goosey goosey gander.......

brant goose
pale bellied
head study

i've started research on brant geese.....which are tiny little birds about the size of mallard ducks.
they are ocean/salt marsh birds and we get them down the coasts during migrations.
the one on the east coast is the pale bellied or atlantic brant
there are a few others.......
they eat eelgrass, seagrass, and forage in fields near the shore. (vegetarians)
anyway.....i have a ways to go with my studies as i've never seen these guys in person..... which sucks, as i don't 'know' a bird well unless it's in person. so i am trying by doing a few studies to get near to a credible rendering.


meanwhile in duck stamp news... a woman won it! she's only the third woman in 75 years!!!!!
her name is Jennifer Miller and i don't even know her but i am so proud of her...she won with a pair of ruddy ducks. ........

now a couple of years ago....someone said about my work 'why ever do you paint ducks'.......my answer then was 'that is what i have around me, what i see and love every day' and i do so love my ducks-- i never knew there were other people out there that loved and painted ducks....wow!

ok now, in other news, i put up a stewing chicken and did stock.... and it was perfect timing as our bake element in the oven blew up the other night. so i ordered a new one online and it'll be here monday or tuesday.    meanwhile we have 'stove top' meals and soups.

as to the fibromyalgia, i am trying to learn my way around it..... ok well it's been ongoing i suppose. i will say that the 50,000.units of vitamin D weekly helps a lot and i added b complex and extra b12. plus a D3
i really was terribly deficient with the D way way below the lowest on the scale thingie.... it does help me to take the D supplements-- now that being said i did something to my back... so while i am better that is giving me fits.... it almost feels like i twisted my pelvis again.. and dislocated it but yet it doesn't hurt as bad as when i did the dislocated pelvis...but it does hurt and it's hard to stand up and walk.

meanwhile summer is winding down..... fall is starting in..... and i am hoping for an easy winter
so we'll see about that

anyway let me know how you all like that goose
and better yet if you have seen them in person, let me know how i did ok?

duck paintings

i scrapped the painting of the black bellied whistling ducks..i am going to do another one
i just was not happy with the two ducks in the background and the more i looked at them the more upset i got
so i scrapped it
i am going to put it in the scrap box and maybe someday i will see about either reworking it or burning it....either or
people got upset
but this is the deal....... if i cringe to look at it..... then i don't expect anyone else to look at it
so i am going to redo it or something with that species

i have a rough week ahead of me, appointments and some medical insurance problems to deal with
i am so not looking forward to this week
but it has to be done
and in addition NOW i have to figure out different/new medical insurance....and the exchange isn't open
so i am not too sure what i am going to do
i have the rheumatologist this month but i won't be able to get to any lab work or tests so that is going to be rough
also this month bernie has his bus/heavy truck inspection endorsement test- he's already got a class 1....... he needs to get class 3.... he doesn't need motorcycle so doesn't have to worry about class 2
he's had to switch his off time to take his test and we realized too late that we should have written the letter requesting two days not just the one...due to him having to work the night before and not having enough sleep prior to the test
but what is ....is what is...... we sort of expect that he'll pass anyway as he's been doing this for years........ getting vehicles ready to pass the state inspection so he does know it already

i am also hoping this week to finally get the other work area set up in the studio....i've planned for it....showed bernie.....drawn floor plans ..measured etc
he wanted to wait until we put down floor covering...... me, knowing how that goes around here, said....... i need this workspace NOW i can't way 20 years until you get to the new flooring
(i think it's been 28 or 29 and still no kitchen countertops-if we had an ikea near i would so have installed my own wooden ones)

so that's my little world.
oh and i emailed the roadmaster of the township the mess of the roadwork out front along with the waterfall down our driveway....we'll see what happens next

painting and pain

i over did it this week....... i put by almost 50 pounds of chicken breast for the freezer
something i used to do in about 3 hours took me more like 10, spread out over two days
then i basically collapsed
i ended up in bed last night before bernie left for work
i could NOT sit up any longer-
i'm trying to calm down what appears to be a full blown fibro flare, brought on by over doing it AGAIN......
along with going up and down the stairs a zillion times to put the first batch of chicken in the freezer, then doing dishes and some other odds and ends
when will i ever learn? cause as soon as i feel a tiny bit better i go for it...
and then get sick
i am beginning to suspect my days of heavy work may possibly be over

