Today is Canadian Thanksgiving, and over this past weekend, people all across the country have been gathering for dinners with family and friends. These dinners require lots of cooking, which is fine by me, but alas, they also entail a certain amount of house cleaning. When I am pushed into cleaning house, my hands may be busy with dust cloth and broom, but my mind is far away, riding though the October fields with a loved four footed friend. How I would have loved to have a pony like the one in my watercolour painting, "Fine October Day", when I was a young girl!
We had our Thanksgiving Dinner yesterday, and were blessed to be able to share it with dear friends. The dinner itself turned out just fine, which is something of a miracle, given my tendency to drop into a dreamworld while I am doing something in the kitchen. It was the animals who provided a little "entertainment".
We had cooked and carved the turkey the night before, as last minute timing is just too nerve wracking for me, and although my husband and I have taken Fencing lessons, neither one of us can handle a knife well enough to carve a turkey in front of anyone. So there was the main event for dinner, nicely plated and covered on the counter while I turned away to wash my hands. Almost at once, the dogs set up a howl, and I turned around in time to see our cat slip out from under the clingwrap with a large piece of turkey hanging out of each side of his mouth and a "Don't mess with me - I'm serious!!" look on his face. He soared over the heads of the dogs and took off for one of his hide-outs to enjoy his ill gotten gains. Me? I didn't even think of stopping him - not with that look on his face! Besides, our guests were cat lovers. They wouldn't have begrudged him a bite of turkey, even if they had known.
Yesterday, our guests arrived, and all was going well until my husband stepped back and nipped a dog paw. Naturally, it was our dramatic fellow, and he howled and screamed blue murder, and while everyone's attention was on his barely grazed paw, he slid forward to grab a mini- quiche off a serving plate on the coffee table. Have I mentioned that we don't entertain very often?
This weekend is a time to give thanks, and I do. Thanks for my husband, pets, and home, for art, family, friends, and so much more, including a thank you to everyone who reads my ramblings of an animal artist's life of wonderful lunacy.
It's here . . . can you feel it? . . .that "something" in the air that tells you Halloween is nearly upon us? Do you sometimes feel like there is someone - or something, walking just behind you? And when you turn around, there is no one there. The air is nearly silent now, except for the cawing of a few crows and the moan of bare tree branches rubbing against one another in the wind. Leaves skitter down the street, scratching their passage on the pavement. And you know, you just know, that little spooks and ghosts and goblins are waiting to march to your door to demand (politely of course) treats on the big night.
The Australian Cattle Dog is a sturdy dog who is a steadfast companion - hard working, brave, alert, and protective. He is a mid-sized dog with a short, harsh coat of red or blue speckles, often with tan markings. This dog has great stamina and needs to have a job to do along with daily exercise to be happy.
Irish Setters are so beautiful with their elegant lines and mahogany coats. There were Irish setters in the family when I was growing up, and it was always fun to spend time with them. My aim in this painting was to recapture happy memories of a little girl and the big, red dog. I've used the greeny-gold light of an autumn afternoon, and it brings a warm sparkle to the memory as well as to the painting.
Today, there were no dogs walking past the window. Everyone of them was napping while the Sheltie Hollow humans were unexpectedly busy. Please come back next week when the dogs will be walking again.
Today's dog is the beautiful, delicate looking Papillon. But don't let their elegant, porcelain-fine features fool you. I've seen these delightful little guys handle themselves well in Agility Trials, and they are alert, ready-to-sound-the-alarm watchdogs. The loving, loyal Papillon can be seen in paintings dating back 700 years, so they've had lots of practice being companions and lap dogs. They will enjoy a good walk or can be content running around in a garden or even in the house. Their long, silky coat requires regular brushing, but who wouldn't want to spend time daily, petting and brushing these little beauties.
The dog trotting past Sheltie Hollow today is the neat, amiable, Welsh Terrier. He always wears a coat of black and tan, or black grizzle and tan, and at an ideal height of about 15 inches, resembles a small Airedale. Once a hunting dog, these little guys have become great house dogs, and although still very active, (they need a place to work off some of this exuberance!) they are not scrappers and are intelligent and willing to please. To keep them looking their best, the Welsh Terrier will need dedicated grooming.
