Still Here

I hope you had a great holiday weekend. If you're like me, it was a busy one. :)

I just wanted to say hello and that I'm still out here. I have had a couple more of the 21 Secrets workshop projects finished for several days, and I was going to scan them to share here, but I started cleaning up my work room/space, and in the process misplaced the pages, along with my friend's birthday card. Her birthday is today and I still haven't found either. I know they're in this room, but I don't know which pile they're in. :/

Not much time, or space, to work on art for several days. Too many other things, called life, going on around here at once, besides the really hot weather.

Two of my buddies, Cooter (goat) & Miko

 As soon as I find the pages I will share them. Meanwhile, I hope you are having a wonderful creative summer wherever you are. Later y'all! :)

"Doris"-1st Donkey Sketch

I shared my first attempt at sketching a goat with you, so I thought I'd share my first attempt at sketching a donkey. It's a quick sketch from a photo I took, and I used a Zig marker. I seem to have an aversion to leaving room for feet, and the large ears almost didn't fit, but all in all, I think I did okay on it. And Doris does have woolly bangs. :)

This is Doris. When we answered the ad in the paper for a donkey, the guy told us it was a female. For some reason hubby started calling her Doris as soon as we went and saw her.

Doris is various shades of tans and beiges with a really dark brown stripe down the spine and shoulder blades. He also has a deformed back foot. The hoof turns up like an elf's shoe, but it doesn't hamper him about getting around. We don't know if he was born that way or it's been broken. The halter was so tight that it had grown into the top of his head and made sores under his chin. We finally got it off him though, and it's healed up and he is free of it. He's only a couple of years old and has been through so much. He's loved now though and is a pet.

Doris was in a small pen with a horse and a pony, not a blade of grass, just mud, with a makeshift shelter barely big enough for the three of them, a roll of sagegrass hay, and an empty dishpan for water. They were a sad lot. Cooter goat went in and out of the pen as he pleased, so he was getting plenty of grass and water.

We fell for Doris and Cooter as soon as we saw them, and we felt sorry for the other two. The fellow was selling out to move up north, and hubby got him to make a price for the three of them, plus the goat. So the next morning, on our 40th anniversary, we brought them to live on our small farm with our cows.

We kept them in the barn lots with plenty of feed, water, and shelter for a few weeks. We wormed them, gave them treats, and spent lots of time with them before turning them loose to have the run of the farm. They are still having trust issues with us, but they are getting better. They look like different animals than what we first brought home, and they have already given us much joy. You can no longer see their bones and the lice are gone. They are fat and sleek and have life in their eyes again. I'm thankful we are able to give them a home and love, along with carrots, apples, and they adore caramel cookies.

Doris turned out to be male, but the name had already stuck, so Doris it is. We wanted a donkey to help with the coyote problem with our calves, but Doris likes the barn and Cooter doesn't get too far from him. We've been told that most donkeys are hateful, but Doris has such a sweet personality and spirit that everybody just falls for him. Doesn't matter whether he helps with coyotes or not, he has a home and love now, as do Cooter and the other two.

Two of the Four Musketeers (Doris and Cooter). Stay tuned for the third member, and if I get REAL brave, I may try a sketch of the four together...

Ghost Story & Image

I posted a little ghost story with pictures on Scribbles if you'd like to read it.

I can't get my copy and paste on blogger to work anymore or I would have posted it here too. Sorry! :)

Red Fox in Black Boots

We've seen this red fox in the backyard two evenings this week. The first time it was running one of the cats across the yard until it found some cat feed and it stopped to eat that. It was right before dark. It saw us watching it through the kitchen window and didn't run.

I wondered where Sammidog was and went to the door to see. He was laying on the porch with his feet dangling off the edge watching the fox. The fox didn't move until I stepped out on the porch and yelled at it. It ran through the fence and up through the pasture.

