DweezelJazz Art Blog » snow

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

DweezelJazz — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:49:01 +0000

Here we are at the end of another year. This year has gone very quickly!

It has been a year filled with many challenges and also beautiful things.

As nature sheds its leaves, resting and in preparation for a new beginning next year,

I hope that this coming year will be even better, and that we can each, in our own way, make the world a better place.

Thanking all of you who take the time to read this blog and wishing you a very good holiday season and new year.

Snowy Peaks Jura Mountains, France

best wishes,
Nat Wildish, aka DweezelJazz

Snow and Deer in the Jura, France

DweezelJazz — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:28:28 +0000

A couple of evenings ago I noticed a few deer running down from the hills. This is a real event here because the deer are totally wild and wary of any human encounters – they are hunted here during the hunting season, unlike those around Shannon’s town. You can see lots about deer in Shannon’s blog “Chipper’s Alley“. I grabbed the camera and ran to the upstairs window.

Three deer crossing a field

There were three deer. Two of them were circling one another and playing in the snow, dashing here and there. The third hung back.

Two of the deer play in the snow

After jumping and generally horsing, or maybe I should say deering, around the two playful deer stopped and looked at one another. They moved closer.

Two deer together

Then, it seemed it was time to move on again, and all three made their way into the next set of trees and out of sight.

Three deer heading into the trees

Yesterday afternoon the sun came out and we went for a quick walk up the hill.

Snow in the Jura Foothills

Footprints made by critter in the Jura Snow

We saw lots of tracks, some clearly made by dogs, other that seemed to be made by deer and then this set, which we see very often. We’re guessing they’re made by a fox (we have seen a fox a few times near our place). Do you know what kind of tracks they are? I didn’t think to add something for reference of scale, but they’re a fairly small size.

We were the first ones to take the path up the hill, and it was so satisfying to trundle through pristine untrodden snow.

Jura Snow

I was wearing ski pants, leaving me at total liberty to lie down and roll in it! I always wanted to lay in a cloud… this is the next best thing. We had five inches of snow this morning and afterwards the sun came out even more gloriously than yesterday. The snow is so powdery and light that when we tried to make a snowman it wouldn’t adhere and we ended up with a very crumbly stalactite (oops, I actually mean) stalagmite.

We’re having loads of fun in the snow and the views are beautiful!

Jasmine Sees Snow

DweezelJazz — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 07:00:00 +0000

Jazzy has seen it snow before, but last weekend she saw it snow heavily.The flakes were so thick and sometimes large that it wasn’t possible to see more than a block or two away.Jazzy took this all in her stride.(She looks rather pterodactyl or tyrannosaur-like in this profile shot, doesn’t she!?)She was curious to see the flakes and to see the white ‘stuff’ building up on the balcony.Later, I brought in a handful of snow from the balcony and made it into a fairly large snowball. I showed it to her, saying it was ‘fun’, which is our keyword for knowing something is safe. She showed immediate interest and started playing with it, chomping holes out of it with her beak.She’s quite fearless when it comes to most new things. She seems to enjoy the excitement of something new and challenging, so long as she knows you’re there to keep her safe at the same time.Flying and fun indoors continued as normal……as she comes into a landing at her play station…(To see more about Jazzy’s play station you can go to a previous post: “Jasmine On Her Play Station”.)…and settles herself……for another good look at it snowing.

Easter Weekend Snow In The Pays de Gex, France

DweezelJazz — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:00:00 +0000

I love snow. Most of my early childhood I only imagined what snow was like. The closest experience I had of what it looked like was one of those toys that, on being shaken, bring up fake flakes which descend through the liquid inside the glass globe onto a scene within it. And ever since whenever it snows, especially if it’s heavy, I see it as though I were in one of those toy globes and it seems just like magic.It snowed and snowed in the Pays de Gex last weekend, and then it snowed some more.Two weeks ago there were already many signs of Spring arriving and we were surprised when the snow continued heavily for several days.It was cold enough for icicles to form on the balcony……and was very beautiful.Going anywhere was a challenge, so we stayed home. It was Easter weekend, though it looked more like Christmas!The Jura foothills were gorgeous. It’s fascinating to watch the clouds move over the trees like a stealth blanket.The sun sometimes shone, shedding a glowing light on the white treetops.When patches of blue sky also appeared the sight was glorious.

Merry Christmas!

DweezelJazz — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 07:00:00 +0000

It’s Christmas time! There’s snow on the mountains and it’s cold and frosty outside.It’s nice to be indoors, warm and dry with a pretty Christmas tree. This is our little tree – well, it’s not your usual Christmas tree, but our ficus tree agreed to have lights and tinsel put on his branches. And it makes for a lovely warm sight, with a bundle of prezzies underneath. Jazzy too likes to unwrap prezzies. Last night we all opened a present just to celebrate that Christmas is nearly here and start the festivities.We have also sampled one or two Christmas season goodies to get into the fun of things: almond cakes, Italian panettone, Spanish turron, almond with honey, persimmons and all sorts of special things.Wishing you a very lovely Christmas and that 2008 brings you many good things.

Snow On The Jura Mountains, France

DweezelJazz — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:00:00 +0000

There’s snow on the Jura mountains! It was very pretty this morning, all pristine white.It looked like the mountains had been dusted with powdered sugar.The air was clear and lovely to breathe.Sometimes clouds wafted by.The sky was dazzling blue.The colors were gorgeous.Occasionally it seemed entire peaks would evaporate.Snow is a wonderful thing and it brought with it a very lovely day.