Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Wednesday

I said yesterday Kat got one mouse. In the afternoon, there was another dead mouse on the bathroom floor. And this morning there was one by the rocking chair. That's three mice in two days.  Wow!

Charm says her cat plays with the mice.  My cat does too, but she kind of wears them out while she's playing with them.

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Another good Calvin cartoon.

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Linda joined us at art group this week.  She has been gone and hasn't been there for a long time.  Good to see her.

Listening to song on XM Radio.  Don't know the name of the song or who sings it, but the first line of the chorus goes "girl, you make my speakers go 'boom boom'".  Funny!

 

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Tuesday


Another dead mouse on the floor this morning.  Kat works so hard so has to sleep a lot during the day.  I wonder why we are having so many mice lately?  If we'd had mice in the basement all winter, they would be chewing holes in Barrie's dog food sacks.  For some reason, the mice seem to think it's spring, and they are coming out of hibernation.
Someone posted this cartoon on Facebook. 

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I've done a little bit of drawing with pen and ink, but am neglecting all other art work.  A new tube of Sap green oil paint came yesterday, and I am supposed to be experimenting painting with only red and green, and white. 




Monday, February 27, 2012

Battle of the Plows

Barrie says she is running out of places to put snow at the places she plows. And she says the places she plows out, the city comes along and plows their driveways back in. Someone plowed the neighboring house and left the snow pile where it blocks access to our propane tank, so Barrie plowed it back over on their place. But it didn't block their driveway. Doesn't matter anyway, because the guys who lived there have moved.
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Another dead mouse on the floor this  morning.  No wonder Kat spends most of  her day sleeping.  She's  working the night shift.

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Two more old photos I have scanned. This is the old remodeled barn we lived in when we lived on the ranch at Ragged Mountain, Colorado.  Tracy was a baby when we moved there.  This is probably the house I loved more than any other I've lived in.  No electricity, our water was from a spring above the house, a beaver pond in the front yard stocked with trout, and very isolated.  A colony of bats moved in the wall space upstairs behind the stone chimney.  On rainy nights, they flew around inside the house.



I didn't post anything in my blog yesterday because I spent the afternoon finishing the Larry McMurtry book "Texasville".  I almosst hated to finish it.  I have the next book in the series "Duane's  Depressed" to read next.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Saturday

It's windy today, and a few snow fluries have blown through, then sunshine again.

I watched the movie "The Last Picture Show" last night on Crackle.com.  I've seen it before, years ago.  It's still a powerful movie.  And today I started reading "Texasville", the second of the series by Larry McMurry.  I've read it before, but wanted to read it again.  I also have "Duane's Depressed" on my Kindle.  Nobody develops characters quite like Larry McMurtry, and I always enjoying reading his stuff.

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Worked some more on the closets and dresser in my downstairs bedroom this morning.  The first big bag for the dump is full, and is so  heavy I could hardly drag it to the front door.  And the pile of stuff for the Food Basket is in danger of falling over and injuring someone.  And there's a lot of stuff left to sort through and pitch out.

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Friday, February 24, 2012

Friday

No pictures, so I decided to post two of my favorites of my girls. Old pictures from the past

This is Tracy with her cousin Ben at a dance at Fort Washakie.  (Cowboys and Indians)



Barrie, happy girl with a red balloon at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake.

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Two dead mice on the floor this morning.  Way to go, Kat!

Went to Rendezvous Pointe for the oil painting class this morning.  Oils frustrate me, but I am enjoying the class, and learning so much.

I took a large bag of crochet thread to the Pointe this morning, to donate to anyone who wants to use it.  Just one thing out of the closet.  I have filled a box with embroidery stuff for step-daughter Leslie.  And have one really large garbage bag full of stuff for the dumpster.  Slow progress.  How did all that stuff get there?



Thursday, February 23, 2012

Thursday

I think we about blew away yesterday, and I don't know how much snow we got.  Half the roads in the state seemed to be closed, and sounded like the other half should have been.  Beautiful sunny day today.

Barrie  had a rough day yesterday.  She couldn't even get to the dog lot to take care of her dogs.  Couldn't stay on the trail and sometimes couldn't find the trail.  She finally gave up and turned back. 

Then she drove on hazardous roads to Daniel to pick up Kasey from her visitation with her dad.  She was to meet them there at 7:30. and she left early because the road was so bad.  At 7:20, he called her to say Kasey was in town and Barrie could pick her up at the courthouse.  So she had to drive back, and of course was late getting there.

Her ex is stilll not paying child support.  I don't understand it.  He just took her to court last month and the court (once again) ordered him to pay every month and start repaying the back support.  In other places, I read that guys are sent to jail for not paying child support.  Why are they so lax here?  He is ordered to pay it, but doesn't.  And there is no follow up on the part of the legal system. 

