Night of the Full Moon

I bundled up in warm winter clothes as I prepared to feed the chickens .... it was still snowing out there... a lovely evening as far as I'm concerned. The chickens paid no attention to the weather.... they plowed right thru the snow and met me at the gate. Nice to have friends :-)

So tonight was full moon .... dogs howl; roosters crow; all sorts of things happen on full moon nights ... so I'm told.    Actually not much happening tonight because we are having one of our deepest snow storms of this year so far.... so here are some fotos.... maybe you think you saw them already.... however, it was very refreshing to be out there ..... and I got to see lots of quail tracks all over the place.... and these are fresh fotos from a few minutes ago.... howray for digital cameras
You have a good full moon

Scratch Board Class

Scratch Art is a reductive technique wherein a white board is coarted with black india ink. After the ink has dried it is scratched off to reveal the white underneath. Any sharp tool may be used to scratch off the black ink but there are specially made instruments to do the job in case you care to buy them... of course. Some of the instruments used to scratch are: sewing needle; razor blade; exacto life; dental tools; oil-free steel wool. the CVAA provided all the materials and tools for this class. I used a sewing needle and a manufactured tool.
Here is my first attempt. this was a fun project. I may do it again.

Yes... this is my rooster that lives in the field near the cabin... no... he did not stand still long enough for me to make a sketch.... I took a picture and used it as a reference. the morning, before I left for the class, I fed the chickens and they were all happy...... when I got back there was one missing..... the wild goose nesting in the field was also missing. Jim told me that the chickens were scattered all over the place including the golf course. Since these birds never wander far from their coop we think that whatever got the goose either got one of the hens or she ran off terribly freightened and got lost. Even the rooster was a block away by the waterfall in the golf course. Tonight, all that are left are safely looked in the coop.

Here is the class and what they all produced.

The other day

The other day I wandered out
to gaze upon the beauty near
The fog had filled the valley and the hills
it made the day quite misty here
When low lying clouds turn all to grey
there is a certain serenity that day
I love the fog, every now and then
it makes life clear for me
It provides a chance to contemplate
that life's for love, and not for hate.

So the foggy day inspired this 6x8 sketch.... oil on canvas board.
Today the snow is gone ... the fog is gone.... the sun is back and the sky is blue.... the hens are laying and the rooster is crowing ... the robins are chirping and the creek is flowing...... dang it's great not having TV and the news!!!!

Another exciting Spring Day

Here it is almost the end of April 2010... time flies when you're having fun :-)
I've been getting things in order around here and picked up some old sketches... 6x8's ... and added a few touches to make them fit the new scenery. I like this valley..... about 500 feet higher than where I was before and that makes a difference.  You saw yesterday's post with tah storm brewing... well it landed down here last night and this morning there was several inches of very wet heavy snow..... just like in New York and New England. Very rare for here and an interesting change. .... and check it out... usually our Spring storms are gone by noon....... it's still there and the afternoon is almost gone. I gave you a glimpse of looking out the window before I stepped out onto the deck. Heh, heh... there are the chickens... when they hear the door they all come a runnin'. Pets can bring a measure of happiness... even chickens.
Apparently there are certain lifestyles that aid long life..... David Bruettner has traveled around the world for the past 5 years investigating those folks who live longest. I'm sure he hasn't hit them all yet but he does have interesting stories to tell. Check out his article in the National Geographic
http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/live-longer-dan-buettner-text/1
He lists 9 secrets to a long life...life styles these folks live by.... you probably know some of them... yup... happiness is one of them ... make yourself happy ..... Abe Lincoln said you are going to be about as happy as you want to be. Ya know... old Abe was right. Smile and be happy today.... shake off some of that stress ... go for a walk.

Nice to see old friends and family

This is today...... it snowed a little last night down here in the valley and the flurries continued during the day ... nothing much on the ground here early in the morning and nothing at all now. I guess the High Sierras got a little....... it was like a short visit from an old friend or family..... these little storms come and go during the late Spring... we expect them... they are kinda resfreshing.... but I can't wait for permenant warm weather. I got out for bike rides the last couple of nice days we had. ... not really warm enough for me to sit out there and paint right now so I keep busy inside

Climbing a small mountain

Maybe Spring is really here to stay... fingers crosses... today it was in the high 70's and I'm lovin' every minute of it. Local dafodils are in full bloom... down in Carson and Reno the apple trees are in bloom... and I'm outta here on the bike...............
Well believe it or not I've got the easel set up again and sorted out all the supplies... time to get going with the painting...and for the past couple days I've been a today I took aim at the Bosc pear sitting on the cutting board. It's easer to paint things we love.... and that we can eat when finished.

