The CliffsNotes to the Last 14 days

Koby ate a chair. I had an art show in Atlanta at the downtown library with 3 other artists. Show looked good. I sold one of the flower scan paintings to a librarian who works there. I had thought nothing would sell as the show was in a non-commercial venue and was less likely to draw "people with expendable cash". But i was reminded that art sells when the work resonates with the viewer on a personal level -in this case the painting was like a portrait of the librarian's Atlanta garden.

I laid in the insulation on the studio. It was harder than i thought it would be. balancing on the very top of the ladder to do the ceiling was difficult since i had to hold on to 6 foot strips of pink panther C19 and the metal sticks that hold the insulation in, all while trying to avoid getting tiny shards of glass in my eyes. Goggles didnt work; they fogged up making the top of the ladder routine stupid and dangerous. Later, in the loft area, there was an epic battle for territory with black hornets who were happy with the studio as it was. When i started to sweat i became aware of the fiberglass embedded in my skin. i should have consulted Google first. I would have learned that to avoid getting itchy i should have covered myself in oil or baby powder first. When the first two showers didnt end the itching, i took yet another - this time i coated myself in bath oil and scraped the entire surface of my body with an american express card with pretty good success; fresh sheets followed and i finally was able to sleep.

I designed a poster for the farmer's market pro bono. The farmers market board was thrilled and they bestowed upon me a free slot at the market for life. If i live to be 76 then that will be the equivalent of 2500 dollars! ($5 per 20 saturdays for the next 25 years). grrrrrrrherhahaha. I was very happy to do this project and hope that they make good money with the sales of the poster.

My seeds from the packet called "grandmothers cutting garden" are coming up nicely. There are flowers i do not recognize emerging including an airy white flower that is very weed like but i love it. Also coming up: cosmos, zinnia, phlox, all kinds of coreopsis, dianthus, daisies, and a variety of spikey salvias.

I found a ring necked snake in the hay. I harvested the last of my lettuce and pulled up a carrot to see where they were only to find a tiny cone of veggie. The effusive foliage on top fooled me. My onions looked and tasted good as did the sugar snap peas. I had a giant FAIL with the cabbage. I did not treat them with chemicals before i left for a few days and when i returned they were completely destroyed and inedible as they had been attacked by cabbage moth worms.


Lettuce was harvested at about 4" and was tender and flavorful. Not a hint of bitter and oh so pretty.


the spring onions


The field was dotted with dandelions the day before the mowers arrived and trimmed it to an even green.


Koby does an impression of Coco; Koby the perfect angel; RAWR! I chew through sticks like a chain saw.


Since Koby ate Trout's chair, we made another bed for Trout, situated so that she can do her job which is to watch the street. Trout's eyes are flaring up again as they did last year. This time i know it isnt glaucoma and went straight to the prednisone drops. I still dont know what causes it. Koby is 80 pounds now at 8 months. These two clash like stallions all day, up on their hind legs, snarling and neck biting. Now they are an even match, we shall see if Trout can maintain ALPHA status. Koby ate another chair: this time the crappy one at the cabin.

Mmmmmmmmm! Who want's cole slaw? Isn't this photograph unreal? Looks like a horror movie poster but it happened in my garden.

SO much for insecticidal soap! I had to go to atlanta for a few days and tried to protect my cabbage without harming my ladybugs or bees -so i was reluctant to use chemicals. When i returned just 5 days later i found my cabbage covered in cabbage moth caterpillars who had made lace of the leaves and ruined the tightly formed heads i had waited for for months.

Garden insects inspired my latest round of Kokeshi which i made for the arts festival but didnt sell any of them. I made a ladybug, a honey bee, and a cabbage moth caterpillar. It was interesting to make a character based on an insect i had just cursed and cut up with scissors.




I made these poultry family portraits for the arts fest too. I sold "Dovey" but not "Ski" which was regretful. They were such a perfect couple. I need to find more of these old timey cameo style frames so i can make more.

The festival wasn't too bad. I had a good time merchandizing my booth but it was a ton of work. V sacrificed his holiday weekend doing all the hard parts like set up and take down -both in the rain. And we only went to DefCon 4 once! I made a little pocket change and rejoiced in the fact that i dont do this every weekend like some artists do. Now i am back on the studio -this time cleaning up after the sheet rocking (very very messy) and preparing to paint the walls. I should be ready to work in there by the end of June.