Of course, as soon as it started running away Sammidog took out after it like he was going to eat it up. He stayed on this side of the fence though. :)


Click on to enlarge --See his black boots

Yesterday evening it came back a little earlier and I managed to snap a couple of photos through the window over the sink. Sammidog was on the porch and the cats were all hiding. The fox was looking for something to eat as it ran back and forth on the little bank behind the house. All of a sudden it started toward the porch.




I made a racket trying to get a closer shot of it through the window (below) and it turned and ran back across the yard with Sammidog giving chase. It is so beautiful, but dangerous, not only to our animals, but to us. Sadly, we will have to do something about it. It's the first fox we've seen in a long time, and it's much larger than the others. I love animals and I always want to make a pet out of everything that wanders into the yard, but that's not a good idea most of the time.





I started to delete the above photo, but when I adjusted it some and enlarged it, it looked kind of dreamy looking, and I liked it, so I'm keeping it. :)

Sammidog and the cats were all acting hyper-alert this morning, and Sammidog was whining and carrying on, so the fox is probably still around close. Jim thinks it may have a den in the hayfield next to the house. He's seen a den that something is using. We'll see.

Sorry about the picture quality, but I had to take them through the dirty window over my sink. Didn't have time to clean it first. :)

Have a great weekend!

Elephants and Playing

The Inspire Me Thursday challenge this week is elephant, so I'm sharing a small watercolor painting that I did. It came out of one of my quirky doodle sketches. I was "playing" with colors intuitively. Playing also ties in with the creative every day theme for January.


The little guy below was half of a salt/pepper set. He was in a box of "stuff" that my dad bought at an auction. I confiscated him to give to a friend who collects elephants, but he didn't want to leave my house, so I had to find her another elephant at a flea market, which she seemed to like.

He's been sitting on the window sill over my kitchen sink for years now. The cork stopper is gone and he has 10 cents marked in black on the bottom. Somehow or other his toes have gotten chipped off since he's been here. There's just something about him that endears him to me. What can I say?
I've gotten off to a slow start creatively so far this year, but I'll eventually get back on track. So far I've written a page in my 14 x 17 sketchbook and collaged another page, played with the mp3 player that Santa brought me, designed a new banner for this blog, taken some pictures, and done quite a bit of creative thinking.

I'm thinking that I'm going to have to clean off my work area (see previous post...only it looks worse now) before I can get much done though. Things are piled up so high that they're beginning to slide off. I bought some of the large red storage envelopes from Dick Blick to hold my drawings, paper paintings, etc. I just haven't put them to use yet.

I didn't make any resolutions this year. I make the same ones every year and I never do them, so I didn't bother this time. I am making a list of goals that I would like to achieve creatively though, even though Jim is retiring in Feb, and our lives will change drastically again. We'll see how it goes. :)

Bobbie Tail & Nacho Say...

For some reason I couldn't get the writing on the picture to go any bigger, no matter which font I used. Sorry! It says, "Happy Mooooooo Year From Rabbit Hop."

Wishing you all the best year ever.

IMT-Tables

The Inspire Me Thursday challenge this time is Tables, so I thought I'd share my art/writing/dining table with you. It's a little messy, but that's how I like it. It looks really good in this picture compared to what it looks like right now. :) I usually do my computer stuff and writing on one side of the table, my art stuff on the other, and other necessary "stuff" gets mixed together in the middle. :)

On second thought, I'll show you what it looks like right now (the bottom two pictures-sorry about the quality). Should I be ashamed? LOL

Needless to say, we do very little dining on this table. :)

Thanksgiving

This is TT (Tiny Target because she has bullseye markings on her side like her dad (Target) and her mom (Little Target). She is small for her age and darts around like a chipmunk. She's a hoot and I'm thankful for her too. :)

I would like to list all of the people and things I am thankful for, not just today, but every day, however, it would take forever, so here are just a few:

I am thankful for God, my friends and family (both mine and my husband's), that I love and am loved, my new friends in blog land, my cats, cows, Sammidog, the passion for art and writing that I have, and all of the lovely people I've met through those and other hobbies, a warm, comfortable house, art supplies, the 4-wheeler, Sammidog's new insulated house that Spotty-Butt (the kitten) shares with him, the military that are away from their families trying to keep us free and safe, and the list goes on..............

