Oh Yeah...

It's done!

The bath/bedroom project is officially complete! Last night was our first night back in our bedroom. It felt like we had moved into a new house. It turned out so well that I am so proud of myself I can hardly stand it! I figure I spent 28 long days (divided into weekends and days off) on the project. I can understand now why Habitat for Humanity requires the future inhabitants to work on their homes. All of a sudden I have a vested interest in my abode, and and am even more proud to be its inhabitant.

The picture above is of the bamboo floor before we started moving everything back in. At first the color variation in the wood was a tad disturbing, but as the pieces started accumulating, the overall effect was very pleasing.

Now that we have moved back into the bedroom and out of the dining room, my life should return to (somewhat) normal, and I can start posting more often again. I also plan to get back into the pastel quite heavily again. It's all a matter of priorities, and now that my shelter (one of man's 'needs') is back to normal, the rest of my life can continue as before.

Until next time!
Pastel Guy
www.matthewweld.com - pastel paintings
www.studio206.etsy.com - handmade jewelry

Sunlight and Sycamores

As I went outside to retrieve the trash cans this afternoon, I stepped out into a beautiful late afternoon replete with long shadows and a brilliant blue sky. So I dropped the vacuum canister, ran inside, grabbed my camera, and came out for some low-angled light pictures to save for future reference. This one was my favorite. We have two acres, much of which is covered with trees that connect to about 50 more acres of trees behind us that will never (OK, probably never) be developed. Anyway, the sycamore trees with their whitish bark make cool designs against the blueblue sky of winter.

Random Photo Day

Flathead Lake, Montana, USA

This picture was taken on our trip out west this last summer (sorry the horizon is not level. I guess that's what happens when your driving and photographing at the same time!). Now that it is wintery outside, I think I may make this the wallpaper on my computer.

The is the decent off the terminal moraine at the north end of the Mission Valley into the town of Polson, where I went to school. Flathead Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. This photo just shows the bay at the southern end. Those are the Mission Mountains in the distance. My folks had a house on the lake up the west shore near Big Arm. It would take my sister and me 45 minutes to ride the bus to school - and we were one of the last ones to get on in the morning, and the first to get off in the afternoon.

One of my fellow Etsy montanateam members mentioned how fierce the winters were in the 1970s. If that is true, then the winters when we used to ice skate across the frozen Big Arm Bay to the islands were unusual by today's standards. Sound travels so much better over ice that the coyotes on Wild Horse Island would sound as if they were in your back yard, and when the ice melted and cracked the creepy eeeerrrroinnnng would wake you up at night.

The blue dot below shows about where our house was. You can see the couple of islands we would visit to the north and east.

So that's probably more than you wanted to know, but there y'have it.

Until tomorrow!

Pastel Guy

www.matthewweld.com - pastel paintings

www.studio206.etsy.com - handmade jewelry for sale

What's on the Menu?

Another Halloween is done and over with. Whew!

Trick-or-treating with the young-uns and the cousins over for another year. (Of course the parent-tax that is incurred for such shuttling around is pretty sweet - no pun intended!)

That means everything scary is over for another year, right? WRONG! In a last ditch effort to gain ratings, I have decided to join NaBloPoMo. Yep, I'm a first-timer at this thing, but it sounds fun. *insert scream of mortal terror*

National Blog Posting Month is just that - y'all are going to have to be burdened with my witticisms on a daily basis for thirty whole days.

It's as if I have all this time on my hands. As if I'm a stay-at-home Dad. (We did play the McDonald's Monopoly in hopes of the 20-year annuity, but to no avail *pouty lip*

But never fear! I have some things planned. I spent several hours today making jewelry, so that should last a while. Then there was Halloween at school. That's always fodder for some good stories (think projectile vomit in a crowded classroom!).

Then there's the large blog posting I'm planning for (think jewelry how-to with pix!).

Oh, and all the stuff happening with education these days (I mean seriously! What have I gotten myself into?). NCLB, RtI, AYP - makes my head spin!

But one thing that won't be included - no politics! Of course I'll be casting my vote for the right choice on Tuesday, but after that, it's up to the rest of everyone else. ...as if anyone would take me seriously enough to follow my advice anyway! I mean, if seventh graders don't listen to me, what makes me think that y'all would?!

*Deep breath* OK, I'm good. Was starting to get all fired up there for a minute!

The pumpkins above were carved by my precious children, and the photo taken by moi. And it's a pretty darn good one, if I do say so myself! I guess the wad o' cash I dropped on that baby back in January was finally worth it. The exposure ended up being about 8 seconds.

So, peace out. I'll be talking to you again tomorrow!

Pastel (and whatever) Guy