Someone reported a week or so ago that there was a new conspiracy theory on Breitbart (no I don't read it) that liberals were dunking on MAGAts and other far right anti-vaxxers so they will dig in their heels to 'own the libs' and die. Who knew their refusal to get vaccinated and wear masks is really a heinous liberal plot. It seems somebody finally noticed that most of the people dying from covid are the nut job republicans.
Yesterday morning Minnie started going nuts barking her head off. There was a big white dog over at the shop yard, very friendly and chill, totally unconcerned with Minnie, barking hackles raised, when we went out. Pam checked the tags on her collar, had a name and number so I called. By the time he showed up the dog had headed down the street and I didn't know where she was but told him if I saw her again, I'd call. A couple of hours later I was heading over to the house from the studio when I turned to make sure Minnie was following and she and that big white dog were nose to nose. So the dog followed us home and into the garage and I called the guy again and then closed the garage door, the dog was just laying down in there. Anyway, the guy showed up, a youngish guy, says he has a hard time keeping her in, spent a week looking for and repairing holes and tears in the fence around his 10 acres where she's getting out. She's a Great Pyrenees, guards his goats, has already killed two coyotes. She likes to range, he said, but you'd think 10 acres would be enough, said she was gone for three weeks once and someone found her in Richmond 33 miles away, took her to a local vet, she's chipped.
Saturday's progress on the mold. You can see some of the shading I'm trying to get this time. I've put in marigold yellow, which is a little more orange than the canary and the pale yellow. I wish I had remembered to take a picture of the green tones in the barely open flower before I covered it with the yellow. Second photo I'm filling in with the yellow. I'm using a less intense yellow than on the first piece. I can get varying shades of yellow by mixing different ratios of the pale yellow frit with the very saturated intense canary yellow powder. In the first piece I used two ratios; 10/1 and 10/3; and got that deep yellow. This time I'm using just the 10/1.
Still getting some rain most days but thankfully without the lightning and thunder and intense downpours. It's very wet out there and very humid. On my walk around the yard yesterday early evening I spied two of these, monarchs in the making.
And the bird feeder is getting lots of action. I'm seeing adult cardinals and juveniles in various stages of getting their adult plumage chickadees, titmice mostly. The other bird feeder with the grain is not so I wonder where the sparrows are. Maybe I need to move it to a different location.
A giant lab used to come to the house we lived in before this one to jump in the pool. He did it so often I put the owner's phone number up on the refrigerator. He, too, was a Houdini dog. Some dogs just need more adventure, I guess.
ReplyDeleteThat piece is going to be so pretty, Ellen.
That mold is coming along beautifully. I love watching its progress. My Dallas niece and her husband were here last week into the weekend. They have put down roots in your state, and were wrapping their minds around the fact that their future children will be Texans. There are obviously pockets in the state where people a reasonable, because there you are, and there they are, but you sure wouldn't know it from the news.
ReplyDeletethe large cities...Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Austin, San Antonio...are largely democratic and liberal which is why the state is doing what it can towards voter suppression in those counties. unfortunately, Texas has a large, conservative, religious rural population.
DeleteCan't wait to see the finished product--it's going to be stunning!! I'm glad the owner of that dog came and got him/her. We have a lot of wandering dogs here in our neighborhood and it bothers me that people can't be more responsible owners and keep their dogs on their own property. The risk they're taking that their pet will get hit by a vehicle, or worse yet, snatched up and kept by a stranger is real. Off my soapbox.
ReplyDeletehe does the best he can, keeps his fence repaired, has chipped the dog, she wears a collar with tags with his phone number but apparently the breed tends to wander unless fully engaged. he had her on a chain for awhile but he doesn't think that's right and I agree with him on that. chaining up a dog is cruel.
Deletelike all sheep dogs Great Pyrenees must have a job to do or they wander. My friend has had three, the last one she gave away because - Pyrenees... they were capable of leaping over the moon, fences were useless. Nice dogs though. really sweet.
ReplyDeleteYour flower is looking gorgeous already! LOVE it!
that's what I suggested, that she's jumping the fence.
DeleteI love that you contacted that dog's human. It's good to connect with people whose dogs are roamers, so we can reconnect them when need be.
ReplyDeleteYour art is looking so beautiful. It really is such a delight to watch the transformation. Very cool and enlightening.
if the dog is friendly and has tags, I'll check. it's not hard to make a phone call. usually when I see a dog loose that I don't recognise, they are just passing through. this one just made herself at home over at my sister's house across the street just hanging out for about half an hour until she decided to wander down the street. then she followed me home and into the garage where she settled down so it was easy for me to contain her.
DeleteI have a Kerrville friend with goats and a Great Pyrenees, and believe me: that dog knows what its job is. So does anyone who decides to mess with the goats. Her property is high fenced, but the dog has to be chained or held every time the gate's opened or it's gonzo. Once it gets on the road, it will run for miles. It always comes back, and usually in pretty good time, but it's still a worry. At least there's not much traffic where she is, and everyone knows the dog, so that's good.
ReplyDeleteThere's confusion in my bird world just now. A crew finally was called in to remove a lot of dead shrubbery from the freeze, and several birds that liked to perch in the old stuff are having to figure out where to go. At least the cardinals are back and feeding again, so they've found new digs somewhere.
when I first bought my Heights house there was a big pyracantha in the little backyard and we had lots of cardinals around. I did care for the big thorny shrub and cut it down and then the cardinals disappeared. this was before I learned about birds and their preferred habitats.
Deletethe guy says he tries to keep the fence around his 10 acres repaired but I think she's probably jumping over it. I'm kind of amazed that she traveled so far from home and wonder if she would have returned after being gone 3 weeks and 33 miles away if someone hadn't taken her to a vet. I'm wondering what she ate for three weeks or if people just fed her along the way.
and my browser still gives me a privacy alert when I try to go to Lagniappe.
The only GP's I've met were farm guard dogs in Kentucky. They guarded sheep, goats and some other flocks I don't remember. They were not socialized to people, which would make them ineffective as guard dogs, the owner said. They sure are big.
ReplyDeletethis one was just as friendly and gentle and chill as if she has no worries whatsoever.
DeleteLovely dogs, GP. Maremas are very popular here. I love the ts at the end of MAGA... I think your sparrows are here. There must be a hundred here.
ReplyDeleteyou can tell the sparrows that the restaurant is open down here.
DeleteIt's encouraging to see monarchs in the making! That dog is pretty remarkable, traveling 33 miles. The owner really needs to get that fence fixed! I haven't heard about that Breitbart story. I'm tempted to look it up, it sounds so crazy.
ReplyDeletehe does try and keep the fence repaired but I gather it's not a high fence so I think the dog must be jumping over it. I'm wondering if the dog would have returned, been able to find her way back after going 33 miles.
DeleteOK, I haven't read the Breitbart piece, but The Atlantic has an interesting article about it:
Deletehttps://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/breitbart-conservatives-john-nolte-vaccine/620189/
it really is so bizarre but that's what basically defines Trump cultists. his whole presidency was like we had somehow turned into Bizarroland.
DeleteYeah - I've been thinking for a long time that the ones who won't get vaccinated are the most adversely affected by their decision. I don't think Democrats are organized enough for that to be an actual policy though :)
ReplyDeletePretty dog! We used to drive by a sheep farm with a GP & it was ALWAYS asleep. I think it was pretty elderly though.
You are one of the good guys.
ReplyDeleteI guess it has not occurred to the MAGAts that their failure to vaccinate will negatively affect them in elections because they'll be dead. The glass is going to be beautiful when it's done.
ReplyDelete