1/26/12 7:21am

WIPs for December

These little birds will be part of a bigger piece eventually. 'Birdies' are my default creative project, if I don't know what to do I make a bird, I love making them. No two are ever alike, little wings, big beaks, fanciful tails or funky 'hair', there is a 'family' resemblance, but they each have their own personality and they make me laugh.

'Gear Head' side

'Gear Head' front

'Honker' front

'Honker' side

'Lockes' front

'Lockes' side

'Springy' side

'Springy' front

It's starting to feel like Winter

 

712am Fireworks

The sky is deceptive and beautiful. It was 31 degrees this morning with a cold NW wind.

Fall

Well, it's been a trying late Summer/early Fall. First Fern went broody (wanted only to sit on eggs all day) and then, sad to say, in early October Miss Ivy passed away. I still don't know what from, but she went down hill very quickly and Fern was fine. So, there I was with one lonely broody chicken and I couldn't have that. My wonderful neighbor Robert (who has a flock of Silkies) knew a lady out of town who was selling pullets at a very reasonable rate. I now have a beautiful Rhode Island Red named Miss Iris. She's a little smaller than Fern and is quick to follow Fern's bossy lead. I'm also happy to report that Miss Iris was just the competition Fern needed to get off the nest and back to laying properly! I have been collecting between 9-12 eggs per week since Miss Iris arrived, it's wonderful! The next plan of action is to set up winter quarters for the girls. My garage is too small for my truck, but would make a wonderful coop/garden shed, so that's the plan for now. Hope you are having a wonderful Fall!

Miss Iris

Miss Fern eats soup

9 days harvest

possible winter quarters

Art Everyday for a Month

Once again Leah Piken Kolidas - Creative Every Day - is challenging people to make 'art' everyday in November. 

As Leah says in her blog: 

"Your daily creations can be anything you desire (from painting to drawing to photography to writing, etc...) You can work with a theme or do something different every day. It's entirely up to you! Make it doable.

I'm a low-pressure type person, so I encourage everyone to join in, even if you don't complete something every day. Even just giving yourself the challenge and creating more than you usually would is a beautiful thing. But if you can create something every day for 30 days, I highly recommend it! I've learned and grown so much through doing it each year. And the community that develops is always amazing."

I tried to do this last year and while I didn't manage everyday I did create more that month than I had all year. This year for me has been somewhat sparse in creative endeavors (if you don't count the chickens) so, I'm jumping in again with the hope that it will re-start my creative juices and get me rockin' and rollin' and 'making stuff' again. 

So what do you say? Are you willing to take the plunge and spend 30 days working on...writing, painting, sculpting, gardening (if you're in a warm place) photography, sketching, anything, something? If so, then click the pic and read about a fun filled month of creativity, learning and making art every day!

We can do so much better than 'Eh'!

A friend of mine sent me this quote and it just said "YES!" to my soul. I did a Google search to try to find the author, but I really couldn't determine where it originated from, but if anyone knows please let me know so I can credit the author. I have linked it to an Etsy site - The Ink Society - that sells it as a beautiful poster in many color choices. In the meantime, keep making art because I don't want to live in a world that is just 'Eh', do you?!

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, but somedays it feels like it!

Summer has been a busy time for me, not the least of which is yard work on top of regular work and house work - ok, maybe not that much house work, but still a lot of things have been keeping me away from writing.

New in my world are Fern and Ivy, two of the most wonderful chickens I've ever had the pleasure to know. They are Sussex (Coronation Sussex to be fancy) chickens. I've never raised chickens before, and didn't want to deal with chicks and all their care needs, so purchased two grown and laying hens. In the short time I've had them they have just been a delight to watch and interact with. The only advantage to starting with chicks is that they can be trained for picking up and cuddling, once I catch Fern or Ivy they settle in quite nicely, cuddle and burble at me, but catching them is the challenge, they can move FAST!

I've been wanting chickens for some time now and to finally have them is just wonderful. I was blessed to have a friend build me this wonderful coop/chicken tractor for the girls to live in. Most of the day they wander my backyard eating bugs and chasing snakes, but at night they snuggle down in their comfy cosy coop.