so ........ how was your holiday?

i've been sick still
bernie did most of the cooking but i did the supervising and the hard stuff like the gravy...
stuffing etc
we packed the turkey up into containers right after supper and put them in the freezer
then i made stock and soup

i'm still sick but not retching as much
meanwhile we were to have done my studio today

i ended up throwing my body across two sewing machines that bernie was attempting to remove to some obscure undisclosed, known only to him and promptly forgotten location........

his organizing style and mine are VASTLY different
i can't reach his idea of organized.....
nor can i see his idea of organized

so we had a truce to cut cat's nails and clean ears...
i was informed that he intended to get started organizing me and my studio early tomorrow morning
......there may be a war

or something worse, the last time he 'organized' me i couldn't find anything for over a year
and some things are still missing........ like two other sewing machines......
as it is i can't reach my watercolor paper without his help and i can't roll out the folding cutting table for cutting fabric or paper on as he's got it stuffed in and piled up
oye
so even though i have carefully drawn plans as to what/where/how i want my area done.....
he'll throw them to the wind and make sure it's inconvenient and impossible to work in if i let him do this without supervision
i've been pretty sick so i can't do this myself at this time

oye
oye oye

i hope i survive

have a wonderful holiday

and a safe one as well

right now....we are watching some seriously heavy wet snow coming down

but bernie said it's warm out and it's melting pretty fast

we'll still be shoveling off the studio roof

but i am grateful that the weather is warm, as i am dreading a repeat of last year with the horrible cold that never stopped

meanwhile i am still really ill

last night i was coughing so bad that i was retching

this went on for quite a while

bernie kept saying 'this isn't normal, you need to go to the hosptial'

the only problem with that was i would have to get dressed and i couldn't stop coughing long enough to do that 

by the time the coughing fit subsided somewhat, i was so very exhausted that i couldn't even climb up into bed

(it's got a very very high mattress..... bernie hasn't lowered the frame yet... so it's about 6'' too tall for me, i feel like jack in the beanstalk in the giant's house)

i think i finally got into bed and sitting UP (forget about lying down) at about 2am

so right now i'm in a robe and slippers

i couldn't eat breakfast either, it made me cough

bernie is going to get me mucinex to see if that's going to help-- i'm desperate at this point

good thing i made the cran sause and such already..... cause i couldn't do that today

i have to bake the rutabaga..... and i  will have to supervise bernie cooking tomorrow unless i get better really soon

the no sleep with the painful ribs from coughing is doing a number on me

bernie hasn't been sleeping either of course

i am hoping that the mucinex will help....i would love to get a full nights sleep, i swear if it isn't the woodstove getting me up..... or something it's my health nailing me

in painting news, i am painting oak leaves... cause i am an idiot

but i won't let them defeat me

so i am painting oak leaves

and cranberries but i think bernie fed my models to the chickens

next i have indian corn and shells and more leaves but i also need to return to the water fowl series and oye..... i paint too slow sometimes i think

well... everyone i wish you all a happy, safe, and healthy thanksgiving

wed is not only the new monday......

but we got a vacation coming up
which means stuff will get done maybe?
meanwhile i sealed up some of the air leaks around the duck room door
i swear the studio is warmer
one of my friends suggested i use pipe insulation in there which i will be doing
as we can't seal it up permanently yet
i also have an appointment for the suppression test......
and lab/hospital bills are starting to come in
i need to get back to painting as my subjects are piling up (literally.... a pile of shells, a pile of leaves, a pile of berries....... )
plus i have the brant geese to do and now arctic circle stuff too
it's been pretty cold so i am a bit reluctant to sit in the coldest corner of the studio

in holiday preparations- i made cranberry sauce
and i will be making the stuffing shortly
i've also make my leftover plan for the freezer
and we did a ham so that we'll have ham, turkey, chicken and pork meals in the freezer
along with soups and beans
i need a good sale on beef though
i'll grind my own chopmeat if i have to...(probably a much better idea anyway)
and i would like a good sale on pork loin...i maybe even will make sausage

i am slowly learning not to over do anything
how about that!
i cut up three packs worth of ham today, into cubes and vacuumed sealed them
then i put the ham away
tomorrow i will do a few more if i can

i am still having trouble with the knee i fell on in april- it suddenly does this snapping thing that hurts like i fell on it
i end up howling like a banshee it hurts so bad
then boom the pain subsides (the after pain is still there though)
i am going to assume this isn't a good thing...
ok i've got to get to bed now
i can't keep my eyes open

knock you on your ass tired

i can't even begin to explain the level of tired i am.....
it's really beyond anything physical
however i am very blessed to have friends who send me packages with shells and seeds, socks and stuffs to cheer me up
(boy does that help)
i got two wonderful packages today when bernie picked up the mail

