i fell out on the ice

this morning out back-all ice

 lilli ran past me when i was trying to get her in the pen....she's a bit molty and a bit broody and she's being a total asshole......
i twisted (big mistake there) to grab her and went down.
i could not save myself
fortunately i didn't get too badly hurt
i twisted my back some, which i am sure hoping doesn't act up later...
i got a few bangs but i didn't get that solid smack of pain i have gotten sometimes when i've fallen

meanwhile bernie is due to be 45 minutes north of home sometime tomorrow.....he is going to try and actually get home but we don't have too much hope for that.
i am cooking a few meals for him in case he does.....he'll be able to take them with him on the road then
i'm going to do the meat part and stuff like barley and rice.....he'll do the salad/veggie part on the road then. (edited to add, he's not getting much chance to call home, i am lucky to hear from him for a minute early in the morning maybe- most of the time i have no idea where he is..... he's been all over about 12 states so far- he's homesick but thankfully really really busy...me? well .....i'm not taking this well- i will be so glad when this part of the training is over)

meanwhile the chickens are thinking of starting to lay again
i sure hope so....
and i hope that prudence starts to lay again too...cause i need some duck eggs for baking

new work......

i'm working on a few trees in the snow... this one has white lights on it......i know you can't see that now but it does.... when i finish the whole painting i'll take the liquid mask off and there will be white lights all over the tree.....or at least white dots..... maybe they won't look like lights...... maybe they will just look like white dots
i am not crazy about the blue, green....and paper white palette but it is what it is
at lest the blues and greens are broken color so maybe a bit interesting?
so this is what i'm working on today, while bernie starts his training

mixed ........so very mixed

bernie had to leave today, he is hoping he can get home every two weeks or so for this training period
it's a new phase of our lives

me, well i miss him terrible, as we are rarely parted
i took him down to the airport, where he picked up the car his new company rented for him.
i cried all the way home
it sounds so silly but i've always been this way
i hate having anyone i love leave......even for a few days
my sister in law called me, she knew how i was going to be considering how hard i cry when she leaves.
i kept crying

thank goodness we got him that cell, as he and i have been talking back and forth for hours

we talked about everything that lead us here...... to this point in time
and i am so trying to trust that it will all work out
he thinks it will
meanwhile i am going to cut more paper tomorrow and start painting
i am going to aim for some submissions by the end of the week

right now, it's WAY past my bedtime,
i am going to throw a few logs on the fire now and go up to read for a while

i wish everyone a happy new year

i hope all your christmas' were happy

my latest painting

i know i know...i have been away
but we've been very busy getting bernie ready for his trip
(make that plural TRIPS- back to back all over the USA)

christmas here was quiet, i can't quite tell you how we are right now.....
we are both starting to miss each other very badly....
even though he's not left yet
i am worried about his safety on the road and he's worried about my safety during the worst of the winter here
i intend on painting almost around the clock.......
he will be calling every chance he gets .....which is going to mean some pretty odd hours too
but when he's been gone for a while in the past on business trips, i end up in a weird sort of 4 hours on with 3 hours or so sleep periods around the clock... especially when he's been gone in winter
summer is a bit different but during the winter i was on a different clock entirely
so it looks like he and i will be on the same schedule but just in different states
i told him that this will be good cause he won't worry about calling me

he's got a new cell phone, neither of us wanted it but he was so worried about being able to call home so we got it
he was so enjoying NOT having a cell phone
and i may have to get one too but i am still holding out
there really are not many pay phones around anymore

now today we are to get a huge storm
tons of snow and ice and rain and all that
bernie's bringing in wood right now
we are going to have to stack a lot out on the deck
and bring a lot into the house too (a weeks worth in the house at a time)
IF bernie can get back weekly it won't be too bad, but we aren't counting on that
so i get to bring in the wood on my little cart
let's hope for a warmish winter ok?

in other news, i am about to start planning our spring/summer garden
which should be in pretty good shape as we left a few beds fallow and then dumped a TON (which is what it felt like) of manure on the beds too
so i am going through stuff and pulling out the seeds now

so that's what we've all been doing..... just busy.... not too much knitting going on, mostly premie and baby hats from the yarn susan (thank you so much again) sent....
my latest painting is at the top of this page..... i need to cut paper again
and pick up another roll of blue tape....
OHOHOH, i got 'mr clean magic eraser' ....... WOW, it picks up watercolor off a paper surface like NOTHING else i've seen!
my new tool!

