Our fine feathered friends...

As long as I can remember, Herons have been my very favorite bird... I love other birds as well, but the Heron (Great Blue, Lesser Blue, Green, Black Crowned...) has always been extra special.
When I go walking with my friends near the outdoor track in Clemson, we walk along the old Seneca Riverbed. Most days we see at least one Great Blue Heron, some days more. Today, I saw 8, though my friends had only seen 7 by the time I left, my 8th one was flying overhead as I drove out of the parking lot...

These 2 pyrographic pictures I did several years ago show a Great Blue Heron and a Green Heron.

The photograph of the great Blue Heron was taken by my friend Linda when she was out near the Seneca Riverbed with her grandchildren a few weeks ago.

testing 1-2-3

Just testing to see if the feed works properly, it says it isn't installed correctly... hmmmmmmmmm

Cindy Earl Higgins - Portrait Photographer

NOT!!!
Just playing around with my camera a couple of weeks ago I took this photo of myself... this and about a dozen others... only 2 were worth saving (the pluses of digital photography!)
No, it's not the best, but I thought it was a keeper.

My hair has grown down to my eyebrows already... much too long... gotta get it cut this week! Can you tell I had just recovered from a 'personal heat wave'???

a busy week

This last week was sure a busy one! Mom & Terri both needed time off because they were not feeling well, but we also had lots of customers as well.
This is one of the cards I designed for the class I had Saturday morning. The girls loved it! This is my favorite of the 4 we made. But, Lilies are among my favorite kinds of flowers... (These cards are more for hand-delivery or sending inside a package... the PO would ruin them otherwise!)
I'm looking forward to a quiet Sunday. I plan to get some pottery worked on and some test pieces of the new Terra Cotta trimmed for firing in a day or two.
I'd like to get some photos scanned and saved into the computer. But, we'll see what time and energy allow for today.

I'm focusing my mind's eye on a quiet lakeside cabin with a wonderful workspace, birds singing, water lapping at the shore... a place conducive to creativity... no, I am not at that quiet cabin, but if I imagine hard enough, I can be , in my mind...

Arriving at Art Camp

This photo was just sent to me by Debbie at the Clemson Arts Center... she took it one day as I got to camp, wearing this year's T-shirt.
Along the wall behind me are photos of Clemson taken by all sorts of people. There are some especially wonderful photos, to see Clemson through someone elses lens...
The table has the full day student's lunch bags... me, I have not yet deposited my tote bag nor purse so I am laden with them. Ignore the glasses on the idiot string... I'm not really old enough to need them...

I'm here!

I have not posted lately because of a lot of things happening. No, nothing serious in nature, just a lot going on... I have not forgotten about posting, I just have not always had the time or energy.
Good news is, we now have DSL here at the house. This should make blogging MUCH easier! (Just uploading the photo of my late kitty Max took WAY less time!)

Now, I just need to get some more photos scanned or taken to be able to post them.
And, I guess I have gotten bitten by the FaceBook bug... it has been nice to re-connect with some old friends from my youth. One even apologized for how he treated me back in Junior High... something I had moved beyond a long time ago. Yet it was still nice that he thought to apologize after all this time. Thanks Scott! Hey, we were teenagers, no apologies necessary, but thanks anyway...
I can keep up with my family and people I don't get to see often enough. Not to mention the oodles of photos I can look at in my friends' profiles! Awesome waves in RI from Hurricane Bill, adorable children, beautiful artwork (painting, quilting, jewelry design...), lots of people, pets and flowers...
But I do need to get back to my blogging. Now that my desktop is able to go online again, I have access (more easily) to a number of photo files I already had. I had problems when my dial-up modem was zapped by lightning... with DSL, I don't have to worry about that anymore! (AND, I have put ALL cords, including the phone line, through the new surge protector!)
I will get more posted soon. (I hope to be able to post some photos of my nephew DragonBen's latest artwork... and he's only 9 1/2!!!)
Thanks for being patient with me.

In memory of Shadow...

When I first moved to Pendleton 10 years ago, I was greeted by our neighbor's cat Shadow. He was a gorgeous long-haired black cat who spent most of his time outside(I'll have to find photos of him to post later...) with the sweetest personality.
At the time, I still had my buddy Max who was an indoor kitty.
Three years ago next month, I lost Max after 18 years. Shadow was there to comfort me.
When Shadow's 'Mom' died a few years back, she had said that Shadow would be ours since he considered our yard his territory as well.
After her family sold the house, a new owner moved in. Shadow quickly adopted Luke as well and Luke took over his care. Shadow still came by our house to check on us and make sure we were doing OK.
About 2 1/2 weeks ago, Shadow started to show signs of being sick. When Luke took him to the vet, they said he was quite sick and his system was shutting down. Luke made the very difficult decision to have Shadow put to sleep.

The vet's office made a polymer clay impression of Shadow's footprint. Luke then brought it in to us to paint it.
These photos show the finished product.
Shadow will be greatly missed. I still look for him multiple times a day...
He is now spending time with his beloved Mrs. Mason...