Winter ice cream

Yesterday,  we made raspberry ice cream, my grandma's recipe.  We used clear icicles  from the neighbor's house in our old fashion ice cream freezer.   Yum what a wonderful winter treat and it reminded us of summer's warmth as we also often enjoy it our cabin in July and August.

Grandma's ice cream
1 quart milk
1 pint cream
1 can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
Juice of three lemons
1 package of raspberries

Combine milk, cream, evaporated milk and sugar.  Mix for ten minutes then pour in raspberries and lemon juice.  Turn until it freezes.

New Years Eve

In reading one of the blogs, I follow,  they suggest that they are setting goals and not resolutions.  What a great idea,  I will see what goals I can set for 2013.  I suppose one of them should be to check in here more often,  and  of course to share more photos, paintings, and creative writing with you.

Best wishes to you with the setting of your goals for 2013.

Christmas feast

After a day of stormy weather, the sun is out,  the sky is blue,and the temperatures cold.  Stetller Jay and Chickadees are feasting on dried Elderberries and black sunflower seeds.

Inside, we are preparing for our Christmas Day feast.

Christmas Morning

Remember the excitement of Christmas morning?  As children we had to wait for our father to confirm that Santa had arrived,then we were allowed to open presents.

Then we were able to share the excitement again, when we got to watch our children or in my case my niece open her presents on Christmas morning.  My sister always allowed me to stop by to participate.

And I anticipate, some day my niece allowing me to share in the excitement as her children enjoy the excitement of Christmas morning.

My best wishes to you and yours on this Christmas morning.

Chrispness

Even though I am not a huge fan of winter weather,  there is beauty to enjoy when waking to the view of a fresh winter white landscape, crisp and smooth reflecting the light of the sun and a clear powder blu sky.

Resilency

Even though we have had a number of nights with a hard freeze,  my mother's primrose plants continue to blossom.

Working,Working

I have been setting up a new website for my work.  It has been interesting, but time consuming.  To check it out visit: www.ogden4arts.org

Fresh white powder

I awoke this morning to all things frosted white with inches of fresh white powder.

Storm rolls by

The sun has set.  The canyon is dark.  Then suddenly - lightening flashes, thunder roars, and rain splashes.  A quick storm rolls by.  Snow is expected overnight on the mountains.

Autumn Snapshots

Not Quite Newton

Mollie and I went for an afternoon walk.  We were enjoying the waning autumn colors.  At the top of the hill, an apple dropped, rolling down the hill.  For a moment, I thought of Newton and his law of gravity.  But as I am not quite Newton, I was inspired to take a few photos, collect a few windfall apples, and return home to bake apple sauce cookies.

My father, Paul W. Muller celebrates his 90th birthday

Paul W. Muller celebrates his 90th birthday.  Born to Paul S. Muller and Robina Gardiner Muller in Ogden, Utah.  He married Arlene Bachman Muller.  They made their home in Ogden Canyon.  They raised Pauline Muller-Orton (deceased), Debra Muller and Curtis Paul Muller.  He has two grand-children: MandiAnne Orton Poll and Zachery Paul Muller.

Paul attended schools in Utah, graduating from Ogden High School; and from the University of Utah School of Pharmacy.  He served the United States as a Navy pilot during World War II in the Pacific theater.

Paul was the owner of Paul's Pharmacy located at 12th and Washington. He served as the executive director of the Utah Pharmaceutical Association where he was active in state and national pharmacy legislation. He served as the editor of the Utah Pharmacy Digest. He was a member of the University of Utah's School of Pharmacy Dean's Advisory Committee. He held a real estate license.

Paul raised and showed collies for confirmation. Dogs from his Samarkand Kennels were shown and awarded nationally. He was the president of the Utah Collie Club, and served as the Utah director of the Collie Club of America.   

An avid photographer, and traveller, Paul photographs won may local and national salons.  His beautiful images were purchased for commercial purposes.  He was a long time member of the Ogden Color Camera Club. 

Paul passed away in January 2017.

Green Apples

After mowing the lawn at the cabin,  I noticed that the apples on a nearby tree were ripening.  I chose one yellow-green with just a blush of red, and no noticeable worm holes.  I shined it by rubbing in on my t-shirt.  Then took a deep, crisp bite.  The apple made a hard, crisp crackling sound, tart juice hit my taste buds, memories came to mind.

