 3 inches already. 
The weather channel is saying we could get 12 to 18 inches.  We went out for breakfast, filled up the gas tanks, got a new pair of snow gloves and went home to batten down the hatches.  We took out the air conditioners out of the windows and stowed them in the basement.  Those suckers are heavy!  The cats were pretty excited about the open windows when we pulled them out but not about the weather that was drifting in so no one tried to escape.  They also were impressed with the large cat water bowl we put in the bath tub.  It's a big plastic bin with water in case we lose electric.
Sammy did think I was a bit crazy to hang out the window to take this video. 

Here you are... snow video. 
   

Snow in October?

Just for the record, that white stuff covering the leaves on the deck and the chair not to mention the cover of the BBQ, is snow.  Yes, Virginia...Christmas is coming. 

Fairy Ring...

We have fairies in our yard.  At least the folklore says fairies live there and will draw you into the ring to dance with them.  I can't say as I have been approached by one of the wee folk yet but I did have a bit of a dance in the circle when my cousin Drew pointed it out to us.  "You have a fairy ring." he said.  Drew, being more the scientific type than the seeing fairies type, got a raised eyebrow from me to go along with the quizzical look.  But here it is... a ring of mushrooms. 

Its a little hard to see the circle from this angle so I put a red dot with Photoshop, next to each mushroom.  The mushrooms them selves are splendid and some are easily over a foot across.

Can't you see an imaginary fairy lounging in this soft spongy bed?

I like the idea of it...although folk beliefs generally paint fairy rings as dangerous places, best avoided.  I, not knowing I was in danger, marched straight to the center and did a bit of a twirl and made a wish.  I was careful not to step on any of the mushrooms.  I hope they will forgive my tresspassing but it's nice to have a bit of magic in ones life occasionally. 

Other legends paint fairy circles as places of fertility and fortune.  If any fairies are listening, I would much prefer the "fortune".  Shakespeare alludes to them in A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest.  Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Tennyson and Yeats also refer to them in their poetry. 

For myself, I prefer to think of them as "enso" - the Japanese word for circle.  It is a sacred symbol in Zen Buddhism referring to the oneness of the universe, a graphic depiction of enlightenment itself.  

I'll keep you posted on the wish. 

 

Feathers and my first You Tube video

Jude Hill from Spirit Cloth has a Magic Feather project going.  You can read about it here. So I made some feathers for her.

And here is a bit of video - my first - about the feathers.     

I will have to do a bit more scripting and a bit less "uming" on the next one!  But it was easier than I thought. 

I want to get better at the videos so that I can put some of my quilting work/lessons on line.  At least that is the theory at the moment.  I'm still working it out. 

 

Breakfast on the deck...

I'm enjoying all the autumn colors.  Even on my breakfast place.  And only 4 points on Weight Watchers.  And speaking of Weight Watchers, I am doing pretty well although I find the new system unnecessarily hard to figure out.  And essentially the same as the old system but with new books and calculators.  The food values are weighted toward whole foods instead of calculated on calories, fat & fiber content.  They are trying to get us to eat better.  But lets face it - they have to change the program periodically to get you to come back and to sell new products.  Weight loss is a big business.  That being said, the big bonus for me is that my blood sugar is much better when I'm on Weight Watchers and even if I weren't losing weight that would be a big plus!

A day of reflection...

It's time for me today to go slow and take a look around me.  


A time to see what the past year looked like and what I would like the next one to look like.  

I always want things to be "better."  But since life is always a mixed bag and sometimes the very things we think are bad turn out good and vice versa - I think my aim will be to be more peaceful.   
 
It is Yom Kippur. 

Pinks from Deb

Pinks from Deb!  Whoopee! 
(That's cranberry juice in the glass.)
And if you think I was excited...
 
Sammy claimed them for her own the minute I opened the package!


A feather for Jude's  Magic Feather Project.