I am blessed with grand and beautiful surroundings.  Plenty of room to stretch the eyes, to see weather coming, and observe fantastic sunrises and sunsets, but without the awful feeling (I think) of flat infinity.  These magnificent mountains create a visual boundary all the way around.  I would find it difficult to live in a totally flat landscape.  I love these mountains!  The only thing I miss by living and working on such flat land is the fitness I had from running up, down, and around the hill country, and the joy of standing at the top and looking out over the country below.  Can't have everything, I suppose.

My place

A touch of winter

My odd pose in this picture is due to my having placed the camera on a fencepost at so great a distance from the quad that it took me the whole ten seconds to reach the quad after pushing the button.  I was in the act of turning around when the photo was taken.

Autumn around the farm

The red set

Red, glorious red!  The scarf is attached to the jersey and is wide enough to be a sort of shawl or a hood.  The red part of the skirt is embroidered roses.

Fancy boots

How's this for style?!  I really wasn't accustomed to associating with my footsteps the sound of high heels, and 3-inch heels do slow me down some...but they are comfortable to wear - I wouldn't have bought them otherwise!

The black suit

Yes, those are two-inch high heels I'm wearing there.

Credit where credit is due...

I would like to point out that I didn't achieve the changes all by myself. I had help from my advisory board. I'll try to get a photo of them to put here. Sometimes their ideas of style differ from mine, but they sure make shopping fun! And they're happy to be my porters, too. :c)

After #2

Shopping has become a joyful adventure!  Actually, the shopping came first, then gradually the eyebrows, ears, and hair.

Hmm, that sounds like I've just acquired them or they've only recently grown or something...!

After

Changes to head: hair growing, eyebrows refined, ears pierced!

This photo is actually in mirror image because that's the way my computer takes pictures and it doesn't have the option of flipping the picture.

Before #3

...but that's enough 'before' pictures!  There are other pictures of me in earlier blogs, I'm sure.  There are some days when I myself cannot see the difference between the old and the new, but people's reactions have been such that I began to wonder, "Was it so bad before?"  Photos, of course, are never quite the same as real life, but I'm sure you'll get the idea.

Before #2

I was okay with the hair at the time, but looking back on it isn't so great! =\

Before #1

Wow, an update!!!

Not just an update - a makeover!  For those who want to know why: 1. I got sick of being mistaken for a guy; 2. I was rapidly running out of wearable clothes and had long wanted to acquire a wardrobe that I am totally happy with (as in, suits me [colours and styles that look good on me], looks great [modest, of course, but feminine and fabulous...!], and feels great to wear [no electric shocks because of static from synthetic clothing, and they say clothes don't make the woman - but they sure help!]); 3. I got tired of certain friends either telling me I should wear this item or that, or asking if I would wear such and such...; 4. it was time for a change!