Happy Halloween Weekend!

Halloween was so fun when our kids were little!  I miss those times when they would get all dressed up and we'd carry them all over our neighborhood trick or treating.  We had one of those great neighborhoods that was chock full of young families and wonderful friends - a place where families from all over our little town would bring THEIR kids to trick or treat!  It was like one big neighborhood party on Halloween! I miss that...  And this is not necessarily a Halloween post.  Just didn't know what to call this 'un! 

Alice has been up to her antics.  Last night she climbed up the giant sycamore tree. I heard her meowing up there and looked for her with a flashlight.  She was WAYYYYY up there at least 20-25 feet off the grown. She wasn't trying to get down, just enjoying the view I guess.  Maybe trying to get away from Jasper (or CB as we call him sometimes - Cry Baby). 

Anyway, there is a big hole in the middle of the truck that we've seen owls get in before.  Alice found the hole, and she was having a ball playing around in there.  I couldn't convince her it was time to come down so we left her up there.  She's good at climbing trees and backing down.  Hayley and I were outside at the fire pit enjoying the chilly autumn evening and the warm fire.

Isn't she cute???

"Alice, don't you wanna come down  now?"  "No way, Jose," she says. "Jasper is still out there on the loose!"

"Come on down, Alice,  we'll give you a treat???"

"Nope," she says.  "I'm going to stay up here and scare away all the goblins on Halloween night!"

"BOO!!!"

Fall on the Farm

Last hay cut for the season at Sand Flat Farm.  The hay is already all sold and that's good. When we get our own livestock, I'm sure we'll be keeping some of that.  Below the sycamore tree is turning golden - I think these are my favorite tree - I love the graceful way the branches grow and the white bark with the different colors of grey and green and brown sheets of bark that peel off.  They kinda remind me of aspens on steroids. I love 'em!

We're starting to see color around here.  I spotted this beautiful red maple on the way to work last week. They don't last long, but they're gorgeous while they last!

There is a new cat hanging around - I have named him Jasper (just for you Aunt Amelia). He is a complete and utter nuisance.  He's a big cry-baby, meowing all the time and he's LOUD, and gets all underfoot.  He sits at the front or back door and yowls and cries for someone to come outside and feed him at all hours, AND he's finicky!  He won't eat the canned catfood that comes in little chunks - he only wants the solid stuff and Meow Mix crunchy food. He'll turn his nose up at anything else.

I'm sure Miss Alice is  attracting boyfriends right now, but she goes to the vet Monday for her spay. I cannot make this Jasper leave.  I'm about ready to haul him off and drop him in somebody else's neighborhood.  You can tell that he's been around people.  I figger somebody dropped him at our farmhouse, too.  If he'd quit waking us up and caterwauling at all hours of the day and night I wouldn't mind him staying - 'specially since Mr. Sam disappeared  :(   I did tell Jasper, however, that he would be making a trip to the vet for an anatomy alteration, too, should he decide to stay...

He's a nice big tomcat with beautiful markings, looks like he's been drinking chocolate milk, AND he's got pretty blue-green eyes.

Alice doesn't like him. She's been either under the porch OR on the roof.  Jasper is very put out that I'm feeding him at the garden shed, and I'm letting Alice in to eat.  He eats all her food, and she's not getting anything. Here she's hiding from him under my wagon full of mums. Very cute!

Now I'll leave with you these beautiful autumn sunsets.  The golden glow of autumn sunsets - it's magical and beautiful to me to see the palette of God streaming across the sky. Enjoy!!!

Margo's Industrial Chic Linky Party!!!

I was excited to hear about Margo's Party to Show Off Your Industrial Chic!  I've never done a linky party before, so I thought I would join in the fun -- only thing is, I'm still stuck in the Primitive/Cottage era, as Margo would say.  She has evolved to Industrial Chic from Cottage.  It IS very cool.  Here's my one and only attempt for Industrial Chic and it's not in my house, but in my garden shed.  I wasn't really trying to be Chic, but perhaps she might include this just for grins!

