We are back from a weekend trip, halfway across the state, to watch Granddaughter #1 ride in a horsemanship competition. We bravely drove the "new" Jeep we bought at the auction. The Husband took it to a mechanic last week to have some new wheel sensors installed, and all the "uh-oh" lights on the dashboard went off, so we decided to chance it. It did fine. That hemi engine burns a lot of gas, though.
Granddaughter #1 won two ribbons - 5th and 6th place - in a western event. The judges critique both the rider's posture/form/dress as well as his/her ability to control the horse. The contestants are riding horses that are not familiar, and some of the horses can get a little cantankerous. Granddaughter's horse in Saturday's's event was the plodding-est beast in the world - reminded me of Eyore - and he did NOT want to jog or back up. She finally got him to do what she wanted him to do, but it took some work. Sunday's horse acted better. But there were a couple of other horses that got "fired" from the event for acting up. I guess by Sunday they'd had enough.
This morning, I am sitting here on the porch, drinking coffee and listening to the birds as I test my new battery. It came Friday, but I was doing laundry and drawing #*!@ bluebirds and didn't want to fool with the battery that day. But there it was - it and all the road-trip accoutrements - piled up on the kitchen table this morning. I cleaned off the table and got my screwdriver. For a minute, I thought they'd shipped (or else I'd ordered) the wrong battery. It looked w-a-y longer than I remembered, but it fit. I probably haven't given it a fair chance to show its stuff, as I only let it charge to 50% before I pulled the plug and brought the laptop to the porch. There's an extension cord right under my table that I put out here just for the laptop, but I don't think the laptop likes it and I suspect it might be the reason why the old battery gave out so soon. When the battery poops out, or I get too cold, I'll take it inside and juice it up good.
And then dooooooo...what?
I need to work on the bluebird. The intended recipient of the future masterpiece is 92 years old; I should not fiddle with this too long. The trouble is that I can't decide how to do it. I've tried watercolor, colored pencils, and pen & ink, and have yet to produce something worthy of gifting. And you want to hear what's worse? The intended recipient is the mother of a professional artist and former art teacher. How's that for pressure?
I took my art supplies with me on the road trip and did the birds in colored pencil. They need a little more work, but they'll do. If I don't screw it up trying to do a background, this may be my final version.
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The battery says it's good for another 3 hours, but I'm cold, and should be painting.
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P.S. - Just to let you know . . . . I did it. I finished the bluebirds. Ta-daaa.
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