Facts of Life


As we get ready to fix up our coop again, I realized you can learn a lot about life when you keep chickens. For instance, I learned from watching our girls that when the buffet is open, you get your dinner, and don’t let anyone get in your way. For the roosters, my kids learned more about the “facts of life” than I was ready to explain. And from the local Fox we learned that it is possible to be happy eating chicken three nights in a row.  Hopefully we’ll sell him on being a vegetarian this year.

VERMONT OPEN STUDIO on MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND


This weekend I’m participating in Vermont’s Open Studio for Memorial Day Weekend.

If you’re running around Vermont, look for the yellow signs to direct you to the studios of craftspeople all over the state.

If you’re in Southwestern Vermont, Come Visit my Studio as well as  these two Sandgate Artists:

ELLEN QUESTEL, 

MALLORY RICH 

RACHEL BARLOW

Saturday and Sunday, May 28 and 29
10AM to 5PM

Ellen Questel
1176 Sandgate Rd

Mallory Rich
703 SE Corners Road

Rachel Barlow
441 Woodcock Road

DIRECTIONS:


If you have never been to beautiful Sandgate and are headed there from parts north, we suggest you arrive via route 313 West from 7A in Arlington (rather than rely on GPS which sometimes tries to route people over Mt Equinox!)

From Cambridge, NY take 313 East to Sandgate Rd; From Bennington take 313 West from Route 7A in Arlington.

The Coach

T2 had been dishing it out all week. Fifteen-year-old T1 is dating a girl whose sister is the same age as T2, and the younger generation has made it their mission to report on every cuddle or kiss.

So the Committee on Perfect Parenting will forgive me if I was suspicious of T1’s motives when I saw him carrying a bat as he hustled his younger brother out the door.  Still, I said nothing as T2 skipped to the yard, tossing his ball up in the air and catching it just before it went astray into one of the windows.

“I am gonna really beat up your hand,” I heard T1 yell as he tossed the bat to the side and put on his glove.  T2 grinned, threw the ball to T1 and squatted into a catching position.  T1 wound up his pitch, and I got out of my chair, ready to referee at the top of my lungs through the window if needed.

Then he let the ball fly.

It was just a little outside the imaginary strike zone, but T2 was ready.  He rose up slightly and leaned to the right, grabbing the ball with the net of his glove. I could hear the THWAK through the glass, but T2 was still grinning.

“Good job,” T1 yelled.  “You got it right on the first one.”

“I don’t think the our pitcher throws that hard,” T2 laughed.

“I know,” T1, “But if you can catch all of mine, you’ll be set for the summer.”  He wound up for another pitch.  “Now watch out, this one’s gonna be inside — you missed a few on the last game.”  As his arm went back, I knew what I had to do.

I knocked on the glass to get their attention and waved and yelled, “Turn the other way so you don’t hit my car!”  Then, with just a smidge of satisfaction, I sat back in my rocker with my paints and pad and went back to painting.

Gearing Up


This coming weekend is Open Studio Weekend in Vermont. Artists around the state, including me, are opening their studios, and I’ve drafted my family to help make the yard look less like the opening shots for The Addams Family.

The meadow has become a lawn, and my garden, neglected for a full year after fractured foot restricted me two solid ground, is in the process of becoming a garden once again. 

Talk to Me

Due to a sustained hacking attempt on my blog (not sure why someone hates my doodles and toons so much), I’ve turned off commenting on the blog.

If you hate the toons (and especially if you don’t), talk to me. But you’ll have to do it on the Facebook page for the moment.

 

Lady Knights

   

 The line at the Dairy Bar was a mile long so I took the boys to the nearby Wayside Country Store to get takeout from the deli for dinner last night.

The deli is at the back of the store, near the fishing gear and shotgun shells. There’s a large round table covered with a vinyl, red and white gingham tablecloth. On any given morning The table is occupied by a group of mostly men–farmers, retirees, and contractors on their way to work– all Knights of this Round Table solving the world’s problems before work.

The last month or so the Wayside just tried something new–a knitting night. A few men have joined the knitting group, but most of the nights that I walk in on the circle at the back of the store, it’s occupied by Lady KNights taking a break from worlds problems.
I’m working hard not pick up any new hobbies–or old ones like knitting, so instead of contemplating where to buy a skein of locally raised fiber, I sat down and got out my sketchbook to keep focused on drawing. I’m sure my bankbook will thank me in the morning..

The Only Thing

Away-Gameweb

Arlington had barely enough interested nine-year-olds to field a team for the Little League minor’s team this year, so when one of the players couldn’t make it to the first away game, parents and players were relieved that an older player from the Majors  volunteered to play.

I was happy the boys got to play, but the older boy’s good deed bumped T2 from his position behind the plate as catcher. Knowing how much he loves catching, my relief was tempered a bit. However, I knew it made sense for the older boy to catch because, even in the minors, winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.

If the change bothered T2, he didn’t show it. He danced on his way out to center field, bopping to the beat of the internal music in his head as he waited for the ball to leave the pitcher’s hand.  In the second and third and fourth inning he danced as he play right field, then center, then right again. He skipped around the bases as he scored a run, sliding into each base for good measure, even when the ball was still in the outfield.

All of the Arlington boys got dirty sliding. The scoreboard was broken, but as our rag-tag team scored one run after another, victory seemed likely.They had faced much older boys for the first two losing games of the season, a win would mean a lot to all of them.

The game ended just after dinner time and shortly before bedtime. Fully revved up, the team began a complex game of skill and strategy that involved racing up and down the bleachers and throwing their gloves at each other. A few dads were talking cars. Moms were talking carpools. The boys were screaming with laughter, making up rules as they played. It was well past official bedtime by the time each boy was buckled in and being chauffeured home.

T2 was sweaty and panting when I asked him if they had won.

“Yeah,” he laughed.

“What was the score?”

“Oh, we weren’t keeping score.  We were just having fun.”

“And the ballgame?”

“I can’t remember the score,” he said after a minute. Then he grinned and pointed to his dirty pants. “But I got to slide three times.  I think that’s a win.”

It was, and it really was everything.

May Astray

Depot-Road-web

It feels like March outside, but on the first sunny day in weeks, May seems to be rallying.

I’ve been trying to warm to the water pens in anticipation of a trip to Iceland this summer which will require traveling light, but so far I’m not enamored.  I’m determined, though.  I’m doing a mini-painting a day in my moleskin journal to get revved up for summer shows and trips and hoping the weather will give us something inspirational soon.

Color it Clean… or maybe just Sane

This is Johnny’s room. Color the walls Horrified-Yellow. Color dirty clothes ‘Condemned-Green’. and alternate between  ‘Black-Hole Blue-Black’ and ‘Wine Red’* for the rest of the space. *Removing “Whine Red’ color from crayon box strongly recommended prior to contemplating room.

So my post about turning brother against brother to get a room clean, generated a few comments and a bunch of emails, mostly from or about other moms recounting tales of terror inspired by room-cleaning events.  There were stories of discovering new life-forms that had evolved from 3-month-old left overs, of dirty socks that could only be moved to the washer while wearing protective gear, and more than one person admitted to blocking out their kids’ rooms from memory until they flew nest.

The disgusting kids room is the 800 pound load of laundry overflowing the mental-health hamper. So in the furtherance of parental peace and sanity, I created a coloring page in honor of anyone who’s been tempted to do a Joan Crawford on their kid’s room.

Download and Enjoy!