I really need to work on painting snow - badly!

It helps when I crop the painting. This one will probably end up on the shower floor. It was an experiment in painting a snowy tree using a Daniel Smith Triad.

Maddy slept in the horse trailer last night. The striped kitties are out and about. I just happened to look out and see her climbing over the back fence and tear up the hill by the ditch. By the time I holllered downstairs to Barrie, I saw she had come back and was on the hill behind the house. Sure enough, she was "skunked." Barrie gave her a bath in peroxide and baking soda, and put her in the horse trailer for the night.

I have been editing and revising the book I wrote in November. Somewhere I read to avoid the use of the word 'there', especially beginning a sentence. So I used the MSWord 'find' feature on the entire manuscript. I couldn't believe how many times I used the word!!

• The fundamental reason for middle names is so you will be able to tell when you are in real trouble.

This is pretty much what it looks like here this morning. Maybe not quite as much snow, but it's still coming down at 10:30 this morning.

These are very small studies, about 3: x 4".

I could tell you that Kasey knows "Gee" and "Haw", but Barrie tells it better. This is what she posted on Facebook yesterday:

"Kasey and I ran a 6-dog team on the 4-wheeler today, sure had fun! Did a little leader workout, and kc now knows gee and haw(thou not sure on right on left yet, hehe) We got caught in a hail storm on the way home, she was still laughing, lil toughy."

I tested her out on it this morning, and she knows.

My friend Pam is living in Penn right now. Their apartment walls were pretty bare, and Pam just painted this in watercolor. It don't know how big it is, but it must be pretty large. Isn't it breathtaking?

I am cleaning. This is how I start - take things out of cupboards. There is no way I am going to watch VCR tapes. Some have been recorded from TV. And some of these have already been transferred to DVD's. So why are they still cluttering up my entertainment center?
And I also started going through reference photos and old paintings that I will never finish. This is just a beginning of "purging" the files.

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Judi mentioned that Blogger puts in spaces in her post. I'm having the same problem. I even edit my posts in Html, and remove all spacing tags. But the spaces are still there.

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It snowed last night, and is wet and rainy today. More snow is forecast for tonight.

Saturday

A cute Calvin cartoon

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Sally had this on her blog yesterday. I was amazed at how difficult this is.

http://www.humorsphere.com/fun/8787/colortest.swf

I can't make myself work on the drawing of the cat. I'd rather read. And since I very rarely make myself do something I don't feel like doing, I'll probably spend the day with my Kindle.

Thursday

Julie (Day Care) is closed today, so Kasey hung out with me upstairs for a while today. This is Lucky, her stuffed horse. I think he came from Wells Fargo. He looks just like the horse Barrie rescued from wolves up the Green, so he is named Lucky. I think he is wearing a dress (or maybe two) and an apron.

I asked Kasey this morning what time it was. She looked at her new watch and told me it's Christmas time. When I asked her again later, she said "It's 29:10:40."


My "do over". I quit fighting with the paper on the last attempt to draw Sambo. This one is on the Mylar (drafting film). This one may have a chance.

Wednesday

We had a great birthday celebration at Wind River Pizza last night.

Kathy gave Kasey a watch for her birthday. Kasey was so delighted with it.

Barrie examining the watch. Kathy also make cupcakes, and decorated them to spell "Happy Birthday Kasey". Kasey chose the one with the "Y" on it.

I can't get up any enthusiasm for the colored pencil drawing of the cat. Instead, I got out an old drawing I started on "Mylar", (drafting film) of some chickadees. I love that drawing surface for colored pencils. It will erase, and you can draw on the back of the translucent film.

Below is a colored pencil drawing I did on the film a few years ago of "Dan".

Finished drawing



Work in progress.

I think maybe I'll start the black cat over on mylar film.

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Dear Aunt Em,

Hate Kansas

Hate you.

Took the dog.

Dorothey

Tuesday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KASEY! Four years old today. Chuck, Kathy, Sunny, Barrie, Kasey and I going out for pizza tonight.

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No progress on the colored pencil cat drawing today. I'm considering a "do-over". I think the paper will be great for graphite drawing, but doesn't work for colored pencils. I had never used it before, so now I know. I'd rather quit and start over now, instead of wasting so much time on it.

I have two great-nephews graduating this year. Zack from Natrona County High School, and Ryan from University of Arkansas. Two very special and very talented young men.

Monday

This is Day 2 of the Sambo portrait. It's not going great. The last time I drew, the paper had too much tooth and the tip of the colored pencil skipped over the "hills" and left bare paper showing through.

This paper is too smooth, and I can't build up enough layers of color.

Don't know why the eye looks sparkly. A camera fluke, I guess.

