Wednesday, October 30, 2013

A HALLOWEEN STORY REPEAT

Today I worked a half day.
I had hoped to get some of the many many bags of mulch that I still have, spread on my backyard hill.
The temps were in the high 50's and who knows how long THAT will last.
But as I got close to home the raindrops started to hit my windshield.
By the time I got inside, it was really raining.
At one point the thunder rolled so long and loud that all the little dogs were all running around and barking in a panic.
It does indeed seem like the night before Halloween.
Unfortunately this year I am totally unprepared.
I haven't painted any Halloween paintings or pumpkins except the ones for work.
More importantly, I haven't come up with anything to scare my sister with.
I did get her really good last year when she drove to her third shift job at the hospital and got out of her car in the dark parking lot to retrieve something from her back seat.
Yeah, I had left her a few "friends" (dolls from Goodwill with repainted faces) who had come along for the ride.

Sadly I stymied this year.
Maybe I will just have to be happy with the thought of her looking over her shoulder for the next couple of days. 
Sigh... and I can't seem come up with a good spooky stories either.
Well, OK  I could talk about my Mom and the freaky superstitious stuff she used to tell me but...no, then I will be spooked out tonight.
So, like an old person who keeps repeating a tale over and over again, I will refer any newish Followers to my Halloween tale of when I lived in the Looney Mansion.

My apologies to all those that already read this post.
(and...I don't know how to re-post it without losing it or making it pop-up as this date, which would be confusing to at least me.)
Here's the link to that Tale:
http://oldblackcatboo.blogspot.com/2010/10/i-lived-in-this-house-and-halloween.html

and Have a Happy Safe Halloween and remember to keep your black cats inside!

Friday, October 25, 2013

DEADLINES

Deadlines.
I need them.
Someone at work asked me to do a painting of their dog.
"No rush" she said "Whenever".
That's been months ago.
I had it almost finished and she brought her dog to work and I looked at him and said
"Why is his face so skinny!?"
and of course it's always been a narrow little face
and I had painted a round-faced dog.
So I started over and then... just stopped.

I met my best friend for breakfast the other day.
Every time we talk I always end up feeling pumped up, motivated and ready to create something!
She is my biggest cheerleader and the most positive person I know.
We were talking about my Art and I was saying how I needed to get painting and then get my work out there.
I said that the vet clinic really needed some art work and that I had put some paintings up before and sold several but then I never made more.
I told her how the girls at work were always asking for my paintings.
But I haven't painted anything except for the Halloween pumpkins.

My friend and I got to talking about how I was missing a big opportunity
because most everyone that walks into the clinic loves cats or/and dogs.
I seriously don't know what my problem is.
Fear of Success?
Fear of Failure?
Massive Procrastination.
I don't think that I'm lazy, so there must be something stopping me.
Sigh, anyway -
I talked with the girls at work, I said that I needed to get a "bunch" of paintings done and then bring them in all at once and hang them.
I wanted to do it in one big swoop.
But when?
The clinic is always very very busy.
But the girls were so excited and that helped with my insecurities.
Then we got to talking how Doc would be out of town in mid-November for several days and that always slows the work pace.
He has a HUGE following. Mostly for his animal chiropractic procedures.
So that is the goal.
Three weeks to create as many paintings as possible.
Oh, the pressure!
But I think it's just what I need to get it rolling.
It's like my vacation that I just took.
I knew I only had a week and I crammed in as much work as I could.
So, I won't disappear. I will still need coffee breaks and paint drying breaks.
and there's the fact that I'm addicted to the computer! Ha!
Wish me luck!
and after these 3 weeks, I still have some other topics to ramble on about.
Stuff that I haven't shared yet.

Oh, and one last thing.
Is it just me or does that monkey 

kinda look like my Jimmy Chew?


Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Friday, October 18, 2013

Writer's Block

HPIM2452
Have you ever had a week where so many things have happened,
so many topics to write about, that you didn't even know where to begin?
So you write...nothing.
I do have a couple of posts in limbo, floating in the drafts folder, waiting to be reworked.
Rambles that turned into rants, certainly not for enjoyable reading.
But there are also little blurbs of thoughts and saved links and photos of cool fun things.

