reddates

Marsh on a Foggy Day. Today is a misty, rainy day.

Trying to keep busy with "important" things like sweeping, cleaning, sprucing stuff up. Though I keep veering off into stuff like painting, piano and netflix. I say, whatever! The house will be what it will be. All the family is used to me keeping a dusty cluttered house and if they don't like it they can host at their house next year! I have to say that to bolster myself up to accept that in no way can I get this house to look like a house in a magazine anyway so don't worry about it. Just try to improve it a bit and whatever I get done will be okay. I got the small box of Christmassy stuff down and found some crocheted snowflakes to put here and there. Also found the Nativity scene so I put that out too. It's very small. I covered over the front of the big shelves that I didn't want to dust with a shiny green holiday cloth. That takes care of that.



This is garbage night. Putting the chickens to bed and then taking that out is next up.

I took this last evening while we were walking down back. This is what I was kinda wanting to recreate in the painting I did yesterday. I was dissatisfied with the painting at the time because I failed at showing THIS. Which I think is beautiful in its way. But then I got sidetracked into putting other shapes and things in that weren't there - decorating it up. I feel drawn back and forth between doing something realistic (isn't that the BEST and most skilled painting?) or doing something psychological and weird. I admire people who can paint realistically immensely but the other kind of painting (painting for paint's sake) comes so much easier to me.


I was getting started in cleaning for the holiday and I needed to get the puppet off the living room table so I wrapped her up in her blanket and put it/her on my pillow. Rainy came in and was very curious. I watched them for a while and got this picture and then we both left. When I came back the doll was out of her blanket and was moved about a foot away from it on the bed. It had wet marks on it's tummy, from I assume Rainy. If Andy had moved it he would have taken it clear out to the living room to give it to Dave (retriever mentality). I thought Rainy must have gotten over her fear of it after that but when I put it on like a puppet and talked to her with it she was very scared again.

I've been putting off cleaning and readying the house to be at a "holiday level" of clean house so today I must finally get busy.

Face. Doesn't mean anything - just something that evolved like a doodle.

We went down to Pittsburgh to a birthday party for Dave's niece's little one year old, Bo this afternoon. I dread parties. But this time I acclimated pretty well once we got there. Thank goodness when we first came in the door we were greeted by Dave's siblings and their spouses who were sitting in the front dining room. There must have been at least 100 people there (barely any that I knew) but most of them were in the basement - a huge room. The birthday boy was a very sweet child and it was fun to watch his face while everyone was STARING at him constantly and smiling. He was so good natured. But how weird to have that happen to you - you are the CENTER of attention of all these people, many of them strangers and they are singing a song at you. They gave him a small cake to get his hands in. He wanted to touch the candle when they put it front of him and dad needed to pull the cake away quick. After he licked his fingers he wanted to feed some to his parents. A sweet boy.

I finished watching Touched By an Angel. Now I'm watching Stranger Things. My favorite thing to do right now: sit and watch something on my phone while weaving with the pin loom. I can do that ALL day and not want to do anything else. In the evening I've been making popcorn and drinking cider. I was reading about alcohol and aFib and found out that alcohol can definitely be a trigger. I did not know that before. Many nights before bed I'd have a little glass (about 2 ounces) of brandy to help me fall asleep. So that is a habit that I'm going to quit.

Jan and I were going to go to Paint and Sip this afternoon but cancelled. It's snowing. Not like a blizzard or anything like that but it just doesn't look inviting to be out there driving. Windy.

The windbreak plastic that Dave and I put up around the northwest sides of the chicken run last night doesn't go clear to the top of the wall. I figured that not much snow would come in up high by the overhanging roof but I was wrong. There's still some snow coming in. I might cut some more plastic and fill in at the top.

The goldfinches are very busy at the feeder. A Flurry of Goldfinches. The proper name for a group is a Charm of Goldfinches.



It snowed about an inch today. Dave and I walked the dogs to the creek before it got dark. Most of the previous snow had melted with the recent rain so the creek was high, and the snow we got today wasn't too deep for Rainy.




Dave's pile of rocks that he's collecting to make a wall.

I found Morgan's Tarot hiding in the clutter on my writing table so I thought I'd pick a card and do something with it. The "Who Am I?" card turned up.


Morgan's card. Probably meaningful to me right now. I have been looking inward TOO much. Looking negatively. All I've been seeing lately are my faults and the unattractive parts of my personality. But of course whatever I look at will be magnified. The Magic Magnifying Mind.

I can't remember where I got the idea to get a Morgan's Tarot. From someone on my friend's list, or Nancy probably. I got it quite a while ago but haven't delved into it much.

