Day Three Hundred Forty Six

'Curious Testament'
Ian Mabry's BFA Senior Exhibition in Clay
Appalachian Center for Craft
Smithville, Tennessee

My nephew Ian Mabry with one of his amazing clay sculptures. I've always known he is a talented artist from the time he was a little boy. He is an art major at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee, and will graduate December 19. He created these clay sculptures for his thesis. I can't begin to express how impressed I am by his talent and how proud I am of him and his accomplishments. I know he sold at least two of his pieces this evening at his exhibition. His work is on display until December 14 in Gallery One at the craft center. Congratulations, Ian!

Day Three Hundred Forty Five

Time To Cut The Tree

On our way out to the tree farm at lunch time today, I was taking pictures of the beautiful sky with my cell phone. This one was particularly neat with the reflections in the wind shield glass. That red thing looks like a space ship with flames shooting out of it.

Our little White Pine was patiently waiting for us to come and claim it. The folks at the tree farm will happily cut down your tree for you. Neil just borrows one of their saws and does it himself. Easy peasy, as they say.

The tree looks like it sprouted a head and legs, but it's just Neil getting ready to head to the check out point.

We've always found nice Christmas trees at this farm. They always smell so good.

Shake it! They put the tree on a little vibrator thingy and it shakes off all the dead needles and hopefully any critters hanging out inside there.

The tree is bagged in a net which will keep its branches secure until we're ready to bring it into the house for decorating. That process--and believe me, it is a process--will begin maybe tonight, but most likely tomorrow. Time's a wastin'! Christmas is two weeks from today.

Day Three Hundred Forty Four

Toasty

Smokin'! Our ugly old chimney works hard on December days when the temperature stays in the 30's--like today.

I'm so thankful for our wood stove which keeps us toasty in the winter. It can be a pain sometimes, but wood is a cheap and renewable source of fuel, and there's nothing like cozying up to the wood stove after you've been outside on a day like today.

Day Three Hundred Forty Three

December Sky

An extremely blustery day today made for some interesting clouds this afternoon and a gorgeous sunset.

Day Three Hundred Forty Two

Rainy Day Invasion Of The Nutcrackers

Rainy, windy day today. Wonder how long these rain drops stayed suspended before they fell. I didn't stick around to find out.

They came from the attic! Invasion of the nutcrackers. These are my big ones. I have some really small ones that are still lurking in the attic.

Elijah says, "He's creepy!" Kind of like clowns. Who knows what those small ones are doing right now up there in the attic.