drawing in progress and cats

I finally stopped dicking around with the violet drawings and plunged ahead with a colored pencil version. I’ve been working on it for an hour or so at a time. Usually until I reach the point where I’m not happy with my progress, can’t seem to get it where I want it (this is a typical stage for me whether I’m drawing, painting or sculpting wax models) and I put it aside. When I return to work on it again it’s never as bad as I seemed to think it was. Except with the sculpting. I always hit that stage where I think I’ll never get it right usually about midway and then it all starts to come together. I think I miss the model making the most about not working in glass anymore, the working in 3 D. Anyway, I’m pretty happy with the way this first drawing is going. Since I haven’t been able to print the picture out that I’m using for reference, I’m working on the drawing in front of my computer.

Edit: as requested by Codex, I’ve added the photo of the violet I’m using for reference.

Not much to report, short forays out in the yard watering pots and moving the sprinkler around. Picked up the pile of tree debris by the driveway and tossed it in the truck on Saturday, then drove it over and picked up the tree debris from Gary’s work and the boys unloaded it onto the burn pile for me. Sunday I mulched two of the front flowerbeds with pine needles after watering them. We had a small brief shower that barely got the ground wet but was very noisy with thunder rumbling so I suppose somewhere was getting a good rain.

When I went across the street late afternoon yesterday to feed the cats Momcat followed me home and if I had given her even half an invitation she would have come in the house. 

She did that Saturday too. Friday morning when I went out Lovey was on the driveway 

and after I came in I looked out the window and there was Twin. Last night when I went out to close the garage not only was Momcat still there but Lovey was too. And this morning when I opened the garage door, Momcat and Lovey were right outside under the car. Cat is not pleased that Lovey is hanging around. 

Some of you may remember that these are the cats that live under my sister’s old house, the one we put on the shop yard for her. The summer before Pam died Momcat showed up and had three kittens over there and Pam started feeding them but she didn’t intend to keep them. She expected that the local animal rescue would help her find them homes. She did trap Momcat who we think was dumped when it became obvious she was about to drop a load of kittens, and got her fixed but couldn’t get any help getting rid of the kittens that were living under her back porch. And then my sister died when the kittens were about 5 months old so I started feeding them with the same intent but the local rescue is less interested in cats than it is in dogs, preferably puppies. I did, over the next few months get them to trust me enough that I managed to get the three boys fixed and by that time they were a bonded trio and I was sure that if I tried to split them up and find homes for them, most likely as barn cats, they would run off and become feral. Plus while they now let me pet them and cuddle them they are distrustful of any other humans other than me and Robin who feeds them on my yoga nights. The boys, Handsome Boy, Lovey, and Twin, are two years old this summer and live under Pam’s house. I lifted one of the skirt panels enough so that they can go in and out for shelter. Momcat, who is not attached to her sons at all, roams a little more but it’s also her home base. And the feral male Ghost who first started showing up last year and now makes himself at home though he still won’t let either of us touch him, so we feed him too.

Thunder was rumbling in the distance when I got up this morning and three hours later the sky was dark and the lightning was, if not right over us, very near with the flash and the bang happening almost simultaneously. Now, an hour later, it seems to have worn itself out. It’s quiet and the sun is shining. Did it bring us any rain? 

No. 

Oh, and I told Blondi Blathers that I would post a picture of the morning glory bush so here it is.

dealing with winter and cats and a dream

I have no pretty pictures to post or illustrate so here’s one from Christmas Eve. This iris that was blooming way too early.

Wednesday had a cloudless blue sky in the 40s and the snow and ice melted rapidly. It was mostly gone before it got to below freezing again that night. The streets were already clear and dry so my drive to SHARE Thursday morning, the whole 7 or 8 minutes of it, was cold but uneventful.