today i am trying to paint
i'm working on a portrait of ducks, black bellied whistling ducks to be exact-- this is a detail part way through of one of the heads.
i like this species of duck very much, although i've never seen it in person, one of my friends took photos and sent them to me after i went nuts over a few photos she'd posted online
she went back and got me photos just for me.
now they have a wonderful red/yellow carmine colored bill, that just blew me away along with a sweet sweet expression in their eyes that reminds me so much of my beloved ducks-- and since i am trying to paint wild ducks right now (doesn't it always comeback to ducks with me?) i figured a good place to start would be with this species..
let me go on record as saying.... pond water sucks the big one to paint
oye
and note to self..... mask out everything and paint the damn pond water first...... then happily paint in the ducks

so that's why i'm quiet again
i'm sick
i'm painting as much as i can
and in between i am deep in thought

sunday with the ducks

happy sunday to everyone..
i am just in from the ducks, bernie had to go in 4 hours early tonight for some sort of safety class so i told him i would bring the ducks out and he should catch as much sleep as he can.
i filled the ponds with hot water as amelia was limping and i was wondering if she had a bit of binding, although there was a freshly laid egg in their inside pens this morning
everyone is in the molt too
including the quail
this week is very busy, between medical appointments (i lucked out and got the endo i preferred this WEEK, normally wait time for her is 6-8 months! so i have no doubt someone is looking over me)
i also have art supplies coming, the fixatives for the colored pencils-
AND i finally used a gift certificate i was given for christmas, i bought an led light box, ... i was going to make it but decided that this one beings it was only about 1/2'' high was probably a better idea, it also has a dimming function...and is eye safe so i figured that what i could build was not as good as this one, oh and it's light weight so it can go on my little work surface which is nothing more then a piece of painted plywood.
the studio is coming along slowly.....now if i could only get the flat files (20 drawers seems more practical now) and the desktop along with the drawing tablet ....i think mostly the hardscape is done- then i have just ongoing supplies to replace i believe
i've decided to restock anything that's getting low....so while there was a 25% off and i had an order going in i picked up a tube of paint that i am not only getting low on but that may not be available in the future as the pigment is not being made anymore

i also have the layout of the next in my second nest series.....i think this one is number 5, however i am having a terrible time transferring it to watercolor paper.. which is also ready to go, being taped down on my working board-- i would so feel better to have more then one painting going too right now- i like having a 'filler' series going as well as a demanding series, i'd done that with the gulls and then with the frogs and i realized how much fun that is.......

ok now i got fawn her meds, the ducks, chicken and quail taken care of...... budgies are watered and fed- i got my second coffee and i am about ready to get into the studio
(what i should do is pull it apart and add another work surface but maybe i'll do that tomorrow)
til next time
take good care

in the middle of the night.............

it's a bit after midnight.....so it's monday morning actually
i'm still up due to the woodstove from hell!
now today.....ummm, ok yesterday.....
i was doing big poultry chores.... i couldn't clean pens as the iceberg out from the duck room door to the end of where the first pen is prevented me from safely getting anywhere
but i did do some housekeeping along with the buckets and pans,
i discovered prudence's secret nest, which i removed her from....she's cooling her heals in a crate next to her sister amelia ...also in a crate
tomorrow i am going to play musical duck pens
my chickens are laying..... i got three eggs, so since the egg carton is full, i ate today's offering

i have to say i'm really exhausted...... i was hoping for a warm up with snow but we are getting that 'polar vortex' thing without snow.
well it's really bernie's friday so tomorrow he'll sleep
tuesday we have wood coming
now while i was downstairs climbing over things to extract my broody duck from her infertile eggs, i found the older kero heaters....one was an aladdin radiant!
oh honey, i hit the lotto there
and the other one....... could possibly be a corona...... i could not see
so i went online and found out where to get parts for them
and they will be reconditioned and put back into service next winter
(if i have to repaint, i know there is stove/oven paint...... i wonder if i can paint them pink?--- or mix the red with the cream and make my own pink?)
the kero heater has really saved us this past winter
it was brutal here....and having that in the main house helped things a lot
i was inspired when i got that
normally i hem and haw, and research before i spend a dime..... that i jumped on
(and the generator before sandy)...... and it proved i think to be a very wise timely decision.

