Wild Alarm Clock

We've had a different sort of wake up call around the prairie farm lately...a Ring-necked Pheasant rooster has taken to enjoying the yard for it's many attractions...bird feeders and lady pheasants, etc.

The rooster likes the high vantage point of the roof of the root cellar. He sits in the sun and preens, puffs up, and crows! This makes for a great alarm clock as his perch is also just below the bedroom window!

An added bonus with a rooster pheasant is the whir of wing beats when they cut loose with their "crow"...an added drum line to accompany his performance, if you will.

Studio/Gallery

Managed to do a painting here on the studio site, of a pasture and small alfalfa field, just north of our place. This was actually done from some photo references I took when it was still late summer...it was mid September when the references were taken. As usual lately, I was unable to actually tackle the idea until this past winter was well under way.

"September Summer, View from the North Pasture"
Oil on panel

I like agricultural subject matter, especially for landscapes. I'll try and delve into it more as soon as we get the studio/gallery built!

We finally have had everyone who needs to, look at the building we're turning into a studio/gallery. Now we need to hear the bad news (bids/estimates) before we can continue! We have just finished putting up the interior gallery wall. It will be the last thing we do inside the building until the roofing has been accomplished.

The building is our chicken coup/sheep barn...we've been cleaning it up the past 4 years now and can finally see the possibilities there. (Without Georgie's prompting and vision, I still wouldn't see it.) The entire roof and trusses have to be removed, a new trusses and roofing installed...then we'll have the electrical roughed in, which we'll finish up ourselves, the new windows, doors, and insulation, a furnace and AC for humidity control and heating/cooling (of course), and a restroom, a handicapped accessible entrance, lights, etc...and we'll be back in business.

We want to keep the theme of our setting true to the studio/gallery. We want to retain the heritage of agriculture, in the building.

The inside wall we just finished is in recycled barn board siding. The patina is wonderful and the already weathered surface will be forgiving of future "dings". Eventually all walls in the studio and gallery will be done in this salvaged lumber. We are doing the majority of this project with recycled materials, and much of it from here on our acreage.

This could be a long year!?