the blizzard that wasn't and why prints are delayed

we canceled print pick up tuesday due to the snow
and the printer made other plans
we could have gone anyway on tuesday as the snow didn't actually happen
but since the printer was going to see his mom and take her to lunch we figured
we'll wait the week
so tueday next is the new pick up date
and i shall chant 'all things happen for a reason'

now on facebook the consensus is the columbine on black paper for the next print-
followed by the blue jays
now the next print or prints will be put up on kickstarter..... i don't want to use etsy yet as a venue
as there have been too many 'borrowing' of images from there
and besides i like kickstarter, i like the idea of crowd funding
so a kickstarter with stretch goals it is
if the printer is on board with this

now as to the state of my poor drawing arm/shoulder
i have one area that is still bad.............unfortunately it's the exact area that i desperately rely on to control my hand and brush
i continue doing the pt and now added 'walk the wall' which is no where near as much fun as it sounds....... but i do feel like it's loosening stuff up in that shoulder
yes i know i need a dr
yes i know i could also use acupuncture.....

this is it for now..me and my pt from the last time the shoulders were a mess

cause right now... the co pay is way too much for two times a week

catching up

first off...... we've kept busy
the first prints of my painting 'wood ducks' are being picked up tuesday
there are i think 3 left available out of this run
they are giclee prints ....... the image is 'life' size ...the same exact size as my original painting
and they are 75.00 plus shipping, (usa only at this time)- and they will be shipping next week
i want to make sure they are perfect
i have to finish making up the cert/auth to go with them
and i am going to sign them again
if anyone is interested let me know (and obviously the copyright won't be on the prints)

we're trying to decide on the next painting to have made into prints- that one probably will become a kickstarter......... this was sold too fast to do a kickstarter on it

i have to say i am pleased with the prints...... and they are rated for 200 years

i've not really been able to control a brush yet, but i am getting closer to it..... and i have been trying to keep busy...as this fall was not only bad but triggered a BAD fibromyalgia flare
and the changing weather hasn't helped at all

phoebe's absence is huge-- for a little duck she sure had a lot of presence.....
lilli is missing her the most i think out of the ducks
fawn is holding her own...she's sensitive to the weather too - but she is also slowly improving

now today we had snow.... it's melting a bit though....i think we had about 6'' ..bernie plowed us out
and went to sleep late so i won't wake him
as we are again to get more snow.......(and we have wood coming wen)

we got the bearing on the van fixed but we now have to do the timing chain/belt thingie
and as soon as we can i am going to be going to the occupational therapy dr and acupuncture to try to get to the point where this not being able to control my brush, maybe won't happen again...

so that's the news more or less from this end
keep safe everyone

phoebe may 2008---jan 2014

i'm going to miss you so much my little duck

a month

and while i am getting better, it's still pain filled days
and no painting
i can't control the brush

however we did go to the printer and we'll be going back tuesday to see what he can do with my painting
we chose the wood ducks
now i am waiting for proof and prices
we'll do a short run ..offered through kickstarter
and if it is successful we'll do a second painting.... eventually getting to cards
the paper and inks will meet archival specs and last between 200 and 400 years.. maybe longer if properly framed

i can't type long on this laptop keyboard without pain so there is the update

almost a month

since i fell due to my broken painting chair..... dec 14/15 was when i fell
i am still having trouble
in the midst i had a few hard swollen lymph glands under my right arm  too- which now seem to have calmed down
i am doing pt exercises as per the rheumatologist suggestion
i can't paint yet
i am not a happy camper
however.....i DO have an appointment with a printer (barring unforeseen issues) on tuesday

and my new chair arrived monday jan,5...... bernie put it together the 6th
or maybe the 7th
i tried to paint but realized my arm is not ready yet

typing on the laptop kills it too
now both knees are in trouble since that fall as well.......
the right never recovered from the fall in april.....so it's really really not a happy camper

and i am almost helpless.... which i despise- i couldn't even pick up the ice pack i dropped!
i ended up in tears of frustration.  well shit yeah....it's almost a damn MONTH
and i am so not used to this
but it's obvious i am going to have to figure out how to change how i work cause i think this last fall was a warning shot over the bow.......