How i spent memorial day:










How is everyone? Ive missed you all and your blogs. I struggled to write this. Im just not feeling it. maybe i am all blogged out.
or maybe its just a bit of the blues.

the harshest of springs

no one will want to visit this page if things continue on as they have. I made this piece today of a bird with her heart bleeding surrounded by assorted supple greens. that bird is me. i took the little painting and pinned it to a green velvet backing inside of a mexican tin nicho. the painting is surrounded with twigs and feathers....including the feathers of one Mean Dovey Cooledge.

first was the bad news on Trout's eyes and now i have lost my other elder stateswoman of a hen. the feathers in the shrine are those i had saved long ago from when i made the "creatura" stick crosses. there were no feathers to be found yesterday. i let the chicks out of their pens and Dovey made a bee line for the basement where i have a laying box for her. i checked on her and found an egg but no sign of Dovey. i wasnt too worried she was used to picking around down there or heading back to the yard.

i was watching closely the new chicks -less experienced with the dangers than Dovey, they stayed with me at all times. Dovey was used to ranging on to wherever she wanted, just like Red did. late afternoon became early evening and i hadn't seen her so i started looking in all the familiar places. nothing. the girl in the garage apartment helped me. we covered my yard and across the street, next door -two doors, three doors down...in sheds, cars, the house. i called her and she always answered if she could hear me. dread set in and deepened with the color of sky.

(here is Dovey enjoying a dry moment last week)

i never heard a thing. night came and she never returned. her perch on top of V's basement TV stood silent and without its crowning glory of a hen who annoyed him with her persistence to perch there. he made a little cardboard platform for her. it was lined with fresh newspaper waiting for her to decorate it with fertilizer. i made a mix of laying crumbles and oyster shells to try and help her eggs survive; their shells were thin like paper and broke when you picked then up. The laying mix sat in her dish untouched.Looking at the empty space i reflected on how V has always accommodated the chickens, God love him, and when i called him this morning he was crushed to learn she was gone. as was my friend in the garage apartment. she wept as she folded her clothes last night-the basement is where the chickens are at night - because it is safer than out in the pens.

so much for me staying home from California to watch over the pets.

Hawks flew over the yard most of the morning. i noticed there was a young hawk with the pair. I have no way of knowing how Dovey disappeared. its worse than when we lost Red -at least we knew what happened. there is no way not to blame myself. and yet i cannot be everywhere at once or have a creature confined in a cage at all times. both Red and Dovey had 5 years with us.

now we are left with Easter and "Dusty" because that hen, formerly named "olivia", is a rooster. (this photo is from their first day out in the field - running wild)

Dovey thought she was the king pin of the yard. the whole household really. and her little personality began to shine without Red. It occurred to us that perhaps we had always thought Red was the sweeter hen and never gave Dovey a chance to show us how engaged she could be. Maybe she was "mean" because we always favored Red. you'd think with that little bitty head and the little bitty brain inside it i am surely projecting meaning where it doesnt exist; but i tell you these chickens have fully developed personalities complete with bad and good moods.

i took the photo above last week at the cabin. she had started wanting to be inside with everybody. i came in and caught her up on my bed -no this wasnt a staged photo. i think she wanted to be treated as an equal member in the family. i wish she could know that she will surely be missed like an equal member of the family. i dreamed i found her under the bed and was so happy. when i woke up from the dream, my heart was broken freshly as if it was brand new news.

the days have been marked with violent stormy afternoons and so much rain that i havent been able to work on my soil at all. no seeds are in the ground and i am getting a very late start. i almost dont have the heart for it now. it just doesnt seem idyllic as it did when i imagined having Dovey hanging out with me -and before i learned Trouts sighted days could be shortened. the wildflowers i planted were coming up but standing in puddles of water. limbs from the giant virginia pines littered the field and tender trillium were torn by hail.

tomorrow i will detail the house so it will be very nice for V to return to. and then i will head out to Chickory once again with Trout and the young pullet and cockerel. there is no option but to look forward with faith in goodness and beauty to come. because the sorrows are always with us. our job is to savor the little victories of light and grace; the gift of a million greens, fragrant honeysuckle on a cool wind and the next deep breath of life.