Cough...cough....cough.....oink!

Puppy Love

I like this dog.  I met him for the first time at Adventurers house.  Her family were kind enough to let me borrow him for a couple of hours this morning to go for a play.  He and Mr. Hunter had a grand off the leash run in behind our house in a large field full of big dogs.  It was like candy for the soul to watch.   I imagine he'll sleep well tonight though! "Grandma C" you have a most wonderful family there!  Such a kind and generous assortment of  nuts.

When I stopped by earlier in the week to drop off the art the game that Mr. and Mrs. Adventurer played was, "try to see if you can get out of the house without our assistance.  If you can then "Child Unit 4" can and we have to rethink the door locks."   They then stood together and laughed as I attempted to exit the premises.  Unfortunately the laughing was short lived and after a few minutes I was able to open both doors eventually leading them to ponder what else they could do to keep their little houdini in the house.  At least the child is a sensible pre-schooler and dresses properly before he takes to the streets alone! 

The art is now up for next weeks art benefit, http://artsforautism.weebly.com/.  It was interesting to see the different types of art.  Such a broad range!  I've picked out my favourites.  I tended to prefer the photography in this exhibit this time.  Funny what catches ones attention above all others.  Something for everyone.  Each person in the room assisting with the mounting of the work had a different favourite.

I stabbed myself again with my poppy on my way to the gallery.  I'm sure in time my nipple will heal.  The children thought it was quite funny until I offered to give them a first hand feel for what I was going through.  They weren't interested.  How the heck to people get nipple rings put in I want to know.  My poppy is now off my coat.  I realize that what the soldiers that we are remembering have gone through worse, but I think I can remember without stabbing myself repeatedly for the cause.

Friday Again

Firstly, I never mentioned Government conspiracies in the below post.  Pharmaceutical company profits yes!

 I went out with "Hot Chocolate" today to do some photographing and forgot my camera card on my computer desk.  Then I stabbed myself in the arm with a poppy pin.  Ouch.  It went in a good inch or so and left a lovely mark.  Close enough to a  flu shot for me.  I had a coffee this morning to start my day and picked one up on the way home at lunch.  I think I saw her put a double shot of espresso in it.  I just grabbed it and left thinking of things to ponder for when I will be up at 3am tomorrow morning.  Luckily it's a weekend coming and I can sleep in.

On our outing today we drove by Stephen's place and took some pictures just down the block.  (The video is humourous once you get past the first minute and a half.)  Well, at least one of us took pictures.  I don't think he was home on a work day, but you'd never know it with the RCMP presence at 24 Sussex Drive.  You couldn't swing a cat without hitting an officer in a bright yellow coat.  Not too stealthy guys!

Speaking of 24 Sussex, it got me thinking of one of our previous Prime Ministers.  The thing (only thing) I really miss about Jean Chretien is that when someone theatened or pissed him off he took them by the throat and pushed them away....literally.  That was great!  When an intruder broke into his home when he and his wife were sleeping his wife dealt with the situation, thus embarrasing the RCMP.

So on the way back down the rollercoaster, I'm not quite ready to quit again yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

BTW:  If you aren't on my Christmas card list and think I'm a terrible person for not having ever sent you a card, you can drop me your address at the following email address and I'll add you. 

sandi@fletcherartstudio.ca

Two years ago I hand drew and coloured about 40 cartoons cards.  Some with personalized jokes.  Last year I printed out about 60 then hand coloured them all.  This year I'm not sure what I'll do, but I'm pretty sure it won't involve anything quite as thoughtful as all of that;-)  Why the heck do I send out so many?  Big family.

P.S on the BTW:  Grandma C and Very Yucky, the above is specifically meant to get you two to send your addresses.

Chicken Little

Okay, 2 cups of coffee turned out to be a bad plan.  I awoke at 3am refreshed and ready to go for the day.  By 6am  I was ready for sleep.  That's a good long time to think and stew.

If I have one more person come up to me and tell me how important the H1N1 flu shot is I may rip off their head.  When people ask me if I've gotten mine I can honestly say...."I'm not in the high risk group and neither are my kids, so we aren't supposed to wait in line for 9 hours to get turned away, at this time."  Every time I bring the kids to the doctor there's been a new shot invented that I just have to get or they just might die right there on the spot.  Oh ya, and it's only $150/child.  I tend to stick to  the old standby's.  MMR, tetnus, etc....Flu shots tend to be on the bottom of the list, even though they're free.  Funny thing is when SARS hit, there was no vaccine that would be ready in time for a possible outbreak and that one was scarry!  They contained it and controlled it.  Why was that not possible with H1N1?

Remember the past two years it was that we were all going to die from West Nile Disease?  We had to completely destroy any flying thing that might resemble a mosquito and if we found a dead crow or blue jay we weren't to touch it but call the authorities immediately.  Like I go around playing with rotting animal corpses.  We couldn't go out without all our body parts covered with clothing and bug spray (chemical garbage might I add) even though it might be 100 degrees outside.  Puleeeeze!  Those species of mosquitos are still around as is the disease.  Why aren't we having a body count on those every year still.

Oh, and lets not forget "Global Warming" that was later changed to "Climate Change".  That was a popular place to throw our money away until the "Global Recession" hit.

What ever happend to the ozone layer being destroyed?  Is it gone yet?  And why if all our children are wearing sunscreen and are staying out of the sun is the skin cancer rate amongst young people is up.  Perhaps we've interferred with our body's way to pretect itself by not exposing ourselves to the sun at a younger age.

