off to the yarn store in allentown or something

i am again typing this ahead, so it's really.......tuesday night, while waiting on bernie to get home. his supper is made and i need to get off my fat assets and do the stove.....
i am going to town tomorrow with jen.....
i haven't actually seen jen for any day trips since the beginning of feb.
we were over there saturday briefly to use the computer (ok so it wasn't so brief and i lust after her mac)
so tomorrow we are going to the yarn store, and most likely hobby lobby, and probably b&n for bookish goodness....... and maybe if there is time.... michaels as well
we go to the GOOD stores
crafts, yarn, book....what else is there? oh yeah.......pet stores, kitchen stores, garden centers, hardware and farm supply..... i think that's got it all about covered no?
but tomorrow i know for certain it's the yarn store, and most likely one of the craft stores
i will miss my beloved and very clean ducks
and i better crock pot tomorrow too
oye

i puttered around in the house today- planted pakchoi and lettuce outside -red sails lettuce
did dishes and hand washed pots and casseroles that i didn't like when they came out of the dishwasher.....
finished more clothing sheets for the paper dolls

bernie just walked in, it's 8:38pm, he's got a new cell phone from work and blue tooth!
he doesn't like the phone, it's a flip phone
and i started the fire, which appears to have actually started up well!
i made up a sort of 'sausage' of newspaper and kindling, small kindling with scrunched paper inside a wrap and twist of paper which i set on top of more twists of paper, then some 1/2 inch wisteria vine, and finally two small split logs
when the logs catch well enough i am going to add some big stuff........ it's warm but overnight it is going to go down low
so i want to have the woodstove going well
it's going to be nice and warm in the morning
i slept late today, because i was up from 2am to 4:30 am then fell asleep until almost 9!
thaddeaus threw up a few times and i was up after that
he is again sleeping in my arms under the covers, really i love that..... a real live breathing cuddly toy
what more could you ask?
oh and i found a place in oklahoma that has white meat strain muscovy ducks 6 for 35.00 and that includes shipping......he said he isn't worried about the new law on the muscovy so i am thinking of ordering.....they will ship in may, as his birds just started to lay, about the same time mine did

and deb and i are still trying to figure out how to get snowy here, who most likely will be renamed heratio.....or laretes......
gee i am going to have a LOT of babies i think.....
(and you know how much i love all my babies)
and not one of my babies are spoiled i am proud to say!
not ONE
(glaring around and defying anyone to doubt that statement........)
this week i also need to clean day pens, and i seriously need to do chickens
along with lasagnia gardening......
oh and planting a few beans wouldn't hurt either!
oye
never done i tell you
never done
or is it never more? nope........that would be the raven

ps: donald a web cam on the duckies may not be really easy for me
but i do take video occationally
phoebe ate a small snake today

coffee, email, and thou

hey isn't this great, i turn ON the computer and here you all are!
today i started a small fire in the woodstove, it's under 50 out and it is pretty chilly in here
so a tiny woodstove fire (it looks like it took)... by the end of the week we are to have very cold nights again.
i'll cover the deck planters and baby plants but i think they'll be ok
i have to empty the big ones and refill with fresh soil for this year.......snow peas here we come.

meanwhile here is one of lillianna, from last summer. i am wondering what i am going to be walking into when i take them out today, i cleaned lilli's crate and did momma's the other day, i have to do chickens but haven't started yet.
i have so much to do and am not getting most of it done.

i just had to poke up the fire again, it's needing a lot of attention since really it's way too warm out for it
but it's really cold and damp in the house so a smallish fire is good right now.
it'll take the chill off AND keep the stove ready for the cold at the end of the week.

bernie is talking about putting the patio furniture up on the deck, and getting his lawn mower, with our tax return. i don't know where he is going to put the lawn mower however, as we don't have a shed or garage and if he just tarps it, it will just rust out like his other ones did. oye
we could use a few small sheds and a couple of chicken/duck coops......
a wood shed would be helpful also
i could so go for a wood shed

i keep trying to remember all the things i wanted to look up while i was off line- one was a book

'The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire '

doesn't that look GOOD? oh man that looked soooooooo good at the book store the other day, (we went saturday) i so could have walked out of that book store with 100's of dollars worth of books that looked good- there was a graphic novel that was a true biography about a person who's father gave him cancer in the 50's by repeatedly taking Xrays of him from when he was a baby....thousands of them, then didn't treat him for a while.
i saw quite a few true ghost story books i wanted ( i did get one- an anthology from fate magazine)
i ended up spending the most time in the history and historical biography section ( THERE's a surprise hahahahaha) i did try for the fiction section but soon got confused and wandered over to history.
bernie got a book on some person who was in the military in WW2 he told me about the guy and now is reading his memoirs.

HANG ON THIS ACCIDENTLY published early, i am not finished yet............

so now for today, ducks of course (every day no?)
dishes naturally
planting of some impatient seeds i think, transplanting tomatoes to larger quarters,...
maybe lettuces or maybe i'll just start filling planters and wait until after the weekend cold snaps for the lettuces.
and i have to get another start on that blk/wht drawing- my fingers are itching to get involved in another one, even though there are parts of it that are boring, there is something very soothing to be doing the repetitive work of a drawing like my blk/wht pen & inks.
it becomes meditative
and it also looks like my tiny fire is caught finally (think a cratchit fire from dickens...)it should raise the temp in here by about 5 degrees which is all i need at the moment.
i can hear it pop and snap as i have to keep the door open to the woodstove, i'll give it one more log, a bit larger one and we'll call it a day on that.

last night's supper at 9pm was pork chops off the loin, (thick ones over an inch) with homemade bbq sauce, perogies and corn.......(bernie picked the vegg)
homemade bbq sauce: fast down & dirty- mustard, ketchup, garlic, onions, vinegar and brown sugar...... taste it, it should be sweet/sour/tangy........ then heat it to combine and you're good to go
if i would have had time i would have stuffed and breaded them, ( stuffed with something like fruit or chard and cheese) but he's getting home late now

in knitting news....there isn't! but i want to be making a shawl with some blue/green yarn from the yarn club and some beads..however i can't make up my mind sooooooooooooo i haven't started anything
i got startitus and then stopitius with everything lately.....
i imagine that is spring fever no?
oye

ok off i go
and you can now disreguard the ' HANG ON THIS ACCIDENTLY published early, i am not finished yet............' above as i am now done
have a nice day everyone

vi

getting caught up with myself

i have been off the net since thursday evening, i did stop at jen's for a fast brief blog post and to pay bills
(cause you KNOW that friday was payday.......damn)
 did you all miss me??
sniff
I MISSED ME (and i missed you all too)
 ok so the trouble started thursday and i figured it was verizon's problem so i sort of ignored it.
friday morning i still thought it was verizion's problem but i needed to pay the bills so decided to call and find out
they said it was my modem as they tested the line and saw up to the modem.
that meant a network card
sooooooooooooo
i called my cousin who picked up my baby and installed a card today (bless my cousin nick)
and i am now back here amongst the living

friday was a pretty nice day, i got the ducks out and washed that drake
saturday was errands mostly
and i washed the ducks
sunday i got really sick and ended up back in bed until 2pm, then even though it was 80 degrees out ( according to our new outdoor thermometer that we got saturday) i was in a teeshirt, sweatshirt, wool dickey, wool hat and jacket.......i sat in the sun in the garden for about 45 minutes before i got warmed up
bernie was pretty concerned, as i never go back to bed during the day unless i am half dead
which i was
i replanted some of the multiplier onions.... but nothing bulbed up good
i also got falstaff back in the pond for a second bath...this time was a thorough one, and i am pleased to inform you all that my formerly brownish and cream drake is now cream and white.......he is supposed to be ALL white but we're taking baby steps here
the water was opague when he was finished.
he had tried to jump poor tiny little phoebe while she splashed happily in the water........ahem....i don't THINK so
so i grabbed him and made sure that he was saturated,- at that point he figured why not finish......
so he did
45 minutes worth of finishing
i sat and watched him

