by the time you read this

i will be either at the motor vehicle getting a new picture license
or down near hellerstown picking up a duck

ok in absolute agony
and desperation
i went to a chiropractor
(how the hell do you spell that)

it's a bit better but i am sore as hell
it doesn't hurt the same however
so it does appear that maybe i will be ok

mary tells me i work too hard, harder then most people
she says i beat my body up

i don't know about that
i am rather fat for having a beaten up body i would say
so i don't think so

this chiropractor was in the health and fitness club down the street
i was thinking
they walk on the treadmill
i walk up and down the stairs and up and down the hill a million times a day
they lift weights
i lift canners
they sweat
i sweat
they have sauna's
i have boiling water bath canning
( and damp plaster ceilings)

they bend over and touch their toes
i bend over and pick up ducks, and eggs, and plant beans and cucumbers and weed

maybe i need a health club membership so i can rest a bit?
they have machines that you can sit in

meanwhile my pelvic feels like it's getting all crampy
which would be about right if muscles are relaxing
but i can stand up from a chair without that intense pain

bernie is however reheating sauce and meatballs i canned a few months ago
and i am sitting here typing

you however will read this some time tomorrow

yellow is waiting it's turn

to dry by the first

morning kristy

what is what for?



back is marginally better, but i am afraid of going to a chiroprocter........i am terrified that they will screw it up worse

it is all coming from one area in my back, the SAME place that i hurt from when i move full canning kettles
and when i move furniture


it needs to get better soon as i won't be able to spin on the wheel like this
nor plant beans
or cuc's
or WEED
or pick up needful and willful ( and spoiled rotten) duckies
who think momma is the taxi
plus canning season is almost upon us

as i sit here
i am looking at the multi colors hanging to dry, of the rovings
yellow will be next to hang there
and i am thinking
i may need to tone it all down a bit
it's brilliant saturated colors and i think it needs some spot areas of toning to give your eye a rest
either that or more magenta

i may ply it with browns and greens

(assuming my back cooperates)

ohohohohoh
LETTUCE
the baby lettuces are not only UP but they have declared themselves by leaves
THAT one is red sails( it's got reddish dots)
and THAT one is green deer tongue

and THAT one is something looseleaf and frilly that i can't remember the name..........
but the baby LEAVES are CURLY!!!!!!!!!!

i go out and talk to them daily

i got one spinach plant
so i have to replant that

the mache barrel appears to be coming along

no sign of the snow peas yet

now in the main garden, the multiplier onions are UP
the garlic so looks good
the cutting celery survived the winter as did ONE lonely leek
oh and bernie was right
there WAS a bale of peat out there
so we will do the blues this weekend
and the blackberry

i want elderberry and cranberry too

i think i am going to ask him to dig the holes and then i will order the plants
no?

ok NOW it's time for coffee
believe me
it really is
since it's 8:26 am
it's over due for coffee time

bernie doesn't know it yet

but i got to go pick up a duck on saturday

she will be falstaff's new wife, as it is been a year almost since we lost my beloved serafina,
and i need outcrossing

so we get a duck

she will stay with falstaff

the girls will be the girls

and all will be happy in our little feathered world

my back is still bad,
bad enough that i did NOTHING today
i stoked the stove a bit
that was a nightmare of pain
took tylanol and aspirins
and laid down a lot

i did get about two square inches more done on the next drawing the series 'and off we go down the hill'

(remember when the duckies were cold and wanted hot cocoa?.....that one)

i renewed bernie's license online ( we go for the picture id saturday)
called to find out the delivery time for his new glasses
and hung the fiber up to dry
oh and put a bit more in......this time yellow
but he'll have to put the container in the oven for me to set the dye
i can't lift it

he is also going to put full fresh water buckets out tonight
so that in the morning
i can just put the girls and falstaff out

i hope my back clears up soon
as i have pens to clean and beans to plant
and seedlings to move on

not to mention this fiber to spin

who lives close to me that has a drum carder?
i could use putting this stuff through it a few passes

and i would like to add some copper colored angelina too

the other big news at least to me
was i was able to pay the mortgage ONLINE
i have been waiting for that bank to get it together so i could do that for over 3 years
i am so excited
saved me a trip to town when i really am not up to it
that also means bad weather doesn't exhist for that as well!!!!

but it also means i don't go up to ac moore either as i would do the mortgage and go to ac moore since they are only two blocks apart
but think of all the money i will save
huh?

ok

other then that i been resting a LOT
for me i have been actually resembling a slug
doing NOTHING
i tossed me a salad for lunch
store boughten greens as mine aren't ready for harvest yet
but at least it had greens

i did check on my lettuces
and there are wonderful red splashed seedling and curly seedlings
and some spinach out there
i am so excited
i love my mixed greens

i am going to see if bernie can put the patio furniture up on the deck this weekend
we'll see

ok i am going to have this post tomorrow morning
but it's really tonight the 9th

While I wait for my back to calm down

I am dying fiber (btw, I am typing this in openoffice.org so it is capitalizing for me)
I have put in a mix of glitz and corriedale into a copper color
that is out now and drying by the woodstove (it is actually wen april 8 while I type this-bernie's birthday and it's snowing)
I got corriedale in the dye pot now in fushia
next is a purple and a red.......then some random greens
what for do you ask?
HUMOR ME and ask please.......ok?
I am going to spin fall leaves
ok to be accurate the COLORS of fall leaves that I like
none of this million shades of green crap
and I am going to spin about a dk or sport and ply it to worsted
for a fall leave colored scarf
I am going to add glitz to it cause I like it
and I am thinking of maybe plying in some beads........even though I SWORE on a stack of lambs wool I would NEVAH BEAD SPINNING AGAIN
some insanity has taken me over and I am thinking of using silver lined crystal beads in this
or maybe copper lined crystal........if I get enough of them before I ply
I have honestly tried hard to see if I can find a yarn that would work for a pattern of a twisted vine scarf I bought the other day
or at least for a shawl or something
but I haven't either seen anything I like OR
I can't afford what I like sooooooooooo
I am dying fiber
( yes I am still drawing but slow cause of my back)

the duckies did not allow the snow to bother their

eternal hunt for worms

when asked for comments
the duckies said

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm good

with a worm dangling from their beaks


such is the snowy life of duckies
on this day in history

snow day

well it's snowing
lightly but snowing

thinking about starting to cover in spots

and it's bernie's birthday
he wanted a banana split for a cake
and either meatloaf or one of my salads for supper
but the lettuces aren't up well enough to cut out on the deck so it may be meatloaf


i need to spin some yarn,
i need to dye some fiber first
i am thinking of fall leaf colors
or if i have to
some spring leaves with red flower colors.........and a LOT of pastels

i think i am going to start christmas knitting for a few people i really like
they are 'knitworthy'

however some of them aren't 'spin worthy' as i know it will just end up in the washer and dryer

so i need a couple of good acrylics and one...... oh man shoot me, needs to be in LIME green............
i don't know if my eyes will survive it

(it's ok i talk about it, they don't read the blog......hahahaha)

so a couple of folks are getting presents from me, which they will get when/as i finish them
and i will CALL them christmas presents..........even if they get them in august

sounds good huh?

now
about that acrylic...........?

any ideas besides red heart?

sciatica

it's not as much fun as it sounds

sandie are you sure it's not contagious?

my friend sandie has had a bad bout with sciatica
and thanks to my mom i am prone to it as well

guess what?
it flared up BAD sunday
it was hovering since thursday night when i cut my toe nails
i couldn't get my left leg up!
it's so bad my stomach hurts and i can't eat!
now i am wandering around with tylanol extreme arthritus in me as well as asprins
and the ice packs
i can only sleep inclined
and i can't sit for very long

i think sandie got hers from sitting too long and spinning

i got mine from sitting too long and drawing


anyway today it's DARK
raining
and painful
took me over an hour to get the ducks out
poor things wanted to graze
i needed to get in and sit for a bit

now i need to get up and walk for a bit

til next time

how green is your valley?