now the printer...... i am going to be doing ONE painting as a print edition.......
i was hoping for the corn but it maybe the wood ducks or another painting
i have to get prices and proofs etc
but the idea is to print one painting...... presold as a kickstarter.....
to fund the chair, the scanning/printing of the painting, and to find the scanning of the next painting (and depending.... i sure could use more brushes and a few new paint tubes....not to mention paper)
i figured kickstarter again as this way, if i don't get enough buyers.... no one is out money but me for the scanning and the artist proofs

and i was considering a limited run of 10-15...... i know susan suggested i have a second painting as a stretch goal...... but what i would really like to do is keep it small enough that i can pick up the prints, and go directly to the post office with them (having put their shipping stuff together prior)
so that they don't come into the house at all..... this way no contact with bird dander in the air......or cat dander in the air..
(susan pointed that out. bless her a thousand times over)

ok so maybe this enforced month off was beneficial ....... as i was so bored and upset i found the printer!

the search for a new painting chair

or should i say..research?

since i broke my painting chair (and probably my ass too)
i haven't been able to paint,.....oh i've tried rigging stuff up
but i realize that after about 5 minutes, 'yeah it ain't gonna happen'
the strain on my knees and back is too much to let go and paint
and since i am already all banged up bad from the fall.....we're not going to aggravate things
so i have been researching

and this is where i'm at
three chairs.... one cheap but with arms and too big to fit in there
one small enough sort of to fit in there without arms, but too tall and needs extra cushioning on the seat...
and one that seems perfect but is out of my price range (well right now... a bandaid is out of my price range)

and i am also going to fix my little chair as a back up... cause i can't take the down time

i am trying to find the 'seems perfect' one for less then 200....
if i could i would have gotten it already

i can't paint without a rolling swiveling chair...i can't get close enough to the painting
i was going to try to stand to paint, but right now without a major reorganization and possibly building something. that's isn't about to happen, and i can't find my studio easel either...
but that takes up some serious floor space.....(it's been a while since i've used it so i don't remember how much floor space but i know it's a lot more then my drafting table)

i am trying to think outside the box (or the studio-if you know what i mean)
i am wondering ok..... what if i give up my drafting table (which would bother me but maybe huh?)
put my little easel on a tall stand and paint standing?
or put my little easel on something with wheels and move that in and out?

i don't really know what to do....
i do know i would like to finish my corn painting...some time this year..which is not going to happen without a painting chair (the other solutions would take a bit of time so since next year is like what? thursday? yeah ....not likely)

so there i am
meanwhile i got a very sore ischium bone... (it feels like it's also got a bad cut inside there)
two bad knees and a horrible shoulder which i am not entirely sure doesn't have a hairline fracture.....
i am also going out of my mind by not being able to knit, sit for long periods of time, walk or paint

oye
i think the knitting and the painting is the worse part of it

happy holidays

i wish all my friends all over the world the happiest of holidays (and if this isn't your holiday- i wish you wonderful memories and lots of hugs and icecream )

it really is so small a world these days, i talk to my friends from the usa, south america, europe, the middle east, africa, australia, and the far east........... all due to this wonderful magical thing called the internet- we can even skype! we can talk into what surely to a medieval person would have seemed a magic mirror and we see each other, hear each other and connect-- and i would imagine i would be extremely warm right now as the flames surrounding the stake would be leaping higher

my friends from all over, i am so lucky to know you all..... you all make my days so much brighter

and as i talk to all these amazing people so alike and yet all so different, i realize how important they are to me
suddenly people from far away aren't faceless, they are my friends, they are all the faces of my friends

i also realize how very empty my life would be without these wonderful people spread all over this tiny blue planet ..... we are all just a speck of dust in an infinitely huge universe- but here we are..... and it's amazing to me

i sit (well ok right now i am not able to sit due to the broken chair) in my studio and paint. then i can instantly share that image with all of you folks all over the entire world....... HOW COOL IS THAT?

