Catching Up

So, I said I was going to try to be a better blogger in 2023 and I've already missed that goal.  Here's a quick post to catch up for the first two weeks of January.

My handsome grandson seems to be having a great experience in Korea.  I was lucky enough to get a friend request from him so I can see his adventures (little did he know I'd be stealing an occasional photo of how happy and healthy he looks).  He doesn't let many "older" adults in and if you're offended by the "F" word you should definitely stay away.

I finished up two paintings this week and they're both of the same thing!  Above is the 30"x30" version that I painted all on my own.  His name is Tatonka (Lakota for bull).

Here is the 20"x20" painting currently known as Tatonka Junior.  I worked on the smaller version with my teacher and then would go home and applied what I learned to the big guy.  I've ordered frames for both of them which unfortunately have to be custom made because they are unusual sizes (lesson learned).  The smaller one will be looking for a new home so let me know if you're interested.

I spent two days at the National Western Stock Show for the annual 4-H Western Roundup that is held in conjunction with the stock show.  The first day I got up before the crack of dawn to be in Denver by 8:00 for the horse bowl contest.  Our local county team was representing Colorado in the contest and I wanted to be there to support them.  The coach is a long time friend of mine and I've gotten to know these young ladies over the last several months.  When I walked into the contest room before they started their first round, they and their families were so surprised and touched that I put in the effort to go cheer them on.  In the end they won the national championship!  One of the girls even sent me a FB friend request after the contest which I had to deny.  As a 20+ year volunteer 4-H leader I can't befriend these kiddos until they are out of 4-H, but it was nice she wanted to be my friend.

The next day was the national championship horse judging contest that I have tabulated for year.  For the first time in memory it wasn't freezing cold and snowing on the day of the contest.

I got to spend the day with lots of old friends and a couple new friends.  The contest went smoothly and Arizona took the top spot despite a computer glitch that nearly caused a panic attack.  The night before the contest I had to call the lady who developed the tabulating software for emergency assistance. I had recently moved the software to my new computer with Windows 11.  She was very kind and helpful even though I woke her up because she lives in Pittsburgh now.  On the phone she told me the software is unstable with Windows 11 which I had specifically inquired about before moving it to my new PC.  At that time she'd told me "it should be fine, but we haven't done much testing".  Yikes!

I ordered some pannekoeken mix from my cousin's store and got my pannekoek pan out to give it a try.  I'd forgotten that it's mostly eggs and is more like a crepe than a pancake.  With the price and scarcity of eggs this may only be a special treat every now and then.  Although when I was at Costco yesterday they had five dozen eggs for $15.99.  If only I knew a few people to split that up with.  By 2025 all the eggs sold in Colorado must be free range with at least one square foot of personal space per chicken.  You should hear how the Republicans are trashing this.  Animals deserve to be treated with respect too.

We've been having spectacular sunrises which make those crack of dawn feedings a little more enjoyable.

Irv got a new iPhone and his hand me down iPhone 7 has been retired.

Pretty boring start to the year, but that's okay!