I Seemingly Have Fewer Fingers (A Good Thing!)

I should have said that I SEE fewer fingers, which is really a good thing! I am constantly trying to explain to family and friends just how it is that I see since my eye disaster. The weirdest aspect of this whole thing is that it's bizarrely selective; I can see some odd details really clearly and other bigger picture items not at all.
So the other day it occurs to me that I am seeing fewer fingers. If I close my right eye, my left (badly damaged eye) was seeing a fuzzy sort of hand approximation. I was essentially seeing three fingers for every one. (Lots of "ghosting" and haloes.) But recently when I close the right eye, my left eye has made a great leap forward. My left eye is resolving in some fashion, and now I see two fingers for every one. That's a major improvement! There' a lot less visual static and I can detect details, like seams on my winter gloves.
The piece above is an illustration of that fabled hand/eye collaboration. I should try making a piece that expresses the multiplicity of fingers!

The Well-Dressed Beast

I broke out Crispin's raincoat the other day as unpleasant (albeit not freezing) rain was scheduled. I'm not much on blanketing horses, but after my previous blog posting lamenting Crispin's insisting on standing around and getting wet, I thought to dress him up. He didn't care.
At least I got Crispin a bright red and black housecoat; you should have seen some of the horses at the barn! There is no end to people's bizarre ideas of what a horse should wear. Decked out like pink plaid tea cozies and peculiar high neckline horse hoodies, the unfortunate beasts made to wear these costumes resemble galloping sofas. Recent studies have proven the superiority of a horses natural defense: the woolly winter coat. (But of course, you don't have to buy anything so how can it work?? There is no lack of money to be made selling horse owners crazy merchandise...) On the other hand, that heavy winter coat gets wet and the horse could take a chill. But like I said to Bob the other day about Crispin, "Well, we haven't killed him yet!" so we must be doing something right!
A final and ironic note, however is that Crispin's rain jacket seems to have lost it's waterproofness so when I removed it the next day, he was soaked through underneath. It was probably worse than if I had done nothing.
Okay, I found a lovely selection. And this poor horse, mind you, was out on a sunny warm day dressed (as someone so aptly described it) in a hybrid between lingerie and armor!

Richard Serra Comes to Breakfast!

While enjoying the toasted version of Bob's bread for breakfast, I realized that the available slices laying on the plate reminded me of something... modern sculpture. When upended and set at (approximate) right angles, Bob and I discovered that there was a distinct echo of some of Richard Serra's monumental sculptures. (The plastic baby (from a previous year's Mardi Gras King Cake) adds scale). Funny how art winds up appearing where you least expect it!

Whoops! Almost Forgot to Blog!

I've been so busy that I almost forgot to blog! And I think my one year blog anniversary is rapidly approaching... I'll have to do something really special like put up more pictures of our deranged dog. (See above photo. Sometimes, Bob wonders why we allow these truly weird animals with sharp fangs to live in our houses with us... And Jules wasn't even growling; he was sleeping upside down.)

So it's been busy around here because both Bob and I applied for grants for art making and boy howdy would it be nice if at least one of us got a grant this year. Make it both of us and I be REALLY overjoyed). Filling out grant applications is an odd process as the people who "create" the forms are so obviously not artists or even vaguely right brained. (I think right brain is the right one right?) Anyway, the on-line forms suck and have all these crazy pitfalls, like concealed slide bars and areas that you can't cut and paste words. You have to type them all out. It's archaic and arcane. And not at all interesting. But there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

And Mommy isn't doing really well. My mother is 91 years old and I keep saying her batteries are wearing out. She's had a good long run but I suspect that old quality of life issue is beginning to raise it's ugly head. Mommy is at present in a convalescent facilty and not too happy about it. I'm really not sure what to do...

Jules just woke up so I need to take him outside. I promise to post a more insightful blog tommorrow. That's if I don't barf listening to rabid republicans yattering away about how much money they make. Screw them!

At Play in the Fields of the Horse

So Crispin may be going through a tough few days, but he excels in manure production! We obtain at least a wheelbarrow full every day. I have been joking that Bob and I fight about who's going to clean up the pasture every morning; it's actually a very pleasant way to spend a quiet 15 or 20 minutes with Crispin. Most mornings Bob beats me to the task while I'm away on my walk with Jules.
And we truly mean this: anyone who wants some manure...C'mon down! It's easy to get as we truck it up to the vegetable garden which is right next to the driveway. Take it home and compost it or layer it directly onto your garden beds and by spring it will be all broken down and good to go. Your garden will thank you!