My job has been overwhelming. The kennel is overflowing and it's pure craziness.
Everyone must have decided to use the same time for Fall vacations.
My own vacation was very productive, I accomplished quite a bit but
unfortunately I think there was a delayed reaction because suddenly
I'm physically exhausted. 
My mind can't entirely focus on anything.

The other night I was just idly scanning over Facebook posts
and suddenly I see a post, a comment in the form of a condolence.
What?
I stop, go back to read it again.
I click on it, the photo of a friend and find more condolences.
What?!
She was someone that was in my house almost everyday as I very young.
Someone who was my sister's best friend when they were small.
A girl, actually a woman now of course, but to me she is frozen forever in time as this happy little girl. 
All skinny legs and giggles.
She had been posting photos of her vacation the same week that I had taken mine.
I had not commented but had almost left one for her about how youthful and happy she looked.
And now she had suddenly passed away.
Apparently she had come home from vacation and told her boyfriend that she wasn't feeling well.
That she had some congestion in her chest and was going to lay down.
Later when he went in to check on her, she was gone.
Slipped away. 
It will be a few more days until they know what exactly happened.
A heart attack or an aneurysm?
I'm in shock.
Although I haven't seen her in person for quite a while she was one of the very few people
who shared our lives before all Hell broke loose.
My sister and I were there when she lost her Dad.
She was probably 9?.
And then she was with us
when we lost our mom the next year.
And to make it even more coincidental is that she passed on the same day as our mother
and she was the same age.
While one thing has nothing to do with another, but for some reason it occurred to me
and of course later, when my sister text me with the same thought
I let her know that I had thought about it too.
Yes, I have so much to write about
but not sure where to begin or if I should even ever try.

HPIM2451

Saturday, October 12, 2013

SPEKULATIUS, Memories and a Question.


So, I was looking at a grocery ad and I saw Windmill cookies!
OK, they were calling them "Spekulatius Spiced Cookies" but they were Windmill Cookies
and I immediately thought "OH! I have to get some of those!"
Then I stopped and thought how I actually like so many other cookies more than those, so why?
Then it hit me. 
My grandparents always had Windmill Cookies at their house.
Hmm. I guess I like eating them because they make me think of my grandparents who passed when I was 12 and that was a zillion years ago.
So I was wondering, what "food" do YOU like just because of the memories?
And WHO is the memory of?

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Working like a Dog?

So I worked like a dog yesterday.
I've completely cleared the ravine and started on terracing it.
I had a lot of brush and small trees to cut down.
I apparently cut one of the little trees at a sharp angle leaving it as a sort of "spear" jutting out of the ground.
Most of the brush was dried but had big clusters of round prickly burrs.

I was trying to weave in and under this stuff, cutting the branches without the burrs sticking to me and as I did this, I stepped on the "spear".
Luckily I had my thick old gardening Crocs on and the sole took much of it.
But still, it hurt and there was blood.
I figured I better go clean it out and bandage it up and as I was hobbled past my patio area and I suddenly realized that "dog" is not the proper word for my level of exertion!


Wednesday, October 9, 2013

So far...

OK! I'm working on my vacation LIST! Nothing is going to distract me from getting it all done!
So far, I've painted the bedroom floor, rearranged my Art room.
I've tried on every single piece of clothing I own and made a Goodwill bag. I've also planted about 30 mums (that cost me a quarter a piece!) and transplanted my catmint and shasta daisies to to the side yard.
I dug a "path" going down to the lower (ravine) part of the yard.
All I have left to do is: paint the laundry room and Kilz the floor and lay the vinyl flooring and then paint the bedroom, the kitchen, the trim in the bathroom and then go outside and put down pavers on the path, clear the ravine, transplant my hostas to the hill and then wash, sand and paint the front steps and then dig up front lawn, put down edgers and spread dirt on side yard and spread grass seed. 
Hmmm, I'm sure I'm forgetting something. 
Anyway!
As I've been cleaning and sorting I had been really trying to be more of a Minimalist and I've decided...
Screw that! It's like Christmas over here!
But I will be glad to be done so that I can sit down, catch up on my blog reading and work on my Art in peace.
Later! xoxo

Friday, October 4, 2013

I'M ON VACATION!


