Uh-Oh
Peeps got some ‘splainin’ to do…
Downward Doggie
Tonight I did 70 minutes of yin yoga. I stretched parts of me that have been locked up tight for years. Stretched and held the stretches for as long as five minutes. Let my body sink into the postures as muscle and fascia loosened up.
How can something so painful feel soooooo good?
Sophie licked my feet the entire time. TMI, but that felt good too.
Evening Reflectons
Sophie is roaming from window to window growing. Woofing softly. There’s something out there.
I was down with the ponies tonight. Went down at dusk and spent nearly half an hour with them as they ate their evening ‘bucket’. Bucket being the feed and supplements separate from the hay. Everyone gets their own specific blend of stuff, depending on their needs. I usually lock Jasmine up in the stall during this time. She gets less and tries to make up for it by stealing from the others.
She’s a pushy little ass.
Tonight I couldn’t get her near the stall. She turned up lame this evening, favoring her left front foot. Most likely another abscess. Another as in we’ve been through this before. Many times. Sigh….
Since I couldn’t convince her to come into the barn I figured I’d hang out there with them, wearing my playground monitor hat, stable edition. Dusk turned to dark as I stood out there under the pines. The moon was out, just past full. A peaceful evening interlude in the forest–
Except it was so damn NOISY!
The horses were slurping their buckets. Manners like that, you’d think they were raised in a barn.
And peepers were partying it up in the meadow. Bazillions of ’em. BAZILLIONS of froggies goin’ a courtin’. Saying, Yo Yo, babe, hey hey hey check this out in froggie speak. Amphibian lust.
And the dogs, every single dog up and down the canyon, including my own, were chatting up the puppy hotline. Barkbarkbarkbarkbarkbark BARK. Which means, according to local lore, lion in the ‘hood.
But not in the immediate hood, the paddock or the meadow, because the ponies were chill.
Trust me, when there is something scary on the other side of the fence, they act like one of those horror movies where everyone’s crashing their cars and running away from the aliens. Since they were not the least bit concerned tonight, neither was I.
Well…maybe just a little.
And now I’m sitting here safe and sound, sipping a cuppa tea and dreaming about bed. Flannel sheets. My ancient, almost flat, favorite down pillow.
Sophie’s all settled in for the night. And so am I.
Vintage Ponies
In my desk at work I have a photo, looks like it was from the 40s. Maybe 30s. It’s a woman cantering a horse in an outdoor arena. It’s taken from a slightly higher vantage point, looking down a little and straight on.
If I remember right, the woman is wearing a plaid shirt and jodphurs. She’s riding in an English saddle. Or should I say on an English saddle? Whatever…
I have no idea who she was. It’s just a photo given to me by a co-worker who found it in a stack of old photos she’d bought somewhere. Maybe a yard sale. Memories sold to strangers.
I always thought I’d do something with it someday. There’s something about old photographs that intrigues me. Mysteries faded by time. But now I don’t have to violate other people’s images…
Because (drum roll please) I CAN MAKE MY OWN, my very OWN, faded, crumpled vintage images…from photos I took this morning!
YAY!!! Thank you geeks who grew up to be app designers…I luvvvvvv you!!! Indeed I do. Because with a little bit of digital manipulation I can turn a crappy snapshot into something fun! interesting! And in this case, vintagely ARTY!
Like this one. The three of them were hanging out up by the barn. In the original photo Saki is blurry from a head shake. But throw some aging grunge into it and it turns into something more. Mysterious. Arty.
And this one…I’m calling this one Secrets. Partial faces. Communication. What are they saying? Why am I ignoring them?
Are they whispering behind my back? Maybe talking about my hair???
That’s the writer in me talking. The reality is they’re both checking to see if I gave the other one a treat. And I’m trying to snap a photo before someone moves.
Now this one is a bit self indulgent. A terrible snapshot, all blur and no substance. Then I arted it up and something in it works for me, the sense of movement coupled with the angle of the walls. Every time I look at it I find myself liking it even more. Maybe because it makes me dizzy. Reminds me of when I had vertigo…but that’s another story.
You’ve seen a lot of these, with Saki or Lana standing behind me. But this time we’re both looking off in different directions. Well, you might think that but look again. His eye is soft and he’s watching me. My eyes are in the front of my head but I’m really watching him in the monitor.
Aww geeze…it’s all smoke and mirrors, isn’t it?
As always, my best beloveds, I would LOVE to hear from you in the comments below. If one of these photos jumps out and screams luvvvv to you, tell me about it. And why.
And if you like this, please share it with your friends.
Technical Info: There were all taken on my iPhone 4S using the basic photo app. They were digitally altered in Vintage by Jixipix.
Workin’ It
Or birthin’ a painting.
Once upon a time there was a canvas. A big puppy, 48 x 48 inches. She came into this world Artic White.
On the color charts, that is the next step below blinding.
So I fixed her good. With black. And gray. Hints of red oxide. Some pretty light blue. And all manner of marks and scratches. This is a closeup, a small sample of the overall look.
Which soon changed as I tied it all together with Titian Buff. Another small sample.
Then layers and more layers, knowing in my heart that red would play a major roll in her look. Like a slash of carmine lipstick.
This is where I left off today. I’m not finished yet. Before I left the studio I flipped the canvas upside down.
Ahhhh…that was MUCH better. The weight of the red needs to be on the bottom. You have to trust me here, the camera would not cooperate. The battery was exhausted. No lie, EXHAUSTED. That’s what the notice on the screen said.
If you have good insurance you have my blessing to crane your neck or turn your monitor upside down so you can see what I mean.
Or you can come back later in the week to see the finished painting. That’s probably a better idea.
As always, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Unless you’re complaining about your neck and/or the broken monitor….I don’t want to hear about THAT at all. 