Not so Golden Eagle Nest

Sue Ann wanted to go check the Golden Eagle nest tonight before it got too dark so off we went. We got there just in time to see the changing of the guard. One landed with a full crop and the other took off to hunt. I actually got one picture of both birds at once. The last time we took photos both were flying at once so there were no eggs in the nest. That was March 23 so we have a close idea when the eggs will hatch and then when they will take flight. I posted the full size images along with the normal album images this time so you can get a better look. Feel free to download them and then zoom in so you can see even more. These were taken with a 24x zoom and a 2x digital zoom for a total of 48x. I can't get any closer and that is all the camera I have. I don't think there is even a tree I could climb to get more height. There are about three photos of an old barn that I couldn't resist taking as well. You can see the birds at http://lhartfield.pho.to/albums/golden_eagles/index.htm Hopefully we will get many more photos over the summer. I will have to change the name or the link as I have found out they are red tailed hawks and not golden eagles. They are still quite large birds. I apologize for misleading anyone if I did so.

What I have in common with goldfish

Got your attention didn't I! The answer is my memory. I am all the time making people feel that I slighted them. Not because I don't care, but because I don't remember. I forget to call my mom most of the time. I don't mean to offend anyone if I forget about a birthday or something. I would gladly change posistions with nearly any of them if my memory would work right no matter what else they may have wrong. Please, if I forget you don't get mad at me. Stop by and see me once in awhile or at least call me. I forget so much I can not afford to get upset that I forgot your birthday or aniversary or what ever. Put your self in my place for a few minutes

Golden Eagle & New Quilt

Today we took a new quilt we had made for my sister Kathi for her birthday. On the way there we saw a pair of Golden Eagles out flying on on the way home we found the nest. I couldn't get a picture of both eagles at once because they never got close enough. Here are pictures of the quilt and of one of the eagles. The quilt is covered with pictures of cats because my sister is a cat lover. I didn't post a photo of the next on purpose because some people might know where it is and bother them just by being around too often.

The Golden Eagle is the largest eagle in North America weighing up to 20 lbs and have wing spans up to 7 feet wide. This is the 2nd pair we have seen already this spring.

I stopped and looked around at a local art gallery the other day and while I was there I mentioned that I draw and had a website. When they looked at the website I realized that it had been quite some time since I updated and some of my better drawings were not on the website at all. Because of that I went home and updated my website and all of the links except photographs are live now. I still haven't chosen which photographs I want to put on Internet.

The name of the art gallery is madhausgallery and the link to their website is http://www.madhausgallery.com. If you enjoy art of any kind it would be worth your time to take a look at their website. I immediately felt like I'd made two new friends when I began talking with Robin and John. They both have full-time day jobs, teach art at night and run a gallery. If you live in Winterset or close by you should stop in on a weekend when they're open and get to know them and look at some of their work. Their gallery is in the old Madisonian building.

I finished the drawing that I showed on my last post and it is one of those that is now on my website along with the barns that I drew for the quilt Sue Ann is working on. The quilt is coming along quite nicely by the way. She has a design firm in her mind and it is just cutting and sewing. I shouldn't say "just" because it's quite a chore in itself trying to keep everything square. She does a really good job of it and I'm sure it's much better than what I would do. I'm looking forward to her finishing another quilt so I can tie it and sew the binding. I find sewing even more relaxing than drawing. Probably because sewing is less mental effort.

I haven't said much if anything about the economy on my blog but I can't keep my mouth shut any longer. Time after time you see people refuse a pay cut or even refuse to bypass a future raise even when they know that it may cost someone their job because there's not going to be enough money to pay everyone's salary if they do get their raise. To me that's like playing Russian roulette. Everyone has to be betting that it's not going to be them who loses their job. You see it happening all over. Local unions are doing it as well as car manufacturers unions. If any of the American car manufacturers disappear it will be simply because of the greed of the unions. If any local jobs disappear it will also be because of the greed of the unions. People don't seem to really believe that we are in a recession. I don't know if they've stuck their head in the sand and refuse to see what's going on around them or if they're incapable of understanding what is going on.

LARRY

Here 's quilt I was talking about creating in the last post.I'd been working on this for nearly a month and I couldn't post any of the work that I was doing because I didn't know who might read my blog and I didn't want the persons who I was creating it for to find out. It isn't very large but it is the first quilt that I have done myself. I have to give my wife credit for making and selling them for side of the binding on. I did everything else by hand.

The second image is a scan of the current drawing I'm working on. When I finish working on it I will post both the drawing and the photograph. The drawing is graphite on can send 120 pound watercolor paper. I draw on the back side of the paper to get a smoother surface.

worn out

Do you ever notice how emotional stress wears you out worse than physical work?one of my best friends spent most of last week in the hospital with pneumonia and since she is in her 80s there was some doubt about her going home even in her own mind. It's very stressful when you think that you may lose what has become a very good friend. Having chronic fatigue syndrome I do not deal with stress very well at all. One doctor told me that having chronic fatigue syndrome was the same as being allergic to stress. Everyone knows that allergies are bad news.

I finally finished a sewing project that I've been working on for the past three weeks or so.I'm going to take photographs of it tonight and hopefully can deliver it tomorrow. Like anything that you create for another person you get very anxious to see their face. I'm not done working on quilts by any means because my wife has the quilt with my drawings in it. A quilt for a family member. The quilt she's working on just for herself. And last but not least the quilt that I bought blocks for when we went to the quilt shop last time. I don't know how many of my readers are interested in sewing techniques and materials but I've been learning quite a bit. For one thing I've been learning that the Coats and Clark thread that I've been using since I was a little kid is pretty much garbage any more the thread tends to unravel one for a if I try to sew with a single strand.

I've also been finding out how expensive it is to make a quilt. I thought $15 or $20 for material, some thread and your time and you'd be ready to go. What a laugh! Double that might get material for one side of the quilt if you find a good sale. A spool of good thread cost three or four dollars minimum. And being a picky person it has been quite an experience trying to find good needles also. The only thing I didn't have to learn new since I started helping my wife with quilts was how to make a good stitch. I can make a stitch that is even as a sewing machine stich.

That is enough rambling for on day. Especially when no one probably cares.

Larry