it makes me think how petty that all the wars, the hate, the killing, the controlling is.....how insane the quest for ultimate riches and power is....
because we really are all in this soup of life together
we really do all interconnect...

it's not 'them' and us......it really is just all US

anyway..... happy happy holidays to you all...... my very best wishes for you all
freedom, peace, security, happiness. health, happy memory making.......
i wish it all to everyone
all without fear, without pain

bless you all no matter what if any religion you are...

dear santa claus

it's me violet
remember me?
of the pennsylvania violets?


i know i am sorta haphazard about things but i remembered my list this year

so here goes

i would really like to have some of my friends who are ill, made well.... i worry about them carrying on and being in pain, or worse..... having worry hanging over them like a dark dark rain cloud

folks who need not just jobs..but good jobs..... jobs that allow them to live not just survive
so they don't have to chose between do i get my meds........or heat or eat
they are working and making more then minimum but let's face it anything less then 50K for someone who has a house and mortgage and a job is just not going to make it
70K a year and they can actually save a bit for retirement

and can you do something about this world wide situation of fear..... fear of knowledge just got 141 people killed by extremists ...in GOD'S name (god's pr department must be having a meltdown about now)
cops killing folks out of fear.... folks in fear of their lives from cops
folks in fear ..just fear of all things
meanwhile you got folks telling everyone ..... ditch the fears
it ain't so easy
we're going to need a major miracle here
(maybe you and god's pr department can team up here?)

and the greed thing.. some folks ..enough is never enough.. the thing is.. we're all literally in this together...we ALL live on this earth, breath this air (and if nestle waters has it's way...we'll be paying for water too)
are interconnected by atoms and molecules.... so by that line of thinking ...maybe at one point enough is enough?? and we know all must be able to not only survive but live?
aren't we supposed to be above all the savagery ?
i mean if not.....wtf is the point of it all?
how insanely crazy can you allow things to get before stepping up and stepping in?

those are some of the major things
and if you have a bit left over...please take care of my little family
bernie and the animals
mrs quail is calling for her dead husband.... phoebe is slowly dying of age
my fawnie can't walk (also i suspect due to age)
bernie is doing ok so far .....can he stay healthy and happy please?

me i need to be mobile again, to take care of everyone, it's not working well that bernie has to step up with some of the stuff.....

and an agent for me....... i need one that can be an asset to me so very bad, it's getting into 'needed urgently' territory now

so santa that's my list
i know there really isn't anything you can wrap and put under the tree...(i am assuming an agent would object to being wrapped up and a bow stuck on her head..... ?)
but really that is my list

if the world gets better for everyone... that is the best gift of all.... and everyone will get part of it!

anyway i'm off now
i am gimping around so it's taking me forever to do anything and it's time for my ice
take good care santa
and really please try to get some of that stuff on my list..the fear and the greed ones i think are the biggest no?

your friend

vi

me and fawn

both immobilized
her with her slipped disk in her back
me and my knee that i mangled back in april in that fall

fawn we gotta stop meeting like this

the vet gave her a shot and did accupressure....she's walking better but not normal
he said..... (this morning) if she's not better by next week..accuPUNTURE
i was surprised he didn't do that in the first place
now fawn is anything like me she's going to stay crashed for a week then gradually get better
meanwhile between the two of us....we are NOT doing well

i have to keep icing
she has to keep a heating pad on
and both of us just want to lay down and sleep

bean soup and snow and ducks and wood stoves

i made a huge pot of bean and ham soup (diced onion, carrot, celery, added to the cooked to tender navy beans, then the remains of the ham.....simmer all day)
it was wonderful!
the beans broke down into a thickener, the veggies melted, and the ham added flavor
i was shocked when bernie went back for seconds (of course there was nothing else for him so he had no choice.....but he said it was alright)

hey he ate it so that's a plus
(i'm eating it for breakfast, i do love beans ....i have to get more navy beans)

