duckie doings & chicken chores

here is a fast update on the latest drawing. i guess it's a good thing to show you folks my progress.
when i was an art director, i had built in check points, i would send work up to be proof read, and i would have other graphics people around.
i have to say that seeing the work up on the screen helps me a lot with decisions on which way it needs to be worked- i like seeing how the ducks start popping out from the background
and i also like how the deep forest is sort of working like a bit of a frame at that area of the drawing.....
i now pronounce this drawing really really interesting.
and a whole lot of fun
just remember............... degas had dancers, monet had waterlilies.....me i got ducks.....seems fitting somehow doesn't it??

ok now tomorrow is bernie's birthday, i plan on baking him a cake....... chocolate ewwwww........you know it's love when you bake someone a chocolate cake, and you HATE chocolate..
oye
i need to get back to town today as well and pick up my meds and chicken parts.... (my chickens are getting processed tonight but that won't help me for dinner, as they have to 'age')

if bernie was to get home early enough i would grill but he won't be home until 8:30 or 9 at least
and i need to plant the summer lettuces---yesterday it was 91 degrees on the deck, i didn't sit out but that's why i came in from town and basically flopped. i did check the lettuces and they had all sprouted but they are the winter types so i don't hold much hope for them.
the spinach most likely will bolt as well.
i will most likely thin the spinach and give the thinnings to the birds. i also got them french wholewheat couscous to mix up some cooked foods for them. i have to chop and dry carrots, but can't find my chopper thingie! cause i want it minced.
maybe i'll dry the spinach thinnings too?
i need to put together a bunch of this food for the birds for later, a mix of minced dried veggies and couscous plus some herbs in there like parsley and dill..... i should add some garlic too.
i got used to that 'beak appetite' and so did the birds but they don't make it anymore as the company went out of business, so we'll make due

now with the duckies...... momma jumped all over poor phoebe last night, so momma got put in repeatedly with falstaff. now speaking of falstaff, i don't think he is able to fertilize the ducks anymore.
i watched a bit while i was cleaning ponds and buckets and there wasn't any actual mating going on....it LOOKED like there was but there wasn't.
i think he's way too old now.
damn
that means i really DO have to get a new drake  and also then i won't have two lines like i wanted to.
thank goodness the FWS regs are being rewriten, as i am so going to need to get another drake.
i dreamt that i had lavender self diluted muscovys .......they looked like a very light lavender purple!
hahaha
actually i wouldn't mind that on my girls
or a nice diluted cream
ok i got a late start as i had a late night
so i am off to start my day

i hope you folks all have a wonderful day
and that the weather is good too
(btw, where is flicka?? you around dear?)

chickens and more chickens

yesterday we went to hinkle's poultry farm
jen got 7 hens and a roo
nice ones......related to my sussexXbuff orpingtons
woo hoo.......i so love me some chicken expeditions.....
it was wonderful to see charlie and jody again. they never age..........the rest of us do but they don't
and i like to see their place........all happy birdies all the time

so i never did get to town for bernie's birthday card
now today i need to get there........meanwhile i woke little linda up at 6:30 am this morning....... which means i got up at 3 am
so i wouldn't forget
i am actually pretty tired
i would have gone back up to bed but it's already light out
now in easter budgie news.....the little ones are coming around slowly
also last night i let the cats into the bedroom as soon as i knew the birds were asleep.......we had one minor problem but other then that fine
however during the day.......NO CATS in the bedroom and the door is shut to keep the birdies safe

i need to get bernie cards, seeds for the budgies, socks for bernie,
a water tube and cuttle bone for the budgies.....maybe i should go before i put the girls out?
maybe i should have coffee before i fall asleep again?
bernie got home at 9pm again last night
he better be putting this down on his time sheet, his boss left him that option.

i am working on that drawing in drips and drabs ............ 10 minutes here 15 there.... so it's growing but slowly
and i am taking a picture here and there so i can compare progress.
i really need to think about a better camera......and a better house
oye
ok i am still tired and i think i am going to lay down for 1/2 hour
ttyl

old budgie, new budgies

ok in THIS corner, ( pointing to the left) are the old budgies...........and in THIS corner (pointing to the right) are the NEW baby budgies!!!!!
i know it's hard to see them in the picture but they are very pretty, if you would take my word for it until we get better pictures
now we need names, starting with the yellow one, as i can't get a good look at the lavender/gray so we all have to crack open our dickens......and find a quintessential dickensonian girl's name, and 'emma' or meg need not apply...... (cause i may have to use those names down the road for goats)i'll get back to you all on what sex the other one is

now here are some better shots of the COLORS of mrs fezziwig on the left......and captain cuttle on the right...captain cuttle's chest is infused with yellow for a seafoam green, which makes him i believe a type 2 yellow face... mrs fezziwig is interesting in her opaline green/blue colors.....

