Just a Flutter By
colored pencil on hot press

blow down
The tree is more than twice as long what is shown....a long, tall pine
destroyed by the pine beetle infest killing our beautiful trees.
the two dead trees behind it were taken out as well
Our big Cband dish is showing...I loved to watch it slowly turn, scanning the infinite starry skies, looking for......

my soaps...haha
(It searched for aliens, too, in its spare time)

wild and windy today....Very often our weather is like coast weather....many clouds caught in the hills surrounding the town....sun and wind....we're really not far from the coast, if we were allowed to drive straight through the wilderness area instead of looping down through California.
I've been digging in my garden......and every spadeful turns over earthworms and snails. This wasn't always so.......When we first came here the soil had no humus and was hard as a rock....nothing would grow but trees...not even rhododendrons which thrive in the wild here in the NW. But, after years of spading in whatever mulch I used, the earthworms and snails moved in.
They say snails are a good sign and means the soil has plenty of calcium...it helps build their shells.
Yes, I like healthy snails to come out every morning and chomp on my plants. I can't put out snail bait because of the dogs.
But lately the dogs haven't been allowed in the garden because the blown down tree smashed so much of the fence.
We had the tree hauled away, along with 14 other dead pines, but the fence isn't dog proof yet.

pencil sketch

Bekka

checking to see if the grass is ready to be mowed

if you like casual, we're ok

if you like spiffy, let me know when it's done...I'm busy drawing cats and googling on the side.

Why am I drawing cats? I'm just scratching an itch. I've given up thinking I'm going to do anything with my drawing...now I just indulge.

why am I googling? Well, just go look yourself up on Spokeo.com and be surprised at the most tell all "find a person" site yet...yikes....and yes, our house does have central heating no matter what you read.

Your wants subside as you grow older. I was surprised the other day when I made a list of new goals....The only thing I could think of was.

1. Don't fall again.

No more 1. Write a book. 2. illustrate a book. 3. Get skinny. 4. Be a brain surgeon.........Nope, no more of that pie in the sky fluff...just, dearlorddon't let me fall down again ever. I'm living the simple life now....

just trying to keep my toes turned up.

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Who knew that pretty-in-the-fall burning red bush was going to take off growing like crazy in its fourth year, and shadow the yellow rose on one side and the blue veronica on the other.

Bekka knew....she told me not to move the veronica there....

"Don't move it! she yapped. "In exactly four years time that bush is going to take off like a running turkey."

Bekka is the real gardener...she can hear plants.....She cried....long low wimpers when they cut down our tree, and she laid for hours by the iris I stepped on.

But you know how it is when someone talks ALL the time....all the time yapping at me. Shut Up! I told her....go count your freckles and leave me the heck alone,

and I went right ahead and moved the veronica.

Now I have to move it again....oh, you should see the smirk on that retired, know-it-all-dusty old pointer....aaaggghhh