A TEEPEE AND ABSTINTHE MAKE THE HEART GROW FONDER

Teepee in Progress

Lt -Rt: My Wife Sarah, Me, My Brother Larry and His Wife Lilia

          A couple of friends of mine, Gary Stairs and George Probst and I thinned out a few trees on Gary's property, not last winter but the winter before.  As soon as the limbs were cut off, we loaded them into a trailer and hauled them off to my place, with the idea that I would attempt building a Plains Indian's teepee at the end of spring after I had skinned all the bark off them with a draw knife.  I believe I skinned about three of them before I had to put it aside to work on more important projects.  So, for the longest time, the poles just lay in a pile by the fire pit until my brother arrived with some of his family and a friend for a very short two day visit from Alberta - they were on their way to Halifax, Nova Scotia to attend their daughter's college graduation ceremony.  

          The night of their arrival, I wasn't surprised to see my brother haul out a good sized bottle of 110 proof Absinthe, which he also brought to my wedding in 07/07/07.  Sarah and I had a great wedding, which was held at our friends, Paul and Sharon Niddrie's 2 acre estate in Cedar, near Nanaimo.  The reception lasted for about 2 days and  we supplied the booze - two kegs of beer and about 100 bottles of wine.  I was fine knocking back the beer as fast as a dying of thirst Arab that's just dragged his scrawny ass across 100 miles of burning sand to an oasis containing an unlimited amount of the sweetest water on earth.  That is, I was fine until come next morning, Larry hauled out a bottle of Absinthe and we poured it over a sugar cube per single shot and knocked them back with glee.  Reminded me of the time a friend of mine Judi De Yoe, who occasionally cut my hair, introduced me to what she called, a Golden Cadillac.  Well hell, they went down smoother than a sucked-back snout full of snot and before I knew it, my legs had a life of their own or should I say not much life - standing and talking without slurring was a definite problem.  And so it was the same at the wedding.

          I easily drank down half of Larry's Abstinthe and was surprised that I was in just as good condition as if I'd knocked back a case of beer (I've had over 50 good years of pounding back beers) but I was sore - my back, hips and hands ached something awful - this being old and plagued with arthritis is just no fun - jobs that at one time were simple are becoming a real chore.  Now, by big bro (actually younger brother) looks at my stack of teepee poles in the morning, after breakfast, decides that we should finish skinning them and erect the skeleton of the teepee.  I was trying to talk him out of it by saying he should just enjoy his visit and not do any work.  But he'd have none of that, just said we could jaw away while we peeled poles.  So, after I'd peeled three of them with a hatchet and Larry had done twice that with the draw knife, I had to pack it in because of the pain and the cloud of black-flies hovering around my head.  I thought Larry would quit when I walked away but no, there he stood, dressed only in shorts and a T-shirt, just merrily peeling away.  Unbelievable; I was, covered head to toe and the black-flies were having a feast on me, while my brother wearing hardly any protection doesn't get so much as a bite.  Some say that the black-flies like sweet blood, but at almost 72 years old, there aint nothing sweet about this aging old man.

          I'd check on my brother every now and then to see how he was doing but he was a determined man-in-motion to finish skinning the teepee poles and he'd even recruited his daughter Deserai to give him a hand.  Well, it wasn't long before the poles were lying naked in a heap and after I lashed three of them together near the top with a long piece of braided rawhide, we had the beginnings of the teepee under way.  Didn't take too much longer, we had all the poles in place and roughly spaced to about a 19' diameter.  I have to say, it was great to see our efforts, especially my big bro's, finally take shape.  Of course, now comes the mind-bending part; trying to figure out the measurements for the tarp to wrap around the teepee's skeleton.  I can't be making any serious mistakes in that department because a large tarp is going to be on the pricey side.  A lot of people use canvas but since the most natural would be to use buffalo hides, I'm going to use a white vinyl tarp, maybe paint 'er up with some sort of native designs - something that won't clash with the red tuct-tape, I've been told to use.  

            A friend of mine, Stephen Harvey and his son Mitch just dropped off six cords of firewood this weekend, so I suspect, until I recoup some of that expense, the tarp for the teepee is on hold, and hopefully, the pesky black-flies will no longer be around when I purchase one.  It's been a chilly, rainy morning and the studio is definitely on the cool side and since a few friends have dropped into our now open on weekends, Golden Unicorn Farm, tiny coffee shop, I do believe I'll go have a chit-chat with them over a good hot cup of hot coffee- cheers, eh!  

                

AKELA - "the great gray Lone Wolf"

"Akela"

          Due to a lot of positive response to this painting of Akela, I decided to to have it reproduced as a Limited Edition as giclees, prints and cards.  While I was painting Akela, I was trying to think of an appropriate title and having been a "cub" (boy scout) for a short while as a young boy, remembered that it was the name used for the leader of our pack.  And, when I recently researched the name, I discovered that Akela is a character in Rudyard Kipling's, The Jungle Book.  When I checked out the wolf in the Jungle Book, I discovered the line, "Akela, the great gray Lone Wolf, who led all the Pack by strength and cunning, lay out at full length on his rock, and below him sat forty or more wolves of every size and color", which cinched the title of the painting.
          To help recoup the costs, the first 10 giclees' of  Akela are being offered for the low price of $40.00 each, plus shipping.  Also, the first 10 Acid Free Paper prints are available for $10.00 each, plus shipping.  This particular giclee, which has been professionally reproduced on canvas using the highest quality inks is 11"x14", the same size as the original acrylic painting.  Only 100 gicless on canvas and paper, plus 10 Artist Proofs will be printed, numbered and signed by the artist (me).  Included with this Limited Edition of Akela is a Certificate of Authenticity.  (The unicorn is a watermark to protect my copyright on the blog and of course is not printed on any of the giclees or prints.)

