chilly sunsets are the best

There's some atmospheric reason for that, right? Or is it just the clouds making things pretty? Sunsets in cold weather are awesome. These are some pics I've taken looking out across the back field on two recent evenings. The sky in the second set of shots blew my mind. These are not digitally enhanced at all.

could it be wider?

Okay, question for those of you reading this: Would it fit on your monitor if the blog was wider? Would you like it better if it was wider? A friend's blog got me wondering about this, and apparently 960 is the new 800 (pixels, that is). I hate to go messin' with the website after I just did all that work, but maybe wider websites would be better?

November 28 work in progress and other stuff

First and foremost, The Pioneer Woman is right. If you make her cinnamon rolls, all your other achievements in life become obsolete, because suddenly you will be known only for your cinnamon rolls. As a side note though, for you engravers reading this, THIS is my style of scrollwork! It's the only way I like making scrolls! ;-)

Okay, there are two finished pieces to show you but I need their owners to see them first. Stay tuned.

I have two pieces that I've just started, so I'll be dividing my time between these two things in the next while:


"Missy" (Sheltie dog)
scrimshaw engraving on pre-ban elephant ivory
30x40mm
sold (commission)

And I know this doesn't look like anything yet, but there really is a drawing sketched out on that gray paper. :-)

not yet titled
will be colored pencil and graphite
10x10.5 inches
sold (commission)

Oh, and for anyone who's interested, remember three weeks ago when I got stung on the arm by a wasp or yellowjacket or something? There's still a slightly red blotch on my arm. It's not very noticeable unless my arm gets hot (washing dishes or something). Three weeks! Cripes.

Golden Eagle!

Woo hoo! I just have to share with you that I saw a juvenile Golden Eagle soaring quite low over a field on my way home from walking Angus a few minutes ago. That's not a bird I get to ID very often, so I was glad to come home and look it up in the bird book and confirm that I was correct. Sometimes I sure wish I had The Beast camera with me! Would have been some great shots.

Oh yeah, and my brother saw a Peregrine Falcon in Elk Grove the other day. I guess we're doing well with our rare bird sightings this week!

Thanksgiving

It always seems funny to be hungry the morning after Thanksgiving. Shouldn't I still be full from the turkey and mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and stuffing and cranberries and apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake? Apparently not, but that does make me sound like a pig!

Yesterday was really nice. Chilly, but clear and sunny. So I wandered around with my camera for a while yesterday.

Shylah got a little Thanksgiving feast of mulberry leaves. I think about half the leaves on the tree came crashing down the night beforehand!

Gwen didn't need any, she's out on pasture.

Angus says "huh?"

Olin wonders why I'm on the wrong side of the window.

The chickens are still nowhere near show ready, but by January I hope they'll be all feathered out. Here's a sneak peek at some of the cockerels.



Wild turkeys in the driveway.

Mom and I spent Thanksgiving evening with family friends, as has been tradition for the last many years. Dinner was delicious, and I really enjoy seeing everyone. Thanksgiving is the only time I see some members of that family (who I've known for 25 years). I have to share a funny story with you. I was sitting next to one of the little girls before dinner was served last night. I'm terrible with ages, but I think she's maybe eight years old, or somewhere thereabouts. She kept looking at me and smiling, and finally said "Have you found a husband yet?" I laughed, and said nope, not yet, I'm still looking for one. She reached over, patted my arm, and said "Well, you still look young." Oh my! I guess the implication here is I need to hurry it up before everyone figures out how old I am? That cracked me up. ;-)

I randomly woke up early and had the briefest thought that I could get up and go shopping, but then my eyeballs closed up again and I disappeared under the covers for another two hours. I actually did go shopping though. I'm not in the market for any big ticket items (that I'm aware of, I'll probably think of something as soon as all the sales are over) but I have been accumulating fabric to make myself a quilt, and I couldn't pass up $1.29/yd on flannel, and 50% off the huge cutting mats. So I spent THREE count 'em THREE hours waiting in the cutting line at JoAnn's this morning. Good grief! It was totally worth the $100+ savings, but talk about boring. It's worth noting though, if you're ever stuck there and want a quiet place to sit out of the way of the insanity, go park your butt on the floor in the corner of the home decor fabric section. It's empty there. I read a couple books about home decor, and then a nice older lady came over and sat with me and we talked about quilts for a while.

Anyway, I'd better go back out and get a few more things done outside before it gets dark!

back in business, I think...

I'm cautiously optimistic. I think it's safe to come out now. Olin's not so sure....

I'm on the new host now, though evidently it may take the internet another day to fully grasp that fact. If, after another 24 hours or so, there are still any blog problems, I'm going to have a cow. Because then it'll mean that somehow I messed things up. Let's hope not. If you happened to pop in here any time between last night and this morning, you may have noticed that all the images were gone. Oops! All better now. :-)

Hey, why is my air compressor going off (going on? making noise?). The airgraver is off. Hmmm, is there an air leak?! [goes over to investigate] I don't know. I don't hear/feel anything but maybe I'd better put a hose clamp on the one unclamped connection tomorrow. That's very odd for the compressor to be doing anything when the handpiece isn't running.

Anyway, I hope people can finally read this thing again. I have scrimshaw to post soon and will be doing a drawing work in progress starting very soon. Not much excitement to report. It's been getting cold ("cold" by north central CA standards, it's 36 outside right now).

In keeping with blog tradition, I give you my first poultry art, and wish you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving!

here's what'll happen

Yes, the blog is still having problems. I know.

Things are in progress with moving all the stuff. I jumped the gun a little and complicated one part of this, so it'll be probably a week or two before the domains (and the blog) actually change to the new host. They're still on the old host until then. Yes, this is a real pain in the posterior.

But here's the really important thing: If you have me in your email address book, and it's with an earthlink email addy, I need you to update that to katherine@katherineplumer.com or katherineplumer@gmail.com. Whichever makes you happy, they end up in the exact same place, so pick one or the other. The earthlink addresses will stop working soon. If you use the rosecomb.com addy, you can keep using it.

I probably will not be blogging much until things are all squared away. I'm tired of wasting time wrestling with the internet, so unless I have something really fantastic to say, I'll see ya on the flip side.

this could get messy

I bit the bullet and am changing web hosts. My gosh this is a giant pain in the asterisk! Hopefully this will go smoothly and you won't notice a thing (except that *fingers crossed* the blog will actually WORK again) but just in case you go to look at the website and see a giant pile of dust in the next couple days/week, it'll mean I goofed up. Hopefully not, but apologies in advance... ;-)

I'll keep trying

I found out today I will not be showing at the Western Visions show in Jackson Hole in September 2011. Rejection letter in the mail. I'm really really bummed out by this, but at the same time I totally expected it. It's complicated in a way that I can't get into here for all the world to see. Everything is always complicated isn't it... :-(

I'll try again for 2012.

Of course knowing that I won't see my favorite place on earth next year makes me REALLY want to go back even more. Maybe Wyoming and I will be on an every-two-year plan. Unless I strike it rich and move there. Gotta get my weekly lotto tickets tomorrow. ;-)

*Sigh* :-(

on second thought...

Dear Earthlink,

You are making me very unhappy because you haven't fixed the CNAMES yet. I am very loyal, but upon further investigation of the other fish that are in the web hosting sea, I might have to break up with you. How sad that would be after 12 years together. And it means I'd have to get new business cards printed, which sucks, because I just did that.

You're running out of time to make it right. I wanted to stay with you against all odds, but if you don't fix the problem really really really soon I'm going to find another web host.