Theresa · Mather

No fall colors yet, but I can see them higher up on the mountainside. It may be time for a fall color viewing drive. Summer is exiting like it entered- cool, and with frequent clouds and rain. We didn't really have much of a summer- I didn't take the lighter winter blankets off the bed until June and I'm thinking about putting them back on already.

I baked a loaf of brown potato bread, it just came out of the oven, so the house smells like baking bread. I had to call Barry to corral dumb kitty who seemed intent on jumping into the hot lower oven when I tried to take it out. Silly cat! Since she has had cancer and needs to eat, I've been sharing people food with her and now she knows it tastes better than cat food. So she's way too interested in anything connected to people food. I thought when she had the tumors removed in January, she wouldn't live very long after that. But it's getting to be fall and she's still here, now with a huge appetite for lunch meat, steak, pork chops, pudding, cheese, mayo, roast beef, salad dressing, cake and chicken. And she's pushy and whiny about it too! The interest in bread seems to come from the newly acquired knowledge that lunch meat and bread are often connected, so if you're handling bread kitty starts to get in front of your feet to force you to pay attention while she says MAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUU over and over.

Cat wrangling isn't all there is on my to-do list today. I'm reframing some pieces for a friend, finishing the small originals for October and getting a commission ready to send today.

Yesterday I got a large frame order in, so sorting and putting away things was the order of the day. I selected a few to reframe some paintings I think would look better framed differently. So I intend to clean up loose ends today and tomorrow so I can forge ahead finishing the year's work. I think dinner at Ninja Japanese Steakhouse would be a good way to celebrate finishing 2009! Of course it's just a symbolic goal, because I'll begin work for 2010 the very next day.

I've entered the time of year where I paint all day long, with breaks to collect 101 eggs on Facebook (yes, I backed off of my no-more-social-networks stance, and like I suspected, Facebook is a time sinkhole.)breaks to fix and eat meals and a little time for some casual games. I keep up on the news via NPR on the radio as I work, so I'm not totally in a bubble.

I finished a new piece for prints yesterday, and hope to finish another today. I'll post them when I have several done.
The reception for the Braithwaite Gallery invitational show of regional artists is tomorrow, and I'll probably go.
We've been busy decorating my new canopy tent in anticipation of setting up at the local Ren Faire in early July. It's a very small Faire, but it's right here in town and we'll be home for it this year so I figured "why not?".

My backyard robin population has recovered after the temporary residence of a hawk, who ate a number of them. This year's crop of babies has fledged, and they are hopping all over the yard doing stupid things like pecking at various items to see if they are edible. I saw one peck a grasshopper and then jump back in total surprise when it leaped up into its face. No veteran robin would be shocked by a grasshopper hopping. Another naive new robin looked in to the kitchen from a cottonwood branch and then freaked out and fluttered to another branch when it saw me.It peeked cautiously from behind some leaves and watched me with apparent fascination and made alarm calls. Jaded veteran robins just boldly stare and sit there. I like robins, and I'm glad they're back. The antics of the babies are pretty funny.
I startled a deer again in the yard when I opened the curtains this morning. It had bedded down, and got up and panicked when it saw a person. I'm not sure why such totally skittish deer decide to live in town, but I think it's the succulent lawns that they're after. Still, they're terrified of even being seen.

I've noticed bats on my evening walks lately. They've been out earlier than I've seen before, so it's been light enough to watch their aeroBATics (snark). They really are amazing flyers, turning so quickly and catching bugs at such a furious rate.

It is such a luxury to have such quiet and uneventful days. It won't be long till I have to plunge back into travel and chaos.