House of Shadows

Wishing You A Warm & Magical Christmas!

I’ll Be Taking A Break Until December 26

When You Come To The Bridge Just Cross It!

Hi Everyone! I’ve missed writing my regular posts for the past couple of days. It seems I had more than my share of computer challenges. But these challenges did in fact answer a question that has been on my mind for years, “Is it better to be born with great beauty, or with an extra dose of the stubborn gene so prevalent in my Montgomery heritage?” The answer for me is clearly to enjoy the extra dose of genetic tenacity (in addition to my great beauty, of course). Without my deep-seated Scots-Irish temperament I would have probably given up on Wordpress, Wordpress plugins, my Amazon Associate Store, and my Blog this past week. However, today is a special day of celebration for me. This post marks a 30-day milestone for me as a blogger and web page problems solver. I’m actually glad that I’ve been challenged along the way. Facing challenges is my preferred method for learning. Often times I find that when I come to the proverbial bridge that must be crossed things are actually better on the other side.

This week I was challenged with a number of Wordpress plugin updates that either didn’t work at all, or didn’t work as well as the previous version. Then my computer started running like a slug and I discovered one of my hard drives is dying, which required transferring everything into another drive. It slowed me down a great deal and admittedly I’m not the most patient person when it comes to working inefficiently.

But the good news about all these events is they forced me to resolve some formatting problems I was having with my Amazon store. The page was just the tiniest bit to big to fit this blog template. I tried to work around it by using a Wordpress plugin that I really wasn’t crazy about. When the plugin update refused to work, I decided to quit trying to find a short cut and fix the real problem. If you have visited my Book and Movie pages in the past I’m sure by comparison you will find the new “Store” page is a big improvement. I’ve had a chance to add some new books and will be adding movies tomorrow. There will always be new items and categories added along the way, but anytime you can’t find what you want listed in the store, just use the Amazon Search Box on the sidebar. My Amazon store helps support the cost of maintaining the House of Shadows Blog and buy a few hobby supplies now and then. Anytime you purchase something from Amazon by using a link on this page I am credited with a referral. Credits are not limited to books and movies as long as you enter Amazon through the link in the side bar, or through my store. So enjoy your shopping and know that I appreciate your support! I also appreciate my viewers and subscribers. You make this experience worthwhile.

I will be continuing my series on cemetery art and the “Beloved” project Saturday, December 6. In the meantime, I’m going to take a time out and just enjoy a little Rest In Peace!

Thank you for being our guest at the House of Shadows!

This site has had 1,673 page views in the first 30 days online.

My Favorite Halloween Treasures

One of the nicest things about Halloween is that it almost makes time stand still in a way. When we put on a costume and give ourselves permission to feel like a child again it’s easy to turn back the clock and feel playful again, if only for one night. Anyone viewing this Blog may have a bit of an obsession for the season and works with a passion in exchange for a few hours of childish delight. Why is it that we don’t give ourselves permission to live our lives with that much excitement everyday? Sometimes I think we should just stop the clock for a while and let the world stop spinning around us. Here’s an example of how that would look in my world…

The young boys pictured above are very special to me. Mr. Smee and Peter Pan are two typical trick-or-treaters who might have knocked on your door just a few weeks ago. If it weren’t for the paneling on the walls it would be impossible to date this picture. Can you tell the picture wasn’t taken with a digital camera? It was, in fact, taken with a Polaroid Instamatic. Now those of you in my generation are beginning to get a clue. So it’s time for the big reveal, drum roll please… Mr. Smee happens to be the father of my grandson, Phoenix! Smee’s real name is Michael and he is now 33 years old. Peter Pan, who looks very good in tights by the way, is my son Patrick; now 31. This picture was taken as they were trick-or-treating at my parent’s home. Smee was five and Peter Pan was three years old. It feels like they grew up in the blink of an eye and suddenly I have a two year old grandson!

This awareness of time drives my desire to build a Halloween display that will be the envy of the neighborhood. I want to accomplish this goal while Phoenix is young enough to look at it through the inexperienced eyes of a child so the night holds even more magic in his memories. I hope Phoenix will continue to live nearby and can come to grandma’s house to work on crafts with her in the studio if he wants, or we can plan a party for his friends at the House of Shadow’s on Halloween night! Yes, the memories of Halloweens past and anticipation of the future are things to treasure; they are the most valuable part of the Halloween experience. Until next time ….

May you be blessed with good memories of family time together on this Thanksgiving day!

Life’s Little Blessings!

It’s been raining cats and dogs for several days now. That’s not unusual for the Pacific Northwest, but the rain tends to dampen my spirits after a while. You would think someone who lives in the same town she was born in over a half-century ago would have adjusted by now. Anyway, tonight I decided I just needed to do something to help lift my spirits. I spent some time looking at family scrapbook pages I’ve done and decided to share one of my favorites with you. My series on Vampiress Morbidia will continue tomorrow, the big day for the premiere of “Twilight”.

