saving kittens

today characterizes my life lately. I have an agenda, things to do, places to go, people to see, phone calls to return ... I had a ride today on my great steed Keno with my friend Sandra. When we got back to the barn, un-saddled, grain given, we had intentions to get on with the day and the many tasks that take up friday afternoon.... oh no, starving abandoned baby kittens crying out in hunger stopped us in our tracks. The mother either abandoned them or else was killed by coyotes, but the up shot is 4 young unweaned kitties sure to die without intervention. Now I'm all about nature taking it course in theory, but in the real life moment with tiny kittens crying out , forget about it. The rest of the afternoon is long gone taken up by mixing up milk replacer and feeding the little cutsters with a tiny little bottle. OMG After their little bellies were full and they were on their way back to a sleep, the task of getting others involved and taking over is at hand. It was not long until easily undone by cuteness gals came along and we were able to pass on for the moment our responsibility.... until tomorrow morning....

It will be OK

It's a scary time and also a hopeful time. Some of you will recall a mailing from me in 2003 when the Iraq war started and we were all so outraged. The gist was that despite all the hatred and fear, there were millions of acts of love and hope and it was up to us to let our best sides come out no matter what. I think many of us are suffering from outrage fatigue. I am blessed by spending most of my days with people in their 90's. What they tell me over and over is that we've been through bad things before and somehow it all turns out ok. So I say let's choose hope and love and let our best and most creative sides come out now more than ever. Don't forget to vote.Vote for hope and possibility. Vote Obama. Early voting starts here this week!! (on paper ballots!) But of course this is the beginning. We have to stay on our elected officials like stink on poop. Let's get moving on alternative energy, health care for all, and a responsible end to this ridiculous war in Iraq. Meanwhile do what you can to know your neighbors, and participate in making your place in the world better.
OK, I promise I'll get back to less cosmic issues. I've just come back from canvassing the 'hood, so I'm energized and hopeful. I hope it's contagious.

I'm back

I'm wondering if anyone even checks this blog anymore it's been so long. Ok frankly I've been obsessed with politics. Over the edge obsessed. I watched dang near every minute of both conventions. After the klan like "drill baby drill" thing, I was distraught beyond belief. I have been unable to focus on much of anything. And then in the last several days with the end of the world coming and all.... forget about it. I thought it trite to post about how cute Kramer is, or the process of choosing my stucco color. (I settled on "palomino", a buff color, by the way.) Despite telling others to remain positive, I was worried, deeply worried.
But, somehow I'm getting a grip on myself. After all the queen of the secret law of attraction, Oprah, is no doubt working on it. And damnit Jim, I'm an Occupational Therapist with PSYCHIATRIC training. Occupational Therapist, occupy yourself!! So in the hours I've previously been wandering from room to room aimlessly, I'm now filling with repetitive tasks such as sewing books, and doing dishes. I'm putting that anxiety to work for myself. I have volunteered down at the Obama headquarters going door to door getting people registered to vote and for sure out to the polls. I have some ideas to make art about this too. So take heart, I'm now sure it's all going to be ok. I promise I'll go back to the cute Kramer and Sparky posts, and I'll fill you in on my current run in with the law....

Our newest employee

One day last week I came home to find I had a new employee... I didn't realize I had a position open but he assures me he's the guy for the job, whatever it is. As it turns out he lives next door and has a full time position as an assistant computer consultant. However he's pleased as punch to moonlight over here as Sparky's deputy. She's thrilled silly to have help tearing up stuff, digging holes, herding birds and barking at the other neighbors' cats. As it turns out the owner is happy to have something else for him to do, so we rigged up a system for opening and closing the hole in the fence so he has access when I can supervise the shenanigans.


His owner is young and wears prayer beads. Nice as pie, but again young and wears prayer beads. The puppy's name is "be". There you have it. But imagine if you will an episode of Seinfeld. The door opens abruptly, in slides Kramer, who immediately has his head in the fridge doing inventory. This is the puppy in a nutshell, (a Nancy Lang observation) so his name over here is "Kramer".



Sparky is no longer acting like an older dog... Life is quite a bit more exciting for us all, with an occasional rest period.

google snaggletooth

For the last few days I've had my good pal for decades, Nancy Lang here for a visit. OMG we had so much fun. When a person tells their friends they are going to Santa Fe for a visit they are expected to go and do certain things. So Lang felt as though she should be able to report that she went shopping on the plaza, visited museums and art openings, and hiked in the desert..and of course Spanish Market was this weekend. So we did all those things, in a dilettante fashion. We blasted through Site Santa Fe, went to one really cool booth at Spanish Market, shopped at the jewelry supply store and took Sparky for a walk in the river. Then the rest of the time we spent making stuff in the studio. Oh yeah and we went to a few lame garage sales.

We talked about how doing the metal work was so satisfying and the process to intriguing then proceeded to spew expletives as things didn't work out quite how they should and I proceeded to drill into my thumb with the cordless power drill. We discovered the limits and possibilities of the hand held butane torch, including making a silver bezel with it!

It's great how another person in the studio keeps a person going. We're both doing stuff so you keep the commitment to what you're working on, when alone you'd toss it aside and go watch tv.

I think Nancy has the most amazing ability to put things together in a pleasing way. She can take a pile of crap and the next thing you know it's an amazing combo of fun.

There's nothing like an old friend for being able to truly be yourself. We can launch into song or story at the drop of a hat, and despite not seeing each other but a couple times a year can say the same thing simultaneously as if we had a script. I just hate the thought of going back to the work a day world tomorrow....

Heliotown

I'm feeling rather dull and boring lately. Others tell me of their various ideas, projects and goings on, and I have nothing to add, NOTHING.... so while I'm rotting along with my work a day existence enjoy a bit from yet another excellent art show by Thomas Ashcraft

Not a good day for the animals

Long story short, or maybe medium.... I was all ready for a nice ride before the fire crackers started this morning, only to find my trusty steed with a quite swollen leg. I'm sure all parents understand this universal law, and any of you who have animals perhaps... if they are going to get sick or injured it will be well after 5PM or on a weekend and better yet on a national holiday! It's the 4th of July and sure enough this was bad enough to call the vet, probably shouldn't wait until monday. He was not in any particular distress, in fact was not even limping on his leg, but that's his nature. He's a stoic. However, a bandage, which I could manage on my own, and antibiotics, which I couldn't procure without the ver, were in order. He was good about being dr'd today which he isn't always, but now that he has the bandage Mr. curiosity is feeling pretty bad. He doesn't want his horse pals seeing him like this and besides that, he's convinced I'm trying to poison him with the bitter stuff I'm putting in his grain.. (antibiotics)
So poor Keno is hiding in his stall full of shame.
In other pet news, Bad Marie, afraid of the non stop fire cracker action, has been hiding under the bed all day..Sparky is glued to my side. Little Peep, the loyal and hard working house cat, is just fine.