Wind - Not MY Friend

Yesterday, this is the back side of our house on our 40 acres - we get a lot of wind, from time to time.  Dog fence will be coming down soon.  We no longer need it as our 16 y.o. (almost 17) 'wiener dog, Chaco', who doesn't venture very far, plus we are always with him when he goes out. Our big Weimeraner, Bailey, passed away last August.  And in his failing days, he didn't need a fence either.

I was planning on making a trip to Denver, yesterday. I belong to a book club group of fellow teachers in Jeffco and was looking forward to meeting and discussing our latest read "This Tender Land" by William Krueger.  I really enjoyed reading this book, set in the Depression Era times about some orphaned children who were on the run from an Indian boarding school, which was a cruel place for them to be, in Minnesota.  As I read it, I could picture 'my father as a boy', he would have been the same age as the protagonist in this story.  Those times must have been for the strong and brave. 

The 'front range' highways and byways were all dried off from Sunday's snow accumulation, as far a I could tell.  It was the wind that kept me from going.  Lots of drifts and ice in these parts (at 8200 ft.) and I don't do well driving (especially that distance) with either one...so I stayed home.   Local schools were even on a delayed start schedule due to this weather.

So, I spent the day finishing another book I was reading, the controversial and much talked about "American Dirt" by Jeanine Cummins.   I had to see what all the buzz was about and I don't quite understand the controversy.  It was a fantastic read...full of twists and turns, well written.  I couldn't put it down most of the time.  I am getting better about using long stretches of time to really dive into books..LOVE IT!   Anyway, it goes on my top 10 best reads.

What drew me to read this one is I saw a news piece about 'readers did not think this author knew what she was talking about' since she told a story about a fictional Mexican mother on the run with her son, as migrants and she supposedly is 'not of true Mexican heritage',  However, does that mean that she can't write a story about Mexican people?  Some claim that the characters in the book were 'stereoptypical'.  Maybe so, but this book shined in the 'story telling realm'.  I think many may miss the true theme of the book..a loving mother's strife for her child and her identification with her immediate family, the reality of the intensity of the presence of drug cartels in Mexico and Central America and it's effect on everyday citizens and the responsibility and consequences of reporting in journalistic writing. It truly gives soul to the migrant population.  I kept thinking, OK, when do we get to the 'hokey' part, but it never came.  Read it and tell me what you think. 

WIP and Working on Repairs

 While waiting in the Jeep on a hot day with the dogs in Frisco, Colorado for DH to return from the store  ~ I took a great couple of photos of a raven in a tree.  I loved the way the photos turned out.  Upon returning from our trip which was  last year, I got out a 16" x 20" canvas and sketched in the scene with acrylic.  I meant for it to BE an acrylic painting, but as it sometimes goes, it didn't get very far.  I didn't like it and in lieu of 'wiping' -because one really has to be fast to wipe an acrylic painting it dries so fast, I made it into a story.  Poor RAVEN - he was caught in a bad storm and was about to be blown out of the trees.  Nuff said, and I put it behind another BIG painting that has about the same dilemma.

What you see above is something that can be 

likened to 'scribbling it out'.

Today, I FINALLY got to the studio after being 'house bound' for a couple of days. We have had a MEGA ice storm in North Central Kansas..and this ankle STILL does not want to go across ANY ice right now.  However, upon arrival there today, I began to look through canvas and ideas and came across this one.

I think the truth of it was and still is, there was soooo much detail in the pine trees that he was sitting in...and without painting them - 

well, it just wouldn't work.   Also, the large surface area - needs some detail.

Today I felt like revisiting it IN OIL paint and tackling those trees - head on.

The raven would be fine, it was working, the trees?  Had to get that one going, and I think I did. Here is a photo on the progression today.  The 'wind' died down, of course.

I am liking it - it calls to me now - it will get finished.
I like the bold acrylic colors as an undercoat.

With that ICE and snow, we had MUCHO wind.  We have a great bird feeder

that was left on this farmstead when we bought it.  DH has mended it a few times..but the strong winds a few days ago took it right off it's mooring and it smashed apart pretty bad.   (There are more times than fingers of things the wind has ruined here - this IS Kansas, afterall.) 

My studio is adjacent to his shop..he worked on rebuilding the bird feeder today - using some of the old structure and adding to it with some new wood, staples and screws.

Below is the bird feeder one winter with a bird TOO BIG for it..

but you get the idea of where it has been and how it has been used.

Definitely  NOT YOUR SIZE sir...

And here it is in the shop today

getting a rejuvenation.

Lid open..

lid closed.

I think Winter is not coming back anymore...I am crossing my fingers.

The next moisture we get should be only 'rain'.  But Kansas

is alot like Colorado (lived in the 'Golden' area)...change of the seasons, you don't know what you will get.

In Colorado, it depends on what comes over the mountains..here it's about the 'highs' or 'lows' that come across the plains..usually from the north...and if storms creep up from the south, you have fair warning.

Tornado season is starting now, OH YAY!!

Where I Stand Sunday

Here I stand over one of my tomato plants that I just uncovered.
A seed gives a hope and a promise,
A plant asks for guidance and care,
A gardener vigilantly offers all.

Extreme wind last night and VERY cold. We put Wallo Waters around our tomato plants a few days ago, as we know what happens here to those early plants you put out. You take your chance of hail or cold. Both have occurred. We put towels over them and clothes pinned them to the cages, but I noticed that this plant was a little frosty on the leaves at the top. There was no frost, but the cold froze the wet towel. It was so windy, we thought that plastic bags would have been ripped to shreds and gone before morning. Our little house was "crying" in the wind last night, hubster said. That sounds sad, doesn't it?
But today brings a new day and no wind or rain!

and to my mom...and if you ARE a mom (of a child or another human - man or woman - or an animal).....

Happy Mother's Day!!

"Where I Stand Sunday" is posted weekly. It helps chronicle the "journey". Too often we take for granted where we stand and where we are involved. If you would like to join in on your blog, please leave a comment below with your blog address and we (the others who are also involved in posting about it, see my sidebar) will note it in our sidebar! Thanks for looking!

Tiger Swallowtail

"Tiger Swallowtail" - matted size 16" x 20", pastel on Strathmore pastel paper


I must say - doing these last two - butterflies - has been a lot of fun! I love the colors and the shapes I find in their wings. The translucent appearance is also tricky.
This pastel paper is so thin. I will have to store it very soon in the file I created for thin paper pieces of art, to keep them from buckling once it turns humid. I am thinking of using spray adhesive and mounting it to a board. (I never have a lot of luck with that, but keep trying.) And gee...if the wind would ever stop, I could probably do "just that" outside. They say it has been about 25 - 35 MPH, but I think some gusts are about 50 mph. Of all the weather we have, this is the one I just loathe. Don't mean to complain...but give us a break!
Oh ya, the credit for the photo goes to my friend, once again!
$150.00, unframed
Free shipping and handling

Living in the Central Plains is NOT for sissies!!

Another hailstorm and wind last night did more damage to the "little house on the prairie". This time the storm came from the north, something it hardly ever does. We lost power for 2 and a half hours, but the real kicker is we woke up to a very swollen creek. The water's edge was in places we have never seen it in before. Check out the "before and after" photos. To give you an idea of the force of the wind, our neighbor has a 55 gallon drum at the gate to his pasture, about 1/8 of a mile from here and it ended up down in our lower field by our "eternal" pond. Good thing there is insurance to cover the destruction, again. I think the adjusters are still in town from the last storm 22 days ago. Top and bottom of same general area, looking toward the bridge, today's compared to same spot at the end of last summer. The other photo shows damage to the siding on the north side of the house.