Painting

Raggedy Ann and Andy painted on an old Christmas cookie tin and simple roses painted on both a greeting card blank as well as an old quilt book whose dust jacket wore out years ago, are two of our upcoming projects.  These will be for Valentine's Day!

I need to be painting!! But I need to be painting all the little chips in my cupboards, on my walls, etc.  I do this several times a year and it wouldn't be so difficult if I painted everything the same color. Noooooosireeee!! I painted every room and every cupboard project a different color and we have Hot Rot red in the family room where the dogs sleep at night.  They are also confined there when we are gone, but they have a great red leather love seat and chair in which to lounge.  It also allows them access to the windows so they can see all of the action while we are gone.  Keeps them from being bored but their toenails chip the paint on the walls under the windows while they practice being guard dogs and bark their flipping heads off!!! I need to be painting!!  And speaking of that again, we found a gentleman here who is willing to make birdhouses for us.  I have only seen one in the shape of an outhouse, but he has brought one of the gals in our group about 10 and she tells me they are all different.  One is a cantina and one is a tugboat and so on.  I am so anxious to see them and he is only charging $10.00. Yeah!! Something else to paint.  If it stands still in my house, it gets painted.  It was minus 21 degrees here and I am so wanting to plant something and get my hands in the warm earth!  Is it spring yet?

"There is no time like Spring, when life's alive in everything. - Christina Rosetti

More snow

See the bubble icicles!!!! Well today the pond has actually thawed enough for the water to be open.  This pic was taken a few days ago and I think the ice just got so heavy that it fell in as the temp is still well below freezing.  Help! I need a warm weather and gardening fix.

As you can see, my poor dog, Hildy, would love to be out on the front lawn chasing the deer instead of just watching them from inside.  She did, however get to spend part of this morning barking at the snow blower.  The Mr. has been getting a lot of use of his Christmas present as we woke up to MORE SNOW this morning and it is still snowing this afternoon.  Blast those deer who are making salad of my lawn...roots an all.
Finished at last!! I am very please with the final glass piece below, but I am not sure I like the hanging chain.  I may change that, but the design did allow me the opportunity to use the slice of rock. 

A couple of sites to check out again is Erica and a site she sent to us which is written by a young woman living here in Wyo who became guardian of a coyote.  She documents daily and her story and that of the coyote is amazing as well as her wonderful photography.

Gardening and Snow and Wind

The strange volcano looking appendage above is the result of an air bubble continuing to grow in a hole in the ice in our pond.  It is an ice structure, hollow in the center from which the air is escaping.  Some days we have many of these. This one was 7"-8" tall I think. A stock tank heater and a bubble making device keep the pond from freezing totally as we have 5 large gold fish who inhabit this pond. 

I got my new Birds & Blooms and even though I have snow and wind swirling 'round my door, I am ready to put my rake and hoe in the earth.  One new addition being added this year to the garden will be an "inukshuk" which is a pile of stones in the shape of a person.  According to a letter in the Garden Chat section of the magazine, they were built and used by the Inuit in the Canadian Arctic as landmarks or guideposts.  Any pile of rocks beckons me and I am as happy as a bug in a rug when I am arranging stones.  I think that in a former life I must have been a stone mason.  However, notice the river rocks in the  photo which surround the pond.  We inherited a few truckloads full of these when we purchased this property, so right now I am limited to fitting round stones into walls, etc.  So as I look out at my yard between the last snowstorm and the inevitable next, I know that if you tickle the earth with a hoe, it will laugh a garden and I am ready to tickle!!!

Gardening and Snow

The stained glass piece is now tack-soldered.  I am still having difficulty getting clear images of some of my projects, even with the macros on...so this is the best I have at this time of my pine cones.  It is done on a crackled surface with a pretty high gloss glaze and will be the project for our next painting group.  

With the arrival of the first of the seed catalogs, those of us who need to get our hands in the earth are drooling over the gorgeous blooms that flood over every page.  Even the plump tomatoes and the brightly colored peppers.  Yumo!  Oops!  That's Rachael's line isn't it.  Erica and I discussed all of the things we wanted to do this spring in the gardens.  She has such a large garden area and slowly is getting is transformed from lawn to veggies and other delectibles.  Michael has become a wonderful gardener and landscaper too and since I didn't have much time when they were growing up to do this, it must just be in their blood.  My dad always had a beautiful garden.  Check out www.burpee.com for some of their new plants and heirloom varieties also.

