I’m REALLY sounding like a broken record, but we have another cold wave coming in, -17° tomorrow night. Getting really, really tired of it. At least it’s been sunny.

I’ve started on a new drawing, quite a bit smaller than the last, just 5 1/2” x 4”, so this one won’t take nearly as long as the elk. This is Baxter, our kitty that we just had to put down this past fall, when he was a kitten. He had such pretty blue eyes. This is in progress,

I just listed some new beads, and have several that I really like, especially the last one,



And a couple of funny Internet pics,

I’m going to sound like a broken record, I’m tired of winter and want warm weather!! It’s headed down to -14° tomorrow night, we’re going to have a warm up of one day with a low of 0°, then back down to -14°. Tired, tired, tired!!!

I finished my elk drawing, and am not really happy with it. I got too involved with the pen and ink in the foreground, so it got too dark, and the colored pencils dull the ink.

So it’s back to the drawing board to find something new to work on.
Funny internet pics!!

So very, very tired of winter. My studio is too cold to be in, so torching glass hasn’t been very enjoyable (although that might change for a bit. I have a new shipment of glass coming in today with some new colors).

More snow this a.m., and the NW wind is blowing in some cold air again. My bedroom the other night was down to 41°, so you can be sure my electric blanket is going to get turned on early to make my bed nice and warm. I so want to be outside in some warm air and dirt; white snow is kind of pretty the first couple of times, but by this time of the year, it’s wearing thin.

The nicest thing I can say about January is that it’s usually much sunnier than the other winter months, so I can sit in the south room and soak up the sunshine while I’m drawing. Here’s the progress I’ve made on my elk drawing. I’m not totally satisfied with it, I got too lost in all of those dots and overdid the grassy areas in the front of the landscape, so now I have to decide how to work with that. I’m not too happy with using the colored pencils on top of the ink either, since they cloud the ink. I like working with them, but they don’t fit in too well with my style right now. The next drawing I do I’m going to try using watercolor pencils and see if I like them. Yup, already mapping out the next drawing I’m going to do, and it won’t be any 10”x12” either!

One day of seasonable weather, and now we’re heading back into the deep freeze. Propane prices have skyrocketed, so we’ve got the thermostat turned down and are keeping the wood stove going good. I just can’t believe the price of propane; a month ago 300 gallons cost us $430, now 100 gallons is going to be $520, and with this weather, that’ll last a couple of weeks.

I’ve been doing a lot of drawing during the day, since my drawing table is in a south facing room, and I can soak up the sun in there. I’m hooked on a new author, Laurie R. King, and her Mary Russell series (been listening to the audiobooks while drawing). She writes a bit like Elizabeth Peters with the Amelia Peabody series, although her books are darker, especially the one describing the WWI period. Here’s the latest progress on my elk drawing:

I’ve still been working on murrini tests, but nothing spectacular so far. Maybe once I get them into beads where they’re really hit with a lot of fluctuations in heat/propane/oxy they’ll look more interesting. Here’s what I mean, the first picture is just a test of the murrini,

but here’s what it looks like worked on a bead,

I really like the way it spread in the encased murrini (the left one).

I’ve got some nice beads that I’ve got to get listed,

And here’s a couple funny Internet pics,

Well, we had our January thaw, so now it’s back to the deep freeze, sigh. It’s 34° right now, downright balmy, but by tomorrow night it’s going to be -15°. I WANT SPRING!!!!!!

One of the few things I like about winter (other than my nice warm electric blanket and wood stove) is that I’m pretty much confined to the house, so I do get stuff done. I did a couple more murrini pulls (no photos yet, but they weren’t all that exciting), and I’ve gotten quite a bit more done on my elk drawing. Working with watercolors is much, much faster, I’ve found, than working with colored pencils. Colored pencils are laid down layer after layer after layer to get the coloring to look realistic, but it’s kind of like quilting, keeping the hands busy while focusing the mind on something else, like an audiobook. Here’s the progress so far,

I’m working on a new pen and ink drawing, and I thought I’d scan it and show it as I progress. I don’t know what the heck I was thinking when I cut the paper for the drawing, it’s 10”x12”, and my scanner bed is only 9”x12”!! When I finish it, I’m going to have to try to find a printer with a bigger scanner. Duh!!!!

