The Tiny Ballerina

Cleaning house and rocking out to some great olde timey music

Just thought I'd share.

This song surprised me on Pandora.  I love how dark it is.

Heard Aoife O'Donovan sing a version of this REALLY old song on Prairie Home Companion yesterday.  I liked her version better, but couldn't find it on youtube.  This version is plenty haunting, but there are too many non-rhyming lines for me.

 

Love the haunting characteristics of sacred harp singing.

Just love them murder ballads!  

I just realized there's a theme here.  At least amongst the three.  In this cold season, be careful with whom you do the Eskimo hop.

Mmmmmm, pancake breakfast!

Wintery Holiday Feelings

Eva and Jonas have been super cute and cuddly, lately.  This morning they waited for me to finish my coffee and soaked up some morning wood stove warmth. 

We had a lovely morning today so I thought I'd snap a couple shots of the outdoor decorations Sarah made. 

All the fixins were collected on our hike the other day (see post below). 

The sunrise was just lovely. I had to break from fillin bird feeders to take a few shots. Of course the pictures do it no justice, but perhaps you have a vivid imagination. 

A little hipstercam action. I miss the ole Polaroids. 

Tonight we decorated the tree. 

Some familiar favorites. 

Sarah did a marvelous job. It looks really classy and classic. 

Mom, believe it or not, I even helped with the lights!

One more shot from the end of the night

When we took Zhora home, Bob and Jen wanted to know if she'd been well behaved and pleasant. She tends to be shy and hide from me for quite awhile whenever we're all together, but I had noticed this time that she hadn't done that at all.  Turns out she asked Bob if he and Jen were coming and when he said that no, it would just be Sarah and I, Zhora said she'd have to be nice, even to me. She was, and we had a nice evening.  Sarah took this shot at the end of the night.

A Trip to the Ballet: The Nutcracker

In a Wintery Mood

Well, it seems that there'll be no joking around about winter this year.  In some years passed, the snow falls and melts, falls and melts, and it seems that the decision to actually have a formal season cannot be made.  Not so this year.  The snow has been falling, the mercury is low, and the wind, she blows.  All of this has made us quite festive.

I stopped at the Old Goat on the way home from work mid week, inspired by the afore mentioned meteorological constitution of the area.  Of course I took them for a spin that very eve, despite no pine tar or wax.  In hindsight, this worked out well and removed all the old tar and wax, though I cannot claim to have had a plan.

Sarah has been in an especially festive mood, too.  The snow and the fact that we will be home for x-mas have conspired to spark her imagination and creativity.  It's been fun to watch her decorate and I've benefited greatly from her knack for aesthetic beauty.  

It has been snowing all weekend, so (after waxing the skis) I went out for a trip yesterday morning.  The light was poor, so I doctored this shot.  It gave me intense pleasure to ski out my front door.

Jonas and I took the usual path around the field and then out and down the old train track.  The corn that didn't get harvested looked especially stunning covered in fresh snow.

We had to work a few things out as Jonas has never been skiing before.  He learned two new commands, "Let go of the pole!" and "Get off the ski!"  And I learned how to get up off the ground without taking my skis off.  I guess we're both great teachers.

The beavers on the oxbow down the road from us keep several spots on the river (now beaver pond) unfrozen to get to the shore and back into the water.  This is one of those.  They're always a bit creepy, to me at least, in that they seem intensely dark and deep.  In truth, this area is less than five feet.

My beard looked like this, too, but Jonas lacks the dexterity and interest requisite to operate the camera.  Thus, he gets to be the exemplar. 

Old timey skis with an old timey photo docterin'.

Waitin on the biped.  Down another wintery trail.

When we got home, the smell of leeks and eggs, parsley, coffee, and not the least, bacon, wafted heavily and heavenly from the house.  Sarah had made breakfast.  She also cut a thick slice of whole grain sourdough bread, toasted and buttered it, and spread a cranberry chutney over top.  Needless to say, it was appreciated.

Putting a wine cork to work on  a wooden ski.

After breakfast, Sarah and I went for a hike looking for fixins for the x-mas tree, door decoration, etc.

We carried our basket together like a couple of young romantics.  It filled quickly with pine boughs and dogwood branches and various sundry grasses and berries.

Sarah made an incredible tree topper out of broom corn, and while I am hopelessly biased, I will say anyway that it is incredible.

See what I mean?

Meanwhile, in Virgil, Zhora seems to be enjoying her new house and the season in which it and she now reside.

Happy ladies!  Who says winter brings on the blues?

Ya just gotta know what to do with it!

And this is how much snow we got over a 24hour period.