from the vault: wreck of the hesperis

Dear Readers: I've been tidying up a folder of document files, and found this piece written for the blog last June but not posted. Since I haven't written about the goats for quite a while, I thought you might find it entertaining. I'll add a couple of pictures of Campion taken at about the same time.

Yesterday afternoon I was painting in my studio (formerly known as my tent) when I heard a goat shouting. The voice was that of Campion, who generally has a lot to say about everything and nothing, so I wasn't overly concerned. But the shouting continued.

MEH. MEH. MEHHHH.
MEH. MEH. MEHHHH.

Everyone had food and water, the weather was pleasant, and there was no sound of colliding horns. Without moving, I called out to Campion, asking what the problem could be. Sometimes just speaking to a goat by name is all they need to hear to settle down.

MEH. MEH. MEHHHH.
MEH. MEH. MEHHHH.

I put my brush and sketchpad aside, climbed out of my chaise, removed the icepack strapped to my back, and followed the sound down to the Upper West Side.

There was Campion, head high, excited, and yelling his head off at seeing me.

He had somehow gotten inside the vegetable garden fence, the naughty goat.

And once there, he apparently couldn't get back into the paddock.

Goats are sometimes determined to go where they know they shouldn't be, but soon become terribly upset when they can't get back to where they know they belong. It's actually a very useful trait, from a goatherd's perspective. I remember the time Betula somehow climbed over the six-foot perimeter fence onto the bank garden by the driveway, and then hollered at the top of his mighty voice until I looked out the window and saw him there. Like Campion, Betula was tremendously relieved to see me when I hastened to the "rescue."

I opened the garden gate and Campion came trotting right over, then, halfway through the gate, remembered that he is a goat and should be playing it cool. So he stopped. He looked all around as if deciding whether or not to do me the favor of coming out of the garden. I did the only thing that would not prolong the process: nothing at all. If I had tried to hurry him out, he would have backed right up and hoped I would chase him around the garden for light entertainment. So I did nothing at all - this is not my first Goat Rodeo, Campion! - and in a few seconds, he stepped out into the paddock and I went into the garden to find his entry route.

Unfortunately, I found nothing. I hope this means he squeezed through the gate, which can easily have another latch added. If, on the other hand, he climbed over the fence, it will be a major problem. I am not going to start replacing all my interior paddock fencing - that is simply not possible under current management. So let's hope it was the gate.

Campion didn't do much eating while in the garden, which is a shame because there is plenty of grass and plantain going to waste between the rows I'm preparing for the vegetables. He must have gotten nervous right away. I did find a trampled stalk of Hesperis matronalis - "dame's rocket" - with buds and flowers, which was sad. I picked it up to put in a jar of water in the hope the buds would continue to open.

Carrying that one flower stalk through a paddock full of goats was no small feat - I was mobbed. And Acer, who I can best compare to a colt in terms of size and assertiveness, was sure he could get it away from me. I finally stuck the flower in my hat like a feather and held up my empty hands, palms forward, in the universal gesture for "I have nothing for you!" and the goats immediately ambled away. Even Acer.

Back into the tent, with the flower in a jar, for Daily Markmaking:

~~~~~

stormy monday

accurate colors of this morning

We are in the middle of another long bout of freezing rain, which began yesterday evening, went on all night, and got heavier just before dawn today. I am hoping very hard that the wind doesn't pick up and cause a lot of tree damage. There is still snow on the ground, which suggests to me that the air temperature must be hovering near freezing point. A sander truck went by earlier.

birds through a rain-spotted window

Yesterday the ice cleats came out for the first time this year. In a typical Winter, cleats are only needed on certain days, so I like to keep one pair of old boots cleated. That way I don't have to struggle with pulling cleats on and off my everyday boots every time I'm taking Piper for a walk along the road or driving somewhere or even coming in or out of the house while doing chores - cleats on flooring are both destructive and dangerously slippery. But this winter I don't have an old pair of boots to keep the cleats on, so yesterday I bought a pair of $30 boots just for this purpose. It was a reluctant purchase; the boots were made in China and I feel so miserable about not trying harder to find an alternative from Not China, that I may just return them unworn. At the moment they are still in their box in their shopping bag. For today at least, the cleats will stay on my everyday boots. Piper and I are going nowhere, and I'll try to pile everything needed for chores near the door so I won't have to come back inside until everything is done.

~~~

In other news, a return to a fiber-rich daily diet is about to commence.

Details will be forthcoming in January.

Expect many, many details.

~~~

I hope you are having a slightly-less-grey day wherever you are today!

Here's to the week ahead.

~~~~~

friday frame

Red Oak, Quercus rubra, detail.

~~~~~

not a very late morning

We have had two glorious days of No Snow and No Rain.

Also No Sun, but one cannot have everything.

 I got a lot done on both days, which was very satisfying indeed.

There's nothing like a reprieve in the middle of tough weather, to make a person get out there and move til you can't move any further, and be very grateful for the opportunity to do so.

 And now, we've got this happening, as predicted:

Happily, I was able to take delivery of 50 bales of very nice-looking hay yesterday, in the ONE DAY between the ground being too soft for the big truck to turn at the top of the driveway and this new snow which would have prevented the truck from getting up the driveway in the first place.

Huzzah!