which since she apparently has a dark factor makes the blue a sort of deep teal. either way they are pretty birds, and i am getting used to the greens for the most part......her greens glow

we had a good weekend, it was relaxing for the most part. bernie put the patio table, chairs and umbrella up on the deck. jackass neighbors weren't here.....and the uphill neighbors with the punk house guest have apparently talked to him...as it was quiet from that end too.........
today is semi busy, i will be on the phone a lot- i have to call the specialist in philly over a bill, and i know there were a couple of other phone calls i needed to make and can't remember at the moment

i am drinking jamaican coffee (thank you so much susan) it's interesting coffee, it's not bitter, and it's strong enough even with milk in it....i think i like it!

in other kitchen related news, i got another mouse in the kitchen....judging by the size of the poop it's a fat mouse that is well fed...... (phoebe isn't loose in the basement any more, so she won't be able to be our mouse catcher)we forgot to set the traps last night but we'll do it tonight.
we also had a small ham for easter, we cut slices off it- i glazed it with pineapple/brown sugar/mustard.... and we served with asparagus and roasted sweet potatoes...... nice, made doubly nice as we ate on the deck! then we went for a malt.
all in all i think it was a relaxing happy weekend. and we needed it desperately.
now THIS week is bernie's birthday on thursday. i have to get his card, as i haven't yet....and you all know how often i go out.....(not if i can help it anyway- unless it's really interesting like pet store or book store, or yarn store) so i have to do that today or tomorrow

i also have to make budgie mash, so make a 'trip to the health food store' part of the 'get bernie cards' errand, although they are at opposite ends of town.

phoebe appears to be over her egg binding.....but momma hasn't laid an egg that i have found in a few days..which isn't like her, as she's always been pretty regular. she's also a bit broody so she's squeaking at me, at the others, at bernie ........ a LOT ......tons of a LOT.
and now lilli is a bit too.
lilli made me laugh yesterday.....she ran out of crate like she has places to go and people to see....... RAN to the worm hunting fields....(so to speak) and then came waddling up to me to say good morning!
it was like 'oh wait, MOMMY is there........hey MOMMY pick me up!'
which of course i did so, and kissed her and hugged her and rubbed her neck .....then put her down to wander back to looking for worms
i love when the girls come over to be petted and picked up, just like i love when they suddenly realize, 'wait, mom isn't here, HURRY we have got to FIND HER'
hahahahaha
what?
you all knew i was soooooooo easily amused right?
well there you have it
duck devotion gets me
hahahahaha
oye
in drawing up dates, ......i AM, and it's coming along....i am liking what i am doing
in knitting i am also liking what i am doing, right now two shawls...... one very quiet emily dickinson in greige, and one multicolor bright and happy gaenor again.
i also realized i need to make something warm for here at the computer........for my back and arms and head
that should be washable i guess too.........damn that would mean redheart ewwwwwww.
ok well off i go, i already started drawing a bit this morning
and i want to get my gaenor and put a few repeats on that as well

til later

it's the EASTER BUDGIE charlie brown.............

yup yup.......for easter/birthday/missed me/ just because/ celebrate spring/raise etc......
bernie got me two new budgies that will join our flock in about 4-6 weeks- they are currently in quarentine....
a yellow lutino (she's a girl and bite bernie good when the little booger escaped and flew all over the studio....) and a lavender/gray with white wings and a the palest of yellow blushed face......
i didn't look close enough at that one to tell if that one is a girl or boy
i think it's a girl though as the cere was opague and there is a whitish line around the nostrils
i got EASTER BUDGIES!!!!! sorta like easter eggs but without the shell.
and we got a ham and a turkey (turkey in the freezer, ham tomorrow)
also i got a couple of bargin books on american women in history and paranormal events that changed american history.......(today's book store excursion was to the history section......and i am lusting after that 'secret life of the mongel queens' but until that book is under 14.00 at amazon i am going to continue to lust......i'll get it when it's used and cheap)

i got a birthday present today from someone else, COFFEE...... (you know who you are and you do love me!) oooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh coffee........

