Black Power Day

Teasingly I asked if he had fun 'playing' with his brother who had come up for a night and a day to camp and shoot his old, expensive, black powder riffle. They seemed to have fun target shooting and hatchet throwing.

His brother is into the "Rendezvous" and has made an old fashion canvas tent, with an all wood table and bench, and all sorts of other old school stuff. It does seem like fun... of course Little Brother* is on his own if he wants to rendezvous with his brother. I just can't imagine another hobby, especially one in which women would be tent side cooking while the guys have the hunting/shooting experience... no fair.

Dog Nap

I've been so busy with work and life that I seem to post less and less, and so tired that I misplaced my sense of humor and wit! I am not the only one though! Gromit here has been sleeping in the hallway well for most of his life as I work at my desk everyday, where the traffic was minimal between The Hub* and myself.

But since my Little Sis & her babies moved in he's been a little worn thin, and he seems to be a bit sad.

Anyhow, I had a headache and invited him into my office where we were closing the door to begin work for the day and he came right in and curled up on this old chair! It's the funniest thing because he's a BIG Chocolate Lab, weighing in at 90 lbs, tall and long. He's never been allowed on furniture, unless I am alone for the night then the guys sleep with me. The way he walked to the chair and crawled in was like he'd been doing it everyday of his life since he was a pup, and if this wasn't the biggest over sized chair ever in existence from the 1940's he'd never have fit!

Fall In Full Swing

Fall... my favorite season. Until moving to Minnesota I had never known what a Tamarack tree was much less that they shed needles like a leafed tree. This view is out my front window. Which I seem to collect a lot of pictures of! Well who can blame me when I work 40+ hours a week and only see this view... for which I am grateful because I know it could be the view I had in Boulder, CO... another building!

Somebody loves our Sesame! We find her on my bed every day saying "kitty, kitty" and "ears", "tail"... before she inevitably pulls on one end or the other. Sesame is a year or so and very patient with the baby, as long as she's not getting picked up.

Saturday Rain

My cousin had a Sweet 15th Birthday with my niece (above) as a "Princess." She sure does look like a princess! Anyway, just showing her off because she's so special!

Spent some time looking at family pictures of family I recently connected with online. My family never lived close to their siblings and so we never got to know each other. It's great we can all keep in touch now. It's sad how we've really gotten away from formal letters.

Painted these this morning for Jill. They are not fired yet. The colors will be vibrant.

My Boy

I mean the dog, he's my boy. I am so glad that he is good with my niece and nephew, especially since she is so young. I often find her sitting on his hind quarters like he's a chair, and Gromy just let's her... even though you know he's in a lot of pain with the torn ACL on his right leg (he doesn't even want us to touch his leg).

There was a boy slumber last night (video games, pizza, ice cream, etc...), so Lil' Sis and my niece had a night in the living room watching movies. Seems Sis got up to relieve herself and my boy jumped in the bed. Surely he was just worried about the baby being alone, and it had nothing to do with his own comfort!

Shooting Lessons

This has been an exciting week for our nephew who has been getting shooting lessons from The Hunter*. I've been sick and working too much, so unable to watch the lessons. It seems they've been talking about different types of pistols, riffles and shotguns because my nephew can flip through a catalog and know what something is. He's been getting safety lessons, and cleaning lessons too. The bullets in his hand were dug from the tree stump which they were target shooting. It seems he's a good shot, 3 bulls eyes on the first day. Uncle* really likes him around. He's using my .22 Russian riffle... I liked it because it's pretty, and has little recoil and 2 magazines.

I can paint birds... cool.

I painted these birds for a couple's Ceramic Wedding Guest Book (you can see on my website soon). I am not generally that sort of artist, but it seems that I managed a nice looking pair of Cardinals. The white dots are reflections from the flash on the glaze.


My maternal grandmother passed away a couple years ago. She called me her "Bunny" I think that is because I had rather large front teeth for a child (but my face has grown to match them since!

Anyhow, although I did not know her well (or many of my relatives very well for that matter), I always associated birds with her because she loved them and because she could do any bird call.

My Man* and I always sing songs together, specifically "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" by BJ Thomas and I came across a one drawer, wind up jewelry box/bird cage that my mom passed along to me from my Grandmother. It made me teary when I realized it played that song.

Feeling nostalgic.