~~~

Very late last night I went out with a flashlight and did an extra round of chores, thinking I just might be able to have a lazy, slow start to a snowy day today.

Piper likes a late morning herself, so she was fine with it.

However, Moxie and Della made it very clear that a late start to the day

is the nuttiest idea they have ever heard.

Oh well. It was worth a try :)

~~~

          P.S.

In Daily Markmaking news, the pomegranate continues to inspire.

I finally cut into it, and last night painted a bit of the interior view:

~~~~~

what a week

snow on red oak, Quercus rubra

I try not to let this blog become a weather report, but weather is such a major factor in my daily life that it's impossible not to mention it. Often. Maybe too often? I don't know.

This week we've had snow, single digit temps, strong winds, and to quote Eric Clapton, "rain, rain, rain." Although Clapton was talking about "love" and I am taking about "actual water coming down from the sky." Rain has been falling since yesterday, and is still coming down in a serious way.

Due to the rain, a lot of snow has melted, and - this is the good part - the air has been so warm that the resulting mud and muck hasn't turned to ice. It's been so warm, in fact, that when I went out briefly to take rubbish and recycling to the dump, a thick fog suddenly descended. Visibility was so poor I wanted to get off the road for a while. I stopped at a church fair and bought a pound of homebaked cookies and some balsam sachets made with needles from the maker's own trees. I don't have enough balsam firs to take a single precious needle from them, so this was a great way to bring one of my favorite aromas indoors.

 

"I'd like a few of the lacy ones, please...
and a few of those toffee ones...and the Italian cookies..."

I'm trying to think of some highlights of the week to share.

Let's see.

One day I captured Fern - she is a wild one - and trimmed her hooves.

Everyone lived.

On two separate evenings I persuaded a mouse to walk quietly into a container and be airlifted from the porch back outside, instead of continuing to provide late-night gymnastics challenges for the cats.

I wonder if it was the same mouse both times.

I've begun knitting a thing. It's a surprise thing.

First I swatched, which means knitting a test square to see what size needle will produce the correct gauge of x stitches = x inches for a specific pattern.

I swatched the same yarn on 5 different sizes of needles.

Which is 4 to 5 times more swatching than I generally do.

I really want the results to be nice.

This is what it looks like when the needles' diameters are 0.25 mm different:

After all that careful swatching, the pattern is driving me a bit crazy.

I'm considering just rewinding the yarn and starting over with another pattern.

Life is short and there are many lovely patterns.

It was my birthday on the 12th, and I had treated myself with a small art supply order from Blick's. My fondness for Payne's Grey has now been indulged with a watercolor pencil of a different brand than the one I've been using, and a tube of watercolor paint from a third manufacturer.

This portrait of my smashed mug was done with the new pencil:

And this clay spindle whorl was painted with both grey pencils plus one green.

I haven't tried the tube of paint yet, 

but that will be happening before long.

I do enjoy Payne's Grey.

Here's another portrait; very faint, but I think you'll recognize the subject:

The rain is predicted to stop tomorrow, so it may be a good day to work in the big roundtop, shifting things around to make room for more hay. I'm trying to arrange a delivery before the next snow, while it is possible to get up the driveway. The tricky part - apart from the cost of the hay - is that the turn-around area at the top of the driveway can become a sloping mudpit. Many a truck has been stuck in it over the years, despite backhoe work done to level the ground. So whether a truck loaded with hay can come here after all the rain is an "exciting" question at this point. We'll see!

~~~~~

friday

cranberry

Today's snow was predicted to begin around noon, with less than an inch accumulation. So when I received problematic paperwork in this morning's mail requiring a couple of hours to sort out in person, I decided not to wait til Monday but to go immediately and take care of it so I wouldn't have it in the back of my mind all weekend. Less than an inch of snow would mean either light snow that wouldn't be bad driving, or heavy snow that would be easy to wait out before coming back home.

Well, the "noon" part was correct. But heavy snow was still falling 

when I got home at three and went out to check on the goats.

Violet on one of the narrow goat-paths.

If you click to embiggen you can see the path.

I know I've said this before: I'd rather have any amount of snow than a quarter-inch of ice. Chores are harder and take longer but they get done. We've got firewood, food, and - touch wood - we've got water.

And of course, daily markmaking.

I hope all is well in your varied and far-flung corners of the world.

Thanks for visiting and commenting on mine.

~~~~~

looking back at november

November was a lovely month, and quickly gone.

There was a lot of rain, but also many clear, bright days.

I loved the clear mornings, often very cold, usually with frost or a dusting of snow.

More than once when I began morning chores I didn't even get as far as the barn before turning around and going right back to the house for a camera. 

