snow snow and more snow ~

We woke up this morning ... only to see that we got a bit of snow dusting overnight and Dear Hubby needed to do some shoveling to even make it out to the garage.

About this time ... I'm sure he's questioning himself why?? Why didn't I clean out my side of the garage and put the vehicle inside??

It's around 5:00 a.m.  ... the sidewalk is shoveled off when Slim leaves for work.  Then it starts snowing again.

 ...  an hour later it's really coming down ... huge snowflakes

Within the next 1-1/2 hours you can barely see that the sidewalk was even shoveled.

By 8:00 ~ looking out the window:

It's still snowing ... and piling up ~

The snow is so heavy you can't even see into the woods beyond the trees on the edge of the yard.

Looking out the basement family room door ...

I have a patio out there under the chimney ... and the driveway is beyond that ...

and a flower bed on the hill ...

Looking down the driveway ... you can't even tell where it is ~ the snow has piled up and the wind has blown it shut. 

... and it's still snowing ...

Does anybody want to come find my sidewalk? and do a little shoveling??

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

woodland creations 5 ~

I'm still at it ...

How about another chair ... or two ...

 ~ add 

an

arbor ...

~ and 

a

table (from the other day) ....

... and you end up with a cute little patio setting for the gnomes / fairies :

~ I think a little stone fire pit is in order too?? ~

I also made more stepping stone pavers and this grand ol' chair of twigs.

It's really a lot cuter in person than what the picture depicts ...

Here's a closer look ~

It has some 'borrowed from the humans' copper wire curly's.

I decided to go a little bit larger scale than what I had originally started with this project.  Most of the chairs are around 8 to 10 inches tall. 

I can already envision them strategically tucked into my flower garden.

There's another foot of snow in the forecast ... so when that will be ... God only knows.

The way things have been going ... I just might make a whole village before spring!

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

woodland creations 4 ~

There is still a couple of feet of snow on the ground ~ so I guess I'll keep on working on the woodland creations.

Today's projects consisted of :

~ another rustic twig chair ~

to go with the table and chair made yesterday

~ a coffee table ~

with

~ an inlaid table runner ~

also

~ another piece of fencing ~

Since I had the glue handy ... I also fixed up a chair that I had with a broken leg and back.  I figured it would be appropriate for the fairy / gnome / troll / whatever kind of garden it is.  It's not made of twigs and such; but of clothes pins.  After all ... I've done some research and found that the fairies / gnomes / trolls / whatever's liked to "borrow" from the humans when they felt that the humans were not using something anymore.  

Looks like my laundry hanging days on the clothes line are over.  The gnomes stole my  clothes pins.

It's a rather ritzy chair for a woodland creation village ... I guess I'll have to put it up on Snob Hill ~ doesn't every village have one of those?

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

woodland creations 3 ~

Day 3 of creativity ~ the fairy house / gnome garden / miniatures continue ... and probably will keep continuing until the snow goes.  What a better way to waste away a day! As if this is all I do.

Yesterdays project consisted of making more stepping stone pavers ~

~ stepping stones  ... drying in the cookie packaging forms ~

~ a round table w/fruit basket ~

~ side chair ~

AND ...

~ a birch bark house ~

I'm really enjoying making these ... in case you haven't figured that out yet ... lol   I just can't wait to make more and really can't wait to get them set up in my garden.  So off I go ... to a mystical realm of my own.  I have a woodland village to make :)

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

woodland creations~

I'm still at it today ... working on little miniature woodland creations for the fairy garden.  I plan on putting it in this spring with my granddaughters ~ if and when our snow ever goes :)

~ a little gnome home ~

made of bark and moss

~ the bird house ... magnified 50% ~

 ~ the door panels are the inside of a milkweed pod with a juniper berry doorknob ~

( to give you an idea of the size )

 ~ a little tree to plant in the yard with a little nest holding 2 eggs ~

~ a rustic chair with a woven seat for comfort ~

 ~ the pretzel stick house ~

( they're really twigs but they remind me of pretzel sticks )

I'm still not sure how this will all turn out ... but I'm having fun making these.

