Drama in our front yard

As much as I love my beloved dog, Pono, there are times when I wish he wasn't such a DOG. Case in point: this morning he dug up a rabbit's nest that he discovered in our front yard. There were three baby rabbits in the nest. He got one in his mouth, but when it squeaked, it startled him and he dropped it. I managed to swoop in and grab his collar. I had thought he was digging to find a ground squirrel. So when I had him around the collar and saw that a tiny bunny was hopping away, I was so surprised! I didn't really know what to do, at first, because the little rabbit hopped right to our front door. So there was no way to get in the house without going past the bunny. I knew I couldn't hold onto Pono within such a close range of the rabbit, so I dragged him over to my car and put him in the car while I figured out what to do. These rabbits have fur, their eyes are open, and they are (obviously) locomoting. And let me tell you, I have never seen anything so cute in my entire life!



Well, Pono had destroyed their nest, so there was no way I could hope they would hop back into the nest. I decided to leave with the dog, and I hoped that while I was gone, the mother would come back and rescue her babies. They all were hiding in various corners of the yard, so I figured it was somewhat sheltered from predators. (Except Pono.) Well, two hours later and the bunny by the front door was now in the threshold of the door. I couldn't leave him (her?) there, so I called a whole bunch of people to get an expert opinion. I was told that if I wore a rubber glove, I could move that bunny over near its siblings. So I did that. When I set bunny #1 down next to bunny #2, they both started hopping around, and then they parted ways. Bunny #2 settled back in to the hole it was in before, and bunny #1 went into a corner and tried to disappear into the side of a wall. (I know exactly how bunny felt. When I am terrified, I want to disappear into a wall, as well.)

I have talked to some animal rescue people. We all agree that the best thing to do is to wait and see if the mother bunny will come and get her babies. We think there is a good chance she will come when it gets dark. So, I am going to wait and see. I have my drawing class in one hour. If the bunnies are still out there when I get back from drawing, I am going to go out and get them and put them in a warm place for the night. It has been freezing at night, so they would not survive otherwise.

I will keep you all posted, of course!!!

So much for blogging about my upcoming show. It opens Saturday night, and I am excited, but somehow the bunnies have overshadowed the art exhibition.

Rain in the Desert

We woke up to rain this morning!! So rare, and that makes it all that much more special and cool. Pono the dog and I got quite wet on our walk, but Pono decided that being able to splash through puddles is worth the wet ears. A small price to pay.

I did spend time in the studio today. Not as much as I would have liked, but at least I got in there. I am struggling with a larger painting that is really being difficult. I am on layer number 4 or 5 by now, and it is still an ugly duckling. I may just have to leave it at that, and move on. To save my sanity. (If I still have some.)

Here is a painting from earlier this week. I think it's 16 x 12 inches. Small. Oil on canvas. It is a swan, only in comparison to the huge ugly duckling, still sitting on my easel, making me want to light a bonfire.

Rambling Along

Well, hello everyone! Happy Tuesday. I guess I have a bit of catching up to do. First off, I just have to mention how much fun the Sia concert was!!!! I loved Sia! She is really funny and charming onstage. More importantly, she sounded GREAT. Her voice just got stronger with each song. It blew me away. We saw her and her band perform in a small club just north of San Diego called "Belly Up". It was a great place to see her, since it was small. It was the first concert of her US tour!!! If you get a chance to see her, I highly recommend it. It did end up being a long day/night, but well worth the sleep deprivation, in my humble opinion.

Yesterday was Pono's birthday. I gave him a bath on Sunday, so he was sparkly clean for his birthday. I made him another recycled squeaky toy, and of course he got plenty of attention. Here is a cute photo of Pono and Matthias, post bath. Pono hates baths, of course, as any dog does. He DOES enjoy the part after the bath, when I rub him all over with towels. We call it "rubby rubbies" (yes, baby talk, I KNOW!!! Nauseating, really) and he gets so excited. That is the best part of bath day. Who wouldn't want to be rubbed all over with a towel??? It feels great!

