Painting window swaps in my travel journal while I spend some time close to home this year.
Can you tell I’m trying to learn stippling?
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best friend in training
Up in the pink room with the puppy today. We’ve been working on all kinds of things. I’ve sort of been working on next week’s blog posts but mostly I’ve been working on not losing my patience. I’ve started just walking out of the room when she tries to shred my clothing and that’s making a big difference in regards to my sanity at the very least.
Right now she’s snoring gently behind my chair so I’ll try and make the most of it.
The weather’s been deteriorating all day. Each time we’ve gone out for a bathroom break the air’s colder. It was sunny and freezing this morning but the sky’s clouded over now. It got so dark I had to check the clock.
Snow is falling, but not gently.
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3 & 4
Maybe the most my life has ever changed over the course of one month.
Stay tuned for more everyday adventures.
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some new sky
There’s a lot going on today. There’s a lot going on every day — we got a puppy.
I’ve been wearing the same clothes for like three days. It’s absolutely freezing out (I’m talking -30 F this morning with windchill) and this is my warmest outfit. I’m sleeping in this outfit. I’m showering and changing my underwear and putting on this outfit. Just so you understand the state I’m in.
I’m out between 1:30 and 3:30 every morning, watching the stars move, watching the moon change and disappear and glow through a low ceiling of clouds. I love it. I love the puppy, and my spouse assures me that she is not evil.
She is just a baby, and I have never been much for babies.
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backup
Wanted to share a few photos from Christmas Day. Was that already three weeks ago? So much has happened since then.
On Christmas Eve I applied to meet the puppy, and now she’s been with me almost two weeks. Every day is a new lesson in creative problem solving. I’ve learned a lot. She’s learned a few things, too.
Slowly but surely, we’re learning together.
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year of the dog
New year, new adventure.
Google search of the day:
“best toys for dog who loves to shred fabric???”
Buckle up.
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bark at the moon
Back at work today on adventures #4, in which I cannot draw a dog. This of course is the whole point of the endeavor — to practice. To build a practice. Consistency, repetition, progress. Right?
Man, it’s hard to stay positive on so little sleep.
The puppy is near four months old. She’s been with me for just one week and I’m exhausted, I love her, I hope I’m doing it right. She’d never been on a leash and I don’t know why but I didn’t think it would be this hard. I leash trained a cat for goodness sake.
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puppy101
I’m working on layering some detail into the grass this morning, down in the furnace workshop. I’ve got towels going in the laundry room outside the saloon doors, and upstairs I hear the rattle of the puppy’s stuffed worm, a hand-me-down from the cat, and the telltale thump of a jump down from the bed, where she knows she is not allowed.
I knew puppies were like babies, but like nothing can prepare you for the reality of a baby, human or otherwise.
We’re on day 7, and I finally kind-of slept last night. It’s trash day, and I’ve already been out with her on the leash three times, watching the trucks, getting treats, bristling, getting treats, mostly not barking, getting treats. She’s beginning to deescalate.
She’s fascinating. I’ve loved training the cat, and so even though the puppy is unfamiliar, in some ways she’s easier. Many of the same concepts apply. They’re both food motivated, but the puppy is biddable, the puppy wants to please me.
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ch ch ch ch changes
Welcome. Been a minute since I was down in the furnace workshop. I mentioned that I queued the blog so that I could be present over the holidays, but I did not mention that I also queued the blog because three weeks ago, while I was having my coffee and watching the Today show and doing my morning check of the rescue where I got my lovely cat, there she was.
A burly little golden floof with dark, soulful eyes and a graceful black snoot. My heart, I realized, was suddenly racing. Oh no, I thought. Now? This is happening right now?
It was. Because I knew her when I saw her.
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adventures 