i got a thing in the email from mother earth news
talking about being/living green and if you walk the walk

we are not doing fantastic
but we aren't doing bad either

1) compact fluorescent just about ever single bulb is replaced now by them, with the exception of a few that we don't use much at all
2) we air dry our clothes and haven't used a dryer now in .......i think 18 months
3) we really do recycle but not as much i think as we could
we do plastic, paper, and cardboard
4) we compost ALOT
5) we grow a lot of food
6) we can and dry a lot of food......... and this actually did end up saving us money!
7) we use wood to heat with a high efficiency UL listed soapstone wood stove
8) i don't drive much, bernie does but that's for work and he is now got that big van, but again he uses that for work ( he USED to drive a tiny mini pickup but that bit the dust)
9) energy star appliances, yup........... we got em even the new freezer is energy star rated
10) we've reduced our electric use by 35% over the past two to three years
11) we have the house WELL shaded by trees during summer, and the air conditioner that is run when it's really bad during the day, is actually IN a tree ( don't ask)- the upstairs one is tiny, energy efficient and only run at night if we need it

now i think we can and should do better, i would like to increase the efficiency of our insulation and windows and i would like a non electric table top washer
and i really do wish we had more gas efficient cars but we don't
i would also LOVE to put in some solar
one of my friends is experimenting with that ( dorothy you better update me when you get them up)
and i would love to follow that for the well pump and the freezers

i would also like to have some sort of a solar oven for baking
and an outdoor wood fired oven
but that is not for now
i would love an evergreen wind break on the northwest side of the house but again that isn't an easy or fast fix

so
what are your ideas for energy savings?

i found peat moss in the back yard!

or so bernie tells me
there is a half of a bail
so today i think we will prep the blueberry bed
and plant the blackberry
i still need to get cranberry and elderberry
and maybe another two blueberries
for cross-pollination

i didn't sleep most of the night again last night
there was a flock of turkey buzzards riding thermals right over our house last night
circling on the air currents
scared the hell out of me.......i imagine they scented carrion and i am thinking
what if jackass dumped some bodies in my back yard

or so my mind goes at 3am

i am working on drawing up some of the stories i had posted here about the ducks and all the other animals
i don't know what if anything is going to come of it
but that is what i am doing right now
in my spare time

it's been raining, and yesterday was a NIGHTMARE torrential flooding rain
the duck pen has a lot of soaked areas but with two feet of straw at least they have some places that are dry

i am thinking.........i would like to move that duck pen
bernie and i spoke briefly this morning about the coops
and in about a month we should be able to finish them
and let the birds live in them full time (except for free-range grazing)

AND ...............
thaddeaus........the bad boy, is currently in cat jail
doing time for beating on his grammie
she was screaming pretty loud so i got his sorry butt and threw him in cat jail

he is got to do the time

let's see
bernie went to the PO for me
and to get milk
his birthday is wens

i think i am going to make him chicken cordon bleu
he wants a banana split for his birthday cake
ok
we can do that
i can actually make him a banana split icecream cake

and i just may
i have to get him some birthday cards as well

shhhhhh
we won't tell him
ok?

april showers?

for a long time the nursery rhyme

'april showers bring may flowers'

seemed to me to be wrong
april most often was a lot dryer then may
apparently not this year
as we have been getting rain

hopefully not like last year when the basement and duck pens flooded
(although the ducks at first were delighted with the water fall, lake and rushing river through their pens........... no so much after a week of it)


i got snow peas and lettuces all sprouted
and am about to put in the peas and beans out in the garden
could it BE i got a sorta early/late start?

yesterday was a grazing day
as the duckies were out a LOT
it was nice
everything and everyone was out
bugs too
but i sat on a chair on the driveway while the duckies grazed and bathed
this time lillianna was the last out of the pond
phoebe didn't bath much but got her feet wet
cleo was in and out

i let falstaff out to see if we could 'all just get along'

no
cleo.......( CLEO????????????? who'dda thunk~!)
attacked him!
she got on his back and beat the tar out of him
here is this HUGE drake
and this tiny duck
and she's got him by the neck and is clawing at him and jumping on his back and chasing him all over

i think she hurt her leg again
so i put him up and took her to the back pen

i named that one right i think

meanwhile lillianna bathed

that is going to be one seriously white duck

today it is raining....which means ( to a duckie) WORMS!!!!!!!
our little lil is a very avid worm hunter
she scoots around purposefully and gets MOST of the worms
the others sorta try but lil gets there first

