Under a Copper Sky

Not a slacker

I know most of you think I've lost my way to my studio...

You'll be happy to know that I have not.

Should have these on Etsy next week.

Stop back by here on Monday.

I'm having a very special auction.

Happy Friday!

Home

Robin and I have been living in this house for 2.5 years now.

We moved in 1 month after my birth mom passed away.

Since then we've gone non-stop updating, adding to,

and embracing this place with a lot of love.

When we were in search of a new home we did a drive by of this place.

And even though I couldn't even see the big guy through the trees,

so far off the road,

I knew this was my home.

He called to me.

And the first time I stepped foot through the front door

this house had my heart.

Within the first two months we had replaced the

pink toned builders beige with

dessert camel,

winter mood,

blue fox,

grey porpoise,

and marina isle.

Wallpaper ripped down and replaced with color.

Touches of us added.

This house was twelve years old and none of the

four former owners ever made changes.

None.

Nada.

Never showed this big guy the attention he deserved.

Until we came along.

Floors were replaced, box-woods ripped out, stone mulch replaced,

decks built, plants added.

We aren't pretentious and, in fact,

we painted over the marble fireplace.

No fancy smancy here, only cozy warmth.

We are quite proud of this place.

I have thrown my gypsy ways out the window.

Here I have planted my roots.

This is our home.

There is still so much we plan to do.

The house will go from white to grey, roof from shingles to steel,

more and more landscaping.

The kitchen will be completely renovated,

complete with new appliances and concrete countertops.

All bathrooms will get a facelift.

The attic will be finished and made into a proper Izzy studio.

And a new shed will be built out back.

Bit by bit.

By bit.

For now we are busy with this.

This, my friends, is 40 cubic yards of mulch, pine straw

and two pallets of flagstone.

Still trying to finish off the beds around the deck built last year.

Slowly we go.

Loving every minute of this job.

Happily showing this big guy all the love it has shown to us.

Our home.

 

Visit from Felix

Felix lives in Pennsylvania, but has come here

to Fuquay Varina for a short visit.

With the warm weather

he has preferred to hang out here on the couch

on the screened porch.

We took Felix hiking.

Tucked him in at night.

He made friends with Moose.

Took naps on the day bed with Sammie.

Since Felix is leaving tomorrow, he won't be able to help

with all this mulch and rock

that was just delivered today.

Tomorrow Felix will head on down to Texas.

We will miss Felix.

Thanks to Staci and her daughter Julia

for letting Felix visit.

Jumping the gun...

It's February 20th and we got our first snow.

I'm also going to assume our last.

And when I say snow, I mean a very light dusting.

I do mean light.

But I'm grateful that old man winter dropped in, 

if only briefly.

 

Owl update.

I guess you could say we were "jumping the gun" a bit

when we assumed Hollie was already in the nest with eggs.

I snapped these shots of her this morning.

I guess she's just "nesting",

getting ready to lay those precious eggs.

She's definitely "plumped up".

Much bigger than when we saw her last.

Still very cute.

You can tell a big difference between her and Ollie.

She is short, plump, and her front feathers are much lighter.

Ollie is tall, thin, and his front feathers are much darker.

(Isn't it amazing what a difference a cloudy day

vs. sunny day can do to a photo.)

I will continue to keep you updated

as the love story unfolds.

 

 

Here we go...

Looks like Hollie is in the old tree

hanging out on the nest

with her precious eggs.

And Ollie (sleeping with one eye open)

is in the tree just behind the nest

keeping watch.

Another 28-33 days and the little babies

should be hatching.

After that, we wait another 35-40 days

to see them start leaving the nest.

Here we go...

Bigger than the house...

If I don't reign in my husband's

grandiose plans for a garden shed,

this is what will exist in our back yard...

(doodle by Andre Jordan)

Just passing through...

First the guys visited this morning.

Then the girls.

And they all left the Allhart Cafe

with full tummies.

They're back...

The other night,

after seeing a wonderful play,

my husband and I arrived home

to hear a bit of a ruckus in the back yard.

So we quickly ran out onto the screened porch.

There was squaking coming from Hollie and Ollie

in the old tree that we've never heard before.

Followed by a lot of cooing.

There's no doubt in my mind that Hollie and Ollie

were making a little whoopee.

I was so happy that I almost cried.

Yes, we felt like we were intruding a bit,

but I'm sure they didn't even know we were there.

This old, dead tree is where all the magic happens.

This is where the Hollie and Ollie nest.

Right up there in the top, inside the tree.

This poor old tree only has a few more years left in him.

Then we fear he will fall.

So we are working quickly,

making plans,

and picking new real estate for our little owls.

Prime location is here.

Robin is going to build a mini masion

to sit right up there in the "v".

Perfect spot.

Only worry is how we plan to get it up there.

An owl house ain't small...

To give you some idea of the height of that tree,

look at the very bottom of the photo.

Yep, that's the top of our four foot fence.

We have to get the game plan together soon.

The earlier it goes up, the sooner Ollie and Hollie

will warm up to it.

And a final shot of the fat puppy,

enjoy a bit of sun.

Genetic Engineering

Seems the more I talk about food and health,

the more people I lose.

I wish folks could understand that I care,

not only about my health

my husbands health,

my pets health

but everyones health.

So I share.

What I share can sometimes be ugly,

but I still feel a need to share.

 

I just hope everyone pays attention

and doesn't "unfriend", stop following

or ignore.

Because I do care.

I won't say much about it anymore.

I'll only give you links on certain topics

and let those of you who are curious

read on your own.

Today's links are all about genetic engineering.

Info from the Center for Food Safety,

an article from Treehugger, 

helpful facts from Sustainable Table,

the dangers from Mothers for Natural Law,

and a plethera of stuff over at Just Label It.

We owe it to our bodies to be smart about this.

Food allergies

I spent my childhood, teenage years, and early adulthood

allergic to dairy.

Specifically a protein called casein.

The highest content of casein is found in cheese,

but is also used in food additives, safety matches and

plastic containers.

Yep, it's a binding agent.

(yummy)

When I started my pre-menopause journey five years ago

I found that I traded out this allergy of

casein for gluten.

Weird.

Knowing what I now know about

how gluten has been so genetically modified,

tainted and chemically altered, 

along with all the chemicals added to grains, etc.,

I'm actually relieved I can't eat the stuff.

No wonder so many folks suffer from ibs, ibd

and other tummy related issues.

That'll be a topic for another day.

Anyway, within the past year or more I've also

discovered that I'm allergic to many other

food additives and food processing chemicals.

Sulfites are mainly found in wine.

(But they are also in a lot of processed foods.)

One glass of wine and I look like I have the flu.

Gluten makes my tummy swell like a beach ball,

I get very angry and sick.

Sulfites and nitrites aggrevate my asthma.

And aspartame gives me hives.

Within two weeks of eating clean my 

tummy swelling went way down, my brain fog cleared,

hives cleared, asthma much better.

All because I wasn't adding man made chemicals to my body.

It's been easy to give them up

and seeing how much better my body feels

it's easy to never go back.

Makes me wonder why food manufacturers feel it's okay

to add that stuff to our foods.

Makes me wonder why the FDA doesn't have

stricter regulations on the foods that line our grocery store shelves,

what foods are fed to our children...

Better foods, less pills and all that stuff.

If you think you or anyone in your family may have food allergies

this is a great resource

and more info on allergies to food additives here.

 

Read your labels, if you don't know what it is,

don't eat it!

Do your research,

the web is full of great info on what's really in your food.

Avoid processed.

And the most important tip,

 eat your veggies!

Wishing you all health and happiness.

Happy Sunday.