Close Call in a Windstorm

Late last night we had gusty windstorm. We had been in bed for about an hour when we heard a noise somewhere between a big clunk and metallic thunk against/near the side of the house at the head of the bed. I assumed it was the slightly loose metal vent pipe getting pushed around – I even told John that’s what I thought it was.

This morning I had the impulse to go check and see if the pipe should be tightened up somehow.

Turns out I was wrong. It wasn’t the pipe. A 40-50 foot tree, dead for years, just on the other side of the property line in our neighbor’s yard, got blown over, toward our house. On the side right by our bedroom window and bed, AND the house propane tank.

1. If the tree had been just a FEW feet taller, it would have crashed though our bedroom window right over our sleeping heads. The top branch bent over to the left like it was reaching for it. As it was, only the topmost small branches scratched against the side of the house, just BELOW our window.

2. The metallic sound I heard was the central trunk of the tree JUST BARELY smudging the very end point of the propane tank. (I could see the 3-inch smudge mark.)

3. A branch off the central trunk, by the looks of it, had been sawed off many years ago. Had it NOT been sawed off, it would have come right down ON the tank.

And yes – photos! The arrows point to the sawed off branch, the top branches laying near the foundation of the house, and tree roots off in the distance (the white at the bottom right of that photo is the propane tank, for reference.) The window in the top left photo is our bedroom window.

So – that happened! The tree was so dead and so dry/light that I’m not entire sure it would have done much damage to the propane tank itself, but it might have landed on the valves/connections on top.  BUT….. I’m not a propane tank expert. On the plus side, I’ve seen a number of propane tanks destroyed in various ways on Mythbusters, so I know they are pretty tough – LOL.

Mostly, I’m just crazy amazed at how exact that sawed off tree branch was, and the placement of the entire fallen tree itself had to be, in order for us to have no major damage as far as I can tell. (I was actually surprised that the tree didn’t go down in the last hurricane!)  And now we don’t have that dead tree to worry about anymore.

And…. whew! That was CLOSE!

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Celtic Stormy Sea Mandala

I’ve got a new Celtic work of art to tell you about – my Celtic Stormy Sea Mandala! (Apologies up front for the obvious copyright notice across the image below.)

Art of FoxVox Celtic Stormy Sea Mandala ©Kristen N. Fox http://www.artoffoxvox.com

Here’s my ‘official’ blurb from the front page of my shop

The Art of FoxVox Celtic Stormy Sea Mandala is a deep sea of abstract blue, green, and dark purple shapes – spirals and knotwork, and movement that seem like octopus tentacles, flowing seaweed, hunting shark fins, irridescent oyster shells, spinning whirpools, and stormy waves! I chose colors that reminded me of the deeper, duskier tones that happen when a storm stirs up the deeper parts of the ocean. Click here for all of the Celtic Stormy Sea Mandala items, from apparel and shoes to playing cards, mugs, etc. The Celtic Stormy Sea Mandala also looks rather cool on home products – Shower Curtain, King-Queen-Twin Duvet Covers, Pillowcases, Throw Pillows, Clocks, and more!

You can also decorate your wall with the Celtic Stormy Sea Mandala as a fine art print – framed or unframed, and as a canvas print as well. Just click the framed image at the right (or click here) to see what options would look good on your wall. (I tend to think that most mandalas are also handy as a meditation focus.) Anyway, click on the framed image to see a larger zoom image of the actual design too.

As always, thanks for looking, and I hope you like it! 🙂

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My Original Celtic Wheel of the Year Design

Yup – releasing another new design into the wild! *grin* My original Art of FoxVox Celtic Wheel of the Year design (just to be clear, the wheel itself is ancient – this is just my unique artistic vision of it.)

Art of FoxVox Celtic Wheel of the Year Design - tshirts, gifts, bed & bath products

The Celtic Wheel of the Year represents the cycle of seasonal pagan festivals – eight holidays based around the solstices and equinoxes (Yule, Imbolc, Spring, Beltane, Midsummer, Lughnasadh, Autumn, Samhain), with holiday names and dates and symbols. In the center circle, stick-like Ogham letters represent the 13 months of the lunar calendar (that’s my own special addition to the wheel). It’s decorated with circles of Celtic knotwork & oak leaves, and the entire calendar looks like it was painted on parchment and mounted on a round wooden frame, tied together with knotted cords, for a touch of that primitive look. Click here for all of the Celtic Wheel of the Year items, from apparel and shoes to playing cards, mugs, and more – gazillions of them (actual number may be lower)!

Aaaaaaand there are also home products! Click here for the Celtic Wheel of the Year Shower Curtain, Duvet Covers, Pillowcases, Throw Pillows, Clocks… even a Tablecloth (the only one you’ll ever need for any holiday – LOL).  (Duvet Covers available in twin, queen, and king sizes.)

And, last, but not least, this unique version of the Celtic Wheel of the Year is available as a wide variety of Fine Art Prints. You can get a print with or without framing, or even as a canvas print, through our gallery at Imagekind.  It’s fine art, and also a calendar that you’ll never need to change – a twofer – heh.

As always, thanks for looking! 🙂

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FoxVox.org is Now A Teenager!

This month, this weblog turns THIRTEEN YEARS OLD! It’s seen a lot of changes over the years, not to mention the largest one which was switching from blogger to wordpress when blogger stopped supporting outside domain installs. I can remember when blogger itself was squeaky new, and it was exciting to see what cool themes people were hand-coding for themselves. Ahhh, good times.

Of course, I can hardly believe that the internet has actually been around that long (longer), much less this blog – LOL.

Anyway, happy 13th FoxVox!

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Celtic Flamingo Art

A lovely person asked me, a while ago, that if I ever had the chance, could I do a Celtic Flamingo design? So I’d like to take a moment to thank that person for inspiring me – I might not have thought to combine Celtic art with a humungous pink-orange bird on my own, but it was a great project and I think it came out marvelous! Although I don’t know how the flamingo feels about it – LOL – let’s see…

So… bird standing on one leg in water with the other bent? Check. Impossibly hard to pin down pink-orange color-changing feathers? Check. Neato Celtic knotwork border in matching colors with subtle hints of the shape of the flamingo’s beak at the edges and a hint of the shape of a bird taking flight at the corners? Check.

As always, my new Celtic Flamingo Art is now available on over 200 items in my shop. Click here to browse Celtic Flamingo t-shirts, sweatshirts, keepsakes, mugs, (and unusual items like flasks, pint glasses, cell phone cases, pill boxes, holiday ornaments and even golf balls!)

I’m also just as excited about the new-ish bed and bath items I can design for now as well. Celtic Flamingo Shower Curtain, Duvet Covers, Pillowcases and Throw Pillows – Makeover your bed or bathroom with Celtic Flamingo shower curtains, duvet covers, dinner placemats, and more! (Duvet Covers available in twin, queen, and king sizes.) There are also Celtic Flamingo fleece blankets, new woven blankets, cloth napkins, and various throw pillow styles to choose from. You haven’t been warm enough until you’ve been wrapped up in a flamingo. Hah!  (Um… I think I’ve had too much sugar already today – LOL!)


Celtic Flamingo Fine Art Prints – Yup – a flamingo for the wall too! Framed or unframed, or as canvas prints. Click here and you can pick your own sizes, mats, frames, and canvas wrap, and other options from the Art of FoxVox Fine Art Gallery at Imagekind.

Thanks so much for flamingo-izing with me today and hopefully tolerating all of my exclamation points!

 

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