btw, i also have discovered that the idiot's with the dogs and the nasty 20 year old don't annoy us when bernie is home
imagine that ~! ( and imagine me with heavy sarcasm in my jersey accent saying that)

now today we had rain, but i went out in my duck clothes (old clothes) to get my tower back from nick
he said i looked like a farmer, hahahahaha, not really but ok
i do have some whiskers on (damn that menopause)
the ducks were not happy about getting rained on........ they only like the water in the pond or mud puddles. but we dealt with it.
me howver got soaked to the skin and i am now all bundled up and freezing my assets off..... i can't get the wood stove to go as it's 60 out
and bernie will of course be late
ha
ok
now to amuse myself without my computer, i worked on the paper dolls i been drawing......i did a sheet of their clothes, i HAD started another blk/wht but realized i needed to use  a different refrence picture of one of the ducks. but since my computer was up the hill at my cousins, i didn't have any, nor could i take one as i would need the computer to see it
(the computer came back today, which will be your yesterday when you read this)
so i worked on the paper dolls
bernie forget and asked to 'watch that tv show' last night, i said 'but bernie, you watch them on the COMPUTER' ..........he was sort of like 'ya.........umm right' cause he didn't remember
(huh? i better get him checked for alzhiemers i swear)
in addition to all this, we have discovered that yes i was right about the insurance, and bernie was wrong (there's a surprise), and now we owe a ton of money for the lab tests from the specialist.
basically the lab work isn't covered (1000 deductable per person)
so that means no meds either, as i have to have labs done periodically (quarterly or more often)
it also means no other diagnostic tests as the diagnostics aren't covered
so no biopsy on the thyroid or mamography!
bernie was assured that this was incorrect....hahaha
i called the insurance company and it is sadly accurate
oh boy
let's see what all else
(besides i am really cold right now)
we finally got lightbulbs!!! yeah for being able to SEE
i think that is about all
i was lost without my computer
i use it for bills, for pictures, for writing, for you all, for email, for entertainment etc
it's such a part of our life........ even bernie didn't realize it
now i need a net book as back up
(and i could set it up by the drafting table and not have to run back and forth so much huh????)

oye
btw, my spinach is up out on the deck
and i transplanted my african violet babies..... all the peppers and tomatoes are up too as well as the eggplants
i can't wait for the snow peas and beans
spring is about here

i am back!!!

thank goodness my cousin nick fixed my computer

gone until further notice

i got computer woes... i am at jen's on her new mac
so you all better not forget me

i hope to be back by  wen

vi

you know i started to miss you guys

when you don't check in..... flicka i was wondering about you too...
and angie, and a few others.
i wonder if i am co-dependent? ***columbine from last spring, i got it bad i think***
ok now as i type this, it is thursday afternoon, it's nice   out....and i am sitting at the computer, what is WRONG with this picture?

i did find some paper and some kindling outside and made up two paper/kindling packets for the woodstove, one for tonight and one for tomorrow AM.
they are sitting on my stone cold stove (it is stone and it is cold)
meanwhile i have the back door open, the radio on (that is a rare occurrence, normally the only sounds around here are animal sounds or me talking to them)
and the budgies are singing to the car commercials (huh?)

i spent about two hours with the ducks, watching them graze, bath, and in the case of falstaff, try unsuccessfully to get some nookie on the side.....
i have no idea what to make for supper and i am painting a really crappy halloween inspired painting on the crappy paper just to keep painting
i really want to be doing that black and white.......so i really should just get to it
OR
i should block out a halloween painting like i block out a duck painting and give it my all
that would make too much sense huh?
and i decided i want a glass of lemonade!
i should go to town, jen invited me to coffee at the bookstore tomorrow
i said no
i got it bad i think
yet i would really like to go book shopping and have a coffee at the cafe there, not to mention scope out the budgies at the pet store not even three stores away....( where i saw the yellow keet)
but i really can't afford it, now that i know what our taxes are for this year to pay, followed by homeowners/car insurance..... then firewood
oh man
i also need to make a few new pockabooks (that's jersey for handbag or purse)
and i need to plant more........ much more
oh i let the ducks scrounge around in the sleeping garden, and discovered i got garlic and onions coming up
the onions are multiplier onions, so i have to dig them, harvest the big ones and replant the smaller ones
i may still have a walking onion there too, i hope so

in knitting, i ripped that scarf out i was working on and screwed up. i am about to wind off some cashmere/silk/merino blend to knit up with beads. may as well, since i can't stop thinking of that one.....so i'll start it and the one i ripped, will eventually have beads in another incarnation.....

i realized that i should also be working on the paper doll series i started last year, they need their clothes done yet. i am going to sell them.....they'll be available on etsy eventually.....
along with i think posters that are backgrounds or little setting for them to 'live' in
i want them to be really really well printed on very good heavy coated stock, something you would be proud to give to a very special little girl (or i would be proud to give to a special little girl)
there are a few of them,  and their bodies are all the same size and in the same position so that all the clothes are interchangeable. they are also all different ethnicities..... cool huh?
i did have fun with them, and i need to paint their clothes on overlays- that makes it so much easier for me and more accurate as well.
ok it's now 8pm, and bernie is of course not home yet, he went to alpha and i told him that there was an issue with rt 78 but i suppose he didn't listen, he's also to stop at the store on the way, (normally he calls when he gets into town, no call........no bernie)
good thing we are having sandwitches for supper.
today i was able to sit with my ducks without getting barked at......!!!!!
amazing huh?
if you heard this dog bark you would understand. the dog barking at momma duck
ok there is a link to some really BAD video with audio of that dog barking, it actually went on for over 20 minutes nonstop......it give us headaches.......there are three there and two of them do this, it used to be constant

wow!!! bernie just walked it! not too bad, and i think he got me a newspaper to burn tonight and tomorrow to start the woodstove

ok we can't light the stove, it's too warm and i can't get it going.....i'll try in the morning
night all

wen night, posted thursday morning

thank you for letting me know catherine and donald.....

i am having a bit of depression right now, i don't know if it's the weather, the results of the missed for a few days meds, or my birthday coming up......or not spending enough time with bernie.
i had a good day with the animals though, i gave the budgies a bath again, fed and watered all of the animals, retrieved a few of the new chicks from wandering around, bathed ducks including falstaff... broke up duck fights, grazed ducks, hugged ducks, kissed ducks...........talked to ducks ( i most likely need to get a life)
talked to cats and chickens and budgies.....
and got more depressed-

i pulled that blk/wht off the drawing board and put a sort of easy breezy halloween illustration up to work on and got my knitting (which i promptly screwed up and need to tink back) and looked in my bead boxes to see if maybe i could make me a new pair of earrings....
right now i am out of sorts and nothing much is working
i keep forgetting to put batteries in the camera too, so i didn't catch the budgies first bath
OR the asshole neighbors UP the hill who turned one of their nightmare chihuahua dogs loose on me and the ducks..... those dogs next door go off like fire alarms.
me and the ducks were peacefully and quietly sitting just out side our back door..... lilli was in the pond, and falstaff was sort of watching her, momma was in the A frame eatting......i had taken a chair out and was sitting in the afternoon sun just enjoying the warm weather and watching lilli bath
that dog ran up to the line beyond where the new fence is..... and went OFF like a freeken BOMB...
they all were calling it but of course it doesn't listen.
i brought the ducks in
we just paid 1600 for that section of fence and the damn dog goes to the top of it
you know....i hate bad dog owners
and let me tell you all, people that inconsiderate make me never want to go out the door.
i got ducks that don't quack so i wouldn't disturb the assholes...... oh man
the good news is that they no longer 'talk to me'
which means i no longer have to hear about how fat i am, or, how i shouldn't call bernie at work, or how i am so stupid for a smart girl.....
some of the better ones were (when i got my international cover) 'that's nice if you like that sort of thing'
or after the company picnic 'i don't care how nice bernie is, he is fantasizing about all those woman he works with' (HUH? believe me i know my bernie......and if he is fantasizing at all it's about a vehicle, tool or car model)
another one that pissed me off royally was the woman next door's SHOCK when one winter during the coldest jan/feb part, she called me in from working outside putting the ducks out and shoveling, when i got hot in the goosedown and pulled off my hat..... exposing my very bald little head......she was SHOCKED and said 'you don't walk around like that in front of your husband do you?'
i almost said no....... i walk around bald and nekid......but i held my tongue
this damn dog thing today upset me a lot
actually them next door stopping talking to me, is the BEST thing that ever happened to me......now if they would stop their damn dogs from 'talking' to me

bernie got home at a reasonable (for him) hour, at about 7:30, and he also fed the chickens ( so that makes it twice today at least, and about 16 times for the chicks)
i need to clean their pens
i got three eggs from the ducks today (one was lilli's from yesterday that i didn't see) and i got two from the 8 chickens
i made me an egg custard- that was my lunch.

i really hope this out of sorts mood passes soon, as it isn't fun to have, it's preventing my work going forward, i get pissy and whiney......... and got nothing interesting to write about

oh and i forgot, i am again casting around for a plot for the duckie book....i sorta blew it out with that last blk and wht..........
any suggestions?

ok we're going up now.......i need some sleep i hope
and bernie could use a month of sleep

ttyl

9pm tuesday night-posting wen morning/Happy St Paddy's day you all

bernie isn't home yet, he is almost home but not yet.

he's been working like this now for a while, his fleet is very big

it was warm today ( ok this will be yesterday for you all)

it was warm enough that i grazed the ducks, washed water buckets and sat with my beloved ducks, lilli on my lap
soon it will be illegal to have babies from my babies....
i hope to get 6 ducklings from hoffman's prior to march 31
http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/RegulationsPolicies/reg2010/Muscovy%20Duck%20Final%20Rule%201%20March%202010.pdf


i got the woodstove to go again, it's warm out but it's going to get cold overnight
it is fighting me however, and i am freezing sorta
i planted spinach and chards (all sorts) and am going to be planting my lettuces as well
i don't have enough chard or spinach
i'll be planting more peppers as well
and then starting the beans etc out in the garden, i am thinking of starting them under cloches, as i sure could use a jump on the season

the budgies took a BATH today ( so did falstaff, but him i forced) i put their freshly filled water tube in their cage and they rushed over and tried to bath in it!
so i put a large divided food cup in with warmish water and the babies dived in!
now i been giving them the bathtub bernie got for them weekly more or less (not in the really really COLD part of the winter)
and they've ignored it
today was the magic day i suppose.
that made me laugh, i so love to see a bird bath

my ducks were having a blast splashing around, momma duck has to be kept away from phoebe, as does lilli, but at least lilli only really bothers phoebe when they are in the little pool
momma is suddenly all over phoebe all the time
i was in no mood for that crap

i started another black and white drawing of the ducks, this one is them on the driveway looking up towards the front of the house....
i hope it will be as interesting as the last black and white one. i had to give up for now on color
but just for now

we had corned beef and butter braised cabbage last night, we were to have had it sunday but we weren't able as you all know
it was wonderful
i love cabbage braised in butter and slightly carmelized..........
it is all gone now..mmmmmmmm
tonight is BLT's with left over bacon because bernie is so late
it is about 9:30 now......bernie left at 5am this morning.....it's a very long day- i miss him a lot

i am finding myself tending to not go out much, more and more i am staying home, keeping to myself.
i don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing or an age appropriate thing.
i love my friends but when they cancel plans i am ok with it......
i also want to draw more, i didn't get enough drawing done today either. when the weather gets even warmer, and we put the table up on the deck, i will try and work outside- and if we can get stairs back to the deck again......it will make life so much easier for me.
(and a wood box right there would help as well.....so would a half bath)

oye
ok well this is tomorrow's post so i am going to schedule it
flicka, donald, catherine,........ all the rest of  you folks? are you still around?
or have you all gotten really busy now that good weather is finally here?

it's ALIVE........... ok well semi

thyroid meds when taken are a very good thing.
so is sunshine at the moment
i am going to go clean duck pens
and then dishes then draw and supper too
last night was corned beef, butter braised cabbage and potatoes, bernie got home at like 8 or 9 and then ate
he's a happy boy.
thaddeaus is feeling better too...another happy boy
i blocked out some ducks for a new drawing......
and it's ok again around here
it's also getting warmer so i planted spinach and chard in the window box out on the deck
today if i get a chance, i'll plant a box of lettuce, and maybe some beets, and more chard.... then the big barrels will get snow peas, and some peppers i think
i want eggplant up on the deck this year as well
in the main garden i want beans, squash and cucumbers.... a lot of each with a couple of tomatoes and a few extra peppers
i need a good harvest this year.
also this year i need to replenish the dried vadalia onion stash. 50 pounds sliced and dried winds up in 8 quart jars.
i got 10# of carrots to do as well, i love having them dried. they take up a lot less room and are ready to go into any thing i can think of during the winter (zuchinni and eggplant, peppers and tomato, cabbage and celery all dried and put in jars- last night we used my dried potatoes in the corned beef)

meanwhile the budgies tried to take a bath with their tiny water bottle so i gave them a bath tub......but they are ignoring the tub
figures
oh and it's to be like 60 today so no woodstove, that figures too as i got some loose bark in for kindling

now i best get going as i have laundry to hang and ducks to take care of so will you folks check in so i know you are all out there? i don't know...you all could have gone to spain or the moon or something

vi

i remember the meds today

jen called and reminded me, but really she didn't have to.
once i was back in my routine i am ok
so i came down, made the coffee and took my meds
i can't get the woodstove going however
i've tried numerous times, i have no kindling so that doesn't help
and it's pretty warm out for a woodstove in the 40's
so it's cranky
it's about 60 in here which is a bit cold for me

i have to plant more seeds today, something that i was to have done yesterday but due to the road call......well you know
i also twisted my ankle again in the mud yesterday going down back to replay the straw bedding in the a frame

so today i have dishes, seeds, drawing, and ducks
i am making corned beef which we were to have had yesterday.
we had this other thingie 'kasha'  buckwheat groats.......wow was that great!
bernie of course hated it
i loved it and i want to have it replace rice here as i can eat it!
it's really good for pcos patients
today also if i can i would like to make the parakeet mash
it's beans and veggies coarsely chopped (in parakeet sizes) with some whole grains and seeds
i am going to take them off seed except for a teaspoon at night
i am going to try to keep them as healthy as i can and increase their lifespan if i can
in the wild they would eat all sorts of stuff
i got them used to and craving chopped veggies with coucous........so next is the mixed veg with beans
so i am going to soak the beans and cook them a while, then chop the veggies dry some of that up and freeze some.
i got them a sweet potato as well, so i want to chop that and dry it
there was a food called 'beak appetite' that just went out of business....they loved that stuff so we are going to make our own

they are actually doing pretty well accepting new stuff now
some stuff i add gets the 'budgie death stare'
but that doesn't last too long anymore
they hopped right on the new ring toy, actually they like it better then the OLD ring toy
i am hoping to get them a few more toys as time goes on
and move the ones they have around
i gave them folded paper the other day, THAT they adore..... they were on that so fast it surprised us. and i didn't make it easy for them to reach it, they had to figure it out....makes for interested challenged budgies and i think keeps them healthier

now today, as soon as i am functioning i am going to take my ducks out
lilli was exceptionally affectionate yesterday and i felt terrible that i had to leave her downstairs while i came and crashed
i can't wait until summer when i can sit out with them while they bath and preen and do duckie things
OHOHOHOHOHOH
phoebe got the FIRST WORM of the season friday!!!!!
yeah for phoebe!

we're back- we left at five am

and fought our way through the flooding down to edison, where bernie had to change a mangled tire on a critial care isolette unit.
we just got home, it's 12:21pm right now
i didn't sleep as we got the call last night but due to extreme flooding bernie could only send a back up unit there and then go down this morning.
i am very very tired
we haven't eaten yet, and the ducks aren't out yet
i am just now starting the wood stove up
oye
so forgive me if this is short as i am extremely tired

shhhh it's really friday night.......

but you all will be reading this saturday as it's due to post then.
the bears are still kicking my ass...... i am working on them though
who knew freeken polar bears would be this tough? i should have figured as they LOOK just a pillow which only means that extra is needed to get the subtleties and the subtleties are all you got
i think......we're gonna be here with the bears for a while......damn

now as for saturday, some errands
feed store: scratch & oyster shell
home depot: light bulb for range hood
kmart: socks for bernie
pet store: two new budgies (and a few more toys)
grocery store: milk & chicken
craft store: 'studios' magazine & beads for my blue/green yarn from spirit trail
AND if i can find a few extra bucks.... a book maybe at borders?

if you noticed that there were two more budgies on the list...... well we decided that just in case we will be increasing the flock so we'll start to look around.
i would like a yellow (lutino) one and a violet or double violet, and a sky blue...... along with one of those BRIGHT glow in the dark greens
six is the maximum my aviary is rated for so that is what we'll get
i would like to get two in the near future and another two in like two months
and 6 ducklings...
(shhhhh no one saw the six duckling thing right?)

we're to have bad rain all weekend and into next week. so i would LIKE to get the salad window boxes up and planted over the weekend....it's perfect for them
i am dieing for some FRESH swiss chard and raw baby spinach...... oh man.... i can't WAIT

i also need to make yogurt
it's been WEEKS...
and if i get some time, i need to grind grain and make a new pocketbook
oye
i really need a bigger studio

i out smarted a chicken--- for the moment anyway

we have a couple chickens, as some of you folks know. dulcette and henrietta who are older then dirt and lay an egg here and there....henrietta is 'confused' and crows, has grown spurs and still will lay a nice egg.  (the picture at the right is lilli in a greenhouse type daypen)

then there are the new baby chickens i just got.....the speckled sussex X buff orpingtons

well we also have 'the pullets'

they are about 18 months old now. - i never did like those damn chickens.

now they are trying to eat their eggs

yesterday i outsmarted them and got the egg before they ate it

one was ok one they'd pecked through the shell.. i gave the pecked one to phoebe.

she'll clean it up for me and they (the chickens from hell) didn't get to eat it

(yes they do get oyster shell and granite sand and all sorts of goodies..... they are just terrible chickens-they don't even crouch for the rooster-they aren't even polite chickens, with good chicken manners)

meanwhile momma is laying me a nice egg a day

so baking and rice pudding making will be resuming soon.

thaddeaus i think is doing better but it's sort of touch and go, this rain today is not going to help much. he doesn't do well in the rain. he came up to bed at about 3am for a while... i was so happy he finally came up. i was worried about him

but the rain will help the ducks little pool so for that it's a good thing

i should plant my outside deck planters, however i didn't put new dirt in....that would be tomorrow,  i separated out the seeds:

lettuce

snow peas

spinach

chard

purslane

we are looking at what may be a very early spring and a hopefully productive growing season. oh and my little seeds i planted the other day are germinating.

i have more to plant today and tomorrow the rain is good for that even if it isn't so good for cleaning the animal pens.

i was supposed to go to town this week twice, once wen, to met a friend, and then again today to meet another friend--- yup yup, i basically don't go out for two months....... well the plans fell through so i didn't go which is fine with me!

as much as i wanted to see these friends, and i do want to see them

i am ok without going to town

i can't get the fire going again, we're out of kindling and paper. that too will get taken care of this weekend.

i am still up in the air about the watercolor paper situation.

i need to sample some but that's pretty pricy.... so i am going to use my inktense pencils for now on the paper.... however i don't think they are light fast, or as light fast as i would like them to be, which means any originals done with them will have to be kept in a black box and only reproduction archival prints made from them- archival prints would last long then the originals! i think they are rated for 100 years! which is ok for straight commercial work but i think that i would eventually like to put all this work on the market for sale. those i wouldn't be able to with a clear conscious.

now regular watercolors will last hundreds of years,......now you know why i was trying to get the paper situation under control. i still intend on it, but it will take a while as the paper isn't cheap at all.

i just gave the cats their fancy feast with hot water and chinese sinus herbs, they are all still sneezing a bit. the budgies just got their minced veggies and are chattering away, the chickens have their light on. so as of right now all is right in my little world

we are starting to look into a few more budgies, this cage will comfortably house six, so we are sort of looking into more..... budgies these days don't seem to have a very long life, no matter what you do to take care of them so i would like to make sure there are a few just in case we do lose one, the others will still have flock members...... but maybe if we have 6, we WON"T lose any as they will have the flock and enough excersize etc?

i would hate to lose any of these guys, they are such charming little birds, and with so much personality.  i do love them. and they do make the studio very lively.

i tried to upload a very short video of momma duck splashing happily in her little pool but that didn't work for some reason. so you have a picture of lilli in her day pen

meanwhile we are a bit chilly here with no woodstove going......... so i am going to go and see what i can do about it..... we don't have enough kindling to get the wood to take well and it's a bit warm out

meanwhile i better see to it before the feathered and furred inmates start to get angry....

one ruined painting

well maybe it's a good thing it was ruined. when i went to take the maskit off, the paper on the bear and the ducks pulled up. i tried to fix it a bit but it's a mess. (it doesn't look too bad here but in person what a nightmare) so i decided to really look at this painting and flipped it horizontally. what i decided was the following
it was a good thing it got ruined, as i may have decided it was good and it wasn't mediocre
1) the composition is not right, it's ok but not great...just mediocre and who wants mediocre?
2) the bear is rendered stiffly, and doesn't quite look as real as he should be specifically his hind leg
3) the snowy plains behind them are a bit muddy in color
4) the duck on the far right is not right
5) i am not sure i truly like the shadows and light, i think i need to make it more extreme
6) i think that the feeling of this is ambiguous as well- it isn't funny, it isn't scary, it isn't anything... but just there in other words it doesn't tell it's story well (and it is boring me)
so we got some issues with this

 

the good points...the sky
the snowflakes and the center duck's head

 

now as an aside, the ruined part is the paper's fault, it's a cheap grade of professional paper
it is fine for FAST loose studies but terrible for detailed over washes and glazed color, and obviously it can't take a mask either so now we know.

 

now as to the paper, there are two or three brands that i believe will stand up to what i dish out at it.... but they are like 12.00 a sheet, plus shipping. i can get four paintings out of one sheet which i realize brings it down a bit but i also need brushes too
i am at a loss as to what to do
i really wanted to go back and forth between blk /wht and color but it's starting to look like it may all have to be blk /wht as i may not be able to afford color!
but i am going to try a few more with arches paper..... and see how it goes, i have fabriano artistico paper as well so i will try that too.
but really i am thinking twin rockers ( a brand of paper) is what i need here.

ok back to daily life.
i got more seeds to plant today and i am going to try and clean some of the pens as well.
i don't know what to make for supper, last night was burgers as bernie got home so late, and i was pretty tired
i think i should consider a crockpot something today.
it looks like rain out there too
and i am sitting here in my sleep tee, and not really moving much!
just drinking coffee and thinking out loud to you all
sort of a few mental lists that i need to get done.

• a) winter coats washed, dried, and put up
• b) cardboard for the lasagna gardening taken out and put down on the garden
• c) deck containers refilled with soil
• e) canning shelves cleaned and jars all checked (one unsealed on me!)
• f) grain mill run ( sad to say i got this a few months ago and didn't run it yet- i swear i don't know what is wrong with me
• g) impatient seeds started-wow i am WAY late with that
• h) apple branches cut for the budgies (behind on that too)
• i) pens and crates all cleaned

so there you have it........ and dishes aren't even on that list! maybe i don't really have time to waste on painting and drawing, with all the stuff i need to do
oh man
so what do you think i am going to do today?
get the ducks out
do the dishes
start some seeds
and do some layouts for the next drawing
i am nothing if not a procastinator.................

doesn't EVERYONE have a duck in a dishpan under the sink? NO?

you mean i am the only one? oh man, i so don't like being
'special'
phoebe has decided that she is going to nest under the sink........in a dishpan
(and you thought human women were complicated? ha.....try figuring out a female DUCK)
and at the crack of 2pm she came out from under the sink to join me in the back for a bath.
sorta
it was cut short by the appearance of the hawk.
anyway, when phoebe was under the sink in her dishpan, i asked her WHY??????
she turned around and fluffed up her tail.....which she then very POINTEDLY make sure was pointing in my direction
i was told off (yet again) by a duck
i tell you.....you haven't lived........
oh man

meanwhile on the drawing board, are purple ducks.
don't ask
bernie won't like them no doubt
and a polar bear that susan swears is supercilious........(she is right you know, the bear IS supercilious)
right now they are covered in white mask preparing for the northern lights to yet again be slashed across a paper.
(and spent i don't know how many hours cleaning the masking fluid brush....cause i am ocd that way)

meanwhile i planted seeds
peppers: ace and lipstick ( and i need to do banana peppers yet)
tomato: juliet sauce
eggplant: nadia, and orient express
i have to get the other seeds ready to go and put them in
i want at least 4 red cabbages (1 early, 2 mid, 1 late)
leeks, broccoli, chard and greens (lettuces and other salad stuff) spinach, peas..... beans, squash, pumpkins, cuc's and maybe some beets, kolrobi etc.....
i am hoping this gardening season is a good one
i really should spend tomorrow in the garden cleaning up and doing that lasagna gardening thing
but i would like some help so maybe i don't throw my back out this time?
i also have to put fresh dirt in the deck containers, (which reminds me, one of the window boxes suddenly fell off the deck yesterday while i was bathing ducks)

momma laid her first eggie of the season!!! yup today!
and the pullets (not the new chicks) are going to the stew pot as soon as i can get the guy....... they laid and ate an egg today
possibly two eggs
so tomorrow ( so to speak) we will have them for dinner...... they will be in the soup pot
i never did like them pullets
(yes i heard them lay.....came to get the egg only to find them gobbling it up FAST before i could 'get it from them')
these pullets were a bad lot from the beginning
however they will redeem themselves with some parsley and carrots

in budgie news....they have discovered the bottom of the CAGE........ohhhhhhhhhhh ahhhhhhhhh
amazing! new territory!!! uncharted by any BUDGIE BEFORE THEM
oye
i found the two of them running around on the bottom of the cage today.....gee when they decide they aren't afraid....... they AREN'T AFRAID
oh man

thaddeaus continues to be under the weather. i am trying to decide if he is sick enough for the vet or if it'll pass. i don't want to stress him by taking him to the vet if he'll be ok in a day or so.
he's being a good boy so i know he's sick
and i am worried.

falstaff is getting antsy....... bernie tells me that falstaff wants a bit of nookie from his 'ladies'
(leave it to a man huh?) he is 'threatening' to peck me......at least behind my back
if i turn around he pulls his head and his crest up and says 'who me? i wouldn't EVER do that to you mom'
bernie said if i would let the bird at the ladies.......he'd calm down
bernie is most likely correct but i don't have a secure pen to raise the babies
as bernie didn't FINISH the secure pen i need to raise the babies in......
it is just missing a few things like DOORS
minor details

i have decided that i need 1000. of found money for the art supply store.
i need some odds and ends. paints, brushes, brushes, brushes.............. some paper, brushes, a few palettes.......brushes.......oh and did i mention BRUSHES???
my good brushes are not great, i have one decent one but i need more
so i keep saying over and over 'i need 1000 for the art supply store'
think that's going to help any????
i didn't think so either

oye
i want my supper now thank you (ps this is being typed at 7:38 pm on 3/9/2010.......you'll all read it in the am.
will you guys check in so i know you are all here????
cause now i am sorta talking to you folks..

vi

we are up early- due to cat vomit

poor little thaddeaus, i think his sinus thing is breaking up. he lost a bunch of mucus all over the bedroom floor so i am hoping this is it

if not he goes to the vet tomorrow.
(even though the vet will give him more chinese herbs which we have, and tell me let it run it's course)
we took him upstairs into a steamy shower last night and i think that started to break it a bit
he's been (and is right now) sneezing like crazy
and swallowing so i think that he's draining, as that's what i do when i drain.

yesterday i spent a fair peice of time with the ducks, in the bath. (they were in the bath, i was on hawk lookout) it was really warm so i figured they could use a bath each
momma doesn't mind breaking ice to bath but lilli and phoebe do
so i filled their pond with warm water and momma got cool water
and off we went
i can tell you that lilli loved her warm water
and that my ducks are not spoiled.. they are just well loved. THAT is my last word (hahahaha) on that.
lilli splashed around until two hawks flew overhead....about 40 minutes.
phoebe piddled in the bucket (she also piddled in the pond with out washing so much as a wing....so she got her bucket and lilli the pond)

i am working on a big male polar bear right now..... who's giving me a hard time (and why would i expect any less from a MALE polar bear) i think it is going to end up another study so while i am trying to work it....i think i am going to have to stick with the black and whites for a bit...
until either i get something to stretch this paper on ( watercolor paper is better stretched)
or get a different subject i just wanted to see if maybe i needed to rethink everything about this project
(i do need to explore all area's of it)
which is what i am trying to do... i figure use the duck stories as the framework.
i have a friend that does tarot cards. she's never gone to art school but she's always painted.
she's on her 4th or 5th deck
that's 72 paintings per deck however i've known her for years, and she may do maybe 6 times that amount of paintings for each deck
it's just the way it is
i think it may be more about the process

i am going to start the seeds today. i'm late with some, early with others
i need a cold frame and i need help in the garden (think i am going to get either?)

bernie just left....it's a quarter to 5
i feel so bad for him. thaddeaus woke him up. i had to clean up thaddeaus' mess so i had to put the lamp on.
i came down and stoked the stove too
really now i am pretty tired and i can just go back to bed...as i didn't sleep much- thaddeaus kept climbing into my arms so i don't sleep when he does that.

good thing i made bernie,  steak, baked potatoes and spinach for supper- cause that's what he's got for lunch and also at least that made up for the whole early morning light thing i hope.