The Grandlove's weren't even here to help today.

I just couldn't hold off and went ahead without them.

You're never too old to play.

Even if it's with yourself ... haha

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

thinkin' of spring ~

I know we have a few more months of snow to go before springtime hits my neck of the woods ~ but a girl can dream of warmer days ... can't she?

I really can't wait to be digging around in the flower beds and making some fairy houses.  In case you don't know what a fairy house is ~ it's just a little place you make in your garden ... of natural materials ... for the fairies to hang out in :) My Grandlove's ~ Brooke and Bailey ~ can't wait to help me with this project.

Such as this pic from the internet:

image from the internet

You can keep them small and simple or go big ... like this couple did:

image from the internet

Even though there's a foot of snow on the ground ... and more in the forecast ... we did start on a few things for the fairy house - that could possibly turn into a village if the enthusiasm holds out.

Here's the start of some patio pavers ... sea shells drying in cement.  The forms are from the plastic container of a pack of cookies.  They look bigger on the picture than they actually are - they're about 3"x3"

a little fencing ... a ladder and a table top?

It'll be interesting to see what we come up with :)  At least we have a ton of natural materials right outside the door to play with.  We just have to wait for the snow to go!

Here's a scrapbook page of our little neighbor girls ~ Morgan and Megan in their Halloween costumes a few years back that I turned into garden fairies in my own garden:

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

that kind of day ~

There's a black squirrel out in the yard giving me the eye :)

I think he wants a cookie.

It's finally starting to feel like normal around here - as if "normal" is even possible.  We've just been so rushed the last few weeks that it feels good to not have any big obligations to be met.  Unless you want to talk about property taxes ... nah... I won't go there!

Saturday we had a funeral - my aunt passed away, my Mom's sister.   My cousin's son gave the nicest eulogy ~ so spot on.  It makes you wonder sometimes ... what will it be like at my funeral ... what will be said ??  How was I perceived in this allotted time on earth??  

The weekend of the JPD Warrior Projects fisheree, that we had the end of January, is a lot of work; but it's also so personal for the family.  It's also the anniversary of my nephews death from suicide.  That is why we have the fisheree in the first place ... to raise funds to bring in speakers to the schools to address kids about suicide awareness and self esteem.  We have a group called the Bucket Fillers coming in March (more on them later).  The fisheree is our fund raiser to get enough money to support these efforts and support other community projects such as the Time Out Shelter and the Corner Rock Youth Center.  

This coming Wednesday will be the anniversary of my sister's death - I sure do miss her.  She was always so fun loving and happy.  I still want to "just pop in" for that cup of coffee and catch up with her on what's going on with her and her family ... or get my hair trimmed.   

It will also be the anniversary date of my parents wedding.  My Dad too is no longer with us ... and sure is missed. He too was just such a loving and caring man - and had such a knack of telling the BEST true stories ever!!  The scrapbook page is of the last photos I had taken of him on the day we launched his homemade boat. 

Yes, times like this makes a person think ... and value what they have.  It is also a time to reflect and cherish the memories and moments of those who are no longer with us.

I know ... time for me to say, "I think I'll make some Jello" but not today ... today it's homemade bread and a raspberry doughgen.

... and get some smelt thawed out for supper ~ Dear Hubby has a cravin' and I only make them once or twice a year ... and he reminded me it's been awhile :)

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

jpd warrior photos ~

I FINALLY received the photos from the fisheree and were able to get them up on the JPD Warrior website.

~ my daughter Staci singing the National Anthem at the close of the program right before the fireworks ~

~ some of the fish that were registered ~

 View 200 plus more photos at the following link:

JPD Warrior Fisheree 2012 Photo Album
Free Photo Albums by Bravenet.com



Until next time....
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel