Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Goodbye Patches




Yesterday, Patches, our elderly, wonderful, good-tempered doggie died. He was a handsome dalmation-collie cross who had just turned 17. Though the last couple of years were somewhat difficult, Patches had a good life. He liked to work, supervising everything from bringing in wood for the woodstove to keeping the deer, woodchucks and bears at bay while I worked in the garden. He imagined that his favorite dinner would be squirrel, if only he could have caught one. The kids liked to get him to shake "hands," then toss and catch a biscuit that was put on his nose. Besides all this, he was a really good, cooperative model. Tomorrow I'll post some artwork that I've done using his image. Meanwhile, here are some photos of him. Goodbye and thank you, Patches; you were a great friend.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Garden Time!


Well, time to think about the garden, anyway. I've been scanning seed catalogs to see what would be fun to plant this year (not yet, though; it's snowing at the moment!). Recently, I came across this little (6" x 8") oil painting of a cabbage I did a couple of years ago and hung it in the kitchen to remind me of the summer garden. I'll post some more old photos next time.