Back to the land of the mountains, minus the goats.

Coming back to Virginia, I can't help but reflect on the amount of movement that's still involved in my life. To Indiana and back is something like 9 hours, and that's a trip 'm willingly making every other month or so. You can drive across a small European country in less than that.

Having reliable car helps.

Very little art was once again done while there, mostly due to the amount of work needing to be done on the property.

At this point, I would like to take off a month and see how much could be done on the Tales of Daon. Not the snippets of poems and background outlines, but the actual 'novel', which is on the top 3 of the current "things to do in life" listing.

(Other things include:
Finishing Mr. Jellyroll poem (Don't ask).
Hybridizing my own african violet/iris/rose/etc,.
Learning to work leather
Learning to lampwork
Learning to do taxidermy -properly- (I can skin a bird as well as anyone, but stuffing the pelt afterwards and making it look good is another piece of the puzzle)
Collecting a good reference library for things natural and artistic
Work in a florist or a nursery for the sake of having that experience (Something that would have to wait until 'm not at the farm at odd times of the year) )


Meanwhile, here's some farm pictures.

The main thing I did in the past week was clear the fence line.
Here's the freed-up barbed wire and posts.



The huge pile of cleared brush, mostly multiflora rose brambles, fallen branches, and blackberry canes.


The freed-up fenceline. Should've taken a "before" picture.


Firewood, gleaned from the trunk that dad and I spent an entire Saturday hacking up and hauling. The fallen tree's been in the pasture for something like 2 years; it was either an oak or a walnut.


The greenhouse shelves that 've put together last week.


The complimentary sunset.

Let it be known!

73 words

Typing Test

Current reads.

H.P. Lovecraft- "The Tomb and Other Tales".

Currently memorizing- "Crusader's Return" from Ivanhoe.

Err goes to the movies.

To see Paranormal Avticity 2. With an acquaintance whom we shall dub "Elizabeth".

The PA 2 was a lot of waiting and very little "Boo". It probably would've been wise to see the first one before going to see this one.

List of recently read books.

For self-reference:
"Oryx and Crake"
"The gift of fear"
"The legend of Colton H. Bryant"

An entertaining little post-apocalyptic story.

http://www.surfturk.com/endoftheworld/ihavenomouth.html

Quote ala Errant.

"Fantasy must be fed, else it dies." - In regards to the falling away of the fantasy world 've worked on for a few years now.

Quote ala Elrin #3.

(While shopping for ingredients to make homemade stuffing with).
E: "So four quarts of bread cubes is like a gallon of bread, right?"

Quote ala Elrin #2.

N: "Wonder what birds say when they chirp at one another.."
E: "Food? Food? Food? Found food. My food."

Not much to be updateful about. Went to El's brother's wedding. T'was entertaining.

Quote ala Elrin.

"Let me staple this jackass together". - El on subject of two-page resumes straight out of undergrad.

With that said, El's car broke down completely, and we're looking at an equivalent of half a years' rent to fix it. Can we afford it? Hellnaw!

Winter's coming

Winter's in the air. You can feel it when you walk around in the evenings, it follows you in a shadow of smells. Rotting leaves, wood being burned in wood stoves and fireplaces. Titmice are stocking up on sunflower seeds.


I've made the first batch of pesto with all the basil that's been growing on the back patio, and it turned out well enough. The first batch of plants that've been outdoor all summer long are coming in, as well. They are taking over, slowly, but surely.





A seed-grown AV's been outperforming itself; however, the flowers aren't stick-tite, so chances are, 'll be getting rid of it in a flurry of last-minute Gardenweb trading-for-postage.







I wish there was more to say, but words fail me. Probably from disuse; silence on paper is viral.

Autumnal reinventory

The trip to the farm was quite enjoyable; a lot of brush-clearing and pasture-mowing was done, along with a little bit of art. Bees are doing well. Three of the hives are almost sure to make it through the winter, two others I'm not so sure aboue.

I brought back both chigger bites and fond memories of hanging out with three very personable mutts; came back to a mostly-alive collection of houseplants, a brand new Kindle, plus a husband that ate too much junk food in the time spent alone. There shall be a lot of reading and gym-going in the nearby future!

I hope to get more organized with blog-posting; maybe keeping it to about a post a week, with book reviews and plant updates included. And speaking of plant updates..

In the realm of AV's, Rob's Loose Noodle's outdone itself with blossoms.


And some of the named leaves I've received in trade have sprouted mouse ears.

Life gets a wee bit more interesting.

So apparently (thanks, random person who put print-outs of the fact in our mailbox!), I'm living one door down from a registered sex offender. Not sure what to make of this situation. I guess, since the guy served his time (why are registered sex offenders almost always men? What's wrong with that gender?), I've got no qualms with it.

Still, darn creepy!

Blooms without birds

A cactus baby from the russian cactus that was given to family friends a few years back has finally bloomed for them! This miffs me, as the mother-plant has yet to bloom for me. Guess it needs to be outside during the summer, after all.




Streptocarpella "Blue Angel" that I've gotten as a cutting from Mina has let out its first bloom. Wouldn't say that it's angelic, but it is kind of cute.

Things still crazy.

I got married. Now we're going to drive across the US to see family some more.

Meanwhile, here're some pictures of note.

Otherkitty sinks to new lows. Sinks.. sink. Bad puns, we have 'em.




And some local mushrooms. Don't they look interesting.

Haitus

On break from blogging until wedding is over and then some; likely until end of the summer.

Meanwhile, these are still updated.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/NWarthen

http://onecrazycleric.deviantart.com/

More arts.

