Friday

I went to the oil painting class this morning, and now have all these terms spinning around in my poor head -- value, hue, complimentary, chroma, shade, tint, etc. etc. etc.  All things I do when I paint, but  never stop to think about what I'm doing or why. 

The trees behind my house.

This is what happens when you stay up all night.  I think she's spending a lot of time in the kitchen, guarding our house from mice.

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The dead NASA satellite fell into what might be the ideal spot — part of the southern Pacific Ocean about as far from large land masses as you can get, U.S. space officials said Tuesday.  They had orignally predicted some of it would fall in Canada.  Well, they weren't too far off, at least it lit on earth.

Barrie is home sick today.  Darned hearing aids!  I kept hearing this sound downstairs, and I finally went down to see what it was.  Barrie was shuffling cards on the coffee table. 


Thursday

 I was talking about the old barn I lived in at Ragged Mountain, CO.  Came across this picture today of the kitchen.  That is a restaurant cook stove, and yes, I COULD cook back then.  Notice the pie on the stove.  The stove was huge.

The place was wired for electricity, and there's even a fixture on the ceiling.  But we never started the generator, so used lanterns.  The sewing machine under the window was my Grandmother's old treadle Singer, which I used a lot.  I still have the machine.

While going through old photos, I found this picture of Mad and Stan's wedding.  Tracy was the flower girl.  What a great picture!  The two bag pipers were such fun, and they came back to visit in Pinedale quite often.  We went downtown, and wondered how the patrons in the Cowboy would react to these guys in their kilts.  They were a big hit.

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Last night my ex husband's wife called.  Seems the ex had gone up the Green and was late getting home.  So Barrie and Kathy headed up the Green, in my pickup, to look for him.  They met him just a ways out of town.  Is this what you call "family ties"?

Wednesday

Barbara S. brought this photograph to art group this morning.  This is Monte Skinner, up in the mountains.  (Cirque of Towers maybe?)  What a stunning picture.  Thanks for sharing, Barb.

I got started on a painting of fall quakies in art group today.  Tis the season!  Now that my pine trees are gone, I've got a real panorama view of Pinedale, and there are spots of vivid yellow and orange all over town.  The trees down at the Wagon Wheel are almost bare, and mine haven't even started turning yet.  My cottonwood trees are golden, and the leaves are coming down.  The cottonwoods just south of mine are still green. 

I should con Barrie into a drive up to the campground and to Elkheart Park, to see the colors.

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I ate lunch at Rendezvous Pointe today.  Vicky stayed for lunch too. 



Tuesday

 This is the colored pencil chicken my sister-in-law, Alice liked.  I would never have thought of a frame like that for it, but it looks so great!

This is Alice's kitchen wall.  I'm proud to share wall space with Lynn's painting of the pitcher and eggs.



I don't think my wodbine is going to turn red this year like it did a couple years ago.  Some years it freezes before it changes colors, and I think this is one of those years.  I haven't been out in the yard to look at the whole vine, though, just the part that is growing up over the roof. 

I really love this vine.  Took it years to get started (from seed from Riverton).  It is slow to leaf out in the spring, but it doesn't die back to the ground like the hops vine we all have here. Barrie did cut it back a couple years ago, but it grew back fast.

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The bane of our existence has thought of something new to torment Barrie.  Kasey came home from her weekend visit with a haircut he had given her.  He cut about 5 inches off her hair.  What a horrible thing for him to do.  I guess he's beyond slashing tires and gluing on gas caps now.  But he hasn't paid child support since June.

On the bright side -- remember the beagle dog Barrie found up by Soda Lake?  The other dog, a male Beagle, showed up at the Box R. A wrangler called Julie at Animal Control, and the dog is now home in Salt Lake.  What a happy ending! 

Sunday

 Paul and Tracy at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.  They had a great time there.



My favorite hat:  This is the hat Kevin Costner wore in "Open Range".  Another attempt at drawing with graphite pencil and white charcoal on toned  water color paper.  I know there's a way to do this successfully, but I haven't found it yet.  You can't apply the white charcoal over the graphite, and it's hard for me to get dark tones - even with a 6B pencil.  And I'm not sure how to prepare the paper - make the sepia tone all blotchy, or try to smooth it out a little more.

