…& more scenes from the farm!

I can’t resist. While processing pics for my upcoming stuffed birdie listings (up soon in my Etsy shop!) I came across a few more shots from around the farm lately that I need to share.

Our pretty HappyDog likes to help me garden. At least she wasn’t lying directly on top of anything I was growing on purpose. I don’t mind if she lies on the weeds, though. (check out the sweet railroad-spike sugar snap pea trellis my darling Johnnie made for me!)

And JaneCat just looks on, pretending not to know there’s work to be done. She’s really slacking on her mouse-terrifying duties lately.

And this is a for real scene, nothing staged here. Turns out the goats actually like us (when we bring them food, that is)! This is from before we moved the chickens in with the goats. Apparently they have now taken to laying their eggs all over the place and  in the goat barn. Oops. We’re going to have to work on the chicken-training, I guess.

well doesn’t that just sound like fun?!

I’m definitley going to take part in this, it sounds like such a fun idea. We will be at the Alchemy Initiative Earth Day party Wednesday night, where will you be?

from EarthMosiac.org:

Calling all photographers and Earth-lovers …

Help us record a day in the life of our planet, in pictures.

~

Here’s your chance to be a part of something audaciously ambitious!

~

Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing on Earth Day – 22 April 2009,

we’re asking you to take photographs of the world around you, select

your best one, send it to us, and we’ll use them to make a giant mosaic. Visit EarthMosaic.org for all the info and more linky goodness, or click here to join the flickr group!

hi, crow.

the 12 days since my last post have gone by in a blur. A BLUR I tell you! Well, I’m here again. A happy new owner of an iPhone (happy dance!) which has also made me a new owner of the wordpress application for iPhone. That I haven’t yet figured out how to use. But I will. and then maybe (just maybe) I’ll blog more often. Wouldn’t that just be the bees knees?

Things that have happened to me lately:

#1 sold my wares at Design Hive! It was a fun time, and I got to chat with lots of fellow makers including Marcia and Brandon of Bella Bags by Marcia from out here in the Berkshires and Elise Towle Snow of Argyle Whale. It was pretty busy, not so very lucrative for me, but a nice reminder on how to pack my car, schlep my stuff and how very wonderful my boston-area homies are; thank you thank you thank you to Jaclyn, Vanessa, Courtney and Heidi — what would I do without you?! I am so very blessed to count you as my friends and my craft-fair helpers. Next up in the Boston area is  the South End Open Market on May 15 & 16.

Design Hive, Cambridge MA 4.5.09 — in the lower left corner you can see one of my new birdies looking out over the sea of craftiness.

two of my intrepid helpers, who will probably hate me forever for posting their photo to this blog. but I will love them forever for their help, so it’s all good, right?

#2 Did I mention I’ll be vending at Twist Fair 2.0 in Northhampton May 1 & 2? So excited for this fantasic opportunity. The floorplan and vendor lists are out and I will be in some VERY good company, including some of my favorites ever, MIAOW, Ranunculae and Sarah Ahearn — super!

#3 Easter. I have a chocolate hangover. But I might have still eaten more today, but as they say — bite that durn dog that bit you, right? Plenty of the three f’s yesterday: fun, family, food. And more food. Everyone came through with old favorites, and I managed to sneak in some quiche made from our backyard eggs and some jello “salad” (I’ve been warned that it’s not really a salad if it has no, um, vegetation or remote nutritional value, and I concur) — it’s an old time favorite family recipe passed down through the ages. Ok, well, maybe just from my Grandma, but we all like it!

#4 Holy CROW — I just looked up to see a gigantic (maybe it just looks gigantic right next to the chickadees and goldfinches?) Crow in the tree outside my window — it’s HUGE! ….Sorry, that was clearly a tangent; get used to it. This is twitter’s influcence on me, clearly.

#5 This afternoon shall be learn-to-make-websites day. Ok, really it’s a beginning day. A day where I delve into the depths of Lynda for a little techie tutorial help perhaps? Wish me luck.

It’s my bro, and his art.

HEy! If you happen to find yourself in Portland, OR tomorrow April 3rd check out my bro’s art show (he’s the one named Thom May, and that’s his juicbox-sippin-kitten on the left):

- First Thursday; April 2nd
- Litterbox; Everett St. Lofts (NW Broadway & Everett)

You can find his work and that of his cohorts, Dominic De Venuta and Blaire Stapp, at AccidentalSnacks.com

And no, he didn’t even ask me to tell you about this. And yes, I do get the reference to accidental litterbox snacks and I think it’s referencing my dog but we’ll just leave that one alone. Because Thom + HappyDog = True Love Forever

Snowy Days

Ok, this photo is from a hike in the woods Saturday, and today was much more snow-ified and much less sunny around here. We got about 5 inches over the course of last night and this blustery day (reported to be 25mph winds). John and I enjoyed a lovely snow day hiking with the dogs (my mom’s dog Mickey has been staying with us) and watching movies most of the day (yay Netflix instant!), as well as savoring the bounty of our mini-farm with our favorite yard-fresh eggs for breakfast. I even managed to get some crafting in, which was much-needed. I’m stocking up for a craft sale this weekend at Simon’s Rock College in Great Barrington on Saturday (March 7), as part of the International Women’s Day Conference and The Berkshire Festival of Women in the Arts.

I’ve been offered this great opportunity as a helper, but I will be selling a few of my wares, along with my fantastic Aunt Theresa May-O’Brien’s fabulous felt pieces. I’ll be selling our work before and after the conference sessions, as well as at lunch time. See you there?

