I'm a huge fan of Georgia Kennedy. She drew this pic for the latest Decorus Mens show. Too cool!
I painted leaves on the tree yesterday, but my camera decided that 1/2 capacity batteries are not enough to do the job. So here are the pics of the trunk all done:

Actually with the flash on it, it looks more like rock than bark. But I'm pretty pleased with the results; in real life, it looks pretty much like a tree. And much better now with all the little twigs painted on. I could paint twigs all day, that was fun! And the leaves were fun too, I practiced that little brush-twist technique that Mom showed me from some tole book she had, and I used several shades of green in no particular order. Tomorrow I will go back and hopefully get the rest of the leaves done, right now there are only leaves on the lower branches and I have to decide how thick to make them as I get closer to the trunk to indicate leaves in the background.

Happy Anniversary....

...to us! Saturday Preston and I celebrated 23 years together. And by celebrated, I mean we got each other cards and stayed home. That's right, we're boring. Maybe that's why we've lasted this long! I got to thinking (which is usually a bad idea), why is it he's put up with me for so long? I have to tell you, I just can't be an easy person to live with.
To begin with, I'm stubborn. I mean, world class stubborn. If stubborn were an Olympic event, I would do my country proud. If you tell me the sky is blue, I will present you with facts and figures indicating that it is actually purple. I don't mean to be obstinate, I just can't seem to help it.
I have a problem with authority. I can't handle being told what to do and when to do it, or what is the acceptable way to act or think. Probably that's why I'm self-employed.
Also I'm disorganized and therefore so is my house, and I never seem to be able to finish anything I start in a timely manner; I am a horrible procrastinator (actually that's not true...I'm a very, very good procrastinator).
I can't imagine how he's managed to overlook all my faults for all these years. I know he's got his faults too, but I don't think about them much. Mine just seem so much more heinous. But if you think about it, maybe that's what love really is; how much crap you're willing to put up with.
How's that for romance?

The Great Potato Harvest....

....was less than impressive. I didn't plant potatoes on purpose, you understand, they were volunteers that came up in my compost pile. Or came down, I guess would be more accurate. Yesterday I harvested them all, and got enough to serve two of us. There were lots of them, but look how big they are!I just boiled them with the skins on and added some butter, s & p and parsley and they were pretty darned tasty. Fresh potatoes really do have a lot more flavor than store-bought ones but I can never get them to grow any bigger than this. I think you have to buy actual seed potatoes, I just use the ones I get in the store. Preston was kind of grossed out that they came from the compost pile, but really, what's the difference if I put the compost in where I plant the veggies or if I plant the veggies where the compost is? We also had fresh green beans which I cook like he told me his mom used to make them, steamed with a couple pieces of bacon on top. That's probably all the beans we're gonna get this year. Not a banner year for our garden! On the other hand, we have many, many tomatoes, which I give to my mom and she makes me sauce. I have tried to make my own sauce but I don't have the touch. NOBODY makes sauce like my mom.

It is truly fall now, and yesterday was my favorite day of the year....the day we remove the air conditioner from the kitchen window. That is the only window it can go in, but it's also the only window in my kitchen so it blocks the light and I have to look at it instead of the back yard while I do the dishes. Now I can watch the chipmunks come and go and watch my Dad putter around the yard. Much better. Yeah, I know I go on and on about fall, but it's my favorite time of year so I will probably continue until it snows and then I will expound on how beautiful the snow is. What can I say, I'm just a happy person!

Today I am going to finish painting the swamp mud on the tree; tomorrow I will sponge paint some colors on there.

NOW it's starting to look more like a tree...

...and less like a skeleton of a tree. I told you the paint was ugly! It looks like swamp mud. Especially when it was wet. Yuck. Next I will have to go back with a smaller brush and touch up the places that I couldn't get to with the 1/2" brush; the fine tips of the branches, some other smaller branches, and some of the edges where the plaster was really thick and I couldn't get the edge between the plaster and the wall. Then I can do the leaves! I will have to work on my leaf technique, which I haven't used since I painted Deb's kitchen cupboards.

I still don't know what kind of tree this is, I think it's just kind of generic. Preston said I should have made it a birch tree, to which I responded...it's a big hallway, lots of wall space to fill!

Another week goes by...

...and still no paint on the tree. Sorry, Deb, I don't know where the time goes!!! It's Monday now, so I have to catch up on all the stuff I didn't do on the weekend and I will be back tomorrow to paint. Or this afternoon, if possible.

Well I didn't end up taking pictures, as it turns out the band was in rare form and they don't sit still very much so my inferior photography skills would have been no match for that much frantic energy. I'm much better at photographing trees. Besides, the lighting was bad in the room so they would not have been good pics anyway.

What beautiful weather we're having here in RI! Cool, sunny fall days and cool moonlit fall nights. The leaves are starting to really turn and it's so beautiful. The chipmunks are everywhere, filling their little faces full of....whatever chipmunks eat, and storing it away for the winter. We were also preparing for the winter yesterday, got a cord of wood and stacked it all. Myah, in typical Myah fashion, was stealing the wood and making her own little pile. Then she discovered there were chipmunks in the woodpile, and that kept her occupied for several hours. They are really not afraid of her, insofar as I think they know how far her chain will reach because they have no problem conducting their business as if there were no big dog lurking two feet away. They are not, however, stupid enough to do what the toads do and come right up to her. Thank goodness.