cool huh?
now i need something to spread white mask in large drops not small like the toothbrush does
and i'm set for a while

happy new year to you all

things i would still really like to do in my life

the end of the year always brings out lists

top ten of the past year
worst ten
best books
best movies
and life lists, bucket lists.....
goals and reckoning

i have a few myself of course....especially after this past year
bernie got to achieve a goal he had for a while.... something he wanted to do but never really was in a place where he could or needed to.

me a few of my dreams and wishes are:

1) botanical illustration: now i found out that there are really GOOD courses out there for this, as well as scientific illustration...... but that they are far away, expensive, don't have placement services and at this point are way out of range for me..... some courses i can do myself with a text book, but i would have really loved to have done this....
and along with this......
1a) get more work out there ........i really want some licensing contracts now... and i have a plan!
1b) finally do egg tempera

2) build that red house: i love that house and can't stop thinking of it.....how it's got a farmhouse kitchen and porch, an open room plan, ample windows and real closets...... i adore stone houses but if i could have that red one i think it would be ok

3) expand my garden and add an orchard: that is self explanatory no?
i would like to add chestnut, walnut, and filbert trees, along with cherry, apple, pear and peach.... and elderberries, cranberries, blackberries, raspberries and more blueberries...

4) sew more: i miss sewing clothing but really i don't need much as i don't go out enough to justify an extensive wardrobe

5) more bookcases: or thin out my current bookcases...... this one is a huge stress-er for me....... i don't want to give up my books, and i am a voracious reader- i devour books at a rate that really isn't good for our finances, add to that a preference to owning the books i read....just in case...of you know.... a desperate need to reread a passage at 3am on a sunday morning during a snowstorm.....(don't laugh, it's happened more then once)

6) i wish i could say things like 'be a better person'....... but right now, i have just learned a very solid NO......... and i don't want to go back to being a pushover so ......i'll take the not so good but maybe more realistic person i am now

7) reorganize our house: yeah like that is going to happen....... can't someone wave a wand????


i really should pick one or two and work on them...... and talk to my friend bess who is the queen of stuff like this

so folks? what's on your list?

it's december......

and there are insects flying around outside!
it's a very warm (so far) december.
we'll get a few days of temps hovering around freezing and then it warms up
some days this week i didn't have to start the woodstove in the morning as it was almost 50 when we got up........so i am hoping our wood lasts out the winter, as i used the balance of the winter heating money to pay for the generator!

and it's about 2am....i'm up and downstairs
upset stomach
a bit of stress
some concern about jury duty for me this week
(as in getting there and back- as the timing is a problem)
plus i got some bad news about a close family friend, who is starting his decline.
he told me that the doctors don't think he'll be with us much longer
and that makes us very very sad.
right now it seems to me that all sorts of losses surround us

and it is the time of the year that any loss no matter how minor affects us worse.....and losing friends are major losses

now to brighten up a tiny bit....lillianna is almost out of her molt
today (yesterday? as it's after midnight) she didn't rush shrieking ............or what passes for shrieking, out of the night pen into the yard and on to the day pen-
i rigged a half ass door on the chicken pen (there was actually going to be three pens together..... so i just separated one from the other) and put falstaff on one side with lilli on the other,
i figured that those two would be the easier of the pairs..... as the young girls AND phoebe climb
and lilli doesn't..... neither does falstaff
it did work out....falstaff ended up just sitting in the middle of his pen....not even running the fence or anything
lilli did her lilli thing
(gees i love that duck)
so peace of a sort was restored in duck heaven........
and with that.......to sleep for me

night all

on being creative

i'm a person that needs to make things...with my hands

i need to see things in my brain and bring that out- down my arms and through my fingers

it's a real need 

like breathing

even eating will take second place to creating

when the muse descends i can forget (and do forget) everything

i forget to do chores (except animal chores) 

i forget to eat

to take breaks

all that matters is what is coming out.....the struggle of something new being born

once born i am interested in it for a short time

but then put it away for 'later'

when 'later' comes, i am more often then not surprised at what i see!

