A splot of metallic copper paint is shimmering on the back of my hand as I sit down to the computer for a moment – a leftover smudge from the final coat of faux copper painted onto the ceiling of the studio nap room – aka “the nest.” Serene. Heavenly. Sweet. The nest has grand views (five windows). The copper and faux Venetian plaster is a warm earthy cozy welcome respite from the zap happy lime green study below. The floor will be painted deep purple and a henna-inspired mural painting of the Tree of Life will bloom itself up a wall and onto the ceiling - someday. Birds and Buddhas are the theme for the nest. Dreamie. Last Friday Paul and I packed up all of his tools and took down the scaffolding. I swept. We opened the doors so that Momma Nature could blow out the sawdust while I spun around. The amazing brand NEW pristine inspiring space is…mine.
Simply sat down on the cement floor of this elegant empty clean-slate compelling place, I felt overwhelmed by the gift, the grace, the years and years of dreaming/struggling/believing and then…this! Even as I begin to move each truckload of studio stuff from storage I find myself shedding tears and grinning. I see myself on this big blank first page of a new chapter in a vivid richly packed fully lived book of my life. Little o’l me…not much bigger than a punctuation point. There. On the white page, in the white sunlit studio - a question mark -an exclamation point and three little dots.
? ! ...








I followed a fresh set of mountain lion tracks down the driveway to my cozy little cabin at the end of the road near the top of a mountain in Montana…a long way from the warm nights of Texas ranch life! Temps dropped below zero soon after I drug my little suitcase up the patio steps and shoveled my way into the door. The little place heats up pretty quickly – by the time Zaydee has made her rounds sniffing out every visitor who roamed outside while we were gone – I can take my down coat off and settle in. I ignored cyberspace for the most part during President’s Day Weekend. I squeezed in a soul refreshing long yoga class, bought g
roceries and hunkered down happily on the mountain content to stay put for a few days. I enjoyed a slumber party with a girlfriend – drinking hot toddies and peering at paint chips for the studio, finished reading a book while soaking in my big claw foot tub, poked around my freshly sheet rocked studio, hiked and post-holed my way through deep snow late one crisp cold afternoon. The last afternoon was sunny - I strapped on skis to enjoy the sunshine and powder while skiing up and down the mountain behind my home. Ranch life with cute furry babies seemed a world away.
My work week started with a 3 hour dentist appointment.
I guess 2:15 a.m. is about the middle of the night. I am simply not used to warm nights - not even summer in Montana has many warm nights but here I am dorking around in the middle of the night in flip flops and shorts 

My friend Aaron Mulky has created a unique fundraiser to take care of one of our tribe in her time of need. Echo Oak was injured when she fell 200 feet while climbing ice. She spent a cold winter night outside before her rescue but she is recovering thank goodness. Aaron and his partner are going to climb ice for 24 hours straight to raise funds for Echo’s medical bills. 



I debated Saturday night whether to spend Super Bowl Sunday on a ski tour around Bunsen Peak in Yellowstone (wouldn’t be able to take Zaydee) or ski near Chico Hot Springs with Zaydee and include a soak afterwards.
Luckily a few days before the bug I enjoyed a relatively warm day playing on ice with friends and have a few pictures to share.



Fun and whimsical - "Zuko" seemed like a bright cheery pick on this winter grey day. My girlfriend 



Yes my client was there.


I love the fact that Zaydee made it into the