With a Quack Quack Here and a Quack Quack There...

A few years ago we were in Boston for one day.  You'd think that I would have looked for a hotel near the airport, but no.  I wanted a hotel near the Public Garden because there was really only one thing in Boston that I wanted to see.

Just a short walk across the park, and there she was...
Mrs. Mallard with her little ones:
Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Oack, Pack, and Quack!

Happy, happy Helen!

And there was even a real Mr. & Mrs. Mallard with babies!

A book just as sweet today as it was when it was written in 1941.

Big Mrs. Mallard followed by her 8 littles.

I painted this one in response to my weekly-ish art challenge which was "Big & Little" this time. 

Original Oil Painting on 8"x 24" Wrapped Canvas

Click "With a Quack Quack Here..." if you'd like to purchase this painting.

Lily Pad Pool

A few years ago I had the opportunity to do something amazing, so amazing that I can hardly believe it was real.

Along with four friends, I stepped off a plane, loaded into a van, and headed into the mountains of Indonesia for a week and half in the villages there.

This huge stone basin with the blue sky reflected in the water and lily pads spreading across its surface was one of the first things I saw as I got out of the van for the first time. We had stopped for lunch at an open-air pavilion that overlooked the greenest greens I'd ever seen. 

My weekly-ish art challenge was "Water Contained."  I thought about water in a vase or a glass... Water in a swimming pool or puddle... Water in a goldfish bowl or fish tank... Then I remembered this giant pool of water lilies. Even if no one else could ever quite figure out what it was a painting of, I knew this would be my "Water Contained" painting. 

Original Oil Painting Done with Palette Knife on 11"x 14" Wrapped Canvas.

Click Lily Pad Pool if you'd like to purchase this painting.

Field of Blue Flowers II

My painting partner Julie & I will be teaching a landscape painting class for senior citizens in a couple of months.  It takes a lot of thought and planning, but we have so much fun with it.

Part of the preparation means being really familiar with this painting and very confident with painting it so that it becomes second nature.  We don't want to be figuring out what might work while there are a dozen new painters watching.

That means we'll each paint it again... and again... and again... paint it big... paint it small... paint it on canvas... paint it on canvas board... paint it in stages to use as models... paint it until all the kinks in the process are worked out... We hope!

This one was done last month and was a prize of the hen-coop contest.  

It was on a tiny 5"x 7" canvas.

This one was done a few years ago and is now hanging in its forever home.  

It was on a big 18"x 24" canvas.

 Julie & I first painted it in 2019 during a weekend at 

Welcome Home Retreat. (Click HERE to see photos and read about that!)

There's a great YouTube lesson that was out teacher for it.

We're hoping for as much success with this class as we've had in the previous sessions.

2019 - Still Life - Apple

2019 - Nature - Bluebird

2020 - Floral - Day Lilly

2021am - Landscape - Autumn

2021pm - Landscape - Autumn

2022am - Still Life - Strawberries

2022pm - Still Life Strawberries

Oil Painting on 11"x 14" Wrapped Canvas

Click Field of Blue Flowers if you'd like to purchase this painting.

Who moved into the new coop? Who laid the first egg?

So... How did the game of "Who will take make the new coop their home" turn out?

Click HERE if you need a reminder.

Here's how it worked out...

• 1st Night - 
• Nobody would go into the new coop, the Aunt House.
• Dominique and the babies stayed in the big Sister House.
• The other 7 huddled in the little Cousin House.
• 2nd Night 
• Eleanor went into the Aunt House happily.  No one else would go near it.
• I caught Twinkle and Pauline and put them in there too.  
• They were not happy about it.
• Dominique and the babies stayed in the big Sister House.
• Everybody else stayed in the little Cousin House.
• 3rd Night 
• Eleanor went in the Aunt House happily.  No one joined her.  She was glad.
• Dommi and the babies stayed in the big Sister House.
• The other 6  huddled in the little Cousin House glaring at me as if I was Voldemort. 
• 4th Night 
• Eleanor had the new Aunt House to herself again.
• Everyone else stayed in the same places as before.
• 5th Night 
• Dominique decided that she and her babies would take over the new Aunt House.
• The 4 big hens took the big Sister House (Eleanor, Pip, Pauline, Twinkle)
• The 3 young ones stayed in the little Cousin House (Peanut, Fancy-like, Foxy)
• 6th Night
•  Dommi and the babies went back into the new coop as if it was, of course, built for them.
• The 4 big hens went right back too the Sister House as if it was, of course, their choice all along.
• The 3 young hens ran around nervous as to why no one wanted to stay with them in the little Cousin House any more, but they eventually went in where it had always been their home.

I think that's probably how it's going to stay.

It's not what I expected, but it's a good arrangement.

There's only been one egg laid in the new coop.  And it was.... Blue/Green!

Twinkle... Sweet little thing... She was not happy about the one night I made her go in the new coop, but she laid her pretty little blue-green egg anyway.

Since Dominique has taken over, I doubt another egg will get laid in there until the babies are bigger and she starts laying again.

Now...

It's quite obvious that I do not know how to run a blog guess-for-a-prize game since there's not clear way to declare a winner... Clearly I did not think this through... Oh, well, if you guessed at least something right😁, you're a winner!  I'll contact you about which little painting I can send  you. 