My attempt to get the outdoor cats into the shed for our coldest night Tuesday evening was unsuccessful. While they aren’t feral exactly, they are outdoor cats and there’s no way I can make them do anything they won’t do willingly. Only Handsome Boy, Lovey, and Twin showed up. We think maybe someone else feeds Momcat as she doesn’t always show up and roams farther and Ghost had been a no show for several days. Monday I fed them around 3:30, set up the little radiator type heater and then came back about 5 to see if I could get them in the shed for the night. Only Twin showed up when I called them and while he will let me pet him now, he will not tolerate even the thought that I might try and pick him up and the heater wasn’t working anyway so. Tuesday, Robin put her little radiator type heater in there and it turned out it wasn’t the heater after all but the outdoor plug not working. So she plugged the extension cord into the house. I was most concerned about Tuesday night though so when I went to feed them about 4:30 I put their food dishes in the shed with the door open. Handsome Boy came right in and started eating. Lovey and Twin eyed it with suspicion but eventually went in. As soon as I started to close the door they bolted and would not go back in if I was standing anywhere near the door. Twin wouldn’t go back in at all. I moved their food dishes out and back under the porch. They have enclosed shelter under the house and their fur has gotten thick and fluffy. Turned out it didn’t get as cold as first predicted Tuesday night, only down to about 20 or so. I didn’t even try and coax them in Wednesday or Thursday night of below freezing temps. They’re predicting 33˚ for tonight but that’s the last cold night for the foreseeable future.

Haven’t worked on the painting since Tuesday morning. I don’t think it’s finished but sort of stumped on how much more I want to do on the petals because I don’t want to diminish the focus on the pistil and stigma which is the subject of the painting instead of the whole flower. I sort of see the petals as an unfocused background suggesting petals. I had added more yellow but I didn’t like it so then lifted a lot off with a wet brush and a paper towel. I might add some unfocused light orange in the farthest corners. We’ll see. Still thinking about it.

I meant to publish this Wednesday and no time on Thursday. SHARE in the morning, then grocery shopping which I didn’t do on my regular Tuesday, late lunch, walk the dog since she’s been housebound all week, feed the cats (they all showed up, even feral Ghost who was very hungry and so dirty like he’d been hunkered down in a hole or squeezed under something in the dirt; Lovey and Handsome Boy were not happy to see him, expressing their displeasure but he would not be deterred, just taking the abuse as long as he got to eat), and yoga in the evening, dinner, clean up and close up the house, watched an episode of Eureka. I slept until my pill alarm went off this morning at 8:30. I had been having the strangest dream. I dreamed I was waking up but I couldn’t open my eyes and when I could finally force them open the light was so bright I would just close them again but I finally got up trying to see through barely open eyes or keep them closed as I moved around. And I was talking to some people and when I would open my eyes I couldn’t really see anything just shadowy shapes. I wasn’t really concerned about it, I knew it was temporary, that it had happened before and thought I would just go take a nap. And then it started clearing up, flashes of normal vision and then the painful light again but eventually I could see normally, which had segued into a completely different dream when the alarm went off. I’ve had the dream about not being to open my eyes several times over the years. Not the same circumstances but the wanting to wake up but not being able to get my eyes open and when I did manage to open them a bit all I could see was the bright light and it was too much effort to try and keep them open.

We’re finally on a warming trend, starting tomorrow our highs will be in the 60s, lows in the 50s, so I’ll be uncovering everything outside this weekend but the indoor stuff will stay until there’s no chance of another freeze. It is still January after all.

a quiet day

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I don’t do christmas. There are many reasons and evolutions of my dislike of the holiday. I’ve written about some of them in the past and may do so again in the future, but not today. In a way, now, it’s one of my favorite days. Weird, right? But it’s a ‘dead’ day. It’s a day in which there are no expectations, no demands on my time or attention, no things that need to be done because the country has basically shut down, quiet and still. I couldn’t get anything done even if I wanted to. It’s a day when I can do whatever I want or not do anything. 

So what did I do yesterday? I wrote some, sort of a chapter in the biography of my life which I may add to at some point and I may or may not ever publish. I worked on my painting finishing the last tree and starting on the background,

I made an apple crostata with some of the apples from SHARE. 

I fed the outdoor cats and gave them their daily dose of affection. Even Twin who now lets me pet him fully with long strokes before I put out the food instead of just his head while he eats though I have to approach him slowly. It took almost a year for him to trust me enough for this while I’ve been able to pick up and cuddle the other two for six months.

And now that the day is over I can post a picture of my latest drawing. I did it as a gift for my brother. He and Pam exchanged gifts every year but it’s been decades since I sent him anything even though he always sends some edible goodie to me. But Pam is gone, the glue that held us together so now more effort is required of me to have a better relationship with my brother. So, one of the things my brother does is keep honey bees, hence the subject of this drawing. The bee itself is 3" x 3", colored pencil.

