Monotremes

Well, hello there!



And you - it's nice to see you, too!



These are photos of a spiny ant eater and 2 platypus (care of discovery.com)
They are two of three types of animals that are in the family of Monotreme. Never heard of a monotreme? Me neither until today when I went to the natural history museum.

Monotremes have fur and nurse their young. They don't have nipples. The young just know where the milk glands are and suck on the skin nearby. Also, they lay leathery soft eggs.

And I thought there were mammals and not mammals. Period. Nope. We have Monotremes. A mix of both worlds, all be it a tiny one. You can only find them in Australia and New Guinea...maybe at a zoo, too.

winter decor

This time of year has always been a kind of standstill in decorating. The holiday decor is boxed up and put away. Winter seems to drag on cold and wet. I decided to try and embrace these few months of winter weather we have left. I made a winter display in my front room.



The light is just terrible to see the whole effect. Here are some of my favorite doo-dads that cheer up the winter gloom:



Conversation hearts in my blue McCoy bowl. In the background are old love notes my husband gave me framed in a pretty glass frame with pressed flowers. My cat looks at them admiringly.



Paperwhite bulbs blooming with delicate flowers. Such a pretty light fragrance they have!



I forced one in an old glass cream bottle. I love the way the roots look.

In other news, I've had a few good finds at my thrift store lately. Here's one of my faves:



A set of small stiching guides - each 50 cents.

Hot Sulphur Springs

D and I have wanted to get away for awhile now. with family obligations, school and work, it's been an impossible schedule. This weekend, it turned out I had no work and he had no school. Perfect. The only problem was that I had (still have) a nasty head cold. You know when you walk around in a state of mid-sneeze all day long and only one nostril works? That's me. The dry air burns my throat, my brain feels too big for my skull and my eyes itch. If we were going away, I wanted it to be relaxing. No igloo camping or ice fishing or jumping off snowy cliffs in skis. I wanted a hot spring, a good book and some quiet.

We decided on Hot Sulphur Springs. It has a long history as a spa and has mostly adult guests. There are about twenty different pools and a lot of them are just big enough for two people so it's very private. It was wonderful soaking in the mineral-laden waters while snow gently on my eye lids and hair. I'd get out for awhile to cool off and hop back in again.



Right now I'm reading The Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind. They were the inspiration for the show the Legend of the Seeker, which I'm hooked on. It's so good. And you can watch the whole season one instantly on Netflix. Definitely worth checking out. Just a great story.

We were very lucky in our travels to stop in Grand Lake, where they were hosting a winter olympic festival. I'm not too into sports or the olympics, but it was nice to see a crowd of people out and about on a very cold day. And, because of the festivities, a lot of businesses that would ordinarily not be open, were open. Including the Kauffman House Museum. What a great place that was! There were enthusiastic docents, hot cider and homemade cookies. Also, some of the most beautiful handcrafts made by the Kauffman women:



Now this quilt is really something Though I am well past my crazy for crazy quilts phase, I was intrigued by this quilt, made form scraps of the finest silks, satins and velvets. I first thought it to be a reproduction because the colors were so vivid. But it's the real deal. Preserved due to the dry conditions up there. Stitches are rarely repeated and the intricate Colorado motifs are really amazing.



Something I really admire about these small town Victorian families I hear about is their apparently infinite imagination and industry. To use every scrap of fabric. To make something beautiful and useable out of what we would consider waste.

Very impressive.



We had such a nice time:







So nice to be blogging again. I've finished up some projects since my last post and would love to post them soon. I have a hard time taking nice pictures if it's a cloudy kind of day and my days off have been cloudy, I'm afraid. But that can only last so long. Hope everyone has a great week!