• Tina
• Dominique😁 Eleanor😁thenX TwinkleX 
• light brownX green😁
• Wendy
• PaulaX  PipX  Peanut
• blue😁  light brownX  green😁
• Linda
• FoxyX Fancy-likeX PeanutX
• No eggsX
• Nelvia
• Dominique😁
• light brownX
• Julie
• FoxyX FancyX PeanutX 

Tina, Wendy, & Nelvia,

I'll be contacting you about which little mini painting you'd like.

I like Thursday (12/22)

LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color  gave several prompt ideas for this month's "I Like Thursday." I used a few of those and also thought of a few other things that "I liked" this month.

l like making Firecrackers to have around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I like this recipe because it's in my sister-in-law's handwriting.
I like thinking of her when I make it. 
Her firecrackers are wonderful.
She was wonderful.

l like singing this song.
Although we wouldn't have been in a horse and buggy,
it does remind me of going to my Grandma's house.

l like learning from on-line art teachers and trying
new techniques far from my own style.
This one is from a lesson by Tam at Willowing Arts.

l like having fresh herbs growing in little pots
beside the window in my kitchen.
These are rosemary and oregano.

l like this cat. 
He's equal parts in trouble or in the way
and a darling cuddle partner..

l like that each of my kids and grandkids has an updated
Amazon Wishlist.  Around Thanksgiving I set my budget,
do a lot of clicking, and Christmas shopping is done.
Then the boxes begin to arrive.
It makes me smile when the delivery guy chooses a treat.

l like going to Pilates class every
Tuesday-Thursday and yoga on Friday. 
I got a treat this week when I learned that a friend had gone
to myFineArtAmerica site and purchased yoga mats with
my floral paintings printed on them to use as gifts for her sisters! 
How fun!  What a treat to get to see them for myself!

Pen & Ink Drawing - Mushrooms

I "met" Benjamin when we were assigned to be partners in a postcard art exchange a few months ago. He's an artist in The Netherlands.  I sent him a little painting and postcard. He sent me a little painting and postcard.

He offered a free on-line Pen & Ink Autumn Drawing Challenge, so I took it.

I have never been a doodler or have never enjoyed sketching or thought of myself as a drawer... But... it seems that learning drawing skills is good for me... kind of like eating vegetables.  Enjoy it if you can, but if you can't, do it anyway.

This was my first venture into pen and ink.

Ben was a good teacher, and I enjoyed learning through his lessons.

Mushrooms!  

New Coop - and a Chance to Win a Prize!

It's been a while since I've written a chicken post! 

This is a fun one with a chance to win a prize at the end!!!!

What better way to celebrate turning 60 (him, not me) and enjoy a Thanksgiving weekend than building a new hen coop!

Look inside. See the who just can't wait until the roof is on before having a look around. 
He had lots of little interested feathered helpers during the whole process.

A few shakes of the treat container and they all came running for a closer look.

Now, how about a little fun!!!

❓Who do you think will decide to make the brand new coop their home?

         (I like to have 3-5 in each house.)

❓What color will the egg be? 

         (Green? Light tan? Light brown? Speckled?) 

You make the call! 

Put your guesses in the comments below.  

We'll see what happens!  

😉😀😄I'll send a little 5"x7" painting to winners! 😉😀😄

Here are a few chicken stats to help you with your decision

 Dominique & her 4 babies
She totally "rules the roost." Nearly all of the hens below are her daughters.
She protects her babies and makes sure the others know she's boss.

Eleanore (from Dominique's first brood)
She's kind of aloof.  She lays lovely light tan eggs, but honestly,
she's been kind of a freeloader lately.  She took the summer off from laying. 
Her excuse was molting, but her feathers have been back for weeks,
she just recently started "working" again.

Twinkle (can't remember if she was one of Dominique's or Dolly's)

Sweet little Twinkle is easy and friendly and is a faithful layer of 

beautiful little green eggs..

Paula and Pip (Dominique's daughters from her spring brood)
They hang together most of the time.
Paula just started laying recently.  Her eggs are a beautiful shiny light green.
She's a flighty one.
Pip is stately.  She also started laying pretty light brown eggs  last week.

Foxy, Fancy-like, & Peanut (Dominique's daughters from her summer brood)
They hang together all the time.They aren't quite old enough to lay yet, but soon maybe.
Foxy is a mess.  She likes to run around the house when it's bedtime and make me chase her.
Fancy-like is so sweet.  She's a Bantam, so she'll always be small and lay small eggs.  Her feet are yellow, so I expect her eggs to be white, tan, or brown. 
Peanut is hilarious. She's a tiny Bantam who isn't afraid to jump right up onto the arm of my chair for a treat.  Her legs are gray, so I hope to see some tiny blue or green eggs from her soon.

So, what do you think?

We're going to let the hens decide.

Leave your predictions in the comments!

I'll let you know what happens next week!

FYI: It started raining, so they all put themselves to bed in their normal houses before we got out there. 

Dominique and the babies in the Sister House. 

All the other 7 crowded into the Cousin House (since Dominique kicked them all out once she had new babies.)

So, nobody went into the brand new shiny Aunt House tonight.