Do Over

Do Over?

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When I finished this painting, I decided it was something I needed to "do over". It actually looks better on the computer screen than it does in real life. But I certainly don't know how to paint snow or water.

This is an old photo of my brother, Bill, and our cousin, Donna. It was taken (I think) at the Albin Day parade about 1940. They were portraying a pioneer couple with a covered wagon. The dog is Mugs, our bulldog. Bill will correct me if I'm wrong about where and when this was taken.

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I have taken my photo albums out and glanced through them quickly. There really aren't a lot of photos I want to scan, but I want to do my girls' school pictures through the years.

My horoscope today made me laugh - it said "If you feel that your life lacks some discipline right now, then that's a sure sign that it does!" Like I care if my life lacks discipline! Isn't that what retirement is all about?

Actually, I have put some order in my life recently - scanning and organizing slides, and also trying to put some order in my VCR and DVD collections.

New Hairdo

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Kasey has a ponytail!

Kasey has a ponytail today. It looks pretty cute - kind of crooked and losing some hair, but still cute. She and the kitten (who I have finally named - "KAT" - played quite a bit today. Evidently the kitten has not scratched her yet. It looks vicious sometimes, but doesn't draw blood.

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I tried to upload several photos tonight, but blogspot didn't seem to want to do it. I finally was satisfied to just get one uploaded.It also won't show paragraphs.

I did not buy Halloween candy. It has been years since kids have been here. My house is so "remote" and hidden, that no one comes on this street. Also, I wonder if kids go trick or treating like they used to. Seems there are so many activities and parties for them, that they don't go out on the streets.

I tried to set up a new watercolor pallette today. I thought I would be organized and make a little chart with the colors on the pallette. Good idea, but I somehow got mixed up with the umbers and sienas, and put one color on the pallette twice.

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I loved Judi's pictures of her grandaughters making music with pots and pans. My idea of good toys for kids! I have no idea what to get Kasey for Christmas. I have seen so many Fisher Price commercials on TV lately, with those big plastic structures in garish colors and lots of noise, and I refuse to buy things like that. Kasey loves books, and entertains herself so well with simple things.

Wednesday

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Tracy rode in the Rendezvous several years. She rode bareback with just a thong in Diamond's mouth for a bridle. Diamond used to be a cow pony on the drift, and Chopper rode him. He was called "Kikkyup". This little horse would do anything for Tracy - she won lots of ribbons and trophies with him in horse shows.

World-class skier!! Barrie didn't go very fast, but she liked to ski. We used to ski in the town park a lot, but I don't think you can ski much in either park now. They put in nice paths for walkers and keep them plowed free of snow in the winter.

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My friend Albe used to help out at brandings. Here she is trying to bluff out a cow who didn't like the way her calf was being treated.

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Went to art group this morning and didn't paint anything. Looked through some magazines and visited with Vicky, Nancy J. and Pam. Dee stopped in to visit a minute. Our group is getting very small.

Cold, cloudy and windy today.

Socks

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You probably all recognize the moose in the meadow when you leave the Hoback Canyon

Warm Fuzzy Socks

In the fall, an old lady's fancy turns toward -- Knitting! These are great socks. Two pair of them were done by changing yarns, but three pair were done with a really neat self striping yarn. It makes a wonderful pattern. The yarn is an acrylic/wool blend, and are nice and warm. But the problem is, I get zapped whenever I touch anything metal.

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Barrie and Kasey were here most of the day. Barrie is still not feeling very well, and slept on the couch quite a bit. Hope she gets over this soon.

Kasey sampled some cat food from the dish on the floor. She had it on her fingers and her face. I think she decided she didn't like it very well.

I did some piddling chores today that needed to be done. Got bills paid and my desk cleaned off, cut my chives off short, watered my lettuce on the windowsill, shook some rugs, took the garbage to the dumpster, and got a few photos organized. Just little things that pile up if you don't keep them done.

Today I showered in the downstairs bathroom - I have had "Buzz" in the bathtub down there for several baths since Kasey put him in the toilet stool. I was putting his helmet back on, and accidently pushed a button. I about threw him across the room when he said "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue"! I never knew he talked, Judi. Kasey played with him a while. Later, I noticed she had put him back in the bathtub.

Monday

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A pen and ink eagle I did about a year ago.

