Greetings from Holiday Crazy land!

Howdy Do.... I know I know.... been ages again since I have been here..well, that's not really true...I do pop in from time to time but I swear when I do my mind goes blank and what I was going to write I stop and think..."Jodi, they don't want to hear that dribble, that silly banter of what you do or don't do...just back away from the computer Jodi and no one gets hurt"!!! SEE, during the holidays I talk to myself even more than usual.... scary really!!!
So then I decided...what the heck...just dribble on... what is the worse that can happen??? (actually I have learned not to ask) So this is a mish mash of silly stuff that has been happening to me of late....
I learned to make Pancakes!!! YES, it's true...I have never ever been able to make a decent pancake to save my soul, but I had a real hankering for 'Sour Milk Pancakes' like my grandma used to make....got several recipes from Internet friends (Thanks one and all) and VIOLA!!! One morning I set out to take charge of the elusive Pancake Monster that lurked in my inner being.... found it...and beat the crap out of it and Mastered the 'Pancake' ....I am busting buttons left and right and truly feel there needs to be a medal of some kind offered to the person who tried the hardest to make a pancake.....maybe I could make a hat of some kind...hmmmmmm! Anyway, they were delicious with butter and raspberry syrup .... I even had a few left over that I wrapped up in a baggie and keep in the fridge...I think mainly just to visit them a few times a day and say to myself "I made those" ...lol!! Yes I know...I really need to get a life.....

This was our Thanksgiving table...only 4 of us this year....Mom, Sis, Richard and myself. My Mom and Sis were in the middle of a 'Move from Hell' so they didn't feel up to cooking or eating for that matter...so I thought I would make a nice dinner (thought about slipping them a few pancakes so they could OooOoo and AhhHhHHhH at my new found ability! ) But alas we ate a small bird and some of the best taters and gravy I have ever made.....(not as good as the pancakes...hummmmmm! Pancakes with gravy, interesting thought) All in all it was a fun evening (sure hope they found those baggies of pancakes in their purses by now!!!)

This is a project Richard and I worked on one day...only about 2 years in the making . Richard and I are natural born scavengers , many a time Richard has coming home all beaming over the 'object' he has found along side the road or in a field somewhere..... 9 out of 10 times it is pretty darn cool...and this was one of those times. On his way to the post office one day he looked in a vacant lot to see a small pile of flagstone pieces , well he loaded up the Bronco and returned home with his find ..and said "There is plenty more where these came from" (almost sounded like "Thar's plenty 'O' gold left in them thar hills, let's saddle up the pack mules and head out") So I threw on some work clothes, grabbed garden gloves (and a small sack of pancakes...for you never know how hungry you will get on the trail) and we got approx. 3 more car loads.... after some time of thinking on what to do with these new shards of joy.... we finally decided to do a rock relief of sorts on our back wall. The stucco was crumbling a bit and we had removed a BIG Agave and that bare spot was staring me down ...so we 'Liquid Nailed' the shards to the wall...to somewhat resemble a desert mountain range...our plan is to follow it around the side and then do hit and miss ranges throughout the backyard wall..and of course do some night time lighting effects.... needless to say, bending and sitting on our knees all day left us hobbling around (rather like old miners) .... so I heated up some pancakes and slapped them on the old knees...felt better in no time!!

Now most people in these here parts down think 'Con Trails' are very pretty....we look at them as adventures, people going places, meeting up at the end of it all with those they love, stories to tell ...basically it is movement in the sky highway. Winter time is the best time to see them as the temps are just right to keep the trails hanging and changing shape in the sky...Sky Art if you will.... I found this one really fascinating and like nothing I have ever seen before...looks like they took a sharp turn left at the last minute....I could almost hear an 'OOPS" !!

And last but never least....our baby Tess..... getting decorations out and in the box is always a Christmas toy or two from the previous year that Tess goes nuts over...like a long lost friend she is meeting up with after a years absence... she is so much fun to watch and she brings us miles of smiles each and every day (and she likes pancakes too!!)

So that's it for now....of course we are working on commissions ....and soon will be posting pics....I am thinking about listing some small tidy bits of ETSY too...have not done that in ages!!! Keep an eye peeled for those (wonder how well pancakes would do there??)

Hugs and Holiday Greetings