Hanging on to the green

newest recruit..roo or hen? As long as we don't lose to the evil cornfield

everyone gets along as long as there is food to share

I am appreciating the last days of colour on the ground.
Although the mud can go anytime..

Some cleanup is in order but I am procrastinating
probably in denial about the encroaching season of ..snow. We are seriously contemplating purchase of a snowblower -we have relied on the schedules of local snow removal guys and it's always hit and miss..
and anxiety producing as we cannot budge from here when it's too deep..

Well it's almost 7 am and i am off to feed piggies /chickens..and ready myself for final workaday..ahhh friday! I guess if this was January I would already be outside by now in the midst of the white stuff..

A balancing Act

Well I am newly ensconced in this job and feeling activated and energized. I suppose I am a person who needs/craves change -and become complacent and dull if I don't enforce it in some way. The constant grey sky is playing on my spirit a little-but mostly because the days are shorter now too..Trying to figure out how to fit in life tasks into a much shortened week. I am also trying to not be so hard on myself..to slow down and take it in..I haven't worked full time for over 8 years..and do not want to crumble in and give everything up. I am the prime house keeper/animal caregiver here however-and this causes me to feel pretty responsible for everything. How to fit in art..fitness.reading? (and quality time with critters) I am determined!

A pink sky morning

a new portrait

fox on the run..

who's hiding?

local colour

Red sky in morning sailor take warning..or something like that ..I am by the window just as the light starts to spread in the sky outside..Pink ..the fading to a blurred hazy fleshy grey..perhaps rain today?

Created a little art yesterday,dug in the garden and made a fool of myself on the cross trainer at the gym..in short a pretty perfect day..Even settled enough to read a little .with various cats in my lap.

The Bottom of Autumn

My portraits are currently happily hanging at The Downtown Bookstore

Hank pleasantly rooting for treats

plein air boys

new recruit happily hunkering down in the Chatsworth home for wayward felines

frost

Just thought that was a nifty title..feel more at the top ..but it's difficult finding the right inspiring,way to start here sometimes. We have had more sun here than over the last entire month and that brings a smile to my face and a glow to the fallen leaves. Mucked about in the garden yesterday and had the pigs out for a frolic..Everyone got along grandly-hens,cats,dogs and piggies..as they should!Starting full time work this Friday so trying to capitalize on the few stray moments I have left as a part timer..Hope I can still keep life ticking along in some kind of crazy balance..

Grey is the colour of my sky

Melancholy Wednesday..I suspect too much grey in the sky..Considering I am generally way more positive than is necessary here is a nice little bit of contrast.

.Don't know why..life is grand..excited about starting a new kind of employment in two weeks..perhaps it's all the goodbyes. Yesterday I said goodbye to a few youth I have been working with for a year and four years..sad. Although we reflected on progress and interesting elements/patterns of our work together I realized it is like a death of sorts..I will never see them again in that capacity. I feel so good about the texture and depth of my work with kids-but I realized also how fond I have been of them -and what they have given back to me too! So many others over the years-sigh I have been cavalier about endings.Perhaps now the meaning of it all is ever so clear at this midlife juncture. Over 20 years of youth work..now it's a new shift to the adult world.

Egads perhaps I have leaped into another major life change just when I am still reeling from my daughter's departure. It all resonates deeply.

Thank goodness for all my fur and feathered beasties who distract me to no end.

I will just let myself ride..go through it all..it's all part of it isn't it?

appreciating the pumpkin

home made pizza yum

new recruit..settling in nicely

morning sky..two views

spaghetti eating chickens..need I say more?

potatoes picked from my garden

plums from our tree..

Thankfulness all around

My titles are gettting more lame by the moment..sigh..I am thankful for thanksgiving..thankful for the extra day off..thankful for the sun which finally popped up today and thankful for the abundance of life around me..corny but true.

Thankful for my daughter's return tonight..thankful for all the creatures that make life grand-and challenging too

the almost fur and feather show day

Ned and new prehistoric kitty settling in..

Sam gets to know n.k.

Yes this is definitely better than the great outdoors

Stephen getting cozy

the others are not amused

I was both aghast and facinated by this concept of hermit crabs as pets? Gaudily painted shells and brightly coloured cages add to the tackiness of it all..certainly not very cuddly .I'm guessing low maintenance however.

Now If only more people opened their doors to mournful cats stares the world would certainly be a more humane place

Yes he made it all the way in..are you really surprised?

With best intentions I had hustled myself early on a Sunday morning to get out the door in time before rain and numbers made attending the bi annual fur and feather show uncomfortable ( for me and the wee beasties) As it is only held twice yearly in Mount Forest it is an event that I should be indefinitely banned from-as it is a cacophony of animal sounds and smells..in short paradise for someone like me.

However.I never made it past the end of my road where I encountered what looked like a chihuaha/squirrel tai-lless creature skittering across the road. Low and behold it was a mini kitten yowling and (of course )looking mournful pleading to be scooped. i carefully scanned the surroundings for more ..or at least a momcat..but it was a huge field and no others in sight!So homeward bound and fed and nurtured -ultimately snuggling in with Ned-two travellin' cats with a mission.

So it was apparent that the fur and feather show was out of reach and probably a really bad idea at that point.

strategies a desperate cat will employ

lots of hissing and carrying on

steadfast stare through the window

he followed me everywhere presumably so I would know he was there

he maintained "the stare" and the other cats were not amused

he even resorted to climbing up my leg

the door..so close yet so far..

The last few days has seen a most lovely albeit deperate partially tabby cat grace our property.

We know he is a stray because....

1. He is intact -and male

2. He has a most mournful expression

3.He is the perfect age to dump on our sideroad -not cute kitten anymore

4. He keeps returning eventhough we have too many cats already

5. He is neither dismayed nor frightened of our present crew of cat security guards

6. He viewed the neon sign that says come on over these humans are suckers for mournful cat expressions

7. He knows it's getting cold and we are more than likely to cave in.

October is for Wistful motherhoodmeanderings

the adoring look is less frequent over past couple of years..

That's about it..Kinda sad..kinda wistful-Why does October's waning light feel so melancholy? I must say I still look forward to no- more -corn- field..On a strictly personal level I am tired of losing chickens and 1/2 hour of sunset every night..I am still in adjustment mode with my girl's vacancy from the home.Quite wonderful in some moments of singular thinking and shedding of my mother hen-isms.Yet one distraught phone call of complaints,frustration brings it all back...the intensity of worry.yet with the added level of distance and inability to see her face. She demonstrates sadness through anger and accusation sometimes..and it makes it hard to lift the veil and see her struggles.She is an up and down kind of girl and the ride can be rocky..er tumultuous at times..and I often don't read her as well as I should after 18 years. Ah..motherhood!

Perhaps this week of cloud cover weighs heavy on our hearts and minds.