Life in North Dakota

Miscellaneous is one of my favorite words. Also lascivious. And Pterodactyl. The problem with Pterodactyl is that it doesn’t come up much in conversation.

I have to go in front of the Commissioners of our County and ask for money for the library today. Everyone means well, but still this is not something that I relish. The clock is ticking - 3:50 PM today.

One thing that you’ll never want to do is shoot yourself. Just trust me on this. Don’t do it. It is fascinating on the wound care front — I’m not squeamish about blood and stuff — but otherwise ick. Looks like plenty of pain involved too.

It is amazing how -8 degrees Fahrenheit feels warm compared to -20 degrees. Everything is relative?

It’s cold here. The Weather Channel says it feels like -41 degrees Fahrenheit with the wind.

But we have power = heat, coffee, staying home all day.

I will have to make a trip across the backyard to check the studio’s furnace. One of the best things I’ve done is have a furnace put in the studio. Sure I can work all through the year — definately a benefit — but it also means the clay and glazes can stay in the studio even if the temps outside are freezing.

Clay and glaze aren’t happy when they freeze.

And I hate lugging boxes of clay around any more than I have to. It seems like a good solution.

The furnace is forced air natural gas. I keeps the studio nice and comfortable while I’m working. Mostly.

My feet get cold. I’m thinking of buying an electric heat mat to stand on. Something like they sell at livestock supply for dog houses? I wonder if it would be too warm?

The next studio will have in-floor radiant heat. When I win the lottery…

Cold and snow. Such is life in the Dakotas during December. I heard a long-term weather report today - temperature not expected to rise above freezing until the new year — but how can that be true? I can’t be, right? They don’t really know…

The pups are playing and racing around the house tonight. Watching them is half amusing, half horrifying. They play so rough, but have such a good time at it.

All I want to do is eat carbs. Bulk up for the winter, you know. I’m resisting this urge. It isn’t easy.

Tonight I’ve been searching the internet looking for gifts. Found several I’d like too –

What do you think of this from guild.com?

I wonder if I could get my own 12 inch tiles to remain flat. That is no easy feat. I’m not sure about the red and blue tiles, but I like the textures.

Like your artwork with a little bit o’ dog thrown in? Here’s another from guild.com

33 inches high… I don’t have a kiln this large. Wish I did - imagine the Greyhound sculptures!

But this is piece by artist, Jeri Hollister, is my favorite on guild.com -

I want…

I’m going to apologize right off the bat. This is one of those update posts.

First off, holy cow. I’m going to run out of the sterling pendants. I know the USPS people at our local post office pretty well. Now I’m running out of polite conversation. I’m now forced to print all the labels online and drop off the packages at the post office…. So Thanks!

Speaking of the pendants - a contest coming soon.

Earlier this week, my intention was to post a series of photos about how I ship sculptures & memory boxes. This involves packing the car and heading to the nearest UPS Store - except the UPS store is 80 miles away. It is kind of interesting. Lots of Pronghorn. But I forgot my camera.

Sage, Annie and Winchester are doing fine. The cut on Sage’s foot is healing. Between Sage’s injury and the winter weather the amount of exercise these pups are receiving has decreased. Everybody, Winchester included, has been very good about this — lots of bully sticks to keep everyone distracted — but I can tell they need more exercise. I feel the same way.

Hopefully winter will break a bit. Uck. I’m tired of the snow already. I really, really hate the gray cloudy days. I can handle any amount of snow if the sun would shine…

Okay, well enough of that. Today is going to be a good day!

Sometimes we get blizzard warnings… and nothing happens.

Not this time.

This was the scene of the studio from the deck at about 5 PM as the rain began to turn to snow.

And this was the studio this morning (about 8 AM). What you don’t see is the 3 foot snow drift on the deck on the house.

Or the 5.5 foot drift over the fence on the east side of the yard. Or the wind. But the best part is that it isn’t that cold. Temperature is hovering at about 27 degrees — when you factor in the 15-40 mph winds it feels about 17 degrees outside.

So how do the Greyhounds react to this?

Like silly freaks. They love the snow.

They don’t stay out very long, however. Neither do photographers…

And to learn to stand up straight while on camera. What camera? The semi-local NBC affiliate sent a reporter to our library to cover a ribbon cutting ceremony and installation of a kiosk/portal.

Here’s the story and, gulp, the video.

I love overhead flourescent lights!

It was a wonderful event… Now back to some art!

No dog park today. And so the Greyhounds are underfoot and bored. Why no dog park visit? Wind.

Wind. I wish I owned about a dozen of those huge wind tower generator things. Or one. One would be fine.

The weatherman said 70 mph gusts. Let’s just say the fence in the backyard was not happy. I’m afraid it must be rebuilt or replaced… That just might send all hopes of a new laptop out the window. Oh well. A solid fence is a must-have. The laptop can wait. Sob!

The library is sucking most of my time these days — preparation for a big celebration on Wednesday night. After that, 3 grant deadlines looming. Good news is my new macro lens showed up — I’ll be able to get some photos of the new Sterling Silver pendant. I have all sorts of good stuff to stock the etsy store. I must apologize for not getting the store stocked sooner. That you for your patience!

As I write this Winchester is hungry. He is “asking to be fed” as some say (but we really know what his behavior is saying and it is not that polite - “Human feed me. I’ve had to wait while you play on that black screen thingy and this is unacceptable. You humans are barely trainable” ).

He paces and dances around the table where the laptop sits. Noses my arm and grunts at me.

What would I do without my dogs? I’m not sure I’d be of much use without them.

Sage woke me this morning. “Open the door, servant.” But he says it with such puppy-joy that it makes me happy to get up. Immediately it is forgotten that I wanted to sleep longer. He heads outside into the cold morning, bouncing and wide awake without coffee, though he does have a mean macho stick habit…

They are the reason I get up in the morning. Why I walk everyday. Why I maintain a routine.

Outside is a perfect cold and rainy September day. Yesterday was 75 degrees and sunny. Mother Nature is warning us that fall is here, winter is coming. Better prepare.

My mind keeps drifting into sadness. My brother’s birthday is coming up. But he is dead.

The puppies are in the backyard playing tug with a toy. They are having so much fun. They keep my heart busy.

Painter and photographer, Marsha Njos Lehmann had an artist reception at the Library today. Here’s Marsha and artist, Cris Fulton.

Marsha does wonderful work. My very, very favorite are her paintings of cows and ranch life. She knows the scenes she paints.

The show will run through July and is open to the public during library hours.