haytime...sissys no need apply

yep, even wrangled this table into the truck...couldn't leave without it!

So it's the time of year to stock the barn up with hay. This is the crucial time as hay right now is like penny candy...plentiful and sweet. Wait a few months and it's slim pickin's for sure.

Today was two loads from my favorite picture-perfect 1700's local farm. One load of a dozen bales at a time as that's all hubby's sad pick up will hold. 80 lb. double bales that is. Surely a work out for the old gal. (that'd be me)

Funny, today reminded me of the summer my sister worked on a horse farm....her body formed with freakish, steroidish muscles from hefting the bales.

This was the summer she retained the nickname "Androgynous Pat" (vintage SNL)...as she blurred the gender lines with her bulging physique.

This was also the summer she really grew to despise her younger sister (that'd be me again) for the taunting names of the boyish persuasion.

So in my consorted effort to maintain my puny Olive Oyle-ish muscle tone I will not be hoisting any more bales than needed. I am not nor ever will be above playing the weak girl card.

Decision '08

The debates are over...the campaign trail cold....the vote cast.

Yep, it's sadly been decided. I concede.

I will be postponing this year's Holiday Open House....until next year.

I'm sorry to say there will be no recount....with all this barnstorming and appearances I'm swamped and mired in a sea of commitments.... Appearances in November in Warwick, NY (to be decided) and an Artifacts Shop Open House appearnce on December 6th (watch for details)

Now before the mudslinging and hurling of rotten tomatoes...I promise to the public to throw an even more elaborate event (as time permits) next year!!!.....my mind's wheels are already creaking and turning....OH, just you wait!

So in the meanwhile check out my site for new works as they crop up....as well http://www.earthangelstoys.com/...

blow yer hair back!

Me and good friend "Earthgirl" Jill

a few displaysMe and pal Jen O'Connor having fun with pumpkins(notice the looters in the background!)
And blow your hair back it did! Thanks to all who made the voyage to the Country Living Fair in Ohio. Brave souls you are to endure the elements....rain, heat, humidity and the 60mph wind gusts!

I myself have even been a whirling dervish since I got back. Evidence being my half unpacked suitcase leering at me from the bedroom floor. Oh, how I despise that job.

I swear the seemingly lifeless bag reaches up to grab my ankle as I walk pass ....and with the faint, last dying words of a fallen victim says "please, please unpack me".

Eventually I will need those clothes and will give in to that last dying request....or perhaps just toss some more back into it for my trip back to the Country Living Fair next year!

barnstorm....Ohio or bust!

Westward ho!

I will be traveling over hill and dale, mountains and yonder, fording streams passing through valleys. No, I am not Sacagawea blazing a trail with the manly duo Lewis and Clark.

This is a trip of greater proportions....a trip of monumental importance....a voyage worth rewriting the history books for.

A journey to the Buckeye State for the 2008 Country Living Fair!

Artwork has been seeded, sown and harvested and enroute.

I will be siding with a wonderful group of women artists heading to Ohio for this extraordinary event.

Navigate your way by bus, train or plane, caravan, covoy or just hitchike.

Join in and mollycoddle yourself with fripperies and artistic gems.

Look for me and all the other Earth Angels in the Artists tent.

2008 Country Living Fair

Sept. 12-14th

10am-5pm

rain or shine

Columbus, Ohio

lil' miss red...vixen or victim?

So what is it about this little red -cloaked vixen? Lately I'm obsessed with all things red and hooded. Maybe it's the color...scarlet, blood, crimson,vermilion. It's so fetching.

After all, don't we all want rosier cheeks? redder lips? Marilyn Monroe's nail polish?

Maybe it's the story of Red Riding Hood? How pretty little girls should look out for the dangers and perils of unsavory characters? (wolves=men) As not to be traipsing around just "asking for it".

Oh how these children's stories are really just torrid fables and gory, dark, tawdry lessons to be learned.

And lately wolves are so beguiling. Have I fallen under a spell? Have I been hoodwinked? Usually they scare the bejesus out of me. As of right now I could be easily lured to the Black Forest hoping to run in to Aesop himself.

So as with anything else this treacherous theme has bled over into my artwork.

Hooded gals, wolves, darkness befalling....

I suppose this is just a phase.

Call me crazy....but I kinda like it.

barn revival

a few befores and afters

view from the top We're often referred to as "lucky" that we can do all the work ourselves.

I strongly disagree.

Lucky would be having such deep pockets that we could hire the most exorbitant, extravagant contractor from Dubai.

Thou...even if I were the wealthy love child of Donald Trump or Bill Gates...I still wouldn't change a thing.

There is nothing as satisfying as seeing your hard efforts and lofty ideas take a permanent form.

To look at the stones and know that my hands were the very ones to press them together.

Gawk at the hardy beams and know your shoulder pressed against them until they were fixed in place.

Poor hubby is the unsung hero...like the writer of a song sitting silently in the wings as someone else gives it voice. All his tiresome work lies behind the walls or under the earth. He sets the footings, structures the walls.....all his toils entombed behind the aesthetics of paint and stone.

On numerous occasion I did notice him archiving his name and date in pencil in hidden nooks...I suppose in high hopes to someday be revealed again on the next centuries restoration.

Dedicated we were.

Aching backs and all....even if it meant one held the chainsaw down as the other pulled the starter cord....a sad yet, humorous sight.

And no room scardy-cats here. You quickly learn to master your fear of heights. White-knuckeled, no-nonsense , dizzying, drunken heights.

So stone for walls and floors was delivered from Champlain ...or plucked and from the yard...old beams recyled...discarded telephone poles hoarded...new doors constructed..windows replaced...paint slathered by the gallon...the icing on the country cake.

So enough of the fanfare and ode to me.

The real warriors are the ones who grew this relic out of real sweat. No electric tools, no hardware stores no cheating. Real craftmen.

There names and stories are lost in the dirt and shavings.

We are just a couple of Johnny-come-latelys. The least we can do is maintain and honor what they started... if not for our own selfish love of barns...

knee high by the 4th of july

Ok, so the old adage generally applies to growing corn, but I will liberally apply it to growing chicks.

They really have grown...as I'm sure they will be knee-high soon.

And, yes....knee high for me isn't such a feat as I wasn't blessed with stature....but still...

Before you ask me if I'd like some "whine with that cheese".....

We already have a few roosters that are "above the knee" in height.

Let me tell you, nothing scarier than a testosterone-laced bird charging at you with 3 inch spurs.

To think of the prize money I've missed out on for funny home videos.

Grown men running like silly school girls....

Mother in laws jumping on hoods of cars....(yes, it's true)

Me scurrying up the nearest climbable object....or just playing ring around the wheelbarrow.

After a run-in with the trailer hitch these poor legs can't sfford another scar.

The expletive words we hurl at these haughty birds....!

Their plumage and dazzling sheen are magnificent.

So our two new chicks are a blessing and a curse.

One a hen one a rooster.