A photo of Half Moon Lake

The kitten is really loving canned cat food now, and is doing great Very playful and busy. One thing I hadn't counted on was the hassle of a litter box. Yuck!! I've never had to deal with a litter box before, and do not enjoy it at all! The kitten still doesn't have a name. I just call him "kitty", or "cat". I call it "him", but I think it's a girl.

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Barrie was here since about noon. She had been to the doctor and had some prescriptions. She has bronchitis, and the doctor said pneumonia. She hopes the medicine will take care of it soon. Me too! She cut the kitten's townails while she was here.

Her day care is closed again tomorrow, and Kasey will come stay with me. She is so easy to take care of. Fuss free, and cheerful. She entertains herself (and entertains me). When she feels ready for a nap, she puts her fingers in her mouth and goes to her crib - and says "night night". Sometimes she plays and talks or reads to herself in the little crib for quite a while before she goes to sleep. She talks so much, but like I said, we just don't know the language she's using!!

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I finished scanning slides!! The last sheet was all wild flowers, and they didn't look good. The color was not good on them, several of the slides looked cloudy. I have a few photo albums out, but am not sure how many photos I want to scan.

Windy Day

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I have been working on this pencil drawing for a couple weeks, and I think it's pretty close to being finished. I am going to put it back for a while and look at it with fresh eyes later. I can already see that the doe's head is wrong, too small, the eye is too small, and maybe the ears are too long. Some time away from it will help my perception. The lighting was not right on this photo, as the left side of the paper looks grey.

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Very windy today, and I just noticed the quakie trees outside my dining room window are bare. I would have sworn they had leaves on them yesterday.

It is so brown and dreary looking. We could use some snow to brighten up the landscape, and also to cover up all the white plastic bags that are blowing all over town.

I have turned off the TV the last several nights and played music on my ipod. Television has been so bad lately - too much politics, too many commercials, and nothing worth watching.

I have about 1,000 songs on my ipod. At one time, I was guilty of downloading illegal music from the internet, but I also copied my favorites from my CD and tape collections.

A friend sent me this quote:

"I'm travelling 33 1/3 RPM's in an ipod world."

Saturday

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Years ago, the school purchased a bunch of roller skates and kids (and adults) roller skated in the gym at the old elementary school. Here is Tracy helping Barrie begin to roller skate. Barrie is wearing a shirt I made from a photograph of her with a screen printing kit. We have no idea where she got those pants! Aren't they something? Barrie says they look like disco pants, and claims she has never seen them before in her life. They must have been hand-me downs.

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Norma riding in Rendezvous. What a wonderful lady!

Diamond loved to drink out of the hose. I remember Tracy giving him something in a pop bottle . Barrie said it was grape soda.

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Barrie left Kasy here about 8:30 this morning and went out to take care of her dogs. Kasey and I hung out for a while, then she laid down for a nap. Barrie came back before she woke up. I made us lunch, actually something that was fit to eat for a change - a tuna noodle casserole. Kasey ate like a horse, so I guess she liked it too.

She ate with a spoon today. She couldn't really get the food on it, but when Barrie got it ready, Kasey took it and put it in her mouth. And I have figured out at least the basics of the camcorder, so was able to film it.

The kitten didn't stay downstairs much to play with Kasey today. He has really mastered the steps, and goes up and down as he pleases.

Kasey found a little Santa on a shelf in the dining room. She walks around with him, saying "Ho Ho Ho!"

Fall Leaves

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Here are the small studies of fall leaves I just finished. This was fun to do, and I believe I will do some small sky/cloud studies next.

I managed to get quite a few slides scanned yesterday while Kasey was here. I'm not sure where this was taken.

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I ordered four more books for Kasey on Amazon.com last night. I love that place! In some ways it is better than browsing in a real book store. They have recommendations for you based on what you have purchased in the past, and you can shop in your pajamas! It can't replace just browsing through real books and taking them off the shelves and looking through them - but it's a great way to shop. And they have moved into so many areas, like electronics, photography, and just about anything you want.

I ordered some oldies for Kasey - "Where the Wild Things Are", "The Poky Little Puppy", and "Cordurory". Those books have been popular for children for many years.

I don't usually like stories or songs that someone has messed with and redone. When I watched the opening game of the World Series the other night, I couldn't believe how that group slaughtered "The Star Spangled Banner". It was terrible!

Hmmm - a year ago, I watched the Rockies play the opening game of the series on a big screen TV in a sports bar in Denver. Paul and Tracy and I flew to California the next morning.