so briefly to bring this up to date
we are facing a bad cold snap
bernie did get the furnace to work more or less and that went on this morning when i just could NOT get myself out of bed to stoke the woodstove.......(so now i got a bloody nose from the furnace heat- oh well at least i stayed in bed resting for 12 hours)

i got my rx for the meds and labs for the suppression test to see if the tumor is located on the adrenals or what..... that will happen next week as the draw must be at 7am so bernie will have to be off to take me

painting- well right now i got layouts waiting and a paper prepped for work but not enough energy to get over there
i hope this changes soon
my next burst of energy will be spent in prepping layouts so that even if i am too tired i can still paint

now today it is raining hard and is dark and overcast..... the ducks seem ok with it for now
bernie is getting concerned about the quail for the winter and we're going to give them a nest box with shavings ....we haven't prior as we didn't want 10,000000. quail babies..... so now with the days short that shouldn't be a problem but the nest will keep them warm

knitting- i am working on what started out to be a worsted weight cowl.......and evolved into a hat...
i just don't like worsted weight for neckwear....... i don't know why- i don't mind it too much for a hat
or mittens, actually i prefer lopi in worsted for work mittens that don't quit...
but for a cowl..... really i just like fingering or lace. so i cast on 100stitches on 4.5MM needles and did two inches of k2p2, then switched over to double moss..... i'll keep going with that for a while, do a turning row or band then do the crown -- susan was right when she advised me to not be knitting lace right now........ or tiny needle that i love so much
so that also means colorwork in fingering is out of the question... so i'll knit a new hat for bernie
(gees he goes through them so very fast anyway)
meanwhile i am just so glad to be knitting again...even though it's nothing complicated or lacey

THE SEED CATALOGS-- the onslaught has started
i got 'high mowing seeds' and i'm already drooling
my short list is mainly 'winter over in the garden' stuff

• leeks
• chard
• spinach
• brussels
• cabbage
• mache
• carrots
• lettuces

and there are a few bush beans i am considering......(we never did get the other beds made up in the garden)
i had that small deck garden this year and boy i missed my big garden....... i would like to put in a hoop house for next winter if bernie gets around to helping me.....
but meanwhile the seed catalogs are tempting
and i love my leeks and chard so very much.... along with my peppers and pumpkins
so something has to be done for next season......

there is the state of the herron household, at the moment
everyone is pretty much happy, and relatively healthy (ok so we still have the plague)

i am hoping to get a small on sale stock up going for the freezer
i'm still sighing over paints and brushes but that's an ongoing thing

i am still desperately trying to figure out an accurate way to release these paintings as giclee prints
and i am still looking for an agent (one was supposed to be interested but after that i haven't heard anything from her so i am thinking probably not)

how is everyone's winter and holiday preps coming along?

this whole plague from the

pits of hell thing is getting really old
so yes, well.....i'm sick AGAIN
no surprise there huh?
meanwhile i have to do another cushings test so they can narrow down where the tumor is
and no it's not anywhere near as much fun as it sounds
i think this endo is going to turn out to be my best doctor to date, as good as the specialist down in philly
meanwhile i'm very tired
and i am not only have a bad cold or something but a full blow fibro flare going on
which means i want to just sleep
i went up as soon as bernie left last night and didn't come down until about 11 this morning
even that wasn't enough
tonight i am going up right after supper
my legs feel like leaden jello.......it really feels like i have a temperature but i doubt that i do

now in other news, i started to try and do some paintings of oak leaves (will i never learn?)
well actually after the last painting of oak leaves that i wasn't happy with, i decided they will not defeat me......so onto more oak leaves
probably with indian corn...possibly with some sea shells thrown in
cause that's what's on my painting table right now and i can't face the brant geese at the moment

odds and ends going on... well... we got half our wood in
i really would like to have the rest in within the next week if we could..... it needs to be stacked for seasoning....although it's not too bad-- but it could go a few more months
bernie is supposed to check the furnace oil tank too
he hasn't done that and i can't see up that far

i am also trying not to worry too much about this cushings thing.. but it's sort of scary- i am not concerned about dying as much as being incapacitated--- way way more scary then dying
so anyway i am sort of trying to not quite ignore it....but maybe not think too much about it either..
oye..

also i am trying to figure a way to sleep down here during the day while bernie sleeps upstairs
so far i haven't figured anything out yet that is actually comfortable enough to sleep
but i am still thinking about it

are you all getting ready for thanksgiving?
we are sort of
i'm going to have to do a shop next week for odds and ends
it's not going to be huge here but i hope for enough leftovers for freezer meals for at least a month.....so we'll also be digging a ham out of the freezer (since bern will be home he can help me)
between turkey and ham...i expect soups and main dishes and all that

ok well off i go now
im going to eat and go to bed
sleep well and sweet dreams everyone

while my woodstove gently doesn't burn

i'm sitting here AGAIN
waiting for a cranky woodstove to decide to get warm
it was caught and burning brightly......until it was time to go to sleep
then like the reluctant and petulant child it truly is........it promptly went out
so i sit
i'm so tired my skin i crawling cause we did this dance last night
and these days from...ok to crawling skin tired is now a matter of hours not days like it used to be

