What are you up to?

[Triduana]

Meanwhile, here autumn is definitely on the way. I was watching the swallows over a farm last week gathering in a large group. Day 1 they were perching and flying round an oak tree, day 2 many more were landing on fence wires, day 3 they were mostly gone. Here's a terrible picture of them on the fence.

Other pics from last week:

Blackberries ripening

Dor beetle

Sleepy sheep

 

[Bongo]

first one would make a good painting.

 

[JStarr]

Looks like lovely weather over your way! I'd take it.

This time two weeks ago, we were worried about our Big Girl Dog, Angel. We knew there was a great deal of arthritic damage to hips and shoulders, and hoped we could help her feel better through winter, at least. In the past two years we've lost two dogs- our eldest, Teddy the shih-tzu who was over 17, and Lukas, The Big Dog- an English Mastiff who was the reason we never "worried about illegals!" here two miles from the Border- no one was fool enough to come onto our property when there's a GIANT DOG standing on his hind legs, six feet plus, wondering what new toy has wandered into his territory. Lukas was only seven, but because he was big and loooong, his spine and hips deteriorated. And now, Angel's blood work turned up really bad liver enzymes. Thankfully, it didn't take long, and she doesn't have to go through feeling like crap any longer; however-- before we knew how bad it was, I had ordered the pain meds and the liver supplement the vet ordered from Chewy.com because at the vet, they were over a hundred bucks for a week's worth! Chewy, seventy-five for a MONTH. But, we had to help her along on her journey last Monday and went home to adjust and help the two little dogs over it (they were VERY worried when Angel did not come home). It was hard.

I called Chewy and asked them to cancel the pharmacy order, and told them why. They were sympathetic, empathetic, told me to go ahead and donate the meds I'd gotten already and they'd refund the entire account-- just so caring.

Then this afternoon, the two little dogs went out post-prandial, and were not visible in the yard after a couple minutes- so I went out to make sure they were okay. They were fine- just inspecting a long, narrow box just inside the gate. It was from Chewy.

It held a dozen long-stemmed pink roses with vase, and a card of condolence.

That is a GREAT company.

If you're in the US- and Canadians should maybe check and see if it is available up there- and you need anything pet, give Chewy a try.

They're a GREAT company.

 

[Artyczar]

Jae, so sorry about your losses. I sure know the feeling.

 

[JStarr]

Jae, so sorry about your losses. I sure know the feeling.

Thank you. It was quick, and I'm sorry we had to help her along so soon, but we're down to just two dogs- and, saying good bye to dogs aside, I'm fine with just two dogs.

And a bird- a Maroon-bellied Conure- a small parrot. He's coming up on 24 years old, which is near life-span; but he's eaten real "human" food for almost twenty years. Good diet for captivity.

 

[Terri]

Aww, I'm sorry for your recent loss. It's always hard, even when you know you're doing the right thing for them. Glad the other two are hanging in. Very nice gesture from Chewy.

 

[brianvds]

Some days ago I noticed the almost full moon rising behind a bunch of trees. Not entirely unheard of for this dusty, smoky time of year, it was bright, pumpkin orange. I tried to take a photo, but in the dark there wasn't really any controlling where exactly the camera would focus. I just snapped a few pics, and then forgot about them until I noticed them when I downloaded some other pics from the camera yesterday. Well, this one came out kind of atmospheric, and rather Halloweenish...

 

[Artyczar]

That moon was called a super bloom or some such thing. It won't be visible again like that for some 37 years. We almost took a picture of it, but we thought it would be a "sucker shot," but then we read about it later and saw that it was the closest it's ever been to the earth in decades.

Excellent pic Brian. Not a sucker shot.

 

[Triduana]

I took this picture of a very far away golden eagle today (it's there, I promise!). I wasn't paying any attention to the clouds at the time, but they made a pretty picture.

 

[stlukesguild]

I've spent the last several days driving across town 35-40 minutes to start pulling stuff out of one of the two storage units where I have much of my stuff stored following our sudden move a year and a half ago. I'm trying to consolidate everything into a single unit. The storage facilities are real scams. They start you out at a reasonable rate, but because you are on a month-to-month lease... and because they figure that moving your crap is such a hassle... they keep jacking up the rent. I'm now paying 3 times what I started at! We're in the process of looking for a house... preferably a ranch-style as my disabled brother who lives with us really struggles with stairs. We're also looking for a house with a room (or a garage) that could be converted into a studio.

On the good side... in moving a lot of stuff into storage in our temporary home... I've come across a lot of the books that I have missed having with me the most. Among these... I found my copy of Thomas Traherne's poetry that we had been recently discussing here. Among other favorite volumes, I found the great Edvard Munch Retrospective from not too long ago. I also found collections of poetry by Paul Valery, Hart Crane, Charles Simic, and Mallarme, as well as Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities... one of my absolute favorite books. Many of these books had been in stacks on my desk around my computer. I had intended to move them to our current abode, but somehow they wound up in storage.

 

[JStarr]

On the good side... in moving a lot of stuff into storage in our temporary home... I've come across a lot of the books that I have missed having with me the most. Among these... I found my copy of Thomas Traherne's poetry that we had been recently discussing here. Among other favorite volumes, I found the great Edvard Munch Retrospective from not too long ago. I also found collections of poetry by Paul Valery, Hart Crane, Charles Simic, and Mallarme, as well as Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities... one of my absolute favorite books. Many of these books had been in stacks on my desk around my computer. I had intended to move them to our current abode, but somehow they wound up in storage.

