Oh, my friend... I have wanted to talk to you "one more time", no less than a dozen times in the last few days! You would be so excited to know that all the art supplies that we ordered are pouring into the workshop, you would love the new colours of paint and sprays, you would have been so encouraged to know that all the classes were full...

Just last night, we were talking about the fact that no one can fill your shoes. But, my dear sweet friend, we ARE NOT QUITTING! Everyone feels the same as I do - if we stop creating art, we loose the memory of you. We will not remember what to do when the canvas "goes south". We will not remember where the horizon line is supposed to be. We will not know what to do when our colours get muddy. We have to keep creating, to keep fresh in our mind the lessons that you taught us.

We will miss you asking if we trust you - just before you scribble all over our canvas. We will never forget you telling Jackie that her canvas was f****** ugly. (Insert hysterical laughter) We will miss your comments on our work and your suggestions. Our art will be ugly... it will not be as polished as it would have been had you been here... we will probably swear a lot... we will lament the fact that "it does not look right" and dozens of times a day, someone will say that they wish you were here!

BUT WE WILL KEEP CREATING!! We will not forget your teachings, oh wise one! We will create in your memory. You will be with us, guiding our hands, wiping our tears and laughing at our antics. You will be with us.

FOREVER!

I Am NOT ALLOWED To Go Back To The Auction!

   Early Saturday morning, Ellen and I headed out to the Odd and Unusual Sale in Picture Butte - I think that the phrase "The early bird gets the worm" should be rewritten to say "The crazy, early girls get the birds". There were a LOT of birds at this sale - and a few llamas, a donkey, several miniature horses, a pen of 22 white pekin ducks, lots of cute goats and an ENORMOUS boar (pig) that Ellen fell in love with (??????). I guess there is no accounting for tastes! LOL. And sooooo much more - the pens were full and busting with odd and unusual animals. Limited by the fact that whatever we bought had to fit underneath the topper of the truck, sadly we had to leave the freaking giant pig behind and focus. Weirdly, Ellen is still going on about that pig!

   It was hot! After driving most of the way to Picture Butte in drizzle, the sun came out and the day turned muggy and hot, bad conditions for the hundred boxes of poultry that were sitting out on the pavement. Ellen and I wandered around and marked down the numbers of the boxes that I was interested in - two boxes of quail, one box of bantam hens and the number on the box that contained a mother duck and her fuzzy little ducklings! The sale started right on time and within minutes I was packing away a ox of hens (whose number was NOT on my list). That should have been an omen!

   In the next two hours, I made many trips back to the truck to deposit my latest treasures. Ellen wryly commented that it was a telling state of affairs that the auctioneer knew my number by heart! LOL. #945. #945. Again with #945. Seven boxes later, I realized that at some point I had to go home and explain this all to Mike - who had NO IDEA what a run away I had been on!

   Ellen did not buy the pig. There was no room in the back of the truck for a 500 pound hog! (Because I filled the whole thing!) I ended up with 6 quail, 3 Ameraucana chickens, 2 booted bantam chickens, 3 mixed barnyard hens, a Khaki Campbell duck and her 4 ducklings and 5 Bearded Belgian D'Uccles chicks (only two weeks old). HOLY CRAP! As I was filling out the cheque in the auction office, I was running a script in my mind about what I was going to say to Mike. All possible scenarios ended badly. Not that Mike cares about my poultry fettish, but because most of the critters I was paying for would need pens, coops, cages, nest boxes, roosts... and this is where Mike comes into the picture! You can see my dilemma - it is haying season, how do you ask your husband to stop cutting green feed and start building pens? See my angst? And fear!

   All the way home, I kept praying, "Please let Mike be in the field when I pull in... PLEASE, let Mike be in the field when I pull in." NO SUCH LUCK!! As soon as he saw me pull up to the greenhouse, he was walking towards me and asking what I had done. Then I opened the back of the topper. Held my breath. Closed my eyes. Sent a prayer up to God. Waited for what came next. Opened one eye to see why there was a timed delay. Saw the look of SHOCK on my dear suffering husband's face.

  The whole afternoon, he help build a pen and enclosure for momma duck. I knew that he was as hopeless as I am. A sucker for any baby animal. I gotta love that guy! All he said was that I was NEVER ALLOWED TO GO BACK! By next Saturday, he will have forgotten!