i don't remember all the little details although i was THERE 

i CREATED THEM

i don't remember!

i have often wondered if that is part of the process...... as it comes through a human?

it's also why i am beginning to think that it isn't all me doing it

somehow something, which i will call the muse, works with me and through me

and a lot of times something amazing happens

it's almost like an addiction as well, because when i haven't been creating for a bit (like right now) i get unsettled, bored, depressed, life seems to lose it's luster, it's meaning and it's purpose.

i rattle around, unsure what to do with myself

my fingers need to be doing SOMETHING

my mind needs to be challenged 

and i get into a very bad bad mood

now all this being said...

i have work to do 

i am going to get off the laptop and wander over to my drafting table

i may draw

i would like to make some thing too.....maybe an ornament?

maybe an object?

i wouldn't mind bookbinding, that is always fun

making a box out of fabrics and cardboard is fun too

or possibly a pop up paper theater?

a cloth doll? with a trunk and wardrobe?

a tiny candy house made out of clay?

the possibilities are endless and fascinating.......

the hard part is choosing and starting

i know.....it's been a while

we again have been visited by the plague...this time stomach plague...
bernie was so sick sunday night.... he was vomiting and we were up all night cleaning up after him
monday he was so sick he couldn't go to school
today he went, and so far (2:30pm) he's still not home so i am thinking he's ok
not me however
i am getting very dizzy and very light headed and have a terrible taste in my mouth
so i am trying to eat very light...dry toast, jello.....water
i took the ducks out and brought the wood in

then discovered a FLEA on thaddeaus!
a FLEA
almost ten years i've had these cats, they not only do not go out....but we don't have carpets in the house and i find a FLEA
so i need to get a comb and some DE to spread around
and i could really use a vacuum (which i don't have)

meanwhile thanksgiving is on hold pending both bernie and me having the plague...
if he's ok, he'll cook
if i'm ok, i'll cook
if we're still both sick
well.....maybe then we'll cook sunday

and here we were saying how this would be the first year since 2006 that we wouldn't be on the road for a road call on thanksgiving!

meanwhile, today is gray and overcast, i can't get a good fire going in the woodstove, i am thinking we need to clean the chimney again
probably over the weekend
either way, due to pending plague, i'm freezing

rain, snow, sleet, ice, freezing rain........ grasshoppers....

what a mess
i took bernie to school today up in the mountains....we got there just as that delightful mess of weather decended....
and then i was to drive home!
i did make it!!!

to be greeted with a breakfast of fresh coffee and homemade yogurt

today i will be going to town, i have to do a few things. i had wanted to do a lot more cooking but that's ok- i'll get what i have to do done and paint more today

i still need to bake pumpkins and make cran sauce for the big holiday...... i can do that really any time prior
our feast has been carefully put by over the past few months as things came on sale.
so we're doing ok with that
i believe i even have a turnip in the freezer, already chopped and steamed
(gotta have turnip with turkey, and a bagel for the turkey the next day)

meanwhile i have been having an array of interesting dreams.... every single night
last nights involved a wheel chair, and pretty embroidered cotton voile blouses......
and a furniture store!
oye

well there isn't too much else to say i just wanted to remember the bad weather...which turned into rain as soon as i got out of the higher elevations (i was going to say mountains but we sorta live IN the mountains sooooo it is the HIGHER mountains!)

oye again

catching up after sandy and the plague

we got hot water back this week...... bernie did the laundry for me as i was exhausted with the flu/cold/plague...plus lifting all the stock pots of boiling water before we got the hot water back, sort of really did a job on my shoulders
i did however get the kitchen squared away
for the most part

melting the butter

and i even made chicken and dumplins yesterday --- which came out so perfectly that there are NO leftovers -- and there should be! i made a huge soup pot full!
it came out perfectly (that is my le creuset soup pot i got at an unbelievable price, as it was mismarked! i love that pot and recommend both staub and le crueset totally)

onions, celery, and carrots chopped

this was a simple classic chicken and dumplins....and the dumplins were a down and dirty fast bisquick type.....

