O-BLA-DI-O-BLA-DA....

La, la, la life goes on...

There are two new members of the family, Agatha Aracauna and Buffy Bantam. Agatha is a little snot and Buffy is just about the sweetest little thing I have ever seen. Agatha will be sent to a friend's flock up in Blue River when she (or he) is big enough. I am hoping that Buffy is Buffy and not a Spike. She is A-DOR-A-BLE. Tiny and so funny with her little feather legwarmers. This is the first time I have raised a Bantam chick. There were two but Betsy did not take to the other one. It went back straight away. Chickens are modern day dinosaurs and as such they can be ruthless to each other. The Buffster will hunker down in my hand and go to sleep. Agatha is pretty much the opposite. She is a flighty thing.

I am going to Art and Soul in Portland this coming September. My first time. I've wanted to go for years but lacked either confidence or money or both. I am taking a two day workshop with Misty Mawn. I've admired her work for quite awhile. I am also taking two other classes taught by folks I'm not familiar with but am excited to meet.
I took a screenprinting class last Saturday. That was so much fun. Let's see... I decided to wait on the fencing class, I was having some hand issues as well as some hip pain but that is resolved hopefully. I will try the fencing next term if it is offered.
Speaking of fencing...of a different sort, I now have a wooden fence down the length of the North side of my backyard. There has been a tall wire fence since I bought the place 7 years ago. The landlord of the place next door told me to dream on when I asked if he wanted to go halves on the cost to put a fence in. Out of stubborness and cheapness I planted a tall border of perennial sunflowers, butterfly bushes, asters, sunflowers and other tall plants. The neighbor's badly trained hell hound, Fern would go into a slavering barking frenzy anytime I stepped foot into my yard. The neighbor is a nice guy and would call her in when she did but it was definitely a buzz kill. Now I have to rethink the whole backyard.

Let's see...some changes at work. My dept. has been experiencing a slowing of work coming in. We had a meeting this week and two positions from my dept. are being lost. Another dept is in desperate need of people so no one is actually losing a job but it is a bit upsetting nonetheless. I have been with the lab for T W E N T Y years this June and this is the first time anything like this has happened. I'm not sure what the fallout is going to be yet...

Ahh...I saw Twilight (thanks Netflix). It didn't rock my world or anything BUT since I didn't totally hate it either I thought I would read the book (the first one at least). I have discovered something about myself that I probably should just keep locked up inside but I feel the need to say out loud. I have a thing for the undead, I guess. I mean, I thought my devotion to Buffy and the gang had more to do with Joss Whedon than vampires. I read the Anne Rice books back in the day and while somewhat enjoyable I didn't go nuts over them. Bram Stoker's Dracula was fine. I liked Gary Oldman as Dracula. Actually, I really liked Gary Oldman. Anyway, I feel like such a dork reading teen vampire romance but the Twilight series-not in anyway good literature-was really entertaining. I read all four. Last week. Gaaaaak, is there some kind of 12 step program?

I am trying to get pictures to post of the chicks and some pictures of the backyard changes so will post those soon hopefully.