The snow was gone off of the trees in a few hours. It snowed heavily for five days but didn't accumulate much and the main roads stayed clear. We had a Chinook wind overnight, and I made lots of AI snowflakes.

Thanks SO much for helping me get my page into the right gallery. I worked so hard on that page my brain was fried, and I totally forgot to post it in the right gallery, even though I tagged it #5 to make sure it got there. :heartpumppink:

Pinyon Cabin was built in the 1940's as a workshop to manufacture germanium radio crystals. It had windows looking out in all directions to views of pine trees, other cabins and asphalt going uphill. Birds flew past my window often. It snowed off and on and not much sun.

Thanks for the challenge, Sonja! I would never choose a photo with background blur when I paid more for the high speed features, and wouldn't want to purposely blur those wonderful blackbirds and the mama coot and her baby. I had to go back to August and I had already used this photo on this...

Inspired by Jen's new Collage papers. Yes, they're AI. I had fun.

His name was Sam Sutton and he was in his thirties and a classy man. I was getting married and he'd tease me. Then one day gave me a claim check to pick something up from Bailey Banks and Biddle. It was an heirloom cut crystal bowl with a silver rim. I'd never ever forget this.

https://oscraps.com/community/media/in-my-own-thoughts-magpie.400592/ This is a magpie. Nobody had the camera ready while unloading the luggage.

There was a little bit of sun on Thursday, but it was still mostly another gray snowy day. We would miss those bird feeders and the views, but not the long string of dreary days. We'd prefer a place with better reservation policies, allowing changes for bad weather. This week was just OK.

I was surprised at how much I was drawn into working with Jen's collage papers. They've revived something that was ready to be revisited, I guess.

We had changed so much over our lifetimes, but others had not. They didn't want diversity, they wanted things back they way they used to be. They wanted their tribe at the feeder and not their competitors. We had learned about the threat of dictatorships, but they would be fine in one.

I was inspired and soon challenged by Jen's new Collage-ish papers, as I tried endless approaches to bring the teal color into the neutral set which I had split into four cards. I then recolored and added a floral Grunge 35 paper for the mango colors, and finally I added one of the pink collage...

Thanks for the challenge, Jeanne. I've been wanting to make something with the untold collection for a while. And I even managed to get your Christmas in there, although it sure seems early to me. :p

Each morning we'd get out for breakfast at NotchTop and a spin through the park. Then we'd spend the day watching the wind and snow or just the threat of snow. We loved all the Christmas lights in a place that would otherwise be just a bunch of dark cabins.

Thanks for the challenge, Claire. I expanded mine, a lot. :p I needed something to flow across the page, at least I thought I did.

I liked our place next to the river, but we didn't make our reservations early enough and the room we wanted was sold out. The cabins across the highway offered the same convenience except without the river view. I was happy that they attracted lots of birds and had pretty lights.

Thanks for the challenge! I'm a big fan of the ColorPlay releases. Here I used new collections from ET and Natali.

On Monday the park had at six to eight inches of new snow, and with a gray sky we studied a stretch of the river. Overnight ground blizzards blew away a lot of the snow by Tuesday morning, and the river was turning to ice in spot. It was cold and windy but we were glad we had at least some sun.

Thanks for the challenge!

On Monday, the number of Steller's jays at the feeder signaled that they were permanent residents. There was no sun to show off their iridescent blue feathers on that morning while it was still snowing, but I was happy to have at least seen a dozen of them just outside our window.

When we wore those long dresses, we knew what was expected of us. The fabric weighed down our steps, a gentle reminder of the roles we carried as steadily as the folds of the skirts