Author Topic: Farm Journal - 2025  (Read 1693 times)

Hopalong

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Re: Farm Journal - 2025
« Reply #30 on: May 08, 2025, 10:27:34 AM »
Enjoy your brief solitude, you've earned it over and over!

The happy art hunt caught my attention because when I was selling everything I could to increase my down payment, one thing was a very old edition of a book illustrated by Rackham, with those loose (except at one end) color plates in it.

I have in my bedroom a limited edition Sendak print that he inscribed for me and signed when he visited the University for something. That was exciting. It's the lion indoors near a door, looking back over his shoulder at the viewer with a small white dog by his side. From Where the Wild Things are. I also got a wonderful kitchen scene with chefs and tools he did but believe my ex wound up with it.

That bathroom sounds beautiful. Maybe except for skulls, but I lack the happy associations with those that tattoo artists understand. And what a cool thing to create with Hol in mind.

Enjoy the kid-free, other-people free time, and those fabulous kitties. Kuckles too. Wish I knew what he looks like, since I am dawg obsessed.

hugs
Hop
"That'll do, pig, that'll do."

sKePTiKal

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Re: Farm Journal - 2025
« Reply #31 on: May 09, 2025, 06:26:35 AM »
Knuckles is white with pink skin; tannish brown spots - like a beagle almost. And under the white hair which is really thin, he has grayish black spots - like a dalmation. Big ole pitbull head & pretty broad chest - but he's really a medium sized dog compare to Kiri. She has the height and size of her setter & pyrenees parents. A formidable guardian dog - pyrenees have killed wolves & coyotes to protect their flocks, herds or children charges. Knuckles is just everyone's friend and playful and cuddly. He hasn't faired too well trying to make friends with wildlife...

A friend of Hol's found him as a puppy living on the street in Baltimore. It had been about a year since she lost her border collie and Ghengis - another lovable but giant pitbull. So I've watched Knucks grow up, he is the epitome of the gentleman ambassador for the canine species! Hol went out of her way to train him to verbal commands and to make him feel safe... so except for a little food aggression/protectiveness he's become a sweetheart. When he was in his running/chasing phase as a puppy, I'd call him back with an old Swiss cowbell - it rings loud and clear and a pretty high tone. Now, I just have to call him.

He has highly developed empathic ability for a dog. And will ask when he needs snuggles too. No trouble at all for me to take care of while she's out gallivanting - and given the improvement in her mental state, attitude, and emotional stability lately I think she's dropping some of the "over" part of over-responsibility. We're both happier as a result.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2025, 06:28:30 AM by sKePTiKal »
Success is never final, failure is never fatal.

Hopalong

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Re: Farm Journal - 2025
« Reply #32 on: May 09, 2025, 10:45:42 AM »
Awwww, wish I could hug him. A pitbull prince--I've watched a zillion pitbull rescue stories (Pitbulls and Parolees for one). Howdy, Knuckles! Lucky boy.
And y'all are superb at dog-naming, btw. GENGHIS? Hilarious.

Pup's name basically means, "I'm bigger than you think I am." Makes people laugh. He arrived as Thor so the rescue lady had major ambitions for him, I think. Hey, 14 pounds is very respectable and when he does his Rin Tin Tin imitation on my knees, I sure feel it!

The freaking autocorrect typed "pitfalls" instead of "pitBULLs." Wrong wrong wrong! I know most of them are perfect nannies, love bugs and goofballs. Exactly perfect. And I love the way you describe and appreciate him.

hugs
Hops
« Last Edit: May 09, 2025, 04:01:17 PM by Hopalong »
"That'll do, pig, that'll do."

sKePTiKal

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Re: Farm Journal - 2025
« Reply #33 on: May 10, 2025, 06:52:22 AM »
I'd much rather have the instinctive cooperation of an animal, than teach it only to repond to commands. Yeah, sometimes it's necessary...

Hol doesn't see things that way. It's OK. Between the two approaches he's become well rounded. I don't do too well with names - Hol named her buddies. One of her kitties is "Sassafras" - and she is a ferocious one! B named Pickles, after I flailed around trying on different monikers. Lucy was easy... Stinker was self-naming - LOL.

Wish me well - today's challenge is hanging wallpaper in the studio powder room. I claimed "knowing how to do this" and Hol stepped back and said "it's all yours!" LOLOLOL. It's too fiddly for her, I think. I want to get it done, so she doesn't watch me paste myself in the process.... a person need 8 hands unless they're amazingly lucky.
Success is never final, failure is never fatal.

Hopalong

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Re: Farm Journal - 2025
« Reply #34 on: May 10, 2025, 09:05:01 AM »
We'll, it'll be interesting for B to come home and find you mummified in gorgeous wallpaper...

GOOD LUCK!

hugs
Hops
"That'll do, pig, that'll do."

lighter

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Re: Farm Journal - 2025
« Reply #35 on: May 10, 2025, 09:25:06 AM »
I'm getting the steamer out....removing wallpaper.  Good luck with putting it up, Amber.