There is nothing that makes me smile more than thinking about my grandson, Phoenix. I can’t believe he is two years old already. The pictures you see below are some of the first pictures I took after his birth. The one with Phoenix in his mother’s arms was taken at the moment she got to see her son for the first time. It was a moment I thought I would never see. You see, I have two sons and every time I mentioned grandchildren they would say talk to my brother. But I’m sure my son, Michael, would agree that becoming a father is the best thing that has ever happened in his life. It’s such a pleasure to watch him with his son. He is the loving parent I always knew he would be and I’m so proud of the way they are raising their son.

My younger son, Patrick, lives in New Zealand and has not had the opportunity to meet his nephew yet. He will be home for a visit in April and I can’t wait. I haven’t seen him for over three years. With the distance, cost of travel, and his busy schedule we don’t get to see him often…and of course I always cry the moment I see him and again when I have to say goodbye until the next time. My tears are a mixture of happiness and sorrow. The happiness comes from knowing he has accomplished the goal he set for himself very early in life; the sadness from the reality of being separated by such a huge geographical distance. But at the end of the day I feel blessed to be a mother and a grandmother and thinking about that always helps wash the winter blues away.

I needed something to bring a smile to my face today so I’m posting this cute little guy for the Rest In Peace section of my Blog. You can’t stop yourself from smiling when you look at him. Of course, it’s the kind of picture that would make my sons groan and tell me how cruel it is to put clothes on poor little dogs.

It’s A Dog’s Life At My House!

When the boys were young and I took our Schnauzer to the groomer, she would come home smelling phoofy and wearing the typical little floral scarf. My sons thought it was all too sissy for their dog. So I searched and searched for a “Harley” scarf and made four scarves for her, bought her a leather jacket and wrapped them up for Christmas. She loved her new wardrobe. It still didn’t make her look tough but at least the boys were satisfied. She lived a long and happy life; the memories of her prancing around in her Harley scarf will be with us forever.

We have had almost five inches of rain in the past 24 hours; the skies are gray and towns are flooding all around us in Southwest Washington and Oregon. The weather is supposed to break today…but I’m skeptical about the accuracy of the weather report. The good news is that I’m just going to close myself up in my studio and get some work done on my Halloween projects for 2009.

I hope this day is a good one for you. And if it’s not and you need an extra smile…. just keep coming back to this page for another look at this little pirate. He was born to make you smile and steal your heart.

Thank you for visiting House of Shadows.net!

The Old Grist Mill is one of our favorite places to go when we want to unwind. In the Fall the water rushes so quickly that you can’t hear anything over the noise of the water spilling over the falls and moving down the stream that powers the mill. It is sadly fascinating to watch the salmon swimming downstream to spawn. Their poor bodies are so battered and scarred as they are driven by nature to swim to their final destination.

The historic Old Cedar Grist Mill was built in 1876 and restored in 1989 as a centennial project. It is the only one of 19 grist mills still operating in Washington State.

This mill had suffered so much damage from neglect and vandalism over the years that it was scheduled to be demolished. However, the site has been loving restored by the Friends of the Gristmill Organization using only the tools that were available when the mill was originally built. The Friends of the Gristmill maintain the mill and volunteer their time to operate the mill for guided tours on the weekends. We officially joined the Friends of the Gristmill Organization last year.

Every Fall the volunteers have an unbelievable cider pressing event with truck-loads of apples being delivered to the site; visitors get a gallon of freshly pressed apple cider. Each weekend visitors are offered the opportunity to take home a bag of freshly milled flour or cornmeal. The cornmeal makes the best cornbread you have ever tasted and many of the volunteers are addicted to pancakes made from the freshly ground whole wheat flour.

The mill is situated immediately upstream from an updated covered, authentic timber-truss bridge. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Old Cedar Creek Grist mill is protected against future demolition.

Here are directions to the Grist Mill, if you are ever passing through Washington State and want to visit.

Driving Directions
I- 5
Take the Woodland exit #21.
Turn northeast on Lewis River Road.
Quickly turn southeast on CC Street and cross the Lewis River Bridge.
Follow the curve of the road to the left onto Hayes Road.
After about 9 miles turn left onto Grist Mill Road.
After 1/2 mile, you’ll cross a beautiful covered wooden bridge to the mill.

Fees
Free admission (donations gratefully accepted)

Become a Friend of the Cedar Creek Grist Mill.
(All membership dues are payable annually, and are good from July 1 through June 30 of the following year.)

$8.00 - Supporting member
$10.00 - Voting member
$25.00 - Patron Member
$50.00 - Memorial Please send donations to:

Friends of the Cedar Creek Grist Mill
PO Box 1404
Woodland, WA 98674

Hours
Open every weekend of the year!
Saturday: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Sunday: 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Weekday tour and demonstrations may be arranged by prior appointment. Slide shows of the mill’s reconstruction may be presented to schools and organizations for a donation. Please call for details.