Snow...in April...ARGH!

Winter is trying to give us one last blast before Spring truly arrives for good, and of course it would be on a day when I have to go all over town for errands before I can sit down with my sketchbook and some repairs that are LONG overdue.  I'm not looking forward to driving on the ice bottom that is below the small amount of snow we got overnight. We're expecting another 1-3 inches this afternoon and overnight anything from one to twelve more inches *sigh*.

Aren't they beautiful? (They're NOT mine, but still pretty.) Unfortunately,
by tomorrow they'll be totally buried under snow. 

Winter - you were a beautiful season and we enjoyed (and cursed) you well and thoroughly. I think it's time for you to leave now, though, and allow Spring to come and join us. Argh!

Income taxes are due on April 15th. It's like the knell of DOOM, Doom, doom.....

I need to see my accountant about one small part of my taxes, I need to get to the bank - again for our taxes. Since everything is due in to the Federal and State governments by Monday, I am running out of time. Tick, tock... I have to do the grocery shopping, and Michael's is having a one-day sale on all artist pads. I used up a lot of pages in one doing the illustrations for CB's Big Bang story, so I might get a replacement ... or not. I'm not sure I can actually afford it so I'll have to check out my bank balance before going off the wild edge.

Can you see the letters? Y M C A

Groceries, and a treat for breakfast to keep my weight loss going. My friend Chickie joined the YMCA last week and is indulging in all sorts of fitness classes both after work and before. I am totally envious. I looked at joining LA Fitness, but I just can't work it into my schedule right now. I think I could swing the dollars, although the first payment would be a steep one, but if I can't take full advantage of it, joining would make no sense. Right now I just can't see myself meshing into their schedule as easily as I want. I'm hoping things will change down the line, though, and I'll be able to join a gym again in the future.

This is Smudge (photo borrowed). Isn't is a darling? He's 18 years old and a total lover.

And finally, hugs and healing thoughts going out to Smudge and his family of humans and cats. Smudge is an old dog, but such a lover. He shares his life with friends of mine from Wisconsin and he has been having a rough time of it. He pulled through surgery yesterday and will be pampered today. I'm not there to add to the love fest, but am sending healing prayers and mentioning him here in my blog because I know that others will add their healing prayers to mine and help him and his people out.

Sharing Artwork

I've posted often over the past two months about how I was creating artwork for CB's Big Bang story.

Well, the story was finally released yesterday and I thought, since many of you wouldn't necessarily have access to her story, that I would post the artwork here so that you know what I've been busy with and how much fun I had playing with pastels as a new media.

Abney Park Cemetery chapel

CB's story had a character who was slain and buried in a specific cemetery that had a fabulous chapel. I actually think she didn't use this illustration, but I still loved the way it turned out and decided to go ahead and share it here.

"Extra! Extra! Read all about it!"

There was a jewel theft that our hero, Lord Glorfindel, found out about via a paper boy in front of the gates to his estate.

Returning home in the 1904 Mercedes motor car.

Accompanied by two servants he investigated the theft and then returned to his home, a large manor house. He was driven in a 1904 Mercedes motor car (I really loved finding the different views of this fabulous car).

The rose was poisoned, the sign was just a small warning.

A variety of threats and attempts on his life follow while he looks into the theft and possible future planned theft of the Crown Jewels of England.  His partner in this is an Inspector of Scotland Yard, here shown seated in his office.

The Inspector seated behind his desk on a rainy afternoon.
I really loved how this one turned out. It was a montage of lots of
images before it came together as a whole in the finished piece.

He was kidnapped and then threatened by a cobra. Here I did a colorful cobra first but she asked for a re-do so that the cobra would be banded black and yellow with a cream breast. So I did two snakes for her.

This was my first cobra, but she wanted a darker version. So I redid it...

This is the second cobra and she ended up using this one.

After being rescued by a mysterious person Lord Glorfindel is finally face to face with an underground group of elves. Among these are his rescuer, Erestor. Erestor attends a formal ball held by the King, so here he is pictured in formal wear.

Erestor in formal wear.

That was it for original art, but I also created three different digital photo montage pieces. One for her chapter headings (33 chapters - but they're short - LOL).

One montage for a scene where Lord Glorfindel is tested for character in the light of Earendil's Silmaril which has been placed in a stand in the center of a table.

Silmaril in a stand.

