Settling in and more...
I've been MIA on livejournal this past week. This week our 5 yr old started Kindergarten. We homeschool our older two but the baby really wanted to go to Kindergarten, and since it is such a short day (they only go from 8:20-11am) we were fine with that. She'll homeschool next year. Anyhow, so she started school this week. That was a first for me, I've never sent a kid to school before so it was a bit stressful, but things finally have started to settle down. Our new house is becoming home and I have lots of exciting things to share from this week.
First, three of our five chickens started laying! When you raise them from chicks it is really exciting when they finally get old enough to lay. We even had a beautiful green egg from our Easter Egger! Yay for me! :) Okay, I don't know why I love raising chickens so much, but it really is fun. We have a very social flock who enjoys behind handled. That may have something to do with my 8 yr old who torments (ie. holds) them everyday. Though really they are all very sweet (the chickens and the kids).
Then, one of the horses that is kept in the pasture just behind our house had her foal!
We are so excited to get to watch a baby horse grow up. In a couple of weeks the owner will start having my girls rub down the filly daily. It is part of her desensitisation training. You have to start early if you want a well adjust mare and the owner of the the horse is nothing if not well prepared. She is extremely proud of her baby, especially given the fact that the mother is a rescue horse who came to her extremely malnourished four months ago. They were surprised when her weight gain all centered in her belly, then figured out that she was actually pregnant. In fact, it is rather a miracle that the baby made it at all given that she was neglected for the majority of the pregnancy and got none of the specialized care that most pregnant horses get nowadays. Horse gestate 11 months (for those who are wondering).
This is from my phone and not the best image. The sun was backlighting everything so it is very washed out. Sorry. I will try and get better pictures of her sometime today. The don't know what she was bred with but the mother is a Mustang.
And I finally felt relaxed enough to enjoy some sketching and painting!
Moving really sucked all artistic ability from me for a few weeks there. Understandable, of course. Moving sucks. But it was nice to finally be able to sit and sketch freely and enjoy just creating stuff! I have only had time to watercolor one of the sketches so far but here it is.
The first image in the first group is the original. The rest are all manips and somehow we ended up in fantasy land. I blame karelia for getting me stuck on mushrooms. But they are a delightful subject to draw, paint and manip. ;)
And as the icing on the cake, I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for my exchange fic! *does happy dance* Sure, I still have loads to write, but I have it all mapped out and if I follow my schedule (which is generous enough to allow some flexibility) the fic should be completed in time! At least, that is my hope...
I'm off for my action packed weekend (that's what we're calling cleaning house this week). ;)
First, three of our five chickens started laying! When you raise them from chicks it is really exciting when they finally get old enough to lay. We even had a beautiful green egg from our Easter Egger! Yay for me! :) Okay, I don't know why I love raising chickens so much, but it really is fun. We have a very social flock who enjoys behind handled. That may have something to do with my 8 yr old who torments (ie. holds) them everyday. Though really they are all very sweet (the chickens and the kids).
Then, one of the horses that is kept in the pasture just behind our house had her foal!
We are so excited to get to watch a baby horse grow up. In a couple of weeks the owner will start having my girls rub down the filly daily. It is part of her desensitisation training. You have to start early if you want a well adjust mare and the owner of the the horse is nothing if not well prepared. She is extremely proud of her baby, especially given the fact that the mother is a rescue horse who came to her extremely malnourished four months ago. They were surprised when her weight gain all centered in her belly, then figured out that she was actually pregnant. In fact, it is rather a miracle that the baby made it at all given that she was neglected for the majority of the pregnancy and got none of the specialized care that most pregnant horses get nowadays. Horse gestate 11 months (for those who are wondering).
This is from my phone and not the best image. The sun was backlighting everything so it is very washed out. Sorry. I will try and get better pictures of her sometime today. The don't know what she was bred with but the mother is a Mustang.
And I finally felt relaxed enough to enjoy some sketching and painting!
Moving really sucked all artistic ability from me for a few weeks there. Understandable, of course. Moving sucks. But it was nice to finally be able to sit and sketch freely and enjoy just creating stuff! I have only had time to watercolor one of the sketches so far but here it is.
The first image in the first group is the original. The rest are all manips and somehow we ended up in fantasy land. I blame karelia for getting me stuck on mushrooms. But they are a delightful subject to draw, paint and manip. ;)
And as the icing on the cake, I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for my exchange fic! *does happy dance* Sure, I still have loads to write, but I have it all mapped out and if I follow my schedule (which is generous enough to allow some flexibility) the fic should be completed in time! At least, that is my hope...
I'm off for my action packed weekend (that's what we're calling cleaning house this week). ;)