tonight we went to see alice in wonderland and i didn't like it!
i am so upset about that......normally tim burton ........faaaagettaboudit....... i love his stuff
he takes me there and keeps me there and does it with such a unique and finished seamless style....this one no
i hated the dancing johnny depp
i hated some of the music (danny elfman no less......danny how COULD you? sniff... who didn't love his addams family theme with mc hammer?)
the scenery was good
the story........ well let's just say i have actually READ lewis carroll........ and this wasn't it.......we'll leave it at that....
the dutchess wasn't there..... the mock turtle.....and what was up with that BATTLE? damn
i am thinking someone slipped acid into the mr burtons coffee and not in a good way.......

8 years giver take that i go to a movie and it wasn't good for me......bernie loved it

ah... that brings me to art.....specifically MY art...another one on the board as you all know...and i am very pleased with it right now
i can't wait to work on it.....that is a wonderful sign- it will be a bit harder edged then the last one....after all that one was unfounded fears......this is couched more in the real world but i am really enjoying it this way

i wonder if it will ever get where the 'world' is real and the ducks unfounded? oh gees, i hope not....
ok this is being typed saturday night and i am very tired.......so ttyl
have a nice holiday everyone

we'll see how this one goes

i am not going to follow this drawing as daily i think as the last one, but i figured you all would like to see how this one started out....first there is the rendering and the ducks are outlined inked in, as you can see on the left that's the photo of our driveway looking up towards the road that i started with (this will be a first that i work a forest landscape off a photo, normally i am 'live' or out of my head........never before off a photo that i remember) the ducks are always a combination of live and photo's though. i really liked that photo of the driveway and i think i posted it here last summer but in black and white..... i took both color and black/white ones..... so again we start!!!! let's hope this looks as nice as the last one...... i think it will as it has the potential to.

i really like that whole dark surrounding the bright light in the photo of the driveway and couldn't wait to do this..... the ducks often try to run up there but aren't allowed. it's too close to the road and the neighbors property lines so they aren't allowed.

now this week i think i am going to be doing an art supply order-i need more bristol for the pen and inks, and i am going to try and get a few 300# watercolor papers, the twinrocker and the saunders, both hot press and cold press (i am going to get full sheets but they are not cheap....... 10 are over 100$)

in a few minutes i am going to be taking the ducks out.....

oh and to those who celebrate easter happy easter and to those folks who do the passover thing happy passover and happy ostra to the pagan folks...... to everyone else's holidays HAPPY holiday......happy spring....happy happy!!!

april fool's~!

and i don't have a good joke
sniff
damn............
ok i do however have a bit of artist block so i am wondering if i should start another drawing on the blog..... one part of me says, 'too much pressure' another part says, 'it's just like when you worked in the art departments or kept a show schedule'
anyway, i have done a lot of roughs and a bit of piddling but i need to do some serious stuff right now on the caliber of that last one.

i spent almost ALL day yesterday talking to my friend carol who is now officially a cancer survivor! however she is now having issues with eating, as in she doesn't
she's got me worried still.

in weather related, it appears that we are to get warm weather and that it would be a good idea to schlep the patio furniture up to the deck and put it together, then plan on a BBQ
oh and the lettuces and pakchoi have sprouted!
i should marinate some beef cubes and have the first official grilling session of the season huh? we'll see
meanwhile i should also light the woodstove this morning

mother nature is having mood swings i think.

thaddeaus aka DA BOY, got spanked sorta last night. he has been bugging the budgies to get my attention and finally i grabbed him and spanked him on the nose (more like a tap, tap, tap with my index finger) he's all out of shape now and slept downstairs
he'll suck his tail later
but he does have to remember....... NO to the birds, and if he wants attention he comes over
(it works with him on the bookcases too.....i ignore him there and he comes over- well i can't reward or ignore him when he's up on the bird cage so he got tapped......he's smart but he's humiliated right now)

