photography

| cclelandnissen

Just getting into uploading my videos via YouTube! Here is a short clip of one of our visitors last fall. Stay tuned for more moving pictures 🤓

| cclelandnissen

A new visitor, the cedar waxwings love our fermented apples. It makes me so happy to know the leftover apples are feeding hungry little bellies 💚

We’re back

| cclelandnissen

Some kind of virus made it’s way into our home, but today I’m much more coherent than I have been in previous days.
A spoonful of my homemade elderberry syrup in my tea (slippery elm) has been helping with my enthusiasm to stay awake. The sunshine and gorgeous weather, too. I’m always ready for a good storm, however.
The dogs have all been soaking up every ray of sunshine they can get. The younger dogs, Magnolia and Willie, have been frolicking all over the yard, thoroughly sniffing each new plant or interesting specimen they come upon.

The season is really in a sort of ‘transitioning to a transitional period’, and you can tell. Things are happening.

| cclelandnissen

Current obsession 🦅🦅

Also, my babies is cute. The nickname Willie Vanille has been going around and I’m not mad about it.

| cclelandnissen

Frigid temperatures. The whole world seems to have died.

Willie was spayed on Tuesday. She had 8 teeth extracted, but she doesn’t seem to be bothered by that! We’ve been spending a lot of time around the fireplace and snuggled under blankies on the couch. She has become so important to me, and everyone really, she has the biggest heart and endless amounts of love to give. A tiny kiss and a hug from her has the ability to completely melt me. She’s a tiny angel and I’m obsessed.
Magnolia has developed a strong liking for her Christmas duckie. It was given to her by her cousin, and I think that gives it a little more importance. She likes to carry it around in her mouth everywhere she goes, and sometimes throws it up in the air. I believe it is a game she created on her own, as she tends to do this.

I can never stay asleep. The middle of the night hours are my favorite. When no one else is up. I’ve been spending these hours drawing and creating different things. This is my free time, when no one else can tell me it’s wrong or not good enough, no one else has anything to say. It’s lovely. Sometimes I will do some yoga or try a new meditation, but mostly I just want to create.
The dogs don’t mind it either, they seem to be rather soothed by the soft music and sounds of the pencil to paper. I think the emptiness would be unbearable if they weren’t beside me during these times.
Because Valentine’s day is coming up, I plan to draw a scene from some of my favorite “romance” movies. I’ve never been a fan of romance anything, so I may use the term lightly in my choosing. Anyway…

This is a sort of new way of living, slowing down, I mean. I’ve been creating time for myself to slow down and doing things that are better for me. Taking long baths, just because I need to. Mindfully baking nurturing deserts for my family, being attentive to every detail. I’m no longer rushing from one thing to the next without giving any thought of how I’m feeling. It turns out, that’ll take you from bad to worse real quick.
Needless to say, I’ve joyfully welcomed 2026, as if it actually mattered what year it was. I have faith that mid-life crises only happen once. We’re on to better things.