Full Moon on a Frozen Field

The moon cast venous shadows

On dimpled snow.

Nude oaks thrust bloodless limbs

To the sky, and I,

Nostrils prickling at each icy breath,

Flex fingers growing stiff

Despite thick gloves.

Okay - so it's not THAT cold out - but it's getting there. And we did have snow once or twice last week. On Friday I head up to Orangeville to set up for the weekend craft show. One of my students who skiis, said that five centimetres of snow fell a couple of weekends ago up that way when he went up for soccer practice. We're such wusses down this way. We haven't any real snow for so long, we don't know how to handle it when we get it. Anyway, I've got enough to do with raking the leaves. We've had such high winds the last few days, it brought down most of the leaves, except for the Oak tree next door. It will hold onto it's leaves until the city has finished with it's leaf-suckers and I will be stuck with non-biodegradable oak leavings all over my lawn until spring.

The Nasties

It's been awhile since I posted. The Nasties got into my computer and logjammed it with pop-ups. We've just got things more or less back to normal but even so, I've spent all day trying to get this little post going.

I'm into my fourth and final week of teaching Cartooning at the Senior's Center. It's been so much fun. Most of them are painters -watercolours and acrylic, maybe one or two have done Cartooning before, but their work is amazing! We've been working on a lot of basic drawing skills, but they have to do it from their heads. If I have half the smarts my students have at their age, I will consider myself well-off! There have been some delightful characters come to life and I hope they will prosper. I'm very proud of the results and wish I could post them here. The above illo is a sample I did for the class to demonstrate "One drawing, three media techniques". Pen & ink, brush & ink and marker. The subject: my daughter at age 3 or so.

Craft show season is coming up rapidly but I'm only doing three this season as I am working on Saturdays now. The Caledon Simply Friends show will be Nov. 4 & 5 at the Monora Park just north of Orangeville on Hwy 10. Turn west just before the Volkswagen Dealership. Been busy making Santas, planning the Tea Room Menu and taking Inventory. Good to be back.