Studio Helpers

Ike

Bitsy

Simba

Several people have been sharing pictures of their studio helpers, from Linda Blondheim's Studio Dog to a Face Book friend who shared a picture of his black cat, lounging.

I used to have Toto, a Cairn Terrier, who sat under my feet while I was at my desk. I still miss putting my feet on her silky fur. She died at age 17. We got another dog, Pluto, but that is a one person dog. He stays with my daughter constantly.

But, the cats migrate toward me at meal time and nap time, for them, which is a lot of the day.

I covered my drawing table, in front of my window, with newspapers, for painting. Of course, the cats like to sleep there, or just look out the window !

In the photos, there is, at the top, the visiting, solid black tomcat, named Ike. He came to our door the night that the rain started as Hurricane Ike was moving in. We gave him shelter for a few days, then he left. But, he comes back several times a day, to eat Iams cat food, drink, and nap. Then he leaves. He has found a way to get into the house around the bathtup pipes, so, if we don't open the door when he wants to come in, he just makes his own way in and out of the house.

He is a large, gorgeous cat, like a small panther.

Long ago, when dreaming of things I wanted in the future, I thought I would like to have, not an ordinary Cadillac, but a solid white four door Jaguar with white leather interior. And, instead of diamonds, I wanted emeralds. And I wanted, instead of a fancy dog, a gorgeous panther. I guess we sort of have a panther, now. Ike is solid black, with green eyes, and very quiet.

In the center photo, during nap time, I put a couple of soft blankets on my bed, and Bitsy takes a nap there. Bitsy is 23, and still hanging on, though she is a sick lady with renal failure. She has lost so much weight, but she is still Bitsy and can outrun me!

Simba has been sitting on the back of my chair while I am either on the computer or at my drawing table. He is in the bottom photo. Simba is the king of the house-the Alpha male. He is very smart, and cuddly, usually, keeps the dog and everyone else under control. In the photo, he is on the back of the chair which is covered with one of my painting shirts to keep the little claws out of my leather chair! You can see Ike curled up on the table in the background.

The window is a good place for cats to watch squirrels and rabbits romping in the yard and Oak trees, and the birds that like to perch in the Crepe Myrtle in front of the window. And it is a good place for me to watch the changing light and shadows, and the occasional car that passes by.

My human helpers are not so interested anymore. They are more into computers and games, these days.

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Have you had the Swine Flu?

I don't like "politically correct", or numbers, so, to me, it is going to stay the Swine Flu. Once I've learned something one way, it's hard to change to fit someone's whims. I heard a story today, on the news, saying that a worker from Mexico, in Canada, spread the Swine Flu to the pigs he was working with. It's all very confusing, to people all over the world. Now they are saying that the flu may be dying down some, but could return, even changed, and worse in the fall.

Personally, I don't want the flu, swine or otherwise. We're washing hands more and hoping that it doesn't get worse. The people who seem to be having the worst time with it, are those who already have some medical problems.

Esther Read's granddaughters made the cutest video about Swine Flu! It should be put on You Tube or somewhere.

Have you done a picture about Swine Flu? I did one a while back and put it on my blog, but that was about having the flu long ago. I'll have to do something about the current illness.

I think it was Geraldo Rivera who was reporting about Swine Flu last week, and he said that, everytime he does a segment on the flu, or hears a story about it, he starts feeling sick-sore throat, feverish, etc. I am that way too! My throat starts hurting every time they talk about the flu! But, in a little while, with another story, I'm cured! I'm not usually that easily influenced.

Hope that you all stay well! Go away, Swine Flu! -And allergies!

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I've been reminiscing by looking through old Trevalcs, the Calvert High School yearbook. That started as I was looking for old pictures to use on the groups I started for Calvert High School Trojans alumni on Yahoo and on Facebook. If you went to school in Calvert, join the groups and share your pictures. I enjoyed seeing the addition of a photo of the Calvert Cemetery, with several memories from growing up in Calvert. Remember walking past there, between the park and the cemetery, at night, after a movie at the Eloia, or a football or basketball game at the school?

I walked from the Eloia to my house, near the school, at night, or back home after visiting a friend, a few times, and I was plenty scared! I almost ran from street light to street light. I think the worst time was after watching one of those scarey movies about space, and then having to walk home in the dark. I just knew that space ships with monsters were going to appear from out of the stars and swoop down from the school to my house! I usually convinced a friend to walk at least part of the way home with me, but that didn't get me past the park and cemetery with protection.

Of course, we just had to walk through the cemetery during Halloween parties! Well, that's another story.

During the day, it was a peaceful place to walk and spend time. The iron benches through the cemetery and some of the stone benches were nice to sit and rest on, especially on a hot day.

I've already shared our experiences of giving wild flowers to people who were coming out of the cemetery after funerals in an earlier post. You can find those under Older Posts.

I also started a group for people who are interested in Calvert, and that is where Judy R. added the cemetery picture and memories. That is an open group for anyone to join on Face Book.

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Thanks for reading and sharing!

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There will be no meeting of the Brazos Valley Art League tomorrow, but, instead, there will be a luncheon at the Art Center on May 12th. See their newsletter for May or the website for more information.

They are also having the Lone Start Art Guild Convention starting on Friday at the Brazos Center. More information about that, too, on the website and in the newsletter, as well as the LSAG website.

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I added two links under Interesting Sites on my sidebar. One is a link to the trailer for the PBS series, "We Shall Remain" -The Cherokee.

The other is a link to the website "Der Familiename Konitzer/Conitzer. This is the very interesting website from Germany for those interested in Polish/Prussian/German genealogy and information.

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Join my Followers or my groups, if you haven't already. You can also subscribe to my blog, if you haven't done so already.

I appreciate your interest!

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