I'm starting my vacation today at 5:00 PM.
Wahoo!
(ok, officially it's Monday through Friday but I'm counting the weekends too!)
Yep, using up the last of my days for the year.
I'm just staying home and working on stuff
and making sure to use some of the time to CREATE some Art too.
Hopefully I will "finish" some projects to post about.
But right now I'm going to sit in my BIG chair,
cover myself in little dogs and watch some mindless TV.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

My Numbers and Color

What's my number?
This gets brought up now and again, usually it's someone at work 
or someone who doesn't REALLY know me, and I always feel my back go up on the topic.
Like a cat, my hair feels like it's standing up and I'm backing away.
Because people can be mean and hateful... for no reason.
It's about my numbers.
How many pets I have?
When asked on how many dogs I have, I generally say 4.
1. Blue
2. Nora
3. Jimmy
and 4. My herd of tiny dogs, (who run as a small pack so therefore count as 1)
with a handful of cats.

That's actually why I don't always post about every single one of them,
or if I do, I just randomly squeeze them in.
Kinda hoping they go unnoticed and uncounted
and then sometimes something HUGE happens and I just have to blog about it.
Like the clothesline post falling on Rosie
or when Griff had that tumor and so many old age issues.
but I don't write about ALL of them because either I fear judgement 
or because they are just so good that there is nothing exciting to say.
Sure, anyone with a lot of time on their hands could go through past posts 
or even zip over to my Flickr account
but why?
Why does it matter to people?
Working at a vet clinic and running the boarding kennel I see a lot of dogs who are the only dog in the family and to be honest, they are not always cared for or as happy as my own.
The other day I was talking to one of my kennel girls and she was telling me how a dog came in that reeked of cat pee.
Not dog pee but CAT pee.
She said it quickly filled the air with the odor so she bathed the dog and all of the bedding the owners had brought.
We felt so bad for that little guy.
Now here's the really odd part. The owner is someone who has questioned my "numbers" to me.
I've laughed it off and said Four as I always do but inside I was seething.
I asked my kennel girl if my dogs ever smell bad, I told her to be very truthful and I wouldn't be mad.
She just laughed and said "NO! I mean, your dogs don't even smell like DOGS!"
I felt relieved.
I do wash their bedding, daily.
Yes, it might sound extreme but really, I do it every night.
and I bathe everyone on a regular basis.
Especially Blue. I mean I sort have to because he's WHITE.
and he tends to have skin problems otherwise.
And the ones that need a "haircut"? I am fortunate enough to be able to supply my groomer with chocolate and alcohol in exchange for grooming.
I've also painted her several "signs" for her fruit/vegetable stand that she has at her farm.

Now, to the issue of color.
Yes, my house is mostly WHITE.
(My Blue)
I am trying to force myself to paint some rooms in other colors

but I like WHITE.
source
People shake their heads over pets and white but it's actually so practical.
You can bleach white.
You can scrub white.
I don't want camouflage or patterns to hide stains or dirt.
So, yeah. I'm constantly defending my choice of color.
Or lack of it. 
I've been told it's cold.
But it's not when covered in critters and Art and toys.
So there! I'm done with this rant
and on that note, here's my Vera.
Vera Wag.
I've had her for years and years and she's a perfect dog.
She too had a horrible story. One about being found running with another dog,
with her coat so matted that they didn't even know at first that she was a poodle.
There's of course more to her story but I'll leave it at this.
Sigh.
My perfect Vera.
Housebroken, loving and who has never caused a problem from day one.
and for those who might be counting, add her to your list.