yesterday in duckie news, phoebe and lilli shared the back pen without any visible fighting!!!!
next we need to get momma there as well.... it's a round robin of sorts lately
lilli bites momma, momma bites phoebe, and I grab phoebe and throw one of the others in the pool
oye
now last night, i washed buckets, the little pond/pool......feed pans and a piece of lattice that momma duck squirted poop on (they ARE ducks.......... they poop..... a LOT)
all the while listening to the annoying little dogs going off like alarms next door
they took the dogs in the second bernie got home however...... amazing huh?
but i had to make sure that this was all done just in case i have to take my cousin to the dentist.
i also refilled buckets and made sure each pen had one
i'll fill food pans in the morning.
i need a bark breaker or a high pitched dog whistle to make those damn dogs next door either stop barking or BARK AT 7 am....... when all the assholes next door are sleeping.......
and we should blow it at 5am, 6am, 7am, 8am, 9am....... cause no one gets up until the crack of 1pm over there....

momma duck laid a shell less egg and then broke it so i should muck that pen tomorrow.- i am going to up her calcium tomorrow too. they get granite sand and oyster shells but she needs to graze and such as well....... which isn't happening as often, since they like to graze as a flock and all they do is fight at the moment.

oh and the two egg eating pullets are going up the hill as soon as mark has time to do them, i was beyond mad when i heard them announce after one laid and i rushed in to find them both eating the FRESH EGG......the bloom wasn't even dried yet!
and all the OTHER chickens watching......
i can't tell you how many colors of red i saw when i discovered this...but i took the egg away

again thank you all for all the birthday well wishes........
now i just finished this post as well as giving the cats their hot fancy feast soup.....so let's all start our day

til next time
vi

post birthday recovery

first off thank you all for your birthday wishes, i do appreciate it.
we had a good day
i went out to lunch with jen and lesley.
we went to applebees, and i had some sort of penne with chicken and cheese sauce
we went to hobby lobby fast too, i got a pencil sharpener and two erasers .

then bernie got a raise, there was some confusion as to how much he actually was making at his job...... it still is not all straightened out but he is getting a raise........not the amount everyone (including his boss) initially thought.

we went to red lobster (finally) to lump all the celebrations together, from our anniversary, my birthday, his raise, and his birthday (in 8 days) i was exhausted
i did have cheesecake at red lobster.

this morning i naturally had trouble getting up!

now back to the real world, ..........DUCKIE news....... due to the extreme rain and flooding.....i had to bath duckies before bed last night...... lillianna was completely black and covered with mud
the black mud is my wonderful organic compost laden garden soil washing out...
oh man
that duck was filthy!
phoebe too and momma was but just a little....... oye
so before we could go anywhere i had three duckies one after another in the bath

we also stopped at petsmart and saw a few light gray parakeets with white wings, but they were older so i didn't bring one home...

it's supposed to get warmish this week and downright hot over the weekend so i may plant beans on the new fence. and my impatients are up!!!! oh and some of my lettuces also sprouted.
i have to fill a planter with leeks and one with lettuces as well..... i have so many chores now
oh and the bad pullets that i caught laying and immediately EATING the freshly laid egg...... they ARE going up the hill before they teach my other chickens bad habits

(i just asked mark on facebook if he has time....he'll get to it this week)

let's see, what all else........ we hopefully have decided to get a storage shed and a greenhouse instead of the lawn mower, so that when we do get the lawn mower, it will have a home...... i hope anyway.
i saw a greenhouse kit for 799. it's 10X12........ it would make my life easier i think..... bernie wanted to know where i was going to put it...
i think that with jackass neighbor's demon spawn kids gone.......could be out on the lawn there ( and then that further reduces the mowing area) and maybe we should put the shed on the back of the house........ where we have to take the wooden wall/door down to replace it.....why not just put a shed there and extend that area...?
i also need some cold frames for over wintering greens

we need to talk about this again...
now the weekend is due to be really warm so bernie just may put the patio furniture up....if he does i would imagine we'll grill
and i need to start more pepper plants today
oye

i am soooooo disjointed and distracted
later.......

today is my birthday *** warning, a tiny bit of MATURE content***

i am going out with jen, and i imagine lesley will join us
i have to put the duckies out
it's raining
i got the woodstove lit!!!
maybe today won't be so bad after all
of course there won't be any baby goats or lambs in it
which is really really sad.........cause that was the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER (when i helped deliver triplet kid goats)
but i expect this one will be pretty good too

it's dark out though
and as soon as i finish this very fast post i have to go put the ducks out and then shave my menopausal chin

oh the joys of aging....... everything goes south, literally......... and if you live on the east coast you MUST go south at age 65, it's mandatory....... look at florida does that NOT look like a flacid penis to you??- just reflecting it's population no?

