So every year or thereabouts, the QuiltArt list has a discussion as we approach and dive into the new year.  What will your word be for the coming new year?   I could remember my word for 2011—-the worst of the years from hell:  breathe, and a more apt word I never picked!   But I couldn’t remember what word I chose for 2013.  It appears I forgot to pick one.  So here’s what I wrote to the QA list:

for 2010:  simplify
for 2011:  breathe
for 2012:  refresh
for 2013:  I missed it this year!
for 2014:  hmmmmm….

(and it’s a good thing I keep emails and can use the search function on my laptop…the only one I remembered was “breathe” for the year Mom died, our oldest hit the bottom of his pit–luckily not a deep one–and other insanity.)

Actually, maybe “hmmmm” **should** be my word for the year.   Musing.  I’ve been thinking things like “re-assess,”  “re-evaluate,” and so on.   New avenues?  or Pathways?  Meanderings?  Explorations isn’t quite right.  Walking (not in the literal sense).  Trails?  Review isn’t quite right either.  

Maybe I should just toss my cares to the wind and say “fudge” (yes, the chocolate, edible kind!)!  Oh, why limit myself, how about “Dessert!”   I think I need some whimsy!  Command decision made:  Dessert it is!  

I’ll close with a favorite t-shirt quote: 

Life is uncertain.  Eat dessert first!

Cheers, Sarah

PS:  yes, art can be the dessert!

So there you go:  Dessert if my word for 2014!  Makes me giggle!  WOOT!

And in that vein, I’m planning on (decaf) Kahlua Coffee with whipped cream for tonight (since we have Kahlua and no Irish Mist), so here is one last song for the year:  James Taylor singing For Auld Lang Syne–love this!  The older I get, the more the song brings tears to my eyes as I remember those whom I have loved and are gone, those whom I love now, one of whom I fear may not be with us this time next year (send her healing power to southern Texas that she be among the three percent that survives this cancer), and the beauty of life.  Indeed,

“so here’s a hand my trusted friend
and give me a hand o’ thine,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet
for auld lang syne.”

Thank you for visiting me here in 2013.  Here’s to a healthy, loving, joyful, artful 2014 for all of us.  Hugs, Sarah

The power is back on (though it went out every day since Monday!), the house is warm, Christmas was glorious, and Maine continues to be beautiful in even the most wicked weather.  MAJOR KUDOS to the electric crews, not just from CMP (Central Maine Power) but from neighboring states; they gave up their Christmases at home to restore our power!

The river birch is a goner. Sigh. When we cut it down in spring (well, when Max cuts it down) I’m going to see if I can harvest some of the bark to keep and use for mixed media. So beautiful…..

News stations are saying this is the worst ice storm to hit Maine since ’98.  Outages covered from the midcoast to central Maine, with 87,000 without power–that’s about 7 percent of the state population!  Our electricity went out Monday at about 2 pm and stayed out until about 6:30 pm Tuesday (Christmas eve).  It stayed on several hours during which we all quickly took showers, washed dishes etc. (need elec. to run the water pump).  As soon as we went to bed, though, it went out again.  At 9 a.m. Christmas morning, though, the power came back on a full day before they expected!

The lowest portion of our drive way this morning while on dog-walkies. Notice the trees bent into upside down “U” shapes on the left.  Those are not “weeping” trees; they are totally bent over trees.   Chances are good, though, that once the ice (under last night’s snow) comes off, they will straighten back up (more or less).

Additional freezing rain led to significantly more damage on our property.  The gloriously lacy and beautiful river birch (above) bit the dust, splitting completely down to about 6 feet.   The big, robust maple also had significant damage, and at least a dozen trees on the edges of the woods surrounding us have broken-off tops.

The maple at the top of the driveway took a bit hit, too. The leader (main trunk, at the top) broke off about 20 feet down and fell uphill. More branches are bent, and many broken.

Paul and Eli pulled downed branches and Eli even climbed up a little ways into the tree to saw down some small, easily-reached branches so they wouldn’t break more branches and also to get them out of the place where Alex needs to plow the snow-heap!

A day or two ago (they are running together already!) Paul and Eli (the latter in jammy pants, flannel shirt, new heavy boots and Elmer Fudd hat) moved broken branches so Alex’s plow won’t have trouble.  We’ll deal with cutting up and tossing the branches (kindling?) in spring!

Morning walkies, as usual, offered great photo ops:

Tree bent over! Temps are supposed to go above freezing (a little) this weekend, so maybe some of the ice will melt.

Looking towards Appleton Ridge over the neighbor’s house:

From the top of the drive. On the far left are two trees next to an arbor that allows passage from the downhill meadow to the large meadow. We think the top of the second (rear) tree broke off, but snow is too icy to try to get over there right now.

