Intermission...

Yes, well it seems I fell off the earth here with my critter blogs... could be the snow, or the short days and dark, dark nights.  It could be that we went to visit my sister in sunny So. Cal for her birthday (yay!), but really I think it all boils down to one issue: LAZY!!  It's ok though, because this is for fun, right?  Oh but Sister's birthday gives me a reason to post a photo:

So, okay, truthfully this was her gift last year, but I just saw this photo pop up on my screen saver today and thought- ohhh... that is pretty.  I wove it on my 8 shaft table loom and the pattern has the unlikely name of Worst twill (Worst being someone's name, not a description...)

I have all these fabulous ideas of stuff I want to write about, unfortunately inspiration strikes at inopportune times, like in the shower, in the car, walking between my office and the photo copy machine and then promptly flees my mind, like the fleeting snow of early winter.  However, I did want to mention that I have just finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver (if you click on the title it will take you to the website about this book) Yes, Yes, I know- it came out 3 years ago- Where HAVE I been?  I loved it!  (and on this same note- How come no one ever told me about Wendell Berry?  How have I lived this long and never, not once, read his work?-- Jayber Crow coming from the library next week!!)

I just made the mistake of going to Amazon to read the reviews of A,V, M... I am always most interested in the one stars.  It occurs to me that some people can't stand for anyone to be successful.  The book chronicles one year of the Kingsolver family trying to eat locally and raise a majority of their food.  The one starrers were obsessed with the fact that the author did not detail any failures on their farm.  Um... ok, this is not a "how-to" book showing you all the ins and outs of how to garden or raise poultry, it is a memoir, an autobiography of sorts that chronicles one year (one year) of raising food.  Are the authors not allowed to have a good year?  We garden, farm, raise food and yes there are always set backs, dilemmas, disasters, but my overall feeling is not "this is impossibly difficult".  I think if I were to write about my experiences it would have the same "Polly Anna" blush as Kingsolver's book.

Well, hopping down from the soap box now, I just wanted to share a book for a nice winter read.

I will be back soon with more critter photos, because the photos are what I love best about the writing!