on rainy days the worms are out all over and the girls scarf them up

it is amazing how those sharp little blue eyes of theirs distinguishes a worm from a twig
amazing

now in cat news
i got an email that the FURMINATOR is to be delivered on the 4th
fawn will be lightened of her heavy coat by evening i think

thaddeaus is mourning the loss of his woodstove, as it looks like it's over for another season
poor boy is sitting crouched by the hearth pitifully
poor little guy

and we are getting closer to pullets turning to real laying hens
i think about two more weeks
i have to clean their pen
i think this weekend
i did the duckies last night
i want to do falstaff this weekend too
the big girl chickens don't need to be done as they are still pretty clean (almost spotless actually)

gee i long for an outdoor chicken coop and secure duck coop

i think i am going to do a couple of moveable tractors for these guys with poultry netting and a solid area
just for the day
one needs to be pretty enough for the front lawn i think

although we have decided to put up privacy fencing
then they can be out there
if we'd had it in place already i may have considered hiding the big guys

and i am still thinking of turkey for tick control

ok
duckies calling

ttyl

duck eggs and feathers

are tough to get out of wool mittens

which also were in my pocket yesterday

i hope i didn't felt them

the coat itself survived me rinsing it and then a trip through the washer
and a hanging by the bottom next to the woodstove
and me beating the crap out of it to break up the feather clumps and redistribute them
now i am going to get a big plastic storage box for my winter coats and put them up until next season.
guess i should do that with the winter woolens as well huh?



and i ordered my glasses yesterday
i got a pair of rimless pink progressive lense regular glasses

and a pair of (i hope, as after i ordered them they showed out of stock) RED and clear sunglasses
i paid 87 and change
that included shipping


if this works and everything goes ok
i am going to get a pair of the magnetized snap on polarized sun glasses like bernies

and i can get a back up pair of regular glasses as well
but i will absolutely get more sunglasses
as i wear them ALL the time and all year round outside

http://www.goggles4u.com/detail.asp?pid=29284
my glasses
http://www.goggles4u.com/detail.asp?Pid=28520
my sunglasses
i should get them in about two weeks

i am waiting for seeds orders, and a FURMINATOR for fawn
it should strip off her undercoat
shes got about 3 cats worth of undercoat
and i can't keep up with it just by combing
sooooooooooo

i got the FUMINATOR
(sounds really impressive huh?..............we'll see)

my camera is back
CANON rocks
seriously
i bought this camera used, several years ago
they not only took it back and fixed the problem (LCD screen manufacturers defect) but CLEANED it and restored it to factory specs

did not charge me a dime! not even for shipping

plus their customer service is in american english, and is POLITE and helpful and knowledgeable
YEAH FOR CANON
they do it right
so guess what
when i go to get another camera, it's going to be a CANON, as they stand behind their product
and believe me
i would LOVE to get another camera soon, maybe a 10megapixel

the big news for me personally is i got to sleep through most of the night two nights in a row
which is a very good thing
as the no sleep thing had me weepy
crying
irritable ( bernie would say i was a bit more then just irritable........... )
withdrawn

if this whole sleeping thing continues, it will be a wonderful thing


i made something a bit odd and different for supper

first off
last summer i canned roasted sweet red peppers
roasted, peeled, pureed, and canned with a bit of lemon juice, olive oil and garlic

and of course i dried 50# of vadalia onions

so i opened a jar of the sweet peppers added some dried onions and a jar ful of water and heated it up

parboiled italian sweet sausages and then browned them
added some caramelized cabbage that i cooked the other day
added the pepper sauce
added 1/4 cup of heavy cream to finish it
and tossed it all with a pound of ronzoni

it was out of this WORLD

who knew? !!!!!!!!!!

bernie ate a huge plate and took it to WORK
so you know it's good

ok, off i go
i am very late taking duckies out
and then i have to thin the chard
and finish some drawings i started yesterday
i am thinking of dragging my drafting table up
even though i tell you all right now


it's HUGE
it's OAK
it's ANTIQUE

and it is going to give bernie apoplexy if he comes home and finds it in the studio

plus the thing weight a billion pounds, as it is SOLID oak with cast iron fittings
hahahaha

oye
and it must be 40 inches or more wide
and goodness knows how tall
and that is on it's lowest incline

but it's got a self healing matt on it
and a parellel ruler
and a ledge and it's solid
and sturdy
and don't let it fall on your knees

and my yellow drafting light is down there as well
mmmmmmmmm

next to the chickens

i sat on an egg

actually
i sat on two of them

they were in the pocket of my goosedown coat
the magenta one

ahem.............

