UP & DOWN

It has been a strange day. Up and down. At first I got up early hours and tried to take Nigel out to express his bladder. DOWN. He is heavy. He didn't WANT  to go out. I couldn't see. Have you ever tried to see if your Basset is peeing in the dark? Even with a flashlight: how do you hold the dog up, express his bladder, and hold the flashlight? Suggestions welcome.
So I puff puff puffed into the house, tucked everyone back in and went back to sleep.

When I got up my montly stipend had landed in my bank account. UP. I immediately ordered 2 CDs and a DVD. Fed the dogs, cleaned the kitchen, took my shower and headed out shortly after John had left for his day of volunteering.UP. I went to Michael's and did not find what I was looking for. Canvases were 40% off and every one I looked at was warped. DOWN.

Went on to HobbyLobby only getting lost once. Called GPS system aka "John", or Husband. Got directions. Got to HL. Found exactly what I needed for twice what I had hoped it would be: DOWN/UP.
Spent more than I wanted but when I got home and went over what I had it was fine.UP.

Started cutting the first print block. It came out exactly as I had hoped and I printed it and was delighted. UP. Got the news that  Teddy Basset had passed away and that Bazzle had as well. Major DOWN.

Cut the second block. It sucked. DOWN.
Heard Beth Hinchcliff was out of surgery and going home a in couple of days, MAJOR UP UP.

Did another sketch and happier with it, cut it. Happy with the cut but have not printed it yet. With luck it will be a good partner to print number one. UP? (Won't know until later.)

First print: Part one.

             There is more to this. Much more. I hope. UPDOWN.

SOME DAYS YOU JUST SHOULD STAY IN BED

When we moved back into the house in September the first thing that went wrong was the water. I did a load of laundry and the washing machine unloaded into the utility room tub, the toilet and the bathtub. Remember that? And it was days of work and they finally had to dig up the whole front yard and replace the pipe and it cost a lot of money.

So last night, very late I decided to do a laundry of dog stuff so John would have clean things for today while I was at the Gallery, and then this morning, I put some of MY clothes in and did a laundry, and as I was standing there doing something else  noticed that the water was backing up into the utility sink. I instantly turned off the washer as I heard John scream at the same moment: TURN IT OFF!! It had backed up filling the toilet and working on the bathtub.

WHAT????WTF????? AGAIN????THAT WAS FIXED!!!!!!!!!

No, no, apparently no it wasn't.
So here I sit, no bathroom, no washer, dogs whining and crying and howling and barking and snarking, Nigel doing his continual whine, which makes me want to kill him at the best of times. Cooper wanting out (run, Forrest, run!) and if I go get the wine bottle now, at not quite noon, John is sure to notice.

DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

It is the day after Christmas. Actually now it is the night after. Everyone is gone but the dogs are still in high gear, more or less. They have been restless, agitated, up and down, in and out....
Anyway the house looks...
And I am......

"It's morning. Why isn't she doing something? Why is she just wandering around the house? Why doesn't she settle down?"

"Good grief she's been in and out of that kitchen a thousand times. What on earth is she doing?Doesn't she know we're trying to sleep?"

"She's thinking about running away. I know she is. I hope she takes me with her..."

"She didn't even make the bed right. Look at this mess! Oh well I'll just make the best of it."

This is my dining room table. It is actually fairly cleaned off. My good crystal still has to be hand washed. Actually everything does as my dishwasher no longer works.

My kitchen with the FIRST load of dishes done. It is waiting for me to put away the dry dishes and do the next ioad.

These are partially done. They need to be put away but I can't do that until the rest are done and of course i can't (heh heh) cook until these are put away.

This is my fridge crammed with leftovers. Never the biggest fridge to start with, it has a lot to do to stay cold right now. This was this morning. It is amazing how fast leftovers go in this house.

And in case anyone is worried, this is the treat box for the dogs. Please note it is overflowing. The dogs have noticed that, you bet.

Hope you had a good Christmas, too.

CHRISTMAS DAY OFF

Instead of trying to clean,(I didn't get it done) cook, entertain and write I thought I would just put out some photos I happen to like. And Happy Holidays to you, too.

                                        Mitchell (pup)

              Who knows? Looks like Mitchell's collar, however.