i uploaded a cropped photo of lillianna take from the studio window on sunday morning. bernie put the ducks out for me-- the white sort of line that is going up diagonally is actually a fence post that is holding down a tarp on the A frame pen (the blue tarp is over the a frame) lilli later made bernie carry her to the back pen.
so did momma duck
i tried to get pictures of that but they were too quick. he came in and told me that my ducks needed to 'stop that shit' hahahaha
yeah RIGHT...and WHO carried them?? it wasn't me....i was up in the studio taking the pictures!!! hahahahaha
yeah like i am the only one that loves those ducks... he really shouldn't lie like that......no one believes him- not me, not you, and certainly not the ducks!

so it's time to make the coffee and to put more wood on the fire.
the budgies are waking up and it's a bit too early for them. i can hear them softly talking to each other- she's on the wooden swing.....he's on a perch below that is going to get moved (it's not a perch he should sleep on, it's a nail trimming perch )

btw, has anyone seen 'alice in wonderland' the new tim burton? we're thinking of going with vicki and bob next week. i like most of burton's movies and this one looks as good as sleepy hollow.
but i wanted to know if anyone saw it yet?

oh my.....i forgot to title this!

here is the beginning of polar bears in color. i have already done this story in black & white (last year actually) AND as it's better to draw what you know..........AND due to the fact that there aren't polar bears laying around out back here (thank goodness) i need to learn the bears, which i am doing by photo's. now from what i have seen in photos, there is a vast difference between the captive bears from the wild ones... they seem to move differently, - their body shapes are different as well. their skin seems to be too larger for them a lot of the time as well.

 to my eye, the captive ones appear softer and rounder- while the wild ones appear more solidly put together. i also discovered that all of the LOOK different! which surprised me ( i don't know why i should have been surprised-that does make sense)  it was so distinctive that even bernie noticed after looking at about 40 pictures of them (i've collected over 400 of their digital images at the moment and i keep looking at them as a slide show)

so now, back to the rough study.
i lucked out on a couple of things- first i lucked out on the splattering of the mask on the paper prior to the first wash.
then even though when i tried to do the northern lights, they came out looking like a bad childrens book illustration from the 50's, when i did decide to go in and just work on studies the ironic thing was that the funky blue and the yellow fell into the right places on the bears! my eye must have noticed but i didn't. i highlighted them with white just enough to suggest moon light from above.....again my eye knew but i didn't
bernie doesn't like it as he doesn't like the colors at all......too red, yellow and blue for him
but then again if i'd done it in cold icy blues he most likely would have loved the color
he also doesn't like how i did the baby. (i only used the picture for reference.... and went and did my thing) so i have a lot of studies ahead of me now.. to learn bears as best as i can while not actually looking at the wild bears up close and personal. (hey if i was doing a book on bears AND had a mega advance....i would be going to churchill alaska and studying bears first hand so to speak)

in the budgie cage last night, the intrepid pair have found their new ladder! as well as the bottom half of their cage. (that's WHERE the new ladder is!) i was sitting here looking at bears and realized that the chirping was coming from much lower then normal. ( usually their chirping is at my ear level)- yup they were on the bottom, playing and fighting over the ladder!.... so this means a birdy play pen in the bottom and some plexi for guards from the cats

thaddeaus overnight came upstairs, he isn't feeling well but he's still eating ok, so no vet yet.
the vet and i had decided that to help him acquire a better immune system which was not efficent when he came here, we would stress him a bit here and there.......open windows all summer, and his chinese herb sinus meds while sick UNLESS he doesn't eat.....then we give him the zithromax.
so far it's working i think. he is still eating, but like everyone else i know......has a sinus thing going on
he's sneezing and can still breath so we're watching him close
that is not hard to do when he's sleeping with his head on my pillow and under my covers in my arms.....sneezing all over me
oye
cat snot
what's not to love?
we got a quilt drying outside on the line cause thaddeaus puked on it the other night and we washed it........

anyway back to my study really fast..... i am not going to document the whole thing like that duck drawing but i though you all would like to see that one
i got a ways to go yet
i still want to do egg tempera but i need to learn these bears first (i may do an egg tempera of somthing else though)
now today i have seeds to plant, and more studies of bears
dishes too
yeah like i ever get away from DISHES.....oye

ok ttyl

it's a budgie morning

i was greeted this morning by a lot of chirping and fuss, it seems that the budgies decided they were out of food! (two HUGE FULL food cups plus treat cup and they think they are out of food- and no it wasn't hulls i checked)

so since i am a good mommy and they got me well trained.....i dumped out the seed and filled up both cups again... i checked the seed and there was some hull but still a LOT of seed. oh well... now they got full cups again

i am also working on switching them to a mash/veg/legume diet with minimal seed.... and i would prefer the seed that they DO eat is sprouted. they don't agree with this so it's slow

aren't they cute? that is mrs fezziwig on the left and on the right is both of them... captain cuttle was on the cuttle bone chirping at me and at her-now they are playing with their toys

after all that they each ate two seeds out of their cup! i think maybe they just wanted attention?

we got woken up again today by bernie's job..... today's wake up was because a driver had run out of fuel in one of the units, a diesel unit. she was a bit annoyed with bernie that she had to wait until someone got out there, and was demanding that 'someone' get a 'gas can' however gas and diesel don't mix ....poor bernie was trying desperately to wake up as he'd been in deep rem sleep. (i could hear it in his voice.........he's exhausted) I made bernie call one of his guys out to deal with it... so bernie sent danny.  as danny was RIGHT THERE although he still had to make the driver wait as the gas station didn't open until 8 am.

but that was it more or less for bernie's sleeping. he does worry about his guys when they go on road calls and even if the drivers are nasty to him (which is pretty rare actually, as he does try hard to take immediate care of the downed units) he worries about the drivers as well.

he's also ALWAYS polite to them, no matter how stupid a mistake they made. that makes me so proud of him. he's amazing with the amount of patience he shows for people's sometimes really dumb mistakes

right now he's making us breakfast, and i am stoking the wood stove and writing to you folks (and drinking some really excellent coffee..... bernie ironically makes fantastic coffee...and he is a TEA DRINKER!)

i don't know what we are going to do today, most likely make bernie rest more....i got him to lay down for a nap yesterday for a few hours... and then he went up at 10pm

i told him that maybe he needs another nap this afternoon...... he's still trying to catch up from february sleep depravation

so i am not really pushing him to do anything more then get the wood in

thaddeaus is feeling better, he had a rough day yesterday with his sinus. the meds the vet gave us for him have started to work i think today. we did everyone's nails yesterday and later we'll give him some of the fast balace GI just in case (he threw up last night) calpurrnia is fine now...... no more green runs.......fawn is just sneezing a bit.. but the boy is still iffy.... better but not tip top yet

he really looks like a curly lamb all over now.... i i hope you can see his curls in this.....they are all down his legs too and his little belly as well.....all over really

he's got a bit of sleep in his eye too, which when he'll let me i can take out...it's from his cold.

anyway that's him sitting in the window right over the woodstove.

we're about to take the ducks out for the day, i think falstaff in the A frame again....with momma and lilli out back and my phoebe in the small temp pen.... this juggling ducks isn't as much fun as it sounds.

i got to clean pens and crates too this week

along with drawing polar bears and such.

just in case anyone wants to know why polar bears...

all along on this blog i been writing down the day to day life and stories about the animals here. winter time is especially fun with the ducks (not) they swear they see stuff in the snows and ice. usually it's stuff that they think will EAT their feathery little butts

like killer whales (when there was snow patches on the black driveway) or polar bears (their first snow, everything was all white) monsters in the swirling leaves. ( well duh! obviously or the leaves wouldn't be SWIRLING......- you just gotta think like a duck)

considering they stand what? maybe 9'' tall giver take an inch or 3..........

i guess large predatory creatures after them is a real fear.

so anyway, when i started this, i decided to go back to my roots, which is as an illustrator, and the only thing i really have around is animals..... so i started with duck stories. i could have easily started with chicken stories, or lamb stories or cat tails...

but it was ducks

(i was asked why ducks.......... well we ain't exactly got dancers or nudes laying around all over the place...ducks we got-draw and write what you know)

plus they make me laugh.... they also make me cry and get seriously annoyed but hey the way to true love does not appear to be smooth

the biggest is that they do make me laugh...... and i hope you folks get to laugh too. the ducks don't mind, as a matter of fact they SEEM to try to make me laugh, and they are really sweet little things, and because they are i figure they would be trying to make you all laugh too

AND they WAG their tails...

what's not to like?