Take time to stop and count your blessings. What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving. Have a safe and happy weekend.

IMT Challenge

This week's Inspire Me Thursday challenge is to use an Einstein quote. I chose "The most precious things in life are not those one gets for money" and digitally placed it on a favorite photo that I took through the dining room window one day. The photo quality is not great, but the scene kind of fit the quote, and it's true, the best things in life can not be bought. A noon day siesta in the shade with a loved one is one of those things. :)

I couldn't help but smile when I looked out the window and saw Tigger Top and Greybo spooning on the concrete rabbit bench in the shade. Yes, there are two cats on the bench if you look closely. The one behind is a light gray. :)

Remembering Daddy

Tulips were one of daddy's favorite flowers, so this little watercolor painting is for him. He left us unexpectedly on Nov. 11, 2004, four years ago, and not a day goes by that I don't miss sharing my life with him. All the little day to day things. He is always in my heart and I feel his presence around me continually. He was a good dad, and though I'm a senior citizen now, I'm still his "Baby Girl." Always will be.

Iris...Is it Real....Or Not?

This one is real (see the rose from a couple of days ago). Mama found it growing volunteer in the end of the garden last week. Don't you just love the color? It's the large variety. Notice the fancy vase?

She has several flowers blooming right now. Her lilac bush is really pretty this year, and her little bunch of red tulips too. Her pink peony is loaded with buds, but her white one only has a few.

Irises are pretty, as are all flowers, but the white peony is my favorite. I absolutely love the white peony scent. The other colors don't smell the same, although they are just as beautiful. When my maternal grandparents were living they always gave me their first peony bloom every spring. If I didn't stop by, Papa would bring it to me. Now Mama does, and one of her first daffodils.

I have a white peony bush, but it doesn't do much. My fault. It hasn't been worked or taken care of for a few years. I'm surprised it's still living. It had a couple of buds this year, but the frost killed them. I'll just help Mama enjoy hers. :)

Most of my flowers have gone to flower heaven, as I have accumulated a few cats and they think I pot and plant flowers for them to dig in, lay on, or swing in. I even tried putting a long planter of cacti on the outside kitchen window sill over the sink. I got up one morning to find a cat laying on the cactus. He thought I'd fixed him a bed, I reckon. I just gave up trying. I miss the flowers (good therapy), but I like the cats too (also good therapy). I guess sometimes you have to sacrifice one thing in order to have another. Anyone know how to keep cats out of where you don't want them?

I don't know how I got from irises to peonies to cats, so I'll quit while I'm ahead...or behind...or whatever. :) Have a great week!

Mollie B Muse Doll

Thought I would share the doll I made to enter into the recycle bin art challenge in the Mojo Art Group this month. Everything is recycled from discarded stuff except the fiberfill stuffing and the face pin. I drew off my own pattern, cut it out of an old table cloth topper, and stuffed it, sewing across the knees, elbows, and seat so she's posable. Her strapless dress is made from an old skirt of mine. Her boots, gloves, and underwear are made from an old black dress glove, and her shawl is made from a piece of gauze bandaging left over from hubby's burn accident. Her hair and the boot feathers came out of an old feather duster made of Asian feathers. The silver choker necklace is a broken hoop earring, and the other necklaces are a silver chain looped around her neck with a palette, paint tube, and brushes charm. A porcelin face pin with a white feather, given to me a long time ago by a great-aunt, completes her. She wound up 16" tall.

I wish her hair showed up better. The feathers are gorgeous shades of reddish-brown, black, and brown shades mingled together. The little alphabet beads on her boots spell BE, as in "Just Be."

I don't know if I should call her an art doll or not, but I am. :) She refused to wear a lot of ribbons and flowers and she squirmed so much that I could barely dress her. Impatient she was, but she was sure fun to create, and with her legs and arms crossed she looks like she's got attitude.

She might be saying, "Ok, I'm here now, so create something!" :)