A new look for the blog . . . . .

I think it looks cleaner and is easier to read.  What do you think?

Working . . . working . . . working . . . . . . .

I’m currently working on two drawings.  The bottom one is about 90% done.  The top one I’ve just done a quick sketch of to get a feel for how it’ll lay out, what features are important, etc.  I find myself doing these quick pencil sketches before just about every drawing now.  They’re very helpful.  ■  One of these days I’m going to have to plot all of the houses I’ve drawn on a map.  It would be interesting to geographically see where they are.  ■  Tomorrow is supposed to be another hot, hot day – somewhere around 90º.  I surrender.  Give me back some winter!  ■  At least Chili Fest is approaching.  It’ll be cooler then.  ■

Drawing . . . . . it’s still hot, but better . . . . .

Yes, it’s still hot, but not as hot as it was on Friday.  Friday the heat index was at 104º.  It was miserable.  Today, Sunday, was much better.  The humidity is lower and the temp in only 71º now.  It looks, however, as if the temps are headed back up towards the high 80s over the next couple of days.  ■  I’ve got two drawings to get done by Wednesday.  That’s a preliminary sketch of one of them.  I need to have it pretty well completed by tomorrow afternoon.  That will be a lot of work.  ■  Abby, our new puppy, is doing better and better each day.  She’s a real lover.  ■  Back to work (drawing) and then to bed.  ‘Night.  ■

It’s too hot and humid out!

This heat and humidity that we’re having is wearing on all of us.  It’s suffocating to be outside in all that humidity and heat.  And the next few days don’t look much better.  ■  Pat, our other guitar player in the band, are going to try to get together Saturday and run over a couple of new songs.  The band should practice on Sunday.  ■  We have a neighbor’s birthday party to go to on Saturday.  They’re having live music.  It’ll be interesting to hear another band.  ■  Time for bed.

A drawing for an ornament . . . . .

I’m working on a drawing that will be used to create a Christmas ornament.  I think it’s a fundraiser for the church I’m drawing.  The key, I think, is to make it simple enough – less lines/detail so that it can be engraved properly.  I’m going to check with the ornament maker tomorrow to see what she thinks of my first try.  ■  Off to work.

View from the kitchen table . . . . .

Boy has it been hot for the past week.  Temps in the 90s and humid.  It makes it miserable trying to work outside.  I did manage to get some of our bushes trimmed yesterday with the assistance of my next-door-neighbor.  ■  I’m replacing one of our porthole windows.  We have 3 of them, but one of them is in desperate need of replacement.  Got a voicemail today saying it had come in.  Too late tonight to call the guy that’s putting it in, but will call him tomorrow morning and get it scheduled.  ■  I’ve got a drawing of a church to get done and my daughter needs a drawing of a home in the Louisville, KY area.  ■  Abby, our new puppy, is progressing every day.  She unfortunately can’t yet be deterred from sleeping with us.  And she snuggles!  She wants to get as close to you as she can and she wants your arm around her.  I think she was treated so poorly before that she needs to be close to people that love her and will reassure her of that love.  ■ 

Lunch at the Tracks . . . and it’s HOT out!

My next-door-neighbor and I went to the Tracks, a local bar, for lunch.  The Tracks has great burgers!  It’s hard to eat a whole burger and there’s no way I could even come close to putting a dent in the curly fries.  A couple of cold beers and a great burger.  What a fine lunch.  ■  It’s hot and humid out.  The heat is bad enough, but the humidity is a killer.  I think it’s supposed to be like this for the next couple/few days.  ■  Abby, the new puppy, continues to get comfortable in her new home.  She’s learned to open the zippers on Holly’s laptop carrier so she can get at the now empty containers of food that Holly had for lunch.  Other than that she was a pretty good girl today (oh, except for digging in Holly’s flower beds . . . )  ■  This weekend Holly’s going on a “girl’s weekend”, so I’ll be left to my own devices.  I’m thinking of trying to cook fish.  I can grill salmon without a problem, but I need to learn to cook stuff like catfish.  My horizons need to be expanded.  Now to find some recipes that I can do on the grill . . . . . ■ 

The new puppy strikes . . . .

Abby, our new dog, has had her age estimated at 1½ years.  Perhaps she’s a little younger as she’s started getting into things – like my new bag of charcoal.  As you can see she created quite a mess.  ■  It’s supposed to be very hot and humid the rest of the week.  Thank goodness for air conditioning.  ■ 

A great party!

Jac & Sue throw a great party.  Delicious food, drinks and great company.  I’m already looking forward to next year.

Dogs and ribs and such . . . . . .

Abby, our new 1½ year old pooch is very hungry for kind human contact – as well as kind canine love.  Abby has taken to jumping up on Holly’s lap and snuggling.  She’s 50 pounds, so she’s not exactly a lightweight.  And Abby and Zoe have started bonding.  Abby tries to do everything that Zoes does.  ■  You can see them sleeping together – head-to-head on, apparently, their couch.  ■  Abby has also started to do some typical puppy things – such as destroying a travel coffee cup.  She’s stretching her boundaries – just to extend her world.  ■  Lots going on this weekend.  We’ve got Jac & Sue’s party on Saturday.  I’ve got to get ribs for that and maybe a little salmon.  We’ll see.  ■  And as always, it’s time for bed.  Night.  ■

Brakes fixed . . . air in Honda out . . . dog makes herself at home . . . . . .

Many, many thanks to Jac my across-the-street neighbor for replacing the brake pads on our Santa Fe.  I finally got to see what brakes, pads, etc looked like.  Thanks, Jac, so much.  ■  Jac also filled my Honda’s air conditioner with Freon in order to try and fix the thing.  Unfortunately the air conditioner has a leak in the system and the thing is not working.  Bummer.  I was hoping for a simple fix.  ■  As you can see – the newest member of the family, Abby, has ensconced herself not only on the couch, but also onto our bed.  I took Abby to our vet yesterday for a checkup.   The doc says she’s fine.  A little minor ear infection (he gave me instructions and drops for that) and that was about it.  She’s found her “forever home” now.  ■  Lots to get done today. 

New dog . . . and boy, the ribs were good!

We got a new dog today.  That’s her on the left.  Her name is Abby.  She’s lying on the floor next to me as I write this blog entry.  She’s sweet, but seems a little scared of me.  She’s 2 years old and I think at some point a man must have beat her.  I think it’ll take a couple of days for her to get used to us and this new home for her.  ■  Did ribs today.  They turned out pretty well.  That’s my next door neighbor, Steve, chowing-down on a couple.  I’m going to make ribs for our across the street neighbor’s party next Saturday.  ■  Saturday night Holly and I and our house guests, Ron & Eileen, went out to see my boss play guitar.  Had a great time.  ■  Tomorrow – fixing brakes on the car.  I hope I learn something.  ■

Busy weekend . . . . .

Off to work early – this morning at 8:00 am!  I’ve got to go and open up the store and wait for the AT&T technician to reconnect the store’s internet service.  For some reason Comcast, we’ve been told, pulled the line we use for that from AT&T to Comcast.  How can they do that?  ■  We have company coming this weekend along with a party to go to on Saturday afternoon, and we’re going to meet a possible new dog for us on Sunday.  Lots going on.  ■