neither egg survived


ahem

did i mention that i also had a pair of wool mittens in there
handknit
cascade 220 quatro in cherry and denim

ahem
and several clothes pins
and a pen
and a reciept for chicken food



it's in the washer now

let's hope the coat makes it out alive

duck pms

and we GOT IT

buckets of it all over the place

the ladies are out of sorts

duh, ya THINK?

they are telling me and each other off quite often

even my momma's girl, lillianna is out of sorts

i call them .........they run the other way

i have to go round them up

only to have them scatter as soon as possible

and they are biting each other's necks

now my SWEET little duckies are NOT vampires..........they don't have fangs
but something is in the air that is making my girls act this way

please don't tell me it's spring and hormones

please
they aren't even a whole year old yet


oye

eye exam

which is today

next
new glasses
i wonder if i will be able to see again?

it's been about 12-15 years since my last RX was filled
i know i need bifocals
i hope i can wear the progressives
bernie has them and loves them

bernie also doesn't have any problem with dilation of his eyes
me i have huge problems
so we'll see

i had nightmares last night
i actually slept through the night though
but had nightmares that someone i knew committed suicide
blood all over the place

now
normally when i dream of blood, it is a day or so later and i get my period
but as i am firmly in menopause thank goodness
i doubt that is going to happen

but it was disturbing enough that i looked this person up today in the SS death index


i hate nightmares


fedX is got my camera
they tried to deliver it yesterday, but i was on the phone with mary and didn't hear them
so they will deliver it today

i hope canon fixed it
i found out today that i forgot to send the paper with it
if they didn't
i am going to have to figure out how to get a new camera
and soon

one of the cats is sick
someone had semi runs.........i thought it was the boy, as he threw up all over last night
but now i am wondering if it wasn't calpurrnia
i am watching everyone closely today

the woodstove is giving me fits
i think the spark arrester is clogged again
i do'nt know why that is happening
it's only ever happened this year
so i have to think it's the wood

i wish i had hyacinths blooming
i do have crocus up and snow drops ( they are late this year) and scilla
i want some happy bright colors about now

the return (briefly) of the woodstove

past few days have been warm
raining and a bit dampish
but pretty warm
too warm for draft
soooooooo
today it was below 35 outside
i figured i would get draft...........sure enough i did!
thaddeaus is now warming himself in front of his beloved woodstove

i missed it's friendly glow as well

so we got a bouncing fire in there

i started a second drawing......this one of the garden and duck house

i wish my camera would get back from canon, (it's being repaired i believe.......as they think it is a manufacture defect) as i would love to start taking pictures of the ducks so i can get capture their antics
they go so fast i can't sit there and draw them too much from life
(besides, rain isn't too healthy for paper)

so next best is some pictures

i hadn't said anything to bernie, until he noticed the pad of bristol board
so i showed him

now i normally use rapidographs ( technical pens)
i use both rapidograph and stadler mars pens usually
however i can't find them!
somewhere in the studio is a full and complete set of stadler mars pens
and some extra rapidograph pens

but i didn't want to wait until i unearthed them so i got some disposable pens
pigma micron pens in a set of 6
they are ok
i do like them
the widest one isn't wide enough
and i would prefer a couple more mid-range
but i do like the 005 nib, it's nicely fine

i have discovered that the opaque photographic matte black crepe 1/4'' tape i use for borders is not manufactured anymore

that sort of sucks as it does really work well for a border

now i have to start inking them when i run out of this roll
bernie said chartpak has them
but we'll see
i couldn't find them

now a fast 'bless my art school' note
thank goodness they gave us a foundation year and taught us so many things that i doubt kids learn at art school now.....( although i could be wrong about that........they COULD be learning fundamentals)
to do type, instead of hand lettering.........which to say i am rust at is the ultimate understatement.........