As children, my sister and I stole green apples from the tree on the old maids property, an abandoned cabin just east of our home.  Yummy green apples, we would them until they almost made us sick.  We would bring them home to share with our parents and to eat sprinkled with salt.  They may have come from a volunteer apple tree or one planted by the old maid that had lived in the cabin.

There are lots of volunteer apple trees in the canyon.  They grew from apple cores left by the WPA workers that build the water pipeline through the canyon in the early 1940's.  As children, we knew which were the best green and which were better once they ripened to red.  The canyon deer like apples.  The often clean all the apples in reach, then return at a later date to feast on the windfall apples that have fermented.

Fermented apples add an interesting scent to the autumn breeze.  They mix with the fragrance of fallen leaves and acorns.

And then, there is the autumn scent of apples, my mother's homemade apple sauce cookies made with green or red apples whichever are available.  The scent and taste of apples, cinnamon, and cloves.

I just had to share a few of the memories brought to mind by a bite into a crisp, hard yellow-green apple.  What memories come to mind for you?

While driving down the canyon yesterday, a flash of white caught my eye.  Always interested in seeing the canyon's wildlife, I stopped to look again.  There in a gorgeous stand of green conifers was a while plastic shopping bag trapped in the branches.  We need to do a must better job of containing and recycling our trash.

Rain & Evening Light

A good rain

Flash, boom, tumbling roar
Clouds burst
Rain falls
Deluge
Sunrise
Morning
Autumn colors refreshed
Crisp air.

Weather change

I awaken to the heady scent and drip,splash sound of rain.  The breeze through my opened window has cooled.

Then, the rainstorm moved on too soon.

Art In Bloom

The art center at which I work, is holding a art in bloom competition.  Designers started putting together their displays - beautiful!  I hope to have some more pictures to share with you or if you have a facebook account, search for Eccles Community Art Center.

Growth of an acorn

 Now that the acorns have ripened to brown, they should soon be dropping, and be harvested by the canyon squirrels.

Changing

The leaves of the trees on the mountainside are changing, are they changing due to the approaching fall or because they are drying out from the over the top hot temperatures?

Bumble Bee Pin

My mother claimed this pin.

Lady Bug Pin

Just finished a lady bug label pin.

Haiku at Sunsets

8.4.12
The sun paints with light
Pastel watercolor clouds
In an evening sky.

8.3.12
On the horizon
Orange - russet evening light
smolders into dusk.

Restful Evening

Here I sit in a friends backyard,  facing west waiting for a lovely sunset.  Her house and backyard sit up on Ben Lomond (mountain)  with a perfect view over the valley.  The sun is golden at the moment, its light paints the near by bushes.  My friend's dog is nearby in the grass catching a cool evening breeze.  As are we, today our temperature hit 100 F degrees.  Hot weather for Northern Utah.

Time

How fleeting is time?  This summer has zoomed by, and I had hoped to accomplish so much more.  As the days of summer are longer than winter days, we try to fill them with so much more activity.  Summer gardens  and lawns need attention.  Mollie and I take longer walks.  With August on its way, I need to finish some summer projects.  I guess I should sit down to prioritize the projects.

I tend to get reflective when celebrating the addition of another year.

More Sketchbook drawings

Sunday Evening

Across a field of blue sky, a ethereal cloud dances, is its partner the breeze or the limestone mountain cliff above my home?  The canyon floor is in shadow, the day cooling.  The canyon breeze teases my hair, then stills. I am reminded of the afternoon heat.  Its taste and scent evident in the still.

Mollie and I walk the dry, dirt road to the cement bridge over the river.  The river rushes under us, an increase of water has been released from the dam to assist the farmers in irrigating their crops.

Flashes of color capture our attention.  Scarlet tanagers fly from willow to cottonwood trees.  A lovely yellow tiger-stripe swallow tail butterfly feeds on the pink star flowers of milkweeds.  Then a surprise, an orange and black butterfly - a monarch or viceroy.  Just a fleeting glimpse.  I recall seeing them in my childhood, but they have been rare in recent years.

The hard dirt road has lead us back home to mom's  color filled garden and cool green grass.  Mollie ends her walk with a good, back scratching roll in the grass.

A lovely Sunday evening, and wishes for the same for you!

Bits and Pieces; Notes and Observations

I have bits and pieces with notes and observations written on them spread around.  I thought I share a few with you.