I finally got my little digital camcorder back last night. I had loaned it to someone. I wasn't fast enough to catch the "Kodak" moments yesterday with Kasey and the kitten. Maybe I can figure the camcorder out and get something good.

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Lynn, after seeing the pictures of the Arrowhead house, I have to tell you I think I like it better than the other one. You didn't say - do you have a nice view of the mountains?

And Judi, yes, the pictures are uploading just the opposite of what they used to. Also, I believe you gave Kasey the "Five Little Monkeys" book. She loves that one, and reads it to herself. She jabbers all the time - we just aren't sure which language she is using!

Thursday

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This is Tracy in her first car, which she bought while she was in high school. It was a "Green Hornet".

On Barrie's seventh birthday, she wanted "a black cat, just like Midnight". It mush have looked pretty realistic to Midnight.


Barrie was probably six when we got her this big, floppy stuffed leopard. It was on the foot of her bed, and every night when I went to bed, I found it on my bed. Turns out she was afraid of it and wouldn't sleep with it!

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Kasey has been here all day. I don't know which one traveled the more miles in the house, her or the kitten. The kitten is getting big enough that I think he could defend himself, and Kasey tries to be gentle. But she also tries to put her head down to him, she kind of lays on him.

She didn't eat a very big lunch - but neither did I. It wasn't a very good lunch - another one of my typical culinary experiences.

Barrie got off work a little bit early - she still isn't feeling well - and we are watching the DVD I recorded of the first two nights of the Discovery Channl special on the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. I will never figure out this DVD recorder, but I guess I can muddle through it.

More old Artwork

Wednesday

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Jack, drinking coffee - a pencil drawing

Pen and ink rabbit

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Barrie decided not to go to Jackson today, so I didn't have Kasey. But I will have her tomorrow. Am looking forward to it.

Went to art group this morning at Rendezvous Pointe, and started a new painting with quakie trees and snow. The only problem is, I really can't paint snow! I am working on some small studies of fall leaves at home. I am enjoying doing the small studies, and want to do some skies, rocks, water, and other kinds of trees.

I probably have at least a dozen projects started at home - some watercolor, some pencil drawings, and some pastel.

It's a beautiful sunny day today. Sure doesn't seem like late fall in Pinedale. The temperature is not that high, but the sun feels so warm.

Tuesday

I don't have any pictures to post today. Nothing happening!,

I wonder if I am (or have been) sick. I don't feel bad, but I woke at 4:00 yesterday morning, and that did not make for a good day. I also can't seem to keep warm. So last night, I took an over-the-counter sleeping pill to help me sleep through the night. Whooo! I woke up at 11;30 today! I can't even remember the last time I slept that late! It's probably just old age, right?

Tomorrow and Thursday, I get to have Kasey. What fun! I am going to take her with me to the painting group at Rendezouse Pointe tomorrow. Barrie has to come early and get the car seat situated in my pickup.

Tomorrow is the day Barrie goes to her "Climb" group. Probably none of you are familiar with this. It is a program for single mothers to receive counselling and therapy, and also provides job training and job placement. I am very impressed with what they do, and it has meant a lot to Barrie. If you are interestsed, check out http://climbwyoming.com/.

I finished the book "Centennial" last night, and put it in the garbage, in pieces. I never throw books away, but I'm afraid this paperback has seen the end of its life.

Monday

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A pen and ink "stipple" technique bull elk.

A photograph of an artificial poinsetta. I wish I had written down the steps I did in Photoshop for this framing effect. I know it involved using layers, and using the eraser tool.

I spent several days looking for this little book for Kasey. I used it in kindergarten, and it seems to be out of print and no longer available. I suppose I could find it in the catalog from the publisher of this reading program, but I found one on E-Bay.

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I have absolutely no ambition today. Slept fine until about 4:00 this morning, but not much after that. Probably a good day for a nap!

I am reading Michener's "Centennial". I have read it before, but it has been so long that a lot of it seems new. I think maybe this paperback has been read too many times. Both the front and back covers have fallen off, and about the last 30 or 40 pages have come unglued and are falling out. Hope I don't lose any of them.

Sunday

Quakie Trees

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I enjoy painting quakies. In these studies, I used torn masking tape strips to mask out the trunks. I tried several techniques on the trunks, and am happiest with applying the color with a pallette knife on damp paper. I also tried painting the branches with a pallette knife in the third one, and I kind of like the effect.

