more snow, more storms, more shore birds

i guess the ever growing snow mounds have inspired my flooding fears
as i dreamt that there was a HUGE wave/lake out back..... and that it came down the hill and across the front lawn into a lake that was dug right next to my driveway
however apparently i am dreaming in some sort of mirror ...through the looking glass way cause it came down the right side (as i watched through the front windows) and went over to the left......
in the dream THAT was downhill!

shorebird/gull 4

(and the back yard was UP hill in the dream.....)
but it goes to show..... how utterly pervasive this snow pack is for me
HEY you try getting up every few hours for the woodstove and see how your dreams hold up.

meanwhile we struggle with wet wood..... bored poultry
and quail tails
(still not done with that painting)
however i am doing a series of fast shore bird/gull paintings- some good......some not so good.... all
fast.
it takes less time to do the birds then it does to do the backgrounds which are just sort of random
with speckles added -it's to keep my hand/eye going while the quail resolve themselves-- they make me want to do a few 'big paintings'
i also came smack up against some of the limitations of this studio at the moment, no place to cut paper during the winter.
it's not easy during the summer either but i use the woodstove- i don't actually have that option in the winter..(not if i would rather not burn the house down)
so i was looking on craigslist and found flat files.... but right now there are a few marks against them
1) i don't have the money
2) i don't have a way to get them home (they are huge)
3) i don't have a place to put them
4) i don't have space to refinish them in

oye.....but they would solve a few problems.... like taking the bulk paper off the top of the bird cage and the big shelves (where i can't reach it) .....and the top would be the right height and size for cutting paper
(cause i was drooling over a 10 drawer unit)
if i put it on a rolling base...... i would have it made!
i could even mount a roll of water color paper on it and be able to cut that too!

now we are to be getting a few storms over the weekend and next week...with the already over burdened electrical grid... we may lose electric. although ppl has been reinforcing the grid here since sandy.
for me that means keeping cooked foods in the freezer that are easy to reheat and keeping stock pots etc filled with water for us
water for the poultry will be melted snow if the electric goes out
we really need to get the switch put into the circuit breaker box for the gen so we have water-
and i really need to get back to sleep even for an hour or  so
i think the woodstove is going to be ok for a while now

keep safe everyone

a long and winding...........road

i am slowly finding my way i think,
i did three outlines (see yesterday's post) for the three main projects i am working on currently
and i wish i could grasp how to sort of put them all together if that is at all possible ....if not.... oh well.

in the meantime, i finished the layout of the new nest painting, and started to lay down first washes. (see the layout transferred- that is how i begin working, i transfer it and then erase it!)
i also have now gotten a better way to plan series.
i began to cut all the paper for the series first, so they are all the same size (and type, you would not believe the mess of different papers the bird series is on)
boy it really IS the journey huh?
i've decided first off.....better late then never, and also that when i start the series, the first thing i am going to do is pick and cut the paper!

(*** i put the catalog number of each paper on the back of the paper, and when i cut the paper i also make sure that the catalog number is on every single page back. then i keep a master list of the catalog numbers with the paper manufacturers name, the #, and the surface finish, inside the box of cut papers-now when i go to photograph these paintings, i will take a scrap of the paper it's painted on to set the white balance in the camera with- finally i figured that part out--- for now this feels like the right way to do it) oh and i long for a flat file..... or two, i am thinking now....20 drawers would be about right...to be added to as i continue to paint.

now today started out sunny but it fast became very overcast and threatening. we even brought the ducks in early as they looked miserable out there.
it's not really cold out but raw, so we've kept the woodstove going... i've used pieces of dried bark from time to time to heat it up a bit more then what the log is doing by itself.
it's sort of a lazy day around here.....in spite of my poor overloaded brain.
bernie keeps nodding off in his chair, the cats are laying around like furry little lumps, even the chickens seem subdued, the only ones that seem not to be affected by the day is the budgies.....they are screaming their fool heads off inside.

i want to thank everyone that came to visit me .....i hope you all come back soon.
i am slowly trying to tag the back posts so that recipes, and information on how to do stuff is easier to find, as well as some of the funny stories.
a few posts a day i am tagging with their contents, i am not sure how many i can tag per day but i am doing a few here and there

i spoke to a friend of mine today and read her the post about bernie's angel, i am sharing the link with you folks as it reminded me.... (i ended up crying as i read it to her..) really maybe we aren't alone, even during the darkest times? so since another one of my friends pointed out that this is the beginning of advent if you are a christian, i think putting the link to bernie's angel is ok.