I spent most of the day, yesterday and today, in the studio. I managed to finish two, well, three paintings, and I started a whole bunch of new ones. I also put layer number one on two larger paintings. I think both of the larger ones are extremely ugly, but I am not going to worry about it, since it is only layer number one. These new paintings usually have anywhere between 3 and 6 layers, so there's no point in getting too upset about it. I am attaching a photo of one of the new ones for your viewing pleasure. (It is at the top - 12 x 12", oil on canvas)

In news of the desert, I found a couple of Joshua Trees that are nearly there in terms of blooms. I have been snapping photos of these things like crazy, I am so excited!! I find that the buds remind me a lot of the protea, which is a favorite flower of mine. In Hawaii, I painted the protea quite a few times, and sold each and every one of those paintings. If I can dig a photo of one of those old paintings up for you, I'll post it. This is just more rambling, but when Matthias and I were visiting South Africa, where the protea has origins, we actually went to a botanical garden full of them!!! It was awesome!

Super Wind

It surprises me that I haven't posted anything in almost a week. Perhaps it is because I write so many posts in my head, and I mistake those posts for actual posts. You may find this hard to believe, but I am so addicted to my blog, that as my day progresses, I narrate the events, as though I were writing this blog. Is this a sign that I have been sniffing too many paint fumes?

Yesterday, we experienced what my husband calls "super wind". It was incredible wind! Going outside was like walking in front of a sand blaster. My trash can (which is quite big and heavy, even empty) ended up on the other side of the house with the trash scattered all over. I didn't enjoy going out into the sand blaster to pick up trash, but I did it. Pono, the dog who hates disturbances, hid in the laundry room and when I went in there to hug him, pet him and tell him it was okay, he shivered. Poor doggie. Even the water in my toilets was moving around!!! I'm not kidding about that, either! We were supposed to get rain, but there was so much wind, I think it blew the rain away. We only got a smattering, which was hard to discern from the blowing sand. I did get this photo of what a weed does, when blown hard all day.

We adopted Mr. Pono when he was about 4 or 5 months old, and we don't really know exactly when his birthday is. So we decided just to assign him a birthdate, and I chose Valentines Day. You know his birthday must be getting close, because the water board is putting in new pipes all along our street, and last week they put in a brand new, for Pono's birthday FIRE HYDRANT. RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE!!! How exciting is that!?!? It is still wrapped in black plastic, but Pono is anxiously awaiting the unveiling. Wasn't it nice of Joshua Tree to give Pono such a special birthday gift??


I did paint pretty much all weekend, but I don't have any photos for you. I guess nothing was exciting enough to take a photo of. I promise I will take some photos soon.

Steamed vegetables and a workout buddy

Sometimes, you just want something healthy. Tonight was one of those nights. I just had a plate of steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. YUM. I feel so healthy. I wonder, does this cancel out the 3 cookies I ate earlier today? hmmm....

I am still wanting to get into the studio, but when you look into the refrigerator, and see there is no food, you realize that the paintings must wait. How inconvenient to have to shop for food when you want to apply paint to canvas!!! sheesh. Now I know why Picasso had so many women. They had to take care of the every day errands. I could really use a housewife.

I think it takes a while to catch up with life when you have been away for too long. There were so many errands to run today, and I am still not finished with them. Plus, I have all my Christmas shopping to do. I actually did get a bit done today, which is helpful. Maybe I will simply skip over the Christmas present idea, and try for New Year's presents and cards, instead.

I did manage to be outside with the dog. Having a dog will certainly help if you are looking for a workout buddy. Pono is accustomed to getting a walk first thing in the morning. So if I am trying to sleep in, or just be lazy in bed, I have this really hard to ignore whining and pawing that gets me up every time. It's like having a snooze alarm that won't turn off. The paw whomps me in the face - I whomp back - and then the paw comes again, followed by a whining and extremely wet tongue. A gym membership will never come with this kind of motivation. Again, this afternoon, while I was trying to work on the computer, a wet, cold nose poked me in the arm, and a whine told me that I needed to get up and throw a ball!

What I am enjoying lately about the high desert are the rocks. Don't you love them? I took these photos yesterday, when Matthias and I hiked nearby. It has been clear and beautiful here, although I will admit, I didn't expect it to be as cold as it is. It freezes (or close to it) at night, and it is usually about 50 degrees or so during the day. Not bad, but I was hoping for 60 or 70!!! I know, I know, I'm a wimp.

New watercolor listed on etsy, today! Take a peek.