anyway i suppose considering all of the alternatives, a little bit of chin hair isn't too bad......of course it DID migrate down from my HEAD
but hey.......
i suppose by the time i am 70, i will have the HAIRIEST hobbit toes in pa............
i mean considering the migration that is going on NOW....

so anyway
i am going out with jen, bernie is going to try to get home early
and i better take supper out now while i think of it
i ate the angel food cake
yes the whole thing over two days, it wasn't that big anyway
i really love angel food cake (shhhhhhhhh maybe more then icecream and cheesecake)
i haven't had one for a few years, like ten

ok i gotta run
them whiskers ain't going to remove themselves, nor will my smelly chickens and adorable ducks feed and water themselves ( i have got to clean chicken pens, the ducks are all clean)

ttyl

the weekend and todays rain

one of my paper dolls that i am working on> we went out saturday night with my cousin nick and his wife michele, and their kids, and grandson.
it was a last minute for us, but since it was michele's birthday we went we had a good time
then we ditched the kids and closed down perkins again, and had a blast ---we laughed so hard that bernie spewed coffee numerous times out his nose
hahahah           
i knocked over a chair (all without anyone having drank anything stronger then coffee!)
and nick......while MOCKING ME.........got up laughing and knocked over his chair
he had to sit elsewhere until he could stop crying with laughter

yesterday bernie made me an angel food cake
he brought in wood, and i made shrimp scampi over angel hair

• melt butter (a LOT of butter, i used a stick) and saute minced red onion and garlic, add shrimp and cook until shrimp is finished add fresh ground pepper and some parsley, meanwhile cook whole grain angel hair pasta until al dente, and drain and toss into the finished shrimp/butter sauce......... takes about 10 minutes. serve with locatelli cheese over the top.

i knitted on my lace (the emily dickinson shawl cause i needed a simple project)
btw----i also spilled some melted butter on my lace yarn.......(oh man) so after it's done in addition to the regular blocking wet........i have to give it a real bath with most likely dawn detergent
damn
we were SUPPOSED to go to alice and wonderland, but found out that the gift card bernie had gotten from work for christmas was almost empty, we had used it during one of the middle of the night road calls
right now i am worried about the local taxes we have to pay, followed by the car insurance/homeowners insurance bill we have to pay, and of course bernie who is burning the candle at both ends, the middle, the top and the bottom....and who will not listen to reason.
he never does until after something happens

he wants a lawn mower with the tax return, originally i had thought ok....now i realize that without a SHED to put it in......that the very expensive riding lawn mower will just rot out in about one season
soooooooooo we are going to have a fight as we have got to get a shed for that and the snow blower...........which is under the deck and cluttering up the exit from there
we can get a lawnmower next season, it isn't like this is an entire grassy acre......... not at all
(although i wish he would get to the back more often- but i may pick up a walk behind)
he's never home to mow anyway.........

it's been chilly and woodstove weather again, and of course i have a full ash bucket, full woodstove and the bucket is too heavy to lift.
oye
right now i am watching my AGAIN cranky woodstove limping along
it's not too cold in here this morning though, yesterday was a nightmare.......2 HOURS to try and get it started.
i was freezing my assets off........

bernie made me angel food cake yesterday, but something was wrong with the oven, the top burnt, and yet it wasn't totally finished, (just THIS side of unfinished) but still eatable.
angel food is my favorite and i did ask for it
i guess i need to figure out how to get the oven calibrated or something
he isn't taking tuesday off for me, so i told him next weekend NO road calls......no working......no nothing
period
it's our celebratory weekend- ok so who wants to take odds on something stopping that?
oye

now today, it's raining HARD, it's also dark out. i am going to finish my coffee and take my ducks out even though it looks like 5am out
i am going to graze my girls a bit too, as i miss seeing little feathered butts up in the air while they work over a pile of wet leaves for worms, small bugs and sprouted seeds-
bernie put them out and took them in the other day, i watched from the window, lilli nibbled his pants legs.....she went running up to him to do it and then waggled her tail and took off to graze....
THAT'S the real reason i make him do ducks and chickens every time he can.....cause he does love when they do things like that
and i think he needs the grounding after a nightmare week

ok day's started ttyl

oye

just oye.