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Thanks, Kat, for the little soft furry gift you left for me to step on this morning with my bare feet.  Another mouse bit the dust.



Saturday

This is the little Guerilla Box I will be using for the oil painting class.  It is made for a 6" x 8" canvas.  You can use a larger one, but you can't store the wet canvas inside the box if it's any larger.  I just can't see myself packing 50 lbs of painting gear up and down two flights of stairs.

The little thing that slides out the side is the palette, and the paints, brushes, etc. are stored inside the box.

At one time, I must have thought I was going to really paint up a storm - I have about a dozen of the little 6" x 8" canvases.

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I watched the movie "Do You Mean There Are Still Real Cowboys?" last night.  Really enjoyed it.  It is about Big Piney ranches and people from Big Piney.  I heard the word "gunsel" .  I hadn't heard the word used in ages - it was popular about the time I was in college (many years ago).

The dictionary defines the word as a stupid or inexperienced person, esp a youth.  That's one of several definitions.

They filmed the barn dance Ritchies used to have every fall,  and I saw Madeleine dancing with Scott.  Scott looked like he was about 7 years old at the time.  It was a fun movie.

Friday

Just finished my first painting class from Kay Meeks. It was like real school!  I learned so much about color this morning.  I use color all the time, but don't think about it a lot.

This is the photo I plan to use for reference next week.  I'm going to try it in oils on a tiny 6" x 8" canvas.  I'm not sure how to work that small.  I have a nice wooden table easel, but it weighs a ton, and I would have to pack it up and down two flights of stairs.  So I think I'll start with the little guerrilla box.  

I took my sheets off the bed to wash yesterday.  But there were clothes in the washer when I went down, so I left them on the bathroom floor.  I just went down to put them in the washing machine, and found them in the dryer, all clean and ready to go.  My elf has been at it again! 

Wednesday

Here is what I bought at the Rendezvoue Pointe silent auction, a watercolor by Linda.  We call it "Party Crow."  I love the colors in this.

Is there such a word as "uglify"?  "Beautify" doesn't describe what Ridley's are doing to the store front. I can't believe they are covering up that beautiful rustic wood with pink paint.  Or maybe it's supposed to be yellow.  Anyway, it is ugly.

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§   My friend Betty C.  posted this on Facebook.  Walk a mile in their shoes.....that way if you still don't like them, you are a mile away and you have their shoes!!! :)

Monday

This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it.  Poor guy has nothing to smell with! I took it at a motel we stayed at in Montana.  It was the same motel where the guy in the next room called the owner and complained  because Barrie was coughing.  She called our room and apologized and said if he called us that we should just ignore him.

The next morning, we were eating breakfast when one of the women in the booth behind us was tellling about her mother-in-law.  Said she had the Broken Spur Motel, and what a witch she was!

I love small Montana towns.  I think you could live there one week and know everybody in town and their life history.

Boomer in his realm - behind his gate, guarding us. How could anyone be afraid of that sweet face?



I watched the movie "Easy Rider" on Crackle.com last night.  It's been years since I saw it, and had forgotten some of it.  Lots of smoking pot and sniffing stuff up their noses.  It really was a great movie.  I think that counter culture kind of skipped Wyoming, especially Shoshoni.

Visiter from Salt Lake City

This is Penny.   What a lucky little dog! Anyone remember the lost beagles in the classifieds over 2 wks ago? Barrie found the little female yesterday! Penny is tired, has lots of cuts and scrapes, sore ears, and has lost lots of weight, but is okay.  The sad part is, there were two of them, and there was no sign of the little male.  She still had her collar, and was wearing an ID tag with her name, address, and phone number on it.  Her owners are coming from Salt Lake to get her.

  

A bath definitely improved her spirits.  She rolled and rolled, and shook.

After her bath and food and water, she made herself at home on the couch for a nap.

The family who owns her had been camping at Trapper's Lake when both dogs took off.  I don't know how long they spent looking for them before they went home, but they have been home two weeks.  They had given up all hopes of ever seeing the dogs again.  Penny was down on the road to Soda Lake.  She has spent a long rough two weeks wandering around.  Amazing.  There are lots of coyotes up there, and usually there are wolves around.

Saturday

Last night I got my first experience of KC and Barrie singing along with a video - while I was wearing my hearing aids!

I think this is a Taylor Swift video. Kasey's favorite singer, and she knows the words to most of her songs.

