Winter Moon Over My Home Town ...

I moved from Watertown to Houston when I was just 16. I spent my summers here during those 37 years and missed only two. I couldn't stay away.

A favorite thing about driving into town, nearly always at night, was how it felt to be at the top of Harmony Hill from Highway 81 and see the lights come into view. It's not that Houston doesn't have lights. These were the lights of Home ... as in where my Grandmother lived.

Now I am able to see those lights every night. This photo is from the road I turn onto from Highway 212 to go Home. The view doesn't change much from my Farm but many things in my new life are different. I lost my sister, Wendy, and my Grandmother passed away. But this is Home and I love it.

Check out http://www.skyley.blogspot.com where others want to show you what Home means to them.

White Swan ...

Plenty of snow combined with high winds make for amazing sculpture here on The Prairie. When the air hits a structure, it slows down and changes direction. The decrease in the speed of the wind causes the air to drop snow and make a drift. I found this huge white Swan wing yesterday on our drive home around Lake Kampeska. We had just worked out ... an incredible visual reward.

Once Upon A Garden ...

there was snow. And it was beautiful.

McCrory Gardens, Brookings, SDSU

You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine Sky Watch ...

Clouds moving with the wind, breaking up, saying goodbye, and getting on with it.
Skies around the world and stories to go with them at http://www.skyley.blogspot.com

You Are Here ...

Knowing where you are is good. I rarely pass up the opportunity to check out the signs I see in various places that tell me where I am ... even if I know exactly where I am.

I ended up back on The Prairie less than a year after my sister, Wendy, died suddenly and unexpectedly. I had been living away from home for thirty seven years. Love drove me back ... my story is an example of God's will. What else can I say ? One thing ... Wendy is here now too. Yesterday afternoon she was sitting at the top of the sun, looking out for me, and keeping her eye on things at my Farm.

This Way Up Sky Watch Friday ...

This may not be the moon. It may even be upside down. But trust me ... everything is just as it should be. It has to be on a Sky Watch Friday. http://www.skyley.blogspot.com

Cold Enough Fer Ya ???

Yowza !!! It's -8 degrees. On this day in 1912 it was 30. Are you familiar with snow in a can that's used to make your windows look like it's winter? We don't need that here.

Ice Bouquet ...

Freezing temperatures here on The Prairie don't stop my outdoor creativity ... they actually send me into overdrive with my need for fresh air.

I garden all year long both in the ground and in containers. I bring most of the potted things inside to be cared for over winter. That can amount to 50 or so plants on the sun porch and on shelves in my kitchen windows.

This weekend I made arrangements of greens from trimming indoors. I also made a few with dried things I collected this fall. I moved them out to the deck into vases and vessels that started out as Ice Candles. I saturated them with my mister and layers of sprinkled snow, resulting in what I call Ice Bouquets. They will change every day depending on where they are on the deck in relation to the sun, and whatever my next inspirational step might be.

The additional bonus being one Laurie On The Prairie, in and out all day long, living, moving, breathing and creating.