Wednesday

Oh, the life of a cat!

Kat is becoming more mellow every day, at least at times. She still suddenly attacks anything near her, including me or Kasey, but is spending more time being relaxed and friendly. Barrie held her in her lap and petted her this afternoon, and actually got her front toenails trimmed without her even fussing.

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Here is one sock I made for Kasey - the other is about half way done. She seems to like it and I think it fits, so we will see how it goes to wear a pair all day. This yarn would stripe better on an adult sized sock. Also, the colors are not the most attractive. I have used other self striping sock yarn with beautiful shades of blues, tans, etc. but this yarn is far from beautiful.

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The planned power outage this afternoon was actually kind of pleasant, not too cold, and quiet and peaceful. I got some reading done. And the power was back on before they said it would be. I'm sure glad we didn't have the problem they had in Utah where the two hour outage lasted 2 days for some of them!

If you haven't checked out Cristy's blog lately, you should. You'll find a link to it in my sidebar. She has been doing a very challenging "portrait a day" activity. She also is showcasing some of her students' recent work. Look at her "Rainbow of Chaos" link in the sidebar of her page.

Dee C joined our painting group at Rendezvous Pointe today. Fun to have her! Dee and I taught together for years. She had started a watercolor class earlier this year, and seemed frustrated by it. I think she will enjoy the fact that we sometimes laugh a lot, visit more than we paint, and that everyonein our group is so helpful. There are some very talented artists in our little group, and everyone is so supportive of the others. I have learned so much from each and every one of them!

Finished Buffalo Drawing

Buffao drawing in pencil

I think this is finished. I'm not sure my darks are dark enough, and not sure I got him "shaggy". I can always do more work on it later, after I look at it a while.

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I finally closed my blinds today on the south side of my art room. It is so pretty out (but windy), but the sun is so bright on the snow that I can't see for a while when I look back at what I'm doing. Never thought I would complain about the sun shining!

I called the cops last night about my neighbors. If I knew them I would have called them, but have no idea who lives there - just a bunch of young guys. They have room in front of the house to park four vehicles, and they park three there, plus a snow machine trailer. There are always from six to eight vehicles down there. When the propane truck made a delivery for me last week, he couldn't get anywhere near my tank. I think maybe he knocked on their door and they did move a couple. pickups. Yesterday I had to squeak by a pickup that had been parked close to my driveway, partway up the hill. Last night, Barrie told me my driveway was completely blocked by two vehicles.

So I called, a cop came up and talked to them, and they did move the two that were blocking my driveway. But I don't think they understand that Hill Street is really a street, even though it's not plowed, and they shouldn't block it. They now have two dumpsters right in the street.

OK, bitchy old lady! Enough! Calling the cops is not high on my list of fun things to do. At least these guys don't seem to have big drug gatherings or throw their garbage out in the yard, like some former ones.

I am only partially through cleaning my upstairs bathroom today. Having a cat has it's drawbacks. I cleaned the litter box, but I need to sweep the floor. Sometimes I guess she steps in something wet (or worse) when she gets out of the box and shakes her feet. This leaves little gobs of litter material stuck to the walls and the side of toilet stool. Well, you don't want to hear about that.

Sunday

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No doubt about it, that is a "plumber's butt".

Kasey has gotten tall enough that she can climb up on my couch by herself now.

Her Mom (and her day care provider) don't allow standing up on furniture or climbing all over. So Kasey "sits" when she gets up there. She doesn't stay long - sitting still is not her favorite activity.

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Kasey was here most of the day yesterday while her Mom went out and ran dogs. She wouldn't take her nap until about 3:30 - my fault. I thought after it settled down around here after the holidays, that we could put the crib back in the living room so I wouldn't have to run the electric heater to warm up the bedroom. Didn't work. The cat kept playing with her, she could see me in the kitchen, and she just stayed awake.

I fixed a big pot of chicken, noodles, cheese and vegetables. Barrie and Kasey really liked it, but I was not impressed. At least I will have lots of leftovers in the freezer for them.

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I am "resting" my cow and calf drawing right now, and have started a pencil drawing of a shaggy buffalo. The texture of his hair is challenging. I have wonderful book by an artist in UK who does pencil drawings. The name of the book is "From Line to Life" and the artist's name is Mike Sibley. The cost of the book was preposterous, but his work is incredible. He sometimes spends hundreds of hours on his drawings.

