New Camera

Hello All!! Here are some pictures I took yesterday with my brand new totally awesome camera! Yesterday we went to Potato Days a big festival they have once a year out at Centennial Village (where Tim and I got married). So, some of the pictures are from there. They have lots of reinactments and demonstrations of Greeley history and lost arts. It was really fun. You also get a free baked potato with admission. So, a lot of the flower pictures are from Centennial Villages gardens. The kitty pictures are just me figuring out how to work my camera. I also put in a picture of our yard because no one has seen our new grass! Papa - the purple star shaped flower is one I just planted in my back yard. Do you know what it is? I bought it at a nursery that was shutting down, and there was not a tag on it. As for my camera, I am still playing around with settings, but so far, I am really happy with it. I love you guys,
Betony

Canning

Good morning my lovely family! Just wanted to share this pic of me canning! Didn't break any jars and now have seven quarts of peaches on the shelf! Cool!

Betony's Questions Answered:

OK Bet, answering your questions! Yahoo! But I really miss seeing your pics! Put em up girl!

1. What are some of your all time favorite fiction books:

La Cucina, Witch of Black Bird Pond, Juniper and Wise Child, The new one about the Goose Girl (can't remember the name), The Red Tent, Wendell Berry's stuff, The Abhorsen series, Ahab's Wife, Star Girl, The Secret Life of Bees, stuff by Barbara Kingsolver, gosh there are so many!

2. Favorite Non-Fiction? Um....I don't think I'm very good at actually reading these sort of books, but want to! They just don't draw me in. But I would like to read that color book Bet.

3. What are you reading right now? Working on "The Nanny Diaries" - although I've almost had enough of it. Looking for something new! Any suggestions?

Sister Show!

This is a little handout I did for this weeks Art Hop in Burlington that I'm doing. I'm really REALLY excited about the Sister Show! Ya! - Katie

check it out!

Front page of the arts and entertainment section! There were also three great pics on there too - but they don't show up on their webpage. Enjoy!

http://www.vermontjournal.com/topnews.htm#fifthstory

Yummy Peach Yumminess

Good Morning! I wanted to share this yummy peach dessert with all of y'all:

If you have them - use little crème brûlée cups - but maybe large muffin tins would work too. Take a whole fresh peach, cut it in half and hollow out just a little from the center so you have room to fill it and put in dishes (hole side up!). Take goat cheese (one blob per peach) and heat up in microwave so it's soft and mixable, mix in a little honey to whatever sweetness you want (I like about a tsp of honey for two blobs of cheese). Put a nice amount of cheese with the honey mixed in into the peach holes, sprinkle a few peacans on the top and dust with a little cinnamon and pop in the oven at 300degees for about 20 mins! Yummy yummy in your tummy. Enjoy and think about "The Maggie B" - Love - Katie

Pretty much the last of our summer

Strong Men! Sandy and Minor at Buckeye

Enjoying the afternoon at the Waitsfield farmers market with Christy and Geoff

Sandy jumping in the waves in MI

rainbow day sisters

Beautiful mountain hike and the rooted trail on Lincoln Gap Sunset Ledge

On the hike - I love my striped leggings!

Mountain top love - sitting on Sunset Ledge overlooking Lincoln

lovely ladies in the pool

Sandy jaming with Sophia!

Enjoying the beautiful peaceful beach at lake MI - also getting a burn!

Katie, Kate and Valetta

B and K - love this pic - it's now on my computer screen

Morning clouds as Sandy and I drove out of KS back to the north

The first signs of Autumn on the trail at Lincoln gap.

Traveling Journal Continued

Boarding the train to cross Britain . . .
Advice to international travelers: take one small suitcase and only one small suitcase! We all took way too much luggage and accumulated more as we went along!
The trains were mostly great! At least this one was - sleek and speedy! cool and comfortable!
We sailed across the Irish Sea from Holyhead, Wales to Dublin, Ireland. The ferry boat ride took 1 1/2 hours. Here's one of the ships in the Irish fleet, though we didn't sail on this one. We were on the "Swift", quite a bit smaller but swifter!

Wee bit of breeze on the deck!

More Questions!

YEAH!!!! I found out last night that I am going to be getting a camera! Thanks to all who contributed! If anyone has suggestions as to what I should get, let me know. I am hoping to order it this week. Yeahhhhhhhhhh. Finally!!! Tons of pictures coming soon!
In the mean time, since I actually got some of you to answer my questions, here are some more.

1. What are some of your all time favorite fiction books (The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Jane Eyre (or any Bronte' sisters books), gosh this is hard...The Giver, the Garth Nix Series, Harper Hall of Pern Books, anthing by Shannon Hale, all the Harry Potters, all the LOTRs, Stargirl, all Nancy Farmers books, and a bazillion more I can't think of right now.