Speaking of bees, this bumble bee was burrowing deep into the throats of the pink trumpet flowers.

excess crop, Ghost, the Evils

A morning prism cast on the wall behind me.

Allison commented on my last post asking if I had changed my font size because it was so small she had to enlarge it to read it. The answer is no, but anyone else have that problem? I write in Avenir Book font size 14, copy and paste into the create-a-post form on Blogger. I can increase the font size but the next largest is 18 which seems too big to me. The other thing I can do is change the size to ‘medium’ from ‘normal’ once it’s in the create-a-post form (which I’m doing this post). So what say you, my readers?

Another weird thing that happened to me on the Blogger dashboard for a few days was the Reading List was only showing me posts from 5 years ago or older. I discovered that I can select specific blogs on the reading list and get the current posts that way but it seems to have resolved itself as I’m getting current posts again.

Yesterday was a food delivery day from the regional food bank at SHARE. They had asked Jan if she wanted carrots and cabbages. She said she’d take two bags of carrots and one of cabbages. They sent 7 or 8 of carrots and at least 8 of cabbage. The mesh bags of carrots must have weighed 30 lbs if they weighed an ounce, maybe more, probably more, and the mesh bags of cabbage had 8 enormous heads each and were so heavy I couldn’t even pretend to pick one up. Just shoving one aside was effort enough. It looked like some local farmer donated his excess crop to the food bank and they were trying to get rid of it. Needless to say, everybody got an abundant amount of carrots and cabbages and we still didn’t give them all away. We also got I don’t know how many 20 lb bags of potatoes and large bags of small apples. Jan had the carrots split up into plastic grocery bags. These are the ones I’m taking to my neighbor. I don't know if you can tell how big that cabbage is in the picture but it was huge.

I may have mentioned that a black feral cat has been slinking up to eat after Robin or I feed the four outdoor cats, Momcat and her three sons. Initially he would wait by the back corner of the shop until the humans left and the four had eaten and he would come eat what was left. Then Robin started talking to him and he has gotten braver, approaching closer and finally coming to eat while she was out there and while the other cats were eating. Then she named him Ghost. Now he’s gotten used to me and Minnie. Minnie would chase him at first but I would call her back. Now he stands his ground when she runs at him which totally perplexes the dog. Tuesday I was over there petting and feeding the four. I put the bag of food back in the shed, turned around to get the water bowls and there he was. Ghost is aptly named.

He came in to eat while I was getting fresh water and setting the bowls back under the porch albeit keeping a wary eye on me. I hope at some point we are able to trap him and get him fixed too.

Tuesday I drove to the Shopping Mecca in Rosenberg. I had bought a 5” x 5” frame at Michael’s earlier for the drawing but I didn’t notice that it was not set up for hanging on the wall which is what I want. Actually what I wanted was a 6” x 6” frame but they didn’t have one. Well, damn. Now I was going to have to go the Evil Hobby Lobby which has a better selection of frames. So, Tuesday I drove out there and dammit, they didn’t have one either. I consoled myself about the wasted trip by reminding myself that at least I didn’t give them any of my money. Then I got our champagne for New Year’s as long as I was in Mecca. Once home I found exactly what I wanted on the Evil Amazon (don’t have a lot of choices out here in the boonies…Evil Empire, Evil Hobby Lobby, Evil Amazon so it’s pick your poison). It’s supposed to be delivered today. It’ll be Monday before I can get it in the mail so I hope it gets to its destination before Christmas.

Tuesday and Wednesday nights were our coldest nights so far, down in the 30s. Warmed up fast on Thursday, not terrible this morning, in the 60s, but overcast and wet with light rain off and on so today’s activity will be to start on my next painting. It’s just an exercise really, an overdone subject of aspen trees just to work on skills and technique so I’m not really invested in the end product. Later I plan on making potato leek soup for dinner.