Some of his work is a little too much for my tastes, like too much background, and too much detail in the background. But his animal drawings are magnificant. He uses a lot of interesting techniques, like embossing, drawing with his eraser, etc.If you are interested, Google Mike Sibley and you can see his work.

Whole Lotta Nuthin"

Maybe I'm getting bored with winter? I don't have new pictures of anything, so went back and found some old summer photos scanned from slides. The water skiier is on Fremont Lake. The flare caused by the sun shining on the lens is not usually desirerable, but I kind of lked the effect on this photo. I'm not sure, but I think the skiier is Billy Mitchell.

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I took a photography class in Jackson from Teton Science School once. It was wonderful! This is one of the photos I took.

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Nancy sent an e-mail with cute little animals with funny sayings. I especially like this one: "I would be unstoppable if I could just get started". Actually, I don't have that much problem starting things. I just have problems finishing!

I started a drawing of a cow and calf (not Lynn's picture), and I am stuck on it. I am not sure what to do with it next, so it is "resting" for a while. I laid out a watercolor of elk on a snowy hillside today, but don't want to start on it until I go to art group next week. The scene is pretty simple, but I don't know how I will handle painting four little elk. They many turn out to be buffalo, or maybe even trees!

It was so good to hear from Lynn today. I've been waiting for her return to her blog to see how she is doing.

I made three attempts to start a new sock for Kasey before I got it started. First, I dropped one of the needes out of the stitches. Then the cat leaped up and got a needle. The third time I finally got it going. I am ready to decrease for the toe now. The trouble with socks is that when you finish one, you still need to make another one. This yarn did not stripe as nicely as I had hoped, and the colors are not that pretty.

Propane Heat

For the last several days, I have been getting a slight smell of propane. This is an indication that the tank is low. Yesterday morning, I called them and asked to have my tank filled. The woman said she would have the driver fill it. By about 5:00, no one had been here, so I called again. The woman thought my tank was at 15%, that the truck had run out of propane, and that my tank would be filled in the morning. I told her I had no idea what the meter read, because I can't get to the tank through the snow to read the meter. Well, I suppose I could if I had to, but I don't think I should have to. She was so nice, and the truck did arrive before dark and filled my tank.

I will include a note of thanks and appreciation when I send a check. I have run out of propane once every winter for the last several years, and it stresses me out to even think about it, especially when the weather has been 20 or so degrees below zero.

OK, Warm for a while!!

Enjoyed our art group so much this morning! Pam is back from Hawaiil, at least for a while. And it was good to visit with Vicky, Terry, Conley and Barbara again.

I have started a pair of socks for Kasey (again). I knit one sock that was too small. The next one I started ended up on the living room floor with the cat having the yarn, and Kasey had the knitting needles. I don't even know if Kasey will be able to wear hand knit socks. I didn't knit socks when my girls were little, so have no comparison.

Tuesday January 6

Absolutely nothing to write about today. Maybe I can think of something.

Bill and Alice are in Salt Lake for doctor appointments before they head south for the winter in their motor home. I hope the doctors find everything ok.

I have been getting a whiff of propane the last couple of days, which is a pretty sure sign the tank is low. I called them this morning and the lady promised the truck would fill my tank today. I have run out of propane at least once every winter for several years now. It is not fun to wait for the propane truck in your pajamas and winter coat at midnight.

Remember the new TV I ordered from WalMart and they sent me a bicycle? Well, UPS picked up the bike and returned it. Then I received a call from WalMart telling me they had received the return, and that I would be receiving a refund. Later, I received an email telling me the time limit was up to reply about the return and I was lno onger eligable for a retund on a return.

Since I replied to that mail, I have received at least four emails from different customer service reps telling me the amount of the purchase has been refunded.

I can't wait to see how all this turns out! From my experience with large companies and internet shopping, it is very possible that I will get four or five refunds!

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The top photo is one I took of the quakie trees in my front yard. The bottom one is the same photo with a filter applied in Photoshop. I kind of liked the effect.

Brrr

It was 22 below zero at my house last night. Brrr. But if we didn't have these cold spells, we would be wondering what is wrong! Just something we should expect every winter. The Bondurant web cam showed it was 40 below zero there this morning.