Recent artsiness.





Thieves of Spring series.
6.5x9.5 inches, gouache and acrylic on wood.



Daonic theme.
12x10 inches, gouache, ink and pencil on Bristol board.



Part of an art trade, that I need to finish. Desperately.

Midsummer craziness.

First of all: I finally have an Etsy shop. (Took long enough!)

First-and-a-halfly, any and all art things can be found in my deviant art account,

Secondly, for exciting non-artsy things.
This spring, we've started some coleus.. and one of them now has a triple symmetry that is rather neat.



Also, over a year ago, I've crossbred two African violets, and finally have flower(s, soon) on one of the babies! It's pink, which is neat, as this place seriously lacks any solid non-purple AV's.

One of the parents.




The child!

Back from the skillet, and into the fire.

'kay. There's no time to waste, so let's keep this short, simple, and full of pictures.


Work done at the farm:


Thief of Bait
7x9 inches, gouache on wood.
Thieves of Spring series.


Thief of Quaker Lilies
8x10 inches, gouache on wood.
Thieves of Spring series.


Sunfish
8x8 inches, gouache and marker on Bristol board.
Astral Fishes series.



Starfish
7x8 inches, gouache, ink and acrylic on Bristol board.
Astral Fishes series.


Moonfish
8x8 inches, gouache and ink on Bristol board.
Astral Fishes series.


Strut!~
About 7x10 inches, gouache, acrylic, and ink on Bristol board.


Got Milk?
8x11, gouache, ink and acrylic on bristol board.




This pair was done upon my arrival back in Virginia. They lack a certain spark, but, meh!


Novafish
8x6 inches, gouache and ink on Bristol board.
Astral Fishes series.


Moonfish #2
8x8 inches, gouache and ink on Bristol board.
Astral Fishes series.


Pictures taken in Indiana.



Once upon a time, a turkey landed in our back yard.. right over by the chicken coop. Maybe it was trying to tell us something.


A possible dwarf american toad!


Strawberries, picked in the first few days of being at the farm.


A very cute (and harmless) baby northern ring necked snake.


A really nice dog, that is cat-friendly, and needs adoption badly.


Things I've gotten back to in Virginia.


The planters look good. Actually, 'good' is an understatement.



The planters also seem to attract wildlife.. amongst that, there was this rather cute moth.



And now, off to painting-land, babeh~!

A two week haitus.

Basically, in a grand family tradition of six-some years, I get to spend some summer time at my folks' hobby farm in Indiana. Which means slave labor. And all-you-can-eat strawberries. (The hundred plants they've planted a couple of years back have doubled, if not tripled, in number.)

There may or may not be some reading and some artsing. There will be lots of weeding, watering, chiggers and ticks.

Fun times!

A post for there wasn't enough time.

Finished reading: Dan Simmons's Summer of Night. Not scary at all. Read if you liked Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked this Way Comes.

Finished listening to: Poe's Children, a gathering of short stories read by multiple people and edited by Peter Straub. Not a single one of those stories was even moderately creepy. (A lot dealt with insects, one way or another, a topic which isn't creepy, no matter how you put it). "Louise's Ghost" was unique and hilarious, however. I'd listen to this collection again just to hear this story.

Now, as for the lack of time.. My folks and baby sister came down a day early, and I've been out and about, entertaining them (a task complete with a mild heat stroke yesterday). What with unglazed pottery, unfinished art trades, and heading out to the farm soon, it's been crazy-insane-ow, just bit my lip to blood.


... I'm going to go finish eating a slapped-together breakfast (dumplings, mango, and acai tea- best combination ever), now, and stop hurting myself.

Whitetop biking; more of.

First of all, a limax maximus, or a great gray slug, as found under one of the planters outside. The hole on the side of its upper torso is a breathing hole!




Secondly, this is going to be another short post, since my folks are down here this week, and 've got packing/cleaning/etc to do before leaving for the farm.

Elrin and I biked down Whitetop again, 17 miles that took us about 4 hours. Shuttle: 26$. Experiences: priceless.

It is impossible to describe the beauty of the region in words, and do it justice. There is about fifty different kinds of green in any one direction, and rocks, gray and brown and pink, jut out ever which way, threatening the trail. Rhododendrons have finished blooming, but there are cancerweeds, and mountain dandelions, and mountain laurel. The bugs are plentiful: not only the biting gnats and mosquito larvae in the stillpools beyond the mountain river, but millipedes, massive swallowtail butterflies, and others, whose names are a mystery.





There was a spot along the river, where the afore-mentioned butterflies converged to drink. They were not skittish at all, and we've actually gotten to pet one on its fuzzy back.





River cuts through rock, leaving water-smoothed boulders in its wake. Under the trees, these begin to be consumed by moss so green that it hurts the eye. In a hollow of one such boulder, we discover a clump of grass studded with little blue stars. Quaker Ladies.










We see a snake at one of the bridges, a slow, brown-black-rat-snake, about to shed. It escapes the attention unhurriedly, heading down into the beaver dam below.

Elrin’s bike keeps breaking, but since we’ve got all the tools needed in my backpack, I don’t mind. It’s another excuse to poke around in the crevices of the rocks. We meet bikers by the handful, and hikers with massive backpacks that go all day, and stay, at night, on the occasional small openings with fire pits.

Light is filtered through the branches above at all times, playing tricks of lemon-yellow in the grayness of shade. There is no god. There is, however, the natural world—a thing infinitely superior in its magnificence.

Jazz gal update.

Since the first sketch looked mostly like an anatomy study, here's a final, dancing
one.

Also touched up Moonweaver.