Last Week:

Over the mountains
Cumulonimbus clouds puff
Like heated popcorn.


Friday Night before the cold front moved in:
A muggy warm night
The tempting spray of sprinklers
A quick cooling run....


Friday Night:
A jar of seashells
Collected along the shore
Ocean memories.


Today, around 7:30 p.m. while leaving Layton:
Between sun and mountains a line of clouds fill the sky creating stripes of light and shadow on the mountainside.

Rain

And the rain came pouring down.

Mollie came in this morning with raindrops in her fur.  She snuggled in close to share them with me.

Our April showers have finally come at the end of May, to water our May flowers.  May has been warm and dry, so the rain is welcome.

Old Friend

I am so glad that you stopped me to say Hello.  I have thought of you often in the past and so happy to see you.  I hope that we will run into each other more often.  You reminded me  of times we spent together at Gramercy Elementary.

Another Bonfire

Saturday, I enjoyed my third bonfire of the season.  Friends invited me to a local camp ground for an evening picnic and bonfire.  We had a great time!

Sending Best Wishes

Happy Mother's Day! 

Surprise

My sweet niece surprised us this evening.  She flew home from Hawaii to share Mother's Day with us!

By the light of the moon

I awoke last night awash in a puddle of silver blue moonlight as the full super moon peeked in my window.  It stayed for a moment or two trapped in the neighbor's pine tree, then travelled on across the sky.  And I returned to continue my slumber.

Rites of Spring

I just washed the heavy scent of bonfire from my hair.  It was spring clean up at our cabin this morning.  As mom raked up leaves, I burned deaf fall branches in the fire pit.  The only dancing done was that done trying to escape the smoke and heat of the fire.

Field 0f Blue

Across a field of blue
A herd of small white clouds graze.
Golden morning light.

Sketching

Connection reestablished

I have been unable to connect for a few days, after receiving technical help I am reconnected.

Sketchbook

Been away from my computer, but had a day to draw in my sketchbook and to paint.

The scent of a bonfire

It snowed yesterday; not just a dusting, but a few inches.  Snow covered the bright yellow daffodils and clung to the flowering fruit trees.

Today, the sun is out. The snow melted, except in the shadows.  The day seems perfect for enjoying an annual family tradition: Eastering.  My Grandfather Bachman started this tradition of going Eastering - getting out to enjoy the spring day the saturday before Easter with a hike, a picnic and baskets hidden by the Easter Bunny.

We, the children in the back of my grandfather's plumbing truck, the parents following in their vehicles - my mother in her station wagon, would head to the foothills.  Upon a arrival tables would be set up then filled with picnic food.  We would put together stone rings for fire pits, and roast hot dogs and marshmellows.

Today, the scent of the bonfire reminds me of my grandfather's Eastering traditions.  His family has grown so large with great grand children and great great grand children that we have split into smaller family groups.  Our family, with mother as the head no longer head to the foothills, but go instead to our cabin in Southfork.  The older members of our family appreciate being indoors.  We no longer have hot dogs and marshmellows, but settle for cold cuts and potato salad.

Just up the road my cousins are also Eastering at their cabin.  They continue the tradition of hot dogs and marshmellows cooked over a bonfire.  Thus the scent of memories.

Pretty little pansies of purple and gold...

I have a pot of pansies on my doorstep.  The have such sweet faces that follow the sunshine.  A sign of spring!

We had morning snow, but after yesterday's near 80 degree temperatures it did not stick.

Now, the sun and clouds are playing hide and seek with each other.

April Fools Day

My Grandfather was born on April 1st, April Fools Day.  He didn't let this get him down, he decided to own the day and enjoyed playing April Fools jokes on people.  I am not sure what type of jokes he played on others, but the ones he played on me were usually pretty tame.  He would call to tell us that his dog had kittens or that he had witnesses an accident - Washington Boulevard ran into Canyon Road (they do intersect).

This morning, in his tradition, I sent a text to my niece who lives in Hawaii that I was at the airport wondering when she was going to pick me up?  The following text said April Fools.  Yes, I know a pretty tame April Fools day prank.

I hope that you had a laugh or two on April 1st.

Spring

The apricot blossoms are starting to drop, peach trees and magnolias are blooming.  The leaves of the chokecherries have popped out.  Butterflies flutter by.  Spring is amazing, especially at how fast it appears.  Unfortunately a spring snow is expected on Sunday.