And finally, have you ever seen the Silmarils in the current day? Well, they exist in the Crown Jewels of England. Here's a photo montage of the Imperial Crown and Sceptre, each one holding one of the Silmarils. So if you ever need to know where they are....  Well, Lord Glorfindel and Binky figured it all out.

The Imperial Crown and Sceptre

So, if you want a link to the actual story which is great fun, just follow this click to the AO3 version. A big THANK YOU out to Binky for giving me such fun for a couple of months. I had a blast composing and making her story come alive.

Wednesday Was Wonderful (WWW)

Wednesday was wonderful - I was happily bouncing off the walls by the end of the day. I had a long list of errands - everything from picking up a ream of paper to grocery shopping and I accomplished all of it in a timely manner. But the major work I had on my agenda were the final two pictures for CB's Big Bang story.

I'm not fond of shopping and am the Queen of getting out
of stores in record time. Watch out ahead! I'm driving
a grocery cart!

I knew what I wanted to do. I had a re-do for her on one picture where she wanted different coloring. Although I tried to change it in Photoshop, it just wasn't working for me so I spent an hour or so on Sunday redrawing it from scratch and did the coloring yesterday. My happy was my Erestor, though. I was nervous about him - I was coloring him from a photograph that I fell in love with but pastels are still a new media for me and I was nervous about how well I could pull this off.

Painting from a photograph requires blending colors. I was really
nervous about how well it would work out.

He is BEAUTIFUL! I am so very happy! CB may not like the picture or my interpretation of him, but I am delighted with the color work and immediately started blocking out a picture I've had in my head of Feanor and Nerdanel. I worked on that for a little bit and have a much better idea of how I want to block it out. Maybe next week for that. I also finished some beta work for my friend in Germany that I really owed her for a couple of weeks now (bad me!). Now it's back to her before it returns to me for a second read-through.

I love fresh fruit. My fridge has kiwis, grapes and strawberries for munchies right now.

My refrigerator is stuffed full of wonderful fruit - I went a little crazy at the grocer yesterday. I have lots and lots of green and red grapes, two pounds of strawberries, carrots and celery and a bag of oranges is on my counter. I don't think I'll starve between now and next week.

And finally, because I really can't let it slide without comment, the murmur about yesterday's Supreme Court case (#12-307 if you're looking for the transcript) seems quite positive for the abolition of the Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA penalizes legal marriages between same-sex partners because it specifies that marriage is only legitimate between one man and one woman. Of the two cases that the Supreme Court heard this week that dealt with gay marriage, I think this case has a stronger platform and a greater chance of success. I think that the justices will decide that Prop 8 could still be altered via an amendment to the California constitution, but the DOMA is a federal law and falls more into their jurisdictional umbrella. I downloaded the transcript but haven't had a chance to read it yet. I'll catch up on it today.

Approaching Ends

Sunday was actually a very pleasant day, relaxing and accomplished. DH wanted me to take photographs for him, but that didn't quite happen (I'll blame the basketball tournament, the baseball game and the pro basketball game for this). But we went to Barnes & Noble and spent a lovely hour browsing the magazines and books and had a cup of Starbucks coffee. We then did a quick drop-by at Michael's Crafts where he picked up three paint brushes and I got a set of jars that were perfectly sized for the covers I use in my pastel work.

I usually prefer Caribou Coffee, but the occasional Starbucks is a treat.

Home again I worked on pics for CB's Big Bang. I sent two photo montage pieces off to her, re-inked one picture that she wants recolored so that it's ready for pastels on Wednesday, and caught up with TOO MANY Emails. But I enjoyed a relaxing day and I'm looking forward to the final flurry of pastel work on Wednesday.

Spring snowstorms are the worst! We've had an
unusually cold March. Normally by the end of
the month we would have at least one 70 F temp,
this year we haven't had a single day above 40 F.

As we enter the last week of March, many people will be getting pounded by a final storm of this very difficult month. I'm hoping that we have ducked the bullet again, but I know that this latest story will be hitting south and east of us with strength. I feel for all of you who will be hit by this - it's been a very LONG winter.

Happy Passover

Pesach (Passover) begins at sunset tonight. I don't celebrate it any more, haven't since I was a kid, but I always enjoyed it. Getting together with family, eating the specific dishes, drinking (very bad) wine, and asking the questions - "Why is this night different from all other nights?" - are parts of happy memories for me. I attended a variety of Pesach dinners in my youth, both with family and at the homes of strangers. There was something so wonderfully unifying and uplifting about the ceremonial foundation and the good dinners. So to those of you, my friends, who celebrate this holiday - Good Pesach.