We are buried in snow and more in the forecast leaves me only to my gardening dreams. But I keep up my spirit with the thought that we should not let the weeds grow around our dreams.

Sleep on your resolutions

Someone this week said "I make New Year resolutions and give them up for Lent.                     Solution for your resolutions! I love it!These pics show the progress of the headboard we made over the holiday.  We purchased a brindle hide in Cheyenne and after cutting out the plywood, we covered it with foam, batting and then the hide.  It is mounted directly on the wall and in addition to being nice to lean against, it goes with the rest of our "Cowboy Hell" decor.  

We have had such a couple of weeks of wintery weather. In fact, the roads have been closed nearly as much as open.  The Mr. has a birthday tomorrow...his age?  Old!  But he is headed to a pool tournament and since this is something he loves, what better way to spend your birthday than doing something you like. We hope that the roads stay open since the drive is about 3 hours one way.  I am working still on the stained glass piece and will post that progress next.  Our resolution is to lose weight.  So we have begun a diet program that we purchased for the computer and it is fairly easy to maneuver around. So we have been carefully reading recipes and nutritional information as well as health advice.  But as Mark Twain said --"Be careful about reading health books.  You may die of a misprint."

Horseshoe Wreath

There were days in the past when I spent time cussing the skittish horse I rode because he was standing on my foot with this metal device nailed to his hoof.  No amount of pushing him or elbowing him in his belly would convince him to move even a little bit.   I have found a better use for these metal shoes!!!  Thanks to the Mr. and his ability to weld, I was able to give to my good friend Barb, this versatile door wreath.  Red for Christmas, pink for Easter, red, white and blue for the Fourth of July and so on and so on. The first picture shows the unpainted shoes placed in the pattern I decided would work and the second has been primed, painted and adorned with two western handkerchiefs.

One thing we discovered was that horseshoes are not cheap, but luckily, they are priced by the pound.  Since, we were not concerned about the weight, we went for the lighter ones. We are struggling now with additional pounds as a result of all of the wonderful food ingested over this past few days.  We had a wonderful Christmas with friends and family, however our children  and their families were missed and each year I think we miss them more.  They are miles and miles away and we have had so very much snow that they would have had bad roads or airport delays I am sure.  I  have discovered that you can't get here from there...where ever that happens to be. New projects are on the horizon, a hair-on-hide, padded headboard in the works, more progress on the previous stained glass piece and painting projects for January...posts to follow.  

So as I try to keep from shoving another piece of fudge in my face..."Lead me not into temptation; I can find the way myself."--Rita Mae Brown

Creativity

"I have too much creativity to be contained in one medium."  This is a quote I heard this week and quickly wrote down, but in my haste, I forgot the origin of the quote and don't know who should receive the credit.  I do know that I feel it totally expresses my feelings.  My greatest fear is that I will not live long enough to accomplish all that I want to do.  A few earlier posts I published a stone slice which I wanted to incorporate into a piece of stained glass and I did find the pattern which will allow me to do that.  These few pictures here will show some of the progress.  Tools, pattern and the beginning of the glass cutting process.  More pictures to follow as I progress.

Today I was able to wander back into the past with the opportunity to be among the cattle.  My good friend, Debby and I had coffee this morning and then she invited me to go with her to "feed" the cattle.  She has purchased several head of bred heifers which will calve in the spring.  We drove the ol' truck with hay bales in the bed across the snow covered field. (you need a 4 wheel drive with as much snow as we have now) All animals, including humans become creatures of habit. The cattle followed the truck, knowing that it contained their breakfast and when we came to a stop, they hurried to catch up, kicking their heels and crowding around us. As Debby broke up  the bales for them, I asked her if she had named them.  "Some", she replied.  The one with the number 69 green tag in her ear was "Bingo....you know --under O for 69".  She has named others but I don't recall their names.  As we drove down to her favorite spot near the creek and in the shelter of the trees, it reminded me that so many people would not understand what peace a place like that brings to some of us.  The snow began to fall and I remembered days as a child when we would go out and break up hay bales for the cow and horses, and break the layer of ice on the stock tank of water and the calves would splash warm milk on us as they sucked from the buckets we held for them. It was, at the time, only work for us.  We complained and it did no good.  Chores had to be done before school. Even as I did chores, I remember daydreaming about drawing, or designing a dress for my dolls, or some such creation. I don't like rules....I think they stifle creativity.  Who knows, even feeding the cows may inspire some young person's desire to be creative.