now today is saturday, bernie is working.
i tried to read but fawnie in her infinite cat wisdom decided (as cats do) that books will keep but little brown kitties won't and plopped her furry rug like butt on the book.
i spent an hour kissing her little head and petting her and all that.....she licked my eyebrow
and told me that it was a start...

i came down to find the woodstove pretty much out, the back door open, and thaddeaus with his nose out of joint..........HIS woodstove wasn't hot enough
the budgies weren't active enough

the good thing is bernie brought small splits in last night, to help the pile of large stuff i got off the deck
so lighting the stove wasn't bad
it was weirdly quiet outside this morning too, no bird noise, not a traffic sound either..........

now in knitting, i am knitting an 'emily dickenson' at first i thought the directions were wildly messed up.
i showed a knitter friend and she said that it was knit from the bottom up
i had been looking at the charts and it wasn't making sense....
it came to me last night
i am so used to looking at shetland lace charts or even estonia lace charts and edgings that i was looking for a regular edging chart, and this wasn't one
it's sort of an all in one....... as if you outlined the edging in one continuous line
i at first thought there was an easier way, but now that i am knitting it, i am thinking......'you know what.... it's maybe a 'cleaner' way' that doesn't mean that the shetland or estonia knitters somehow muddied up a simple process.........but for this it is a clean line-less solution....... without a provisional cast on

yes mo, i am an experienced knitter but i am used to picking up stitches to knit on an edging or even to have it knitted as one but a clearly DEFINED edging and this isn't
i guess i am trying to say it has 'flow'
so after this i am thinking of knitting one of the more traditional shawls to see the contrast, (although i have a lot of lacey scarfy amounts of yarn floating around)

when i get to the fiber festivals this year, i am going to pick up some cobweb and do another one of these i think.
i am also debating on another ice queen for my sister in law, this one in pink- and since she is a girly girl, most likely with pale pinkish pearls for beads

i am sorry about yesterday's post, it was sort of disjointed, i was running late EVEN though i had gotten up at 4:30......... and then i got a few phone calls....and had to make a few.
and i think i also forgot a few
oye
i had a bad shock when i discovered that our insurance no longer covers 100% of diagnostic, it has a 1000 per person deductible now, and it costs more as well.
i found OUT when i got billed!
another bill i was not expecting
this was for all that genetic testing......which isn't cheap btw.
i have never HEARD of insurance having a deductible just on diagnostics.......have any of you?
so this means no mammography, no biopsy on my thyroid, no T-3/T-4 tests for my levels for my meds
cause we can't afford it!
bernie won't be able to get his physical either, we don't have the money!
so effectively we are paying for insurance we can't use.

now, donald, i can't put a web cam up, i am going to have to get new batteries for the camera and do a few video's of the duckies..........and when the weather gets warmer and i can take the budgies out i will also do a few of them
the cats are pretty boring, they just basically sleep alot unless they are getting into trouble
ok so that would be DA BOY getting into trouble-- and then i am normally trying to rescue either one of the girls he's beating up or something he's not supposed to play with
oye

now it's going to be cold it looks like, all day.........so all day will be stoking the stove
i hope my baby plants outside are ok
i still can't believe that the back door was opened all night
oye

i am drinking Puerto Rican coffee this morning
vickie brought it back from puerto rico for me, i think that it was grown there, and it's really good......
it's a tiny packet so it won't be around too long but every once in a while i brew up a pot and today was the day.

i am hoping to get back to the drawing board over the weekend
i have two drawings waiting to be laid out
and as soon as the endless nightmare of tax season, and renew the insurances season is all over, i hope to make an art supply order....... bristol board, ink, watercolor papers (the good stuff) qouashe, brushes, and some odds and ends ...........meanwhile i am working on the paper doll clothing sheets and i will finish up the bristol with the next few drawings (i want the high end bristol now, i have been using the pro grade but now i want the next grade up......what's it called?  'insane artist' grade? and a plate finish)
i could use some drawing pencils as well.......not many, a couple of the higher range H
and one or two of the B's
like a B4 and maybe a B7
and a sharpener, as i am SICK of using the Exacto knife to sharpen the pencils

i really need to bake bernie some snickerdoodles........and my cousin nick as well.
i am going to put a few rolls of cookie dough in the freezer too
it will actually save me TIME that way.......do a few days of big batch stuff and then have it
oye
i need three of me.......... younger, stronger and with a lot more energy

it's a cold wet day today

i got a slightly cranky woodstove that i think decided to finally start, but i had to baby it.
(twists of paper with smallish bits of bark, twigs and slivers of wood in them)
and small split logs with the bark down to the flames. i can now hear the very welcome snap and pop of the fire
it's sort of chilly but not too bad in the studio today.

