Farmer's market.

We went to the farmer's market for a change on Saturday - haven't been there in a while. Everything is too tempting. Loved the tractor tablecloth and the lovely colored asparagus. The weather was great, what we'd used to call a "perfect flying day" with cumies (cumulus) popping and cloud streets forming over the Rockies.

Ducks

A friend who has ducks just had a batch that hatched 5 days ago. Here they are with their first ever swim in water. They are sure cute! Mom duck wouldn't let us near them. There are eleven of them.

Singing his song

Here's the yellow-headed blackbird singing his song.

Out for a Bike Ride

I rode back to the pond. It had changed a lot since January (Jan. 17th post) when I visited it last. Now fully leafed out and filled with birds it was very pleasant. I found a garter snake but it wouldn't let me pick it up. There were dozens of swallows flying about near this pond cruising for bugs but they were too fast for the camera.

yoga bags

I have been making a set of yoga mat bags, trying to use up some recycled fabric scraps and old fabric from past sewing projects. Several were featured at a local gallery Christmas sale last winter and I gave away some for Christmas presents but others were unfinished. I finally finished up the last batch yesterday. This new set is on the ETSY website. I have been using one myself for my own yoga mat. Here's a picture of two of them. They all were hand dyed in various ways and some have been batiked, and all are appliqued. Finishing the project off used up all my old fabric with only small scraps left that I don't feel so bad about throwing out.

getting greener

Spring is progressing nicely , especially since we had two days of rain this weekend. Yes! That is an actual puddle! Rain is such a welcome happening - we are sooo excited when we actually get some. The garden is coming up and flowers are blooming. The leaves on the trees have come out and are almost full grown. The spruce buds have burst through their little brown caps releasing the new blue branches. The bottom two photos are my lettuce and onions.

Spooky

Spooky our black cat still looks for Luna and wanders around now and then searching for her. He still insists on those 6 AM feedings when Luna used to get her shots. Alas, I am hoping to be able to start sleeping in a little later.

Reviews

Got a great review of my show in the paper today. The artwalk opening is tonight and I will have my new books available. The article is at: www.timescall.com

Books have Arrived

My new books arrived this morning. I am so excited - they did a fabulous job and they are just beautiful.

New Book

I talked to Barbara Stone today. Her website is
http://www.polarbeargallery.com/story.htm
She liked my work and the idea of my new book that's arriving tomorrow. She's excited about the idea of artists publishing their work in books that could show in more detail the motivations and explanations surrounding their work. We are going to talk about it some more in the future. Meanwhile I am excited about my books arriving soon. Friday is the Artlink opening.

Luna's gone

Poor Luna - she lasted till Tuesday morning. I talked to the vet. It was diabetic neuropathy that finally shut her down.

Changing?

I'm thinking of changing this over into an art blog, maybe gradually.

Also new

We got a bunch of tomato bedding plants today and I put them in, 7 better boy and 2 cherry tomato plants. So far my spinach and arugula, onions and garlic are coming up. No sign of lettuce, swisschard and the beans yet. Also Luna has taken a turn for the worse. She's losing interest in food and is terribly weak. She can no longer sit up to eat. We are hand feeding her and carrying her to the litter box. I have discontinued the insulin since she's not eating enough to metabolize it. We are wondering if she will make it through the weekend, but she's proved us wrong before. I guess we will see. Also Dale is well enough now to drive his truck around which makes life easier. It's an automatic so he doesn't have to shift. The turn signal is a challenge though.

Later Post Sunday afternoon: Luna's gone down hill radically from this morning. She is close to going into a coma I think - not very responsive , no longer able to even lift her head, no longer eating at all. Tonight may be her last. Poor baby.

Three New Things

Lots of things going on which resulted in a couple new things:

1. First the refrigerator decided to start dying. We began getting a lot of sour milk and the vegetables started to go bad rather quickly. A service call verified that the compressor was dying and there was no hope. I have been keeping Luna's insulin next to ice packs to keep it cold. Yesterday we got a new black shiny Samsung model and it is now installed. It reflects everything as you can see. It did come at a bad time considering all the medical bills we still owe. But yay for cold food again. Also it's a ton more energy efficient than the old one.(Energy Star and elegible for a rebate)

2. I had the opening of my show last night and it went well. Next week will be Artwalk now officially renamed "ArtLink", and I get another opening again. My new book of the art collection will arrive on Thursday.

3. I got new shoes for the event - first time in I don't know how long - real shoes not just sneakers or whatever.