i printed out a title phrase
carboned the back with a 2b pencil
and traced it on the board then inked it
FAST FAST
not too bad looking...........not as strong as hand lettering but for this it's fine

i am amazed also at how many things i remember, it's like second nature to do
i would say that art school really drilled this stuff into us
ok

garden news

the blueberries and blackberry are leafing out
i need to get them in the ground
i need peat for the blues.....
my outside seedlings are now sprouted
i wouldn't say they are actually 'up' yet
and the house seedlings are 2'' high
i would take a picture but the camera is at canon

gee i miss that camera at this time of year

bernie baked me a cake, i made filling and a boiled frosting for it
not too bad
he had two BIG pieces
i struggled with one piece

i had wanted an icecream cake
but no one thought of it

i guess there was too much else going on

btw, bernie's new (used) van is pretty cool
although it doesn't have a passenger seat
and it does have a wheel chair lift........( someone trying to tell me something?)
i can stand up in it
and i can tell you now
that 4 fully fleeced sheep and a chubby goat all fit in it
and they weren't too squished
i sat on the floor
they watched me

now in family news
my sister in law is coming out the end of may
she called to tell me she broke her wrist
she'd fallen a few weeks ago
and didn't get it looked at
but continued to pound nails in the windows and paint and generally continue to try and get a roof over her head again from IKE
all with a broken wrist.........three weeks worth of broken wrist

she's got a hot pink cast on now

i can't wait to see her as it's been over two years now
she helped bernie pound posts for the garden and put up the pen that is now the ducks day pen

i have to make sure i have enough extra lettuces planted to feed her as well
she'll enjoy that i know


til next time

it's raining

the ducks are out of sorts
the chickens are as well
the cats want the woodstove lit
but it's too warm out to get a decent draft so no woodstove

bernie is off taking recycling

i just transfered my font library from the old computer to the new one

and i am thinking of how to adapt a smallish tabletop drawing board

my drafting table is HUGE
it's HEAVY
and it's also an antigue
i love it but i don't know if i have space up here right now for it..... i could so use an extention on the studio

next house........ i want a seperate studio and i want it to have at least a loft area as well as main area ( and bathroom)

yesterday went well mostly
moving my animals
they were good babies
i cried after for hours

and didn't sleep last night again
'are they scared?, cold?'

i have finished one drawing and am trying to start another
i would like to start drawing the stories of the animals
but right now i don't know where to start

any one have any ideas?
or any favorite stories about this crew of very personable animals that i share my life with?

cause right now
i can't think

keeping my side of the bargin

one down, how many more i don't know yet
i need my drafting table upstairs
or at least a tabletop inclined drawing board

i would like my drafting table though

ok today we take the animals

i am feeling a bit sorry for me since instead of a birthday present i am giving up my beloved (and much worried over) animals
i can't help feeling i am giving up one of my longest held and deeply felt dreams of a farm

i am trying to not think of it all that much

i am trying to concentrate on the lettuce seedlings
and all that
reminding myself of the blueberries i have to plant and
of the elderberries and cranberries i have to order yet

and the next board i will be working on

probably this weekend but maybe monday..... i should do some rough drawings ahead of the time
i want to draw the ducks

communication

was a hard thing years ago

IF you could read and write, you got a sheeps stomach
scraped it down and stretched it
ground up some ink
pulled a quill from a goose made a POINT with a knife ( penknife)
wrote your letter
and tried to find someone going that way to deliver it
the delivery could literally take years

today
everyone seems to be able to reach anyone instantly with the internet
(i love the internet, it's like the universes biggest library....... puts the one that was burned in alexandria to shame)

the knowledge and ideas are amazing
there is ( like everything else) a dark side
the underbelly of the net
but with moderate care you won't deal too much with it


it is relatively easy to find folks with similar interests to yours to 'hang with'

you want to know how to milk a yak?
(oh sure you do......you know you do)
google it!

