egrets

These egrets were on the berm until Lefty scared them off by making that growling noise he makes in his throat.  He is so annoying!  I followed them to my neighbors yard to take this picture with my zoom lens.  

awww...dogs!

Chance
Abby
Riley
Buckles

We finally met Riley Saturday...he loved all the toys and took them out of the toy box one by one.  He is so cute!

chicken talk...

"Get up it's my turn!"  Nothing like a good ol' dirt bath.
Morning Gossip at the water cooler.  Lefty says the girls always talk smack about him!  Hmm...I wonder why?!
"I'm not speaking to you today!" 

Yes, I have a vivid imagination.  I always wonder what the chickens are saying to each other.

pastel study

7x5 on sanded paper

A view of some trees on our berm in the late afternoon.  I was walking around looking at the water level of the creek and noticed the light on these 2 trees and thought they would make an interesting study.  I haven't painted a landscape in awhile, so I felt a little rusty.  

random sunday...

Little Lucy...she has a crippled leg and is the smallest, but that doesn't stop her from hanging out with the other chicks.  
Blackberries...I can't wait until they are ready to eat!
Clear Creek...we have had so much rain the past two days!  Normally, I can't even see any water from where I took this picture!   
DH had knee surgery Thursday morning, so Buckles has been keeping him company while he lays in bed and recuperates. 

in the bluebonnets...

Kris and Chance in our neighbors bluebonnets.
Britt and Abby in the bluebonnets.
Kris, Buckles and Abby.  People stop all the time to take pictures of their little kids in the bluebonnets, so we decided to take pictures with the dogs.  

coop and chick update

We finished the baby chicks coop last night...I never want to build something that fast again!  We worked everyday (after DH got home from work) this past week on it and all day Friday and Saturday.  
The chicks spent their first night in their new home last night...I was out there around 2am checking on them.  

One of the leghorn roosters...all the leghorns will go in the freezer as soon as they are big enough...DH and I both don't like them.
Inside their new home...the Dominique's are so friendly...they will come up to you and let you pet them like a dog.  One was sitting in Britt's hand earlier today.  

weekend project...

We started another chicken coop Friday afternoon...we built the floor Friday and framed the walls and roof on Saturday.  
Sunday we attached the plywood and cut out the windows and run.  I'm hoping we finish this coop this weekend...this coop is for baby chicks.  We will not be building egg boxes in this coop.    

first eggs...

Two of our hens laid their first eggs for us today!  All the Rhode Island Reds will be 20 weeks Tuesday.   

another figure study

6x8 pastel on canson paper

The one thing I like the most about pastels is I can leave them out and walk away and nothing will happen to them, unlike oils, watercolors and acrylics.  My reference photo is of Kris sitting on her bed looking out the window in a robe...I wanted to work on skin tones.  I left the background very loose and abstract like.