we got a generator!

Briggs & Stratton 5500-Watt Portable Generator - Storm Responder

8250 w surge on it....

sweet huh

and we got it this MORNING.... how lucky was that?

i stood online at lowes most of yesterday while bernie did other prep and didn't get it...he ran to town this morning and came home with it!

so we figure.....we'll get some wind and some rain and never lose power since now we have this generator..

i still want the propane whole house generator so i can get a gas cook top as well.....but for now....i am very very thankful

we are as well prepare now as we can be....

there is only one other area, but that won't be now......that will be another time.....and that is communications...phone and internet..... that's the next thing to tackle..... alternate communications

so everyone in the path of this one.....stay safe.....stay dry and good luck.... we'll see you all on the flip side

RHINEBECK .........gett yor rhinebeck photo's here

really foggy

fog

okey dokey..... we started out at about 5:30am in thick pea soup fog, as soon as some light came up i took some pictures to show you guys...this is on a mountain that is overlooking a very DEEP valley...... couldn't see the valley at all..could barely see the other lanes--- as the sun came up..... slowly the fog started to dissipate
the sunrise was very pretty, and sometimes it highlighted the fog just like a painting..... it was wonderful to see the light change.

a big less foggy

finally!

i got a lot of pictures of trees cause i love the changing leaves, especially of maples.... so a lot of maples it is

trees, bernie and the kia

more trees

i even got a picture of the back of bernie's head and the side of the new kia!!!! which btw, made it to rhinebeck without any problems whatsoever!!!!!!! yeah for the new kia!

it promised to be a nice day........ although hot and boy was it HOT

hudson river

hudson river

some of the fog hung around the hudson river, it was hard to see the view when we went over the bridge, that is such a pretty view and a historic area, and since i was born in jersey, it's sort of 'home ground'
got a lot of the bridge trying to show you all the shores as the fog lifted, so you can sort of come with us to rhinebeck.

hudson river

hudson river

now i been thinking about the rhinebeck magic, and there is no doubt that rhinebeck is magical......i spoke to several first timers and even they agreed that rhinebeck was different from other fiber festivals...... it was 'friendlier'- the people were happier and more relaxed.

closer to parking

arriving at rhinebeck

muddy fields so we had to go around

TUNIS

TUNIS

MORE tunis

trees

koi

koi - i want to paint them

pretty koi wanted peoples to feed them

plant where i was sitting

peoples!

koi pond, leaves, and little boy

blue skies over rhinebeck

peoples

more peoples

gees i love trees

maples

more maples

oh yeah..... what a sky

early......not many peoples

sleeping puppies!

part of the rhinebeck magic

PUPPIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

koi pond

rhinebeck photo's and report

as soon as i am among the living again

crows...... almost done

the annual pilgrimage to rhinebeck

is this week/weekend
we'll be going saturday
i will make my cream of tomato soup, and hot cocoa from scratch,
egg salad, deviled ham and chicken salad.
we will take bread and sit in the NEW van making sandwitches for lunch
i am just glad i am going
i look forward to this every year...there is something so very magical about rhinebeck
the crisp air..... the music
people dancing,
happiness is in the air there
it's overwhelming
and for a brief time........ i feel at one with not only the world/universe but other souls that are sharing this existence with me
seriously this is the most amazing experience, and like an addiction i am not willing to give it up
so we go to rhinebeck......
now this week i have been packing up 120# of boneless skinless chicken breast for the freezer... and then i start the rhinebeck cooking
i also hurt my hand
among other things...
i can also say i finally got the layout for 9crows in case anyone is following.....it's all roughed in but i am going to have to work it a bit more before i start to paint
i would imagine sunday or monday i will be painting
i figure my hand will be better by then as well

we are in 'indian summer' here.....we had a night or two of frosts and now it's warm again overnight
good thing i think before the onslaught of cold weather

maybe bernie is right....maybe we do need to think of moving to a bit warmer place?
but i told him if we did.....we'd still think (after the first winter there) that the winters were cold...
he means no snow i think
well maybe
i guess from his point of view yes....... he's the one that does the snow removal sort of
although he's got a troybilt to help him with that

anyway......i just needed to mark rhinebeck
and now i have to start my day
hope you all have a wonderful week

the last minute preparations before winter

today was chicken day
i got my annual sale on boneless skinless chicken breast ($1.69 a pound for 120#)
so it's chicken days here for a few days
this year i am doing more slivered chicken for casseroles, stir fries and such
and also this year
i decided to start saving all the scraps, cooking them and grinding them up for the cats
so all the scraps went into a medium sized stock pot with water
it's simmering now
and we are having 'breaded' chicken tenders, baked lehigh potatoes, and steamed brussels

i plan on doing a few different 'stuffed' breasts
cordon bleu cause i love ham
maybe creamed spinach
and i am thinking of doing a regular 'bread' stuffing one like i would stuff a roaster
i wonder if i should also do a mushroom stuffing?