A friend sent me some wonderful photos - I think this one is my favorite.

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Evidently Paul and Tracy are in Baltimore. At least they sent a picure this morning of Tracy at the Washinton Monument at Mt. Vernon Sq. in Baltimore. I'm not always sure where they are or what they're up to.  I'm sure Tracy told me, but I forget things.

Friday

Barrie is helping clean out some storage units. The owners have taken everything they wanted out of them, and wanted everything left taken to the dump or to the Food Basket.

This book was in one of the storage sheds.  Barrie knows how much I like Calvin and Hobbes, so she brought this home to me.

Dinner

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I'd like to get my new Daniel Smith Pallet set up today.  I think I've picked out the colors I want to put on it.  

Thursday

Karma Puppy, finished. I will probably leave it on an easel and look at it for a few weeks, then maybe try to get the eyes and nose a little bit better. Maybe.

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Both hearing aids and my cell phone all died. I took the battery out of the cell phone and let it sit a while, then put it back in and the phone worked. So I used the phone to call the hearing aid guy. He explained how to clean the part that goes inside my ear, and how to replace the little microscopic white thing. So now I am hearing every creak in the house again. And have turned down the volume on my iPod.

It's time to get my furnace and gas log fireplace and stove cleaned and make sure they are ready for winter. I presume AllTech does it - that's who installed them all for me.

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You know you're getting old when you think "getting lucky" means you find your car in the parking lot.

You know you're not a kid any more when you're the life of the party, even if it lasts until 8 PM.

Interesting Facts:

Ants stretch when they wake up in the morning.
Thomas Edison, light bulb inventor, was afraid of the dark.

Wednesday

I put this drawing up on the wall in the art room at Rendezvous Pointe today. Paul (Director) bought it immediately! Guess I'll do more pencil drawings.

I have signed up for a class from Kay Meeks. She works in oils, and I would like to try oil painting. Heaven knows I spent enough on paints and easels already.

Judi got a new iPad2. She is showing it to Dorothy. It is sure a slick little gadget. Tempted, but why would I need one?

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Still a lot of birds flocking around the chokeberry bushes. I can't tell if the puppies have "imbibed" enough today to get drunk, but I have friends who want to come to my house and get some of those berries, and not to make jelly!

Enjoyed art group today. Doesn't seem our artwork silent auction is getting as many bids as last year, but can't remember for sure.

Lenore baked a pie and brought it today. It was so good! I worked a little bit on a colored pencil drawing, but I think I really go for the food!

Drunk Birds and Puppies

The chokecherries are ripe.

The robins have gathered in my yard for the chokecherries. They are drunk! One was in the back of Barrie's work truck yesterday and didn't want to get out.



Barrie was worried that her pups were sick. But they were too happy to be sick. The little rascals were eating chokecherries off the ground, and were just as drunk as the robins. They were so funny!

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Can't believe we had that gully washer yesterday, and the power didn't go off!

Barrie felt so bad. She has been taking care of a house across town with a beautiful garden and flowers. The hail just about ruined everything. It's strange how the other end of town had soo much hail, and I had very little at my house.

Monday

Nap time. The little front yard looks like a war zone. There never was much in the way of grass under the pine trees, but the pups have done a job on it. Barrie will fill in the holes and reseed it when the pups go to the dog lot.

There is a big dumpster parked down at B&B. I assume they are going to be doing some major cleanup. I have looked at the junk down there for 40 years. Wonder if I will miss it?

New idea - although this one goes to the trash, I'm going to try again. It's supposed to be a pair of chaps hanging on a nail. I used hot press (smooth) water color paper, and painted a sepia background wet on wet. Then I started the drawing with pencil, and touches of white charcoal for highlights. This one is ruined, but I learned what I need to do with it.

I sent an order off to Dick Blick for a block of water color paper, and of course bought a few more "needful things".

I loved this house!

No pictures to post today, so I browsed back through some old scanned photographs and found these.

Tracy on the front porch of the cabin we lived in at Ragged Mountain, Colorado. The house used to be a barn, and that is the original barn door. There was a nice beaver pond in the front yard, with fish in it.
The front of the cabin with the chimney. Bats got in around that chimney and were living inside the walls. They were no problem except when it rained. Then they came in the house instead of outside. We had no electricity, chased bats with a broom holding a Coleman lantern! I shot a porcupine out the upstairs window once. The first and only thing I've ever shot.