Remember those chopped off willows I shared a short while ago…another photo, thinking Thermofax screen!

Looking up the driveway. The maple is right at the top of the drive, the birch just to the right (between the drive and hour).  Good news:  house doesn’t need painting.  Bad news:  house is hulkering brown.  When it DOES need painting it will be gray with white trim like the garage!

And the river birch (SOB), looking uphill with the house behind it. Got a good close up photo of the tangled branches that may also become a thermofax screen.

After shoveling the walk and sweeping the deck, found Pigwidgeon footprints on the deck…love this!

And then the sun came out:  can you say GLORIOUS MAINE?

From the living room porch, with deck roof and icicles overhead, shadow of house in the foreground.

Next post:  Christmas!

Then

This morning let’s celebrate the arrival of that little baby boy so many years ago. No matter what your faith, it’s indisputable that the child grew into a man whose teachings and influence have lasted the millenia. Here’s to peace and tolerance and understanding and shared joy that no matter what your faith or or your path, we can love each other and celebrate in the joy of life!

Merry Christmas!

I have loved the velvet in Tracy Chapman’s voice from the first time I heard it, when I was in graduate school and she was getting her start in nearby Cambridge, Mass. I never got to hear her in person, but boy I wish I had! I love this version, again, true to the original song, with just the simplicity of the lyrics and the melody and her voice:

Now it’s time to tuck into bed and wait for Santa and the mice to come do their thing!

And it’s all ice……   let’s start with the beautiful:

Glorious color and line!

And then, the good:  my favorite tree in the whole 11 acres, an OLD apple tree alongside the driveway that still bears a lot of fruit (not great for eating off the tree, but good for baking or feeding the wildlife), is in good shape—this is the tree that must become a quilt:

Hallelujah: at least this, my favorite tree, is safe! I so love the lines of this tree, the architecture of it, and only one small branch broke off…wooohooo!

And the bad–the birch broke more over the night.  Broke beyond salvation I think.   Sigh.  I would replace it, the bark is glorious, but I fear it would suffer the same fate.  Maybe a crabapple–lower down, fruit for the birds, the wild turkeys clean up the mess that falls, flowers in spring, entertainment watching the critters……..sigh.   At least we enjoyed it for three years:

The river birch is toast. Sigh. It was so beautiful. I’m hoping I can salvage some of the bark and use it somehow in a collage or mixed media piece. So beautiful. Well, it was.

And the expensive–Asst. Coach True Bragg has a tree business, so his brother Max is coming over with a chainsaw so we can get off the property.  There are three spots where trees need to come down or get whacked back so we can get out.

Just one of the trees that is down, this one only partially blocking the drive.

To give you an idea of how much ice…..

Currently it is raining, despite an air temp of 25 degrees.  Water is dripping off the roof, running down the crust of ice on the snow in rivulets (which is better than rivers).  I only hope the rain is warm enough it will melt some of the ice on the driveway instead of creating more ice on the driveway–I need to buy food for Christmas!  I figure one trip to town later today and I can hole up until at least Thursday!

So I’ll leave you with more pictures that illustrate “the tree that does not bend will break” and some winter beauty.   Heard a big crack and thump when I was out of a large limb breaking across the road, and expect there will be quite a lot of that in the coming days.  Not sure if I want wind or not.  It would cause more damage, but at least it would shake a lot of the ice off (I hope) and prevent some, too.  We shall see what the days bring.

Close-up….might make a good thermofax screen.  This is my beloved apple tree.

A shrubby “weed tree” that will get a serious pruning today. This would also be a cool thermofax screen. Our plow guy had to cut some branches just to get his sand truck up the driveway!

The tree that does not bend……

On that bent over tree, the branches look like coral, except in ice. Another hand picture to give a sense of how MUCH ice there is.

Pine needles laden with ice.

This could make a good small art quilt, too….

Another thermofax screen? I can see fiddling with this one in Photoshop, outlining the ice in a fine line of black, then the branches.  This is another of the old apple trees, quite a tall one with lots of gnarly growth and twigginess.

The birch on the right is almost as tall as the one to the left–when it isn’t iced and bent to the ground! Don’t know if it will make it, but at least it isn’t in the driveway.

And a last bit of beauty..looking to the woods on the left of the drive at the bend in the driveway—beautiful.  I’d say it would be a good day to hike/snowshoe (which I have never done b ut always wanted to do), except that the snow is like a skating rink also.  The crust is thick enough to support you for just a moment, before you crash through.   Guess not, eh?

Beautiful!!!