This morning I had the opportunity to meet this fabulous young lady for a photo shoot back behind the poplar tree. She wanted me to tell you that squirrels are really not all that bad. They have a soft, sensitive side - just like you and me. So in an effort to portray their inner “enjoying nature and foraging for food and shelter like the rest of us” beauty, she asked me to share with you these wonderful shots from her own personal portrait session.

I really have to applaud her for these shots. They’re personal and revealing, they tell a story about how sensitive and playful a squirrels’ personality can be. I’d be surprised if your heart doesn’t just melt. You’ll never see a squirrel the same way again. Maybe.

(not necessarily in that order.)

Friday night was sleepover night at my house - I had four 11-12 year olds taking up every computer in the house (ok yeah, we have four, I’ll get into that another time) - playing webkinz.

First I’ll get sidetracked and tell you how proud I am of my own 11 year old. It all started a few weeks ago when she cleaned the house - without prompting or prodding or even poking with a stick. That in itself made me ask the most obvious question, “what do you want?”. Of course she wanted something. A new webkinz. She spent an hour that day cleaning, and I told her that was great -but I’ll only pay her $4 an hour, and they cost $12. She needed to give me two more hours of hard labor, and did she ever. She cleaned the house again, and after an hour she didn’t know what to do. I told her that if she could get on the airclimber and do it for an hour, I’d count that as chore time. Honestly? I didn’t think she could do it. Heck, I can’t even make it through the 20 minute workout (yet).

She did it.

Off to the nearest Hallmark we went, where she immediately picked the webkinz she wanted, a frog. Chickeymonkey present, I couldn’t get out of the store without two - you know how that goes. I wrote the check, our intuitive cashier put them in separate bags, and we were all set.

On the way out of the store, Catybug exclaimed “I can’t wait to give this to H tomorrow at school!”.

Wait. Hold up. Excuse me? What just came out of my childs mouth? “You did all that work so that you could get this for your friend?” She said “yes, she doesn’t have one, and they can’t afford one, and I really want her to be able to play too.”

Wow. ::insert choked up teary eyed mommy moment here::

Of course I gave her a big hug and told her how proud I was of her for being so generous to work so hard just to do something for someone else. Then I quickly had a million flashbacks about how anything I could have possibly done as a parent would have had this kind of effect on her character. I don’t know how it happened. It’s a fluke, I swear it.

End of sidetrack.

H was giddy, of course, and the first several hours of the night were all about each on their own computer online playing webkinz as a team. It was cute, and they had fun. They also had banana splits with the works, and pizza. I try to be a good sleepover mom.

So yesterday was the beginning of the weekend warrior projects. Oh my. Our big project was delayed by rain - but this weekend it’s just gorgeous. I love this weather. I carry around my camera, put it down, grab a shovel, dig, transplant, and get my camera again. Fun stuff, people!

We’re building (and by we I mean my husband, as I stand and point and say “no” and “yeah”, and then I do the making it pretty when he’s all done part) a raised planting bed that’s an “L” shape - about 3 feet deep, 12 feet wide and 18 feet long. Part of this project requires the major undertaking of transplanting everything on our back mound (7th photo), because we need the dirt. This stuff here is being replaced by the planter, so everything needs to be transplanted from those areas, as well.

It was a busy day yesterday. I put three old fashioned thornless rose climbers in the backyard against the fence, they’re new and I am hoping they take off and cover the entire fence area since we have an offensive odor blowing into our house when the windows are open. We’re hoping this curbs that problem and fills our home and yard with something more pleasing to the nose. I also added about a gadgillion seeds to another area in the yard, and if I did well I should be able to show you those in about 2 weeks.

As for the birds, I saw this couple flitting about in our poplar tree lastnight once I settled down with my bottled water and camera and just stopped, watched and listened. They’re really neat birds - they fly high and they have a really interesting wingspan in flight. From this kinda crappy photo, I’ve deduced that they are Tanagers - a bird I’ve never seen before. I can’t determine whether they’re hepatic or scarlet, because the females don’t seem to match. I thought because of the speckled breast on the female that it might be a true purple finch, but the male is much too red. If you can’t tell, I really enjoy birdwatching and identifying them. I heard a lot of neat birds yesterday - our northern flicker is back, and it won’t be long before he makes an appearance on our suet - or at least on the hill of ants by our poplar tree. Hubby spotted a predator swooping through our yard twice yesterday on the hunt, looking to nab a small bird or squirrel. I missed the action, off digging up a plant somewhere, but what a cool thing to have going on in our backyard!

Sidenote: we also rescued 4 baby bunnies last weekend and released them the other night. One had been injured, so we wanted to get the bloody one away from danger and healed. They’re doing fine now, hiding in the brush pile - you can see one of the little cutie pies in my photoblog.

Today we should finish the new raised bed and transplating. I’m not as sore as I was last weekend, I learned my lesson and did bicep and tricep curls on the treadmill while I walked for a few days this week. The airclimber also helped with the leg squatting and digging. Whatever the task - bring it on, I’m ready! :raspberry:

  

  

  

  

  

I had the most fun opportunity to illustrate a children’s book for a college student - without giving everything away, I’m sure my illustrations are a big hint to the storyline!