Maybe I won't draw a portrait of Rowdy. I've aleady done one of him a few years ago.

Another cool, cloudy day. Good day for reading.

Sunday

I decided that as the world didn't end yesterday, I would start a new drawing. This is a "work in progress." I thought it might be interesting to take several pictures as I went along, showing the progress.

This is Sambo, Paul and Tracy's cat.

This is what I got done on day 1. Only color I used so far is Indigo Blue and a little white.

I already have my neat and clean watercolor table cluttered. I'm making a sample of the colors I put on the palette, cleaned a Rapidiograph pen which is drying on the table, and have colored pencils all over the tabletop.

Now my Daniel Smith palette is soaking in the shower. Soon to be full of new, fresh paint!

Just ordered two new books from Amazon, oldies. Giant, by Edna Ferber, and Lost Horizons
by James Hilton. Both are old books. I was required to read Lost Horizons in high school, and didn't think I would like it. But I did, and I'd like to read it again.

Also got The Odyssey for my Kindle. Why? Darned if I know.

Saturday

Happy End of the World to all of you. I seem to be one of those who has to wait for the ball of flame, or whatever, in October.

Did any of you read the book "Left Behind"? It was written by a minister. There were about seven books in the series. I think I read three of them, and then I got so I didn't give a darn what happened to those people.

My watercolor table, with nothing on it but a cat.

And here it is, all ready to go. Clean plastic cover, clean palette, all organized. Let the mess begin!

Someone was asking me if I'd heard the song about the old man who wanted someone to feed his dog after he died. I finally heard it on XM yesterday. It goes "If I should die before I wake, feed Jake".

I quit listening to the audio book. I didn't mind being read to - I just didn't like the book.

Friday

I got these photos from Florida from Paul's phone yesterdaay. Tracy called yesterday and said they were going out in the canal in their kayaks. Obviously these weren't taken on the canal.

The Sound of Music, maybe? Tracy will have to explain this to me later.

This needs no explanation, obviously relaxing on the beach in Florida.

I'm working on cleaning up my water color table today. And getting my clean palette filled with paint. Maybe I'll take pictures.

Thursday

It's called a drizzle. At least it's not snow (yet). If you listen closely, you can hear the grass grow.
This is me, back in my younger days. You don't believe me? I still have my hula hoop in the basement.

Tracy called this morning. It has been in the 80's there (Florida.) They are going to take their kayaks out in the canal in front of their place. If they were ambitious, they could paddle into Tampa Bay. Paul is going to fish, and Tracy is just going along.

Paul traded my ticket to the Rockies game in. The Yankees were in Florida to play the Rays, so they went to the Yankees game. At least our tickets weren't wasted.

I thought I was checking out an e-book from the Summit County this morning. Instead, it's an audio book, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. I have a new silverpoint drawing started, so maybe I'll listen to the book while I draw.

On this day in 1992 U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle criticized the CBS sitcom "Murphy Brown" for having its title character decide to bear a child out of wedlock.
Anyone remember this?

Wednesday

This is what we call "Pam's wall" in the art room at Rendezvous Pointe. She may be gone for now, but not forgotten. She plans on being back for a short time in June

B&B Yamaha has a brand new blue metal roof. You probably can't even see it from the street, but I live on the hill above it, and it startles me every time I look out the window. It had an old red metal and patched roof for years. I'm sure it leaked, because there was always someone up on it shoveling snow off and putting new patches on it.

The South wall at Rendezvous Pointe - one of mine, some beautiful snow scenes by Terry, and Vicky's rabbit.

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New hot water heater is installed. It sure felt good to have a hot shower last night.

I was reading about the master plan for the improvement of Pinedale's Main Street (Pine Street.)

They're going to install a median strip with trees planted in it? What's that going to mean to the guys who are in charge of snow removal in the winter? Won't that really hinder the snow removal process?

The consulting firm the town hired to do all this is Arnett Muldrow (of South Carolina) won the bid for $59,000. Really? South Carolina? These guys are going to retain the flavor of Pinedale?

And they want to plant cottonwood trees - the kind that grows in places like Riverton and Lander. Did they stop to think there might be a reason those trees don't thrive here?

When they built the new (now old) elementary school, a lot of trees were planted. Most of them didn't makt it through the winter. They didn't plant trees that grew here.

I remember when Riverton overhauled their main street. They put in a median strip and planted trees in it. They tried growing flowers in it. Last time I was in Riverton, I didn't see any live trees or flowers. The median strip was a great place for jaywalkers to stop halfway across the street waiting for traffic to clear.

Snow, again? So what else is new?

Whoo Hoo! Hot water (almost). The plumber is here. Hope to have hot water tonight.