Here it is (most of it anyway). To break up the process, I’m filling in the coloring as I go instead of waiting until I finish the inking, and I’m trying something new with this, colored pencils instead of watercolors.

This is a close-up,

Yesterday morning on the Today show, they showed a clip of a BMX riding riding his bike over the arches of a highway in Texas, and then on the local news last night they aired it too.

I am just inflamed by the stupidity of not only the rider, but in all the news media covering it. So I sent an email to NBC,

“Why is the news media airing such a stupid, dangerous stunt as the BMX rider in Texas riding his bike over the arches of a highway? What is so special about a man risking his life and the lives and safety of the drivers on the road below? Why air this clip and encourage others to do similarly stupid stunts?

Instead, why don't you air the story about Jim Reinstra pedaling a bike to Patagonia to raise money for cancer research, http://pedalingforpennies.info/? Last summer he started out from Minnesota, biked west to Oregon, down the west coast and is now in Mexico. He's at least risking his life for a good cause, and he's not endangering others in the process (other than his mother, my neighbor, who is worried sick about him doing this).

Yes, I know that Kare11 did a piece on him last summer when he started out, but if you've got the extra time to air that unbelievably stupid, brainless clip about the Texas stunt, fill it instead with Jim's progress. He's risking his life to make a difference, not to get a few minutes of thrills.”

Rant over...

Getting older brings limitations, like no longer being able to sit in a cold (or hot) studio melting glass for hours at a time. I compensate by sitting in the south bedroom soaking up the winter sun and working on pen and ink drawings (or sitting by the wood stove in my recliner working on quilting on cold nights). This is my latest piece of art, a swallowtail butterfly sitting on some of my lilacs, done in pen and ink and then finished with watercolor washes.

Glory be, it’s above 0°!!!!!!! First time in days, and we’ve got a January thaw coming in. Spring is ON IT’S WAY!!!!

 

SUCCESS!!!! A hawk tried grabbing a bird at my feeder this a.m. and trying to escape, a small tree sparrow flew into my window and was stunned. I checked after a few minutes and it was still laying on the snow, so I went out, got it and put it on a plant in my small bathroom. Checked on it a couple of times, but it was just laying there panting, figured it was a gonner. Checked on it again, and it was sitting on the window sill trying to get out. I took it outside and set it on the feeder and it flew away. Such a good feeling!!!

Today’s funny Internet pic,

“"REMINDER: Cold season is here and cows seek heat on car hoods. Do not forget to tap on the hood to give the cow enough time to get off before you drive away!"

Oh, brrrrrrr!!! Another cold day here, and I’m getting pretty tired of it. The birds aren’t too thrilled with it either,

But the kitties know where to go to be warm and safe from the dogs, up on top of the kitchen cabinets,

I am finishing up on my sister’s quilt, I’ve got a bit more quilting to do on the border and then have to bind it. Then I’ll get back to my appliqué quilt.


Hopefully, I’ll get on the torch tomorrow morning while Christian does the shopping. I’d like to play around with making some more murrini. Here’s the last two tests,

Another funny Internet pic,

You have GOT to be joking,

“Fox News television host Megyn Kelly told viewers on her December 11 broadcast that Jesus and Santa are both white men.

"Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn't mean it has to change," Kelly said. "Jesus was a white man, too. It's like we have, he's a historical figure that's a verifiable fact, as is Santa, I just want kids to know that. How do you revise it in the middle of the legacy in the story and change Santa from white to black?" “

Where do they find these people? Are there actually adults who believe Santa is real? And Jesus wasn’t white (meaning European) either, he was a Jew, as anyone who has actually read the Bible would know.

Honestly, it must be my time for fiascos.

Health insurance, I still can’t pick out a policy. I got through to a live person and was told that it was a ‘known issue’ with the website, so she was going to push it on up to try to get it fixed.

My new mattress!! I have a full size bed, but three other bodies sleep with me. :) My little diva dog, Pip, who in the winter likes to jam herself down against my back to stay toasty warm, Suka the husky, and Pry, the Great Pyrenees. I was like a skinny slice of ham on a big bun, but how can I say no to a dog who puts his head on my bed and looks at me with those soulfully sad eyes? So last month I went to Sears and bought a queen size mattress/box spring set. The next week when it’s supposed to be delivered, the delivery company calls at 7 a.m. to see if I really wanted a queen size mattress and a half of a flip box spring. What?!? I didn’t order a flip box spring! So I have to wait until the next night for the saleslady to get back to work to have her order the right set.