Another piece I just "found". Don't laugh, but I "found" it on my downstairs bathroom wall. It has been hanging there a long time, and I am so used to it being there that I don't even notice it. Maybe it's time to hang a different painting in there! This is about 12 x 14, and is done with colored pencils. I must have spent hours and hours on it!

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Yesterday the kitten discovered its tail, and spent a long time "playing" with it. He became a little frustrated, and that made his tail switch even more. He must have figured it out by now, because today he ignored his tail. Instead, he found that he had a shadow, and spent a lot of time trying to catch his shadow.

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Tracy called yesterday and we had a good visit. We usually talk every weekend, but we missed last week for some reason. I forgot to ask her if they made an offer on the condo in Florida.

We don't seem to know what we are doing for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Don't know what Bill and Alice are planning, or if Barrie will be able to go out of town. Guess we better all make some plans.

Bill and Alice just got high speed internet. He says it is so fast he doesn't know what to do with all his spare time now! I am so glad they finally don't have to deal with a slow dial-up connection.

old movie

Yay Sally! Just read on Gina's blog that Sally is doing well, is up walking some, and will be home soon. That's very good news.

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Here is the photo of my white water trip on the Snake River. It certainly doesn't look as wild as the photo I posted yesterday.

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I found a rather large folder in a box in the basement this morning with etchings - some artists proofs, some signed and numbered prints, and some original pencil drawings. I didn't remember doing all these! This is an etching of a tree from a sketch I did along the shore at Fremont.

This is a pencil drawing I did. I have no idea who he is. Maybe a picture from a magazine.

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I have an old movie on TV, "The Day the Earth Stood Still". It's an old black and white science fiction. It's kind of corny, I guess, but a refreshing change from much of the stuff that is on TV. I just can't watch the super realistic special effects violence on much of the new shows. Hmmm - do you think I am showing my age?

I am in the mood to paint today, so am going to get at it.

An Owl Drawing

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I have discovered another old drawing I had forgotten all about. I think there are a few more from the past in the basement.

Tracy has told me she had a nightmare that I died and she had to come clean out my basement. Of course, a lot of the things down there are hers, but she doesn't want them. She is not a "keeper" or "collector" like I am. I have steeled myself and thrown out a few things she specifically told me to. But it's sure hard.

I don't keep things like my mom did, though. She couldn't throw anything away, and still had every photograph, old receipts and cancelled checks from about 1930. She thought they would be interesting to someone some day.

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Lunch Counter Rapids on the Snake River

I took pictures at the Lunch Counter Rapids in the Snake River Canyon, and here is one. Later, I did this trip. It was not on one of the large commercial rafts, but on a 9 person raft with a group of friends who worked at The Learning Center in Jackson. I can't begin to tell you how scared I was when we got near the rapids and could hear them. But as soon as we were through them, I wanted to take the raft back up river and do it again.

A photographer from Jackson is on the bank all day every day in the summer, photographing the rafts, and then sells prints. I have a picture of my trip, and will scan it and post it.

Thursday

Best wishes to Sally, who is having

surgery. Get well soon!

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Some more old photos:

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This photo always makes us laugh. Tracy loved hiding Easter eggs for Barrie. I think on this particular Easter morning, we woke Barrie up a little too early to hunt for the eggs. She looks like she could have used a little more sleep.

Tracy carrying a flag in a rodeo in Pinedale. The horse is Bars.

This is one of the last photos I took of my Mom. Her great grandson, Braxton, is showing her his new toy truck.

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What a lazy day! I have done nothing except make the bed and feed the cats. I haven't touched my painting projects, and would rather read. The kitten has become so easy to care for - No more bottles to fix, and no more helping him go to the bathroom. He has become pretty independent.

I really need someone to hit me in the head and ask me what I am thinking!! I don't want to give up the kitten. With my allergies, it would be stupid of me to keep him. But both my girls remind me that we had cats in the house when they were young - and I survived. I still don't know if the kitten is a male or female. I see nothing extra, so "he" is probably a "she". I'm not sure he's old enough to tell yet.

I need a friend who is a real cat lover to beg me, "oh please, let me have him"!

Painting Day

A Tree Study

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I did these exercises on a piece of 10 x 16 watercolor paper, taped off into four sections. The first is done wet on wet, the second is wet on dry, the third a combination, and the last was done with Daniel Smith Primatek colors (earth minerals.) I think these studies will help me a lot in my larger paintings. Today I started four small studies of quakie trees.