 

wet winter weekend

The weekend was cold and wet, Sunday not as cold but still unpleasant and I rarely ventured out. Wasn’t really raining, just drizzly, wet. Saturday the dog and cat went out briefly a couple of times, relieved to come back in. Sunday Minnie stuck her nose out the back door a couple of times and, nope. Cat on the other hand wanted out until I let her out and 20 minutes later dashed in when I checked on her and then about an hour later wanted out the front door, convinced there would be different weather out that door. She was sorely disappointed, came in and fussed at me. This is how Minnie spent the weekend.

Saturday I only went out twice, once with the dog long enough for her to take care of her business and then later to go feed the outdoor kitties, Sunday only once for the same reason (three of the four in the picture…Momcat, Handsome Boy, and Lovey.) 

In between I finished the drawing I was working on and tried to make headway in my book. I’m reading The Book Of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Milville about a timelessly old warrior who cannot be killed, who has seen the rise and fall of empires so old no trace or memory is left. Well, he can die but he resurrects forming a whole new body. I picked it out at the library, thought it would be interesting but it’s hard going to get invested in. The writing style is a little difficult and a little hard to follow, starting in modern times with zero explanation, though it seems to be getting a little easier, she says, until the next segment I read from sometime in the far past. I’m only 80 pages in out of 337 at this point.

Sunday I got out my watercolors and prepared to do another painting, another landscape, transferring the major vertical lines to the paper though I didn’t actually start the painting. Today is the annual holiday potluck lunch at SHARE and I still have to make my contribution this morning.

Also today, I have to call the dentist to reschedule my teeth cleaning…again. They called and canceled the first time because the hygienist wasn’t coming in that day and rescheduled me for last Wednesday 3 pm. I got there on time, waited half an hour and decided if I waited any longer I would not have the time to get to yoga that evening so I told them I couldn’t wait any longer and rescheduled it for 11 am Tuesday. But it’s not a good time or day either since that’s the day I do my grocery shopping in the morning. I’m a little annoyed about it all anyway since last time I had to wait about 45 minutes. I’m going to tell them that if she’s running more than a half hour behind again to call and tell me before I show up on time as the office is only about 5 minutes away. As it turned out, I didn’t go to yoga last Wednesday because although I checked the radar in advance when I started out it was drizzling and getting heavier, not a condition I want to drive on the highway in the dark in. So I turned around and came back and I’d only gone the equivalent of a few blocks. It’s still overcast and heavy with fog and dew outside today with rain predicted but it’s going to be warm, low 80s. And now I need to go make the salad I’m taking.

The picture at the top is the pink trumpet flower shrub still blooming profusely. This is the best it’s ever done, just as full of blooms on the other side.

 

birthday party, flowers, some yard work, and speechless

Last Saturday was my great granddaughter’s pink dinosaur third birthday party. Her parents got a castle bouncy house, grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken, invited friends and family, 4 generations, the twins came in from Austin, so all of Sarah’s family was there. It was a fun day.

Jade and her mom have such a loving relationship.

And then Tuesday I went in for the TEE to check on the watchman device results of which show a very small leak well within the normal range and so I will still stop the eliquis blood thinner and go on baby aspirin and plavix for about four and a half months then just baby aspirin. But…he wants another TEE in three months to see if the leak has closed up or is stable. Damn. I told the wonderful nursing staff at the Heart Rhythm Center that they wouldn’t be seeing me again.

There’s a new car wash in town that was offering a free $25 carwash and I finally redeemed my coupon last Thursday. 

The car looks great and I even took advantage of the super powerful vacuum station and did the inside and the trunk. One of the volunteers at SHARE always ribs me about all the leaves in my trunk when he helps put the flattened cardboard in there so I can take it to the recycling container. Boy is he going to be surprised next week.

The confederate rose shrubs are starting to bloom. One opens white and turns pink and the other opens light pink and turns dark pink. Neither one is blooming all that well. So far most the buds aren’t opening fully and when they do the flowers are smaller than usual.

Today I got out and weeded the flower bed in front getting all the invasive dew berry vines out and the invasive ground cover that has taken over the yard since it flooded during Harvey and did the same in part of the long flower bed on the west side in back. I have two small purple philippine lily plants that are blooming in the front. The white reseeds readily and grows and blooms vigorously but its purple cousin is a slow grower. Of course it could be because it really doesn’t get enough sun in the front.

