Where I Stand Sunday

The 4 days of Thanksgiving is almost over. We have had a great time with our company.  My dad came for the holiday.  We have had lots of food, some tours of the countryside and a nice visit with him.  Some more football is on the agenda for today.  As par for this holiday, I think there will be some more time spent in front of the TV for the important games.

Some of us love to sit on a warm lap and just take it easy.

Now on to the whirlwind of days that crescendo with Christmas and then New Years.  Where does the time fly to?

Where I Stand Sunday is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing.
Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on.
There are several others who also write this on Sunday, see sidebar.

Where I Stand Sunday

Today and for a few days, my neighbor has been prepping ground where a machine building will be erected.

Progress was being made until this...

the Paddle Scraper got stuck and hubster was summoned to help in setting it free from it's 'highsided' precariousness.

It couldn't go forward, it couldn't back-up.  The scraper was full of dirt off the hill and it was stuck like glue.

The Versatile with the 'sheeps foot' was to guide the effort...along with

the Case tractor.

They put them in a line tied together with some heavy chain.

(Love the above photo..)

A couple of attempts were made, but the smaller of the two log chains kept breaking.

So there was a brief intermission (wait, not so brief that I didn't feel the weather change from OK to colder and brisker) .  I watched the sandhill cranes (remember I reported that I had missed their migration overhead a while back? - Well, they just were beginning after I wrote that, they are LATE this year.) 

 I took some photos of my little house on the prairie across the road.

Then the neighbor's uncle came along and offered the use of some thick cable.

Penny the pug dog came along and watched, too.

And after two tries, it came loose. 

It still amazes me how big equipment can get stuck like this, but I now know that it CAN HAPPEN. I know 'guys' like this kind of thing, but if you were there and had seen the process and the thinking, you would have enjoyed it, too!

Where I Stand Sunday is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing.
Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on.
There are several others who also write this on Sunday, see sidebar.

Making Life Better

Old Studio Door ~ entrance from inside garage to studio...

as it is coming down...

New Studio Door!  Easier operation, less drafty and adding some light to the interior!  Yeah!!

Where I Stand Sunday

Walking back and forth to the studio the last few days.  Fall colors - chilly today.

Working on a birthday surprise...I don't think she will look here before I give this to her on her 50th birthday Tuesday.

Taken with my iPad...yesterday.

Taken with my Nikon - today..bright sun..I need to photograph again.  Not satisfied with this photo, but see where the painting needs a little nip and tuck - ha!

Now...there....that is much better!

Done in acrylic on an 8" x 10" Ampersand black gessobord. This photo bugs me so much, I may have to re-photo it at halftime - go Broncos!! 

Just glad they won!

Afternoon Sun - a Country Dog's Tale

These fall afternoons, when the temperature is do-able and the winds are none..it's nice to sit out and just contemplate the quiet of the changing season.

There is nothing to excite us, we casually check outside our confines to make sure the world is an "OK" place.

The warmth of the sun, makes us feel at ease.

In fact, it makes us down right sleepy...

"Excuse me if I nod off a bit."

"Uuhhhh...Let me catch some serious warmth here."

"Oh well, I can tell something is in the wind...I must get up and check it out."

"Huh???  What is that??"

So that's whose been trying to dig

under the foundation into the cellar and crawlspace!!

(The quality of this last photo was compromised by the fleeing photographer as she attempted to corral herself and her dogs away from the source of the smell that was being "let out" in a 360 degree pattern from this swirling critter.)

An Oil Painting of a Still Life of Snowball Flowers and Tangerines

"Still Life with Tangerines"

9" x 12"

oil on Raymar canvasboard

These flowers are snowballs.  To me, they look like mini-hydrangeas.  Had fun painting this one as my iPad camera shot interpretted the backdrop as purple, and the still life set-up backdrop was green.  I liked the purple.  It was a nice compliment to the green and orange, so I painted from my iPad image with the opportunity of looking at the actual still life set-up for further ideas.

Hollyhocks in Oil

"Hollyhocks"

9" x 12"

oil on Raymar canvasboard

Where I Stand Sunday

Such a nice day, a respite from the winds of the past few days. Time to do a little

clean-up of the land, the dog yard and the garden area. 

Tractor and bush hog are busy today, too, cleaning up the waterway.

Here are most of the small gourds that were part of this fall harvest.

And their use is...?  Oh well, I can decorate inside the house with them temporarily.  Some have been out of the garden for awhile and already beyond the 'useful' stage,

I grew these big gourds to try painting on them this winter and/or to make birdhouses. There are enough I think.  Now they just have to dry out.

I planted these large gourd seeds last year and not ONE of the vines came up.  I used the same seeds this year - I had frozen them.  And voila - they really need a frame to climb...and I was glad they found the wire fence around the garden.  A few could not be picked as they had grown between the wire - see here.

It seems sad.  Our fall color left us quickly ~ due to the heavy winds during the past few weeks. Those winds blew most of the leaves from the trees as they turned color.   It seems like the grass went brown - overnight.  Maybe it's because I have been working at the grain elevator for crop harvest time.   I missed something and fall is pretty much gone.   I haven't even heard the Sandhill Cranes migrate overhead like usual.  I saw and heard maybe one large group.  I miss that.  Time to slow back down and do a little breathe time and tend to some things around the homestead, inside and out ~ and PAINT ~ PAINT ~ PAINT!!

Where I Stand Sunday is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing.
Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on.
There are several others who also write this on Sunday, see sidebar.

Painting of Scotties

"Alex and Callie"

SOLD

9" x 12"

oil on Raymar plein air canvasboard

Painted with permission of the owner.

New Oil Painting for Today

"Buffalo Grazing ~ Yellowstone"

9" x 12"

oil on Raymar canvas

Eggs-a-laun-tay!!

My chickens were hatched around mid-May to the end of May...I have been expecting some form of laying to happen sooner than now.  But working so hard at my seasonal job kept me from keeping such a close look upon my hens.  Today, found these as I cleaned out the coop.  Yippeeee!  Don't know which of the two hens laid them, but there will most likely be a need to 'check inside' every day now!