now i am not a religious person at all, BUT, i do believe there is a higher power in the universe. however i definitely do not believe that only one religion has a handle on it-  and i do believe in angels.. maybe not with the whole wing and halo thing though..... (the one dream i had about a winged being scared me shitless for MONTHS)
i also believe in miracles cause we've had them happen to us. anyway this seems appropriate for the current holiday season as well as some of what appears to be going on in my life---

i definitely have had a huge burst of creativity- it's like my brain is getting stuffed to overfill with creative ideas, so very many, and a part of me is trying to enjoy that, because i love when i get a bunch of wonderful interesting and irresistible ideas like that, and a part of me that can't quite see how to accomplish all i want to do yet (despite the project planning lists) throws my hands up and says to the universe, 'well if this is what i am supposed to do.... help me find my way'
somehow that seems to work........ not always fast, although there have been lighting fast responses that i have no choice but to classify as miracles

pyrex oven proof bowl

well folks you'll all read this tomorrow morning, but it's sunday night right now. i'm about to go into the kitchen, we are making sort of pot pies out of tortilla  and leftovers, so we'll do that together (they are actually pretty good and if anyone is interested, i'll tell you how we did it)
oh and rho asked for information on how to dry food and how to use dried foods
so i will get to that too, in a while ( i wrote it down rho)

drape tortilla over the outside

softened tortilla in the bowl

 ok i drape the tortilla over the bowl on the outside and put that in the microwave for about 15 seconds, it softens it up enough to put it INSIDE the bowl then

shaped into the bowl while warm

you can now add your filling, and bake it in the oven. i usually add the filling pre-cooked and hot. you can moisten the edges with water/egg and add a softened tortilla on the top then bake at 350 until the top is crispy (it puffs up)
i'll have to make a start to finish for you on this.
you can make the filling with dried veggies and leftover meats in a homemade cream sauce....
if you want me to run through an whole post on this please let me know


take  good care everyone.....

dreams again

i dreamt that bernie was working at a new job... and that we were packing for some sort of trip
now the last dream that felt like this did, came true (october 04 )-- which i am hoping that this one does as well-- the last one was bad though.this is a better one
so we'll see-- i also had a dream a while back that my work was in a gallery ......... of sorts
it was like a museum ...and it was built to house my paintings.... it was a surprise in the dream, and i was brought to the opening gala.... which i ducked!
and wandered into the gallery..... shocked to see my paintings and drawings all hung
(especially since i am not focused on getting into a gallery but getting commercial work~!)

meanwhile
i have a SCORE mentor, who asked me to pick 10 dream companies i would like to work with
(i wonder how she knew i actually had that list?)
so i sent the list by return email
meanwhile i am still plugging away--i am also looking for paper to print these paintings on
putting together a plan for hiring an agent and also for licensing submissions
with an additional plan for producing some work inhouse.
and seeing about distribution
in a way it's exciting and in a way it's super scary....as it's all fine and good painting and designing in the studio... (which i am always doing) ....but it's another thing entirely to start sending your 'children' off into the big wide cold world.

AND
in the midst of this the elements on the hot water heater went out!
FYI, kenmore is actually made by AO Smith......and they had elements to fit
our elements have a 1-3/8'' nut, not the 1'' that is common now
so we ordered two from them
but i think we are going to look into one of the tank-less hot water on demand heaters
one for the bathroom and one for the kitchen-
i would also like a solar water heater too...

it's been very warm here ......... 50 at night and  60's during the day
bernie's been doing seasonal laundry too, the quilts and that ( i can't get the laundry out of the machine let alone carry it up anymore so he's been doing it....we fight over who gets to hang it out)
eventually we plan on putting a stack able washer/dryer in the studio- but we'll still keep the big washer downstairs for seasonal quilts and the big towels

ok before i forget, i've noticed that some folks are trying to comment and can't.. at the top of the blog on the right is an 'email me' link.... if you can't comment, email me.....
i'm trying to make sure the comments are fixed but i am not sure if they are or not

ok my shoulders are super super bad today, i've already iced them several times and taken a lot of Tylenol- which just took the edge of the pain off.....
it's bad today
so i've got to stop knitting, typing and painting for a bit

take care all
and email me if you can't comment