Here- try this:

 

[brianvds]

That moon was called a super bloom or some such thing. It won't be visible again like that for some 37 years. We almost took a picture of it, but we thought it would be a "sucker shot," but then we read about it later and saw that it was the closest it's ever been to the earth in decades.

Excellent pic Brian. Not a sucker shot.

A super moon, which is when full moon coincides with the moon's closest point to earth. And it was also a "blue" moon, which is the second full moon in a single calendar month. So a somewhat rare occurrence. Particularly since it was both blue and orange.

This is generally not my favorite time of year: dry and dusty, often with wildfires, so the sky is greyish and indeed often has a distinct earthy tint. It's getting hot but no real chance of rain yet. But under such conditions, we do get lovely sunsets and moonrises etc.

 

[stlukesguild]

JStarr; for some years my focus was upon collage... heavily influenced by Joseph Cornell and my love of books.

More than a few of my acquaintances were somewhat disturbed by the fact that as a sworn bibliophile I could "cannibalize" books in such a manner.

 

[brianvds]

A masked weaver trying to attract girlfriends, earlier today - spring's definitely here:

 

[Triduana]

Beautiful bird!

 

[JStarr]

JStarr; for some years my focus was upon collage... heavily influenced by Joseph Cornell and my love of books.

More than a few of my acquaintances were somewhat disturbed by the fact that as a sworn bibliophile I could "cannibalize" books in such a manner.

I thought that when I first saw altered books. I couldn't believe people were defacing leather books covers, some with gold leaf, to make a hobbit home....

 

[JStarr]

Okay, so whoa! Wow has it been busy here.

Temps have moderated somewhat, which is good because DearHusband and I have been working hard. This Christmas, much family is coming here, and our house has had little really done to it for over a decade; when we bought it, we did what was needed: Roof, exterior paint, interior paint, landscaping- then we just kept it up, but nothing more. Now, our kitchen needs at least refurbishment, and DH's office was "all original" which was no longer a nice thing. So, as soon as the new HVAC system was in, we started planning that remodel, and finally got all materials in this past week and got started. First, move out ALL his cra-- sorry, furniture, then rip out original carpet (!! twenty+ years old! No wonder we both sneeze and clog up!!) and backing, then crawl around pulling staples and nails, sand and seal the subfloor, paint walls and ceiling, then lay the new floor. I think we can finish today- which is good, because the past few nights I've been so tired I have literally *fallen* asleep *boom!*, I'm gone.

We'll have the exterior painted by a contractor DH knows, then it's just kitchen face-lift. After which, it is go through all the Christmas stuff stored in the big red barn shed (*I* am not climbing the ladder up there- it's vertigo-inducing- no railing, even) and start laying in food stores. Where we live is rural enough that there'll likely be no restaurants open Christmas weekend, and possibly not until the 27th- so food will be on me- well, and whomever else I can rope into the job.

It's glorious weather now, though, good for working if you gotta. Sunny and breezy 80s during the day, at night, the temps dip down into the 60s and I open the house up and sleep cool all night long.

 

[Terri]

Okay, so whoa! Wow has it been busy here.

Temps have moderated somewhat, which is good because DearHusband and I have been working hard. This Christmas, much family is coming here, and our house has had little really done to it for over a decade; when we bought it, we did what was needed: Roof, exterior paint, interior paint, landscaping- then we just kept it up, but nothing more. Now, our kitchen needs at least refurbishment, and DH's office was "all original" which was no longer a nice thing. So, as soon as the new HVAC system was in, we started planning that remodel, and finally got all materials in this past week and got started. First, move out ALL his cra-- sorry, furniture, then rip out original carpet (!! twenty+ years old! No wonder we both sneeze and clog up!!) and backing, then crawl around pulling staples and nails, sand and seal the subfloor, paint walls and ceiling, then lay the new floor. I think we can finish today- which is good, because the past few nights I've been so tired I have literally *fallen* asleep *boom!*, I'm gone.

We'll have the exterior painted by a contractor DH knows, then it's just kitchen face-lift. After which, it is go through all the Christmas stuff stored in the big red barn shed (*I* am not climbing the ladder up there- it's vertigo-inducing- no railing, even) and start laying in food stores. Where we live is rural enough that there'll likely be no restaurants open Christmas weekend, and possibly not until the 27th- so food will be on me- well, and whomever else I can rope into the job.

It's glorious weather now, though, good for working if you gotta. Sunny and breezy 80s during the day, at night, the temps dip down into the 60s and I open the house up and sleep cool all night long.

Wow - you have been busy! Sounds like you and the hubby are quite handy with a lot of home improvements. I never wanted to do much beyond painting rooms (and a closet or two - don't laugh, a clean closet kinda looks nice!), but eww, no flooring projects. Kudos to you!

Sounds like we'll need Before/After pics.

 

[stlukesguild]

I thought that when I first saw altered books. I couldn't believe people were defacing leather books covers, some with gold leaf, to make a hobbit home....

One of my studio partners said something similar... he couldn't believe that as a sworn bibliophile I was destroying books. As a bibliophile, I know my books quite well and would never destroy a book that was rare or had some real artistic or literary value. If I had any concerns or doubts about a particular book, I would research its potential value. I mostly bought up boxes of books that were tossed out or slated for the trash heaps by local libraries. I usually looked for older books for the quality of the paper they were printed on. The paper in newer books printed on wood pulp paper tends to go brittle and did not take ink well. I thought of the resulting collages as something of a rebirth for these discarded books and other ephemera.

 

[Artyczar]

As a book artist, I suppose many people from the outside might think this, but many books that are already damaged or headed for the dump are being salvaged, upcycled, and transformed into new works of art. Not only that, collectors of Artist's books pay top dollar for certain altered books depending on how artfully they are executed.