today i woke up to snow on the ground
and more coughing....a lot of coughing actually
dr won't renew the zpack i am to use the inhalers
seriously they aren't helping with the coughing at all
the pulmonary dr won't be available until at least feb..(he'll be back jan but booked until feb)
i noticed that going outside or getting too upset, talking too long....or exertion makes me cough BAD

ok to sort of continue the light bulb thing from the other day (it's scary how my mind works) i have to rig up the shop lights for the seed starting very soon..... i have to start peppers EARLY, and i would like to start a few early things like cabbage and leeks if my leek seeds will germinate ( i have seeds that are kind of old and some stuff such as leeks don't always store well no matter how well you store them)
if i wait for bernie to help me with the shop lights i won't hit the window for the early seed starts
i had asked for a cold frame or tunnel but that didn't happen either as i was too sick to do it myself

bernie seems interested in the garden this time so i am going to hope he helps me as lately i'm not able to do it all myself

depending on weather, i am going to be calling for wood next week, not the full three cords i need but at least one cord at a time
i wish at this point i could have about 10 cords out there...... well we'll do what we can do
thank goodness we didn't wait for that old wood guy...he never EVER bothered to follow up on his promise....we'd have frozen already

and in ducks... phoebe seems to be ok today..so she's out with the flock
i don't know as she is going to have as long a life as she should... that was the nest i was raising when that jackass was next door with the methlab
so cleo and phoebe had never really been right and cleo died so young...
so that's our day so far
how's your week going?

as time goes on

today i am again cleaning in the studio....
my plague, with the help of a zpack and inhaler is down to a dull roar and so i'm back to cleaning my studio
have i mentioned how much i hate cleaning?
and how once it IS clean how i hate messing it up again
maybe that's why i don't clean much.. at least with the mess there i can just get to work
?
well ok that's my story
so i got my work surface cleared off and added two long shelves...... i made the mistake of putting out my half sheet bounty paper towels
bernie saw them
there may be a homicide happening if he touches them
i need them and i've stashed them for a while so i HAVE THEM
not just any rolls...BOUNTY half sheets
those are the best and that's what i have in the studio

now today it's a sort of half assed storm outside
although it's warm, and while it's slushy and all.... the ducks are ok
tomorrow we are to get about 3'' of snow and sleet and freezing rain and hale and the 7 plagues of hell and grasshoppers
maybe frogs

bernie got kero for the backup heaters but we won't be able to use them as he hasn't dry burnt them to service them... i can't get him to understand that if he doesn't do that...we can all die of carbon monoxide when there is incomplete combustion--

and i am also trying to protect my paper towels
homicide may happen......

just saying

meanwhile................ today is going to be a chicken curry for dinner day-
and i am hoping to get further on the studio
i need my second work surface brought up.... i found it and couldn't move it myself
i would like to also paint it with a semi gloss cream
(although my other one is minwax red- it used to be my niece's desk when they were little kidlets living in an apartment in Fairlawn .....i painted it for them)
so the back one is probably going to end up being painted with cream outdoor trim paint, which is fine as i am going to beat the crap out of the work surface anyway....
i have two other shelves to go over that work surface and i'll paint them cream as well

i am looking at lighting....and i think i am going to go with dimable LED ..... as i can afford them, they are brighter, and supposedly last much longer..... and use much less electricity.....
i desperately need to get light bulbs..... i need regular ones CFL at 40 w...and i need one really tough one for outside on the porch (about 100w equivalent)
and then the studio lights
i was looking at some under counter lights that are not too bad...like under 20.00 for 6' which is most likely what i'm going to use .....the cool white is 6500K so that is as bright as daylight
(i'm also going to need regular cool white and warm white 48'' floursecent tubes for the big fixtures... to start my garden seeds-- like i said...i am out of light bulbs)
i found a few of my smaller drafting lights........so i'm going to hook them up for the second easel as task lighting
i have two ott lights but i am afraid to use them as they got brown where the lightbulb plugs in
i wish i could
lighting is a huge problem in my studio, even with three walls of windows.... we had to cover (nosey neighbors from hell).... so we do rely on artifical lighting a fair amount...
i wish we could have replaced the windows when i was planning to but now we'll have to wait