I left the gas log stove on low in my upstairs room all night, and it was 66 degrees up there this morning. I'm glad I left it on.

Here are three pictures Tracy sent. The first is of Tracy starting down the sled hill, the second is Paul on his new sled, and the third is of Melita's daughter, Leslie and her little girl Kendall.

Tracy resizes her photos before she emails them, so you can't look at them any larger.

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I am going to start on a new pencil drawing this morning. Still haven't finished the wolf in the snow, but it's close. I can never predict what kind of a mood I will be in when I get up in the morning, and which project I will work on. Or if I will spend the day reading. I enjoy having no deadlines or responsibilities! Well, almost none.

Saturday - Kasey overnight

Barrie went up the Green to help put in the trail for the sled dog race, which is today and tomorrow. As she was going about 6:00, we decide it would be good practice for her to be away from Kasey all night and have her stay here. Kasey was fine, but I am surprised Barrie didn't sneak in the house about 3:00 this morning to check on her! Maybe she did!

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This is the tea set that Braxton gave Kasey for Christmas. She had so many new things to play with that I didn't get it out until today. She doesn't know about tea parties yet - not much opportunity in Pinedale, Wyoming. She did enjoy stacking them, and putting the lids on and off. She also chewed on the spoons, and I may end up putting them away for a while.

She ate a huge breakfast - her egg and half of mine, her ham and half of mine, her piece of toast and half of mine. She drank a cup of milk, and then started on some grape juice.

After playing a while, she began to do irritating things, like taking down the glass frames with photos of ancestors from the shelf of the hutch. Then she threw some of her tea set on the floor and wouldn't pick them up. When she finally picked one up, I asked her to put it on the table, she looked at me and threw it. After I "helped" her put on the table, I decided Grandma was tired, so Kasey needed a nap.

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This brings to mind a story from when I taught first grade. I had a little boy who had seizures (we eventually found out), one after another. They were peti mall seizueres, so not always real obvious. His behavior was pretty much out of control. His classmates learned to casually step out in front of him to block him so I could get to him without a chase.

I'm not sure what the gym teacher did with him - seems he spread out mats on the stage and just put him up there to roll around.

But he was a special problem for the music teacher. She used to put him on a tall stool, give him a baton, and let him pretend to "lead". I told her if nothing worked, to send him back to me, and I would have him lay down in the nurse's office for a while. One time he asked me why he had to lay down, and I said "because Mrs. Scissons is tired". He accepted that.

One day he had a "grand mall" seizure in the classroom, and went for more doctor appointments, They found he had a large, fast growing brain tumer.

To make the story shorter, the tumer was successfully removed, and he lived a healthy, normal life after that. The only problem was when he sang in the high school choir, and his old first grade teacher sat there watching this tall handsome boy sing, she bawled her eyes out!!

Questionable Weather

It was overcast when I got up this morning, but now it is bright and sunny. The forecast says hard winds and more snow. The wind is starting to come up a bit, but no sign of snow.

Teton County has sure seen a lot of avalanche activity. I think I would be sure to stay out of the back country, and also stay off Teton Pass.

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Here is the cow moose who was in the lot next to my house yesterday. Not a photo to brag about, but I did get her face without a lot of branches in front of it.


I finished the pencil drawing of the snowy branch. It is small, only about 5" x 8" and done in a sketch book. This was a relaxing piece to do.

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Snowy Thursday

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.

A really beautiful snowy day today. I think we have several new inches of snow, no wind, and not terribly cold. The snowflakes just keep drifting down.

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I took this picture out my living room window today. I like the snow laying on the pine branches with some of the needles sticking through. I got inspired to do a drawing of it, so have started a small pencil sketch.

Icicles out my kitchen window.

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I got my garbage in the back of my pickup today, and drove down to the end of my driveway to the dumpster. I drove on the street, not my driveway, as it is blocked with a big drift. I needed to shovel the dumpster out, but the shovel had slid up in the bed of the truck and I couldn't reach it, so I just waded in the snow. The dumpster is overflowing.

Barrie came by, and left Kasey while she went out to take care of her dogs. Kasey laid down for a nap, and has been sleeping ever since. What a boring child!! She should be awake any minute now, and the fun and games will begin.

A cow and calf moose were hanging around my house all morning, but were never out in the open from the willows enough for me to get a good picture. But I enjoyed watching them.