Meteorite, Chicks, and Mad Men

"Bowl of Chicks"

Our 6 chicks are doing well.  Weather had me move them into the kitchen for a few cold windy days.
We will decide on their Irish names when my grandson arrives Saturday. 

Bob and Charles and above the meteorite.  Notice the area that Bob polished.

My pursuit of meteorite brought "the meteorite man" Charles from San Antonio. With him came a 40lb. whole meteorite from Sweden: Muonionalusta. He took it in his carry on bag.  I bet the TSA had a fun scanning that! Bob and Charles just left for Santa Fe to have our friend at Santa Fe Stoneworks cut this on a gang drag saw.  We've enjoyed our time with Charles.  He shared stories of his world travels to buy these exotic materials he sells. Here's a link to the background of this meteorite:
http://www.muonionalustameteorites.com/

I finally got up into the studio and finished some small mixed media paintings on paper in honor of Mad Men starting season 5 this Sunday.

Mad Men piece in my ThePolkadotMagpie Etsy shop

Thanks for reading.
Each day is a gift, open now.
xo,
Suz

Rural Renewal

The day after our chicks arrived we had a wind storm that knocked our power out.  We don't have a generator, or another resource for power.  They need to be kept between 90-95 degrees for the first week.  Each week the temp goes down 5 degrees.  They had been shipped the day before, which is tremendously stressful on their little bodies.  So how do we keep them warm? 

The "heater" after the lights went back on.

In the "old" days...they would put them near the fire.  Not an option here.  Turn on the car, crank the heat and leave it running.  A waste of gas, and resources.  Bring them to a friend who has power...that was an option.  What I did was start the kettle on the gas stove and boil water.  I filled a small hot water bottle, and a lidded casserole that Bob and I had made in ceramics.  They immediately huddled next to the casserole which I refilled every hour until our power went back on.  Farmer Suz rises again.

The other thing that happened was a real eye opener. No internet, no power in the shop, no lights.  So I took the entire NYT Sunday paper and read it by the window.  Streams of visual images came to my brain.  I began to sketch in my sketchbook, as I do every morning during my quiet time.  I felt a calm come over me that lit a light bulb in my consciousness.  So I have decided to not turn my computer on one day a week.  Sundays probably, as I have the Sunday paper delivered. 

Seeds started in Jiffy Pots...new to me.

So let's hear it for "Rural Renewal" instead of "Urban Renewal".   I think our culture is out of balance, and it would do this Homosapian good to unplug from time to time.  Gardening, the chickens, and eating my own grown food was a start.  I loved the satisfying feeling of reading by the light of the window. 

Thanks for reading.  Each day is a gift, open now.

xo,

Suz