Tracy and Paul got new patio furniture for their place in Florida.

Shiny clean palette. I put my palette on the shower floor, filled the wells with water, and let it soak all day. They I used the spray to clean all the old paint out. I was a little worried that some of the paint might stain the shower floor, but it didn't. Now I have to to put fresh color in it, and decide what colors I want.

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Thanks to Arnold, we now have something else on the news other than Bin Ladin.

And a supermodel fell down three times on the catwalk at a fashion show in Cannes.

Our yard looks SO nice! Raked, fertilized, branches cleaned up, bushes trimmed, and so green

Judi mentioined how tired she was after yard work. Gee, I wasn't tired at all! I sat in a lawn chair with my camera and a beer!

Kat kept coming outside to join us, but headed back to the door to dash in at any moment. Kasey kept trying to get the door closed before she got in, and finally succeeded. Kat stood on her hind feet, begging to get in.

Gotcha! While Kat was standing on her hind feet, Kasey grabbed her and picked her up. Poor cat didn't know what to do. She was so scared. Kasey picked her up two or three times. Barrie and I worried that the cat would come unglued, so Barrie put her back in the house. Kat slept the rest of the day!

Kasey picked all the dandelions she could find in the front yard, then carefully planted some of them in a planter.

Summer is time for sidewalk chalk. Here is our front porch becoming purple.

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Am I the only one who is sick of hearing about Bin Laden on the news? Frankly, I don't care what George W. Bush was having for lunch when he got the news. And I don't care how much porn was in his compound, don't care how many kids and wives he had with him, and don't care what TV shows he watched.

sunday

I was so busy watching for wild horses on our Mother's Day Drive that I kind of forgot about anything else. The guy on the right is sluffing his winter coat.
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I think Barrie has raked and fertilized our lawn. It is sure green.

She has her work truck up here, and it looks like the bed is full of stuff. Wonder if she raked all that up in our yard? It's a lot.

I notice she has done some cleaning in the garage, and also in the little room where the deceased hot water heater is. Would sure be nice to have hot water tomorrow.

Also, my pickup is red and shiny.

It's amazing what that girl gets done while I'm sitting upstairs reading, drawing, and listening to music!

Only in America.....do we leave cars worth
thousands of dollars in the
driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
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Ever wonder why 'abbreviated' is such a long word?

________________________________


Ever wonder why Noah didn't swat those two mosquitoes?

Barrie greeted me this morning with the news that we have no hot water. I'm not surprised. When I had my house remodeled the last time, in 2006, Joe told me that old water heater was on its last legs. I have no idea how old it is. It was here when I moved in this house, more than 35 years ago.

So Barrie called Drace, who is in Big Piney all day. He told her to push the reset switch. our old water heater doesn't have a reset switch. I doubt if we can get a new one installed before Monday.

I was looking at photos of the remodeling to see if I could find the date it was done. The picture above shows what my roof (lack of) looked like 5 or 6 years ago. It was taken from where I am sitting right now.

Kasey took one bite of oatmeal this morning and left a puke trail from the dining room to the bathroom. She seems to feel fine now. Barrie is trying to get her work truck ready to go and gas cans filled. She also needs to clean out the room where the hot water heater is.

So Kasey is hanging out with me. Barrie left her on the couch watching a movie on the laptop with some crackers and a sippee cup with 7 Up. But we couldn't get sound on the computer, so Kasey is now upstairs with me, watching it on the TV.

It's a movie I refuse to watch - Incredible Journey. I don't do animal movies. I cry even ifthere's a happy ending. (Especially when there's a happy ending.)

So I am going to plug my iPod into my earphones and listen to music and read.

Thursday

Daisy is done! On to the black cat next.

I have a friend who is raising baby cottontails on an eye dropper. They were living in a hay stack which had to be fed. When they found them, the mother rabbit had long disappeared. Kris takes these little guys to work with her every day. She went to Torrington to her daughter's graduation, and took them with her.

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Productive day today. Did a load of laundry and finished Daisy. I guess it's time to get back to my book. Don't want to overdo it!

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Interesting news item: Garth Brooks just graduated from Oklahoma State with a Masters Degree.

Kasey told Barrie she would be able to find her sippie cup if Barrie would cut her hair so she could see. So her bangs got trimmed.

Wednesday

I have no new pictures to post today. I took my compact camera with me to art group at Rendezvous Pointe and never took a picture. We have so many new works of art up on the wall. Maybe next week I'l get some photos.

Sirius XM Radio has totally redone all their chanel numbers. I finally got on the XM website today to find the numbers of my favorite chanels. What I used to hear on Chanel 17 is now on Chanel 58.