This morning I had a surprise visit. I was out at the back of the property when I heard a cat meowing and Lovey stuck his head out from under the Wicked Bitch of the West’s container. He came on out and while I was asking him what he was doing over here I heard another cat meow and I looked over to see Twin. Twin who is always silent. 

Looked around but didn’t see Handsome Boy anywhere. It’s a good thing neither Cat nor Minnie saw them because they would have been chased back across the street where they belong. Minnie doesn’t chase them in their territory when we go across the street to feed them because I’ve taught her not to but over here is a different story.

OMG. Marc just showed me the local bi-weekly newspaper with an article about being ready for early voting when it starts on Monday. They wrote “we have boo coo voting machines.” Boo coo. Just for the record it’s a french word and it’s spelled ‘beaucoup’. 

We’re doomed.

outdoor work and outdoor kitties

I spent a little over an hour and a half outside yesterday. First I emptied the truck onto the burn pile and then swept out all the small twigs and leaves so that Marc can go get it inspected and I can take all the accumulated metal down to the metal recyclers. Then I got out my little baby chainsaw and started on the other pecan tree with the hanging limb cutting away the now very dead canopy. There’s not much of the limb still attached, just a thin strip of bark. 

The only thing holding it up are the weight bearing branches dug into the ground. While it was overcast and only (!) 90˚ when I came in at 12:30, it was humid and my ball cap was soaked, my hair was soaked, my shirt was soaked, my underwear was soaked and there might have been some areas on my shorts that were still dry. Did I mention I was sweating profusely? 

I splashed cold water on my face and then stripped down naked and stood under the ceiling fan on high with arms and legs akimbo like da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man until I was dry enough to put on a lightweight dress that is so loose it only touches me on the shoulders, got a glass of ice water and sat under the aforementioned fan until I cooled off enough to take a shower.

I repeated it all again today sans emptying the truck but I only lasted a little over an hour. I’ve made a big dent the last two days in clearing out the small branches on the pecan tree by the back of the barn making three big piles since instead of four limbs I’m only dealing with two. And got bit on the neck by a tree ant for my trouble.

Here’s a before picture though it’s a different angle.

It’s been awhile since I posted pictures of the outdoor boys that live under Pam’s house. These are the kittens that were born last July under my sister’s shed, making them a little over a year old now. Pam started feeding Momcat and trapped her and got her fixed which left the three kittens that she was feeding with the intent of getting help from the local rescue group to have them fixed and adopted out when she died last November. I didn’t want the kittens wandering off before I could get them fixed so I continued feeding the little feral beasts. I eventually got them to trust me enough to be able to pet them and even pick up two of them and got all three fixed though the third had to be trapped and he is still wary. So here they are…sweet Handsome Boy, a brown tabby with gorgeous green eyes,

affectionate Lovey with his yellow eyes, who purrs readily,

and standoffish Twin who will sometimes let me pet him but not for very long.

I didn’t get a picture of Momcat but she’s still around though she doesn’t show up every night while the boys are always here. She’s very friendly and loves to be pet but can be kind of a bitch, hissing at the boys if they get too close. We think she was dumped when she got pregnant because we hadn’t seen her around until we saw her moving the kittens one day.

the week in review

rangoon creeper

I can’t believe it’s Saturday, that a week has gone by without a post or even time to read others and comment. I wrote the following yesterday with every intention of getting it posted, and this is kind of long, but we all know about good intentions and the road to hell. Not that I’m on the road to hell, at least I hope not or not yet anyway.

It’s been a busy week and I was gone three out of the last four days. Monday I went with my friend to her two doctor appointments in Galveston, a two hour drive from here. M was diagnosed with breast cancer last April and it has proved to be aggressive and spreading and they have yet to start any treatment. She’s had every type of scan and imaging you can imagine and more than once, just a constant series of doctors’ appointments. Usually her husband accompanies her but he needed to work so she asked if I would keep her company. I said yes and we left at 7 AM. Now she needs another biopsy, this time on spots in her lung and another lymph node. She met with the oncologist last Tuesday and they finally signed all the paperwork to start chemo in July. My own heart and brain problems pale in comparison. 

Speaking of which, I removed the heart monitor yesterday morning, boxed it up and sent it back. It had come with 4 sensor strips and I ended up using three of them. When I removed the last one in the shower Thursday morning this is what my skin looked like…

and these were supposed to be the ones for sensitive skin. It’s shiny because I had put antibiotic ointment on it before I took the picture. I’m glad I only had to wear it for a week.

