A Wonderful January Day

Today was spectacular! The sun came out and not a cloud was in the sky. The majority of the day was spent outside hopping about with the cat and the rabbit. Goldenseal and clover took over the grass over the cold days and made a delightful cushioned bed for us to lounge on and sun bathe. Oliver had the time of his life burrowing under bushes and searching under driftwood and Calliope soaked in as much sun as she could. Although I don't have photos of this excursion, I did capture the beautiful light that filled the home today. We enjoyed breakfast on the porch and took all of the plants out with us so they could blow in the breeze. Thank you sun!

I hope you enjoyed your day as well! And thank you for stopping by!

Alejandra of Druidess Art.

Alejandra's work has inspired me for a long time now. Many months ago before moving I was fortunate enough to receive two prints of her work. Now, finally uncovered from a box of artwork I am so happy to have them out in my home.
The amount of magic and detail that goes into each of her pieces is extraordinary and I am so lucky to have these two ladies in my life.

As she too has just moved, her etsy shop is closed for now, but you can follow her work on her instagram as she creates beauty in Colombia here .

Instagram has been such a wonderful source to connect with other artists and I feel so lucky to have met such a magical being there. If it wasn't for her encouragement and kind words, who knows where my artwork would be today. Thank you Alejandra!

Flurries

A lovely winter day with the animals. We all went out to enjoy the snow flurries and then it was an afternoon of bathing for these two.

Adopting Oliver has been one of the greatest joys of my life. His big heart has taught me so much and caring for him has been an absolute pleasure. Callie, who has been with my husband for 17 years and has been the only pet for much of her life, is finally starting to come around to having a bunny, and a giant one at that, in the house. It took her a long time... but it is impossible not to love this creature with the biggest heart of any soul I've met. 

The house has been cleaned and aired out for the new year. It's wonderful what a little sun and wind can do to a home. It feels completely renewed in here and creativity is flowing once again!

  

It was a lovely rainy weekend day filled with my two favorite stops. First stop, a trip to our beloved Heiwa Shokudo. Brian never fails to get his sushi box and I mix it up from time to time with their wonderful hot pots. Heiwa’s Ramen was just what I needed on this grey day. The restaurant is quiet and filled with familiar faces. 

Next door is my favorite flower shop in town, Shady Grove. Almost all of my house plants hail from this store. I never fail to walk in and fall head over heals for a new friend. 

The charming little shop has been here as long as I have and is always filled with friendly people and a wonderful display of bonsais, terrariums, dried flowers, and a large variety of other house plants. 

Today a white african violet and a silver begonia were singing their song and I couldn’t help but to take them with me. All tucked in tissue paper we headed out for an afternoon of bookstores and antique malls and then safely back home to find their perfect window sill.

The holidays were just as lovely as they could be. It is always such a splendid time to be with family in Cincinnati and now I am back and nestled in to my little mountain home. It is so quiet here, but the bunny is getting into more mischief than ever. His silver hair, he grew in for winter, is coming out in large fluffy clumps and is being replaced with a dark soft black. I am always amazed by his wild brindled coat. One week he is a silver brown, the next he is covered in designs of circles of new colors growing in. He is bouncing about much more than usual and finding any leftover christmas boxes he can to snack on.

We have a new addition to the Von Sneeden family. A lovely computer that I have inherited from my sister! It has proved itself to be a lovely new friend and is fitting in quite nicely.

The winds are getting colder and the days of happily waking up and making breakfast and smiling about seem of a distant past. It is cereal and days spent in bed and moping about for me in this grey week.

* If by some sort of New Year's Miracle I was writing about the loss of my only source of technology for almost 2 years, my wee little ipod who has stuck with me through thick and thin. Through my stunt as a ramp agent at an airport, its little flashlight checked many a cargo unit and in the cold cold winter nights it helped to detect for frost. It went with me to London and Bruges, it went bike riding to Holland and shot many a windmill. One day, several months ago, with a sudden incoming plane my glow wands knocked it from my pocket and it fell to the ground. Although injured, we carried on living happily.. cracked and home button missing and all. When suddenly 3 days ago it finally perished for good... or so I thought. Never to be used again.. I took a photograph for this post and BEHOLD it awakened again!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Blooms

Around the house there are many dried flowers. Some are taped to walls, some hang across the fireplace, and some are framed. Bringing the outside in is important to me, and I love seeing their dried buds on these white walls.

I have planted so many flowers this autumn and I can’t wait to watch them bloom this spring!! For sure they will fill my walls. If I have a daughter, instead of wall paper, I will press dozens and dozens of flowers for her and fill the walls with blooms.

December

The December winds have drifted in and the house has become quiet and cozy. The garden is long gone, but I was able to harvest a few more vegetables to use for dying purposes. So I peeled the onion skins and soaked the purple cabbage and dyed some beautiful long white netting I had. Although the cabbage had no effect, the onion skins came out beautifully. A nice delicate peach.

I have decided also, to fulfill a longtime dream of studying and creating illuminations. 

I have always been so mesmerized by this old celtic technique and I am so thrilled with beginning some of my own. Here you can see the beginning stages, 

In celebration of the Druidic Yule coming up, this piece depicts the birthing of the sun from the darkest days we are now experiencing. The oak and holly king face her and she is adorned with mistletoe and holly. I am going to be adding a bit of art deco techniques as well with harsh cuts of black and gold in the background. I have really enjoyed working with gold leaf. 

Thank you for stopping by!