Frosty January

January has been frosty, creating beauty wherever a person might look. I encourage you to click on the photos to look at them in detail. The second photo is of the clouds pushed up against the mountains (as seen from the overlook above town). In the third photo the snow was so dry and powdery. A person can actually see the arms of on the snowflakes. The fourth photo is of my ice plant in bloom during some of the warm weather. So nice to see flowers this time of year.

Sidewalk in a Mining Camp

sidewalk in a mining camp

the boom has long gone bust

head wheels now stand silent

how they gather rust

fall has drawn to winter

rain and fog survive

empty lots and empty bins

still we are alive

sidewalk in a mining camp

changes like the season

stand there month and moment

shake your head and reason

what has been production

to depth or great divide

the point was once to prosper

grandeur to decide

a limit to the landings

random without fuss

left is only a fog

no limit to the dust

long has gone the shadow

from the summer leaves

reason now distorted

levels by degrees

standing on the sidewalk

an empty one at that

reminder of the old days

money in the camp

the city was a magnet

roulette like a rush

fog binds the open

ushers to a hush

Anonymous

AdAmAn Club

Hubby and I welcomed in the New Year sitting in his truck on a ridge looking at Pikes Peak, in below zero temperatures, nursing cups of hot chocolate. What were we doing there you ask? We were waiting for a very unique celebration of the New Year. Fireworks shot from the top of Pikes Peak.

In 1922, five 'Frozen Friends', deciding that the New Year's Eve celebrations in Colorado Springs were too normal and mundane,  trekked to the top of Pikes Peak and shot off fireworks to welcome in the new year.

These five friends decided to do this every year thereafter and formed The Pikes Peak AdAmAn Club. (said with a short a sound: Ad-A-mAn or Add-A-mAn) Only one new member is allowed to join each year.  I admire these men for their dedication to this tradition. Especially because they could drive to the top of Pikes Peak.

All Images and More Found Here!

Welcoming a New Year!

A new month and a new year is staring at me from the calendar on the wall. January 2015.  I have yet to pencil in the already growing number of commitments, appointments, and deadlines. I think I'll just put them in my day-timer and keep the calendar clean. It looks better that way.

This month finds me now a contributing writer for the Imramma magazine. Click here! I'm excited about this new journey. I will be writing a column from the Crone's perspective. Funny. I never really thought of myself as a Crone. I never really wanted to think of myself as a Crone. But we all reach that point sooner or later. And I have to say, it's not too bad. I now get senior discounts, though if I was carded, I probably wouldn't but graying hair does have it's advantages. And I have reached an age where I don't really care how people take something I say nor do I care what people think of me. If you know me, then you know my quirks and love me for them anyway. **wink-wink** 
So expect some "Cronish" sorts of posts here every so often.

This new month also brings about a minor make-over here at The CCC. I freshened my pages section (still a bit of a work-in-progress) along with dusting off the sidebars. I also plan on starting a new series about "The Physics of Magic" - where science meets the esoteric. I feel that understanding the 'how' might help with the actual process. Knowledge should be shared. Not kept hidden away in a dark broom closet.

So hang on folks! We should have some fun this year!

Holiday Wishes

I would like to take this opportunity to say Thank You to all of you who read, comment or lurk here at this little spot of the blog-o-sphere. I appreciate all of you who read my (and Gomez's) ramblings. 

I am taking a short break to freshen the linens here. When I return in January, this blog will have had a make-over.

May all of you be blessed with the Joy and Happiness that this Holiday Season brings. 
See You Soon!
{{be sure to check out my other blog, Embracing the Elements, for a special holiday greeting!}} 

January Journeys

 January is a time of contemplation, hibernation, and dreaming of the sun puddles of Spring. It's also a time when the garden and seed catalogs begin to arrive on our doorsteps. To commemorate this annual event, my Sunday Art posts will feature flowers and landscapes and the environment. What better way to help welcome the return of sunshine and warmth!

The Weird Wednesday posts will take us from the frozen reaches of the North Pole to the broiling temperatures of the sun. The Friday Road Trip will be an odd assortment of places that Hubby and I have traveled in the last year. And Gomez has an announcement or two that He would like to share. 

So don't touch that dial!

On another note, a bloggy friend that many of you know, Robin Larkspur of Wiccan Writes needs some positive energy sent her way. Her Hubby fell ill before Christmas and is currently in the hospital. They could both use positive, healing energy. Stop by her blog and leave her a hug and a kind smile.

Cat Tales ~ New Year's Resolutions

Me and the other Kitties has been pondering what things We should improve upon in the coming year. And here's what We has come up with....

We will not perch on Mommy's chest in the middle of the night and stare into her eyes until she wakes up.

We will not play Herd of Thundering Wildebeests Stampeding Across the Plains of the Serengeti over Mommy's bed while she's trying to sleep.

Screaming at the can of food will not make it open itself.

We cannot leap through closed windows to catch birds outside. If We forget this and bonk Our head on the window and fall behind the couch in the attempt, We will not get up and do the same thing again.

When it rains, it will be raining on all sides of the house. It is not necessary to check every door.

Bird do not come from the bird feeder. We will not knock it down and try to open it up to get the birds out.

