Tracks in the Snow

thecountryteacher — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:55:26 +0000

It snowed just enough the other night to leave a light coating on the ground. When Bossman left early in the morning he found these tracks on our sidewalk to the garage. I think we had a few visitors in the night! We think these tracks belong to a possum that has shown up occasionally this winter.

Image of the possum was downloaded from the internet.

Now these tracks! Could be a dog’s, but we haven’t seen any dogs around here in a long time. However, we have seen a pair of coyotes trotting across the field a couple of years ago. And one winter night about 5 years ago we heard them howling on the hill.

Image of the coyote was downloaded from the internet.

We think that the possum may have visited us first. Then the coyote . The possum tracks trail under the pine trees, but the coyote tracks can be followed around the garage, across the field and out to the road.

Usually we have all kind of deer tracks in the field, but this time we didn’t see any. Either they moved to someone else’s field or they were very aware of the prowling coyote!

More Art Journal pages

thecountryteacher — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:17:24 +0000

Some more art journaling.

Nancie Rowe Janitz is releasing lots of products for digital art journaling at jessicasprague.com this week. Digital Art Journaling is so much fun (without the paint mess)! Although someday I’d love to try my own painted pages.

Opposites and Surprises!

thecountryteacher — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:00:42 +0000

Hard to believe that Valentine’s Day is coming up soon. It seems that we just finished up with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas! (I still have the Christmas tree up, no decorations, but I did leave the lights on it. It’s just too beautiful to take down. Plus it cost an arm and a leg and I want to get my money’s worth out of it!) Our 45th anniversary is coming up in March and thought … WOW … how did we get this far when our likes and interests are so different? Some would say it’s chemistry, I think it’s more physics … opposites attract!

Credits can be found here at jessicasprague.com. Spellbound Paper Pack and Elements by Pink Paislee

Love watching Cake Boss! So much drama and just wish I could sample those beautiful cakes! My daughter’s brother-in-law lives in Hoboken, NJ and visited Carlo’s Bakery. He brought home a surprise cake for the birthday girl! The grandkids were thrilled and wanted to know if he met Buddy. And the cake was delicious!

Credits can be found here at jessicasprague.com.

Art Journaling

thecountryteacher — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:57:43 +0000

I’ve been playing this week. I’m taking a Digital Art Journal course at jessicasprague.com. So much fun! I’ve admired other artists’ works and have wanted to try it, but really didn’t know how to go about creating the pages. It’s really been an experience to just let loose and create. I love working with the color and putting all the ephemera on. I’ve used vintage photos of family members, receipts that I’ve saved from 1975, old letters written to family members and just pieces of paper laying around.

Click image to learn more about this class.

This is what I’ve created so far. Each day we’re given a prompt and taught new techniques and then we’re free to just explore and create!

I’ll post more next week.

A Thought for Thursday

thecountryteacher — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:35:52 +0000

It’s the new year. Everything starts fresh. New resolutions are being made. New projects begin. There’s Project Life by Becky Higgins, there’s Project 365 in which you take a photo a day. There’s also Project 52 in which you learn something new each week. I feel compelled to be a part of all of these. I know I wouldn’t be able to finish any one project (the time involved seems overwhelming). Then I saw this poster by Peppermint. It says it all for me. So, I’ll just continue doing what I do best … procrastinating.

by Peppermint from One Little Bird.

It’s Here!

thecountryteacher — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:35:06 +0000

It has finally arrived! Winter is here with all of its snowy glory and chilly temperatures. When I got up this morning it was 11 degrees with an expected high of 15 degrees today. It was a lake effect snow blowing in from Lake Erie and we were anticipating around 8 inches in this area, but we only got 2-3 inches today. The weatherman has been talking about a snow drought in western NY. The average snowfall for December is about 25 inches. Last year we got a little over 40 inches. This year we had only 2.5 inches of snow. We’ll see what January brings. But for now I’m going to stay warm and cozy in front of my computer.

A Toast to the New Year

thecountryteacher — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 15:36:50 +0000

As hard as I tried I just couldn’t make it to midnight to celebrate the coming in of 2012. I fell asleep while watching the festivities on TV and woke up at 12:05 am. But really, it’s just another trip around the sun.

“Yes, I’ll make a resolution
That I’ll never make another one
Just enjoy this ride on my trip around the sun
Just enjoy this ride …
Until it’s done”

Trip Around the Sun by Jimmy Buffet

Happy New Year to everyone!

Christmas Nostalgia

thecountryteacher — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 21:32:19 +0000

While Christmas shopping we stopped at Starbucks for some renewed energy. I had an immediate flashback to younger days when I saw the nutcracker on the coffee cup. The year was 1954. My second grade class was putting on the annual Christmas play. Several girls were to be selected for the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. I so wanted to be a fairy. My teacher was excited when I volunteered. What could be cuter than a petite little girl with golden curls twirling around the stage? But my dream quickly vanished when I told my teacher I didn’t have ballet shoes. All I had were sensible saddle shoes that were not suited for ballet dancing. Alas, I was relegated to Santa’s bag as a doll to be given to little Nell in the Up On the House Top song. The year is now 2011 and my house is adorned with Sugar Plum Fairies dancing to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. Why do some memories stay with you forever and others fade, like where did I put my smart phone?

Credits can be found here at jessicasprague.com.

A retro Christmas from 1983.

Lights, Camera, Gingerbread?

thecountryteacher — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:40:10 +0000

I saw this on the Photojojo website this morning. I think next year we need to take a walk outside of the gingerbread village and look around at our surroundings for inspiration to create something different.

The Gingerbread Village

thecountryteacher — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:29:18 +0000

Our tradition of making gingerbread houses with the grandkids continues to 2011. The houses just keep getting more elaborate. I think they may have future careers in architecture or landscape design. But for now, we just enjoy the family time together and the Christmas tradition.

Love Samantha Walker’s Christmas in the Kitchen paper pack. Perfect for showcasing our gingerbread houses. Credits can be found here at jessicasprague.com.