ok fast, chop celery, onions, garlic and carrots, melt the butter, saute, then cover and simmer a while.

sauteed in butter then put the lid on

add the chicken, i had sliced frozen (remember that 120 pounds of chicken i did before rhinebeck?) boneless skinless chicken- i browned and cooked it for a bit then added something like three cups of my homemade chicken stock- covered the pot and let it simmer for a while.....until the chicken was done.

adding the chicken

i took the chicken out and cut it up into bite sized chunks.... more or less (about 1/2'' pieces)
put it back in and threw some salt and freshly ground pepper, and parsley

then made the dumplins,

chicken cooked and cut into cubes, stock added and simmered

a bunch of bisquick, some onions powder, dash of chili powder, some parsley and some milk and beat it up

when the stock was simmering nicely i dropped the dumplings in ...from the center out
let it cook for a bit then turned down the heat a tiny bit
and covered it for 15 minutes...... to steam the tops

it was out of this world
bernie had two HUGE bowls
i had one huge bowl and a second dumplin

finished chicken and dumplins in a bowl

sadly there is no more (there should have been another meal but.......ahem...........we ate it)
ok so there you have it......fast chicken and dumplins....i think it took no more prep time then about 15 minutes spread out over about 1.5 hours.....

oh and i painted too......9 crows is half way done

and we were spared............so far

the storm appears to have bypassed our area
which is a very good thing
and we have hot water again
which is also a very good thing

now after all the hoopla of the elections
i am very happy to see that slowly we are inching towards equality
i was very fearful that women would have their bodies legislated! and the next step.....the vote taken away and any other rights we had to be free and equal
i still can't phantom any one even remotely thinking that they can have a say over the body, health and reproduction rights of another person!
or who they love and marry
whatever happened to 'free will'
and equality in the eyes of the law?
or america ......a democracy where all men are created equal?
and a biggie for me
separation of church and state

and to say i am dismayed by the gop which USED to be a true moderate voice, sort of the wise elder voice....... and is now something more akin to a fanatical fundamentalist freak show

now we the people have spoken
and we are inching toward equality.......

and we are inching towards maybe government as sort of a clearing center for all the people
we pay our taxes, and we collectively benefit from things like fema, the armed forces
etc.
and even the 47% (no mitt i will never forget that one....EVER) pay taxes....... they buy goods and services with thier money don't they? (and i don't want to hear that it isn't their money..... we take care of everyone else in other countries..these are our own.... and they don't want to be dependant either)
and they vote

is it a perfect system......no
but it is a free system........... we are still free to disagree
we are still free to have our voices heard
to vote
to try and make a difference
to work towards a more perfect union.......

and i am very proud of our country......
things ARE changing... the face of america is changing.....it's getting more diverse and more colorful
it's slow....but there are quite a lot of folks here......and this type of change takes time
and it also may take trial and error.......
and remember..... our nation is a GRAND experiment in self government.....
so everyone
we continue
and we try
one day at a time
we try to see where we can meet across our differences......and work it out

why .......6am, we meet again!

the good news......we have electric
bad
we have no hot water
worse
i have the plague, courtesy of bernie.....

oh and it's pretty f*ing cold out.....
and we are getting another storm tonight!
stick a fork in me cause i am so done

now storm notes...... the gen worked very well...... we got the food in the fridge and the freezers through no problem
i contacted our electrician about putting in the transfer switch
and we are still planning on a standby generator down the road

we need led lanterns....... with the budgies i didn't feel comfortable with oil lamps and candles..... or with bernie sick (he had the plague through the blackout period)
we need one for each of us and one for the chickens and ducks

hot water......we need it
i'm not sure how yet we'll get it figured for off the grid but we will

meanwhile we did do pretty well...... we were warm and had food
we did run out of duck/chicken water on sunday as well as flushing water but that was because i planned on a few days worth of rain as per the news people.....
(note to self: news people lie)

so we'll be putting by a lot more water for next time
today''s storm no....
i am way too sick to do anything more then i've done
i will put my ponds out to get rain/snow though
and hope for no loss of power

everyone stay safe

post storm update

we got electric on yesterday...and lost internet
we also blew the heating elements of the hot water heater

meanwhile bernie's got a bad cold, and his school is pushed back three days.... to december 7th
i have taken a sponge bath today and feel better
not as good as a shower would be but better then before
bless my homemade soap as it is ok if you don't rinse it all off........ i love my soap!
i love my generator
i love my woodstove
and my little human/feather/furred family

i already started to cook for the next storm...which is next week
and we replenished some supplies....
mostly water.....
flush water we ran out of and yesterday we ran out of bird water right before the electric came back on
(the flush water was my fault.......i sort of react to crisis with gastric distress....)