(plus no quacking....... peace, heavenly peace)

ok and speaking of our models.... i need to get them out, and at least clean momma's crate as lilli's was just done last week

and i also need to get a jump on the chickens but that will be during the week

as polar bears are calling me..............(more like taunting me but hey....)

til next time

vi

northern lights and polar bears

don't like to be painted apparently......or at least not by me......not right now

although i did dream of it so i will redo yet another one...... starting with the polar bears then moving on to the ducks with a big finish by the northern lights....
this will not defeat me easily
actually i am going to cut up a bunch of paper and just practice the elements (well if nothing else they may make ok cards no?)
i also realized that yet another trip to the art supply store...but this time again online is needed....for stretching tape and a board......... and qouashe........ and brushes.. damn this is so much more expensive then it was when i was in school or out in the field........ supplies cost the earth, moon, and a kidney now....then it was only a small asteroid worth of money

meanwhile bernie got up in a pissy mood, he's trying to get some sleep since he basically didn't all february. i came down and let him sleep and when he finally did get up (work called him)- he was annoyed that it was so late.
however even if i wanted to wake him i was trying to get the wood stove going again

so this weekend is sort of off to a bad start.

vicki and i talked about going to see alice in wonderland. then bernie said he'd like to go
maybe we should do a double couples date next weekend?
although vicki and i were going to go next friday. it's ten bucks a person to go to the movies! so that's twenty.......and if we go out we'd have to go to the chinese buffet which i think is twelve per person..... so that's almost 45 or so....and if you want a soda or popcorn at the movie....it's over 50!!!
that's a LOT of money
(sayeth the almost amish vi who's last seen movie was snow dogs)

i am thinking of trying to find some sort of board downstairs that i can staple wet watercolor paper to, as i don't have tape right now that will hold it
(stretching paper is a pain in the ass- i much prefer illustration board but i couldn't FIND any that is 100% rag with a hp finish and is archival at the art supply store....... it's not like it used to be)
these current issues are enough to drive me back to black and white again..... and i would ignore all color work......which would be a shame as i really am pretty good with color......if i can get the supplies under control (that's what i get for not keeping up with the industry)

i just hung out the laundry, it looks like a good day to dry out on the line... warmish, dry, a good light breeze and sunny.  i am going to be drying on the inside line as well

i found the hat that i made for bernie for our anniversary, and which i had lost during that snowstorm i walked down the hill in.
sure enough as i drove down it was sitting on the side of the road just waiting for me.....encased in ice and snow but perfect.
i brought it home and defrosted it, washed it, blocked it and dried it by the wood stove. he wore it today while bringing in the wood
it's actually better then new as i didn't block it before i gave it to him in the first place!
and none the worse for the adventure.
i realize that in small things i can be pretty lucky...... he loves that hat with the color. i had to go all the way to jersey for the yarn. it is his favorite color blue.

yesterday i went to town to get bedding for chickens and ducks......and toys for parakeets
the parakeets love their new ring toy. instead of staring at it like it is a budgie eating monster, they started to fight over who got to play with it first.....gotta love the budgies
now all we need to do is bring them in another apple tree branch for the lower end of their cage. oh and i need to winnow their seeds- they waste a lot

bernie is making lunch for us out of leftovers. turkey! i love turkey.
lately i haven't been wanting to cook.
he gets home so late, and dinner is usually ruined
so i been trying to get the meat at least timed right and then worry about the sides when he walks in.
it's too late for me, as by 5 i am pretty much wiped out for the night
i can manage to do something sitting down, like knitting or reading and sometimes drawing..not too close though but standing to do cooking is now too much for me
and i can't eat late either or i get sick all night

i am going to have to plan some sort of homemade tv dinner or something
what i have been doing is a couple of 'big meals' such as roasts and then we slice and reheat with gravy or in sandwiches or stir fry
but i need to rethink this a bit
and soon we will have deck salads which is the stuff i grow on the deck for daily meals
(i am going to refill all the containers out there with fresh dirt this year for our deck salads)

now sometime this weekend i need to start seeds...as i am way behind anyway
oh man it never ends

and the polar bears seem to be in cahoots with the northern lights to make sure i struggle at the drawing board......
oye they must be MEN
(no offense don)

it may have been a bit premature

i decided that lilli the top duck needs more work but i am going to still give it a bit more time

anyway that's how i work, pretty much from start to finish........now if anyone is asleep you can wake up now......we're done. and if you folks have all stuck with me, thank you for staying.... i realize it took quite a while. but that's how i work....other people work differently (probably more efficently then i do)

i didn't get to town yesterday as when i checked the balance in the checking, there sort of wasn't any....
i hope to get there today.
bernie couldn't get the stove going this morning, so i am down really early, i opened the stove door and poof......fire.
the cats are sick too so i wanted that stove going.....calpurrnia is feeling better but now thaddeaus is got the sneezes and from the stench that followed him out of the litter box before.....he'll get a few doses of the fastbalance GI stuff too today and tomorrow
he's got his sinus meds started ( the vet gives him chinese herbs and they work great)

i started doing the research for the next painting......this one is going to be a redo of the one i did about the ducks and the polar bears. I think it was from last winter....when they wouldn't go out in the snow...only this one will be color..

i spend last evening researching aurora borealis and polar bears......i have now collected so many images of polar bears that i even have them going to the bathroom......i put it in a slide show so i can watch it and learn how polar bears move.....and look and think...
as cuddly and humorous as they LOOK and at times ARE....they are still large and very powerful carnivores, and to remind me of that i also saved pictures of a bear eating a baby polar bear cub
not pleasant but accurate.  it also helps me keep them real as opposed to cartoons i think.
and even though the ducks fears are unfounded.........fear does sometimes have a basis in reality.

there is an entire industry sprung up around polar bears in a place called Churchill. they have tours and all to see the bears. Churchill is built on a migratory path and is basically where polar bears hang out while waiting for the hudson bay to freeze up enough to go out on the ice to catch seals. which is their main diet.

now the northern lights are also interesting.. they are solar particles caught at the poles in the earths magnetic pull, and right now is a good time to see them in the northern areas.....alaska, Canada, Russian finland........ and down in the southern pole too
the predominate color appears (at least in the photos) to be a sort of neon green and they are interesting.
they DO pulse and swirl and change shape and color and there are videos on the net of them, as well as a ton of still pictures. they are also semi transparent and you can see the stars through them.