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I can't remember what I was looking for on the Internet last night, but I somehow ended up reading about The Naked Cowboy. His name is Burck, and the guy actually has a college degree. I found he was running for mayor of New York City last year, but dropped out of the race. Burck formally announced that he is running for President of the United States in the 2012 U.S. election as a candidate representing the U.S. Tea Party movement.

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"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."

I was reading from the book "Familiar Quotations" on my Kimble last night and come across the above. Do you know where it's from?

Friday

This painting is in the Silent Auction at Rendezvous Pointe, and I got a phone call about it this morning. The magazine about Sublette County Real Estate wants to use it for the cover of their new issue. How about that? This painting came so close to being put on the shower floor when I finished it. I left it stored with other stuff on a rack in my studio. I guess the paint fairies came along and worked on it while I wasn't looking.

Don't know what to name it. I think it's called "Colored Sky Quakies" on the auction sheet. Not a very good name, but I was in a hurry. Maybe "Winter Quakies"?

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Want to try out my new drawing pencils today. I have a photo I want to use - a black and white picture I took a long time ago. Used it once for a pencil drawing of the jeans and boots, then made my ex hold one of my beer cans so I could use his hand and the can in the drawing. I think I'll try the same boots and jeans, and make Barrie hold a rope in her hand for a model.

Thursday

Those of you who have travelled South Pass will recognize this stretch of road. A few miles out of Farson, the highway stretches straight as a string untill it disappears in the distance. I had an interesting experience on this stretch of road once.

I had bought a new tape in Riverton, a mix of country western. I was playing it on my way home. I could see something in the road off in the distance, didn't look like road kill. When I got to it, I saw a pillow, laying on the center line of the highway.

Hmmmm, - the song playing on the tape at the time was Hank Locklin, singing "Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On".

I kid you not!! I thought it was kind of spooky.

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I got my new drawing pencils. Haven't tried them out yet - they are "Tombow" brand. The pencils I have been using have grit in them. The Tombow brand was recomended by someone in the drawing forum on Wet Canvas.

When Bill and Alice were here, Bill was drinking a wine, and I asked Kasey if she would get Grandma a beer. The next morning, I came downstairs, still in my pajamas, and Kasey said "Grandma, can I get you beer?"

Wednesday

I was expecting my brother, Bill Marlatt, and sister-in-law, Alice about 11:00 this morning. They drove in yesterday afternoon. Mixup! She said she left a message on my answering machine, but we checked, and there was no message. A no fault situation.

I had nothing ready to fix for supper - chicken breasts still in the freezer. So Bill and I sat down and had a beer and a glass of wine, Alice played with Kasey, and Barrie went in the kitchen. She soon served us bacon, eggs, and blueberry pancakes. I had ice cream, and we had a great meal. Thanks, Barrie!


We had lunch at Rendezvouse Pointe, after looking at our little art show. Barrie was able to join us.

Kasey wanted to monopolize Bill and Alice last night. There was a time she wouldn't have anything to do with Uncle Bill. He played Frisbee with her in the living room.

And Alice played a hand game with her.

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Got rid of a little art work. Alice found a colored pencil chicken I had done, and Bill took a watercolor of an old house and mailboxes. The mailboxes were from a photo Judi took in New Mexico - bent and rusted, and lots of character. I made up an old abandoned house for the background.

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Wanted to take Bill and Alice to Pinedale's world-famous shopping establishment, the Food Basket. But they aren't open on Wednesdays.

Tuesday

This looks almost finished to me. I guess the guy needs some ground to stand on, and the spurs need work - but it's pretty much done. I have some ideas for more pencil drawings along this line- hats, spurs, etc.

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The birds are really gathering today. The blackbirds are getting ready to go south, I think. It's obvious blackbirds migrate in a noisy flock. But I wonder about robins? How do they migrate. I've never seen them gather in a group. Do they just wander south on their own?

Karma has had a rough day - I think she's missed her nap. She is so fascinated by the birds. Every time I look outside, Karma is watching birds. And Kat has a fly in the window. Keeps her busy.

