Snapshots from the end of November

It was a wonderful three-day weekend spent in the slow lane.There was a lot of  resting, cooking,decorating for Christmas,knitting,reading books,coffee drinking and shopping.
Down went the Fall decorations and up went the Christmas tree.We can't have a real one because my husband is allergic to pine trees.And this year we also have to skip on all the breakable decorations because our Maya is quite a trouble maker.We are afraid that one day when coming after work we will find the whole Christmas tree down on the floor.Let's hope she won't go that far though.
The cute deer in the first picture is a thrift store find.I love treasure hunting in the thrift stores.
I've been in a knitting mood recently making hat after hat and scarf after scarf.When I am stressed out I reach for the knitting needles.Knitting has such a therapeutic effect on me.The idea for the hat with the little owls is from Pintrest.I saw the picture and thought to myself "Oh,I can make that!"And I did it.My daughter liked it too ,so I made one for her as well.I am sorry I don't have a picture of hers to show you.
The pencil sketch in the last picture is from 12 days ago.I did it when I started reading The Fault Of Our Stars by John Green.I finished the book yesterday and I loved it.I haven't see the movie yet.I did not want to see it before I read the book.My daughter has seen it already and she said she cried a lot.

Arctic cold

Yeaaa,this is the coldest winter I have ever experienced in my life.It was arctic cold the last two or some weeks.-23-24F. And there is more to come.It looks beautiful  and sunny outside at the moment but it is coooold!It makes me want to snuggle up,put warm socks, drink tea and crave hot soups.The good side of the cold weather is that we have more time to read,sketch or browse the web on our tablets.My latest passion is to look at illustration blogs on Tumblr.My favorite ones at the moment are- phoebe bird,Missy Dunaway,someforeignletters,carnetimaginaire.They are so inspiring!

Merry Christmas to you all!

I hope you guys had one extraordinary and Merry Christmas. I hope you  had lots of unforgettable moments with your loved ones. I hope you had a lot of fun and a lot of delicious food.
In order to make the other people's Christmases smooth and nice I had to work seven days in a row.But with a little help from my family and ....pets I enjoyed the magic of the Christmas season. The Christmas lights, the multiple batches of Gingerbread cookies, our favorites this season, the Christmas band concert, the delicious meals cooked by my husband, the Christmas eve dinner with my brother and sister-in-law , the Christmas dinner and opening the presents with the kids. I did not miss any of the Christmas fun,I enjoyed it in full.

Halloween

Some pictures from that exciting day. The two BFF's dressed like The Little Red Kitty Hood and The Zombie Bride could not wait to hit the neighborhood. They joined a big group of friends from school and had the time of their lives. She came home with a basket full of candy. She was generous enough to share it with us and especially her brother who outgrew his trick -or-treating age loooong, looong ago .The cat tried to help with sorting the candy, too.

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A busy Saturday fallowing the schedule of a young budding actress. The weather unpredictable: warm sunshine changed to cold and cloudy skies with a nasty wind and rain. Then sunny again with unexpected double rainbow. Till I get the camera the second one disappeared. A visit to the craft fair and getting ready for the 4 o'clock show. Stuffed peppers and apple crisp for supper. Delicious!!!
Then enjoying the last show with the actors relaxed, creative and very funny! They had fun on stage , we had fun watching them! A bouquet of white and pink roses for my talented Cat! They did a great job, my girl and her talented friends!

*****

Random pictures from June. Unpredictable weather, rain and sunshine, rain and sunshine, then rain again. The level of the rivers are high giving reasons for worries. We are in and out, in and out, trying to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible. A regular work week with no much time and energy for creativity. Substituting drawing with photography. Finding the beauty in the everyday life. Tending to a sick Guinea pig. He got his last dose of antibiotic yesterday and he is feeling much better.

Saturday

Busy Saturday.Early rising, short distance trip to watch her basketball games,the last ones for this school year;shopping at the mall and eating out, then back home.It was fun to watch the last two games.They did their best,they grew up a lot in comparison with the first ones.I am proud of her and so happy that she loves it.
Now I am hoping for a slow and quiet Sunday.The pictures are not from today but they describe my mood at the moment pretty good.

Update

I wish I could update my blog more often but life has been in the way so much lately.Upper respiratory infections(the kid),a shoulder injury(me),visits to the doctor and the pharmacy,dealing with pain and misery.But now,thank God, everything is back to normal.We are in good health and go on with our lives.We are capable to enjoy the fun part of it.Basketball games and sleepovers(the kid),hanging on the computer,reading my favourite blogs and taking pictures with my new camera(me).I loooove my new camera!!!!So,there are three random pictures from December,last year.1.A sunset shot through the car window.2.A dream came true:somebody got her ears pierced.3.My cutie pie, Precious.

Drawings and mixed media - #161 and 162

I am almost there;at the end of presenting the drawings from the last year challenge that I could not complete.These two are more like experiments with mixed media,drawings with ink and watercolor pencils and collage on different kinds of paper.They are not dated but they were done in the second half of last year,so I left them to be the last ones,with a couple more which are going to come soon.

A random picture

I took this picture about a month ago.I was drying a bunch of one dollar bills which I had accidentally washed with my husband's
jeans when she decided that that was the
best place to sit and relax.It looked so funny
so I could not help it and took a picture of her to share with you.

#49,50 and 51

Hey,today on the way to school my girl spotted the first robin!The spring is coming anyway!!!!

At first we were excited to hear the honks of the Canada geese.Then we started to wonder who was going to see the first robin this year when she suddenly started screaming for joy."I can see one,I can see one!"

Yes,the birds are coming back.This is a good sign.

And here you can see my next three pieces.I posted #50 on top because it is my favourite.My daughter at the age of two and the snowman.The other two are doodles done at work during my break.