It was supposed to be delivered last Tuesday. Three hours after their delivery window goes by, I get a call that their delivery truck broke down, and they won’t be able to deliver until the next week (yesterday). OK, they called yesterday and left two messages on the answering machine, the first so soft all I could make out was two mattresses and two box springs. The second message was a little clearer, two mattresses and a queen box spring and half of a flip box spring, with a phone number to call to get it straightened out. I call the number which is Sears Logistics. I explained what was happening, he wanted to know how I got his number, because that’s not the right number. He was nice enough to call the delivery and get it straightened out that I ordered just one queen mattress and one queen box spring. So I finally got my queen bed set up yesterday, and last night enjoyed not being a sandwich.

Until I went to pay my Sears bill and saw that they double billed me for the mattress and box spring. So I called Sears customer service, they opened a dispute and will contact the store. A dispute?!? So now I get to wait until they ‘investigate’ and get it cleared up. No wonder Sears is floundering.

It was -15° this a.m. Frigid even by Minnesota standards. It’s supposed to get up to 17° by tomorrow, and goodness, that’s going to feel downright balmy!

I just sold two beads that I really, really liked,

I’ve been getting back into making murrini again, and have one that turned out not too bad. I’ll get some photos of it posted later.

I have to post this one of Suka, he’s bored and wants someone to play with him and his ducky,

Here’s Heidi, our heifer calf from last winter,

and Ingrid, the baby,

and a funny Internet pic,

So the fiasco with health insurance continues. I applied on Oct. 15 through the Minnesota exchange, and there it sat ‘Pending.’ After three calls and two emails, it was finally approved Saturday morning, which was nice since I have until Dec. 15 to get a new policy.

So now it’s on to picking out a health plan, which I would love to do, but this is now the message I get when trying to do that, ‘Error: It seems you have an in-progress or approved application, please remove if in-progress or contact your local agency office if you have an approved application.

Sigh, on the phone with a wait time of over 60 minutes...

Lukas was checking the WCCO forecast and came across this. I think someone was having a little fun at ‘CCO.

A dark, dreary day here, with cold weather coming in. The good news is that the days start getting longer in three weeks.

Watching the news today, I don’t see much difference between the two stories, The first, a pup that chased a squirrel and got stuck in an irrigation pipe,

The second, a story about a woman who tried jumping from one roof to another and fell down and got stuck between the two buildings.

Feel sorry for the pup, but not for the woman. She supposedly has more brains than a dog.

I should have just stayed in bed today.

My computer wouldn't start last night, completely dead. Made a Genius Bar appt. at the Apple store down in the cities for this morning. Got there, it's in a busy mall, no parking, tried calling the store to have someone come out and bring the computer in (it's a tower and weighs about as much as a concrete block, and it's a service they offer). Automated phone system, I hate them!!!! I finally gave up, went and found a parking spot, got to the store, which is packed. Told the blue shirt I needed someone to pick the computer up, went back out to the back parking lot, drove the car around to the service door, unloaded the computer, drove around and found another parking spot.

Got back into the store, told a blue shirt I had a Genius Bar appt., she said the appts. were only for 15 minutes, I kind of lost it and told her I was there on time, but wasted too much time on their blasted automated phone system trying to get someone to get the computer. She grabbed a higher up blue shirt, he said, oh, yah, her computer's over by the counter. So I stood around for a half hour waiting, my shoulder is just killing me (it doesn't like driving anymore), a tech got to me, I explained it was dead. She grabbed a power cord, plugged it in, pushed the start button, and the bleep-bleeping thing started up. I was thinking nasty thoughts about my son, because before I left home with the computer, I had suggested trying his cord (we have both the same model computer) and see if it would start up. The nice blue shirt lady ran diagnostics on it, and everything came out fine.

So after a couple of side trips, I got home, miserable drive through the rain, and we went out to do the chores.

No baby calf in sight.