(i am having some trouble lately again.it could be cause the 50K of vitamin d RX is not been picked up at the pharmacy...... or maybe it is also the weather change...?)

meanwhile i'm having terrible trouble with the knee i battered in the april fall so life has been a bit more difficult again
and this coming week we are also going to get slammed with the cold from that alaskan storm- bernie needs to cover that AC unit in the studio inside and out..... and there is a broken storm window that right now..... we may not be able to replace on the other side of the studio- and i can't do it myself right now...
we'll be putting the drapes and plastic up on the doors
i know he said he'll be stacking wood tuesday too.. he wants it up before friday and also we need to figure another load to come in so that space needs to be available
i can't stack either right now...
i'm having a fibro flare that is just bad enough to make life super difficult but not quite bad enough to lay me out totally

now with painting.....i finished a small painting of a gourd and oak leaves- i do love the gourd
the oat leaves not so much
i had the still life sitting on my painting table and so i worked partly from life....partly from a photo and partly from a blk/wht print of the photo of the still life........... yeah i know...over kill but it's better to have enough back up reference just in case

um i still have corn and shells and more leaves to do yet
and if the berries don't croak i got them again too
then after that shells
then ducks
i better paint with both hands

more tests

ok so more tests

thank goodness i have finally found a good doctor again it looks like

meanwhile i am still working on the gourd painting with the leaves, it was meant to be a study so i put it on a square piece of watercolor paper--
it's started now to develop into a series type painting
so now without finishing my poor migratory water fowl series....i have apparently stopped mid series to do a botanical series -- in my defense.....living plant material does not keep and it is/was FALL- so how could i NOT
but i have to say...... the new fall series is more adaptable to things like pillows, papergoods, dishes
and possibly cards
with elements that could be lifted  for surface design (although after reading about how little fabic designers make and what they go through..i am think -- yeah.....no thank you)

i have a few more things that need to be painted now before their time is gone, which makes me wish i could paint even faster (some paintings are very fast though)

also what happened is my gallery that i keep on my nook has gotten messed up
so i reformatted the memory card, and it's behaving better.
i had tried to download an app for photos, however my nook wouldn't allow it to download, and in trying to fix that with tech support....somehow NOW my nook won't log on to the wifi
so it's just a gallery now
which actually is ok
that is what i wanted it for

let's see what else? ......oh the wood is here
finally, we had to use a different company as the one we have used for a few years now, kept telling us wait and he was getting wood to us no latter then the end of the week......however THAT was three weeks ago....... now i had let him know in the end of august/beginning of september that we were going to get 6 cords, the first three to be delivered mid october..... followed in two weeks by the other three cords, he agreed and was happy to do it.....or so he told me at the time.
if we believed his promises, we would have no wood for winter.....what does he care.

so we got our alternate wood guy who is now our main wood guy
he is very professional, the wood isn't bad at all..and best of all he shows UP when he says he is going to.... omg how amazing is that?
he costs more but you know what? it's worth it and it's only 5.00 more a cord so it so IS worth it

to continue with heating news, bernie got the furnace working again... he still hasn't told me how much oil we have left in the tank, but he said.....'really we should get it filled while oil is cheaper'

ok

i think that is about it for now....
the only other thing is our little boy budgie has decided he loves his momma........ and is taming himself now
stella is sitting on the never hatching eggs so she's basically a stuffed bird with a heart beat for all the company she is to him
so now he loves momma
oye
birds!

all night long...

i listened to the wind blow
i kept hearing things hitting the house
and wondering if the trees were going to come down
we will be keeping the woodstove on all day today and probably for the rest of the winter heating
i'm still not sure about the furnace
i got two of the three tests back.... the two i messed up
the third one i did right so we'll see

meanwhile, i have a sort of still life going with a gourd..... two oak leaves and some berries maybe a blueberry leaf or two
one leaf is behaving and the other is giving me a really hard time

there isn't much right now i feel like talking about..... or even remembering as this blog really is more of a diary for me (when i had a very high readership i got scared and stopped posting)
i am a bit depressed today, which i think has something to do with the hard frost overnight and my bean plant dying finally... i am so going to miss that plant -- i saved seeds but i KNOW the seed i planted was brown and the seeds this plant produced are white......so i am assuming this is a hybrid between whatever that one seed was and my merchant of venice pole bean

i am going to have to look into a bunch of day light lamps for in the studio i suppose
maybe LED ones
and maybe a few fixtures as well....
i get SAD this time of year until at least into april

and today it's really bugging me
so i'm off to paint