New Chicken Family

So, here we go again. I meant to get three chicks, but what could I do when I saw them? There are two each of three different kinds......Rhode Island reds, Bard(or Barred?) Rocks, and Black something or others. I didn't get the name, but they are so cute. I found my heat lamp, but the other baby chick stuff had disappeared. I had to get a new waterer and feeder, but both of the new ones are better than those I had before. All of them seem healthy and are eating and drinking well. They are four days old today.

I am trying not to imagine their possible future. I've had bad luck, no matter what I do to protect them. I have about a month to prepare the Fort Knox of chicken pens and I intend to do my best. They have no names yet, but I'll watch their personalities develop and name them accordingly. I'm glad to have them.

The Garden

It wouldn't be Spring if I didn't post pictures from my garden. The tulips have nearly gone by but are still beautiful as always. The bleeding heart was new last year and is doing really well. Most everything else is up and flourishing, and no wonder. We have had rain almost every day this month. Today was the first sunny day in recent memory. I haven't wanted to be out weeding and working in the garden because it has been so wet. One wonders why, though, since I am out at the farm every day, rain or shine, sloshing in mud up over my boots, shoveling manure. I come home soaked to the skin and stinking to high heaven, exhausted.

Well, I guess we all have our prorities.

Spring, So to Speak

I took these pictures on the way back from the farm the other day. Suddenly everything had turned green. So far, though, it has been very rainy and cold for the most part. Thom told me that it has rained 18 days out of this month so far. So this day was unusually beautiful and warm.

I have been working at the farm every day, which keeps me very busy. I love being there, but there are times when I feel like I have no time for anything else. It's not really true, and I think the main reason i am feeling pressed is the weather. I haven't been able to do the things outside that I need to do. The garden, the dog pen, and the chicken pen all need to be worked on. Even though I shovel manure, throw hay, fill water buckets, etc. in the pouring rain, somehow I feel like staying inside when I'm home. I'm still working in my studio, but since I finished doing my faces I really don't have any real project going. I ought to be getting the things I already have done ready to exhibit, but that is a part of doing artwork that I find endlessly tedious. I hate to do it. Since I rejoined the gallery this year I need to get stuff done, though........and quickly. The gallery opens very soon (I don't know exactly when). In fact there was a meeting today which I did not attend. I'm hoping that if I stay out of the business of running things I will be okay. Since that is the case, I wonder why I rejoined. I really wonder why I did........

Here They Are

These are all my faces from the obituaries. The flash has made the color lighter in the center, but certainly this is about what it looks like. The piece is about 22x30. The size was determined by the piece of foam core I found and could afford at Walmart. Once I had it, my desire to go on and on disappeared. I had my eye on the end, and worked toward it. I will have to re-arrange the pieces somewhat because I want no white showing between them. Since they are not exactly equal in size, they have to be arranged to compensate. Otherwise, though, I want a feeling of total randomness......though the "randomness" will actually be by design. I want no sequences, no discernible patterns by gender, age, or color. The difference in color of the individual portraits is an unexpected variation I didn't plan for. I expected to have them all simply black and white. But since I do not use black paint, every time I mixed a black out of red, yellow, and blue it came out different. That's the advantage of mixing black rather than using commercially mixed black, which is dull and too consistent. I thought I would get it closer than I did, though. Now I'm glad I didn't.

On a much sadder note, all three of my chickens were killed by a predator last week. I was stunned and devastated. For a few days I thought in my grief that I would not get more.....end that part of my life. But as I began to recover, I was less convinced, and then on my way to Calais found myself stopping at the feed store to see if they were going to get baby chicks. When the answer was yes, I ordered three. They will arrive in about a month. Having chickens is part of my identity, my idea of myself. I'm not ready to make a change, I guess. So while I wait I will try to prepare a better fortress for my new babies. So far I have obviously not been able to keep danger away, no matter how I try. But I will try again...