i made supper last night as mostly is usual, stew- which in light of today was a very good choice.
browned that stew meat i got two months or so ago, and added a bunch of dried veggies (rehydrated)

• potatoes
• sweet peppers
• broccoli
• celery
• carrots
• then fresh onions and garlic
• parsley and coarse ground mixed colored peppercorns
• some paprika

it was pretty good!
bernie said it smelled good-THEN said it tasted as good as it smelled...... so he's got that for lunch today too, so do i- and with a biscuit topping maybe supper too....but i'll add more veggies such as corn and peas to it if i turn it into a pot pie for tonight (and that IS looking like what is going to happen- with a cream gravy/sauce)
i should bake as well
but i don't know if i feel for it

i started a new knitting project last night, it isn't what i had thought at first, i THOUGHT i was a shawl is a very scalloped pointed border that was knit in one..... it turns out that it is a blocked in border. not exactly what i was expecting but if i don't like it i will reknit it with a pointed knitted in one border.

ok i am going to end this now as i forgot it
oops

yesterday down in the valley

i went to the lehigh valley with jen, the yarn store, and B&N (my favorite bookstore now that we aren't living near womraths in hackensack) i got some yarn, oops............. like i needed more
and i got some books........again.......big oops like i needed more
but at b&n you can get 4X the amount of books you can get anywhere else.
i got a gardening book, two ghost stories books, and the follow up to a novel called garden spells
i would have also liked to get some history books and a book on quantum physics but i restrained myself.
at the yarn store i got some varigated yarn in deep bright rainbow colors, and a nice heathered lace that overall is a textured reddish shade BUT has blue and red and purple and orange and yellow in it.....however you have to look CLOSE to see that...... i want to bead that one with purple amber and ruby colored beads...... i swear in another life i was a romney gypsy and most likely also a quadroon in the big easy.
jen keeps trying to get me into greens......ahem, NO
i like my bright gypsy colors and i continue to seek out the bright and warm colors.

bernie is working saturday. that sucks big time as my BD is tuesday, which i will be spending alone
i will also no doubt be feeling seriously sorry for me as well.
he won't remember a cake for me either....last year i had to ask if he was going to make me a cake.....
he'd forgotten
he works too hard and too many hours i think

in duck news, phoebe has abandoned her paper feed sack that she's took to laying in and went back to her dishpan under the sink
so because we were running........ AND she didn't want to come out
phoebe got to stay in the house all day
today she is going out FIRST
the others will all be bathing and i am going to have to flip a burger i think for them and the chickens
since i wasn't home all day yesterday, the pullets ate their eggs
i wonder why i haven't brought them up to mark yet.......but i will
their egg eating days are numbered

with the rain the past few days (not yesterday or sunday though) the seedlings are UP outside
spinach is really really up.....chard is up but not as much it would like it a bit warmer
the lettuce and pakchoi would like it a bit wetter!
mother nature will have to sort it all out

i am thinking....... the animal population in the house is about at max, what with snowy eventually coming and we'll be getting more ducks
i would like a few more parakeets as they are flocking birds, and i will get two more buff orpingtons as they are the BEST chickens........but then that's pretty much it, until we move to a farm
i would like to top flight the entire garden and turn the chickens out daily, and i think i am going to try and figure a way to do that. it would make working in the garden so much more pleasant not to be feasted on by TICKS

now today after ducks......come supper and dishes, then i really need to do some tax stuff and drawing work.
 i should do some spring cleaning but really if i do some hand laundry that will be a lot.
i have to start putting the winter clothes away too....so they all need to be washed
it's so back and forth with weather now i am not looking forward to doing this
i have the warmer clothes to freshen up and iron etc too
i think for some stuff i will go the lazy route and put them in mesh bags in the washer with delicate....
then just either lay them out or hang them
sweaters are always a problem for me to dry as i lay them out-even the machine washable acrylic.

the woodstove is lazy too today, it's burning but not hot
and it's pretty cold out......like 34!
ok i am going to poke up the fire now
so ttyl

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?