one little snowman and a lot of fun

as many of you may remember, i'm an artist. today was a lot of fun..... even though this looks like a cartoon believe me it was a joy to my artist heart. i ran out of light so it's not done yet...... but here are the progress pictures...more or less out of order!

the first two show how the light makes a huge difference in how you see them..... that one on the right is how i see it..but the one here on the left show's you what it looks like without incandescent light-- he needs something in his hands..... one of my friends asked for a kitten.. but i am wondering if that is a good idea.... but we'll see tomorrow when the light is back
now if you all could have SEEN me painting today (facebook folks you saw the in progress as it progressed!) what you would all have seen was me dancing while i was painting. i put on some celtic woman and away i went ......singing and dancing and painting and clapping my hands..... i had a wonderful wonderful day
i know it's not 'great art' but it is painterly, loose and freely painted.... its got weight to it..... so right now i'm happy with it
hahahaha
actually this little guy makes me smile and laugh out loud
and mirrors how much fun i had today-
at one point he said to me 'i need arms'
he needed feets too......to dance in the moonlight.....
now i'd been planning on twig arms so imagine my surprise when he got painted arms! a bit later i could have sworn that he asked for a nicer hat and some holly and berries.....
i was shocked when he wanted purple along with the blue in the shadows..but he was happy

ok is he great art.....no
is he satisfying art? you tell me? does he make you smile? evoke a mood?....make you feel good inside?

hahahhahaha, i was going to do a victorian father christmas but didn't have a large enough peice of wood, this is 4' tall and about 2' wide..... (we'll reverse to a pumpkin guy for halloween...)so anyway i hope you folks enjoy the not quite in order progression of my snowman dummy board. i know i had a blast doing him....he's going on the right side of the door and will have a small spot light on him.... on the left side will be two porch trees and that is christmas here.......

ahem...... i fell off the yarn wagon

good thing it was a soft landing

knitpicks had a sale on stuff i JUST bought and stuff that i liked but was discontinued

ok so more yarn is on it's way.....(i'm so weak) but at least i know there are a few more hats in my future since thaddeaus peabody ATE one of the new ones already (the variegated reds)
and where is DA BOY right now? in the window reminding me LOUDLY that it's time for hot fancy feast....... and possibly a fire in the woodstove please?

ok in the mail yesterday, there was my doufeu (yeah!!!!!! with all the gift cards etc it only cost me 29.09 for le creuset!)
my coned yarns from webs (purples...... and a wine)
and my yearly lipstick

now there are two bead orders, dvds, books and yes yet another yarn order
we're done for the year (or maybe 4 months or so no?)

i got the front door wrapped as a package, i got bernie's timer set up correctly
and today is snowman day!
i am thinking of making him reversible- which vicky thinks is a good idea
snowman one side
PUMPKIN man on the other!
how about that!
with twiggy arms i think......no?
i did a rough sketch of my little guy and it looks like it'll work out
i only have a bit of house paint so i am going to have to work around that.....i don't have any universal tints which would really have helped
but i got some acrylic for outdoors i think so i'll do shading with them
i do need to get some exterior urethane to seal it all- and i need a universal tint for the orange side ....cause my house paint is MY house trim paint......that cream from the front door trim
so if i at least get the one side started and then base the other side we're good to go no?

today is day two of the progesterone to hopefully bring on a period and then push me over into menopause. so far so good
ha
it's only early yet

the weather today is warmish (for november) and rainy- already in the mid 50's so no fire today
tomorrow is a post office run- beads beads beads.......
do you think maybe there are beads coming???
do you think i am excited?
YUP
hahahahahahahahaha
ok on to the snow man
ttyl

forget about the end of december....... christmas is this week for us

or at least christmas presents
i got tracking on almost everything i ordered friday
and it looks like between tomorrow and wen everything will get here or at least to the po
i am then pretty much on a yarn diet until some of this stuff gets knitted up
i also have holiday 'cards' to send out
i should start that and the snowman today
i was actually thinking about that snowman while i was taking my shower and i think i figure out how i am going to do him.....i think with a sugar loaf hat and a little black cat!

i also had a dream about a horror story with a protagonist called 'doctor louie' in the dream someone was reading the manuscript and said.....'freddy cruger ain't got nothing on doctor louie'
i didn't read what i had typed but even i was scared....
yeah.......no thanks

in cat news.....poor thaddeaus broke a nail so when we went to cut them...he had a bloody one....poor guy
bernie picked up fawns thyroid meds but i need to get her to the doctor and with baling twine tying up my car that isn't going to happen soon i think
i have to figure another way

i also have to try to get my ass in gear around here..... i swear i just drift and drift sometimes
the days are still warm so maybe i can get some other stuff done soon?