2. Favorite Non-Fiction? (A Natural History of the Senses, most Art History Books, the Gourmet Cookbook (thanks aunty!),

3. What are you reading right now? (I actully just finished "The Riddle" this morning. It was awesome. The first book is called the Naming - Willow, this is totally our kind of book. You will love it. It is a quartet. I can't wait until the next one comes out. It is about bards.)

4. For Mom: Between the Rainforest, a Desert, a Tropical Island, the Moon, The Artic, deep underground, or the bottom of the ocean, where would you live? (definitely the rain forest. So cool!)

921 Kearney....

Hey all! sorry for not posting in foreverrr! I have been really wrapped up in learning how to live in a house that is full of...hmm...how do we say this politically...issues. The first or second night I was here we had a huge rainstorm and woke to find we had three massive leaks in the basement. The trash company didn't bring us a dumpster until just a couple days ago, almost THREE weeks after we signed up with them. They kept saying they were soo busy and running soo behind (obviously, although I really don't think dropping off dumpsters is something you can get 3 weeks behind on...) We had to keep all our trash in the house. It was not pleasant. Oh well. We are also waiting on our landlord to drop of paints so that we can paint our living room which is absolutely disgusting, because the walls are stained with "I don't want to know" and the people who lived here tried to paint over some stuff but didn't use the right shade of white, so they are all splotchy. And, we are waiting on our landlord to get our backdoor fixed, which doesn't lock! Yikes!
Anyway, those are just the major things in our house, there are all sorts of little surprises that we discover each day. It's such an adventure living in a student house!
I started school last monday and I am almost ready for a break already! Classes are good, although none that I am really really excited about, but none that I am going to hate either. This tuesday I am going to audition to get into a modern class. Finally I am going to be dancing again!
Bet, to answer your sweet questions: the last person I talked to on the phone was Papa, which was really nice because I hadn't talked to him in a long time.
My favorite vegetable is...hmmm...this is a difficult one, I really like corn especially roasted, although the fried okra is definetly high on the list as well, as is steamed squash and mashed potatoes...I'm not so sure which one takes the cake here.
I would definetly choose the sahara. I despise being cold as well, but I agree with mom, what awful choices! How about the rain forest!
Well, I am off to do some cleaing and some homework before I head off to Applebees for my last day of training! Yay!
Love you all!
Willow

Article about Atlas

Hello All!
Here is a link to an article that was published about Atlas in the paper on Friday. It was a full page article. Pretty cool! Anyway, thought you might enjoy. It was funny though, because on the caption for this picture, it said "Tim and Amy Coons..." oops.
Have a great day!

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20060818/ENTERTAIN/108180080/-1/FEATURES

Please post more often everyone!!!!!!!!

Questions...

So, most of you are still at home, so probably no one will check this, but hopefully you will answer soon!

1. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? (Some guy asking for Tim to organize music for a wedding he is playing at tomorrow)

2. What is your favorite vegetable (Fried Okra!!)

3. If you had to choose between the Sahara or the Artic, where would you live? Why? (Definitely the Sahara. I hate being cold)

Love you all, Betony

Mom's pic for Betony's question

Cultural differences and other interesting pics from Europe




Watch out in those subways! You might never find your way out!









Juicy bits or no bits are the orange pulp options in London









What's the deal?! Not for girls?





World Cup fever was everywhere! (Actually Willow looks rather presidential here, don't ya think? (as in current U.S. White House resident, he he)




This is actually the name of a town in Wales we passed through on the train. How would you like to write that out on all your return addresses!
Next stop, Ireland!!
Love Mom

Weekly Questions:

Hello all! I so cannot wait to see everyone next week. Yeah!!!! In the mean time, here are some questions for you to answer. By the way. I was sorely disappointed at the response to last weeks. Only two responses! Tut tut tut.
So...

1. Post a picture that you found inspiring in some way (this is a detail from Rodin's sculpture Burghers of Calais. I am doing a painting of part of it. The picture I am using for my painting is much better. However, it is out of a book)



2. What can you hear right now (I can hear June bugs outside my window, the hum of my computer, my fingers typing on the keyboard, and our cat Max playing with his smacky toy)

3. What are you looking forward to most this next week? (I can't wait to play baseball with everyone)

Rhubarb Muffins!