Can anyone say "CHICKEN LITTLE! and Huge profits for the drug industry?"

Energy to Spare

I was fully prepared to continue on with quitting my blog and sucking at art class today, but it was not to be.  I'm back on top of the rollercoaster waiting to plummet yet again.

Apparently the recipe is 2 cups of coffee in the morning to fully wake myself up.  Today we had to draw about a third of the 16 or so drawings with our non-dominant hand with the focus varying with each drawing.  My instructor told me I took a big leap today.  It just all clicked.  Apparently I'm not as right handed as I thought!  That lead to a good mood.  When I got home Mr. P. informed me there had been a call from someone who had picked up one of my cards in a coffee shop.  Then I went and picked up the painting I will show in the art benefit this weekend and I got it home without breaking it!  What a good day.

Don't worry though.  I fully expect to be brought back down to earth within the next couple of hours or tomorrow at the latest, when the rollarcoaster is bound to head back down.  I am and will be fully prepared to quit my blog again either later today or possibly tomorrow.  See you then.

I think it may have been the South African's streaming video into my head as "Hot Chocolate" suggested that may have made me quit yesterday.  I just didn't have room for one more thing up there and something had to give. 


Time to clean house.  Literally.  Also, find some space in my life to actually clean my house.  What to give up.  Hmmmm.....


-art.............Some days I'd like to dump the art, but it's too much a part of me, for now.


-art school...I can't find naked people anywhere else willing to sit still long enough for me to draw 'em.
 
-kids............They're not ripe enough yet.


-husband......He's heading with Ms. Vicki to Japan soon.  He already decluttered himself for me, at least temporarily.


-dog............He actually likes me the best!  No way!


-flu...............I'm waiting for my turn.  Two of Four just finished hers.


-crochet.......My sanity.


-exercise......When I start again perhaps I can give it up.


-gazillion goldfish and counting.....One of Four would disown me.


-coffee time......lol


-chocolate.......LOL!


-chores...........tough one!


-blog..............Sigh....goodbye!


.....or so I thought.  I had contemplated finishing it off  previously.  Even almost clicked the "Delete Blog" button seriously at least once.  So thought I'd just close it off.  So I did so yesterday.


  I can't get the blasted thing out of my head!  I took off comment moderation so I wouldn't have to okay comments coming to my blog.  I tried not to think about it.  Out of site, out of mind.  Last night I must have spent half the night dreaming about blogs.  I got a call today asking simply...."why?"  I went for a long walk to run an errand today and found myself writing my blog in my head.  I can't shut it off.  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  STOP!


Something's gotta give.  Maybe I'll try again tomorrow!

I Quit
The End

Perpetual Chocoholic

2005-2009

To Very Yucky (You know who you are!)

Hello Very Yucky!  Is that you there?

I think I see you popping up in my "Feedjit traffic" bar?

I want pictures of your new home please! 

Happy Halloween

Only 2 More Sleeps

Click to enlarge

The wall in my workspace is starting to get crowded.  This is this weeks batch from my "Expressive Figure Drawing" class.  We had to use a variety of mediums that we normally wouldn't work with.  I almost exclusively use charcoal for these classes, so it's always a good exercise in loosening up ones work.

The purpose of this class wasn't in making sure that proportions were correct, but in capuring the expressiveness of the pose.  This is done with quick lines and pure instinct.  I was quite enjoying working with watercolour for two of them since I don't use it any other time and you can just slop it on when using it for this type of work.

The final photo is of my latest colour pencil painting that I'm currently working on.

Oh, and you may have noticed in the wall shot a little half apple picture (in dark blue) beside the reverse charcoal drawing.  Guess what that is!!!!  The promised coloured pencil demonstration gradually getting burried.  I know, I know....I'll pull it out and move it back to the top of my pile.

BTW...."Fallen I" and "Granny Red" are now for sale and hanging at "La Vieille Alliance" in Aylmer, Quebec.  If you go by make sure to buy some bread.  It's the best in the region!

From "I Like Pie Better"

A very old friend that works for a certain software company that allows one to manipulate photos played around with my recent painting and sent me this.  At first I thought it would perhaps pop out my secret message, but alas, it remains well hidden.

When I look at a large version of this I find it interesting that it shows the little lines I put in the hand to make it look more realistic, stand out.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE AND SEE LINES....If you care.)  Cool!  It's kinda neat to look at it a different way to see the layering of colour.

BTW, I'll call this friend "I Like Pie Better"....GET BACK TO WORK DUDE!  Lunch hour my a**.

Untitled

Now for the not looking at it for a couple of days then coming back to do the touch up phase.  It's still untitled.  I'm afraid I have a headache and am not feeling very witty with the title for this one.  Any suggestions?

Oh! BTW....there's a secret message written into the painting somewhere.  I can barely make out where it is and I'm the one who put it there.  Doubt you'll find it and I'll never tell!

Parliament Hill - Again

You can click to enlarge any of the above photos.

One of the arches pictured (third picture from the top) has various animals carved on the stone.  This is the memorial room which includes the names of those who served and died in the various wars and conflicts.  This includes the animals which served as well.

Now the purpose of the gargoyles???  I believe they are there for the protection of the building.  Although they are too difficult to photograph, they litter the top outter side of the building.

You also find carvings of the faces of various men who built the buildings and a multitude of creatures both real and imagined inside.  I'm not sure what got to that squirrel, but whomever carved him mustn't have been fond of the creatures.