I started doodling late one night, refined my doodles into line drawings, then colored them in using colored pencil on a really smooth illustration paper - scanned them in and further enhanced them for print using Paint Shop Pro. I’m so tickled with the results, I just had to share.

Which little fishy is your favorite?

Callie, Annie & Momo
9″ x 12″ Oil Painting
3/4″ Profile Gallery Wrapped Canvas
© 2007 Leanne Wildermuth
All Rights Reserved

Here’s the final scan of these beautiful cats done in a sepia oil monochromatic. The color is really warm and rich, like milk chocolate in the sunlight. I’m late posting it - usually I post the scan before I mail the piece - this one is probably already halfway home. I’zza little excited for their mama to get the painting.

Now that the new design is (nearly) complete, I feel like I should be making the other change I wanted to make - which is all about the content.

I wanted to really do more - to write more, to really get into things because admittedly, I’ve been holding back. I hold back about my family, my kids - my processes in painting, technology and design. Believe it or not, I do know a lot of stuff. Now, it may or may not be accurate, but there’s a lot of stuff just sitting here in my head collecting dust. It’s time to clean off the cobwebs in my brain and start sharing more. Care a little less about what has caused me to clam up and retreat into my safety zone, and ever so cautiously wander back out into what used to be my comfortable, wysiwyg blog. The good old days. When I poured my heart out and allowed myself to be vulnerable - until one day when someone thought it would be really swell to use that vulnerable spot and jab a knife or ten into it.

I worked up this design in such a way that I’d feel “it” again. The “it” I lost. The “it” that once was, the “it” that allowed you guys to really know me. (BTW, You can also find “it” on eBay.)

Now, I’m inching forward, taking the next step, hearing the eggshells crunch and crack beneath my feet. Hold me.

Today I’m just going to open up my comments for questions of any kind. Pick my brain. Ask me anything. Blog or website related, design, photography, gardening, family, personal or art - ask away, and I’ll reply in comments.

It’s my turn! :twirls around in my new fancy blogsuit:

What do you think?

I have to do some more tweaking in the code and I’d like to add more functionality, so you’ll see more changes here and there - especially in the comments section.

I do want to be sure that everyone gets what they want, so if there’s a feature you miss or want or think I should have, do tell! I’ll continue tweaking over the next couple of days.

A dash of brawn. Hah. Who am I kidding? I couldn’t even lift my arms up over my head to pull my hair back this morning. It was worth it though. I have been on the search for a planter, about 6-8 feet wide, 2 feet tall - not too deep, but just deep enough. All of them I found? Either too small, too big, and all of them too expensive.

I had to do something, because when we replaced the windows, we ended up short on siding. Some of the siding was relocated, some of it is the closest match we could get. The relocated siding has about 6 years of sun fading, and it’s quite visible right now, so we had to conceal that so the rest of the siding could catch up. Also? I wanted a huge, and by huge I mean spectacularly big showcase of gerber (gerbera) daisies because I love them so much. They bloom all summer, they’re huge, they never disappoint - well, only in that their annuals. I wish they were perennials. So every year, I’ll be buying boatloads of ‘em, which I don’t have a problem with. I also added some wave petunias so they’ll cascade down the sides and conceal the rest of the faded siding.

I drew the blueprint. Hubby wrote up the supply list, and down to Lowe’s he went. $33 later, he was home and breaking out the circular saw. He spent about 6 hours on it, and even got the girls involved in hammering and drilling the nail holes. It was all fun and good, and a perfect day here for being outside. We’re both sunburned and sore, but man. The payoff.

I just completed the lovely composition captured by Debbie of her three cats. This painting is 9×12 on gallery wrapped canvas, it’s a sepia toned monochromatic.

I did fade out the lace curtain in the background a bit, I thought too much detail would detract from the cats - the subtle lace in the foreground and impression of lace on that back curtain feels just right to me.

The digital pic of this painting isn’t entirely accurate, of course - the final scan is always so much more accurate to color, clarity and detail. I’ll capture a scan once it’s dry.

These are the lengths that I will go to to be sure that the ideas in my head are absolutely as original as they can possibly be. If I want something to look a certain way, I’ll create my own reference photo and start from scratch. That’s what it’s all about, right?

That photo, that idea - it represents something to come, something like a rebirth. A new energy, a new outlook, another step forward. It’s a work in progress, and it won’t be too long before you know what I mean.

There’s a part of me that changes every spring, I think when I get outside and spend some time with my gardening gloves on, I grow right along with the beautiful plants and flowers I mother on a daily basis. When I saw my new stargazer lilies peeking up through the mound of dirt and mulched leaves this morning, it was almost a zen moment. Then my nose filled with the smell of a beautiful sherbet hyacinth, and my ears were ringing with the sounds of multiple birds chirping and chatting.

Aaah. Can you smell it? I wish I could bottle the scent. I’d make a mint.

I’ve been working on blog design projects for EW, so I’ll show you those once they’re up in the official portfolio. For me and my own portfolio - I’ll be finishing up that monochromatic cat painting today, I’ll be back later to update you on that one.

Happy Friday - don’t forget to stop and smell the roses - or whatever you’ve got blooming near you!