The Snow Man

Ohhh, the weather outside is... yes, snowy!  Or at least it was snowy last week.  13" of it in one day.  Time to stay inside and drink hot chocolate.  Yum!

Oh sure, it was beautiful to watch it come down...and down...and down.  All of that snow inspired me.  It inspired me to paint this snowman pendant.  He's a cute little snowman, I can wear him all winter long!

This was the view from our front door.  It was early and I still had my robe on, so I wasn't about to go out any farther than just opening the door.  A few snowflakes blew in, our indoor cat loved it.

Here's the back yard.  The small square at the bottom left side is a bird feeder we put out on Christmas Day.  The birds still haven't found it yet, and I was pretty sure they weren't going to find it that day either.

I can't believe how much snow this little bush can hold!  Sure, there was a little drifting, but still.  LOTS of snow out there.  And cooold (brrr) too, below 0 degrees.  Did you notice the little bird prints on top of the bush?  (Now how often can I ask that question?)

We noticed birds in the front yard looking for food, so we threw a little bird seed out that way as well.  Actually, we threw a lot of bird seed out there.  Check out all of the bird footprints left behind.  Wow.

The snow has melted now, except for a few little piles here and there.  But I still have my snowman pendant, he'll never melt.  Even after I bake him!  (haha, I always bake my pendants after I paint them :)

A Christmas Hello

 

 

 I've been thinking of my blog friends and hoping everyone had a wonderful Christmas!  I painted the little cardinal ornament for my brother-in-law's birthday.  His wife (aka my sister) has several pendants I've painted, so it was his turn! 

We had a nice quiet Christmas Eve...

cozying up to the the "fire".  (Yes, these are Christmas lights...)

 Lucy especially liked her gift box.

 

 It's amazing how we can't see her when she hides under the bushes.

 

The snow melted before Christmas but we spotted a snow girl in the yard, just passing through until the next snowfall comes.

 Merry Christmas everyone, and have a 

Happy New Year!!

Holiday Sale!

This sweet snowman ornament can also be worn as a necklace.

As the fall season drifts into winter and the exciting holiday shopping begins, I didn't want my sales to fly by without letting my friends know!  My PaintedCottageStudio.etsy.com website has free shipping through Monday, December 2nd.

 My PremierPendants.etsy.com website now offers all pendants at $12.95, on sale from $14.00 through the holiday season!

 

 Soon, we'll be baking Christmas cookies (and I know some of you have already begun!)  Mmmmm.  And I'm sure we'll be building snowmen as well.  These are two that my kids built when they were younger.  I just love their smiles! 

  

 

Apple Orchard Time

It's always a simple, no-frills kind of afternoon, but there's something about an apple orchard that keeps me coming back every year.     

 

 Mmmm, maybe it's the apple pies, or the apple cider.  It could be the big giant cookies!  (No photos of the cookies, they were gone before I could get my camera out!) But maybe it's the simplicity of it all.

The timeless, uninterrupted way nature has to quietly continue on, year after beautiful year. 

 

And then the sun begins to set,

and the animals are fed,

 

and you find your way back home,

back to your doorstep, full of colorful fall leaves ready to welcome you and remind you it's a beautiful day and a beautiful season.  Happy Fall!

The County Fair

 

It just wouldn't be summer without the county fair.  Complete with that wonderful ferris wheel, 

 and colorful games (early in the day, before the crowds of course).

But when everyone else is watching the demolition derby and competing in the longest pigtail contest (not actually pig's tails, but girl's pig tails!), I like to sneak downstairs and see what all of the wonderful women (and men!) have been working on this past year. The quilts, paintings and crafts are always so awesome.

Especially this hand made, blue ribbon wearing, end table set made by a 12 year old.  Yep, a twelve year old.  Applause, please.

I don't know why, but I get such a kick out of visiting the chickens.  Maybe because we can get a good close look at them.  I mean, when else do we get a chance to get so close to these amazing, colorful creatures?  Especially this little guy (girl?).  Pink!  Who knew?

This one was awesome but I think he looked a little angry...probably doesn't like getting his picture taken.

 I couldn't resist him, I loved his colors...so Fall-like.

By this time people were beginning to look at me a little strange, wondering why I'm taking so many photos of chickens, I'm sure.  I would have too if I were them.  Because believe me, I took more than what you see here!

 Aww, don't you just want to take him home??

Cows...love it!