Miserable Horse

Crispin has had a couple of rough days. And doesn't he just look it? Nothing like a wet horse! Yesterday, the wind spooked him and he ran straight into something and scratched his nose. He wasn't going to die and I cleaned it off and put a bit of antibiotic on it but he felt sort of sorry for himself. (And I couldn't ride him because the noseband of his bridle would have crossed right on top of his cut. It was such a nice warm sunny day, too!) Anyway, I gave him extra hay and some carrots and fluffed up his bedding as I heard it was going to rain or sleet or snow overnight.
This morning? Crispin is running aorund, eyes all wild and soaking wet; his hay in the barn is untouched. Obviously the something that spooked him yesterday is near the barn. Poor Crispin is miserable and agitated and the wind isn't helping. I carried a pile of his hay out to the field so that he can temporarily avoid the stall. I don't know; I think I'd be inside today, trying to avoid that drowned rat look. But then, I'm not a horse.
Hey! The weather is unpleasant today: chilly and windy and loads of rain. But I still say, at least it's not snow! Here it is mid-January and we're feeling like March... No complaints.

Product Placement Before 9 am!

Sunday morning found me musing on whether we could establish some kind of product placement in this blog, ala Morgan Spurlock. I was confronted first with Ajax dish detergent and then...

And finally:

Why, this Sunday serendipity could result in all kinds of lucrative advertising. Or at least a year's supply of dog biscuits. Anyone have a connnection to Proctor and Gamble?
On other notes, today Bob felled a few of the scrappy little trees left over by our vegetable garden. The weather continued nice (especially for early January) but a couple of these trees proved pretty darned tough to topple. Bob resorted to several come-alongs and I retreated indoors. One tree produced a tremendously evil noise as it scraped past the carport (otherwise known as my future studio...) but managed to miss it's mark and fall rather precisely between the remaining trees, the carport and the propane tanks. Alls well that ends well. It also porvides fuel for next year's burning. I guess you can't start preparing too soon.

Let's Build a Stairway to the Stars!

A fine example of things that go flap in the night! Bob and I are laying in bed and it's 9 or 10 degrees outside with the wind picking up and howling. And there's that crash-crash-crash noise again as a swell of wind lofts the louvered door on our whole house fan. Neither Bob nor I had remembered that this had been an issue the last time a stern wind blew... and there goes the heat in the house.
The whole house fan trap door is, of course, inconvieniently located above the stairway where the ceiling is at its highest. The ever intrepid Bob had to wedge the ladder across the hall and out over the stairs... it looks just awful but I'll take his word that it's safe. But I'm an expert at bizzare household accidents so maybe I'll just go hide when he ascends to the heavens.
And speaking of freak accidents I had a lulu the other day. After visiting Mommy (who is in a convalescent facility) I stopped to get a cup of coffee. I walked all of ten feet from my car to the door and maybe another twelve feet to the counter, where I tried to order a cup of French Roast, but settled for regular. I walked back to my car and attempted to locate my keys. After and exciting hour of turning the car and every article of my clothing inside out, I felt as if I had entered the Twilight Zone. I even borrowed a pair of plastic gloves from the counter teenagers and went through three giant garbage cans, thinking maybe in a pre-occupied moment I had emptied my pockets and teh keys into the trash. They weren't there and it was a hideous enterprise and very much a piece of bad performance art.
Finally, I admitted defeat and called everyone I know who lives (somewhat) locally. No one was imediately home, but my sister Beatrice and her sidekick/life partner John valiantly agreed to drive down and rescue me, if not my car. I finally connected with Bob who was instructed to meet us at Baetrice and John's house. In the meantime, a phone call comes in to Dunkin Donuts and I hear the counter teenager saying that I was still there. Apparently a man who was in line behind me picked up my keys and drove home (an hour away!) with them. At least he realized his error and was gallant enough to drive them all the way back to East haddam and the Dunkin Donuts. Along with two bottles of wine and some really good homemade biscotti. He felt that bad!
Alls well that ends well but never stop in East Haddam for anything as there has to be some bad energy there. This is not the first time odd things have happened to Bob and I at that intersection...

Staying In and Chowing Down

Look at this! Bob really outdid himself. I think it was one of the best dinners Bob has ever put together, and that's saying something as he's a superb cook. The salmon was wonderful, broiled and delicately marinated in a tablespoon or so of soy sauce... skin side up. Then garnished with lime slices and capersand parsley. Boy was that good!
It was accompanied by homemade macaroni and cheese and escarole cooked with garlic and a bit of asparagus and these tiny shivers of shredded carrots for color and contrast then sauteed. It was such an amazing combination with a terrific balance of sweet to savory to bitter. Perfection!

We had leftovers for dinner tonight and it was every bit as good.
As a matter of fact, how could you improve on the day? It was sunny and over fifty degrees. I beg to compare it to last year, when the second of January already featured several feet of snow and biting cold... stay tuned for how we celebrate the first anniversary of our January 3rd real estate closing.