Barrie tried going through the Child Services to collect it, and had to pay a $25 fee to file something, I don't know what Child Services did, but she is not gettting the support.


OK, we have a sign in our house that says "Thou Shalt Not Whine".  That's all.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Lace

I'm on another closet cleaning binge. I asked at Rendezvous Pointe this morning if anyone there would use crochet thread. And they said yes.

Years ago when my Mom had a pig valve put in her heart, I spent hours sitting at the hospital in Casper for about ten days.  I found a hobby store and bought some crochet thread and a little "How to Book" and taught myself how to crochet.

As happens with most things I do, I went overboard.  I crocheted curtains for my dining room windows, Christmas Tree ornaments, doilies, a tablecloth, and lace trim.  And every time I went to Riverton, I went to WalMart and bought more chrochet thread. 

I did the same thing with embroidery.  What made me think I would use a dozen sets of embroidered pillow cases?  Or that I would sew crocheted lace on the edges of all my towels?
 


Rendezvous Pointe and the Food Basket will either benefit or suffer from my closet cleaning, depending on their point of view. 



I'm trying to clean out space for Barrie and Kasey to put their things.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Tuesday

This is a watercolor I started once.  Don't even know where it is now.  I think I cut it up into pieces to use the back as scrap paper.  I would like to try this same composition in oil paint, so I guess this will be my next project.  All I got done today was tone a couple of canvas boards, so I have nothing to show.


I watched the movie "Swing Vote" last night, a cute and funny movie.  But the portrayal of politicians is almost frightening it was so accurate. 


I watched the video of Kevin Costner's speech at Whitney Houston's funeral.  A very touching speech.  Then I dug out the movie "Bodyguard" in which they starred. 

Monday, February 20, 2012

Monday

This is NOT my photo. Just something I found to go with my blog today.


Kasey was so excited when they came home Saturday.  I heard her tell her mom she had to go upstairs and tell Grandma about it.

I asked her what she had been doing all day, and she said "We went to Jackson.  That was the safe part."

Then she told me they had just been to Grandpa's house, and she got to get out to open the gate and a moose was in the yard chasing Sonny's dog. Barrie got out and grabbed KC and put her in the truck, then went to rescue the dog.  Kasey was crying when Barrie got back to the truck.  That was not the safe part!


Saturday, February 18, 2012

Saturday


This is the little "6" x 8" oil painting I have worked on for a couple months.  I finally tried putting the eyes in with a toothpick.  And now I'm quitting!  No one should ever attempt a painting this small if they want any details.



I started an 8" x 10" painting of a deer yesterday.  But Kay has given us an "assignment" for next week.  Yikes!  That's like homework!  We are to do a painting using only two complimentary colors and white. 

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Watched the movie "Congo" the other night.  It's a story about some people who end up in the jungle with killer gorillas, a volcano is erupting, and they find King Solomon's diamond mine.  Lots of tense action.  In one scene, they are in rubber rafts fighting their way through rapids down a raging river.  One of the actors says "Look out for those rocks."  Why was that line stuck in the script?  What?  Did the guy think they weren't looking out for the rocks?  I laughed.

In another tense scene, they are picking their way down a steep, narrow, trecherous path in the mine.  Rocks are falling on them, and the volcano is spewing hot water at them.  And one of the guys says "Watch your step."   I laughed again.



Friday, February 17, 2012


My horoscope for today said to avoid negative people.  I can do that!

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Went to Kay Meek's oil painting class today.  Kay looks good, but I think she was tired by the time we were through.  Hope she didn't overdo herself.

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Saw Barbara Boyce the other day and asked her what was going on down at the old B&B Yahama building, as I have noticed a lot of cleaning and hauling stuff off.  She said Stepps are going to put in a feed store there. 

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Bang and Crash!!  More snow and ice coming off my roof.  When the snow and ice slide off up here, it lands on the overhang of the first floor, and it sounds like a plane hit the house.  The house even shakes.


Thursday, February 16, 2012

Thursday



I watched "The Wizard of Oz" last night.  I guess it's the umpteenth time I have watched it, but it's just such a classic.  Who can resist?  So many phrases and quotes come from that movie:

            "Munchkins"
            "Toto, I have a feeling we're not  in Kansas any more."
            "Follow the Yellow Brick Road."
             "Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!"
            "A horse of a different color"
            "I'm melting!"
             "The wicked witch is dead!"
             "There's no place like home."

Even though I love that movie, I remember seeing a tee shirt that made me laugh.  Here is what was on the shirt:

            "Aunt Em,
                    Hate you, hate Kansas, took the dog.