This is an old display case for metal weather stripping that I bought at a garage sale.  I didn't know what to use it for until I got it home and decided that it would be great to hold my garden tools.  It sits neatly in the corner and keeps them all contained and not just piled up in the floor like they were.  I guess you could say this thing is actually "repurposed" but I guess Industrial Chic is repurposed stuff, too!

 Here's another close-up shot of this display case.  I just love it - AND it's that vintage-y green, too! Can't go wrong with that!  It's got all different sized holes in the top for different size weather stripping - which gives me all the right spots for my tools.

Well, there you have it!  This is my contribution to the Industrial Chic party!  Can't wait to see what the rest of you have to show off!  (Margo, where's the refreshments???)

Gophers and my Not-So-Farm-Cat Alice

WE GOT SOME RAIN  MONDAY!  After about two whole months or longer with nary a drop!

Goin' gopher huntin' today... several new mounds have popped up around our place since it rained.  They have to remodel their runs after the rains.  And since it practically hasn't rained most of the summer, they've got some major overhaulin'  and cleanin' out to do.

Above - here's the one from last spring that I sported as a hood ornament on my car...

Anyway, that's what I'm doin' later on today.   Dear Daughter, if you're readin' this, just look away and shake your head in disgust and you can be embarrassed all you want.  I'm sorry, but your mama is a true country gal at heart - I know you'd like me to be a little more refined, but sorry, it ain't gonna happen in this lifetime... Ok, it's evening now, and I set out two traps - will check them in the morning.  Alice was following me around while I was digging in the mounds and setting the traps.  She like to have got her little paw squished in the trap.  I jerked it out of her reach just in time!

AND since Alice the cat hasn't been much of a mouser or gopher-er yet, I guess I gotta do it.

Speaking of Alice, I was really put out with her yesterday.  In addition to gophers, we've also got moles.  Since the rain on Monday, there are little runs all over sections of the back yard.  Well, I was poking around in one of them and she came over trying to see.  Then she proceeded to dig a little herself and started sticking her clean white front legs down into the runs up to nearly her shoulder and reaching as far as she could into their tunnels.

"Oh Great!" I thought, "maybe she's decided she's going to hunt and kill gophers now! That would be wonderful!"  Well, she dug around and felt all down in the runs and smelled and sniffed and acted all excited!

Then she turned around, squatted and did her job in the mole run!!!  That little toot!  Didn't even bother to cover it up either - just took off runnin' like a baboon!  And here I thought she was gonna make a good outdoor gopher/mole cat!

Which brings me to my next question...  I've had cats all my life, mostly indoor cats.  I had one big ole Siamese Tomcat named "Bandit" that was in and out.  I'm sure Alice can find a place to stay warm, but I'm a little worried about her I guess.  I don't want to have a house or box for her because I'm afraid she'll get trapped in it if a coyote or something came sniffing around. I'm not sure what to do about it. I think she still gets up under the house, but I want to have a safe and warm place for her during the winter.  Got any ideas?

What do you other outdoor cat owners do during the cold weather?  I see other cats outside in bad weather and I'm sure I'm just worrying too much.  But see, I get attached and always start babying my pets.  I wanted a "farm cat" and now I've got one.  I just want to feel good about her having a safe place outside...

So  ya'll tell me what you do with your outside kitties!

Remember to pop over to Margo's Industrial Chic linky party to view all the cool decor AND to see what prizes she's offering!

Industrial Chic

Doing a little advertising for my dear friend, Margo, at Robolady's Blogspot - she's have a super-neato Industrial Chic Show-n-Tell link-up on Friday, October 15.  Go on over, and tell her I sent ya, and hook up with her.  She has the COOOOOLLLEEESSSTTT  industrial designs for her junk-turned-decor.  It's the wave of the future in high-end decorating.  Margo is already way ahead of the industrial revolution!  Hope to see you there!  Even if you don't have anything industrial, be sure to leave a comment!

Keep yer dress down!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month & Other Palaverin'...

I'm sure most of you know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month - GO GET YOUR MAMMOGRAMS and do your self-exams!!!  Do everything you can for yourself and your beloved family and friends to stay on top of technology and ways that we can help beat this disease. 

