WAITING FOR HURRICANE ALEX

Alex is supposed to make landfall within 24 hours, south of Brownsville. Hopefully it won't turn north. We will still get a LOT of rain and wind here, though, anyway. And probably some power outages - hopefully not for too long.

Here are a couple of self-portrait postcards I painted for swaps yesterday.

WESTERN DIAMOND BACK RATTLESNAKE!

We had some unexpected excitement tonight. Reagan was driving down our street after dark, when he saw a large snake crossing from the woods on the north side towards our yard. He stopped, got out and yelled for Zachary, who was just coming into our house, to run home and get a gun. Then Reagan, Zach and Chuck walked around the yard looking for the snake. It was nestled against the north side of the laundry house, not three feet from where Chuck had walked by, looking for it. Reagan shot it.
It was huge! It was a little over 5 feet long and really thick.
Amy and Mathieu came over too, and I went outside with Lyric, who I was babysitting, to get these photos... none of which turned out very well.
You can tell a western diamond back rattle snake from an eastern diamondback by the 'raccoon tail' change in markings ahead of the rattles. This snake had 13 rattles. The contrast between the very rough back of the snake and the flawless smoothless of it's underbelly is remarkable. The diamondback pattern is so beautiful, but so repelling at the same time. Where there is one snake, there are more, so we will be even more watchful and careful than we have been this spring and summer, so far. *Shudder*

APPRECIATION OF RANDOM WEIRDNESS

I love this! After attending a 'wet and wild' birthday party last Saturday, Mathieu and I stopped by Walmart to get a few things. We saw this guy and I complimented him and his two teenage friends on the costume. I asked what promotion or club or whatever he was dressed that way for, and was told that there was no reason for this other than just because the guy wanted to dress like that and wander around. How cool is that?! I got a photo of my wet little grandson with the German Shepherd, and thanked the trio for their random weirdness. :)

HOME

Here are two postcard size paintings I did recently. "Home" denotes a deep sense of wellbeing no matter how poor or shabby a house is.

OLDEST AND YOUNGEST

Zachary, at 15, is our oldest grandchild and Lyric - 2 mos. and 10 days in the photo - is our youngest. Zach and Mat are both crazy about babies and will hold and entertain them without being asked. That is so nice to see.

GONE TO THE DOGS

I've been neglecting this blog lately. Why, I don't really know. Things are busy, but not any busier than usual, I don't think. I've been feeling crappier than usual, but it doesn't take much effort to sit at the computer. I've been reading more, but not all that much...
Anyway, I wrote previously about Carly - the puppy someone dumped at our cottage one night. Well, now we have ANOTHER new puppy too - Topaz. Someone dumped her (and apparently the mother and other puppies, although I never saw them) at our church. Chuck was coming back from the post office one morning in late May and this tiny puppy was out in the street with cars going around her. So he stopped and got her. I named her Topaz. Gosh, we are up to 5 dogs now! I really hope we don't acquire any more.

Coconut and I went to the Farmer's Market last Saturday, and the Humane Society was hosting a dog contest. The catagories were best dressed, best trick, and friendliest. It was $5 per catagory to enter. I didn't think she would do her one trick - jumping through a hoop - in a strange, busy place in front of so many strangers, and she is very shy with people she doesn't know, so Best Dressed was the only catagory I entered.
She didn't win, but we both had a great time, and met quite a few new friends - human and canine. The whole ting reminded me of Sims2 Pets. LOL! These photos are of her with one of her new friends and fellow contestants, Ava Sophia. She also made friends with Delilah and Selena. I was surprised that most of the dogs we met had such pretty, feminine names. They said that they will be holding another dog contest in the Fall, so maybe we'll brush up on her trick and see if she can enter that catagory next time.