so that is the state of the studio right now...... it's cleaner and almost rearranged
bernie didn't help
i did it all as i felt better
and now.... onto curry chicken

a sodden end to vacation

cause it's raining, foggy, dark, relatively warm (in the 40s but feels 30s) day.
bernie is sleeping i hope as he starts back to work tonight

and i am cleaning the studio ...
to install a new work surface across the back wall for my second easel...... i got it partly cleared out but now i need to move stuff and bernie's sleeping
(we agreed not to fight by not moving stuff the other day)

in addition to this i went for the adrenal supression test this morning----- they took my blood at 7:13 so i hope that was ok
i felt terrible as there was a guy there ( even though i was there first and had the first appointment) who'd had a liver transplant...... but i had to get this blood drawn
and i did have an appointment (he is a regular walk in)
i really could use a bit more sleep
i was going to go up then realized that bernie has to sleep today so i've stayed down
i really wish there was a way of me sleeping down here a bit- i asked bernie if we could put the spare bed up in the studio ......but really there is absolutely no space for it
so i have to come up with another idea- and some bookcases..... (cause part of the no space thing is the amazing amount of books i've got crammed in here- why yes i do read a LOT --- ahem why do you ask?)

i have a hair brain idea.... i want to buy those insulation panels and install them on the walls then face them with drywall, and replace all the windows with one large window on the north wall, two large windows on the west wall and patio doors on the deck wall......
i sort of priced it all and just for supplies would be about 6K--- i think however we could heat with less then 4 cords of wood a winter then...... maybe
so that would probably pay us back in about 6 years
considering ac costs ....maybe less!
oye

anyway today i am struggling to get the energy to do the painting corner
i need it done NOW
(i also could sure use a white board in there as well......)

so ........ how was your holiday?

i've been sick still
bernie did most of the cooking but i did the supervising and the hard stuff like the gravy...
stuffing etc
we packed the turkey up into containers right after supper and put them in the freezer
then i made stock and soup

i'm still sick but not retching as much
meanwhile we were to have done my studio today

i ended up throwing my body across two sewing machines that bernie was attempting to remove to some obscure undisclosed, known only to him and promptly forgotten location........

his organizing style and mine are VASTLY different
i can't reach his idea of organized.....
nor can i see his idea of organized

so we had a truce to cut cat's nails and clean ears...
i was informed that he intended to get started organizing me and my studio early tomorrow morning
......there may be a war

or something worse, the last time he 'organized' me i couldn't find anything for over a year
and some things are still missing........ like two other sewing machines......
as it is i can't reach my watercolor paper without his help and i can't roll out the folding cutting table for cutting fabric or paper on as he's got it stuffed in and piled up
oye
so even though i have carefully drawn plans as to what/where/how i want my area done.....
he'll throw them to the wind and make sure it's inconvenient and impossible to work in if i let him do this without supervision
i've been pretty sick so i can't do this myself at this time

oye
oye oye

i hope i survive

have a wonderful holiday

and a safe one as well

right now....we are watching some seriously heavy wet snow coming down

but bernie said it's warm out and it's melting pretty fast

we'll still be shoveling off the studio roof

but i am grateful that the weather is warm, as i am dreading a repeat of last year with the horrible cold that never stopped

meanwhile i am still really ill

last night i was coughing so bad that i was retching

this went on for quite a while

bernie kept saying 'this isn't normal, you need to go to the hosptial'

the only problem with that was i would have to get dressed and i couldn't stop coughing long enough to do that 

by the time the coughing fit subsided somewhat, i was so very exhausted that i couldn't even climb up into bed