We will not stuff Ourselves into the rather small bird feeder (with tail hanging out one side) and expect the birds to just fly in. 

There are three very large Dogs that live with Us. They have lived with Us for several years. We don't have to act as if We've just discovered the Demon Horror of the Universe each time one of them appears.

We will not play "dead cat on the stairs" while people are trying to take laundry up or down.

We will not walk on the keyboard when Mommy is writing important emiognaioerp ga3qi4 taija3tgv aa35a.

We will not be miffed at Mommy all day and then kiss her on the nose at 2:00 a.m. to tell her that she is forgiven and can now pet me.

We will not puff Our body to twice its size for no reason after Mommy has finished watching a horror movie.

We will not swat Mommy's head repeatedly when she's on the floor trying to do sit ups.

When Mommy is typing at the computer, her forearms are NOT a hammock.

Computer and TV screens do not exist to backlight a lovely Kitty Tail.

We will not stand on the bathroom counter, stare down the hall and growl at nothing after Mommy or Daddy has finished watching The X-Files.

Signed - Gomez, Fantum, Goliath, Valentino, Squeaky, Sylvester, and Cousin Jane

Oh, and one more for Me .....

Me will try hard not to make Meself the center piece of the Holiday table.

Happy New Year!

Purz and Catnip Dreams ....... Gomez

January's Full Moon

We had clouds last week when the moon was full so I went outside the following night to get some pictures of it. The moon has risen quite orange and was very striking against the night sky. I got some interesting results that I would like to share with you....

This photo was taken when I was standing in the middle of our gravel driveway. The night was clear and cold - the temperature was probably just below freezing. We had rain turning to snow earlier in the day. And the mist is???? And the orbs in the picture???

Another orb picture...... the bright orange dot you see in the center of both pics is the moon while the other two bright dots are lights from the school we live next to.

Finally the Moon.

* S* N * O * W

Someone must've been listening when I said I missed the snow. Big, thick, lovely snowflakes started falling on Sunday and continued for several hours. Blanketing everything with a thick layer of fluffiness.

The Puppies were enjoying every moment of it. It's not too often that they get to romp in their element!

The Kitties spent most of the day huddled in front of their TV (birdfeeder).

But Valentino had to go out into the snow to see .....

I went out and enjoyed the sight, smell, and sound of Winter.

January

A New Year has begun. And along with the turning of the calendar page comes the turning over of a new leaf for many folks. New Resolves. New Habits. New Hopes.

I have no resolutions for this year. I try not to make them. If I see that I need to change something, I try do it then. I don't wait till New Year's Day to begin.

Though, I do have hopes for this year. Hopes that Hubby continues with his straight A's in school (so very PROUD of you ♥). Hopes that art sales pickup. Hopes that everyone we know and love continues to have good health.


Hubby and I took a walk down to the creek behind our house this afternoon. The weather was glorious. The sky full of sunshine. The air filled with the songs of nature. The creek was running high from the recent rains. And it roared over the rocks. It felt so good to let all of last year flow down the creek with the water. A cleansing you might say. A washing away of the old, the stagnant; making room for the fresh new beginnings that await us.


Anastasia of Deep Inside My Broom CLoset has ask what one little word we would use to make an impact on our life for 2010. I know many of you in Blogland have written about this or at least seen posts about this. So please bear with me while I share my one little word for 2010.

ACTUALIZATION. Meaning to make real.

This is the year that so many of the things that I VISUALIZED last year will become real. For it is not enough to wish and dream and visualize about what one wants. But a person must take action to achieve those goals and I have already begun. I have a feeling that it will be a busy year. But busy is good. (keeps me out of trouble!)

January

January! Where would we Gardeners be without this month? I know, it's cold and dreary outside. The Holidays are over. The company has gone home. And how we long for those funny, sunny days of Spring!


And ALL those Plant and Seed catalogs we've been getting sure don't help the matter any!

They're such a tease! A taunt, if you will. Luring us into the depths of a gardener's would-be paradise! And I am as guilty as the rest. I look at those catalogs and dream about how my gardens would look with all those lovely flowers!

Imagining those luscious strawberries just waiting to be picked....



Smelling the fragrant perfume of the rose bush by the Garden Shed....



Seeing the butterflies and bees busy about their daily business amid the blossoms and blooms....



But we need this time to plan and sketch. And to dream. And then plan some more.

My gardens always start out with a grand design. (Whose wouldn't after looking at all those catalogs!) But they evolve over time. Usually for a much simpler, lower maintenance plan.

But that doesn't stop me from reading about and dreaming about all those wonderful plants that just won't grow here! And maybe thinking about getting just one more exotic plant for the Courtyard 'cause I know I can squeeze it into the greenhouse for the winter!



My plans this year aren't so much to add flowers, but to rearrange the ones I've already got. Shade envelopes more of a flower bed, as trees grow and their canopies enlarge. Some plants have outgrown their corner and are beginning to bully their neighbors. Others just don't like the neighborhood they're in. But I'm sure, I'll probably be able to find room for maybe one or two new acquisitions.

I must go now and look at the latest catalogs that came in today's mail!

I'll keep you posted on my finds ....