Saturday, April 12, 2008

First Heron Sighting This Year!

I've been watching for the blue herons to come back this Spring. For the last several weeks, I've been on the look-out for them, carefully scanning the riverbanks and the water. Lately, I've been hearing what sounded like their squawks, but I wouldn't see them. Well, this afternoon, my husband, Mike came upstairs to inform me that he spotted one at the edge of our lawn at the river! I scrambled downstairs to grab the camera and sure enough, there he was! I'm so glad they've returned. They are fun to watch, especially when they're 'fishing' for their meals.

On another note, I've been working frantically, scrambling to get the final touches put on the art projects. Tomorrow I'm going to get them packed for the mail, and send them off Monday morning, before I leave for my big art workshop at Valley Ridge. I haven't even begun to pack for that yet, and I need to take almost my entire workshop of tools and assorted junque to it. I'm going to be learning from Keith LeBue again (this will be my 3rd workshop of his that I've taken). I will be gone for 8 days to it, so Mike will be babysitting 'the boyz' for me while I'm gone.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Having Enough Time

"I still find each day too short for
all the thoughts I want to think,
all the walks I want to take,
all the books I want to read,
and all the friends I want to see."
-John Burroughs
And I think I'll add to that, "all the artwork I need to get done."
I shouldn't have procrastinated so long about these projects for "Workshop." When I think back to when I was first given the 'go-ahead' to begin them, I thought to myself, "plenty of time to do it." Yes, there was plenty of time...plenty of time to do anything I could think of instead of doing the task at hand. Now I am paying the price! I need to get everything completed, written, boxed, and shipped by tomorrow. I got up this morning at 12:30 a.m. because I was just laying in bed thinking about what I needed to complete yet. Why lay there and think about it; and why not just drag myself downstairs and begin doing it? So down the stairs I trudged, my eyes still so tired and sore from working all day yesterday...and the day before...
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything can get finished up today, that is as long as I don't divert my attention to the computer and the wonderful world of ebay, like I usually do. Man, ebay is certainly addicting! I am a professed ebay shopaholic. Actually, a professed shopaholic. Period. My nasty spending spree has been in high gear the last few weeks. This time, art supplies was my vise. I go in spurts with things. Sometimes I'm on a roll with jewelry, then it progresses to jackets, then kewl junque that has what I deem 'the look.' Stuff that has possibilities for creating. Stuff that I know I probably won't find again. So, of course I just have to get it, right??!!
Ok, enough of my bad habits. I better get back in 'creative mode' again, and go back to the artwork.

Monday, April 7, 2008

My Artwork

I am so proud of myself because I finally put the finishing touches on one of the Gallery pieces for Workshop. Now I need to focus on getting a necklace finished for another one of the Gallery pieces. Of course, I guess I can't toot my horn too loudly. I thought I better look at the contract to see if April 30 is indeed the deadline for everything. So yesterday I found it. Well, guess what?? The deadline was April 1!!! Oops!!!
My Editor at least knows most of the stuff is done.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

The "Poop" Project

Yes, you are reading the heading correctly. It was such a nice day outside yesterday, that I figured I better do the job I have been putting off for quite a while now...and it's something that has to be done...Poop Patrol!

I've got three adorable, but sometimes naughty, little pugs. They each have a quirky personality of their own, and during the blustery and snowy winter we were blessed with, the little 'darlings' didn't want to venture far from the front door. So, you can imagine what the grass along the sidewalk leading to our front door looked like! What a wonderful first impression it gave to everyone coming to visit!

So do the math......3 dogs + 5 months worth of 'presents,' = a "s***load" of you-know-what!

Well, I found a pair of rubber gloves and an oversized, empty plastic bag, and outside I went to begin the lovely task. The grass was totally unbelieveable! ...big poop, small poop, fresh poop, decomposing poop, poop on top of the low shrubs, poop under the low shrubs, and poop on the sidewalk! I began the hunt. Donned with my pair of latex gloves, my left hand firmly gripping the big bag, and my right hand ready to pick up the 'treasures,' I started on my search. I'm sure it looked like I was in some weird Easter Egg hunt the way I was scoping out the lawn, looking down at all times, and squatting to pluck the poop and drop it into my bag. I wish it could've been that easy, though. It was incredibly windy out, and the bag was whipping in the breeze like the sails on a boat. Sometimes the poop hit the mark, but sometimes the opening of the bag would blow closed and the poop would plop back on the ground. How frustrating is that??!!! Then folks who lived in the subdivision would drive by, and of course look at me with pathetic but sympathetic looks on their faces, probably chuckling to themselves and pitying me at the same time. They would offer a token wave my way, but I didn't want to even look up to meet their eyes. So I would just give them a slight nod, as if in defeat, and go back to the business at hand.

I was out there for over an hour, and the longer I was out there, the heavier the bag was becoming. I quit carrying the bag, and began to drag the bag behind me as I continued on my quest. I finally finished with the front yard, but knew I still needed to do a section of lawn on the side of the house by the garage. I gave up taking the little puggies in the front for their 'business' weeks ago, because it was like walking through a minefield! Well, that's the side of the house that doesn't get much sun during the day, so these little gifts were wet and mushy...and clinging to the grass! Talk about gross! I managed to finish my task and headed to the garage with the bag, praying it wouldn't break from all the weight inside. I made it inside without incident, but when I began taking off the gloves to toss them in the garbage, I discovered a HOLE in one of the fingers...

of the picking hand!!!

End of story.