Life on the High Plains

 Merry Christmas everyone!  Let's pray for a better 2021 as we all try to survive this pandemic. Have a beautiful and joyous day as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  (Isaiah 9:6)

 We had big storm clouds roll in earlier this week on the high plains of Colorado. No snow yet, but cold and windy.  I believe my brother in Tulsa has had more snow than we've had.  (Check out his blog by clicking here .) Keeping our fingers crossed because we are in quite a drought. Merry Christmas! Linking with Skywatch Friday

 Finally!  My She Shed aka art studio is back up and running. It was toppled over during the summer and required some repairs. The repairs are finished and I moved back in. It feels so good to have a space of my own again (especially now that Irv is retired).  My little space heater gets the place warm and comfy in a short time. Most of my inspirations prints from Monet and Van Gogh survived and are back on the walls. Starry Night is my all time favorite.  Someday I'll get to MOMA to see it in person. This week I finished not one, but two paintings.  The horse on the left is Sunflower Supreme, a gift for my friend who had to put the horse down last month.  The painting on the right is "An Afternoon on the Madison".  The Madison is my favorite river in Yellowstone and on a sunny September afternoon I hauled my painting stuff down to the riverbank and started the painting.  I think it might be one of my favorite pieces. Have a good week.

 Happy birthday, Mom!  It has been 17 years since I last saw you, but there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of you. I know you're proud of the democratic women who have followed you--your daughter, granddaughters, and great granddaughter.  I can't even imagine what you would have thought about the last four years.  Don't worry though because goodness prevailed. We learned kindness and empathy from you. God and family first followed by good democratic principles. (All in fun folks) What a cutie! What a beauty inside and out. You are missed everyday!  Happy birthday in heaven!

 Sometimes I think Irv feels a little left out and maybe lonely.  I have three shadows with me wherever I go in the house. Last night I was in packing my suitcase and both cats decided they were going to Arizona with us. Then they all decided it was naptime.  Here's Sophie, the old cranky lady of the bunch. Maisy decided a catnap sounded pretty good too. Then there's my little buddy, Hayden.  He's named after the great Yellowstone explorer so he has big shoes to fill.  He'll get started on his explorations as soon as he's done napping.

 So it's still quite uneventful out here on the eastern plains of Colorado.  We're still staying at home, self-isolating, and avoiding the general public. We got our truck back from Jillian and Brian recently so we were off to the box box lumber store to get new paneling and flooring for my she shed aka painting studio.  You may remember that it was toppled over in a big storm this summer.   We had a couple 60 degree days last week so my sweet husband got the inside fixed.  It looks great with the new flooring too.  Now it's time to order a new storage cabinet and move all my painting stuff back in. I ordered my cabinet and it was supposed to take 10 days to be delivered, but surprise--it arrived in three days.   By this time our beautiful weather had left and was replaced by a bitter arctic front with snow and wind. It's always fun to assemble these cheap furniture items.  The reviews from this cabinet said it took up to four hours to a...

 Well, yesterday was the day. My baby girl youngest daughter, her husband, dog and cat left for their tour of duty in Germany.    (I refuse to refer to my daughters as my baby girls, but that's probably because I'm a girl Mom and not a boy mom.  I know boy moms who refer to their adult sons as their babies even when they're 60 years old.  I always expected my daughters to be strong, brave, and independent woman and that's exactly what they've become.  Of course, this conversation is for another blog post.) As a mom it's hard to see your kids move across the ocean especially during a pandemic.  This is my second daughter who has lived overseas.  My eldest daughter moved to Australia for four years and came home with a wonderful guy as her husband.  As much as I will miss them, I'm so excited for their upcoming adventures.  There's nothing better than living in a foreign country, learning new cultures, meeting people who are different from...

 My youngest daughter and her husband are getting ready to deploy to Germany is a week or so.  While they were getting their household goods packed up and their house cleaned up, my husband and I offered to keep their dog for a few weeks. His name is Diesel and he is the sweetest dog you'll ever know.  He has no idea that he's a gentle giant at 90 pounds. He thinks he's a little lap dog. He makes himself at home on the couch or the bed or anywhere he feels like. We've known him since he was the little, tiniest puppy. It took about two weeks for our cat, Hayden, to warm up to him. He's been friends with our other cat, Sophie, for years.  When Diesel first got here Sophie went right up to him and started rubbing all over him.  They obviously remembered each other. Diesel also has his own Instagram account.  You can search for one.ear.up.pup to follow his shenanigans. Our little dog, Maisy, has bonded with Diesel.  They are best buddies.  Their favor...