(it's got a very very high mattress..... bernie hasn't lowered the frame yet... so it's about 6'' too tall for me, i feel like jack in the beanstalk in the giant's house)

i think i finally got into bed and sitting UP (forget about lying down) at about 2am

so right now i'm in a robe and slippers

i couldn't eat breakfast either, it made me cough

bernie is going to get me mucinex to see if that's going to help-- i'm desperate at this point

good thing i made the cran sause and such already..... cause i couldn't do that today

i have to bake the rutabaga..... and i  will have to supervise bernie cooking tomorrow unless i get better really soon

the no sleep with the painful ribs from coughing is doing a number on me

bernie hasn't been sleeping either of course

i am hoping that the mucinex will help....i would love to get a full nights sleep, i swear if it isn't the woodstove getting me up..... or something it's my health nailing me

in painting news, i am painting oak leaves... cause i am an idiot

but i won't let them defeat me

so i am painting oak leaves

and cranberries but i think bernie fed my models to the chickens

next i have indian corn and shells and more leaves but i also need to return to the water fowl series and oye..... i paint too slow sometimes i think

well... everyone i wish you all a happy, safe, and healthy thanksgiving

wed is not only the new monday......

but we got a vacation coming up
which means stuff will get done maybe?
meanwhile i sealed up some of the air leaks around the duck room door
i swear the studio is warmer
one of my friends suggested i use pipe insulation in there which i will be doing
as we can't seal it up permanently yet
i also have an appointment for the suppression test......
and lab/hospital bills are starting to come in
i need to get back to painting as my subjects are piling up (literally.... a pile of shells, a pile of leaves, a pile of berries....... )
plus i have the brant geese to do and now arctic circle stuff too
it's been pretty cold so i am a bit reluctant to sit in the coldest corner of the studio

in holiday preparations- i made cranberry sauce
and i will be making the stuffing shortly
i've also make my leftover plan for the freezer
and we did a ham so that we'll have ham, turkey, chicken and pork meals in the freezer
along with soups and beans
i need a good sale on beef though
i'll grind my own chopmeat if i have to...(probably a much better idea anyway)
and i would like a good sale on pork loin...i maybe even will make sausage

i am slowly learning not to over do anything
how about that!
i cut up three packs worth of ham today, into cubes and vacuumed sealed them
then i put the ham away
tomorrow i will do a few more if i can

i am still having trouble with the knee i fell on in april- it suddenly does this snapping thing that hurts like i fell on it
i end up howling like a banshee it hurts so bad
then boom the pain subsides (the after pain is still there though)
i am going to assume this isn't a good thing...
ok i've got to get to bed now
i can't keep my eyes open

knock you on your ass tired

i can't even begin to explain the level of tired i am.....
it's really beyond anything physical
however i am very blessed to have friends who send me packages with shells and seeds, socks and stuffs to cheer me up
(boy does that help)
i got two wonderful packages today when bernie picked up the mail

so briefly to bring this up to date
we are facing a bad cold snap
bernie did get the furnace to work more or less and that went on this morning when i just could NOT get myself out of bed to stoke the woodstove.......(so now i got a bloody nose from the furnace heat- oh well at least i stayed in bed resting for 12 hours)

i got my rx for the meds and labs for the suppression test to see if the tumor is located on the adrenals or what..... that will happen next week as the draw must be at 7am so bernie will have to be off to take me

painting- well right now i got layouts waiting and a paper prepped for work but not enough energy to get over there
i hope this changes soon
my next burst of energy will be spent in prepping layouts so that even if i am too tired i can still paint

now today it is raining hard and is dark and overcast..... the ducks seem ok with it for now
bernie is getting concerned about the quail for the winter and we're going to give them a nest box with shavings ....we haven't prior as we didn't want 10,000000. quail babies..... so now with the days short that shouldn't be a problem but the nest will keep them warm

knitting- i am working on what started out to be a worsted weight cowl.......and evolved into a hat...
i just don't like worsted weight for neckwear....... i don't know why- i don't mind it too much for a hat
or mittens, actually i prefer lopi in worsted for work mittens that don't quit...
but for a cowl..... really i just like fingering or lace. so i cast on 100stitches on 4.5MM needles and did two inches of k2p2, then switched over to double moss..... i'll keep going with that for a while, do a turning row or band then do the crown -- susan was right when she advised me to not be knitting lace right now........ or tiny needle that i love so much
so that also means colorwork in fingering is out of the question... so i'll knit a new hat for bernie
(gees he goes through them so very fast anyway)
meanwhile i am just so glad to be knitting again...even though it's nothing complicated or lacey