A seemingly busy day today. Went to Berdella's for group in the morning. Lunch at McCullough's Kitchen Table in Sandy Lake. Came home and took a nap. Got up just in time to go out before it got dark and put up clear plastic around the chicken's run for a windbreak. Dave helped. It was relatively warm today. The snow on the roof was melting and dripping down on us as we worked.

I had uneven heart beats early in the morning and that always puts a damper on things. It makes me think about my mortality. Am I ready to go? Sometimes I feel like I am. Other times I feel desperate to fix things before I go, but then I don't feel capable of fixing anything and that's depressing.

*****
About a week ago, before the snow, when I was still letting the chickens out into the yard, I went to check on them and saw they were all clustered in one corner of the run. I went to the doorway and there was a young opossum inside the run, right by the door. I motioned with my hand for him/her to come out through the door and they did, very nicely and I shut the door. Then a couple days later I came back from checking on the chickens and the dogs were sniffing something on the floor by the back door. It was the opossum, laying dead on its side with its mouth grinning open. Rainy was sniffing the mouth and Andy was sniffing its back end. I freaked out with Rainy's nose half an inch away from all those sharp teeth but it stayed "dead". I got the dogs into the house and watched through the door. As soon as we all got inside it got up and trundled off the porch. I kinda like opossums. Though I know if they get into a chicken coop at night while the chickens are sleeping they will kill. In the daytime I'm not that concerned - an adult chicken can take care of itself in the daytime. Now that there's snow on the ground and I'm keeping the chickens and their food locked up day and night I think the opossum will leave. I hope so.

Snow. Yesterday's pic.


Sunset. Today's.

We took Skye to the vet for a follow up appointment early this morning. Now that she's not feeling so great she's easier to catch and load into the carrier. That's one good thing. They did blood work again so they could compare it to two weeks ago and gave her a shot of B12 and more subcutaneous fluids and we brought her home. I'm still waiting to hear back about the results of the blood work to see what the plan is for the future. It's 5:15. I wonder if I'll have to wait till tomorrow to hear? 

I Love You. My one art work yesterday. Done while I was painting one of the closet shelves over at Jules' house. That's the color of blue he's painting the room. It goes on lighter and gets darker after it dries. I like it.

About 15F outside this morning. But it's 26 in the chicken coop. The one light bulb that I have keeping the water warm and the chicken's own body warmth must be enough to raise the temp in there by about 10 degrees. I have a thermostat on order. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow for when it gets under 20 in there so the ceramic heater can come on. I have a feeling that we are going to have a cold winter and I want to be prepared.

I got up early (5 am) and cleaned up the kitchen and put the ingredients for white chili in the crockpot. I've been hankering for that for a while.

Planning to walk the town sidewalks again instead of hiking in the woods with Candy this morning.

Rainy goes for her haircut this afternoon. Not the best time for it (cold) but it needs done. At least she has a sweater to wear home afterwards.

When I got back from shopping I found that my own personal sloth puppet had arrived in the mail. The other, first one is going to Dave's little nephew next week. Andy and Rainy weren't sure about it. Rainy is still shy and distrustful of it. She very much keeps her eye on it, comes close and touches noses with it and then runs away. Andy touched it with his mouth like he wanted to grab at it, then dipped down like he wanted to play with it, but then he just ended up barking a lot at it.  She (it's a she) needs a name. I haven't been this pleased with anything in a long time. She's sitting on my lap right now. A little photo session with her:


Helios lens. I only have one christmas decoration. This tree. Which I love because it's so easy to get out and put away. On the right is a stack of placemats and cloth napkins (I liked the look of them in the picture), with my binoculars that I use to spy on the neighbor's horses and to check to see if the mail has arrived.


I wondered what they would do if I posed both puppets on Andy. Andy's a good boy and decided to "stay" for me. Rainy doesn't want to get too near. I think it's amazing that they recognize it as a possible real animal because it has a face even though it doesn't smell like an animal at all.


Me with Little Me.

Can't See Yet.

Yesterday's art a day: Snow Doodle.


I'm into weaving with a new pin loom I got that makes 2" by 12" strips. Bookmarks I guess. I have some really unique yarn that is made from silk sari cloth - that's the colorful yarn in the pic. But you can't use it as a weft (the yarn that you pass through the warp - it's too "sticky" and uneven) so I need a more normal yarn for that - the gray yarn in the pic. I also ordered 3 more new little pin looms. A 4 x 4, 2 x 4, and 2 x 2. So my reveries are into thinking about ideas of how I can combine those 3 shapes in designs for blankets or cloth.

There were sirens of fire trucks earlier and just now I saw an ambulance go by. Somebody's not having a good day. The snow is falling in small flakes, drifting, not gusting. But you can see slight air currents because it doesn't fall straight down - the flakes individual pathways are criss crossing as they all move in a general easterly direction. There is something wonderful about having a window where you can just watch the snow fall.