by Susan Lobb Porter | Dogs, Life, Mr. Spouse |
There is only so much HGTV a body can stand before they willingly–willingly, I say–turn over the TV to the Super Bowl half of the family.
And I reached that point. I believe it was after the ‘is-there-really-any-chicken-in-here’ soup. The stuff that comes in the red and white cans. The stuff no adult eats and I never have in the house. The stuff I CRAVED after a night of violently purging from my system EVERYTHING that was not tied down by ligaments. I swear, even my EARS were puking. And when I came to, when I was remotely conscious, all I wanted was Campbell’s.
And a shock collar for the dogs. I wanted to send them flipping over backwards every time they barked. Which was every three minutes seconds. Because Mom was in bed and they had to guard her. From everything. And my little darlin’s have fierce imaginations when it comes to danger. Squirrels! BARK! BARK! Trees! BARK! BARK! BARK! Mr. Spouse checking to see if I’m still alive! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK!!!
I sent Mr. Spouse on a mercy run. He came home with the soup. Two cans. WHAT was he thinking??? Really, I’ve got a LOT of empty inside me, more than two cans’ worth. And he ignored my suggestion for the dogs. Totally. Like he thought I was kidding or something.
Awww geeze…
But while my day was spent snoozing on the sofa, drifting in and out as people bought apartments in Sweden and Scotland and directing BAD thoughts at my best beloved puppies, Mr. Spouse was outside working on the new studio.
I need to come up with a name for this new studio, by the way. Or I can transfer Studio Grande. I’m open to suggestions.
Look at that. Got some plywood up. And it’s starting to look real. The little puddle on the concrete lower right? Sophie and Bean saying hello. They don’t realize this is almost an indoor place now. And they sure don’t know that this will be Studio Quat’s domain.
Now that will piss ’em off.
This is the hobbit door. Mr. Spouse REALLY wanted this. And since his labor is free, I agreed. But I’m going to paint it RED.
So that was the weekend around here. Me? Not so much. Mr. Spouse? Good Job!
by Susan Lobb Porter | Beloved Beasties, Dogs, Life |
Two dogs by my side
dozing on this winter night
no long post tonight.
***
Hairy beasts snuggle
up against the macBook pro
no writing in sight.
***
Fluffy little poofs
of fur hide dogs with big hearts
can’t tell head from butt.
***
by Susan Lobb Porter | Dogs, Photography |
Bean as Voldemort.
Ghost Dog
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Beloved Beasties, Life, Porterosa |
I collect bird nests. Ones that have fallen to the ground and are of no use to their former tenants. I usually find them in the fall, after a storm with a lot of wind. Just lying there in the dirt or a pile of leaves, waiting for me to take it home.
Some have remnants of eggs. Pieces of shell.
One had the eggs themselves. This one was found in the spring. Poorly constructed. Barely held together. I watched it for a couple of days but no one came to claim it. I hope Mr. & Mrs. Bird built a new one and tried again.
Most of the nests around here are heavy on the horse hair.
A good swish of the tail too close to a tree…or even a good rub results in building material.
Long strands from manes and tails are woven with twigs and whatever else is handy.
Sometimes they’re made with the soft fuzzy stuff from spring shedding. Little bit of blue baling twine shredded and incorporated into the decor. Not very elegant but I’m sure it’s warm.
And then there’s my own creation. Copper wire. Polyclay eggs. Needs a TV and a fridge before I’ll be moving in.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Beloved Beasties, Life |
I collect things. Shells. Beach glass. Rocks. I don’t do anything with these collections, just scatter a few here and there throughout the studio and the house. Before I had a laptop my computer desk looked like a cross between a natural history museum and Disney does Burger King. Kid meal monsters shared valuable space with geodes and sand dollars. Feathers stuck out of the pen cup. A realistic toy aligator was glued to the printer.
All my kids had to do was give me a rock, make up a story about it and I’m tellin’ you, that was Christmas for me.
I posted a photo on FaceBook the other day. Turkeys. Wrote a whole post here but FB is where all the comments were. The comments eventually touched on feathers and that got me thinking about this whole collection thing.
Because I collect feathers. I’ve got at least one basket of them in the studio. Mostly white goose feathers I gathered along the lake where we used to live. After we moved to the foothills the feathers changed.
And so did the display. Most of these are from the wild turkeys. Maybe all of them, I dunno. Don’t come with name tags. They’re just there, on the ground.
I took this photo sometime during the winter. It was just….there, in the snow. Sticking up like you see it here. I don’t have a clue what bird this is from or what happened to him. Maybe the tracks leading from the upper left tell the tale. Anybody want to guess?
I collect bird nests too. Ones I find on the ground, usually in the fall after the residents have left and there’s nothing anchoring them down in the wind. At least that’s my theory. They’re abandoned and quite interesting but that’s another post entirely.
Anyone got some collections you want to share?
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Dogs |
Sunday night. I’m needing inspiration. When in doubt, pick up the camera. Aim it at something. Sophie was too busy but Benny, AKA Bean. AKA Precious Man Dog, was hanging out on the sofa. Been a long day for him, way too much football. He’s such a couch potato.
Just look at that face. At that ‘stache. Inspector Clouseau, no? Next thing I know he’ll be woofing with a French accent. But he is half poodle so I guess that’s to be expected.
And this is Benny’s ear, top of his head. Against the back drop of the sofa cushion. It’s a way comfy, squishy kind of sofa. I’m looking at this photo thinking there’s something arty about it. I was going to tell you to squint to imagine the painting. But I did one better. Went on photoshop and played with a couple of filters.
This is Photoshop cutout filter.
Drybrush filter. Monkeyed with the color too.
Paint daubs filter. Hard choosing the right level of squiggle on this one. Loved ’em all.
But this one is my favorite, the pallet knife filter. Played with the options to get this effect. Practically a painting, don’t you think?
