A Week in the Life....

....of the WillOaks Farm manager, WillOaks Campground Hostess and, lest we forget, WillOaks Studio artist.

Heavy weather moving in...again and again...

Studio window view, deck view

Moving in includes getting the deck ready for action

New studio corner in the camper

New silk thread order

Outdoors comes indoors through interesting natural artifacts, a growing collection

Purrmeister rules the roost as the newest resident at WillOaks Campground, Site #1

A pair of Mallard ducks are the newest residents on the pond at WillOaks Campground

And what a season this is shaping up to be! Lovely balance of the familiar and many surprises and if I can find new balance, I'll resume my regular blog posts here soon, rather than try to jam everything in at once. But obviously, that balance is missing at the moment....

Weather is a big deal this time of year and we've seen it all in the past few days. The nip of late frosts, pounding rain that caused quite a bit of local flooding, and occasional bursts of sunshine. As I write, we're in the busiest weekend we've had to date, tenters everywhere, but wooo, it's really chilly outdoors. Great for firewood sales, tricky in a tent if you're not well prepared. I'm snug as can be here in the old camper.

Slowly, things are getting more and more organized. I hunted for and found the makings of my new "studio corner," got the parts installed and so have just begun to bring some supplies from the main studio. My camera gear and my laptop are now in service here. I need propane and hot water yet, but repaired the electricity the past week and thankfully, the repairs done last year to many bad leaks are holding fine, despite the intense storms.

And what is really fun is, of course, the animal side of the equation. Dakota is an old hand out here in camper mode, but Purrmeister is new to this and seems to be adapting very well. Granted, he's not especially calm and can cause quite a ruckus when he finds new and creative ways to "blow steam." Shredded toilet paper roll? Every little thing left on a counter knocked to the floor? Crawling into the tiniest nooks and crannies just to check it out? He can be quite a handful. Last night, he decided to knock over both a glass of water AND of tea such that they soaked my bed so I guess a bedside drink isn't a good idea out here....I must learn to think more like a cat....

I'm delighted to mention my new residents here at WillOaks Campground: a pair of Mallard ducks have chosen to stay on the pond and I'm so happy they are here. When I first spotted them, I thought they were passing through, but they are still here and now, I'm so curious where they will build their nest. I must learn more about the habits of ducks because these haven't stayed on the campground pond before. I don't want to get my hopes up about baby ducks...too many bad things can happen...but the thought has crossed my mind.

And I'm amazed to mention that I have filled numerous studio orders all around this seasonal chaos and have made a lot of progress on a whole new series of neck pieces. I have not had the time, together with the right light, in order to photograph them yet, however. There were amazing bright cloudy days here late last week, but I was struggling with car repairs, shopping, and my parental duties....am hoping to get a dose of the good light during the coming week and then, can photograph and post my new work!

Sorry I've been so negligent about posting, visiting other blogs and dropping for EC, etc. the past week and a half but as I've mentioned, I'm seeking new balance with all these things soon--thanks for not giving up on me!! Happy Sunday everyone.