Early Winter

I took a drive to Caldwell today to see daughter April. Between Nampa and Caldwell I took a few pics of the landscape. We had light snow in the valley which fell mostly in the mountains. The fields are plowed and resting now. The sun is bright when it shines, and only lasts 8 hours now.

This is April's store, Jolts and Juice. They serve coffe and smoothies, as per the sign below. The coffee is roasted by their company, and they are careful to buy beans that have not had chemicals added to them. Some of the Baristas are nationally certified. The coffee shop is very roomy, decorated in a fun way, and is a great place for groups of people to meet, or for an individual to sit and read while sipping a great cup of Joe.

Johannah is the young lady on the left and April is on the right. Above is a cup of latte that had the cream sculpted. On the way home I was able to snap a few shots of Lake Lowell, a man-made reservoir in the Nampa-Caldwell area. There are a variety of wildlife there and it is a refuge for migrating birds such as Canada geese, white pelicans, ducks, eagles and hawks. It is also a recreational area.



At home the gardens are looking tired and cold. We don't visit them now due to the cold temperatures and dampness. Here are a few images of some garden sculptures that I made.





Time to go inside the house now. Sweet Salmon Stirfry for dinner!

A Big Change

The first project in the house after Christmas, will be to paint a new closet that replaced an old fireplace that sucked all the warm air out of this dining room, off the kitchen. Ed and Paul pulled the old fireplace out the day after Thanksgiving. It was a big dirty project! But this is a very nice addition for kitchen storage. Now I have a place to store my bread maker, roaster, vacuum cleaner and things that I use frequently. Ed and Paul installed a pocket door and we are going to put in shelving on one side and put taller items on the other side. Our house was built back in the 70's when mortgage interests were running 11%+. The builders made a lot of short cuts at that time to save money.

Garden Sculptures

These are sculptures that I made to be out in a garden setting. They are made of beads that are stacked on top of each other supported by a rebar and conduit. All my art work is made from a



slab of clay that I texture and shape by hand.

I became a grandmother on Oct. 12, 2008. Cooper Edward Burnett is a beautiful baby who is welcomed into the world by many loving hands! Cooper is a "project" that I anticipate will take us to Utah pretty often this coming year. I am very happy and satisfied to be a grandmother! Above is the new family, Kelly, Paul and Cooper Burnett.

Clean Hands!

Until the Holidays are over, I will have clean hands. I have completed all the shows for the year and life has settled down. Presently I have coffee mugs for sale at Jolts and Juice Company in Caldwell Idaho. In January I will be creating a plan for the year 2010, exploring ideas for designing and glazing