Seen this bumper sticker?  I've been seein' it around my hometown quite a bit lately.  A little chauvinistic, but you get the message.  I happen to love it!  A serious issue to be sure, but hey, whatever gets the message across! You know men can relate to this bumper sticker alot more than one that has the word "breast" on it - they can hardly even say the word!  much less warn the female members of their families.

On a more serious note, a good friend of mine here just had a double mastectomy last Friday, October 1.  She has breast cancer in her family, and they found a very small spot on one of her breasts.  She decided to make the ultimate sacrifice of losing both breasts in order to forestall any recurrence later on (Lord willing). What a tough choice to have to make - I know she was thinking of her husband and 4 kids as she made this decision.  Please keep my friend, Wanda, in your prayers...  thank you.

Now, on to other Palaverin'.....

My son's kitty, Lucy, loves to watch TV.  She prefers FOX news and Family Guy (which I detest - it's so crass) but she does this quite often.  Isn't she pretty?  My chihuahua, Bug, is staying at my son's house while we get the house re-vamped a little.  Bug has always hated other dogs, but she loves Lucy.  They play together, they eat together, they sleep together.  It's amazing.  They run and jump and mock-fight. Of course, Lucy has sharp toenails and sometimes we hear a yelp from Bug when the action gets a little too rough.  But it hasn't stopped Bug from snuggling up with Lucy on a blanket on the couch. 

You know how on a slick coated dog, if they get a little tuft of hair sticking up from the rest - if you pull on it, it comes out and usually has a little bitty scab attached?  Well, sometimes we find those on Bug - results from these two scuffling, I'm sure.  (was that gross? was it? I wasn't trying to be - just seein' if ya'll noticed stuff like that...)

Here's a few random Autumn scenes - paintings I have done in the past. The first one is a watercolor (under glass) of an old red barn in our area.  This is actually how it looked in Autumn.  I took some pictures of it several years ago, painted it a few years later, drove by the area a few months ago, and couldn't find it at all.  Don't know if it's been torn down or things just grew up around it.  It's sad to me to see the old things just fade away never to be seen or remembered again...

Below is a terrible photo of a plein-air 8x10 piece I did whilst in the company of some of my art friends.  We went out on a 40 degree day with the wind whipping around and we had very pink cheeks and noses, gloves on which made it very hard to paint, the oil paints were not moving around very well, and my eyes and nose were watering so badly, I just gave up and let 'em run.  But I got my painting done. Another old barn with a squeeze chute.  I love old barns...and other old structures out in the country...  sorry for the picture quality...

 

I also love back lighting from the sun or other light source. See below.  Late afternoon looking not quite into the sun and the trees were just starting to get some good color.  I love painting outside.  Sometimes I bring my 8x10 studies into the studio and then do a large painting of them.  I have 4 wonderful friends that I paint with.  We are all so different in the way we paint, the way we were brought up, the ways we believe, etc.  But one thing holds us together and makes us good friends - painting is our muse.  We "understand" each other.  We respect each other and our differences, and we love each other in spite of everything else. Painting/Art - seeing it, smelling it, touching it, breathing it in, absorbing ourselves in it.  We have to do it ---   or die.

I can't wait til 2-3 more weeks.  I've been working here for the last 8 years. I'm so ready to get back outside on a more regular basis and paint with my buddies.  I've hired another lady to work part-time.  (that's why I have been MIA here lately - along with all the other stuff going on in my life right now.) We are extending our business hours from 8-5 Mon-Sat. I will work Mon-Wed. and she is working Thurs - Sat.  My art gang is chomping at the bit for us all to get out and paint together, ALL of us, again like it used to be. They've missed me - it's good to be missed.  I've done a little painting these last 8 years, but not like I was before.  I'm hitting the road again, the hiways and byways, the parks, the countryside, wherever my muse stirs my soul.  I hope to start a painting blog when I get rolling again.  Wish me luck!

Enjoy this short Autumn season! and as always - Keep your dress down!