My new fountain

I got this peeing boy fountain for my birthday and I love it so much ! Two months later, the base of it is getting some moss on it which is quite lovely and gives it an older look than these pictures I took when he was new.

I call him Cesar after Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer. I don't even have a dog - but, I do watch the show whenever possible. I think he is one of the most fascinating people I've never met (but would like to!).

He caused quite a stir when I first put him up. People often walk by my house and stop and stare and tell their kids "look at that !". One day a lady told me 'your yard is so nice...and I love that statue!' then, added hesitantly ' I took a picture of your statue with my cell phone!' I think she was worried I would be mad. I thought it was great ! There aren't a lot of photo-ops in Clifton Springs and apparently my house is getting a little famous now which cracks me up.

Lucinda's Journal

Lucinda's journal theme is A Midsummer Night's Dream. I had a few (personal) issues with doing this journal which would explain the text...not getting into it here ! it is a quote from the book. Lucinda kindly included a "no fear" version of the play with her journal which made reading through it much easier.
Her journal is very large, so I took photos of the spreads outside. That would explain why the pages look slightly wonky rather than flat.
Both of the 'people' images are transferred onto her journal. In person, you can tell much better that the one one the left has a donkey-headed man that I spent quite a while photoshopping onto the vintage picture. The best part about the transfers is that it really melts the image into the paper and doesn't look pasted onto the page.

Lisa's Journal

Gosh, I haven't posted in forever...the warm weather and plant ummm addiction has mostly lead to a flurry of activity in my yard (and the addition of a green house to the back yard).
I worked on Lisa's journal in June. Her theme was "Crowns". Of course I tend to like the green page better, but both came out really nice. The second one is much more etherial in person - very soft and moody - the scan just doesn't do it justice!

Hector Falls, NY

While I'm on a roll posting here, I thought I'd post some of my new waterfall pictures. For those of you reading who don't know, New York is not all NY City ( a popular misconception). There are gorgeous waterfalls in the Finger Lakes no more than an hour from my house. In our quest to find a new camping spot- and check it out before we went there - we happened upon Hector Falls. Sometimes it's good to miss a turn ! You can see from the middle picture that some moron decided that the major road around the lake should just cut off the beautiful Hector Falls- the railing is right there !! The bottom picture shows the view from the other side of the road...you really can't see the whole thing (bummer).

The falls are really awesome up close...huge and looming above you.

In true fashion, I was asked to take a picture of other people in front of the falls - it always cracks me up that this happens.... we are in the middle of "no where" and out of the blue another SUV pulls up and the (college?) kids ask me to take their picture. Seriously, every time I go some where someone asks me to- I sure wish I knew if they were happy with them !

Gale's Mystery Journal

Gale's journal is really inspiring. I've oggled it quite a bit and knew as soon as I got it what I wanted to do with the "mystery" theme... love is a mystery. I suppose lust is a mystery too and what really attracts us to certain people often mystifies the people around us. Surely what I thought was really appealing in my 20s is not so appealing to me now.

I am really thrilled with how these pages came out. They are much "softer" in person and I like them soo much it will be difficult to part with them. Is the mysterious woman on the right hand side of the spread part of the couple on the left? is she spying on them? is she day dreaming? her thoughts are mysterious, love is mysterious...

They are also the first ones that I have sucessfully done ink jet transfers on. I ended up getting a new printer/scanner combo when the price of ink was more than a brand new printer. Combine the fancy new Lexmark with Walmart JetPrint photo paper and I can finally make a successful inkjet transfer.

Caryl's Purple and Green Journal pages

yeah, I've neglected this blog again... I was trying so hard, but as soon as it got nice out (and did it ever, 80s and 90s in May?! it was 74 by 9am on Saturday) I've been out in the yard like a mad woman. I've already spread over 4 pickup truck loads of mulch (I'd guess 14yards or so)...made new flower beds...split countless hostas and re-dug the pond and new stream/pond in the yard. Very productive, but for those of you who don't live in a mostly cold climate, you can't image how out of shape a chick can get after being inside so long and then working in the yard so much!

Inspired by my mostly purple and green garden (technically, I strive for purple, yellow and white - the colors of my alma matter, Nazareth College), I finished Caryl's pages. The left side is really artsy-fartsy, the right side is my garden "babies" growing.

Spring has Sprung

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted.

Spring has finally sprung in western NY. It's hard to believe that last week at this time a huge storm was rolling in bringing with it enough snow to cancel school the next day.
Ah what a difference a week can make - now it's in the 70s and gorgeous. Yesterday, we all went to Ontario Pathways and mountain biked/walked nearly the whole trail.

I haven't been doing a lot of arting lately, but yesterday I took the opportunity to take lots of digital pics - enjoy the eye candy!

Sludgy water along the trail.

Me and Jody and a little fun in Photoshop.

A lone flower in a sea of fallen (now brown and ugly) leaves.

Water along the trail - the algae is a really great shade of green. I love the reflection in the water on this photo.
The Sumac blossom hung on all through the winter.
Toad discovered along the path.
Me (it's a rare curly haired day) and my son-shine.

Emily found a baby salamander.

An old birdhouse along the trail.

There are a few bridges over the water (the outlet from Canandaigua lake runs along/under the path). I love the texture of this rust.
Not being a biologist, I'm not sure what the official name is for this - I've always called it "forrest lettuce" since it looks just like lettuce growing.
It's fascinating to me how some leaves just don't fall.
Emily biking down the trail. Most all of it is very flat. The beginning part has a lot of gravel which is good for preventing mud, but a bit rough on the riding. Later in the trail it's much more "wild".