An apt comparison with our own tawdry, shameful past.

And finally, don't forget the two Supreme Court cases coming up on Tuesday (Proposition 8) and Wednesday (Defense of Marriage Act). People are already camping out in front of the Supreme Court to get seats to hear tomorrow's arguments. Rallies are planned throughout the nation on these two days. I won't be attending either inside of the court or at any rallies, but my thoughts will be totally turned towards these two cases and I'll be praying for one more chink in the wall that has been keeping LGBT people away from the legal rights they so richly deserve.

Coming Up for Air

Wow - I completely immersed myself in my artwork and errands yesterday and didn't even have a chance to respond to comments on my blog. But I promise I'll respond today - promise! Yesterday was rather crazy from start to finish.

I wanted to pick up The Hobbit movie on DVD. Target, my local go-to source was advertising the Blu Ray/Standard DVD/Downstream version for $22.99, a price that I could live with, so I decided to go for it. After a totally FABULOUS breakfast (egg whites scrambled with a great veggie assortment and accompanied by a great variety of fresh fruit - Happy Me!) and equally FABULOUS coffee (coffee BOGO at my local coffee shop which led to a happy driver with two cups of espresso-boosted dark roast coffee sitting next to her) I entered Target's doors armed with four coupons to spend. Twenty minutes later I left with an iTunes gift card (15% off - SCORE!)  but NO DVD! They were completely sold out of all versions except the 3-D DVD version which I had no interest in. So...

$25 of iTunes for $21.25? SCORE!

Back into the car and north a few miles to the next Target store. This is the location where I usually shop, but it wasn't as convenient for me this time, but I had no choice - I wanted my copy of the movie. Here I got one of the LAST FOUR copies of The Hobbit that they had left of their shelves. Because they had the movie, they also got my standard business (after all, I still had coupons to use), so they got $60 of my business and I left happy with groceries, paper towels and my movie copy in the back of my car.

I like the David Tutera cardstock from JoAnne's
Crafts. He has lots of colors, etc, they are very
affordable, and I can take the blank cards
and make portable artwork for all of my friends.

One more stop - this time at my grocer for fresh produce and veggies and a quick lunch, a stop by the office supply store for printer ink and a quick drop-by Joanne's Crafts for holiday card supplies (40% off - SCORE again! and yes...I'm already thinking about my year-end Solstice cards) and I was ready to dive into work. I colored out the final inked piece for CB's Big Bang story. I'm really happy with it and I'll scan it today. That leaves me with a single small addition to an already completed piece and the finalization of my Erestor pic. I actually did get a good start on the pencil work, but at the end of the day, looking at what I had done, I decided to switch methods and put his pic into the same format as the other pics for the story. So I transferred what I wanted to draw onto a new sheet in my sketchbook before I put my toys away and I'll ink it today. That will leave me with the coloring portion, but that's the fun part - watching things come together is like magic. So I'll be working on that next week and have the final piece to her just under the deadline. Sorry for the delay...but it's been a lot of fun to play. Now to breathe again....

We Have a Pope...Oh Goodie!

So, we have a Pope again. The smoke pouring from the Sistine Chapel was white and a dark horse, a cardinal from Argentina had been chosen. Not only is he a non-European pope, he chose a name that has never been picked before - Francis.

Pope Francis. I wish I felt better about his policies.

Now, I love St Francis of Assisi. What's not to like? The statues and pictures show a humble man in a cassock surrounded by happy birds and baby animals. St Francis was cool with the fur and feather bunch. Hopefully the new Pope, who is no youngling at age 76, can become popular with the human contingent while discussions about the two seagulls perched on the smokestack top have me laughing this morning.

Saint Francis was a friend to the feathered and furred. Now...will Pope
Francis be a friend to the people?

He inherits a church deeply scarred by pedophilia and other abuses, as well as divided by issues like the ordination of women and homosexual marriage. He has a long platform behind him of denial of homosexual marriage rights and I doubt he will change that. So once more, while trying to discuss the issue with my DH (something that I really should know better than to ever talk about with him) we argued. He is dogmatic and firm in his denial of marriage rights for non-heterosexual couples, I am adamant that Gay Rights are Civil Rights and that religious marriage is up to the individual church/denomination but that the legal rights should not be withheld.