we're not putting the extension cords/power  bars away yet however.... and i am sort of thinking i need to get a few more buckets for birds and flush water
although the full ponds sure did help me out with filling buckets (at least until the ducks had to go out and they jumped in the ponds)
this week after the election and all i will no doubt get out there and scrub my ponds very very well then refill them again

my emergency book has a lot of notes in it now
good ideas for alternate water storage etc
cause even with a transfer switch, we are going to need to store water
and we are going to look into a backup hot water system to run without generator power

ok now i have to do work again

be well everyone

still no electric-- BUT!!!!!!!

i started the generator ALL BY MYSELF
(and i think i threw my shoulder out doing it)
BUT

ALL BY MYSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

now i want to mention staten island..... those folks got nailed...... and they weren't getting the help they needed..
a 72 hour emergency bag wouldn't have helped either as they got slammed and a lot of the people totally lost their homes
one woman actually went hiking across the marshes LOOKING for her home
so no matter what we're going though
we have our little house...our animals
our food stores

we are truly blessed and very very lucky
a lot of folks were

jersey got creamed.....staten island.....brookyln...ny
so many folks were lost, so much suffering

there by for the grace......... go i

ok we are doing ok.... we are getting low on animal water and flushing water as i planned on using rainwater...... but we didn't get the rains (thank goodness) that were predicted
so tomorrow we're going to have to go find water for the birds if electric isn't restored.... i have conserved as much as i can ........
today everyone is out with the ponds
the ponds are a mess...... i can't scrub them until we have actual water running again
ditto on the buckets
falstaff dumped his bucket and i am bringing him our drinking water ....however he's only going to get a 1/4 bucket which is a half gallon...and it's got to last him
the chickens are drinking out of a duck pond (it's the only clean one so i let them use that pen)
food of course we're going well on
bernie found out his school has been extended a few days at the end...instead of saturday classes

meanwhile i am putting the woodstove to good use cooking
(last nights burgers were great and tonight's chili is most excellent)

i even was able to paint a tiny bit today.......when the skies got brighter..i saw patches of BLUE! but it's clouded over again now

ok folks i hope you are all safe and warm, fed and your loved ones are accounted for

miracles great and small

well we have survived sandy........
by a weird miracle we not only got a generator on SUNDAY
but there was some sort of unusual temperature inversion thingie that kept the 70mph winds about 1000 feet in the air over us
we did lose electric
(we are still out of electric right now but i was informed we'll get it back tonight)

we are stinky a bit.... need a shower
but fine
well fed
warm

now the other miracle was....... while bernie's school was closed a few days, he was able to relax and then retest and passed with flying colors......
the testing center was empty! not like last time where the general public was wandering around in the testing room!
he passed......then the electric in his school was restored.....and school is back today

we are so blessed

and i love my generator like i love my woodstove......

now checks and minuses in our storm prep for this time

i cooked ahead so we could reheat BIG plus
i had a ton of drinking/flushing/animal water PLUS
did not have enough washing water......minus
one bundt cake baked prior  PLUS
not enough cold milk to drink with it...... minus
headband flash lights PLUS PLUS PLUS
one battery operated lantern.....nope minus...i forgot to get it
we did have oil lamps, oil, candles...... etc
but i don't like that around the budgies (or us)

i did forget to cook the veggies ahead..... minus...... but as soon as the electric is on we're going to have a few veggie meals
i missed my popcorn, i do'nt have a woodstove popcorn thingie

other then that .....not bad at all

this was bernie's first real at home disaster, as every other time he would stay at work
i don't think he cared for it
but i think overall as things go we are living in the lap of disaster luxury due to the miracles that happened for us

i'll take it

we got a generator!