                                Dorothy"
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A dumb Duene story:  I just got a new kitchen timer, a small digital one.  When I took it out of the box, it looked like it said "8888" on the display, and I couldn't set it.  After fussing with it for a while, it dawned on me that the display was covered with thin plastic to protect it.  The plastic was  printed with "9959".
 

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Wednesday



A bit of Valentine humor.  Well, not everyone will thinks it's funny, but I do.

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We're not sure how to deal with our art work on the inventory being done at Rendezvous Pointe, as our work displayed on the walls changes all the time.  Decided that maybe a photo record would do it.  I could take pictures of each artist's work and update the photos as the artwork changes.  Now I need to try to figure out how to put the date stamp on the pictures.  I have that feature turned off


Conley's work


Dorothy


Lenore


Les


Mine

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Vicky doesn't have much work on display.  She has some incredible drawings she did. She did take some mats home today, so maybe next week she'll get them up and I'll photograph them.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Tuesday


This is why I didn't post anything to my blog yesterday.  I spent all day working on this little Valentine greeting for all of you.

My horoscope says I should plan a dinner party for tonight.  So how many of you can come?  No one?  That's okay, you would have had to bring your own pizza.


Here are the three pieces I am taking to Rendezvous Pointe to display in the art room tomorrow.  They can join my watercolor buffalo there.

Kay Meeks is feeling well enough to continue the oil painting class, so we will start on Friday.  Poor lady has had a rought time - first had a pacemaker, then before she recovered from that, she had her gall bladder removed.

Lots of deer around my place both yesterday and today.  They look pretty good, the winter hasn't been too rough on them.





Sunday, February 12, 2012

Sunday

It snowed during the night - looks like about two inches.
I shopped for a new deep fryer yesterday (Internet, not a store).  Still craving those French fries I attempted to make the other night in the old fryer that cratered.  This is what I ordered.  It is from Amazon, and is free shipping.  Not only that, I had enough Amazon points to pay for it.  So I can almost convince myself it is free!

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I have two drawings and one watercolor ready to be matted today, and will take them to the art room at Rendezvous Pointe this week.  I pretended to forget the drawings I have have been working on, and started two new watercolors this morning.  Someday, I'll either finish the works in progress, or just throw them out.



Saturday, February 11, 2012


This is what it looked like out my bedroom window when I got up this morning.   I can't even see the creek.  It's not that cold, about 25 degrees, I think, but no sign of the sun.

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I tried out the waffle plates in the George Foreman grill this morning.  They worked great, didn't even  think about sticking.  Made sausage and eggs to go with the waffles, so I outdid myself today!


I guess I'll order a new deep fryer.  I know it's not healthy cooking, but we love our French fries.  There are so many fryers available, hard to choose.  But I know I want one with a removeable oil container, and a size that will fit in my cupboard.

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Friday, February 10, 2012

Friday


I can already see a few spots that need to be darker, but the pen and ink elk is basically finished.  Time to put it across the room and look at it for a week or two.

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The steak and grilled onions came out great on the new George Foreman grill last night.  The French fries, however, were a different story.  At first the fryer wouldn't heat up, but it finally worked, so I cut some fries and put them in the hot grease. Everything was looking good, and then the power light went off, and that was it.  I had pale, limp French fries.  I finished cooking them in the microwave, so they were edible, but certainly not the nice fries I was looking forward to.

So another kitchen appliance bit the dust.  Coffe pots, slow cookers and other small appliances seem to have a short life span in this  house.  Laptop computers seem to be the same.

Watched a video today of a man who read his 15 yr old daughter's Facebook post.  She was a nasty little twit, complained about how her father expected her to do chores, get a job, etc.  She had a garbage mouth and said some terrible things about her father.  Then the video showed him standing up, taking out his gun, and shooting her laptop computer  about 6 times.  Guess she won't be posting so much on Facebook now.



Thursday, February 9, 2012

steak




I'm going to grill steaks on the new George Foreman for supper tonight.  I was going to make French fries the other night, and couldn't get the fryer to heat up.  I tried it again today, and the light turns on, so guess it is working.  The cord is one of those quick release magnetic ones, and I guess I just didn't have it in quite right.  Very touchy.


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I went to Ridley's today.  As usual, it was an ordeal.  I went to the hardware store first, and wrote my last check.  So I went home and got a refill for the checkbook, and went back to the grocery store.  I was determined!

As usual, I couldn't find everything.  And some of the prices almost made me faint!  I had to crawl over boxes and the little watering hose to get to the bell peppers. 

Maybe I won't go back there until spring, or at least until they get the ice out of the parking lot.  The carts need to be chained up, or maybe have 4 wheel drive.  I was wishing I had taken up the offer of the little guy at the checkout stand to help me out with my groceries.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Wednesday

Judi reminded me that I didn't post anything yesterday.  There is a perfectly good reason for that.  Nothing happened!  And I didn't do anything worth noting.  This video will show the extent of what went on at my house, that is, if it will load. Pretty boring. 
(No video.  It's been uploading about 2 hours, so I cancelled it.  Oh well, it was boring.)