now in painting news, i am still working on registration files...
plus i started a layout which is not really working at the moment
i really so need that drawing tablet i think.... it will eliminate a lot of extra work
i need to get painting
i NEED IT
i watched a documentary on andrew wyeth while waiting on the woodstove....and at one point..... i heard someone say....'there is magic in a paintbrush'
oh boy don't i know that
and i need that magic
at the end wyeth said...... a painting has to build up... until it's ready
and i know that one well too.....
i know where i am going with this series...i just need to lay out the rest

i haven't been NOT working, i just have not been painting
i figured out even more ways to cut water color paper sizes
and drew the diagrams with the measurements..... so this way i don't have to think about it
i also made notes on the paper size that goes with what image size, to be able to have a taping border
(and it makes me miss etching soooooooooooo much as there was an impressed border from the depth of the plate that i loved)
if we do ever build that house i want.... i am going to put an etching press in the studio ....i loved the moodiness of etching and i want to do that again


okey dokey
i am going to put another log on the fire and see if maybe maybe i can get two hours sleep?
i'm running on about 3-4 hours sleep a night now and it's really not enough

catching up

after the ice age.....

we've been just trying to hang in there and stay warm
our rescue duckling is doing well.... she lost a toe and some webbing but she is eating and had a warm bath today (it was warm enough out to take her out to bath)
she's got a very soft hay filled indoor pen
and i think she is getting used to being here
i am still struggling with the quail painting...
so i took a break and am doing shore birds- so far gulls, this is the second one... they are tiny tiny paintings (photographed against my palette and paint table)
i don't know why but i am

in knitting ......i had to stop my mindless lace knitting to make a cowl and hat for bernie and another hat for me...i have more cowl/hat sets to make for us....since it seems one is always drying ....lost..... got cat spit on it...
(don't ask)

i am looking forward to spring, how about you folks?
we had a very hard time staying warm this winter, even with the woodstove, back up kero heater, and plastic wrapping everything......
we moved the ducks into the main basement (talk about crowded) and i was up every 1.5 -2 hours with the woodstove around the clock

we kept the lights on in the basement 24/7 for extra heat and i put the ash bucket full of hot coal in the stone sink with the lid cracked to keep enough heat for everyone....and dripped the faucets
we did make it through but boy...
i don't care to repeat that any time soon

i got the fever................ WARNING PHOTO heavy

spring fever it would seems......AGAIN
so these thankfully were on sale at homedepot.....i got three and really would have liked to get more (light blue, a clear purply purple and a white with yellow)--- they looked healthy and are loaded with buds..so they're here now---i have to repot the old ones i have..... and i am going to see about a pebble tray for them
meanwhile we're bracing for a storm..... up to 8'' of snow possible overnight tonight-20 with windchill

i am still wanting a terrarium, but maybe i'll do a water one...... with water plants instead of tropical?
now for today's look back to the archives humor post.......HERE
it is so appropriate for today as it happened during this time of year.....
in painting news.....the quail painting is progressing

oh and...... we have a new duckling..... she is about 3 months old, and had damage to her foot with the extreme cold ......so she came here to live.... bernie is torn about it.....he feels bad for her but at the same time, doesn't want another duck
she's very very scared..... she saw her nestmate/brother get dispatched and processed right before she came. they don't forget that.
so she's resting in her crate..... today i have to bath her and clip her wings
i think she'll be ok, and if i could only convince one of the girls to accept her we'll be great.....it would be best if the younger girls accepted her.....as she is their niece
and we're going to need a name for her i think.....no?

in cooking......i am working my way through chopmeat, (1.99 a pound at giants- i got about 20 pounds and then they ran out...so i got a raincheck too)

chili
meatloaf
salisbury steak
enchiladas

all for the freezer

ok everyone....those who are facing this storm......stay warm and safe
those who aren't
enjoy your week
i am going to start cooking now while watching the snow get heavier

take good care......