Saw an otter or two today...

Deer in our front yard

This past week, we've had major snowy mornings melting away by the afternoon.
Makes it hard to get up and go to work.

A pair of Canada geese.

But now it's the weekend and the sun's starting to shine, so Dave & I drove to Castlegar. We made some stops on the way home, to enjoy the sunny day and the beauty that surrounds us.

 I'm so glad we stopped at the Kootenay River bridge, 

I wanted to take pictures of these ice spikes. 

We spied a river otter (or two). They were far away and hard to see, but eventually one swam along the shore line, towards us, and I was able to get a little video and a couple of photos.

River otter

 River otter under the bridge.

Video of the otter swimming.

 Sorry about the poor video & noise. My camera's about 3 years old, and it's time to replace it. I've been shopping around for the past month, and last night finally made the decision and bought a new one. It'll have a better zoom, video, and bigger viewing screen (so I can actually see what I'm filming:)  I can't wait for it to arrive!!
 In the meantime, here's a National Geographic video of otters.

A productive weekend.

I hate to see this weekend end...

 We spent a peaceful morning enjoying the sunshine, birds, and collecting rocks at Queen's bay beach.

(Note: The lake level is really low right now.)

                                     Then the weather changed quickly so we headed home.

 I dived into my studio to start my 3rd clay bird project. This one will be a bit smaller than the others, but only a bit.

         I also made some earrings (and a little pug "window jewel")  with the tiny animal beads I bought recently. 

 Taking pictures and listing them takes some time,

 but I managed to list a couple of them in my Etsy shop as well. 

Back to work tomorrow... time to change gears.

Finding treasure on a gloomy spring day.

 Short version:

Dave and I went for a drive, walked on the beach near Queens Bay and I found a neat skull.

  

Longer version: It was gloomy but mild today, so Dave and I decided to go for a bit of a drive to Queen's Bay. We parked at the side of the highway, and took a steep little trail down to the beach. 

 It was cold, windy and noisy! I was surprised at how big the waves were, so I took a little video .

The rounded rocks are hard to walk on, but I love beachcombing… every chance I get. I found a "couple" of rocks to take home…so many rocks, so few pockets.

  Then I made a most unusual find!!

The partial skull - of a small deer, I think.  One of the short antlers is broken, but the weird part is that they were growing in opposite directions!  If you know anything about this, let me know… PLEASE! (Here's more photos from different angles).

 We didn't walk too far, as the wind made our eyes water and our ears got cold, but I have a new treasure to show for our efforts :)

  Next we drove up to see the little church, of course I had to stop and take pictures. It's rare to find a church with an outhouse out back.

   When we got home, I took Spike for a walk to the mailbox, hoping for one of my bead orders to arrive... but was disappointed. Oh well, there's always tomorrow :)

 Have a great week...

Finishing up some paintings, and new earrings.

 A wintery weekend, and some creative time in my studio. What a way to end February.

 Here's some pictures….

Some earrings I made, with my new beads.

The armadillos, and many other earrings are available 

in my Etsy shop.

These little paintings just needed some final touches,

so I finished them up, and clear-coated them.

The same little paintings- back sides.

This painting just needed a couple of clear coats,

I call it "Crow's picnic" and have listed it for sale in

my "Original paintings" section.

This painting is called "Eagle View".

 I'm sure you can see why.

Goodbye February, it's been fun.... Hello March - let's see if it's a lion or lamb.

Comments are welcome... surely you'd like to say something.

Things I'm working on...Ok, who changed the format?

Has Blogger changed the format? Or did I mess up my settings last time I was here?

I was just going to post some photos of pieces I'm working on... and everything here has changed.
Note: The blog looks the same to view, but the screens for updating and creating the actual blog has changed.

 I've been in my studio for about 10 hours, making a couple of pieces with my new Plainsman clay.
Finally have some photos to add. It's midnight, my eyes feel as gritty as my hands, and I'm too tired to be amused by the totally different look, but will just muddle my way through and hope for the best.
I'm listening to Susan Jacks... in case you're interested.

(I started these birds last weekend)

Made a small bear head, wallhanging...

I love the way his mouth turned out 

When hanging on the wall, this is how he'll look.

And I made a dog vase...

front view

side view

(Update- March 27/12-He's ready for a first firing and 

I've decided on a glaze ... it's called "Dalmation" how fitting.)

Update- May 15/12- see him finished and fired.

 That's how my day off was... fun :)

I'm off again tomorrow too, just not sure what to make next... 

(Update: I like this new format- especially for adding photos, now that I've tried it a couple of times :)

What to do this Valentine's Day?

Valentine's is only 10 days away, and I'm trying to think of something special to do with my Sweetheart. It's the 30th Valentine's day, we'll be celebrating together.

Many Valentine's days have passed, with nothing special to mark the day, but there have been some very special ones, and I'd like this to be one of them.

A nice dinner out is always a treat- for both of us… no cooking, no dishes. It's definately on my list :) He's not a movie fan, so that's out. Our taste in music is so different, so forget that.

If the weather's nice and his back's ok, a long walk on a snowy beach (thinking Kokanee Creek Park) would be pleasant enough.

After all the year's we've been together, it's hard to find something new to do.

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

***********************

Blatant Etsy shop plug: Click to see some heart items in my shop.

My horse needs a home.

Watching the snow (dropping from the trees, tumbling puffs, knocking off more on lower branches, and landing with a thump by the time they reach the ground.)

It was a good time to come back inside and finish my little horse.

I did his eyes and some touch ups, this morning, but need the paint to dry completely, for the next step. (Note the paintbrush in this photo... I made it myself, from horse hair.)

At last, I've finished my little Horse sculpture. He'll need another coat or two of clear gloss over the next couple of days, but I can consider him complete.

To see his "in progress" photos click here "Horse with no name" .

Now all he needs is a loving home. Contact me if you're interested, or you can wait and hope that I list him in my Etsy shop :)

Update: Sorry, he's sold.