I went to visit a new friend who has chickens.

I had a blast taking pictures of these chickens.  They were skittish sometimes, and some of them were bold and came right at the camera.

Can you believe I took almost 400 photos?

The beauty of digital is that you can delete all the bad ones.

Anyway, here’s the winner….

And did you know that chickens have clear eye lids?  Yup, compare the next two photos…

They can also look so regal…

…and as you probably noticed, they have unique and individual eye colors…

And they can also look at you funny!!

But mostly, these Rhode Island Reds love their “mom” and she loves them!

And they live and free-range in a beautiful place!

Thanks Barb for sharing your chickens and your eggs.  Thanks for the coffee and good conversation.  It was a great morning!

The only problem was “rush hour”, which kept me from pulling over just anywhere.

Here’s my fave…

And second fave…

I am just a sucker for a red barn!

I’m pretty much done with my resume, and wanted to put some finishing touches on a piece of art that I want to submit to the juried show I’m entering.

Luckily, Phoenix watched some tv, while I worked on my piece.

We went to get milk, and I had enough forethought to bring the camera along.

I got a picture I’ve been meaning to take for about 2 years.

This is what living in the country looks like…

We got the supplies to do FLIP tomorrow at Graffiti, then went on to have a fabulous brunch date at Cracker Barrel. Here’s what I ate…

The picture of the day was spotted by Fabio, as we drove around getting pictures.

We drove around sort of aimlessly, just trying to find picturesque things…

The theme of the day is sitting….

Here’s my fave…

Anyone wanna sit and crochet on this couch??

Then we found this…

Boy, I am just so glad for indoor plumbing!  Especially with this weather!!

The weather actually is helping these guys.  I can’t believe I saw ice fishing with my very own eyes!  This city girl is impressed that anyone would sit out in the cold, attempting to fish, when they can’t even see anything thru the ice.  That, my friends is real dedication!!

Look for photos tomorrow.  We will be in NYC for the day, and I can’t wait to see what is captured.  It will be very different than today’s photos, that’s for sure!

This post is a long time coming.

This month I intended to make four paintings at least, of a theme I called “the country life”.

While I have tried to use any spare moments to paint, I found myself doing a myriad of other things, meaning I’m way behind.

The beginning of the month was taken up with some prep and some research for this theme.  I spent several hours driving around, getting pictures of the  country life around me. That was pure delight.  Unfortunately, morning would turn to noon day lighting, and that would be the end of the shooting.  Rain and overcast days also kept me from more photography.

Other things came up, such as working on a sculpture I’d committed to paint for our church’s kids’ choir, weekly bible study, helping with some kidztown stuff, graffiti retreat weekend, and today, a sick kid at home.

I’m excited to be done with this first painting.  It was a joy to paint, although interrupted far too many times.   I look forward to your comments and criticisms.

I’ve already started working on the next piece, and promise to put a progress update on here soon. Hopefully it will get done much quicker.

If you are interested in purchasing  this piece, or any other, write me and we can discuss prices.

If you would like to see more of my work go to gallery and click on individual pieces to get a closer look.

I also  do commission work.  Drop me a line if there’s something you would like to have as an original piece of art.

Yesterday I had a great country adventure.

After seeing a sign last week that said “Fresh Brown Eggs — Drive In” ,  I made a mental note to return as soon as I could. Yesterday was that day.

After both boys were in school, we drove about a mile down this quiet road, passing nice spacious properties, with barns, horses and other such things.  We arrived at the sign, and turned into a long driveway.  As we made our way down the driveway, we saw several sheep, and even a few baby lambs on either side of the driveway.  They were all so cute, and it was all so quiet.

I parked, saw chickens in the distance, and the house and car behind us.  Since I couldn’t spot a person, I went to the door and rang the bell.  A tall, distiguished looking man open the door.  He had a white beard and was holding a yogurt container and sppon in one hand, and the lid to the yogurt in the other.  I said I was interested in their eggs, to which he turned and called his wife.  She was tall, white-haired and thin, and with exitement, responded “Great!  I’ll go get them in the basement!”  In the mean time, I stood at the doorway, while the man licked his yogurt lid and made small talk.  She was back with the dozen eggs in a couple minutes, as she charged me $2(what a bargain!).  I only had a 20-dollar bill, so while she made change,  he told me about how the eggs were not “graded”, but were cleaned.

They asked me if I was local, and I told them I was, but was new to the area, which started a whole new conversation about a “folk fest” coming up in Doylestown, which they will be a part of, since he’s a metal engraver.  As it turns out, he showed me some of his work, and I shared that I am an artist as well.  He spoke of our joining efforts because sometimes he needs to engrave a picture, but he’s not very good at drawing.  At this point, I mentioned that my mother-in-law was out there, and so Toni(the lady) went out to talk to Patti, as I finished talking to Peter about the art, and his being featured in Early American Life magazine.  We headed out, and I joined Patti and Toni; who then went on to tell us lots about raising chickens,  and raising sheep, as we asked several questions, trying to take it all in.  I had already asked permission to take photos of the animals, so I kept on snapping as we talked.  I got some wonderful shots of these creatures, and dare I say, might have made a new friend, in the community.  I hope to take the boys out  there to see the animals, and meet the farmers.

When I came home, i promptly looked at the website for their business “The shepherd’s Croft“, where I learned more about them, and their farm, and their sheep.

Patti and I made an omelet for lunch, using only 3 eggs, which fed both of us thoroughly. It was delicious!

Yay for meeting the farmers and living in the coutry!  Thank you to the Kellers for being so friendly!