Tuesday was grocery shopping for the week and my night to fix dinner. I made tostadas and a mango/peach/a little orange juice fruit salad.

I had a follow up appointment with the electrophysiologist Wednesday morning. He’s still not happy with my blood pressure even though it’s not terribly high so added another med to help bring it down some before the two upcoming procedures. He didn’t want to increase the dose of the one I have been taking because he felt it would slow my heartbeat too much. I asked him if I would still have to take the afib medication, too soon to tell, he said. Maybe lower the dose I asked, too soon to tell and really it’s only been a little over three weeks since the ablation. Feels like it’s been longer.

I usually get in within 30 minutes when I go see him but once in a while it takes longer. Wednesday was one of the long waits and it’s a small waiting room, only 10 chairs for two doctors and about half the people bring a spouse or adult child. My appointment was for 10:45 and I got the last empty chair and then a constant stream of people started coming. Nowhere to sit so they waited out in the hall. I have no idea why they were so backed up but it happens. Maybe there was an emergency earlier, who knows. I had brought a book so I just sat and quietly read while I waited. After a while an old guy with a walker (most of the patients were old and using walkers or canes this day) and his daughter came in and sat down and then another old guy with his walker and his wife with her walker came in. He sat in the only available chair and she went out in the hall. There was already one lady grumbling about the wait to whoever would listen and then this guy came in and he talked non-stop and LOUD, engaging the woman and the guy with his daughter and two other men waiting, talking about their individual heart problems and bitching about everything, the doctors scheduling too many people and making them wait eventually getting around to the bullshit nobody wants to work cause the government pays them to stay home (a total MAGAt). I just wanted to yell would you please SHUT UP! I mean, really, every time there was a lull of a minute I’d think finally and then that old fart would start up again about something else. I could have told you his whole life story, his medical history, and everything else he didn’t like if I’d have paid attention. I didn’t get in the room til 12:30 and was so thankful for the peace and quiet.  On my way home Abby texted me to see if I would lead the class that night so I did that.

Thursday of course was SHARE and then three errands and always feeding the not so wild wildlings every day unless I get Robin to do it for me, and yoga. Wednesday when I went to feed them Minnie slipped out and ran over. I always leave her at home because she will want to chase the kitties when I’m there to feed them. But she was a good dog so I’ve been letting her come with me the last two days albeit on a leash which I hook around a post to get her used to the kitties and the kitties used to her. 

Twin trying to keep cool under the back porch

I refused to watch the debate Thursday night, it would just have made me angry, waited instead to read about what people were saying. Apparently part of the rules were that the moderators would not fact check the candidates in real time which allowed Trump to lie relentlessly. And I read that Biden had a cold but got better as it went. if all people are going to look at is how they looked and spoke instead of what they said it does look bad. Biden is a measured and thoughtful speaker while Trump is bombastic and everything he said was a lie, projecting his own criminality and intentions on Biden, took credit for things that Biden has accomplished, continually trashed the country, didn't answer any of the questions. I don't think either candidate lost any votes, or gained any for that matter, as a result but I do wish certain democrats and news outlets would stop harping on Biden’s age. Trump is 78, so basically just as old as Biden, and in recognizable severe cognitive decline and if he gets elected again he will also be in his 80s during his term. Why does no one ever point that out? They want Biden to step aside and allow another candidate except there’s a big problem with that. No one else is running. It doesn’t matter who you would prefer or support, if that person doesn’t want the job you can’t make them be the candidate just because you want it. Everyone that has been suggested has said no, they support Biden. Fortunately, this is early still and will be long forgotten. And Biden on Friday gave a speech to a group where he admitted he may not debate as well or speak as strongly as in the past but he knew one thing, he knew how to tell the truth. Perhaps if he had prefaced his performance in the debate with ‘folks, I’m still recovering from a cold I got in Europe last week so forgive my raspy voice’, certain democrats wouldn’t have gone into a tailspin. His speech on Friday when he wasn’t being bombarded by one lie after another proved that Biden is still the man we need. Let’s give him the House and a bigger margin in the Senate so that he can finish what he has started and then a younger candidate can carry it on next.

red periwinkles