             I'm sure Akela will make an affordable addition for anyone who enjoys wolves and other wildlife.  The original Akela was sold before I had even finished painting it.  A German friend of mine who watched the painting's progress was so engrossed by the way the wolf's eyes were looking at him simply said, "There's something in his eyes; I would like to buy this painting."  I've actually sold a few paintings over the years, before the paint was even dry, which of course always made me feel good.  I'm open to commissions, so if anyone is interested in having an idea for a piece of art painted especially for them, don't be shy to contact me and I'm certain we can work out the details and an acceptable cost - cheers, eh!

         

"BIG RED", THE ROOSTER - COCK OF THE WALK - EVEN GAVE ME A KICKING I WON'T SOON FORGET

          The rain is so heavy at the moment; it sounds like a jack-hammer on the metal roof above my head; but I'm not complaining - hell no - we need rain!  Due to our shallow well and with 4 guests arriving tomorrow; my brother Larry, his wife Lilia and daughter Deserai, including one of her friends for a couple of days, I'm hoping there will be plenty of water for showers and such.  The rain is very welcome, especially for the farmers since I noticed their plowed potatoe fields were dryer than a popcorn fart; dust blowing everywhere.  As I look out the upstairs studio window, I notice the forest is once again green; a growing canopy of young leaves; fiddle-heads, ripe for the picking; ready for canning or the dinner plate - yummy!
          It's been quite awhile since I wrote a blog because with the coming of spring; I've been up to the arm pits in yard work and building repairs; winter forever taking its toll.  I loads of work that needs doing, even inside work but because of  "Big Red", the Rhode Island rooster, I'm temporarily out of commission.  I can hardly believe that rascally rooster got the better of me.  Like David and Goliath, the wee rooster, well maybe not so small as roosters go, won a battle.  Perhaps if I'd pretended to be like David and used a stone and a sling-shot, instead of my foot to move him out of the way before I began carrying a load of lumber into the garage, the outcome would have been different.
          Big Red used to be second in command; "Blackie", the Australorp rooster, the toughest of the two, used to be the General in charge of the 100 hens.  That is, until I went into the chicken coop one morning and discovered Blackie was bleeding and all beat up trying to hide in a corner under the laying boxes.  Interestingly enough, although Blackie was the main leader, lover and protector of the flock, he never ever hurt Big Red, just kind of stuck out his chest and did a rooster dance.  I guess since Big Red had injured his leg and limped around for about a year, the display of Blackie's strength was enough to deter him from challenging his authority.  But like a lot of red heads, Big Red has always had a fiery temper; apparently he had attacked Sarah and Jessica on numerous occasions; always left me alone.  I always considered myself to be the biggest and strongest honcho rooster but I guess after Big Red licked Blackie; he decided to take me on too; didn't seem to matter that I was carrying 8 - 3"x8' boards at the time - nope - he stood his ground and when I attempted to push him aside with my left foot, he reared up like a stallion and struck out at me with his feet.  Now, a person would think he would have taken off when the side of my boot gave him a shove but no, he came at me again, only this time I flicked my foot a little harder and sent him on his way.  I felt a little pain in my foot but didn't give it any thought; I mean how much damage can a rooster do?
          After about an hour had gone by, I noticed instead of the wee bit of pain I felt when Big Red struck my foot; it began hurting quite a bit.  Realizing both our roosters have long spurs on the backs of their legs, I took off my cowboy boot and sock so I could have a look at my foot.  I was surprised to see a circular hole about the size of an 1/8th" wide screw in the top of my foot.  Since the black sock was wet, I assumed the wee wound had been bleeding.but still I wasn't too concerned; just headed into the house to clean the damage and put an antiseptic cream on it.  However, by the time another hour had passed, my foot was really hurting and within about 15 more minutes, I was unable to walk on it.  When Sarah and I took a look at the wound, we were both a little alarmed.  Although the injury seemed so minute, the redness that began traveling up past my ankle was starting to look more than a little scary.  After talking to a nurse on a hot-line, she informed me that I should immediately go to the hospital to have it looked at.
          The pain was extreme as Sarah drove the truck along the the curvy, hilly and bumpy road for over an hour to the hospital and by the time we arrived, she had to get a wheelchair to push me to Emergency.  By the time a doctor looked at the wound, my whole foot was red and just past my ankle, beginning to climb up my skinny, lily-white leg.  I was given a Tetanus shot, a pain-killer and an antibiotic pill to kill the infection, which was most likely blood-poisoning, although the doctor never really said.
          I'm on my third day, since Big Red put the spurs to me and punctured my leather cowboy boot and left foot; the redness halted but not all the swelling has gone yet.  I've done a wee bit of walking around, doing a few chores, but because it still hurts quite a bit and causes me to limp, I've pretty much decided to take another day off and put my feet up; especially my left foot.  The part I'm really resenting about Big Red is that I can't have a beer while I'm on meds.  Since Sarah has been worried about Big Red attacking someone, instead of me ringing his neck, she found a nice home for him - about 50 hens and no other rooster to contend with.  He's going to get his spurs clipped too.  We'll see how Blackie reacts then after he's once again the General and as long as he keeps his spurs to himself; I hope he enjoys a long and healthy life here on Golden Unicorn Farm - cheers, eh!