Life on the High Plains

I started lessons with a new art instructor at the beginning of the year.  She's an award winning artist who has art displayed in studios and museums across the country.  She's teaching me a whole new technique--still life. The first step was to choose a subject.  I chose this little pumpkin and a couple apples.  Simple you'd think.  They are set up inside a shadow box so that we can control the lighting.  You can see above how the lighting is provided.  The shadow box is covered on the top and all the sides except the front.  The painting starts with a sketch.  On the first week I hauled my French easel to her studio. Her studio is in the artsy part of town and I have to park a few blocks away and then climb a couple flights of stairs.  The French easel is very heavy so she suggested a Pochade box (more about that later). After the sketch comes the first layer of under painting just to get the lights and darks in....

The 2019 organization plan is still in effect.  I've been staying focused on my photo scanning project.  As of today I have scanned 2,093 photos.  (This is barely a dent in the total number of photos in this house.) I also went to the hobby store and purchased photo boxes since they were 50% off this week.  I have a box for all my loved ones (almost).  I need to go back and buy a few more for the extended family.   First I sort the photos by who the main subject is.  After they're scanned they're filed in the appropriate box.   It's a pretty monotonous job, but I can do it! I've also been looking for things around the house that we don't need anymore.  We have a total of six saddles for our two horses including two English Saddles.  Jillian won a really nice English saddle at a horse judging contest--it was custom made for her.  We don't really need two English saddles so I'm going to sell the other one. ...

I'm in Denver for a couple days to work at the 4-H Western National Roundup Conference.  This is where the national championship contests are held for everything from horse judging to public speaking.  These kids have worked years to get here.  It's held in conjunction with the National Western Stock Show which provides the critters for the various contests. I do the tabulating for the horse judging.  I've had this duty for years which I love. This year I got a hotel room with a view. Today the weather in Denver was unseasonably warm--about 60 degrees.  However, in the last couple hours the skies have turned gray because... ... a large snow storm is on its way.  Normally I drive home on Friday night after the contest, but I'll have to wait and see if that's possible tomorrow.  The hotel where the conference is held is booked tomorrow night so if I decide to spend another night in Denver I'll have to change hotels. Oh well, I'll worry ab...

2019 is going to be the year of organization for me.  I'm always an organized person who deeply hates clutter, but there are some things like photos that I can do better.  I plan to get all our photos scanned so that I can get rid of the albums and all the paper photos that none of my kids are going to want when we're gone. I've also opened an Ebay store and I'm going to start selling off some items that we no longer need or use.  I'm committed to letting go of any emotional attachments.  My goal is to clean stuff out so that my kids are never burdened with that task.  (At least that's what I'm telling Irv.  Little does he know that I'm planning a move to AZ in a couple years or maybe becoming full-time RVers.  Shhh...don't tell him.) I started with some of my dad's stuff.  I scanned all his old photos and I found an envelope of some letters that my dad had written to my mom before they were married.  My dad was a new forester stationed i...

I'm like a big kid when it comes to our local zoo.  I have a membership so that I can go whenever the desire hits although I haven't made it up there nearly often enough. During the holidays I had suggested going to our zoo lights, but there wasn't any interest.  After all our house guests left I made Irv accompany me on the next to last day it was open. As a zoo member we can get in an hour earlier than the public which makes it super nice.  The giraffes at our zoo are amazing.  It's the largest herd in North America.  It's been a tough year for our giraffes starting with little Penny who didn't survive very long and two others that died of old age. It's always fun to feed them (even if you're not a kid). The lights at our zoo don't compare to displays at other zoos such as the Phoenix Zoo, but they're still beautiful. Wonderland! One thing that sets our zoo apart is that there are still quite a few of ...