i am doing some 'breaded' breasts as well but not as many as i normally do
we're changing how we eat again so it seems better this way
i also want to do some pot pies- i got bernie that pie maker machine and i want to do some pot pies as he  loves them and we're going to need 'fast' food
cause you see.......on October 22 bernie starts school!
he is going to get his CDL
so he's going to be very busy and i want to make sure he's got homemade 'fast' food

on to the other preparations for winter
we already started the woodstove...so far mostly at night but today i also had to do it in the morning too
let it go out while i was in the kitchen- i think though i will be starting it up in about an hour
we have a few things of plastic to put up over pens and such (and one window)
bernie is getting the snow thrower set up for winter too
and of course my new woodshed
i can say that it is helping to keep my wood dry......what a pleasure to put DRY wood in the woodstove

meanwhile i finally got layout 9 for the crows series.....i figured sooner or later those birds would decide enough of the games......they wanted to be born into the world
and sure enough, last night they decided to show me how they really could be shown
so i will start that when i get the chicken packed up and in the freezer

i hope you folks are all ready for winter....(or summer depending on where you live)

take good care
til next tiime

busy busy busy

looks like we will be for a bit......
let's see
in painting news...... i am stuck on the layout for 9
oye
i am pretty sure about 11, 12 and 13 but nine has me to the wall
and i am percolating a reborn 'out of the nest' project
i am also making lists for things that i need to put into place to do some of what i want to do

oh and i have got to do a bunch of make ahead meals for us
i think i am going to make some pot pies and freeze them
along with baked ziti,
and i would like to bread some boneless skinless chicken breast (i've posted about that here before)
i love when i have made a big batch of them and put them in the freezer....cause we bake them plain
or add sauce and mozzarella
or add cheese sauce or a cream of chicken with mushroom sauce...
they are fast to cook too

i am trying to think of what else i normally do...
meanwhile it's gradually getting colder here.....and rainy
it's almost time for classical music and pots of chicken soup
mugs of hot cocoa....... and plaid!
(rainy fall weather always calls for classical music...... wool flannel and challis and plaids....i don't know why)
something with violins and woodwinds.......and sort of spritely
the grayer more raw the day......the more spritely the music needs to be

anyway back to the make ahead frozen suppers
i have to make a list and then do at least 5 of each......
and i need about 8 different things
(left to bernie he'd say i can do pot pies most nights but that isn't good for him or me)

in knitting
i am continuing to test knit shawls for a wonderful young new designer in south africa....
plus i am knitting hats for winter (the never ending chore....hats and winter mittens)
i would still be knitting socks but thaddeaus has already eaten about 50 pairs
so i would rather not invest anymore time or money into that cat's fiber obsession..

ok well my woodstove is calling me
and i have to start some other stuff so til next time

enjoy the fall

this weekend...

i SHALL finish the latest painting on the board...
yes yes i shall
i still have a few more to layout
my brain is already onto the next series
and i am cutting paper for it

i decided that i will cut all the paper needed for a series ahead of time..... and then that will be held just for that series....if there is leftover paper (because sometimes you just screw up a painting and have to start over- so i cut more) that can be put into the misc paper box for another series
and the box is full......
i so need a flat plan file
we are trying to figure out where that could fit into my studio.....
then i have to research the best ones for me....then .......well you get the jist.....

i'm really at the point i need a better filing system for cut paper, whole paper and finished paintings

if ANYONE has any ideas on this that at this point do not involve a flat file systerm please let me know
i use archival clam shell boxes now...... but thaddeaus likes to chew them

in other art supplies....i am thinking of architects velum and could use a sample to see which one of the many would work for overlays
i missed a great sale at blicks, so that and the yellows i have been thinking about will wait (we shall buy no art supplies without a sale....no?)

i am also going to have to pull my little watercolor corner apart..... in probably the next week or so...
it's got to be reconfigured so the woodstove can heat us all winter...while it's apart, i will take that time to wash the floor and clean the windows...
bernie is supposed to help me redo that end of the room, but he's been so busy
i can't move some of that furniture by myself.....
my NEXT studio is going to be twice the size.....i SWEAR and have closets.