THE SEED CATALOGS-- the onslaught has started
i got 'high mowing seeds' and i'm already drooling
my short list is mainly 'winter over in the garden' stuff

• leeks
• chard
• spinach
• brussels
• cabbage
• mache
• carrots
• lettuces

and there are a few bush beans i am considering......(we never did get the other beds made up in the garden)
i had that small deck garden this year and boy i missed my big garden....... i would like to put in a hoop house for next winter if bernie gets around to helping me.....
but meanwhile the seed catalogs are tempting
and i love my leeks and chard so very much.... along with my peppers and pumpkins
so something has to be done for next season......

there is the state of the herron household, at the moment
everyone is pretty much happy, and relatively healthy (ok so we still have the plague)

i am hoping to get a small on sale stock up going for the freezer
i'm still sighing over paints and brushes but that's an ongoing thing

i am still desperately trying to figure out an accurate way to release these paintings as giclee prints
and i am still looking for an agent (one was supposed to be interested but after that i haven't heard anything from her so i am thinking probably not)

how is everyone's winter and holiday preps coming along?

this whole plague from the

pits of hell thing is getting really old
so yes, well.....i'm sick AGAIN
no surprise there huh?
meanwhile i have to do another cushings test so they can narrow down where the tumor is
and no it's not anywhere near as much fun as it sounds
i think this endo is going to turn out to be my best doctor to date, as good as the specialist down in philly
meanwhile i'm very tired
and i am not only have a bad cold or something but a full blow fibro flare going on
which means i want to just sleep
i went up as soon as bernie left last night and didn't come down until about 11 this morning
even that wasn't enough
tonight i am going up right after supper
my legs feel like leaden jello.......it really feels like i have a temperature but i doubt that i do

now in other news, i started to try and do some paintings of oak leaves (will i never learn?)
well actually after the last painting of oak leaves that i wasn't happy with, i decided they will not defeat me......so onto more oak leaves
probably with indian corn...possibly with some sea shells thrown in
cause that's what's on my painting table right now and i can't face the brant geese at the moment

odds and ends going on... well... we got half our wood in
i really would like to have the rest in within the next week if we could..... it needs to be stacked for seasoning....although it's not too bad-- but it could go a few more months
bernie is supposed to check the furnace oil tank too
he hasn't done that and i can't see up that far

i am also trying not to worry too much about this cushings thing.. but it's sort of scary- i am not concerned about dying as much as being incapacitated--- way way more scary then dying
so anyway i am sort of trying to not quite ignore it....but maybe not think too much about it either..
oye..

also i am trying to figure a way to sleep down here during the day while bernie sleeps upstairs
so far i haven't figured anything out yet that is actually comfortable enough to sleep
but i am still thinking about it

are you all getting ready for thanksgiving?
we are sort of
i'm going to have to do a shop next week for odds and ends
it's not going to be huge here but i hope for enough leftovers for freezer meals for at least a month.....so we'll also be digging a ham out of the freezer (since bern will be home he can help me)
between turkey and ham...i expect soups and main dishes and all that

ok well off i go now
im going to eat and go to bed
sleep well and sweet dreams everyone

while my woodstove gently doesn't burn

i'm sitting here AGAIN
waiting for a cranky woodstove to decide to get warm
it was caught and burning brightly......until it was time to go to sleep
then like the reluctant and petulant child it truly is........it promptly went out
so i sit
i'm so tired my skin i crawling cause we did this dance last night
and these days from...ok to crawling skin tired is now a matter of hours not days like it used to be

(i am having some trouble lately again.it could be cause the 50K of vitamin d RX is not been picked up at the pharmacy...... or maybe it is also the weather change...?)

