Things are really coming together at A Bend in the Road Gallery.

The paintings have been framed and hung, and I’m now tending to some last minute details.  If you live nearby and like watercolors, or are just curious about what goes on around here, give me a call…I’ll meet you at A Bend in the Road.

Saturday afternoon after we took the boys to Leebo’s (where Hudson shared our family business with the clerk) I took them for a walk out back.  This time we weren’t secret agents, we were ninjas.

Denton and I carried guns, (which I thought was unninjalike) but Hudson did not carry one.  He announced that the one without a gun was the leader.  And, he said he was sorry, but those were the rules of the game. We were searching for the enemy’s castle lair…or at least that’s what Hudson said. Our search took us down trails,

past the trillium,

to the creek bank,

across logs and finally

to this piece of railroad wreckage where they accused whoever was behind there of killing the Ninja Queen. After that line of business was dealt with, we were no longer ninjas…just that quick.

They headed down a moss covered path where they discovered a coyote carcass, and before I realized what was happening,

they were carrying around about half of it.  I made them put it down and told them that we had to go back home to wash their hands.  But on the way,

they couldn’t resist stopping for a moment to look for four leaf clovers. They went from ninjas to naturalists – just that quick.

Yesterday was a very nice day…not hot, not cold.

There was even a hint of spring in the air.  Some of us decided to go for a walk.  Well, five of us to be exact; Tommy, Eddie, Kerry, Joel and I went out to Kincaid Lake to walk part of the trail there that begins at the boat landing.

We thoroughly enjoyed the trail and its ups and downs as it danced along the lake shore.  And, we enjoyed each other.

We only went in a couple of miles before we stopped for a water break, and then headed back.  We did, however, come upon someone we think was related to the Duck Commander.  Although it was a little thin, he did have a ‘full grown man beard’.

You just never know, do ya?

Thursday morning I decided to install a perch for Phil and Kay.  What I had in mind was a nice big limb, or some part of a tree.  I drove around the property on the golf cart to see what was available.  Down by the old pond, I spied this small tree that was growing all wompy-jawed.  It just grew up about six feet and then made a right turn (or left turn depending on which way you were looking at it).  It was perfect for what I was thinking of doing.

Now, to cut the thing down.  I couldn’t find the limb saw.  The chain saw that I found was bigger than the one I learned on in Alaska, and since I have not met my deductible, I thought it best to use the ax.  The ax, though dull, would have been fine had I been able to hit the same spot twice in a row.

I chopped until I was worn out.  Then, I just threw the ax down, yelled, “Timber!” and pushed on the tree until it broke.  The tree, though small, was much heavier than I had anticipated, but I got on the golf cart and managed to drag the thing to the chicken coop.

Once I got it through the door, I stood it in a corner

and tie-wrapped it to some two by fours.  Its not going anywhere.

I even attached a feeder.  I believe that Phil and Kay will really enjoy their new perch…

that is, if I can ever get them to try it out.

As you know, I spent the last week in January at the Grouchy Old Woman Bed and Breakfast in Nikiski, Alaska.  It had been twenty years since I had worked with watercolors, and this was a woodshedding adventure to resurrect my skills. I now have a body of work together, and my first exhibit at A Bend in the Road Gallery opens in nine days.  The featured paintings are a result of that woodshedding adventure.  I would love for you to come by and see them.

                          CONSIDER YOURSELF INVITED!

Yesterday evening, the boys came over while the rest of their bunch went to a friend’s house to drink coffee.  When they first got here, they played with

these little plastic rabbits.  After a discussion, they decided that one of the rabbits needed to be locked in the little cage because she was going to have babies.  Then I heard Hudson say, “Isn’t nature wonderful?”

They had been here about thirty minutes when we decided to go look at Phil and Kay (the pigeons).  After that, we were headed to check the wild hog snares, but never made it. We got sidetracked by looking for four leaf clovers and taking fresh clover to the rabbit. Then we went on a short hike through the woods while they looked for clues…for what, I didn’t have a clue.  I just did what they told me.  After we came out of the woods, we became secret agents.  Hudson was Agent Green, Denton was Agent Blue, and I, of course, was Agent Pink.  We hid behind trees and layed in the grass so as not to be detected by the bad agents, which I never saw.  But, again, I did what I was told.  We came across one of those Bic lighters that must have fallen off one of the golf carts.  Agent Blue handed it to me and wanted me to see if it still worked.  It did. So, what else could Agent Pink do but set fire to a pile of straw.