and a tile floor with a drain in it so i can just hose the floor down!

ok enough talking about the studio
i have to get INTO the studio.... or at least that end of it

have a great weekend

OH man..... i think a bus hit me!

and it's my own fault....
it would seem i forgot to my thyroid meds for two days...
oye
i remembered today...
ok in other news...dick blick had a huge sale .....25% off and free shipping..
and i missed it
(i always need paper-i am considering buying a roll of watercolor paper now-if i can find somewhere safe to store it in the studio)
that's ok, there will be another one.....

days here are starting to really get fall like.... even though it's been humid and no frost yet, the leaves are all changing, falling, blowing... and nights are much cooler.
my silver fleece vine is blooming just in front of the kitchen window so i am enjoying watching that-
we will probably light the woodstove this weekend for the first time.
bernie cleaned it and did the chimney and after all these years....he's so good at it that it took him about 1 hour...not the whole day thing it used to be putting the stove pipes back together
 we got our potatoes in for winter too.....
i think we're ready
the only thing i would have liked to have done was gotten 120 pounds of boneless skinless chicken in ......but the good sale i missed when bernie was hurt from work....
we have chicken...... so i will wait for next sale

fawn was to the vet yesterday, she's doing well with her thyroid too.....she's got the opposite of mine...she was getting skinny, but we've managed to put a pound back on her. all in all not too bad for such an old girl.

the ducks are in the molt, phoebe is the most upset. she is so squeeky that everyone has to stay away from her. the little girls love mommy again.... thank goodness cause i was so worried that amelia would never come around again... prudence has gone so far as to crouch on my feet like lilli does to be picked up.
lilli is lilli.........gees i love that duck...... she is so resolute in where ever she's decided to go.....or whatever she's decided to do, and she marches off determinedly
watching that just kills me..... gees i love that duck

the budgies are STILL going through cuddle bones at an alarming rate, it's stella the yellow lutino budgie...... she isn't happy until she's chewed an entire cuddle bone up.

i really need to start getting them in bulk....and it's not like stella doesn't have mineral blocks..... calcium perches- tree brances, wood chew toys.....logs, paper, and shred toys to chew......
but she prefers cuttle bone.... so she's got another one in there YET AGAIN

in chicken news.....there isn't much. no one is laying because we're keeping the lights short for them..
we should probably get young layers but i am so attached to these four that no one is going to end up in the soup pot so ...................... we are running an nursing home for geriatric chickens.... dulcette is STILL here (one of our first chickens) she lost half her comb but she's still spry

and colette who is the smallest of our chickens....she's a speckled sussexXorpington cross who i just love to pieces. she follows me around like the ducks do

in painting.... as you may know the kickstarter didn't get funded this time.....but i plan on bringing it back, changed in late winter. i won't be getting the same cards...and i will be adding prints, and possible some other things.....meanwhile i am finishing up the crow series, the holidays, and starting work on the halloween stuff....which won't be out until next year
i am thinking of finally printing the paper dolls too.... we'll see how that goes

my friends who have been there with me every step of the way, and you guys know who you are, deserve no less then seeing this through with me

now in the meantime......i have to grow a network.....
this aught to be interesting.........
oh man...

so now you are all caught up pretty much....
the kickstarter took most of my attention up...and when i do it again it will take even more attention up
so i guess this time right now is for recharging and replenishing.....
and hopefully hitting another good art supply sale

the last 24 hours on my project

 we're down to the wire on this one. so if you want to help spread the word click on the photos and that will take you to the project page for out of the nest. --- i do realize that this project was only a two week project, not the month it should have been but that was the only way that we could make sure these cards if printed got to the backers in time for the holidays

now in other news.
the next series (the crows) is very close to being completed.
it's a toss up now between the halloween project and the botanical project
i may throw a poll up on FB to see what my friends all say..... although doing the botanical during the winter would be pretty difficult. as specimens would be hard or impossible to get. i would like to do some popular flowers but also some obscure ones as well.
orchids would be easier to get during the winter..... and a trip to longwood gardens would let me look at orchids to my heart's content
so after the crows, maybe it would be better to do the halloween project?
of course the holiday work continues, i just got my ink so i can get back to drawing paisleys

in knitting
i just finished one new hat, one felted hat, and i have a test shawl cast on for PINKHAIRGIRL (from ravelry)
my new knitted hat is purple and red..... !

ok i need to get going as i forgot some errands that needed running
so take good care