There may be some out there that think ol'geezers can't make it up the hill any more... maybe they think an ol' geezer is really "over the hill"..... got news for ya tho... this is where I am going today... it's close to home and will be great fun....... ya'll come on over and we'll do it together somme time

Can't go anywhere in this valley without meeting up with a friendly neighbor.....

OK... let's get started up the grade... this is going to be fun....

Yup... it's still fun... and we're starting to burn the calories and get the blood flowing

At the bottom of the road there was a sign telling us there were some lots for sale up here..... I investigating... tht I'd come take a look at what is actually for sale..... nice lot... 40 acres... and a great view.... there was a white dodge pickup that passed me on the way up... they are also here looking at the lot

Heh, heh......you thot I was spoofin' ya...... there's my wheels and the valley far below ..... what a wonderful morning

Here's the view from Lot 3..... great spot for a house..... but I think the market has a little adjusting to do yet so I am not going to make an offer today :-)

Well, here we are at the bottom again... coming down was a blast... the cool breeze blowing thru what's left of my hair felt really good...... thru the holes in my helmut of course... If you look very closely... or enlarge the picture a little... you can still see the white Dodge pickup sitting almost halfway up the hill just a speck to the left of center...

back at home on the ranch to do a little reflecting on the day's adventure  :-)

Teamwork gets it done

A fine day lands on us in the Spring-time then out comes the tractor to get the garfden started. Yep... and teamwork gets the job done. There's Jim and Vickie hard at it... that sure beats clibing up in the tree to do the trimming. These guys are a work-together team.... and they made short orcer of preparing the garden and moving the fence. the garden is going to be a little bigger this year .... I already saw the rabbits snoopin' around here. the quail are up and about, too. Things are coming to life..... and yes, old mother hen is keeping her eye on it all and adding her 2 cents worth..... she's just dreaming of all those veggie trimmings coming her way.
You can tell my job... I'm the cheerleader :-)

Guests for Breakfast

We never know who will show up for breakfast over here ..... a couple of Canadian honkers today. I like those gueese even if they did not let me get too close. The chickens generally get fed twice a day and I let them roam around the pasture all day to pick and scratch all they want. When I get into town I stop at Save Mart and pick up a bag of food for them from the produce department. they are very kind there and generally have have a bag or box for me. We never know what's going to be in there either. Somedays it is mostly lettuce.... today it was lettuce and lost of other things. The chickens shared with me today :-)
It's a lot better than the old days of dumpster diving :-) ..... yea... all those fruit and veggies came with the lettuce leaves today... I ate some... the ladies got some......

After a Restful Weekend

It was a fine week end in Washoe Valley ..... "I could hear the old piano playing down the avenue..the wind was ruustlin thru the pines...an' I could only think of you" ... well that's kinda how The Prairie Home Companion starts out... hear it for yourself
http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/2010/04/03/
This radio show plays on pbs Saturdays and Sundays... usually broadcast live from somewhere.... we can't hear it on the net until Monday...but there are archives of old shows which are entertaining.
The week end here was restful...watched a couple old movies on netflix..... napped a couple times... worked on paperwork inbetween all that.... maybe it was I worked on paperwork and did all that other in between.
I could tell today the outside temp had dropped considerably by the size of the goose bumps all over my bod whenI stripped out of the night clothes to jump into the day clothes. Heh. We call some clothes night clothes but who ever called those other duds "day clothes". Anyway, on days like this I layer on the longjohns, T-shirt, longsleeved shirt/sweater and then the fleece jacket. No. I'm not going outside. That's what I where inside. How else could I keep my utility bill down at $44 in the Winter. About 8am I went out to feed and water the chikens. They are always glad to see me. We clucked at each other a few times, I tossed some goodies to them, broke the ice out of their watering bucket and went on my way. there were aonly a few inches of snow on the gound which we do not expect to last very long so I threw some of the feed in the snow.... the first toss..... they actually went out there and picked it up. good for them.
I knew that if I left the snow on the porch it would be gone in a couple hours but I pushed it off anyway. I like shoveling a couple inches.
By 11AM it looked like the pictures below..... notice the very low clouds when looking south...that's hanging over Carson City.... maybe they got a little snow this morning too. the commuters love that :-)
Mr & Mrs Duck werefloating down on the pond this morning. Always nice to see them coming back. Maybe they'll nest there and we can watch the ducklings this year. I'll get some pictures for you if it happens.

Over there in the West it looks like a little more weather is happening up in the High Sierras... the wind has started and the weather vane is turning again.

11:37 AM and the sun is shining, the snow is starting to melt and I am going back to work.

If you want to take a look at some interesting original art (not mine) go here

http://lindarorer.com/lindarorer/RORER_ARTIST_Original_Oil_Paintings_HOME.html