Not spring showers, spring snows...

And here we go again with the snow - at least it's going to slow down the run off, a bit, but with the ice everywhere I'm not sure if it will gain us much ground for flooding.  It could end up delaying things rather than actually preventing them...but in the spirit of spring, and wanting needing wishing hoping and praying for spring...okay I give up we'll have what we'll have.  Just might delay our spring planting, our cows might calve on less green grass and our spring road trip might not happen when we thought...no worries...just the way things go! C'est la vie!

But of course we are getting close to the end of exams, and you'll probably find a long rant about being done school on my sweet hubby's blog at http://smilincoyoteranch.blogspot.com once he has time after exams are over and he is destressed.

For now I'm doing my work on my working group, volunteering with MERA and the new Steinbach Humane Society and of course hanging out with my little man Luke and my big man Earl.  We have a busy few weekends coming up with a presentation, a scrapping crop and a fundraiser (find out more at http://steinbachhumane.blogspot.com).

Here are my new pages...enjoy...share your comments and hopefully I'll be doing some CT pages again and there'll be even more from great designers.

I want spring...

...and lucky for me Graham Like The Cracker, http://grahamlikethecracker.blogspot.com/2009/03/altons-spring-has-brand-new-name_29.html, has a great new mini kit that I just HAD to use.  It is so much fun...and perfect for those spring photos of my little farmer and mud lover...more to come but this is my first scrap of the day...

Is that you spring?

Is that you spring? Knocking on my door, with your warm winds and melting snows.

Is that you spring? Making the cows silly and giving the horses reason to play.

Is that you spring? Teasing us while you dance with your sister winter.

Is is you spring, come and stay. Don't just visit and  leave us again.

I'm pretty happy that the weather is so much nicer out, even with the overly wet conditions and the flood warnings spring is a great time of year!  

I've been doing some spring cleaning - in my life, in my house, on our farm - and it feels great. Dirty, gritty, dusty and nasty but great all the same. Knowing you've clean up, cleared out and started fresh is so wonderful.

Speaking of fresh, check out these pages with Aisne's newest kit Swirls & Pearls. Love this kit my dear and cannot wait to do some more with it.

Let me know what your spring cleaning will be this year - I'd love to start the conversation with you!

Bright blessings...

I'm so excited!

I am so excited, that silly song is going through my head, but I really am!  For a few reasons - one spring cannot be THAT far away (right? right!) and even with the cold and snow I'm itching for green grass and plants and dirt and mud and all that goes with it.  

Another reason I'm excited is that I'm part of a great CT for Aisne's Creations (see the new blinkie) and she does great kits.  I've done a couple of layouts for her and sure am having fun. My friend Pascale has some new kits and they are so worth checking out (see my pages on those too!)  I'm posting them in my albums at Scrapbook Flair and on Facebook too.

Even with Luke not feeling well and Earl being stressed with school and things going bananas at work life is great - we have awesome friends, super family and a wonderful life full of blessings, joy and light.

I'm trying to do some more digital layouts because our house is a bit chaotic with the renovations in Luke's room. My office, the sunroom and until recently the dining room and hall way were completely stuffed with stuff!  Getting it going though and as soon as the wood creations are complete and the new wall paper is up we are done! (until the next project I suppose!)

Speaking of chaos I should go see what's going on  with the laundry and why the dog has a cat on her head at the window - it is warming up so I think they are just messing with me cause when it is super cold I'm a real softy about letting our animals in to mob us!

Let me know what you think of the pages, and I hope my other scrappy friends have time to get some new kits done for us to enjoy (Michelle? Lesley?)

Love and bright blessings, always and in all ways...

Pages for "Surprised?"

Surprised?

I am truly surprised, dismayed and shocked at how people have been 'surprised' by this lovely storm we've had.  We were warned about it on Sunday, when we had warm weather and clear skies, that it was coming. I watched the radar map from the US because that's where the storm was coming from.  This was a big storm from Texas/Colorado that came up and brought us rain and freezing rain and coated everything in ice.  

It may not be on the Canadian radar, but that doesn't mean it isn't coming people - if the storm is coming from the US it will be on the US radar for a person to track.  I was shocked that so many people said they didn't know it was coming - my goodness how can you have missed it?  It was a HUGE system...and what did they think rain in FEBRUARY would do?  Bring up flowers? Green up the grass? UH DUH!  

Now if you check the radar and the forecasts and road conditions you should have a pretty good picture of what is going on. And if you don't watch your feet when you are walking out of your house - our front door under the pergola is ice and you can skate down our driveway and down our municipal road.  Get a weather rock, look your windows, turn on a radio or a TV, check the weather online, watch the wild animals and birds.

Yeah that's right, watch the wild animals and birds - are they eating like crazy?  Are they in large groups? Eating when they normally wouldn't? Those are signs of a storm - the animals can sense the changes in barometric pressure and their instincts tell them to get ready with full tummies because they might be without for a while.

Speaking of full tummies - do you have your 72 hour kit?  Generator? Batteries? Radio? Flashlight?  I won't list it all here because there are many sites that do, but would you be able to take care of yourself for 72 hours without power and municipal services?  We'd be okay but we are prepared, as we have to be out in the country. Living in town or close to town is a false comfort because you can be without power and help for just as long as us country folks.

I usually don't rant like this but c'mon people pay attention!  This isn't a surprise, it's not falling from a clear blue sky...really...

Weather or not...

I like to think I'm pretty mellow about some things, not many according to my dear husband, but some. Especially those we can't do anything about, like the weather.  It's gonna be cold, windy, warm, wet, cloudy, clear or dry without our input or permission.  We do however have the right as farmers to complain, cajole and attempt to bribe said weather by virtue of our dependence upon it.  

I was thinking what would be the single most 'farmer' image I could photograph or paint - and it would be a farmer or a farm family looking at the sky.  So much of what we do is reliant on the weather - our eyes have forever been on the skies, forever wondering if they will favor us with what we need or laugh in our hopefull upturned faces with exactly the opposite.

Maybe it is Murphy's Law, but when I have to travel there is almost always weird, strange or just terrible weather.  Even when I think the forecast looks good, it will change from sun to rain to sleet to a road closing blizzard in less than 9 hours!  Wonder what my ancestors did to anger the powers that are weather? 

I'm pretty confident saying I'd rather deal with prairie weather than the coastal hurricanes or even earth quakes. Somehow a blizzard, frigid cold, massive rain or tornadoes don't seem so bad stacked up against that!