Agent Green and Agent Blue added leaves and more straw

and before long we had several little fires going.  Then their mother called to tell me that they were back and to send the boys home.  That didn’t set well with them because playing with fire is just too much fun. But, I told them that we had to do what their mother said.  Then they asked, “How are we going to put these fires out?”  Being the quick thinker that I am, I suggested that they put them out with liquid from their own bodies.  That possibility really excited them, and in less than a minute,

the mission was accomplished.

Yesterday was a beautiful day…not a cloud in the sky…temperatures in the fifties…a great day to take a country drive.  So, I did.  Well, not just me.  My friend Judy had been wanting some pet chickens, and I knew just where she could get a couple…so, we took us a drive down to Joe and Nidette’s farm in Longville.  Nidette had raised a Malaysian Serama rooster and a Silver Duckwing hen from chicks. They were “special needs” chickens.  As chicks, the rooster had had some sort of foot fungus, and the hen had had a parasite in her left eye.  Thanks to the medical skills of Nidette ‘Clampet’ Glass, they have fully recovered, except for the fact that

the little hen no longer has a left eye. You wouldn’t know it as long as she was looking at you. Even though she was attached to them, Nidette knew that she couldn’t keep them, and had been looking for someone who would give them a good home.

Judy was excited about the two new additions to her family.

She was especially excited about the little rooster, who has not yet gotten his crower under control.  I think that she has named them Pearl and Boss.

While we were there, Joe talked me into taking home a pair of pigeons.  In the past, Joel has said, “Susan, whatever you do, just don’t bring home any pigeons”, so I was a little nervous.  Joe and I caught the pigeons, put them in a cage, and set them on the back seat of Judy’s truck

right beside Pearl and Boss.  Since I am quite entertained by the show, Duck Dynasty, I decided to name them Phil and Miss Kay…although I’m not altogether sure which one is which.  Then, we drove off, waving to Nidette as tears streamed down her face. When I got them home, I put them

in the pen with my other feathered friends.

They kind of like the high places.

When Joel called, I thought that I might better mention the pigeons before he read about them somewhere.  I said, “Well, I might as well go ahead and tell you…”  And Joel said, “Susan, what have you done now?”

For a while now, I’ve entertained the idea of turning the front room in the original part of our house into a gallery, and… the fullness of time has now come to pass for me to make that idea a reality.  I’m calling it A Bend in the Road Gallery to keep in sync with Josh’s Bayou Bend Daylilies.

As a result of my woodshedding adventure in Alaska, I have produced a body of watercolors that I am now in the process of matting and framing.

I’ll probably wind up with somewhere between fifteen and twenty pieces.

My plan is to call this exhibit “Hanging Out on the Kenai Peninsula” and have it available to the public from March 3-17, by appointment only.  As things progress, I will post the “for sure” details. So, I’m looking forward to seeing you at A Bend in the Road Gallery.

This morning Kerry and I motored over to Inglewood to do some shopping at their fresh market.  I purchased some vegetables, and she bought some jelly.  Then we headed downtown.  Our destination was a coffee house on Fourth Street called Tamp and Grind.  When we turned onto Main, I asked Kerry if she had ever been to River Oaks. I told her that I had had a studio in the Bolton house (one of two buildings where artists can lease studio space) when the boys were in grammar school.  She didn’t know that the place even existed, so we pulled into the parking lot and entered the Bolton house.

We walked through the studios,

and enjoyed checking stuff out in the gallery spaces.  Then we left for Tamp and Grind.  Or, at least we thought we had.  Unbeknownst to me, but knownst Kerry (who had forgotten), this was the morning for the children’s Mardi Gras parade in downtown Alexandria.  Had I known, we would have left our car at River Oaks and walked to Fourth Street.  But noooooooooooooooo. When we got to Jackson Street, where we were going to turn, they were just putting up the last barricade. Kerry said, “Oh, the parade is today”.  We had to detour and find us a parking place, which was next to impossible, so that we could walk to Tamp and Grind.

People were everywhere, barricades were everywhere, and the Tamp and Grind was just right there.

We walked a little farther hoping to find a hole to slip through, but found policemen on motorcycles doing figure eights. The children seemed to like it, but I didn’t find it amusing. We could have thrown a rock and hit the Tamp and Grind, but I looked at Kerry and said, “We can’t get there from here”.  Lord knows, we tried, but I guess that’s what happens when you don’t stay on task.

Today I purchased mat board for my Alaska paintings. For display purposes, I got neutral colors.

I cut the mats and mounted the paintings, so here they are:

Daniel’s Lake, and

some run-down buildings

in Old Town Kenai.

This is not far from those buildings and next to Cook Inlet.

This is the male Pine Grosbeak in Mom’s back yard

and the ‘Dead End’ shack, also in Old Town Kenai.

The only thing I did not mat was this painting

that I left in Alaska for Mom.