and we still need more wood for the winter i think unless these warm days continue all winter
the down side to that is the insects don't die

ok i need coffee
so i'll be going now...
i hope to remember to post about the beads and yarn that is coming
and the doufeu that i can't wait to use

hot days, cold nights

so we are putting up holiday lights, and i want to pick up a pair of 'porch' trees for the front
and i am painting a dummy board .......the voting is so far .......santa ahead of the snowman but the board i have is ONLY 4 FEET TALL........ awful short santa no? i would have liked a 6' tall santa at least (8 would be fabulous but where the hell would we store it?)
i would like to wire a lantern on it.....
so tomorrow i am going to basecoat the board, and start painting.....
it doesn't look like i'll be getting my three board shutters though this year..... i can make them but i can't PAINT them in time

i also wanted to pick up another turkey while they were cheap and do a thanksgiving dinner to put in the freezer but we missed it (thank bernie for that one)
so i am annoyed ........
really annoyed today
ok we're off to bangor for two porch trees and some more lights
maybe i will feel better later

november are you sure? it's going up to about 70 degrees!

it is helping our wood pile though
but nights get cold

today i hope to get some stuff done around the house
i don't think bernie has the same idea though
he did my dishes so does that mean i am to climb on the roof and clean the gutters and inspect the woodstove chimney?

i am feeling so much better after the food poisoning.
a bit touch and go here and there but better

i am up to the last part of 'lazy lara' in shawl knitting.....
and i started reading 'the ghost stories of christmas'
which is a good light before bed reading.
and i have been putting up some lights around for the holidays
i need more strands though
i have to say, while i don't like the color of the LED light strands i DO like that they are cold!
they don't generate any heat which means they can be put in a lot of different places
the color however is a coldish greenish sort of alien glow
not like the warm cozy glow of the incandescent bulbs
so i think we'll mix them up a bit no?
i am planning on getting a few more sets and stringing some through the studio since we pretty much live in here

i suppose i'll have to put a tree up as well? (it will be tiny and it will most likely be white!)
and decorated with pastel colors, rose, peach, pale gold...creams.......
i also need to send out our 'not a holiday card'
hmmmmm
and bake right
i need to make cookies or something no?

what do you folks do for the holiday?

no thanksgiving dinner for us

instead we were on a roadcall the byrn mawr pa

so we will have the next holiday as a dinner ahead of time and pack sandwitches for the inevitable road calls

except new years...........i refuse to go out on new years

now i have some sad but not unexpected news.

henrietta the chicken died. she was one of my oldests chickens......one of the buff orpingtons i started out with- her sister dulcette is still alive but very very upset and lonely

henrietta is the one with the huge rooster spurs that crowed when she laid her egg (which was a sort of lavender brownish color)

bernie will put her out back and the circle of life will continue

she basically went to sleep and didn't wake up

the others are pretty upset

i am going to try and get a few small buffs to keep dulcette company.....as the speckled sussex/orp crosses pretty much stick together

today i went shopping......ONLINE of course, i don't do black friday

i think that is dangerous and i think it's also insane...and NOT what a holiday or gift is about

i believe a gift is something from the heart not necessarily the store, although it can come from a store for some stuff, but a gift isn't about how much money you threw at it-

it's how much thought you used in it

and some of the best gifts i have ever gotten were just someone thinking about me (and a few of you know who you are)

i did go shopping with small independent companies

and i got good stuffs

for me and for bernie....... 

books

dvds ( used books and used dvds- no use filling up landfills right?)

some beads from small woman owned companies.......

and of course yarn! (laceweight in different purples and one wine color)

so that is pretty much the news from this end

and the turkey cometh home

to nestle in it's cooler while it defrosts
i love my yearly free turkey...........this is the first year that they limit it to one per household
used to be for every 250. you would spend you'd get a free turkey or ham
then it was for every 300
now it's 300 and only one per family

but i got a big one and i will can part of it
meanwhile
i realized how much we have to be thankful for.....
we're warm (in spite of wet wood a lot of times)
we've got food
i got stuff to draw with and knit with
bernie has a job
he's healthy (me not so much but so far no cancer )
we are surrounded by love (that comes feather and fur covered)
yup
good stuff
i wish you all a happy thanksgiving
surrounded by family, friends, abundance and love.......
i wish you all peacefulness in your hearts and souls
and i wish you all laughter, the kind that takes your breath away, makes you cry and yes.....hurts your sides
because that is TRUE laughter from your soul

have a good one folks

vi

nerves will do that to you.......