Did you guys feel that earthquake?

Hopalong

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Re: Farm Journal - 2025
« Reply #36 on: May 10, 2025, 09:36:20 AM »
NO, but if I was asleep it prolly wouldn't awaken me.
Years back we had a significant one...it shook the building I was in and made little waves in the parking lot. Really scary sensation to stand on gently rolling pavement but although a few buildings collapsed in a little town east of here, no deaths thankfully.

One reason that although I love visiting California, I'd skip living there.

What does a mountain feel like in an earthquake? Any trees down?

hugs
Hops
PS Agnostic thought of the day: If there is a heaven, it's probably a private club I can't afford.
"That'll do, pig, that'll do."

Hopalong

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Re: Farm Journal - 2025
« Reply #37 on: May 10, 2025, 11:44:34 PM »
I hear it was a 4.something and was felt from Atlanta to Knoxville, but there's also a comment on a local forum about feeling it. Guess I slept through it this time.

shudder, etc--
Hops
"That'll do, pig, that'll do."

lighter

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Re: Farm Journal - 2025
« Reply #38 on: Today at 08:45:46 AM »
I thought something fell on the roof l, then I thought a train was rumbling next to the house, then my brain said that wasn't possible so I stood to go see if a helicopter was trying to land on the house and it stopped. 

The roof, mainly was making noise.... tinkling of glass.

My sister thought I was shaking her bed.  DD22 thought a ghost was shaking her bed and lamps. DD24 knew what it was immediately, across town, and they lost power 4 times at her workplace.

I haven't seen more trees down than normal.

I bet Amber felt it.

Lighter

sKePTiKal

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Re: Farm Journal - 2025
« Reply #39 on: Today at 09:47:47 AM »
Nope, didn't feel a thing! Up here there's so much bedrock that we would rarely notice. I get a weird disorientation when earthquakes happen - I was in Kitty Hawk, when that one in Central Va hit - and I thought there was something wrong with me!

I have survived the trial of matching skulls & roses in a 5x8 bathroom with a big vanity across the back wall. I'm opting for "feature wall" now... and in a bit, Knuckles & I will go back out and I'll paint the wall opposite the paper.

Looking back at yesterday, I think I revisited "the zone" while papering. Took my time sorting out prep... picking out music... planning... and then just doing. By the time I remembered I hadn't eaten or had anything much to drink... Knuckles let his needs be known. I keep some snacks out there and the fridge is stocked with plenty to drink... but I was workin'. Knuckles has some treats there.

That's more my style of working - getting all organized first, with room to work - than Hol's just dive in and then have to locate supplies, tools, etc. That's a great approach for demo, but not so much for "creation". But she does good work with a total swirl of bits & bobs, piles on top of tools, etc when she's designing... it's just not my process. AND my process is solitary - I'm used to spending hours, most of a day alone working.

It'll take half an hour to paint this wall. Then I can spend the day shopping online for appropriate art prints. I have a couple of small erotic art prints... one is framed; the image is 1x2". But I'm looking for Fin de Siecle posters, small prints, a collection of things. The illustrations I mentioned previously. And not just for the bathroom. Gertrude Stein style salons are something we use the studio for, from time to time. Out here in the boonies of WV, with little to no perception of the "outside world" there will be gatherings of Amazons - some well behaved men allowed - where we empty out our heads, support each other, lead, push, guide, and laugh at everything including ourselves - and continue the ancient traditions.

Sometimes it's a sad time, sometimes it's warm & happy, sometimes it's hard - and easy times too. Just depends on what people are bringing with them. When I moved in, this room was already an art studio. BUT, it was all one color of what can only be called "dirty white", it was hot in summer, cold in winter, and the overall ambiance was dreary and institutional - no matter how much Hol & I tried to dress it up. We've mostly fixed that. And there are still ongoing decisions.

I have a couple of solid oak bookcases (Costco, no less, back in the "old days" of the early '00s.) And I have pared down the library to some classics, my gardening, sewing & art reference books - some Whole Earth catalogs & homesteading references - and Hol doesn't like the bookcases because they're tall (and extremely heavy). That wall space would be better used with art, she believes. I can't part with the bookcases, mostly because it's almost impossible to find solid wood furniture these days. But, I did get a couple low shelves to provide a home for Micheal's album collection (it's huge; the Zappa section crosses over two cubbies). And I see her point of view about how the height is closing in the room. There are windows at waist height all the way around and even though the bookcases are between two windows... the vertical height DOES read like a stop sign. So I imagine that over time, there will be ongoing changes & upgrades in there.

We still have a lot of tools and supplies in that room, and it's hiding the custom cabinets I had built. Boy do they suck up and keep safe a LOT of fabric! Maybe I could retain the same cabinet maker to solve the bookcase issue? I'll think on that.

Looks like we're going to get a lot more rain next week - so gardening might have to happen between raindrops! But at least we'll be done in the studio except for "arranging" and cleaning.
Success is never final, failure is never fatal.