Powder and Cream

Powder and Cream... sounds X-rated but it's really all about skiing. I was in mid-winter Montana powder on Tuesday and perfect Pocono springtime cream today. Maybe it should be X-rated because what could be more thrilling or better? Only the addition of family and friends could make it better. And they did. 
March 22-31 Montana Powder
Every day opened with snow falling. The sun broke through most afternoons and the snow began again at nightfall. Glorious! 
At times the house bulged with nearly 20 dinner guests and half that number slept there.  We were siblings, in-laws, cousins, friends and new acquaintances. There was much silliness, laughter, music, and a heated game of Monopoly. The days passed too quickly.
April 3 Pocono Cream
In Pennsylvania we're lucky if the ski season makes it to the middle of March so I jumped at the opportunity to go today. And what a day it was. The slopes were completely covered with perfect springtime, good quality, creamy snow. And there was snow in the woods too. That's unheard of in April!
Tailgate grilling with friends closed the day, and probably the season too .  
       

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

Many thanks to all who voted for my entry in February's design challenge hosted by the etsy team "Trade-A-Holics." I won! check out the article on their blog:
http://etsytradeaholics.blogspot.com/2011/03/congratulations-to-seasandseasons.html

The End is Near

   I'm generally very optimistic about the future but I honestly believe the end is near.  Heavy rain has been falling all night and it isn't expected to stop until sometime tomorrow. Much flooding is predicted.  Sadly, I believe the end of Pennsylvania's 2010-11 alpine ski season is near. 
   Heeding the word of the weatherman, I chose to get out before the rain and spent all of yesterday on the slopes with friends. It was cloudy, windy and raw but the snow on the trails was in excellent shape. I had a fantastic time. Everyone in our group finished tired and all smiles.
   The end may be near but the trails still have enough coverage to withstand the current downpour and allow skiing in Pennsylvania to continue for a few more weeks. After that we'll have to go north to New England, west to the Rockies, or wait until next winter to see snow.


New items have been added to the Seas and Seasons site and even more will be added in the next few days. http://www.etsy.com/shop/SeasAndSeasons

Design Challenge Update

Many thanks to the 52 who cast their vote for my design challenge entry, "Glacial Sea Glass Pendant." Because of you, I am currently in first place. I recently logged on to check my standings in the contest and noticed two entries at the top of the page who are separated from the main group. One of them is catching up to me with 44 votes. There are 5 more days of voting and I've been told that it's possible to cast a vote every day. So even if you voted once, please vote again, and again, and again, and again, and again for 5 days of voting!
To vote, log on to: http://etsytradeaholics.blogspot.com/2011/02/and-design-challenge-is-on-baby-its.html

You'll see a list on the right side of the page. Click the box next to the "seasandseasons" entry (it's 9th from the bottom.) Then click on the "VOTE" box to cast your vote.

You might also enjoy the treasury that I assembled called "Sea Spectrum." It contains items offered by other etsy artisans.
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d64a4b56f798eefd89c33b2/sea-spectrum?ref=pr_treasury

View all items for sale by "Seas And Seasons" at:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SeasAndSeasons

Forced to have Fun

  My standard winter Sunday consists of an early alarm followed by a 45-minute drive to a local ski area where I'll catch the chair lift at 8:30 AM. At 10:30 it's time to warm up with a hot chocolate in the lodge at the top of the mountain along with the other mountain "regulars." The number of runs after the break depends on the conditions and the crowd.

   Then we tail gate.

   Food tastes better when grilled slope side. And there's always a show on the beginner hill next to our parking lot. Normally we begin to go home around 2:00 but cell phones started to ring soon after the first people left. 

  "Stay where you are." they said. An accident on the access road has traffic at a standstill. We soon discovered this was no ordinary accident. A tractor-trailer had jumped the side rail of an overpass to the access road. It's rear tires were stuck on the rail while the rest of the vehicle dangled over the edge to the road below. It was going to take a long time to clear this mess. 

   We moved the fun indoors where a band was playing. Several hours passed and the traffic nightmare continued. There were even unconfirmed reports of a bus fire. The band was scheduled to quit at 7:00 PM but management hired them for an additional 2 hours. We found ourselves in a festive atmosphere, forced to have fun!

   It was around 9:30 PM when we left the ski area. Traffic flowed smoothly in our direction but going the other way it was still backed up for miles. As we pulled into our driveway, it began to snow. 

   Wow! What a day.

Vote for me!     

I'd appreciate your vote for my entry in a design challenge with the theme "baby, it's cold outside." You might think that sea glass gleaned from the sands of a warm beach wouldn't be a useful medium for this project, but you'd be wrong. Frosty white and blue beach combed glass emulates the cool, icy colors of a glacier in the entry "Glacial Sea Glass Pendant."     

To vote, log on to:

http://etsytradeaholics.blogspot.com/2011/02/and-design-challenge-is-on-baby-its.html

You'll see a list on the right side of the page. Click the box next to the "seasandseasons" entry (it's 9th from the bottom.) Then click on the "VOTE" box to cast your vote.

View all items for sale by "Seas And Seasons" at:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SeasAndSeasons

            

Lethargy is a Luxury

    It's been an extremely cold winter around here. For weeks the cats have been pining to go outside. We'd open the door for them but as soon as they'd feel the frigid air on their nose, they'd run back to their sunny windowsill.

   Today's temperature soared to 60 degrees. It was a beautiful, warm day yet the cats showed no interest in going outdoors. I think they were overcome with lethargy by the heat wave. 

   Cats have it made. People have no time for lethargy. There's always something that needs to be done. Today one of those things involved posting some photos for sale.  It's been two and a half months since the opening of Seas and Seasons and I'm finally fulfilling my promise to sell my photos.  In keeping with the current jewelry offerings of Seas and Seasons, the first images are beach themed. As the year progresses, I plan to add wildlife and nature shots that reflect the seasonal changes.


http://www.etsy.com/shop/SeasAndSeasons

Critter Alert!

At the urging of my friends, I've started this blog. It will be filled with anecdotes and snippets from my life as well as updates regarding my Etsy site, Seas and Seasons.

   Some excitement at our house recently began when we noticed the cats looking at the fireplace. If you have house cats, then you know it's best not to dismiss it when they stare for hours at an inanimate object. To investigate, we opened the damper. A grey squirrel dropped out! He shot across our living room into the studio/office. We chased him around the house until he saw that we had opened the back door. He exited and scampered away across the snow.
   It was amazing to watch him run throughout the house. He was on everything but knocked over nothing. Little sooty footprints were the only proof that he had been there.
   The squirrel even ran across my new jewelry creations so if you order something from Seas and Seasons be sure to check it for tiny footprints.


http://www.etsy.com/shop/SeasAndSeasons