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SubscriptionsSites I Read
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| World Alpaca Conference 
On Friday, June 5th I went to the IX Center where the World Alpaca Conference was being held. It moves to a different city each year, so I needed to take advantage of it being in Cleveland. There was over 1,200 alpacas there, all different kinds & ages, including one friendly baby who was 8 weeks old. Not only was the regular colors represented, but all sorts of shades I’d never seen before such as pintos & splotchy greys & some that were all one color with a white fringe on their head. And people had gotten creative with their haircuts, too, though none as bad as those on some poodles, thankfully. There was also a craft section containing very expensive clothing made with alpaca wool. Even the mittens were pricey. I had fun, got a couple t-shirts with alpaca pics(one was free) & some inexpensive notecards, along with making some sketches & taking a bunch of photos.
Also that weekend I hurt my ankle, probably from the endless drive home. Road constructions on 3 main roads forced me to take a long detour, resulting in my sitting in a traffic jam for awhile to get back in the intended direction. My foot started hurting partway through the drive, but I figured it was just my arthritis. By Sunday, I couldn't put my weight on it, so I’ve been lurching around like Frankenstein ever since(and what an attractive image that is!). With ice & Advil it’s improving, but much too slowly for me. I haven't been out of the house since then & am not even sure I can drive(it's my right ankle), so I'm going stir crazy here in the house & annoyed that I've missed a whole month of warm weather. Grrr!
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| good morning!
This is how Dora usually greets me in the morning when I come into the room here. She's loudly squeaking, too. I imagine she's saying "Good Morning! I'm glad to see you." Although she could just as well be saying "Hey--where's my carrot? I want a carrot RIGHT NOW!" Isn't it a great way to start the day?
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| special guest 
At the book discussion this month, we did "Dewey" by Vicki Myron, about the cat who lived in a library in a small Iowa town. I took my camera because there is also a community art exhibit there throughout May & I wanted to take a pic of my paintings in it.
Imagine my surprise when the librarian brought her cat, Harley, to the meeting. He's a big, handsome cat, about 10 years old & didn't mind all the attention he got from the members or my continual photographing him. He sat on the table for awhile, then walked around & jumped up to watch birds out the window. Towards the end of the meeting, he went behind the heavy drapes, where the librarian retrieved him before taking him home.
The meeting was full of pet stories & a certain amount of discussion about the book. Though to be honest, I was concentrating far more on Harley that what anyone was saying. lol
Afterwards, I did remember to take photos of the art show too. The show was rather sparse, which was unfortunate. I don't think they publicize the request for entries as widely as they ought, but some of them were quite nice. Mine was on top of the shelves for intermediate kids books, which I thought appropriate.
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| catch-up Haven't been around much, because farming is taking up much of my time. Facebook has an application called Farm Town, where the user has a farm with cartoon animals, crops that grow & must be harvested, a marketplace to sell the crops & hire laborers.There's various levels and things to buy, plus you can go work on friend's farms. I've had my farm for a bit over 2 weeks & I've spent an inordinate amount of time with it. This past week I became less addicted to it, possibly because I was finally able to buy the wishing well that I'd been coveting. But I'd really like to cut down even more, as it feels like I'm not getting enough sensible stuff done.
Dora is doing well, she's even grown a little bit. She's gotten a lot tamer & not only will take food from my fingers, but will come over to the side where I am to visit. I was disappointed to find that she doesn't like celery leaves, but she enjoys lettuce & dandelion leaves, and loves carrots. She's very active, and runs and climbs around like she's half squirrel. Sometimes I wish she'd slow down, as I'm worried she will hurt herself racing about.
The painting I've been working on is about half finished--it would be further along without that pesky Farm Town--and I'm pleased with it so far. The stream bank on top half is done & I've started the water this weekend. There will be a mallard duck family & water plants on the bottom section. I'm deciding what shade of green to paint the water.
I've been photographing every step as I paint & have posted the pics on Photobucket. Unfortunately, they are not in order, but you can still get a sense of how a painting comes together at this link, if you're interested.
Ducky's Painting
I'm trying to get the painting done by July.Much of the complex items have already been done on it, so at least part of the bottom will be easier to do.If I can just stay away from that farm....
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| Introducing..... 
....Dora, my new little piggy. She's 8 weeks old & very curious. She's been busy exploring her new home; had a bite of kibbles & some carrot and is generally settling in well since I got her this morning. Her name is short for Theodora, which is a big name for a little piggy. She was born around St. Patrick's Day, which is a good start. I was going to get another male, preferably with longer or swirly hair, but Dora & I seemed to make a connection when I was looking at the guinea pigs in the shop yesterday, so I got everything ready last night & went back for her today. Isn't she cute?
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Lifetime
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