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I went to Ridley's yesterday and actually enjoyed it! It was not crowded, because everyone was already where they were going for Labor Day. It was a great day for people watching. One guy was loudly visiting with an employee in the produce department about airline reservations and travel. He was checking prices on the Internet and told his friend all about how to pick up the tickets, what arrangements to make etc. What made it interesting is, the guy looked like he had just crawled out from under a boxcar on the railroad tracks. He didn't look like a world traveler. Maybe he was Howard Hughes?

At the checkout, there was a guy in front of me who could have been my twin, old, short, fat, white hair. He was wearing shorts and sandals, and black socks that came half way to his knees. But his tee shirt was what caught my eye - it said "Wild and Reckless Montana". It made me laugh.

The grungy world traveler and the wild and reckless little old man made my day. But to top it off, a guy got in line behind me and started talking to me. I'm sure I looked blank, and he said "You don't remember me, do you. I used to be your neighbor, Mike."

Me: "Oh sure, Mike. How have you been?" There have been numerous guys move in and out of that house through the years. I have no memory of ever seeing this one before.

Monday

Barrie brought her water tank in from the dog lot yesterday, She filled it with water, and is haulling it back out there today

I photographed Lenore's watercolor painting for her last week. It is in the silent auction, but she doesn't really want to sell it very badly. She is pretty proud of it and I don't blame her.

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I stepped on a dead mouse when I got up this morning. Nice, huh! The weather is turning cool, and the mice are looking for warm places. Good cat! Although I wish she wouldn't leave them in the middle of the floor.

Saturday

Another thing from the memory box. This tiny locket was mine when I was a little girl

It opens and there are pictures of my big brothers inside.

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I am so close to finishing the pencil drawing of cowboy boots. Maybe I will get it done today. I am drawing just the jeans and boots. Kasey asked me last night, "Grandma, where's his head?" She is getting to be quite the art critic.

I'm washing two more windows today. They look pretty good once the sun gets high enough that the streaks don't show. These are upstairs windows. When I had this part of the house remodeled, I got the kind of windows that the panes tip in so I can wash the outside of them.

I had the downstairs bedroom windows and back door replaced last year. Sure makes a difference - the wind dowsn't blow through there any more. I would like to have the living room windows, but after having to have threes cut down, and getting hearing aids, they will have to wait.

Friday - New Clothes

Kasey keeps outgrowing her clothes! Barrie asked her friend who has a little girl a year older than KC if she had cleaned out her closets lately. This is what Kristi came up with! Wow. I think there are clothes from two little girls, actually. This is the ultimate shopping trip! Maybe Kasey is looking for something that won't show so much skin when she bends over.

Get right in the box with the clothes. Works fine.

Kasey really likes this coat. There must have been a dozen pair of shoes.

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Crackle.com has a few new movies on. "Easy Rider", "Rudy", "Ghost Busters 2", "Jerry McGuire", to name a few.

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I'm getting a little window washing done upstairs. Have two done (streaked when the sun shines on them), and four left to do.

Thursay

I started photographing the things my mother had in the memory box. Here are a few more.

My baby shoes. Babies don't even wear shoes any more, do they? I think both Tracy and Barrie wore shoes early.

A little tin cup, about 2 inches tall, with "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son" on it. My Mom's wedding rings. The wedding band is almost worn through, it is so thin. She didn't get the diamond until I was about five years old, I think. I was old enough I remember my Dad buying it and telling me to keep it a secret. It was a Christmas gift, I think. Of course I told my Mom I knew what she was getting, and it was something to put on her finger. But I DIDN'T tell what it was. Yeah, like I'm sure she thought she was getting a thimble.

Charms from my Mom's "Grandma" bracelet - Tracy, Barrie, and Louie, their dog.

This is what started it all. This darned locket has been "misplaced" so often through the years. My mom's middle name was Rae, and her uncle Ray bought this for her when she was a little girl. I had it, then Mom wanted it back for her Grandma bracelet. I couldn't find it. I finally found it, then Mom misplaced it. I though I had it, but looked around her for a couple of weeks before I thought of the memory box. Duh! Where else would you keep something like this?

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Acccording to the forecast, the wind will come up again this afternoon. Don't know if we will go to the lake or not. I bought some pork and beans and hot dogs for my favorite "beanie weinie" dish. It's kind of hard to make plans with Barrie because she is up and off to work before I am even out of bed in the morning.