google is now a verb that means to search online
(with pretty pictures)

as communications shrink
and our world shrinks
i hope that instead of losing the wonder of it all
we are even more amazed at how intricate and detailed and astounding the universe can be

and not just lost in the latest computer generated game

i made a deal with the universe

and now it's my turn to pony up

it was a private deal.......... if such and such happened
i would get the drawing tools out

such and SUCH did happen
and i can feel the universe waiting expectantly
so
today
after duckie morning routine
after chickens get scratch and cats get hot fancy feast

i am going to town to find some disposable technical pens
maybe a bristol pad as well

since i woke up with drawings in my head

that is the first time in a long time


now i went to art school, and came out an illustrator
i realize i don't talk about it much
i worked first in a bank.......( talk about the wrong place for an artist to be)
then in art departments
i started in 'the field' as a typesetter........ funny cause now i find my mother's father, my grandfather was a printer...... back when it was an art, with hot type

then i moved on to 'the board' and did paste up and layout

then finally up to art and creative director.......hahahaha that was a joke
as i did EVERYTHING in that art department
including clean the stat camera and dump the chemicals for recycling....(we weren't 'green' the chemicals for a stat camera are full of silver.......we got money back from the spent chemicals)

then became a doll artist, miniature maker, soapmaker, gardener, knitting instructor, canner............
in short.... the me you folks sort of know today
but i suppose hidden under all that.......... are my roots
which is drawing

a while ago i started the illustrations and manuscript for a book that was the story of a trio of dolls i had been thinking of making ( i can't find the drawings though now...... !)

but all i am thinking of doing now
or at least attempting
is just one drawing
of the woods
in pen and ink
which should take me a while........

if i can handle it ( cause you know.......you don't' use it you lose it)
i will literally dust off the drafting table........ (it's downstairs and next to the chickens......it's really dusty)

i do remember a lot of joy in drawing
and a lot of frustration at times with how slowly images came to life under my pens

but i am older and a different person so maybe it won't be as frustrating
maybe this time around i will slow down
it is very likely

i may need a portable board as well
cause i can do this under the apple trees while the duckies graze
i used to draw at work, when i worked at the bank as a walk up/after hours teller
it was easy to put down and pick up
much easier then a book
and my customers seemed to enjoy seeing my homework ( i was in art school at the time.....so it really was homework)

so i am hoping that today acmoore has the pens i want
and a bristol pad
and if i can't find any of my layout pads.....i guess one of them as well
and possibly a layout pencil

one of my friends is a tarot card artist,
we had a long talk yesterday
she's been bugging me to do two thing for a while now
one was go back to drawing

i guess it is time to go full circle

we shall see

sometimes maybe, things happen for a reason

saturday the sheepies and goaties go to live at a different farm
it's a bunch of endings in very many ways

i keep hearing that reason or season thing in my head ***

the season of a friendship is over
and i am now ok with that
cause i get it now.......it was in answer to me learning how to spin

and now i can
so the season is over

it was a lot of adventure and joy while it lasted and now it's my turn to pass it on

it did however take a while for my head to get here

i am not sure what the future holds now
as the past 5 years have had me single mindedly wishing for a farm
and right now
with the recession, i am thinking we may not be able to do what i had envisioned
so
we bloom where we are currently planted.........and fix this place up
when we are done.......we then can have the option of selling or staying
i will most likely sell
as i still want more land and less people
and i am very tired of this area and the rate of growth in population, crime etc

but until then
we bloom where we are planted
as what else can we do?
i will plant the fruits i been wanting
and not hold off on that until the 'someday' farm
i will keep my chickens and ducks
and see if maybe i can find a loop hole in the zoning to cover 'exotics' and get mini sheep and a kinder goat

i am even thinking....... maybe it's time to drag my drafting table up and go back to illustrating stories...
only maybe this time it should be MY stories........
just for fun
( i wonder if my drafting rule still works? it's been on the board for so long.......... 29 years......wow)
i am thinking........... i could dust off my rapidographs......
and maybe get the sonic cleaner for them too
maybe do some fun stuff like drawing in the woods
i haven't done THAT for ages and ages.......
i think that was over 30 years ago as well
and the funny thing was......
i was ALWAYS drawing in the woods
always
sitting on a rock by a stream and drawing roots and trees and understory
i think that's how it got my love of the eastern woodlands

well...........we'll see
cause gardening/canning season is just around the corner..........

inspite of how cold it's been