Report from the Backyard

"If we built houses the way we build software, the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization."

Clifford Stoll

Can you tell I have been spending way too much time filling out online forms, surveys, and not to mention online financial stuff? And let me tell you how much I enjoy listening to a lovely recorded message about whatever I am calling about can be found on the callee's website. That would be the one I am staring at, and have been staring at-and clicking endlessly on-for the last half hour. BTW, I have no idea who Mr. Stoll is, but he seems a very wise man.

The backyard keeps me grounded. Watching what plants are coming back to life, keeping track of the birds and their goings on remind me that there is a bigger world out there. They just deal with whatever they are dealing with and then there is the next moment and the next and the next. The Flicker is busy trying to find a mate. I have start calling him Ruddy the Riveter. The other day he started out on the furnace vent pipe on the barn, taping away. Today, even in the blustery wind we are having, he was at it again on the peak of the barn roof. All these are metal structures, he is not looking for a meal. He is looking for a partner. He is say "Look at me!" "Pick me-I am the best!" in his rat-a-tat sort of way. He needs to find the substrate that will make the loudest sound so the girl of his dreams will come along and claim him. Kind of like applying for grants, but I digress.

So, since getting a decent picture of this is impossible, I asked a dear friend to send me one of her paintings. Her name is Linnea Tobias and her work is wonderful. So bright and beautiful, and in a lot of cases thought provoking as well. You can see many of her lovely works on her Etsy site and when the Pottery Place Plus opens up again you can see them in person.

Flicker with Dahlia by Linnea Tobias

I have been putting eco printing on my Etsy shop, and adding new buttons every day, be sure to check back often-Thanks!