                                   Rescued Llama

The Mama Raccoon who raised her children and havoc in our attic one year. Eventually they were "removed" by a Pro. She is on top of our roof in this photo.

One of my most favorite International Kennel Club show photos.

Quiller pretending he really wanted to go swimming in Lake Michigan with me. (He hated every second of it, but was a good sport.)

                           Keeneland Race Track at dawn.

                                  A chicken. If you needed
the written information, consider getting your eyes checked soon.

Polar Bear with Ball. There is an entire series of him in the pool with the ball and trying to get it out of the water.

                What a Happy Quiller looked like, in his prime.

"Uh hi, I just moved in next door and was wondering if I could borrow a few of your sheep?" (A stray BCollie at work.)

   Quiller, puppy. He never let go of that leash as long as he lived.

                          Quiller at Gettysburg Battlefield

    The Park Forest Aqua Center. Must have been a slow Day.

                                           Llama

"Hey could you open the book to the Chickadee page?" Little Beemr, putting in some time studying in case she ever gets out the door.

Happy Holidays to everyone.

WHILE THE REST OF YOU CLEAN AND COOK

Today I start cleaning and cooking. Mostly cleaning. My bed is not even made because I have been working on a painting and wanted to finish it, one little detail I have had to change, altho if I did it over(and I may--this is on paper canvas and I may re-do it on the real stuff)and so the first thing this morning, I was up and squeezing paint onto my paper plate palette...
The subject, instead of my usual landscapes, are horses: a team of Percherons in the farm classes, altho these two were clearly used in the hitch classes as well, spotless, manes roached, hooves polished---

This is the photo I took. And this is the painting I wanted to do. That they lost in translation is a given. I am disappointed that the tremendous power of these two gorgeous animals was somewhat down-sized. Something about them defied my brush. Also I did the painting at home, in home lighting, which is very poor, I admit. This was the first rendition:

As you can readily see, a grave difference. Looking at them the next day I had a horsie thought: why is one wearing blinders and the other is not? At the horse show itself I took hundreds of photos and set them up to run on the computer in a loop, so that the handlers and owners coming into the Hospitality Suite could see their horses on the screen. One handler stared a long time at a pair of farm team horses and then said "Why does he have a crupper  on one of them and not the other?" This is the kind of detail horse people see-- a crupper is a piece that runs from the harness under and around the tail. No one had an answer of course, but I felt the same way looking at my painting. I looked at the photo:

Because, obviously, I had left out the second set of blinders. DUH.
So in they went.

 Then a REAL artist looked at it and noted that the throat latch wasn't quite right, and so this morning, I changed that. Now I think I am done but maybe not. Paintings are so often works in progress and sometimes the progress extends for years....I have known artists to see one of their paintings in a show and correct something the next day when no one was around. Hardly anyone notices except the painter.

Fini I think altho making the far horse a little darker might not hurt.
It was fun

ESPRESSO IS MY FRIEND

Last night I tucked the dogs into bed between 10 and 10:30, letting everyone out to pee and etc., and getting Nigel settled.

At midnight, Cooper came in and wanted out, so I got up and let him out.
At 2:30. Cooper came in and said his tummy hurt and he needed out so I got up and let him out. He was out about 15 minutes.
At 3 a.m. Llewis came in and said he really really needed to go out so I got up and let him out and let Conley out as well. They were out about 15 minutes.
At 4:30, right on time, Nigel insisted it was time to get up, time to eat, time to pee, time to sleep on my bed. And so I got up and fed them, and let them out, and made my bed (padding for Nigel) and did his morning ablutions and by then it was 5:30 and I might as well just do the damn laundry.

This is why I say, Espresso is my friend. Coffee doesn't even come close.

Espresso_still_life.jpg

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photo from Google

EXCITING DAY

Yesterday was such an exciting day for the dogs. John ran errands and I stayed home.

Nigel had distinct ideas on what one should do on a day when the sky is grey and the weather motley.

Llewis and Conley went out to "play" which consisted of Llewis cleaning Conley's face and then wandering around the back yard hoping to find a dead squirrel.

Nigel continued his vigil in the house, ever alert for intruders. AND waiting for the Treat Master to return from errands.

Llewis and Cooper went out but didn't go much further than just outside the door. In case something really neat happened inside, like me dropping an entire steak on the floor.

Conley went outside also, but apparently wanted in again.
That's it.
That was our day.