 this is part of what i've been doing while i've been so silent... i do try and keep busy. these are knit in chroma by knitpicks. the first one is lollipop
the second (and unfinished one) is prism
the last one u-pick
i am waiting on a skein of prism to finish that middle one.
so while i was not talking i WAS knitting
and of course there are the two rainbow on black hats which i can't remember if i posted here or not
right now i am knitting a lacey shawl from a german designer....and waiting for my haapsalu sall book to be picked up at the PO (it's been there a few days)
the weather's turned cold, and as i worried, i knitted.... (really i should clean but i still can't find the vacuum!)

anyway, here are some of the production i've been doing while not blogging..... so i hope you folks will forgive me

now i hope all is well with yous, and i wish you all a wonderful happy thanksgiving. (and plenty of leftovers for sandwitches)

hello knock knock.....

yeah i know.......
ok the biopsy went as well as expected
it did hurt like hell
but this new doctor is wonderful

now i am tired still..........gees i am so damn tired, i can't get a lot of stuff done cause i got this lethargy.....
i'm figuring this stuff is thyroid
cause also my eyelashes all fell out again and my finger tips changed SHAPE!!!!
so did the nails!

let's see, in knitting news i got 6 hats done
one to send to margaret in boston for the school....and some others for us sorta
i cast on a shawlette in blues (think december evening christmas card light on the snow colors)
and i have to rip it cause it isn't right
it needs some beads and i think clear frosted with an Aurora borealis finish- that would sort of go with the whole feeling of the colors IMO
i could also edge it with them too

i am also knitting a small shawlette in russets and reds... with gold beads on it
it's the right color for november i think
no?


now here where we are it's fixing to get cold again
i am so not looking forward to hauling buckets in the cold
ok i owes you all photos
and i know it
i am trying really i am

bernie is fine

his colonoscopy went well and the doctor is happy
it was just a baseline one anyway
so all is well in bernie's body

(actually he is so healthy he could be 25 years younger then his actual age)

let's hope?

first off if anyone is in the Clayton NC area

Junior

my friend susan's elderly cat got out (she is on an extended business trip in europe-he slipped out past his caregiver) 
https://post.craigslist.org/manage/2687806190/res8k

that is the craig's list ad about him

please look for him if any of you's are from that area
she's frantic and too far away from home to help
now my friend susan is a counselor who works with our troops so this is doubly important that we find our little furry buddy junior....he supports susan, and she supports our children in the military

thank you all in advance

now this week is bernie's colonoscopy and my biospy
oye
i don't expect any problems

meanwhile calpurrnia appears to have the sniffles but i think it's sinus
i got her on the cat sinus herbs the vet RX for her and thaddeaus
we also put up one pond for the ducks, near the back door so i can fill it with a hose
i would prefer two ponds as usual but one is the best we get for now..... during deep winter we get NO PONDS and i get dirty ducks which as you all know drives me NUTs

and as an aside, amelia is getting a bit darker in color (so much for WHITE ducks) she looks like fudge ripple icecream that got a bit more mixed up as it started to melt!
you can see just how dark she is getting when she's wet

right now i am going to go as i have a package delivery problem
the post office sent a package back to sender without my permission
so since i ordered it (it's our peppercorns etc) i am naturally a bit annoyed
and i have a confirmation number for the tracking ticket etc
now i am calling the company to tell them i didn't send it back

it's always something

sorry about being missing......

susan pointed out in an email that i haven't posted in a while
which isn't like me
well i was sick....and missed halloween.....
and i am really upset about it all

i started to get really tired and out of breath, just getting dressed in the morning was knocking me out
and on monday it was the worst
i could barely move
there aren't any words to describe that extreme exhaustion
i was so tired that it hurt to breath
i crashed monday night so hard that bernie couldn't wake me up
i hadn't eaten much for a week or so (just really started to eat a bit last night)

i think it was a thyroid thing
and i can't wait until the december endo appointment now
cause something has to be done about this

anyway to catch you all up
i got my food processor
the magimix 4200XL
i got it from HERE (this will open in a new window)
i got the white one and so far i can't tell you enough good things about this company.......
as you folks probably remember- i have been doing research on a food processor for about 6 years....knowing full well that my hamilton beach was going to bite the dust......
it was a toss up between this one and the robot coupe r100........both units however ARE made by robot coupe, in france......with the quality that they are world famous for

now if only i could find a hobart mixer that i can afford (and in red if i get wishes)

then a chamber sealer and an actual kitchen to put it all in and we're good

so anyway......... i still have the endometrial biopsy coming up..... but i expect that to be negative-

and i am BEYOND pissed off about missing halloween.......
however life more or less goes on
and i do love my food processor