I was standing by the sink, getting a glass of water, when I looked up and there, under the bird feeder, was an opossum!

The opossum. The one living under the barn. The one whose little hand prints I’ve seen in the snow and on the barn wall. My opossum!!

I yelled “Opossum!!” and scrambled for the camera, the cats scrambling in tow.

Meanwhile Possie calmly munched on sunflower shells. Then headed back home in an ambling way, following the path left by my footsteps to and from the feeder,

and sniffing the air.

When s/he disappeared out of view near the house I lost track, I think because s/he was skirting the walls, but when I ran over to the other side of the building there was Possie,

heading to that gap in the barn siding where we always suspected s/he lived.

Estyn Hulbert jewelry is now available at Associated Diamond Brokers in Philadelphia.

Drop by if you’re in the area — the people are friendly and the store has been in business for nearly half a century.

The raised beds have been reduced to little bumps, practically invisible.

My drive down to Philadelphia for the Buyers Market looked like this:

snow

more snow

I95 with only one other car in view

welcome to blizzardy Pennsylvania

you’re really in trouble now

just 3 more blocks to the hotel. Phew.

A few buyers and artists weren’t able to make it at all, or had to scramble to create displays out of office supplies when their shipments got stuck on the other side of the country. I was very lucky to have everything with me.

We had more snow on the way home, but M drove (thank you!) and we made good time.

I’m glad to be back in the studio filling orders, with the help of my trusty assistants.

I’m back home, resting, recovering and reorganizing after my adventures in Philadelphia during the great whiteout of 2010. I promise a detailed narrative very soon…

There’s a lot of making things like this

and this

going on, in preparation for the next Buyers Market wholesale show next week in Phili.

It was a beautiful day on Saturday and on the spur of the moment, knowing there was snow predicted for Sunday, we drove to New Paltz for lunch and some wandering.

I found an old slotted spoon for my collection.

Some of the holes are not fully drilled, the hole in the handle is off-center. Perfectly imperfect.

It was very windy over the holidays and when I went out to get kindling one morning I ended up gathering armloads of pine cones, blown down from the Norway spruce. For fun I filled a casserole dish with them, tightly lined up side by side.

A couple of days ago I found some of the cones on the floor and thought I knew for sure who the culprits were. But last night we heard a strange sound and when we investigated, discovered that the cones have been expanding in the heat and popping themselves out and away.

Not everything can be blamed on the woozles.

I made a Cranberry Upside-Downer Cake for the New Year’s party I went to last night. It was yummy. Emphasis on past tense.

The recipe is from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from my Home to Yours. I came across the book at the library and have since realized that every baker on the internet has been using it for years. Where was I?

I once had a German roommate who baked a cake every Saturday. God, that was a great year. We would sit perched on Indian bedspread-covered chairs and couches and eat our way through her delicious kuchen.

I’m thinking 2010 should be the Year of the Cake. I love to bake but almost never make cakes — time to rectify this. In my old roommate’s honor I think I’ll try a Bundt next.