Lenore brought a freshly baked apple pie to art group today.  It was SO good. 

I believe Vicky got the inventory finished today, and I finished (with Vicky's help), cleaning, organizing and getting rid of some magazines.  Had quite a load that Vicky put in her car to take to the recycling center.

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It's pretty cold here, below zero every night.  I am back to alternate heat in my upstairs, because the gas log stove quit again.  Gene Paul has been here twice to fix it.  Maybe third time is a charm, I hope.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Monday

I enjoyed the Super Bowl yesterday. Good game!

I read the following in the news this morning:

On the Monday following the Super Bowl, an average of 6 percent of the workforce calls in sick. While it might be bad for productivity, the Super Bowl is good for one thing: the antacid business. Typically, antacid sales increase 20 percent the day after the game. How about an estimated 14,500 tons of chips, 4,000 tons of popcorn and 8 million pounds of guacamole? Is it any wonder so many people call in sick the next day?


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They did  use the Budweiser horses for one ad -  pulling a load of beer into a town just after prohibition had been  lifted.  Good ad.

But I think the Budweiser folks have a new winner in one of their ads.  A rescue dog, kind of scruffy looking cute little guy, is named Weego.  And when anyone calls  him, like "Here, Weego", he runs and brings them a beer.  He even rolls a keg in for a group.

This dog is actually darn cute and a real rescue dog. Bud Light also calls to support rescue dogs at the end of the ad.
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And how about Madonna's half time show?  Oh, you mean that was supposed to be good?  I guess I missed the good part.  And I know I missed M.I.A, a guest performer, flipping everyone off during one of the songs.  Well, I missed Janet Jackson's costume malfunction eight years ago too.




Sunday, February 5, 2012

sagebrush


I am through messing with this painting.  No more.  It still doesn't look like sagebrush, but it looks more like sagebrush than it does a fruit basket.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.



Red Solo Cup
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Ready for the Super Bowl?  I'm kind of rooting for the Patriots.  I used to know a guy who played for them way back when they were the Boston Patriots. 

I looked through some of the previews of the ads, and didn't see the Budweiser Horses anywhere.  Bummer!  As far as I'm concerned, Budweiser should use their horses in all their ads.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Arborist

My arborist arrived yesterday to work on my willow bushes.



Some of the branches she trimmed were easy to reach.


And some she really had to stretch for.


I wonder if she curled her eyelashes before she left home.

After trimming for a while, she jumped a fence and tore down the electric fence Barrie had put up.  Which really didn't matter, because the fence never kept Maddie in anyway.

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I cleaned the oven yesterday, and got rid of a couple more things from the storage bin below the oven - a cheap omelet maker I got at a garage sale years ago, and a non stick skillet that sticks.



Friday, February 3, 2012


If you look closely at the picture of my window, you will see that there are two rows of icicles.  Wonder how it formed two separate rows?

Noisy in the the house yesterday.  It warmed up, the sun was shining, and and these icicles were falling on the metal roof extension below.  They make a lot of noise.  Also, a part of the snow  on my roof slid yesterday.  It sounds like a train when it goes.

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The litttle girl in the last photo of Kasey at the Stage Stop Race is Buddy Streeper's little girl.  He is leading the Stage Stop Race, and has won it three years previously.  They are from Canada.

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Brother Bill and Alice are in Quartzite, Arizona, but the court they are in for some reason doesn't get TV.  He said they will move their motor home to the desert so they can watch the game on Sunday. 

Heard on the radio that stores can't keep red Solo Cups on their shelves.  People who are giving Super Bowl parties are frantically searching for them and driving miles to get them.  I wonder if the Solo Cup Company is paying Toby Keith something?

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Little Musher Chicks


Barrie took this picture of two little musher chicks at the Stage Stop Race at the parking lot up the Green.  I'm not sure who the little girl in red is, but I think her dad is one of the racers.  Kasey is definitely dressed for the weather and has a big grin on her face.

When I taught kindergarten, I often had students who whined about going out in the cold and begged their Moms to write them a note to stay in.  I don't think Kasey is going to be one of those wimps!

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I took one load of art magazines to art group at the senior center today, and started organizing the magazines we have on the shelves there.  That's all I did today.  Cleaned out some old catalogs and tried to get all the watercolor magazines on the same shelf.  Same with Wyoming Wildlife, Artist Magazine, and  Southwest Art. 

Visited a while with Melba J. after art group.  Tiger has been in the hospital ten days, had a triple bypass.  Melba says he is feeling kind of rough, but that's to be expected after heart surgery.