Winter's Last Gasp?

View from my front porch

Snowman my son and I made

Winter's Last Gasp? I certainly hope so! Anyone that has watched the news has probably heard about the winter storm that started in the southeast and headed up the eastern seaboard.

We had rain starting Friday around noon, all day and night Saturday, all day Sunday and then it changed over to a mix and finally to snowfall. We wound up with around 4.5 inches. The largest snowfall we have had in 5 years! I know I had an earlier post where I was talking about the 3 inch snowfall and how that was the largest in several years up to that point. Well now we have this snowfall and it was beautiful waking up to a winter wonderland. We went out and had fun in it but it is super cold here and I have been longing for spring for several weeks.

We actually had some buttercups blooming but today they are covered with snow and I don't know how they will look once it melts. That will probably be around Wednesday. By Friday the temperatures will be around 70 degrees so I sincerely hope this is winter's last gasp.

I went out with my son and we built a small snowman and had a snowball fight. Later, we made snow cream which was nice and I told my son to enjoy it because hopefully that is the last snow cream this year.

Oh well, you know what they say about March, "in like a lion, out like a lamb." Let's hope they are right!

Two Days In A Row!

We had snow again last night. Shortly before 8 pm it looked like blizzard conditions it was snowing so hard. We thought we would really have a big snowfall and the forecasters were calling for 1-3 inches. Well, the snow didn't last very long and we awoke this morning to only a dusting. It is all almost melted now. It is only 27 degrees farenheit but the sun is shining brightly. The road crews were on the ball this time and the roads in my area looked clear but once again the schools were closed.The weather forecasters described it as "snow showers" and said some areas really had a lot so maybe that is why the schools are closed. So, here I am stuck at home, using up another vacation day. I didn't have enough work to do at the other location to last all day. Hopefully this will be the last snow/ice situation we will have. But we have quite a few weeks of winter left yet!

My son wanted to go out a play in it so I let him. There wasn't enough to make a decent snowball let alone a snowman. This snowfall wasn't worth taking a picture of but I finally downloaded the pictures I took of the January snowfall.

This is a picture of my son with all of the snow he can gather. He called it his snow mound.

Picture of my house covered with the snow:

Also last night I created another OSWOA (original small work of art). I called it Spring Bird. I found the picture on Morguefile and I don't know if it is supposed to be a baby robin or what. It only took an hour or so and is not my best work but I enjoyed creating it. I think it has a "painterly" look.

Spring Bird

By: Lori Talbert

2/03/09

Thank you to the individuals who are following my blog! I appreciate it and enjoy reading your blogs as well! Until next time!

A Little More Snow For Us

We had rain last night that changed over to snow and made a mess. There was a dusting of snow on the ground (less than 1/2 inch) and what we call "black ice" on the roads. Schools were first delayed and then closed.

My work place was delayed 2 hours but we have a back-up location that we can go to on time and I decided to go there today so I would not have to use any more vacation hours. The weather forecasters were not calling for travel problems with this system so the road crews had not treated any of the highways. There was a wreck below my house with red and blue lights flashing so I decided to drive with extreme caution.

I took an exit ramp off of the freeway and felt one of my tires lose traction with the road surface. As I stopped at the top of the ramp and looked in the direction I was going to turn, all I saw was icy road! There was a bridge over one side of the freeway, a short distance and then another bridge over the other side of the freeway, and then a steep hill that looked straight up . I wasn't sure I wanted to try it but I took a deep breath and started out. I was driving very slowly and of course someone had to tailgate me and try to push me faster. I hate it when people do that! I didn't let it rattle me though and made it to work OK, only three minutes late.

As I said in an earlier post we get bad weather so rarely that southerners do not drive well in it. We just don't get enough practice. The children were all excited to be out of school today (I know my son was) but they will have to make the day up from their spring break. The weather forecasters say another system will be moving through tonight and may bring us another dusting of snow. Personally, I have seen enough ice/snow for this winter! I am ready for spring!

Recent Works / Snow Tonight!

It has been extremely busy at work and when you work full time and have a family it is sometimes hard to work on your art like you want to. I haven't taken the time to post recently but I have completed a few things.

The first is an ATC (Artist Trading Card) for an exchange on a forum I belong to. The theme was the new year and after turning over many ideas I thought of the Chinese calendar. A little internet research revealed that 2009 was the year of the Ox so I decided to work with that. The first Ox I tried was a realistic representation but it didn't seem to work out that well so I went with a cartoon version. It didn't take very long to complete and although not a work of art I thought it was cute and decided to send it to my trading partner. I received my card from my partner and I felt kind of bad because theirs was very detailed and intricate and obviously took a lot of time. Mine took less than an hour to complete. Well, that is the fun of a trade, you never know what you will get and you are always surprised. My partner liked their card so that is what is important.

Year of the Ox (ATC)

By: Lori Talbert

12/27/08

I also completed a couple of OSWOAs (Original Small Work of Art) that I haven't posted yet. The first was a still life that I had originally done as a digital work. It came out very well in digital but not quite as well in this version. Some parts of it I am pleased with such as the glass vase the flowers are in.

Still Life with Flowers

By: Lori Talbert

1/01/09

I also revisited the cardinal sitting on the fence and completed another version of it as an OSWOA.

Cardinal 2

By: Lori Talbert

1/13/09

All works are in colored pencil on bristol board. The ATC is 2.5 x 3.5 inches and the OSWOAs are 4 x 6 inches. I am thinking about another larger work in graphite probably 8 x 10 and am turning over a couple of ideas in my mind.

On another note the weather forecast is calling for 1-3 inches of snow tonight and early tomorrow morning. That probably doesn't sound like a lot to many of you but here in our part of North Carolina we sometimes go all winter without any snow at all. If we get bad weather during the winter it is usually freezing rain or sleet which is no fun at all. When we do have snow virtually everything closes down as we see it so rarely southerners do not know how to drive in it and slip and slide all over the roads. I have a 4-wheel drive but I usually stay home as well because the 4-wheel drive does not guarantee that someone will not slide into me! My son is extremely excited! When he was almost 2 years old we had a whopping 13 inches in one night! We were without power or telephone for practically a week but he doesn't remember that. He will soon be 11 and has only had enough snow in his life (since the 13 inches) that he remembers to build two snowmen. He is hoping for the 3 inches so maybe he can build one.