So after ranting about how the government is taking away his choices he barricaded himself in the upstairs bedroom watching on-demand stuff for the night while I watched my ghost shows downstairs in the computer room. He's like a stone - firm and hard, but the world is like a river and eventually the water will turn the stone into mud.

Eventually opposition will be worn away, but it's uncomfortable
while the battles are being fought.

Yesterday was my day off and I toured one of the local health clubs - actually very nice but I don't think I can do anything about joining and getting my money's worth until after I have retired, so that's back burner. After groceries and errands I pulled out my pastels and while doing laundry, continued colorizing the inks I had already prepared for CB's Big Bang. I had so much fun! Three more panels have now been colored with one more to go, then a photo montage and finally a pencil/charcoal piece that I will start later this week. Oh...and chapter headings, but I already have an idea for that. It's all coming together and it's so much fun!

LA Fitness is a nationwide company with a large location
very near my home. I'm so tempted...I really miss belonging
to a health club.

Have fun today. Choose something that you love doing and allow yourself at least 30 minutes to do it. We all need something positive in our lives....

Errands, Appointments and Postal Again

Running late (at 5:15 am!) so this is quick and dirty.  Today is a day of errands - breakfast (making sure that it works within my Weight Watchers program - easier said than done), the bank, the post office, a 9:30 am appointment for a tour at a local gym to see what they have to offer, grocery shopping, and finally sitting down to continue the colorizing on CB's pieces and begin the pencil work on her Erestor --- oh...the PERFECT image found!

I'll be surrounded by color today - happy me. So I'm sharing this
wonderfully colorful picture with all of you. Ohhhh...pretty!

Thanks to everyone who commented on yesterday's "Women's History" post. I've been so focused on this issue for so many years that it's second nature. To have so many of you tell me that it is also important to you makes me very happy.

Yes, it came back a THIRD time! I'll be speaking to the postal
supervisor for my area today. GROWLLLLLL...

At the Post Office I will be attempting to speak to a supervisor about....yes....THE CARD! which was returned to me again, Monday night, in my mail. So this is time three! I really want this person to receive her mail, and I could drop it off to her directly (it's not that far away from me) but really.  I mean REALLY!  Is my postal sorter that completely inept???? Time to shake things up a bit because this is really beyond the pale. (Image altered to protect address specifics.)

And for those of you who want to look at something that just totally sweet, I have a short video link for you to a very sweet less than five minute video of a young gay couple - This Is Our Year. I link to this in celebration of Colorado's passing the legal right for gay civil union yesterday (Bravo!), and Minnesota passing their law into the full Senate yesterday (another great step toward equality!). This, from a state (Colorado) who had voted to ban gay marriage seven years ago. We're getting there people - slowly but surely we are admitting that love has no gender.

One More Small Step Toward Equality

On the news this morning it was announced that Queen Elizabeth will sign a document today taking a stand against discrimination with emphasis on women's rights. The document states opposition to '...all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, color, creed, political belief, or other grounds.' This will be the first time that she will publicly support gay rights. Bravo Queen Elizabeth!

Bravo, Queen Elizabeth.

The Queen usually does not make political decisions or declarations and her signature on this document is a break with tradition. It will occur in public and be televised. She will also show support for new laws that will give equal rights to boys and girls in the royal succession. This is significant because of Prince William and Kate's expected baby. I have to say that I have not always supported the public decisions of the Queen, but I have always admired her courage and stamina. She's quite an amazing person. Now if we could just get equality for GLBT through the courts and legislatures in the United States...*sigh*.

Douglas Adams would have turned 61 today. He is being honored by a Google interactive heading. Click on the keypad several times and enjoy the cartoons. They'll make even more sense to you if you're familiar with his books, but even if you don't, they're fun. Just for the sake of it, I think I'll re-read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" again today.

Coloring a solar system like this pink one would have been
impossible for me yesterday morning, but I could now
accomplish it! Yippee!