now in thinking how this translates out to paint on a surface......with watercolor for the most part, you have to sort of do it back wards .....preserving the white of the paper for the lightest areas.
normally i would paint it and go in at the end with opaque whites....
instead i am going to mask out some of the whites and then work from light to dark
i may still have to go in at the end with opaque white but i am going to try not to
(traditional watercolorists did back in the day..and they also scraped the paper  to get back to white)
so we'll see
i have yet to order gouache anyway- which is how i would have most likely do something like this years ago

i got the tax papers together, scanned and emailed yesterday- i had an issue with bernie's tool bill from work.
so i spent the afternoon downloading check images from the bank....only to find out that bernie neglected to bring home the second part of the tool bill!
he's got the long term bill which is the honking tool box (i swear it is a penis extension) but not the day to day tool bill........ so i add up the canceled checks and had a discrepancy...... which made me nuts.

it's all straightened out now......and i need to discuss with bernie his payments on these together but separate bills.....

the fire appears to have caught well now. i just fed the cats their fancy feast with hot water, and i added the chinese sinus herbs and powered acidophilus. fawn is on the cat tree, i think thaddeaus is on the window and i can see calpurrnia by the woodstove....... staring at the wood (good thing she's pretty as she isn't the brightest rocket on the birthday cake)
i dreamt of them and mice last night.....that mice were in the bedroom and ready to jump on the bed and the cats didn't quite have a clue...and THAT no doubt has a factual basis in actual daily reality around here.
too bad phoebe can't sleep with us.

now TODAY, if the money is in the account (auto deposit of the pay) i am off to the town to get the errands run........ and the seeds planted that i am two weeks late on, and the million other little errands i have yet to do. THEN i sit down to torture myself with 'art'
OK KIDDING on the torture...but maybe not entirely
it's a challenge but don't think it isn't hard at times -although it's good hard mostly... but if it's too nauseas making, i can always scrap it and say.......'well i can't do it'

ok off i go now
have a nice day everyone
happy friday

day 17 and i believe it's finished!!!!!

***this is about an hour prior to it being done... it looks different now***

i am letting it sit for a while until i decide if it is or isn't
i need to not see it it for a bit so i can see it fresh
now i am going to figure out the next one
i want to thank you all for coming along on the very long ride with this drawing
(if you are all still here???--- you folks have been sorta quiet again)

i had forgotten that when something is finished......i don't always know it.
(yeah i know...i only been doing this for how long now?)

well anyway, i am typing this wen night march 3........ i got a pork loin in the oven with pineapple, garlic, peppers and onions.... bernie is on his way home
i just got up from the drafting table...... and i kept looking at that drawing and saying
'i think you're finished.....but i'm not totally sure yet'
so when that happens you walk away for a while
i'll put it in the archive box and start something else while i wait for it to let me know

the snow is mostly melted here, so i put lilli down in the back pen. she wanted to be carried and kissed the whole way down
momma wanted an ice bath
phoebe wanted to stay in and play in the bucket
falstaff wanted a woman.....he didn't get that however he did get a rap on the head when he tried to peck ME

the little chickens are very funny...... they are struting around like they are BIG chickens.... the BIG girls find that endlessly amusing....... the middle pullets ( the former new pullets) keep telling the little girls that they will eat them if they venture too close
the little girls then go around by the really old hens....... who don't really care either way
smart chickens them little guys

it's warm here and the snow is melting
i was to have gone to town.....
hay
stall pellets
vermiculite
new swing for budgies
(new budgie?)
post office
craft store for beads

i didn't go
i may have to steel myself and go tomorrow
bernie went saturday for my meds but the doctor hadn't called them in yet.... i don't know if she's done that yet or not

i moved toys around in the budgies cage
i moved that red swing to the front and also moved the climbing rings
they are playing with it all now
they made me laugh i swear..... they are also bickering back and forth then kissing each other....sorta like bernie and me.
i would like to get them another swing like that red one and more climbing rings as they seem to really like them
and i will put them lower in the cage i think

thaddeaus is sneezing.....calpurrnia has a bit of the runs
and i think fawn is ok
yup spring is about here
when the seasons change the cats get colds......never fails

i also need to decide my birthday present soon........i already decided my birthday cake ( icecream cake, i think i would like peach and raspberry icecream)
with whipped cream and a cherry......... or several cherries

i think a color rendering is next ...... i am thinking

day 16 and i am taking a break this morning

i desperately need to get to the feed store for hay for the ducks and new chickens
and stall pellets too
i need to go to the po
i could use a swing by the book store and the craft store (beads for the next few knits)
and i would love to go and get the budgies a couple more toys
(and maybe a couple more budgies???? i would LOVE a lutino and a violet..... and maybe a sky blue and one of them chartruse glow in the dark greens.....that would fill my aviary up too)

today is wenesday right?

it seems to be raining a bit here but i think bernie is getting snow down there!
he didn't stoke the stove for me this morning, as he said it was full of ash.... but really it wasn't bad....however the ash bucket is FULL......
i lit the fire

last night one of the baby chickens got out and was running around the basement......bernie put her back but i may have to get the flight netting out for their run
i would imagine phoebe was a bit unsettled

i think they are all going out to the day pens today, it looks like the snows are almost gone

i spoke to deb about snowy yesterday, i would imagine she (and he) will be out here by end of march.... we are going to rename him... i would imagine something that will sort of go with thaddeaus and calpurrnia. i was thinking of something out of hamlet..hahaha larertes?
oye

i have yet to start the seeds, which also needs to be done today or at least this week as well as the taxes.....will someone light a fire under me?

also today we have a problem with calpurrnia, she's got the runs a bit
i am giving her the medicine but so far it's not helping as fast as usual OR she is continuing to do something that is not helping
i just gave her another dose (twice a day works normally for a few days)
and some fancy feast
ok i am eating my oatmeal now and about to get the ducks out etc

birdlegs from TN called me yesterday but didn't leave a message...i called her back and i did leave a message (mo called too, but her i actually got to talk to which was pretty cool)
anyway bird, i did return your call.................
next time leave a freeken message ok?
we had to go to town

day 15 and i realized i got a problem

i been blogging about the duckies for quite a while now....and the chickens, cats, sheep, goat, budgies.......etc
i started drawing the duck stories last year because i didn't know what to do with myself....i couldn't garden as i threw my back out moving my sheep (just as well, since it was a TERRIBLE season anyway)
i was always taught to be true to what you know, in your life, in your drawing and in your writing. so that's what i write about and draw......
now the other drawings about the duck stories are great, and i love them.....they are a bit more kid friendly then this latest
they show the duck's personalities and how they look at me in disbelief every time they are scared and imagining that their fears are just outside the basement door waiting to chomp on their feathered butts.
this latest drawing take it a thousand steps higher, and i need to make a decision. do i redo the others to 'match' ? i think that would be a little old for kids, do i keep this but redo a kid friendly one...? this is a good peice, but just not as viewer friendly and cartoony as the other ones- this has the feel of a gallery peice.....somthing that could hang in a gallery show

do i scrap the entire thing and just keep doing whatever and get it printed out for posters and fine art prints? greeting cards and such?
( do i enter a magazine contest?)
i don't know what to do again (figures....it's march and again i don't know what to do)
i am not sure i want to cross the threshold over to being a fine artist as opposed to a commercial artist........(no one wants to go to that place in my head.......let alone me)

can i have you folks weigh in a bit? i realize that the decision is up to me.... but i no longer have the feedback that i used to get in art school, or from my peers in the field....i am rather isolated up here in the mountains.
(bernie's not much help, he just shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders and tells me to do whatever i want)

actually today i may go to town for a bit........ i can count on one hand with fingers left over the amount of time i have been off the property in feb. (it was three times) i need to pick up some odds and ends and also get to the PO for my paper from dick blick......(which means i am behind again on cutting watercolor paper into quarters for storage- i have 30 sheets to cut now)
although i really have so very little left on this drawing and i want to see how it turns out.... i am amazed when stuff appears ......it's like reading a good book, i can't wait to see the next page.