A Belated Merry Xmas, Y'all!

Exquisite children's book illustrations

I found these wonderful illustrations for Beauty and the Beast the other day on the web - they are so very lyrical

Instant costume for non-descript Arthurian type personnage

I just found this picture of myself looking slightly out of it (whatever it is) that was taken before I went to a costume party with a "come as a famous author or character from a book" theme last summer.
I scrounged and scrounged around and couldn't find anything I thought acceptable, or that even fit well, since I'd gained so much weight in the past year (thanks to sleep apnea and just plain over-eating and no exercise). So when anyone asked me what character I was I said either Morgana from the Arthurian literature, or an obscure angst-ridden ghost from one of those gothic novels with a made-up name like "Guilthaven Manor" by a fictitious author like Sir Sheldon Deveint, Victorian novelist and naturalist.

Of Sorcerers and Men

I just picked up Susanna Clarke's newest book to read: The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories - I love, love, love the way she writes!

I have been listening to one of Barnes and Nobles' Portable Professor series called "Of Sorcerers and Men - Tolkein and the Roots of Modern Fantasy Literature" by a professor named Michael Drout and I am thoroughly enjoying the entire 7 CD disk series. I love listening to Audio CDs while I'm working or crafting or sewing or whatever. I also like his distinction between Magical Realism and Modern Fantasy - all this time I was struggling to write a fantasy novel, when really, my writings fall closer to the Magical Realism genre.


Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts and words about Caspian - I miss him greatly, but every day gets a little easier for me. Today I'm supposed to go pick up his ashes (I had him cremated), but don't know if I've the heart to do so quite yet.

Caspian is gone

Caspian didn't make it through the night. He made it through surgery, woke up for a while then went into cardiac failure and died. I hurt so bad.

Caspian - the new Peg Leg Pete

Caspian's surgery has been set for Monday. It looks like the tumors are too big to debulk, so he will have to have his leg taken off. I have been at loggerheads with myself over this for months - I know that cats do quite well on three legs, but I was so very unsettled about his having to go through such an ordeal. At least we were able to preserve it for 10 months after diagnosis, and I do believe we tried to do everything humanly possible to save that leg.
He had stopped eating a few days ago, probably due to the pain of the tumors, and the vet was happy to give him an anti-inflammatory that helped to alleviate his misery. His appetite has returned and he is still hobbling around and following me for walks out in the cold weather. He is such a beloved little man in a fur suit!

This is how I feel after two nights of not being able to get to sleep! I've been very worried about a dear friend who was admitted to the hosiptal the other day after having two seizures out of the blue AND my poor kitty Caspian who has massive tumors on one leg and may have to have his leg amputated...

I do hope it is darkest before the dawn, becuase right now, my world is incredibly dark.

Frost

I love how the frost tinges just the edges of this leaf.

Mermaid backgammon set

Today my mermaid backgammon set arrived from Bali! It is gorgeous! It had been sitting in a Federal Express warehouse for a few days since they couldn't get through all the snow and ice to deliver it until today. I'm working on the Jacobean jacket today and it is slow going; I'm now on my third muslin...

Paper sculpture workshop

About a year or so ago I took a class with Dave Wood, an Australian calligrapher. His class dealt with combining paper sculpture with calligraphy; here is the capital "A" that I made during the class.