all the light we cannot see

Happy New Year!  I've been going through some photos of our recent trip to Oregon.  Normally, I cart along the nice camera with the heavy interchangeable lenses, but since we were trying to pack really light, I just used my iPhone for pictures.  The quality isn't great, but convenience wins out this time. 

We hit our usual spots, like the coast.

We saw beautiful lakes...

...and mountains.

The heavy rainfall and moderate temperatures mean a whole lot of green. 

Huge piles of oyster shells...

...and several paper manufacturing plants, both active...

...and defunct.

Our destinations changed, but one thing that reminded constant was how the frequently overcast skies affected the diffused light.  It was so beautiful!  We had some dramatic threatening skies:

Amazing fog:

(yes, those are brake lights!)

And even some sun!

We had a great trip, but it was good to get home and see our cats.  The only missing face around here is our dear Claudia...our exterior feeder got jammed while we were away and wasn't properly dispensing food.  I embroidered a Claudia ornament for Christmas this year...see the mouse in her mouth?

Hopefully she'll make her way back her soon...and hopefully I can get back on my regular sleep schedule again.  I don't feel like I've cobbled together more than a few hours at a time in quite a while, but I think I'll fall into the normal rhythm of it soon enough.

Have a great week!

puzzle powers and paperwhite flowers

'Tis the season!  I've been working nonstop on puzzles when not working almost non-stop at my regular job.  I've taken a break from working on my quilt and other crafty things and I'm flying through puzzles.  As a rule, I only do 1000 piece puzzles...

...although I finished a 300 piece puzzle in the time it took Todd to eat supper the other night!  I'm a total addict.  It's so relaxing.  I have done one other short and quick (and equally nerdy) project last weekend...made a quick felt ornament of our new guest!

Clotilde is now officially using her new kitty condo...

...and spends the rest of her time on the back deck, sleeping or waiting for food.

Or just peeking in!

She's so sweet!

We saw another adorable outdoor cat at the goat farm this weekend, curled up in a pile of leaves.

I love going to the goat farm.  I'm continually amazed at the beauty of these rooster feathers!

Of course, we saw lots of goats...

...including babies!

We've been hiking every weekend, so haven't made it out to the goat farm for a while.  Last weekend, or maybe the one before, we squeezed in a quick visit to a building demolition before our hike!  It was an old building on the Clemson campus.  Can I just say that those detonators are loud!?!

Around here, it's just been work, busy with the pre-Christmas rush and getting the yard in shape, now that the fire ants are deep underground.  I haven't done a ton of Christmas baking, but did make some chocolate peppermint biscotti.  These twice-baked cookies are really easy to make!

I'm pleased to report that staggered forcing of paperwhite bulbs is incredibly easy.  I keep the bulbs in the basement, in an open bag.  Every 2 weeks, I pull out a bulb and put the end in water to stimulate root growth.  I leave it in a dark corner for a few days and boom!  Roots!  Then I can put it in the window.

There are so many flowers, and so much green in general, here in South Carolina in the winter, it just doesn't feel as festive as I think it might in the Midwest.  I do enjoy them, though!

Have a great week!