I had my pickup radio set up with my six favorite chanels. Now I have to change it all, which means I have to get out the manual to see how to set them.

Every summer I have to study the controls and learn how to use the air conditioner.

I started a new watercolor today with the set of Daniel Smith triads "Winter Creek."

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My favorite elf cleaned my rooms again this morning while I was gone. Thanks, Elf!

Monday

So where do you eat on Mother's Day? Well, I guess when you live 100 miles from the nearest McDonald's, that sounds kind of appealing. Barrie and Kasey and I had lunch at the McDonald's in Rock Springs. Maybe the playground had something to do with our decision.

After we ate, we probably spent an hour watching Kasey climbing on the structures in the playroom. What a kick. She was very hesitant at first, but soon got pretty brave. When she got scared, Barrie talked her through it. Barrie didn't want to have to climb up and rescue her. We stretched the "just one more time" into several.

I didn't even have my compact camera with me, just the "big gun." So didn't get any pictures.


Another picture of the herd stud. Still can't decide if he's a roan or just all scarred up. Maybe both.

And two more pictures of the foal. She was so cute!

We drove by a place where there were literally hundreds of ravens and a turkey vulture. Obviously there was something dead out there, but we didn't stop to explore and see what they were feeding on. Kasey said, very matter-of-factly, "It's a dead horse."

This is the Hampton Inn in Green River. It's located where the Pilot Butte Road comes to the Intersate. Pilot Butte was the road we traveled from Highway 191 from north of Rock Springs across the top of White Mountain. Location, location, location.

Sunday, Mother's Day

What do you do on Mother's Day? Well, you grab your big gun (camera) and go on a wild horse hunt. We started with breakfast at the Patio, then headed south. Went on the road that goes along the top of White Mountain above Rock Springs. Beautiful day!

Found a herd of 7 mares, one foal, and the stud. They look fat and slick. Only one colt so far, but the other mares look like they are about to foal.


This is the stud. At first Barrie and I thought he was a roan, then we decided he is just all scarred up from fighting. But when I look at the photo actual size, high resolution, I'm not sure.


This is the foal, a filly. So cute. She was very curious about us. The mares and the stud never paid any attention to us.

And this is what happens after a hard day of hunting wild horses and shopping at Wal-Mart. Kasey got her early birthday presents. She is wearing her new bicycle helmet, and she has a bird house to put together and paint, and some finger paint.

Saturday

The weather is not conducive for much of anthing except reading. It's not bad, just gray and dreary. The "weather bug" on my computer says it's 54 degrees out at the airport.

Yay! Kentucky Derby today. I really don't follow horse racing much through the year, but I love to watch the Derby. My favorite, Uncle Mo, has been pulled from the race. Sick, not injured. His jocky will be mounted on another horse to replace a jocky who fell off his horse and broke his nose.

Barrie has the big flower bed all cleaned out, and has moved the planters out ready for Kasey's flowers. There is a flat of something planted in the kitchen window, and they are really growing.

I'm more than half finished with "The Stand". There are things in the book I don't remember. This is the second version he wrote, so there are some changes in it. In his book "On Writing",
Stephen King says "The adverb is not your friend." He tells you not to use them. Funny, but this book is full of adverbs, "slyly, suddenly, horrifically, complacently," and more. Guess he forgot

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Mark B has one of my old rusty car paintings, and he wanted this one too, so Vicky took it home. I'm glad it has a good home.

Thursday

Kind of messed around with a few pictures today. Did some extreme cropping.

I saw Kat walking across the floor with something in her mouth this morning. When I took it away to see what it was, it was the memory card from my digital camera. I had taken it out of the card reader on the computer and laid it on the table. Small things are not safe from that cat. Yesterday she was playing with my credit card.




Can't wait to get started drawing Sambo. All that hair will be a challenge, and those eyes!

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Thanks to an e-mail from an old friend, I have some fresh humor today.

Only in America ......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

Wed

This is what a roll of paper towels looks like after going five rounds with Kat on the floor. This is the roll I keep on my art table for watercolors. The cat doesn't bother it very often, but when she does play with it, she sure has fun.

Judi says she doesn't remember seeing this picture of Barrie when she was working on the Drift, so I'm posting it again. I want so badly to paint or draw this.

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I worked on the colored pencil of Daisy in art group today. Got quite a bit accomplished, but it's not done yet. When it is finished, I will have to do two cats. Want to try some new paper, quite a bit smoother than what I am using. I don't know if it has enough tooth for colored pencil.

I ate lunch at Rendezvous Pointe today with Judi, Nancy, and Dorothy. Delicious meal - meatloaf, baked potatoe, and carrots. I won't have to eat again all week.