Briggs & Stratton 5500-Watt Portable Generator - Storm Responder

8250 w surge on it....

sweet huh

and we got it this MORNING.... how lucky was that?

i stood online at lowes most of yesterday while bernie did other prep and didn't get it...he ran to town this morning and came home with it!

so we figure.....we'll get some wind and some rain and never lose power since now we have this generator..

i still want the propane whole house generator so i can get a gas cook top as well.....but for now....i am very very thankful

we are as well prepare now as we can be....

there is only one other area, but that won't be now......that will be another time.....and that is communications...phone and internet..... that's the next thing to tackle..... alternate communications

so everyone in the path of this one.....stay safe.....stay dry and good luck.... we'll see you all on the flip side

RHINEBECK .........gett yor rhinebeck photo's here

really foggy

fog

okey dokey..... we started out at about 5:30am in thick pea soup fog, as soon as some light came up i took some pictures to show you guys...this is on a mountain that is overlooking a very DEEP valley...... couldn't see the valley at all..could barely see the other lanes--- as the sun came up..... slowly the fog started to dissipate
the sunrise was very pretty, and sometimes it highlighted the fog just like a painting..... it was wonderful to see the light change.

a big less foggy

finally!

i got a lot of pictures of trees cause i love the changing leaves, especially of maples.... so a lot of maples it is

trees, bernie and the kia

more trees

i even got a picture of the back of bernie's head and the side of the new kia!!!! which btw, made it to rhinebeck without any problems whatsoever!!!!!!! yeah for the new kia!

it promised to be a nice day........ although hot and boy was it HOT

hudson river

hudson river

some of the fog hung around the hudson river, it was hard to see the view when we went over the bridge, that is such a pretty view and a historic area, and since i was born in jersey, it's sort of 'home ground'
got a lot of the bridge trying to show you all the shores as the fog lifted, so you can sort of come with us to rhinebeck.

hudson river

hudson river

now i been thinking about the rhinebeck magic, and there is no doubt that rhinebeck is magical......i spoke to several first timers and even they agreed that rhinebeck was different from other fiber festivals...... it was 'friendlier'- the people were happier and more relaxed.

closer to parking

arriving at rhinebeck

muddy fields so we had to go around

TUNIS

TUNIS

MORE tunis

trees

koi

koi - i want to paint them

pretty koi wanted peoples to feed them

plant where i was sitting

peoples!

koi pond, leaves, and little boy

blue skies over rhinebeck

peoples

more peoples

gees i love trees

maples

more maples

oh yeah..... what a sky

early......not many peoples

sleeping puppies!

part of the rhinebeck magic

PUPPIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

koi pond

rhinebeck photo's and report

as soon as i am among the living again

crows...... almost done

the annual pilgrimage to rhinebeck

is this week/weekend
we'll be going saturday
i will make my cream of tomato soup, and hot cocoa from scratch,
egg salad, deviled ham and chicken salad.
we will take bread and sit in the NEW van making sandwitches for lunch
i am just glad i am going
i look forward to this every year...there is something so very magical about rhinebeck
the crisp air..... the music
people dancing,
happiness is in the air there
it's overwhelming
and for a brief time........ i feel at one with not only the world/universe but other souls that are sharing this existence with me
seriously this is the most amazing experience, and like an addiction i am not willing to give it up
so we go to rhinebeck......
now this week i have been packing up 120# of boneless skinless chicken breast for the freezer... and then i start the rhinebeck cooking
i also hurt my hand
among other things...
i can also say i finally got the layout for 9crows in case anyone is following.....it's all roughed in but i am going to have to work it a bit more before i start to paint
i would imagine sunday or monday i will be painting
i figure my hand will be better by then as well

we are in 'indian summer' here.....we had a night or two of frosts and now it's warm again overnight
good thing i think before the onslaught of cold weather

maybe bernie is right....maybe we do need to think of moving to a bit warmer place?
but i told him if we did.....we'd still think (after the first winter there) that the winters were cold...
he means no snow i think
well maybe
i guess from his point of view yes....... he's the one that does the snow removal sort of
although he's got a troybilt to help him with that

anyway......i just needed to mark rhinebeck
and now i have to start my day
hope you all have a wonderful week