I did take advantage of a 20% off everything coupon at Dick Blick Art Supplies on Sunday. When coloring in my inkworks for CB's Big Bang story I realized I didn't have a pink or a black. What was I thinking? I filled in a few gaps with the coupon so I have a good run on the colors that I needed now and I'm happy once again. I wasted most of my Sunday just sitting at my computer or reading books on my phone. A lazy Sunday is sometimes a very worthwhile thing to experience :-)

Real Life Gets in the Way

Sunday was supposed to be the day when I sat down, finished inking CB's illustrations and started the color work. Supposed to be is the operative word here since Real Life got in my way. On Saturday night DH and I settled down to watch a few more episodes of Game of Thrones 2nd season on DVD. About midway through we decided to have popcorn and DH went down to do that. Shortly afterward he was walking up the stairs to ask me if the microwave was supposed to make strange noises and look like flames. Flames?!? I immediately went down and he showed me. Well, it might not have been actual flames, but it was not what was supposed to be happening either. We unplugged the microwave from the wall, declared it dead, and ate cupcakes instead.  But that set up our Sunday errands.

This is what we ended up buying. Pretty, isn't it?

We have to have a microwave; it is our primary appliance in the kitchen. Most things in my kitchen are cooked either on the cooktop or in the microwave. We had been planning to go and buy some eyeglasses for DH (desperately needed - his eyes are really bad) so we added "buy a new microwave" to the list. I spent a bit of time searching Amazon and comparing prices and ratings to our local store, Warner's Stellion Appliances. Stellion's actually came in at the same price or even less for almost any model I looked at, so I decided we would go there for our new oven. After a lovely omelette breakfast we put the old microwave into the car and headed out.

I have a cooktop, not a range, but I would love a top-mounted microwave oven.

I've wanted a microwave for over the cooktop for several years now and we could fit it into the cabinetry,  but we would need an electrician to wire a plug and a circuit for it before we could put one there, and that is an expense, etc, that we didn't want this time around. So we ended up with another countertop model. The last oven lasted almost exactly 13 years (purchased on Feb 24, 2000) and I have hopes that this one will be equally long-lived. At least it's pretty, is the right size, and looks like something that DH can figure out how to use. All plusses - oh, and also less than $200 - a big plus for the budget.

After trading out my old oven for the new one at the appliance store's warehouse, we went to LensCrafters to order some glasses for DH.  He wanted two pair - one pair for bifocals and one just for distance. They were doing their 50% off lenses sale, which did help, but we were still looking at more than $700 for the two pairs. Ouch!

DH's new glasses will be similar to this style.

The glasses aren't cutting edge, but they are nice frames, similar to the picture above, and the lenses are some new type of plastic that will decrease the weight of his lenses which are always quite thick. We should be getting them by mid-March and then DH will have to force himself to wear them every day for several weeks to adjust to them. It'll be a struggle, but if he can adjust to the new prescription and to bifocals in general, his vision will be much better. The lenses have a 90-day guarantee so he can have them remade if he needs to as long as he's given it the tryout that he should.

Topsey-Turvey But Accomplished

What a productive if topsey-turvey day Wednesday was. Because of the various firm errands and appointments I had scheduled, my normal schedule was shot to hell. But...I ended up getting so much accomplished in spite, despite, or merely because of the shake-up. I started by doing my first load of laundry at 4:00 am - yes, a ridiculous time for laundry, but time saved. Then I had lunch for breakfast - OK, a small bit of explanation. I had a lovely text-message coupon good for two days allowing me a hamburger with fries for $5 if I purchased a drink at my local Perkins. Their Tangler-burgers are amazingly good and coffee is necessary. So...a wonderful lunch for breakfast.

I wandered Staples for a half-hour of price comparison. I have a 20% off deal that exists for a few more days, but I'm not sure I saw anything there to convince me to buy. Their prices tend to be more expensive. There was a Logitech washable keyboard that was tempting...but I didn't break down and buy it. I'll check my store supplies and make sure I do/don't need things before maybe buying on Friday morning.

The keyboard can be washed. I LOVE this!

Finally, after picking up my store supplies from the store that was going out of business I did a quick grocery shop and set up to work on art for the rest of the day. I continued doing the laundry (of course) but also managed to transfer and ink out seven separate panels by the time I put my sketch pad away at 9:00 pm. I have decided I will have to do a single photo montage for one illustration and there is one pure drawing that I want to do of a beautiful visage - a perfect response to CB's character. I only hope I can do him justice.

And Aearwen and I talked for 90 minutes in the late afternoon. I completely lost track of the time. I was inking out one of the drawings while talking with her and before I knew it she, wise person that she is, said that it was probably time to call it an end for the week. I don't have a lot of people I can talk and talk with and it's always such a pleasure to exchange writing tips, story ideas and family notes with her. It's been a year or so now that we've been talking every week and I absolutely love it - one of the high points of every week for me.