Beauty of a Spring Day

The crisp white snow on Mount Ogden and Ben Lomond glistened in relief against the backdop of a blue sky filled with fluffy cumulus clouds.  Blossoms on the apricot trees and forsythia bushes burst open.  Daffodils and violets are in bloom.  A beautiful Spring Day.

Correspondence

Yesterday, I received a letter from Honeysuckle lane, Honolulu, Hawaii.  What a surprise, and lovely gift from my niece.  The gift of handwritten correspondence, so much more than a call or a text message.

My mother received a similar gift.  We enjoyed sharing our letters with each other.

Thank you ~ MandiAnne.

Still snowing!

Just finished Deborah Harkness' Discovery of Witches.  I am looking forward to Shadow of Night.

It is snowing!

Early snowdrops

I picked early snowdrops today.  The day was sunny, but cold as was our walk.   I brought the small bouquet of snowdrops home to enjoy.  They are blooming in a small cream pitcher on the windowsill above my kitchen sink.  A small touch of spring!

Clyde comes to live at my house

Clyde with his deliciously large cookie, an Etsy purchase from Lorraine Young Pottery, came to live with Mollie and I.

Isn't he handsome!

Bookstore

I visited the bookstore today, and of course added more books to my bookshelf, waiting to be read.

Relaxing

Ymm! A hot bath!  The bathroom is filled with lavender scented steam.

Happy Valentines Day!

Illuminated Spring D

Still drawing letters.

Small Conversations

I have often thought that the handwritten letter as my favorite form of  correspondence.  In this modern age of e-mails, telephone conversations and text messages, I still write letters.  Although, I also use all these other forms of communication.  

Members of my family and friends have travelled away from my Ogden Canyon home.  I find ways of communicating with them, checking in with them.  I enjoy any form of communication I receive, wonderful gifts of their time.

Interestingly, I find I miss those small conversations that are shared while doing the dishes, driving in the car or a small job at work.  The sharing of stories, remembering of past experiences, a shared joke.  The small conversations that don't transfer well into the written word.

Aaah!

The weekend, time to relax and reboot!

Too

Too many projects, thoughts and ideas spinning around in my head.  Mostly work related.  I am putting together the Spring and Summer Class Schedule, preparing a press release for the March exhibit, taking reservations, cataloging art and preparing for the center's annual fundraising art auction.  -Overload-  psst!

Sunset/Moonrise

A lovely sunny winter Saturday, ends.

Significant Storm

Jeweled droplets

Jeweled gem drops of water sparkle in Mollie's fur and on my bedspread, melting snowflakes from our evening walk.

Jealous

I am slightly jealous.  The blogs I have been visiting today have been showing pictures of early spring flowers.  This while the world outside my window is turning white.  We have had rain for days, which now has changed to snow.  The trees are coated in snow.  The top line of the fence is edged in white.  Even the sky is white.  Winter has arrived and looks like it plans to stay.  It will be a while until I see spring flowers anywhere other than on others' blogs.

It's raining, it's snowing, the weather changing.

Words

Do you ever think that we have a limited number of words that we are able to use?  Not a limited vocabulary, but a limited number say one billion.  Most recently, I have been using my written words to create request for grant money a new part of my expanded job as assistant director at the Eccles Community Art Center.  In doing this job - writing grant requests; I didn't seem to have the words or thoughts to share with friends in letters or on this blog.

Who Knew?

My Dark Chocolate Dove Bite wrapper suggested that I should catch a snowflake on my tongue.  Who knew that this would be so hard to accomplish this winter?

I just finished "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand"  A Novel by Helen Simonson - what a sweet love story.

Illuminated letter for Rose

White landscape with powder blue skies

After the morning snowstorm, the sun came out.  The landscape is a fresh white.  The skies powder blue with fluffy cumulus clouds.


In the late afternoon, the sun painted the mountains in golden tones.  The clouds glisten, as Mollie and I took a late afternoon walk.

Fresh Snow

After such a dry December, I awoke this morning to snow in my yard.  As it was morning, my dog Mollie politely asked to go outside.  She walked out about three feet in the inch deep snow, turned around and came back on to the back steps, requesting politely to come in.  Apparently, she doesn't like water in an form.

New Year

Mollie and I have had our morning walk, beginning this first day of 2012 as we begin everyday, enjoying the beauty around us.  My wish is that 2012 brings joy!