Number 11 of 15

"Shiva"
5" x 7" original oil on canvasboard

For Sale in my Etsy Shop.
I went to an artist's meeting a few months ago, where my friend had LOTS of cats. I took LOTS of photos of them and couldn't resist this one. She had followed us on our tour of their property, and I think she knew I was interested in taking her photo. We were in the dug out greenhouse and she stretched up to the sun with a big satisfied look on her face. Her owner says it's her "look at me, aren't I beautiful" - smile. She used to be a city cat and is now queen of the country.
I think this is number 11 of 15 - portrait challenge for myself in the month of January.

HAPPY BLOGIVERSARY!!

Today is my one year "blogiversary"! Yeah!!!!!

My blog was started to keep my friends and family up-to-date on what is happening here in the middle of nowhere; and to showcase my art and write about what it is like to be an artist living where I live.

It's a really good way to keep an ongoing journal of your life, I have found. I have some dedicated readers and have met some amazing people and made great friends through my efforts to blog.

My blog has logged 6511 'page views' and 3406 visitors from all over the world. I have posted to this blog 209 days and included 66 photos of my artwork. Right now, 81% of the traffic/lookers/readers that comes through my blog is from the United States. I'm still learning how to interpret the stats, which was explained 'a very important' part of this for marketing artists.

Probably the biggest impact made on 'visits' within the last year that increased traffic and recognition (not that that was my goal, but it's kind of exciting when it happens), was attending the Daily Painter's Workshop, in Austin, Texas with Carol Marine and Karin Jurick and writing about it, networking with the other artists and painting EVERY single day - when I can. I am now known to occasionally attempt to create a topic - and see if traffic increases. It's sort of an experiment in psych. Another great time spender I am involved in is reading others' blogs. It's my daily reading in place of the newspaper. (Although I do get a Sunday and Monday Kansas City Star from mom and dad.)

I would like to encourage you to blog, if you aren't. It is NOT hard. It keeps you thinking, allows creativity and it liberates you into the big wide neighborhood of others - who do the same. You should blog especially if you have something to say, a position to take, a gripe, some news, a life that needs to be shared with others, a craft or an art, travel....the sky is the limit!

Now - onward to Where I Stand Sunday...

I spent most of the day Saturday, getting plants and seeds in the ground in the vegetable garden. It seems I am a little late, but all the same, they will have a nice long growing season.
This little strawberry plant, if it makes it past the bunnies and birds, will multiply and provide us with some juicy red berries!
I suppose many more than usual, are planting their gardens this year...
due to the high cost of grocery food.

WE will have zucchini, yellow squash, little pumpkins, hot peppers and bell peppers, sunflowers and lavender in this space.




Here is a view of the acreage we just
mowed the last few days. Yes, it takes a few days to mow it.

Took this photo last night, if you look closely or enlarge it, you can see a cat on the fringe of the grass, beneath the left tree. She is the momma cat that lives at the farm across the road. Every night she comes along the tree line, looking for little critters, and tonight I watched this great hunter catch a mouse in that very spot.
Here is another view of that part of our property, I think it is so pretty after it is mowed.

But, even that is becoming a question...the high price of gassing up the equipment - does the mowing and making it so pretty (about 5 - 6 acres) warrant the cost?
We think so!
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. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. If you would like to also post this subject, please let me know. There are several of us (see my sidebar) and we would love to add your blog to our list.

Where I Stand Sunday

Yesterday, while talking to my bro on the phone, I looked out the bedroom window and watched a farm cat laying low to the ground, only to pounce on fat little grey critters and eat them. During that time, I saw two of those critters get completely devoured. Today, I went to that area to investigate. There were either mole or vole holes/tunnels all over the ground around the laterals to our septic system. Some of the little tunnels were exposed. I would imagine that at one time they were made just beneath the snow, into the surface of the ground. There is a large network of them. All that cat had to do was sit and watch whoever came out of the "door" and he had breakfast! After he was done, he took a nice long nap in the sunshine very satisfied.

Kids left this morning. It was foggy and frozen but the sun has come out and was melting the ice from the trees. I am surprised the trees live at all, the way they get frozen, then thaw, then freeze again, over and over. I guess they are tough.


This is a photo of two of my friends, Bailey (the big dog) and Chaco (like the canyon in New Mexico). They often share each other as pillows. Bunch 'o lazy dogs, once again.


Lots of scrapbooking yesterday, gotta get out to the studio and reorganize. Trying to keep up with the messes that get made out there. It's easy to just walk away and not worry about putting anything away, but then, you can go no further, until you take care of it! BTW, the 'rogue' mouse in the studio was found splailed (sp?) out on the top of the bookcase - DOA. Beware to the brave and valiant others!!

"Where I Stand Sunday" is posted weekly. It helps chronicle the "journey". Too often we take for granted where we stand and what we are involved in. Used as a "vehicle" for journaling and a glance at "human geography", I; along with several others; note this day, in this way. I invite you to check "them" out, their blog addresses are in the sidebar to the right, to compare and contrast the human events of Sunday in different parts of the country and maybe the globe! If you would like to join in (and I encourage you as it is a great writing "prompt"), please leave a comment below with your blog address and we will note it in our sidebar! Thanks for looking!