I was going to walk out to the east pasture to look for her, and to get to that pasture, you have to go through the gate by the entrance to the cow barn, which when it’s wet, gets a little mucky. Did I say little? I took a couple of steps through, and got stuck. My foot came out of my boot and I’m flailing in the air, trying to keep my balance. Well, of course, I couldn’t. My foot landed in the muck and sunk down into cold, wet muddy muck. Flailing around, still trying to get my balance, screeching. Christian, on the other side of the barn, yelled to see what was wrong. I’m still flailing, one foot in muck, the other in a stuck boot. Well, the boot stayed stuck, my foot didn’t. Out of the boot, into the muck along with the other one, with me still screeching, trying to keep my balance and hoping if I fall, I land on my butt and not my face. About then Christian came running around the barn and saw what was happening, and grabbed me. He was nice enough to grab first and laugh second.

Hosed my feet off, got back into the boots, went back to the house to get walkie-talkies and the truck. Drove out to search the pasture, and thank goodness Ingrid was pretty easy to find. Trucked her back to the barn and got her locked up with Mama. From here on, we’ll let Daisy May out, but keep Ingrid locked up in the barn.

So, got back into the house and cleaned up, got my computer and plugged it in. It came on!! I had thought I was going to have to order a new cord, since they didn’t have any for sale at the Apple store. So Christian got all my hard drives put back in, got it over to my desk, got all the externals plugged back in, pushed the button to start it up. Nothing. Dead as a doornail. Not quite, though. We notice a red light coming on when we tried plugging it into a different outlet. Googled it, and that red light shows there’s power going to the computer. But it’s not turning on. Sigh. Will be going back to the computer store, but NOT tomorrow! Hopefully a week morning will be less hectic there.

But two positives from the fiasco today, I picked up an adapter so I can plug my laptop into my big monitor, so I can actually see what I’m typing, and when I picked up my computer at the store, I saw a sign by the service door saying that it was a loading and unloaded area, with half hour parking!! Yes!!

When the new MacPros come out, I’m getting one!!!! 9 inches tall, 6 inches in diameter, and it weighs 11 lbs.!! Oh, be still, my heart!

It’s been a long day!! I went down to the cities see my nephew, he’s improving, and sounding more like himself. When I got back, we went out to do chores, and this is what we found,

We weren’t expecting this quite yet. That’s the trouble with having a bull, you never know for sure when to expect the baby.

My cactuses are blooming, and they are just beautiful!!

I get to run back down to the cities tomorrow morning. When I tried turning on my computer, nothing happened! Fortunately, all my data is backed up on an external drive, so I hooked it up to the laptop and am using that. That 13” screen is pretty hard to take, though. Hopefully, it will be just the power supply on the desktop, and will be easy and cheap to repair. I’ll know more tomorrow after I take it to the Apple store.

This is what 800+ lbs of meat looks like,

A sense of satisfaction...

I trimmed a fern the other day and let it drop on the floor for the babies to play with. Chunk was having a grand old time burrowing in them.

Funny Internet picture!!

Finally got out to my vegetable garden yesterday to get the rest of the veggies in. I didn’t keep records of what I planted in there like I did in the greenhouse, so I wasn’t sure what I was digging up, other than that they were some kind of root crop, and they were HUGE!! After I got into the house, I googled different root crops, and figured out they are rutabagas, then remembered talking to my sister about using them in soups and stews, and that’s why I tried growing some this year.

The garden is pretty much wrapped up now, although I still have some hoses to pick up and get into the greenhouse.

I’m just about ready for winter and my recliner by the wood stove. Things need to slow down a bit, my nephew has been in the hospital for the past two weeks with necrotizing fasciitis (flesh eating bacteria). He’s slowly, slowly getting better.

I have to admit I’m a needle phobic. I hate shots!!!! I still remember in grade school standing in line waiting to get the shot in the arm and the polio sugar cube, just the sheer terror of it. Friday, don’t ask me how I did it, because I don’t know, I punctured my ankle. Christian suggested I get a tetanus shot, but phobic person that I am, I waited until the next morning to go to the doctor, and then only because it was aching. Oh, and my sister told me to! Have to listen to her! So they x-rayed it, gave me the shot (it wasn’t as bad as I had dreaded), and put me on antibiotics. For good measure, I had Christian dig up some comfry root to put on it. It was much better by the next morning. The two plants that I just would not want to be missing is aloe and comfrey.

I finally got some more beads listed. This is one I really like,

A funny Internet pic to end with,