Happy says Hi.

oh, also, if you’d like to do yourself a favor today, please get yourself a copy of Robbie Schaefer’s album “Strange and Lovely World.” Do it now!

yes, my friends, it’s winter.

The grape hyacinths (or, er, whatever this bulb is) are in full force, filling our kitchen with a lovely springtime scent.

Outside, however, is a different story. This weekend we decided to brave the icy, tundra-like conditions of Berkshire County for an adventure with our HappyDog:

And then there’s my wishful-thinking sunset (or is a sunrise?), acting as a sort of sun-dance or sun salutation, basically just a wish for more hours (or minutes) of sunshine each day, more daylight, more Vitamin D, perhaps?

tagged

I’ve been tagged! Sweet and talented Cattoo (aka Helen of Just a Little Peek — Just a Little Peek) has tagged me, so here we go, 6 random things about myself.

The rules: link to the person who tagged you > post the rules on your blog > write six random things about yourself > tag six people at the end of your post and link to them > let each person know they’ve been tagged

1. In 6th grade I went through a very unfortunate red-black-and-white phase. No joke. All my clothes AND my room was decorated in only red, black and white. I don’t know why, but my mom speculates I was, ahem, “trying to make a statement.” (and get a load of that vest!)

2. I went to the same school from Kindergarten through 8th grade, Richmond Consolidated, with only about 200 other students at any given time. My class was usually about 22 students. I learned a lot about art and the civil war, and made some good friends, but otherwise led an ostensibly sheltered life until high school.

3. I love birds. Oh, you already knew that? I have a great squirrel-free birdfeeder filled with black oil sunflower seeds out all winter, and I wish I could keep it out all year but the other critters (such as bears.. eek!) don’t allow that around here. I have Goldfinches, House Finches, Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Juncos, Nuthatches, Blue Jays, Cardinals and recently a new little Carolina Wren that visit regularly.

4. I flew alone to London, England when I was 17 to meet my friend Sarah who’d been doing an exchange program in France that year. I’m not sure I’d have the guts to do that again even now… Even with cell phones so we’d avoid the confusion that happened where we were each standing at different “Victoria Stations” (why, London, do you have two stations with the same name? UGH.) late at night in a city we didn’t know. Otherwise, though, I’ve never left North America. I am hoping that changes someday soon.

5. I have had two horses. I was about 10-12 years old. I was REALLY into horses. I haven’t ridden a horse since about 2000 when my ex-boyfriend and I went to Yosemite and took a riding tour of the park. I would like to have horses again someday, especially if we owned more land.

6. I have a BA in Theatre Arts with a minor in Studio Art. I was a theatre kid in high school and college, and I loved it. The last play I did was in 2004 in San Francisco. I think about getting back into it someday, but I’m not sure how to go about it. I was a director, stage manager and set designer. I finally figured out what I liked about set design was making the little models and painting, and that helped lead me to where I am today. Boy I sure loved making those models!

I am now tagging:

Kelly Barton of the Camp

Liz Elayne of the Little Room

Crispina ffrench

Cynthia Gunsinger

Maeg of Ranunculae

Stephanie of Life in Avalon

Blue Monday, Bright Tuesday

(I swear that I 100% did not remember about this phenomenon until sometime late last night when I was reminded by a Twitter friend.)

Have you heard of “Blue Monday”? Sounds like we fit riiight in there with our day yesterday. The most depressing day of the year happened to fall on Monday January 19, 2009 and boy howdy did it fall here. According to Wikipedia, “the date was calculated by using many factors, including: weather conditions, debt level (the difference between debt accumulated and our ability to pay), time since Christmas, time since failing our new year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and feeling of a need to take action.” Oh universe, why do you play with me thus?

In other news, have you heard? We gots ourselves a new President. Wahoo! (I don’t know if you’ve heard — no one is talking about it…)

I had the great pleasure of watching the Inauguration with my lovely Grandma and my equally lovely mom. What a wonderful speech and seriously history-making event. For reals. That crowd was amazing. I admire those people who braved the crowds and cold. And weren’t his girls just too cute? Did you catch Malia taking a photo of her dad with her pink (or was it green?) digital camera? too much!

Thanks, Barack, we like you, too.

Regrouping

First of all, I want to say a huge, heartfelt thank you to everyone who has sent me and my family kind words and loving thoughts regarding my grandfather’s passing. It is so heartwarming to know you are all out there sending your love.

I am a little sad to have not been able to be at the funeral in Arizona yesterday. I wish I could have been there with my other family members as they remember and celebrate his life. I am staying put, however, because I am much more useful staying here. I have been helping my dad with his business bookkeeping (he’s not so much into the computer thing) that my mom usually does, as well as taking care of their slobbery (but cute!) dog and going over to feed the cats and plants at their house. I’m also excited to be helping get things ready around here for my Gramma to move back to the area! As I said in the last post, she has been living in Arizona for the past decade-plus. So she will return to her hometown for the first time in just about 10 years with my mom and her sister next week. We are all taking quite a bit of comfort in the fact that she will be so close to all of us and so many lovely souls will be able to go out and visit her so much more often.

In other news, we’re hunkering down for another crazy winter storm here tonight. The last one was so beautiful, coating the trees and every surface imaginable, including Mickey’s nose. He is 100% snow dog. Can’t get enough of it. He just goes outside and lays right down in the fuffiness. Adorable.