There's a cat on my foot!!

Scanned from a slide of a photo I took at Murdock's branding. Tracy is giving the calf a shot, and I think the wrestlers are Lars and Delta.

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Today was art group at Rendezvous Pointe. Pam brought beautiful tomatoes from her greenhouse for us, and banana bread. Conley brought homemade jerky. Vicky brought cookies, and Barb brought cashew nuts. Also, they make popcorn at the center on Wednesdays. It was a good grazing day!

Judi asked about the old gun and the skull. We were on Mocroft's land when the gun was found, and the gun was given to Mr. Mocroft. I was teaching with Ellen R. at the time, and when she saw this little boy pointing a "stick" at other kids and yelling "bang, bang", she told him to put the stick down. He called back "It's not a stick, it's a gun". That sure gave us a jolt!!

The Sheriff's Department went out to where the skull was found, which was at the bottom of a steep bank along the creek. They found no more skeletal parts, and think probably anything else that had been there had been washed away when the bank collapsed into the creek through the years. I don't know where the skull was sent, but they thought it was a young Indian girl, about 13 years old.

More Slides Scanned

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This photo is for Judi. She had a photo of this sign painted on a car hood at the old dump, which I remembered. When I was scanning slides yesterday, I found that I had photographed it too.

This is an old pistol found by a first grader while on our end-of-the year picnic along New Fork Creek on the Mesa Road. We thought we had a real exciting find -- until the second graders came in from their picnic, and they had found a human skull!!

This was left at the front door of the old elementry school one Halloween.

Another old building in the Daisy Pass Area, near Cook City, Montana.

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I just had to get up and change channels on the TV. If I have to listen to one more political speech, I will puke!

I left the kitten downstairs last night. I turned his box on its side. This morning he woke up, looked at me, stretched, then snuggled up to his fuzzy monkey and went back to sleep.

Monday

Almost an X-Rated Picture.

Where are my pants?

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This is the old photo my sister-in-law found while cleaning out some drawers last week. We are sitting on the couch at my mom's house with Bill and Alice's daughter, Sheri. Good grief!! Yes, that's me with my butt hanging out and a cigarette in my fingers. Tracy must have been about three at this time, and we lived in Laramie, where I was going to college to get my degree in teaching.

Yay! I think I may be through with the kitten bottle, as well as the going to the bathroom in the sink! The kitten has used a litter box for two days now. I put some of the weaning formula and canned cat food in the blender this morning, and he happily ate it out of a dish (jar lid, actually). Kasey followed him all over on her hands and knees, and he is getting over his fear of her.

One of my cats that I thought was gone showed up on the front porch this morning. She was one that I had spayed. In fact, since it snowed, I wonder if all those cats that are coming to eat are mine? Chloe came in the house for a little while and rubbed against everything - then went back out into the cold.

I don't know for sure where these cats sleep. I think some of them stay in the doghouse, but they have found warmer places. There are two houses next to mine that they can get under . And of course it is a lot warmer so their pipes don't freeze. I don't even want to think about what the cats are doing under their houses.

Kasey is with me today. Barrie has the day off and is going out to run her dogs.

Snowy Sunday

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This is what I saw out my bedroom window when I opened my eyes this morning.

The bird feeder was covered with snow, and the Chickadees were scolding me

As soon as I cleaned the snow off, they came in to eat.

I put Kasey in the recliner yesterday, and she was delighted that she leaned to rock it.

Kasey really posed for me yesterday. I very seldom use the automatic settings on my cameras, because I don't like to use the flash. I had to in these pictures, and I think they came out OK. This is one I printed out 5" x 7" and put in a frame for Barrie's desk at work.

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A milestone in my career as a mother cat! He actually drank some milk on his own today. I used a small lid. I tried putting some cat food in with the milk, but he didn't want it. He also used the litter box!! That one had me stumped - I thought a cat should just naturally do that, and I guess he was ready.

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Nancy S. had an interesting question a couple of weeks ago - she wondered why the people always clapped at the closing of the stock market every day. Last week was supposedly the worst week in Wall Street history, and the people stood there with smiles on their faces and clapped and clapped. What on earth do they have to clap about? Let alone smile while they are doing it.

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"If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you will have $49.00 today.If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you will have $33.00 today.If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you will have $0.00 today. But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling refund, you will have received $214.00."