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New Year Snow
Although it’s not much accumulation, enough snow fell in overnight to cap all of the trees on the mountain. It looks like a wonderland out there right now. I can even see it through my loft window. Last night, a red lunar halo indicated snow and I was delighted when it started fluffing down big
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Studio for Happy Experiment and Discovery
It’s taken me a year to get the studio shed under control. A couple weeks ago, Tod helped me cut some shelves which I immediately filled with all of my botanical inks and glass labware. I made a lot of inks this autumn and I want to paint with them but the clutter of bottles
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Pettiness of cats
Maura and Beryl are frenemies. Each wants to be top cat and they try to dominate one another in various ways, usually involving food or my attention. Beryl blocks Maura from his food bowl; Maura skippity-paps her as she passes by him. Fur rarely flies, but they behave in the most petty ways. This morning
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Camera Roll
Time for another photo dump of my Instagram Stories. Here are some scenes of daily life from the past month, in reverse chronological order. It’s been a good month of early autumn weather, making color, teaching art, and noticing the small joys of each day. Also, cats. The praying mantis ran up my arm like
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The Cool Change
It has been a brutally hot, record-breaking summer again. Our home weather station recorded a high of 38.2°C (101°F) on August 30th and a “feels like” high of 53.9°C (129°F) on August 18th. But yesterday the heat broke and we saw our first sub-20°C (68°F) overnight temperature since mid-June. Now we’ll be in a slowly
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Camera Roll
Summer has flown by in a haze of herniated disc pain and heat exhaustion, both of which are finally subsiding. Despite being housebound for most of two months, I captured some of the beauty in my world. Let me share it with you via all the Instagram Stories I’ve posted.
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About the barn
While we were building the house, we’d set aside extra materials, our purchasing mistakes, and crazy ideas “for the barn.” It became a running joke. For example, the bathroom window I ordered that was too small? No problem, we’ll use it in the barn. A light fixture that didn’t suit the kitchen – save it
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Surprises in the Overgrowth
This Mountain Day morning, I decided to take my coffee outside and walk around 555. We’ve had a couple days of windy rain and I wanted to pick up any fallen branches in the driveway. A small daily joy is to wander around in my nightgown and garden boots. I am definitely a member of
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Summer Attractions
Summer in Japan is full of festivals and events. I feel like a sweaty social butterfly. Kamogawa Citizen’s Fireworks Although we’ve lived in Kamogawa for a decade, this is the first time we’ve taken in the beach fireworks. They were quite spectacular – lots of multicolored rainbow explosions reflecting on the water and waves. We
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Cat Report
One of the hallmarks of my morning yoga class was the “cat report.” It started as a way for me to keep everyone distracted during a particular movement, and became a regular thing. I miss giving a cat report and yesterday’s activities merit some reporting. So here we are a cat report for you. Beryl
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