It's always fun to talk to friends on the phone.

So today, go with the flow to allow things to be accomplished, and treasure your friends. You'll go to sleep tonight with a well-satisfied smile on your face as you reflect on the day you just lived.

A Day of Color and Light

The electronic ballast adventure was successful beyond my dreams. My landlord came in at 10:30 am or so and began the rewire of one fixture. I phoned my Manager who came by on his day off to watch and learn. After one more call-back for the landlord to explain one more little point, my manager understood what to do and jumped in. By early afternoon all fixtures had been rewired as needed and new bulbs were installed. We have light! It's a beautiful (and very bright) thing and I and my customers will be very happy. No more hiding in the shadows...

A solar flare from 2007

I thought I'd share this lovely solar flare with all of you. It is,

of course, much brighter than my banks of fluorescent lamps, 

but there is nothing exciting about looking at a row of lighted

light bulbs and solar flares are much more beautiful.

Today is my day off, but I won't get a chance to actually be home and relax until mid-afternoon, really cutting into my creative time. A local bead store is going out of business at the end of the month. The owner contacted me (and other stores in the area) to offer the last of her merchandise, fixtures and supplies and she does have a few things that I can use. So, I'll be at her place at 11:00 am today to pick up the supplies I discussed with her and to see if there might be anything else of interest. This will keep me away from my desk for hours which does not make me happy.

Loading boxes

I have high hopes that the boxes I pick up won't be too bulky, but

no guarantees. Either way, I'm getting a good deal and she's getting

a bit more cash before her doors close forever tomorrow.

My plan for whatever time I have left today is to ink in as much of the new panels for CB's story as I can and begin the color work this weekend. I'll see if that works or not. I have a total of seven panels that I want to create for her as well as one original portrait. We'll see how time goes. I wanted everything finished by tomorrow - yeah! Right! Totally rolling on the floor with that deadline. But Back to Middle Earth Month begins on Friday and I refuse to back-burner writing completely in favor of panels. I'm hoping that I can manage mostly original art instead of digital or photo-shopped montage works and so I'm really trying to work on original pieces. We'll see how things are standing at the end of March.

Using PanPastels

I can hardly wait to begin the color work on my inked panels. Too fun!

I hope that your Wednesday will be a bit less hectic than mine. I know mine is impossible when I begin doing laundry at 4:00 am (a ridiculous hour to start my laundry). A highlight for my day will be my weekly conversation with Aearwen. Thank goodness for friends!

Careful Inspection and Car Issues

I had a lovely day off and got a good start to one of the larger illustrations for CB's Big Bang story, did laundry, and played chauffeur for my DH whose car had vapor lock and wouldn't start. We were hoping that if he let it sit for the day, it would start when we got back home at night. Unfortunately it still didn't start, so I'll be phoning AAA this morning and getting it towed to our local repair place who will fix the car. DH has the day off today so I'll just drop him off at home and he can do whatever he decides to while waiting for the car to be worked on.

Since I've dealt with large-scale photography with my posts earlier this week, I thought a look at more detail might be fun for a change. I've always found micro-photography fascinating and wanted to share some pics with you. I didn't take these, I don't have the talent or the equipment, but they are very unusual and so fun to look at.

I'll start out with these incredible droplets.

I don't know what this almost psychedelic grid is from, but I really love it. I suspect it's a pollen spore or something else similar to that by the structure, but I really don't know. I love it, though.

I'm allergic to bees, so have a healthy respect for them, but they are so beautiful when viewed from this aspect. This little guy wanted to be here especially for my friends who love the striped honey-makers.

The iridescent wings of this insect just called to me. I'm afraid I couldn't identify which insect it was, but it's such a beauty that I had to share.

A simple match head as it begins to burn made such a wonderful photo. I love the smoke swirling and the hint of heat that you see at the actual head as the flame works down the shaft.

And finally, to end things out, this fabulous spider. The colors were so spectacular and those little hairs. I'm not a great fan of spiders (I loved them when I was a kid, but that was then and this is now...) but I had to include her. She's stunning and can't you just see her in Valinor killing the Two Trees under the direction of Melkor? Pretty and deadly - a winning combo. Have a totally FABULOUS day. We'll get 4"-6" of snow overnight tonight and tomorrow will be icky, so I'll enjoy Thursday until I see those first flakes...