meanwhile i'm having terrible trouble with the knee i battered in the april fall so life has been a bit more difficult again
and this coming week we are also going to get slammed with the cold from that alaskan storm- bernie needs to cover that AC unit in the studio inside and out..... and there is a broken storm window that right now..... we may not be able to replace on the other side of the studio- and i can't do it myself right now...
we'll be putting the drapes and plastic up on the doors
i know he said he'll be stacking wood tuesday too.. he wants it up before friday and also we need to figure another load to come in so that space needs to be available
i can't stack either right now...
i'm having a fibro flare that is just bad enough to make life super difficult but not quite bad enough to lay me out totally

now with painting.....i finished a small painting of a gourd and oak leaves- i do love the gourd
the oat leaves not so much
i had the still life sitting on my painting table and so i worked partly from life....partly from a photo and partly from a blk/wht print of the photo of the still life........... yeah i know...over kill but it's better to have enough back up reference just in case

um i still have corn and shells and more leaves to do yet
and if the berries don't croak i got them again too
then after that shells
then ducks
i better paint with both hands

more tests

ok so more tests

thank goodness i have finally found a good doctor again it looks like

meanwhile i am still working on the gourd painting with the leaves, it was meant to be a study so i put it on a square piece of watercolor paper--
it's started now to develop into a series type painting
so now without finishing my poor migratory water fowl series....i have apparently stopped mid series to do a botanical series -- in my defense.....living plant material does not keep and it is/was FALL- so how could i NOT
but i have to say...... the new fall series is more adaptable to things like pillows, papergoods, dishes
and possibly cards
with elements that could be lifted  for surface design (although after reading about how little fabic designers make and what they go through..i am think -- yeah.....no thank you)

i have a few more things that need to be painted now before their time is gone, which makes me wish i could paint even faster (some paintings are very fast though)

also what happened is my gallery that i keep on my nook has gotten messed up
so i reformatted the memory card, and it's behaving better.
i had tried to download an app for photos, however my nook wouldn't allow it to download, and in trying to fix that with tech support....somehow NOW my nook won't log on to the wifi
so it's just a gallery now
which actually is ok
that is what i wanted it for

let's see what else? ......oh the wood is here
finally, we had to use a different company as the one we have used for a few years now, kept telling us wait and he was getting wood to us no latter then the end of the week......however THAT was three weeks ago....... now i had let him know in the end of august/beginning of september that we were going to get 6 cords, the first three to be delivered mid october..... followed in two weeks by the other three cords, he agreed and was happy to do it.....or so he told me at the time.
if we believed his promises, we would have no wood for winter.....what does he care.

so we got our alternate wood guy who is now our main wood guy
he is very professional, the wood isn't bad at all..and best of all he shows UP when he says he is going to.... omg how amazing is that?
he costs more but you know what? it's worth it and it's only 5.00 more a cord so it so IS worth it

to continue with heating news, bernie got the furnace working again... he still hasn't told me how much oil we have left in the tank, but he said.....'really we should get it filled while oil is cheaper'

ok

i think that is about it for now....
the only other thing is our little boy budgie has decided he loves his momma........ and is taming himself now
stella is sitting on the never hatching eggs so she's basically a stuffed bird with a heart beat for all the company she is to him
so now he loves momma
oye
birds!

all night long...

i listened to the wind blow
i kept hearing things hitting the house
and wondering if the trees were going to come down
we will be keeping the woodstove on all day today and probably for the rest of the winter heating
i'm still not sure about the furnace
i got two of the three tests back.... the two i messed up
the third one i did right so we'll see

meanwhile, i have a sort of still life going with a gourd..... two oak leaves and some berries maybe a blueberry leaf or two
one leaf is behaving and the other is giving me a really hard time

there isn't much right now i feel like talking about..... or even remembering as this blog really is more of a diary for me (when i had a very high readership i got scared and stopped posting)
i am a bit depressed today, which i think has something to do with the hard frost overnight and my bean plant dying finally... i am so going to miss that plant -- i saved seeds but i KNOW the seed i planted was brown and the seeds this plant produced are white......so i am assuming this is a hybrid between whatever that one seed was and my merchant of venice pole bean

i am going to have to look into a bunch of day light lamps for in the studio i suppose
maybe LED ones
and maybe a few fixtures as well....
i get SAD this time of year until at least into april

and today it's really bugging me
so i'm off to paint