Because when rays of the rising sun make it through openings in the trees,

the frost disappears in a matter of moments.

So much color everywhere.

This was new: multicolored leaves of the blueberry bought from a nursery in October:

Not all the November colors are bright, but just look at this:

in early light, the Chelona leaves glow like polished bronze.

November was a time for seeing the "first" of some things...

...and seeing the "last" of other things.

And we had to put a little more effort into being comfortable.

Piper will not allow a blanket on her couch -

I put one on every day, and every night she digs at it until it falls off.

So I experimentally made her a nightgown by cutting the sleeves off my lambswool zip-neck sweater.

She holds very still while I put it on her,

so I think she must enjoy the extra coziness.

She wears it when we go for walks on very cold days, also,

and looks Very Smart.

Moxie and Della divide their time between outdoors and inside,

and both enjoy sleeping in wooly beds by the woodstove,

which has been going non-stop all month.

But when I need to flatten out my back for a while, any time, night or day,

one or both cats will keep me company, which I appreciate very much.

Cats have taught me everything I know about how to be "in the moment."

 Last night I did the Daily Markmaking by painting this fern:

Painted with my left hand, because Moxie was sleeping on my right hand.

It was fun dabbing away with my non-dominant hand. I'll certainly do it again.

And now it's time to do tonight's markmaking before I fall asleep,

which will be very soon.

Goodnight, readers.

Here comes December.

Keep your fires fed.

~~~~~

saturday shuffle

Wednesday was a very, very long day.

Thank you all for your kind thoughts!

They helped.

Thursday likewise, but at home: non-stop working about the place, with a couple of hours of able assistance from my Occasional Helper.

Yesterday ditto, except without the able assistance. But with the electrician,

who restored power to the outbuildings, one month after the storm and the fallen tree.

HUZZAH!!! No more frozen water buckets!

I've been so very tired, and totally "done" when evening chores are finished.

Too tired to eat. Too tired to sleep - which is such a weird thing,

but I'll bet you've experienced it too.

Today I'm hoping to get back into a rational rhythm, so to speak.

I'm starting by posting these snaps of recent #DailyMarkmaking efforts.

Some nights it's been literally just a scribble - I'll spare you those! -

and these are terrible snaps, I'm sorry.

But if I wait to take more, it will be tomorrow. Or Monday.

So I'm just going to post them here and keep moving.

I won't be moving fast - or "fast enough" according to the goats - 

but I shall continue to creep along and get somewhere eventually.

Onward!

~~~~~

tutankhamun tuesday

In one of those internet experiences where you start out looking for instructions on releasing the blade lock on a second-hand compound miter saw and an hour later find yourself engrossed in reading about medieval pastry-making, I came upon the digital archive of Howard Carter's excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb. This includes the documentary photographs taken by Howard Burton - hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of photographs.

I'm using some of them as models.

Here is last night's Daily Markmaking effort:

"Two-handled alabaster vase (of amphora type)"

Carter No.: 128.  Burton photograph: p0474

I'll provide this link to the Griffith Institute at the University of Oxford because it is a fabulous treasure trove of primary sources. Worth bookmarking for a day when one needs a little distraction while waiting for the supper to cook, the train to arrive, or democracy to rise, strengthened, from its own ashes. 

I cannot post today without expressing my heartfelt sympathy to readers in the UK.

We are all in it together, my friends.

~~~~~

beyond the zone

In choosing subjects for daily markmaking,

I sometimes deliberately stretch beyond my comfort zone.

By the way...

who knew there would ever be a markmaking comfort zone?

Life is full of surprises!

Anyway.

Last night was my first attempt at a bear.

With thanks to KB for sharing the video this youngster appeared in.

Readers, if you click the link, you'll see the bear climbing the tree
and "posing" for me within the first 10 seconds of the video.
But you'll want to watch the whole two minutes!

~~~~~

markmaking

Young mountain lion, pencil sketch

With thanks to my friend KB

who generously shares her wonderful wildlife videos and photographs

on Romping and Rolling in the Rockies

🐾
~~~~~

wordless wednesday

~~~

spiderwort wednesday

~~~~~

seven sketches

Pencil sketch made in the barn while keeping an eye on Hazel.

She had broken a horn tip and was feeling vulnerable.

She soon felt much better.

Another breakage: I dropped two of my porcelain watercolor dishes

before I even had a chance to use them.

They come in a set of five little stacking dishes and one cover.

Now I have four dishes and no cover.

This is, as they say, why we can't have nice things.

This watercolor card was painted on the Solstice.

I was thinking about how the sun comes up behind my hemlock tree.

And these standing stones at Avebury were drawn from an historical photograph.

These not-standing stones are in the South Paddock.

Moxie kept me company while I was painting

but she had a challenging time trying to stretch out comfortably on the highest one.

There have been very, very few iris flowers this year - I don't know why.

Maybe more will bloom before the summer is over?

I live in hope.

Meanwhile, I have the rudbeckia -

although a goat first tried to have a piece of this one!

~~~~~