All posts in Living with Greyhounds
Scenes from the studio. Routine.
On April 4, 2012
In Art making, Life in North Dakota, Living with Greyhounds
With 2 Comments
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Homebound.
The weather has turned cold. January is not a favorable month for smooth haired creatures living in North Dakota interested in outdoor activities. However, we are half way through the month and the winter has been relatively easy. Hooray!
Annie discovered the blanket filled chair and curled up in her newly discovered spot. The chair is small and has wooden arms. Not greyhound friendly. Guess the blankets tipped the scale.
Not to be outdone, the second Annie relinquished her new perch, Winchester had to try this new spot.
Greyhounds are funny.
Utilizing resources.
Using my iPhone and the wordpress app. Wondering if this will work?
Here’s Annie. Stretched out on the couch, literally. Making every bit of her 69 lbs count!
Flickr
I killed my flickr account last month. Forgetting that the images on this site were linked from my flickr account, I couldn’t see a downside. Now the archives of this blog are broken. Time to fix. Where to start? I think I’ll do a month every week…
I’ve added the latest kiln load to my shop. They’ll go live on Thursday AM. Next kiln load will be available sometime at the end of January. I’ll have some more large boxes along with a few small and some medium sized boxes as well. Small sculptures will be coming up in February.
In other news, poor Sage injured himself at the dog park. One foot under the dog park fence, a very slight yelp, and he kept on running. He’s a tough one.
Damn you, Dog Park Fence. Thankfully only stitches.
New friend.
Winchester has a new friend. Charley is his name. He’s a Great Dane.
This makes Winchester very happy.
Charley loves to run and play. He plays differently than the greyhounds. Winchester doesn’t know what to think of this, but he still tries to get Charley to play. Charley has his own ideas of course.
So Winchester dances. And leaps.
And stamps his feet.
“Should I bring it?”
Bring it!
Prairie Dogs.
Took the hounds out for a walk on Thursday morning – out into the countryside. It way a beautiful morning. Immediately I regretted leaving my DSLR camera at home. These photos are from my iPhone.
Annie - Queen of her field.
Winchester, Sage and Annie with Jason with a glimpse of the buttes in the background.
Sage and his shadow.
And oh did they run. Won’t forget my big camera next time 
Friday the 13th.
Friday was the 13th of May. Friday the 13th. The day passed and nothing terrible happened. That hasn’t always been the case.
The last time the 13th of May fell on a Friday, Sterling, my first Greyhound died. It was horrible.
Years later, when reading Dr. Patricia McConnell’s book, For the Love of a Dog, I read this quote about her Border Collie, Luke, and immediately thought of my sweet red dog:
He took my heart and ran with it, and I hope he’s running still, fast and strong, a piece of my heart bound up with his forever.
Now as I type this, the quote makes me smile. Like many important losses, the pain isn’t as sharp as it once was. I still think of Sterling. Instead of sadness, I feel more thankful. To have known him. To have learned so much from him.
Aren’t dogs awesome?
Annie and the dog crate
Dog training & gardening. Two things I wish I could do better.
I picture my backyard rich with lush green plants. Carefully chosen flowers blooming in succession. A pleasant courtyard with a sculpture garden. My backyard looks nothing like this.
And as for the dog training… My hounds are easy to live with. They are housebroken. They walk on the leash. They sit when asked. They are polite at meals and don’t charge out of open doors. But if we go deeper… not so much.
The reason both these things aren’t further along? Me. Time. Effort.
Especially with the dogs. They are smart, eager to learn and easy to train. It’s me that is the big, tired push-over. But there are “Things We Must Learn.” So I made a list.
One of the things on the list is “Annie must learn to settle in her crate”. So I set up the crate, began feeding her in the crate, and dispensing treats for being settled in her crate. It took no time and soon we began seeing this:
Hurray! We’re working on duration (with the door closed) now.
She’s a smartie, my girl! She’s figured out another use for the crate:
All the better to survey the neighborhood.
Dog park wish.
The weather was beautiful today. The sun is shining and the snow is melting. I thought we’d try the dog park. Didn’t really go as planned. Going to be awhile. Lots of snow out there. In the photo above Sage hasn’t sunk to the bottom. It is belly deep for him in most places. Wish we could use the dog park…
We came home instead. I tried to encourage the hounds to run in the backyard. Mostly they looked at me, but Annie and Sage did play a little tug to blow off steam.
I have mixed feelings about February. On one hand, I would like it to be over so that we will be closer to Spring. On the other, the deadline for the DSU exhibition is at the end of February. The 25th to be exact.
I know I can get everything finished. But its going to take some work.
I’m shooting for 24 pieces finished and ready to exhibit. Some of those are not fired yet. Ulp.
I’m worked on four pieces today – putting the finishes on them. Several are going to need wooden bases, so that’s sanding, staining, more sanding, and then finishing. I want to start them now so that they have time to dry thoroughly. That’s #1 on the To Do list for tomorrow.
I’ll fire the unfired work on Monday. The kiln is loaded but I’m not *quite* sure everything is dry – especially the trooper’s hat piece. That piece along with the new Prey Drive piece, the rabid rabbit, and the Faith In My Lucky Rabbit’s Foot are all in the same kiln load.
The wall pieces need their hanging devices. Not quite sure how I want to do this yet. This is also on the list for tomorrow. No weekends off until all the work is complete. All the work will have to be photographed before it’s packed to go to the gallery.
Also, I’m fairly sure that all of the work will not fit in my vehicle for one trip to Dickinson. Going to have to make two trips – that’s 180 miles round trip for one trip. I’ll all work out. Need to get to work.
Winter is getting longer.
As I watched the Greyhounds lope around the backyard this morning, I thought, “Sure has been a long time since they’ve had a real workout.”
They’ve taken the lack of exercise really well.
And then I brought three garbage bags of shredded paper into the house. I use it for packing. For transporting sculptures. Etc.
Then I did a few more chores, thinking nothing of the bags of paper. Came upstairs to this.
LOL! Yes, Sage, it’s been a very long winter!
Let it snow!
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