Catching Up and Thanksgiving Fragments

This delightful chunk of carpentry derring-do is direct from the roofline of our BauHaus Chicken Coop. Bob removed this and a few other similar artifacts while tying the chimney into the roofline. Pretty punky wood and a surfeit of nails made for an interesting photo, but let's just say that I am glad to have this particular section replaced by sounder ingredients!
Anyway, I feel like I've been a tad remiss in the entry department of late and that is partially due to a last spasm of household projects inspired by the waning days of fall and the advent of true winter. We, as mentioned previously finshed the chimney and woodstove installation in the house- and haven't turned on the blasted blast furnace since! Also, Bob is enjoying the warmth of his own studio woodstove, again installed with the help of our good friend Joe.
Today we made impressive progress on the erecting of electric horse fencing. Some elements were already in place, including the electric box in the "equine facility". We fortunately inherited a good quantity of metal fence posts which we will install tommorrow. Today we dug holes and put in the heavier-duty cedar posts that will anchor the pasture. The Horse, aka "Crispin", had better respect the fence and appreciate what we have done for him. He will dwell in a superior (albeit small) barn which he will be able to access and exit 24/7 whenever he pleases. He has a nice view and expansive and commodious grazing areas... no complaints please.
Best of all is that Bob and Rita are free once that fence is complete!!! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

October Nor'Easter and Plenty of It

Here we are in October, all ready for that first now of the season... Not! I'm certain I'm not alone in lamenting the apparent passing of this year's Halloween. So much for tricks vs. treats!

I know, I know; it LOOOKS beautiful but you can have it! Thnak goodness the snow saw fit to go and melt away. The last few days have been almost balmy: in the seventies and nice.

The newly finished chimney is emitting a fine dribble of smoke. We cooked and heated water for washing dishes and stayed warm. Bob just finished installing the woodstove in his studio so we feel somewhat prepared (hahahahahahaha) for winter.

What Day Is It Anyway?

Hey! I know what day it is! It's 11-11-11 and this is the very first posting I've been able to do since thw famous Power Outtage of 2011. It's like "How many days were you out for?" We all get badges of Courage and Honor and Triumph in the Face of Adversity. We had no juice for eight days and struggled with schlepping buckets of stream water to flush and tossing out endless refrigerator re-stockings (after the losses due to Irene waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in September...) and figuring out how and what to eat for the next meal and wear to shower...
But it had it's lovely momnets such as the interior of my windshield. I sat in the car and collected swell images painted by Master Illuminator Jack Frost himself.
Here'sa few more:

I guess I should rejoice that I can still discover beauty in cold and ice as it seems last winter never left...

Thank goodness that the wood stove was finished only five days before we lost power! At least we were nice and warm. Don't get me started on the perfidy and lies of Connecticut Light and Power caused by their greed and deregulation! To hear them yatter on about how they could never have predicted a freak storm or the severity of snow on leaf-laden trees made me crazy. Never heard of underground line? I heard today that they will try and pass on the cost of restoring energy to we, the consumers. We already pay the highest cost for enegy in the country... Revolution, anyone???

Form and Function

We are very fond of Blue Hubbard squash and were going to grow it in the vegetable garden this year but we ran late and it's not easy to procure the seed from any but secialty seed companies. So Bob bought this individual from a local farm stand and not only will we enjoy eating it for several meals, but he's drying the seed for planting next spring.
Thisone is ideal because it's a slightly smaller variety. A former neighbor gave us a specimen several years back that was so huge that it lasted for months. It rested on a pedestal in the living room as edible sculpture and then got sliced into four or five sizeable chunks that were then baked individually. Here's what last night's dinner consisted of:

Sort of resembles a vessel from an ancestral culture! Bob put a little local honey (from the same farm stand) in the cavity and roasted it for over an hour and a half. I just love the color throughout the whole process.

My studio is undergoing yet another upheaval! With the construction of the chimney to accomodate the woodstove, multiple things (including boxes and the infamous flatfile) had to be shifted again. I am still able to work in the midst of all this chaos; the importance is to keep the table free of flotsam and jetsum. Behind the chair is a new addition to my studio furniture- and a welcome one! It's a plug-ugly chest of drawers in which I can store all of my fabric remnants. Until today, they were crammed into several very inconvienient large cardboard boxes in the corner, stacked tree high. Once the dresser arrived, it took me all of an hour to unload the boxes and completely fill it.

Yes, there's a woodstove under all that bedlam. (And no, it's not hooked up yet so there is no danger of a fire from flammables being placed on top of it...)
I will collapse into a contented mound of productive artistry once the pieces are all in place and I know the permanent layout of the studio land. Bob and I really underestimated how hard it would be to move. We've done pretty well, but we do need to get our studio practices in gear. I don't know what the pilgrims or pioneers did about making art; all that moving around and physical hardship must have been hell on their concentration. (I jest). Wake me up when it's all over...

How Green Was My Pond Scum

This is a posting entirely dedicated to relief from all the grey of the chimney construction. That is not a swath of green lawn in the above photo. It's actually a pond in the field where my horse lives.That's the product of run off from concentrated horse byproducts... heavy on the nitrogen and urea! It looks solid enough to walk on.
I thought the perfection of those puffy billowing clouds in configuration with that eerie green looked almost artificial. I've wanted to photograph this pond for ages and kept forgetting my camera. I have never seen the water in this pond but I've witnessed ponies standing neck deep and the emerging coated with a brilliant green patina so I know there's liquid in there somewhere! Just hope my horse never gets the idea to go for a dip as he's white and would probably be eternally dyed green like one of those unfortunate easter chicks!
I still can't quite figure out what's going to happen with Crispin the horse...

How the Pyramids Were Won

So this is our sophisticated system for hoisting the 100 pound blocks skyward... just don't stand underneath it! It's worked like a charm. Personally, I can't wait for Joe and Bob to be done with this aerial phase of the proceedings... I think my stomach got wonky this afternoon, witnessing them working so high up. I'm not a fan of heights!
Here's a (slightly doctored) picture of Bob and Joe hard at work. See if you can tell what I moved from one picture to another.

(Well, I am a collage artist and I didn't muck around too much with reality!) Today while i was at work, the chimney finally crested the roofline... only one more session left and tehn we can light a fire. (I suspect it will coincide nicely with our aniversary date.)