Sunday 10 April 2016


Greetings from a snowy day in Nova Scotia. It's not a Friday. It's certainly not March anymore. I wanted to have lots of artwork to share with you, but I've been distracted by other things.

Near the end of March, Wally was feeling well enough to tackle the studio closet
 which we want to incorporate into the bedroom closet.

I kept a piece of the old wallpaper, most of which was too fine to peel off the paperboard
 
You can see how small the original closet is on the far left,
and how wide Wally will expand it- almost up to the light switches.
 
A few days later, the weather was so mild

that I decided to go for a walk 

Our front lawn is covered in crocuses (which are under snow today)
They are not nearly this blue, more of a red violet that my camera cannot capture.
 
there are SO many robins about this year
 
Here is one of the unusual houses I saw on my walk

and a house I've shown you in years past that I love for its orange door,
an inspired palette altogether
 
This is what we woke up to this morning
 
So many plants are in bud. You would never know that this is our wonderful Honeysuckle
 (with a young maple growing out of it)

The backyard blanketed.
 
Muji finds the sunlight too harsh

and can barely open his eyes

though he tries

but it is midmorning by now and he goes off to sleep soon after 
 
The intense snowlight doesn't seem to bother Babu as much
 
his pupils narrowed to fine slits, he demonstrates the mop of dust he is on his black coat 

as he looks for some action outside

Kitty Squeeze Toy stays out of the way
 
This is the only "artwork" I've done in a long while,
a doodle on a 60+ year old piece of note paper I found in the attic of this house.
 
Thank you for dropping by for a visit. It shouldn't surprise me that I've slowed down on creative work this time of year.  Wally is finally over a nasty cold that lingered too long. Added to work, he became very tired; he is looking forward to some time off to work some more on the house.
 
Muji is mostly better. I've decided since my last post that the black stuff on his muzzle is a form of feline acne caused from bacteria that forms from licking his chops after he eats. It's not a problem for him as it seems to come and go, just an eyesore.  I'm happy to be of service to my sickies over the last 6 weeks, and particularly thrilled to have resolved Muji's most serious issues which started with alkaline crystals a year ago. Being a purebred Flamepoint Siamese makes him susceptible to digestive disorders. Add to that the abuse he had suffered and we've been able to piece together the "why's" that make him more vulnerable than hearty Babu.  Babu, in the meantime benefits from a lesser version of Muji's regimen just as Wally and I do from accommodating each other's diets. Refining the information has been good for all of us.
 
In the Serenity Prayer, there is the line:  "the courage to change the things I can".  It has been the theme of my life over the last year. It has set me on a course of no return.   It always makes me think of the title of Thomas Wolfe's book, "You Can't Go Home Again". Things change. Life is change. Learning to adapt to change changes us. We cannot go back to who we once were.  Hearing one's own voice starts the ball rolling.  This is not something to be afraid of, though heaven knows I was afraid to go against the veterinarian's order a year ago. I know in my heart that I did the right thing. This sets me apart from the status quo. The road opens up in ways I never imagined. 
 
 
Courage my love