Title: Rhubarb Oatmeal Muffins
Yield: 12 Muffins

Ingredients

      2 c  fresh or frozen rhubarb
           --pieces
      1    egg
      1 c  milk
      1 ts lemon juice
    1/2 c  vegetable oil
  2 1/2 c  whole wheat flour
      2 c  brown sugar
      1 c  rolled oats
      1 ts each of cinnamon and -baking
           - soda
    1/2 ts salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Grease 12 muffin cups or coat with cooking
spray. If using frozen rhubarb, measure out 2 cups of rhubarb pieces, then
finely chop. Or, measure out 2 cups fresh rhubarb cut into 1 inch pieces,
then finely chop. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat egg lightly. Then stir in milk, lemon juice and
oil. Measure flour, sugar, rolled oats, cinnamon, baking soda and salt
into a large mixing bowl. Stir with a fork until mixed, then make a well
in centre. Pour in egg mixture, stirring just until combined. Gently stir
in rhubarb until evenly mixed.

Immediately spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake in centre of 350F (180C)
oven until a cake tester inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean,
about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Then
turn muffins out onto a cooling rack. Store muffins in a sealed bag at
room temperature for up to 2 days.

Nutrients per muffin: 5.9g protein, 10.8g fat, 60.1g carbo's, 349 cals.

Yeah!!!!

The blog is back! Make sure you all answer the questions! Boys too!
Love you all,
Bet

Fun Questions...

So, here is the plan. I am going to ask all of you 3 weekly questions. EVERYONE has to respond to each of these. I think it will be a fun way to get everyone to post a little more often!
So...

1. What is something delicious you have eaten recently?
(mine is Saint Andre cheese with Panera's crusty bread with Meagan in Ft. Collins. We had the best meal ever!)

2. What song have you been listening to a lot recently?
(I found a cool new artist named Josh Rouse - willow - he is from spain now! I love his song 'Sad Eyes'. )

3. What is something fun that you are going to do today?
(I am having 3 friends over to paint!)

Hope you all enjoy! I would love to hear your answers!
Love,
Bet

Granada!

Hey all! First off, I have sad news. My camera broke, so I won't be able to post any more pictures as I am having to use crappy and expensive throw-away camaras. Something with the lense broke and it won't let me take pictures at all. I called Canon and they said I would have to send it to them so they could fix it. sighh...Oh well.
Last weekend I went with few other students to Granada. It is a really really beautiful city full of cathedrals and old beautiful buildings just covered in amazing carvings etc. We visited the Alhambra, which is a HUGE palace. It had fountains and gardens all over it and it was situated above the city so when you got up on the walls you could look out and see everything.
Our hostel was probably the most interesting part of the whole trip. We reserved it ahead of time online (not realizing how easy it is to get a hostel inside the city). It took us forever to find it because it was kind of outside the city near the Alhambra. So by the time we found it we were all hot, tired and grouchy. We had reserved a 5 person suite, but we actually had 6 people. We walked into the room and all just burst out laughing, because "suite" was about as far away from correct as you could get, because all it was, was a single room with 3 single beds and one double bed. There wasn't even enoough space between them to walk. Also it was the dirtiest most disgusting place ever! There were ants on the floor (and some other creepy crawly things that I couldn't identify). A couple of us found hair in between the sheets of our beds, etc etc etc. Not to mention the owners were about as sketchy as you can get! The hostely did have a pool though, which was nice, although we were all a little scared of getting in the water for fear of catching some unknown disease! But we made it through and had a pretty good time of it as well.
I am now back in Ronda, sitting in front of the bar El choque which has wireless internet (even though it is closed I still get signal)! It is a gorgeous night and I think I will head over to some cafe after this so I can do the homework I have put off all weekend!
I miss you all!
Love Willow

A few more

I love this guy!



The awesome inside of the Phantom Theatre (in a cool barn!) - the artwork up in the ceiling is really cool!


Our first raspberry!



My sweet blue shoes - while I'm taking it easy before rehearsal out on the porch of Phantom Theatre. Thanks J - just love the shoes!

Flowers, Phantom and Cool Sandy

Hi! So - a few pics from the past two weeks. Sandy and his friend Trenholm (girl unknown) being cool for the camera at a pool party while Katie was chatting away with customers at her art show in Cobourg. The Phantom Theatre barn! Really cool and where I perform this past weekend with my dance company - The All-Purpose Dance Company! And just sharing some pics of the greenery here at our house - just look at those peas that Sandy is standing in front of! They are over my head!!! I can't believe it! Also please admire the burgandy hollyhocks - I am trully amazed at their loveliness! I think this real "growing" thing here in Vermont is just amazing! Wow!
Hope you all are having a good week! Can't wait to see more beautiful pictures from Spain Willow!! And Bet - I LOVED the posts you put on your new art blog! Awesome! Everyone should go check it out: http://www.greensparrow.blogspot.com/Love you all so so much!
- Katie